Alexandra Goodin, ’25, is a Psychology major and Spanish minor studying at Nebrija University in Madrid this Fall 2023.
I was first exposed to Spanish in elementary school, when I was only six years old. My school district was really big on introduction to foreign languages at a young age, and so had a Spanish teacher come into our classes once a week, but only for about an hour. I didn’t start having Spanish classes daily and really learning about the language until I was in sixth grade. That being said, I’ve always been fascinated by language and the ways it allows us to communicate with people of different backgrounds.
I started taking my Spanish classes seriously when I went to high school. I ended up going to a high school out of my district, and got put into a higher level Spanish class. As one of the few freshmen in the class, I did, admittedly, feel like I had something to prove, but I also really enjoyed the class for what it was. I continued with Spanish all throughout high school, being one of only two students in my AP class senior year, and decided to continue studying Spanish in college as my minor.
Based on my schedule, I’ve only had the opportunity to take three Spanish classes throughout my 2+ years at Drexel, and they’ve been pretty spread out as well. Because of that, I did not feel like my Spanish had improved a ton since high school, and was really excited to come to Spain and be able to immerse myself in the language. I hoped that spending over three months here would give me the push I needed to finally achieve fluency after studying Spanish for all these years.
I’ve been taught, and personally think, that language ability falls into four categories: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Since all of my classes are in Spanish, and I’m constantly surrounded by people speaking Spanish, whether with my host family or on the metro, I feel that my ability to listen to and comprehend Spanish has improved exponentially. Before coming to Spain, I would say that I always was able to comprehend the main idea and most of the details when listening to Spanish. Now, it feels almost as natural as listening to English. I can honestly say that I’m proud of my listening abilities now, and am proud of myself for how far I’ve come.
The second ability that I feel has improved quite a bit is reading. I do think that reading was always one of my strongest skills in Spanish, but since all the signs, advertisements, etc. are all in Spanish here, I read the language on a daily basis, and a lot more than I ever have before. Additionally, with all the museums I’ve been to here, even though some of them do have English translations as well, I always try to read the Spanish signs and see how much I’m able to understand. My goal for when I get home is to try to read Don Quijote in Spanish, which has always been very intimidating to me!
I’ve always really enjoyed writing in English, which definitely translated to an enjoyment for writing in Spanish, even if it’s difficult. Obviously, when talking in Spanish, you don’t have to know how to spell words, for example, and are not held as accountable for any grammar mistakes. With writing, there’s definitely more pressure to have correct grammar and spelling! Most of the classes I’m in are more focused on conversation and learning concepts, and not really on writing. That being said, I do still feel that my writing ability has improved as I’ve expanded my vocabulary and become more comfortable with certain verb tenses and grammar after reading and hearing them.
Last but not least is speaking…. Speaking is always the component of Spanish that I’ve struggled with the most. I’m definitely a perfectionist, which means that I don’t want to make mistakes, especially when speaking. However, what I’ve found is that no one here really cares that I don’t speak perfect Spanish; they appreciate that I’m trying. For example, if I’m speaking in one of my classes or with my host mom and make a mistake, they’ll often correct me gently, but not with any judgment. I’ve definitely felt very supported and empowered while working on my ability to speak in Spanish. Additionally, I feel like my accent has improved tremendously since coming here. Growing up, I had Spanish teachers from all different places, including Spain, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, which was incredible, but I do feel caused my accent to be a weird mix of lots of different ones. It’s certainly not perfect, but I do feel like I’ve adopted the Madrid accent, to an extent (at least to where I sound a little more like a real Spanish speaker)!
Spanish is a language that I have a lot of love and respect for. I’m so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to come to Spain and improve my language skills. I may not be fluent yet, but I can definitively say that my study abroad experience has brought me a lot closer!