La escuela in Cochabamba- The school in Cochabamba

Being students after thirty or more years is a real change, not exactly what I would recommend for a mid life crisis! The school which we attend has no name but is known by the gringos as Daniel’s school. It is the only one that teaches both Spanish and Quechua. There are three people who own the school. All of them are former employees of a larger language school, Mary Knoll, operated by the Catholic church. Daniel is the oldest and I would not want to guess his age. He is a school teacher but now is working for a radio station, writing and reading stories in Quechua. He also wrote the textbook that the students use while learning that language. Gladys is the business administrator, secretary, time table keeper as well as a teacher. She also teaches in a public school (junior-senior high) three evenings a week. Alehandro is the other partner in the business. When there are more students they call in extra teachers. José teaches at the primary level and I don’t know what Nora does when she does not teach. Each one of them has their own style and own method of teaching so it goes well. I check who I am getting the next day so that I can prepare for that teacher. Some do conversation while others are great at teaching the grammar. We have learned to appreciate each one for who they are and what they provide.

And the students. Most of them are missionaries who plan to go out to a community and need more language study. Right now most are studying Quechua. Some stay for a year, others stay for about six months. They say that you need at least four months of intense studying before you are ready to go into a community. Some of the other students are Norwegians who have come to Bolivia while taking internet courses in Spanish. They are taking some conversational Spanish so that they can pass their tests. From that I understand the government pays them to go to school and living in Bolivia in much cheaper than living in Norway. Then there are some people who are literally just passing through and decided to take a month or so of language study while they are here.

I am taking four hours a day of tutorial while Jake is taking three hours. This means that we each get a teacher for one-on-one for 45 minutes and then we get a new teacher for the next section. We get a good variety and the time flies. I can’t say that we get bored or that we wish that a session was over because we don’t like the teacher. Sometimes we are too tired, but that is another story. There is no chance to lose concentration so the work is very intense.

When we are not in class we spend a lot of time studying. I have made flash cards with all the vocabulary, both from the book and from conversation. Then Jake and I go through those cards and try to memorize the material. We do much better on the nouns than the verbs! That we have different ways of studying is very evident. I work ahead so that I know what I am doing while Jake reviews and learns the new things in class. He is concentrating on vocabulary while I am concerned about the grammar and sentence structure. Both ways work and we are glad that the school allows us each to work in our own way.

This is not easy work and I never imagined that I would have to put in so many hours studying. It certainly is different that taking French in high school. I think I learned by osmosis then. We ask for your prayers – that we can concentrate, that we will not be bored or frustrated, and that we will be able to talk to people.