Today I had my first day of a one month intensive Spanish course here in Costa Rica. My aim is to take my now fluent Spanish to the next level. I am currently at a level where I can understand pretty much everything that people say to me, apart from technical terms or local idiosyncracies, and can be easily understood by those that hear me. I particularly want to work on my accent and correct some aspects of my grammar. Even though lots of people tell me that I speak very good Spanish for the amount of time I've been in Mexico, I still have a long way to go in terms of improving, refining, expanding my vocubulary and starting to speak more correctly and eloquently.
Today, we started with an orientation session and a written and oral exam. There are about 18 of us in the intensive course and everyone else is from the US. I'm proudly flying the flag for Australia and have had lots of questions about the good old Land Downunder.
The Spanish Language Institute is one of the largest in Latin America and caters primarily for missionaries heading out to serve in Spanish-speaking countries in the region. In our first classes today, we did some revision on past-tense verbs in grammar class and then two hours of conversation. I am struggling to get my brain back into gear to learn grammar in classroom-style repetition but I think it will be helpful. The conversation class was interesting, but I'm praying that somehow I can find the way to make it push me because I'm used to conversation all-day, every day in Spanish on a variety of subjects.
Please continue to pray for my time here in Costa Rica, I'm enjoying it and wanting to make the most of every opportunity that God gives me to learn, grow and serve Him. Please also pray for the Costa Rican family that I am staying with for this month that I reflect Jesus and point them towards His saving grace.
Over and out... Phil
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