Going to a new school, in a new?

Question

I'm starting at a new school tomorrow in Spain (I'm on an exchange from the United States, for 5 months), and I'm not fluent in Spanish, let alone that good. I've only been taking Spanish for about a year. So i decided to do this exchange for the culture immersion, and the chance to learn a new language. My only concern is this new school. Just the language barrier, and how i'm joining in the middle of the year and all.... Advice?

Answer 1

First, take a deep breath. Learning a new language is hard, and though it won't be easy to be thrown into it immediatley, you'll flourish. Trust me. The first month or two, you'll go crazy... you'll look at the differences.. how fast they speak.... what are they saying... But eventually, you'll gain so many more skills many people don't notice. For some odd reason, when we as humans are in unfamiliar environments, we figure out ways of surviving. First you'll learn how to read lips and possibly understand what they're saying. Since you don't know the language, you'll begin to look at facial expressions to see whether they're happy, sad, mad, etc. Into the third month, you'll so get the hang of it all, and be able to have general conversations, etc. My best advice would be to pick up some "Learning Spanish" cd... it may seem corny, but when someone tells you what it means in English (like, where is the bathroom?), you'll take it as valuable. You'll pick up on words quickly too. So while in Spain, do as the Spaniards do, and be open to everything! Good Luck! Hasta Luego!