I cannot believe that I have been here for almost two months already. Time is flying by, and I wish I could stay longer. I have loved being able to meet new people and being able to speak Spanish every day- in school and out of school. I have really enjoyed the school that I go to and the differences between this school and Arkansas Tech. For example, at the Centro de Idiomas, all the work we do is on paper, never online. I really like this because I feel that I learn better when I write things down instead of typing them. Sometimes it is also frustrating when technology will not cooperate for an online assignment when I could just turn in what I have written down on paper.
Also, I feel the classrooms are a lot more relaxed at the Centro de Idiomas than classrooms in the United States. For example, in León I refer to all my professors by their first name instead of Dr./Mr./Mrs. Another really big difference is that exams and homework are not as frequent here. Even if I get a homework assignment, it is not graded. It is just to help me practice and learn the language. My attendance counts for a big part of my grade, and I will also have an exam at the end of the semester. However, up to this point I have only had one small quiz and no graded homework. Also, the size of the classrooms is drastically different. The average size classroom that I was in at ATU probably contained 25 people. However, my class in León only has 6 people. I was expecting a small classroom size, and I can say that I really love it. I think that it makes me a better learner because I am not afraid to ask questions. I also think that we get more practice speaking, reading, etc. in class when there are fewer people, which I really like.
