Classes and Lecturers at UAX

Lights on. Computer on. Beamer on. Let’s get the show started! The lecturer enters the room, goes to his desk on a stage and rocks the class with smartmusic in the background. Sometimes he jumps down and runs through the crowd of students, just to wake them up.

Well, sometimes it really seems like a rock concert but in daily life the classes use to be a little bit different. The official time is at something half past, but it never starts earlier than one minute after, actually 5 to 10 minutes later. But that is what you need to find out yourself. Later on you know whether you need to hurry up or walk, with a short stop at the coffee vending machine, to the classroom.

My first study week began right after the two I’ve mentioned in the post before. I guess the majority of you will have a similar level of Spanish like I had. My listening and speaking skills were not that advanced to follow and participate in a high-speed conversation. As all my classes were in Spanish, I needed to put a lot of effort to stay concentrated to what was said. I was fine in class. But when we had a break, my head felt like a heavy stone that needed to lie down on a fluffy pillow, even when it was for 5 minutes only. Personally, I was surprised how much energy I used unconsciously for one simple task. However, everyone has gone through it and I promise that you will feel much better after the first month.

Sometimes it can be depressing to know what you want to say but not being able to express it in Spanish. There will be many situations like that. The most important lesson is to turn this lack into a motivation. Dare to make a lot of mistakes and ask as often as you can. Spanish people are really patient and helpful when they have the opportunity to teach their language.

After these weeks, I made my personal survival list for the classes. The tips below should serve you as an inspiration.

Survival Tips: Classes in Spanish

1. Check with the lecturer what you need to do to prepare for each class.
2. Check the announcements on the university’s website every day. Note: You never know what the next day brings.
3. Ask your Spanish colleagues if you can copy their notes.
4. Go through the material one more time.
5. Connect with your classmates via E-Mail, social network, and / or smartphone app.
6. Repeat in your mind what the lecturer is saying.
7. Look the words up, write them down, and repeat them.
8. Don’t buy books if it is not crucial for the class. Note: It depends on the study. For most of my subjects, I can find detailed documents online, and for other I need to take notes. As Erasmus student it is advisable to attend the classes, take notes and participate. You can borrow three books at the campus library for one week. Thereafter you can extend or return the books.

Enough tips. Let’s get to the funny side, the lecturers. Although I thought that my lecturers in the Netherlands were already funny and open, the Spanish lecturers bring it to the top. Often I thought, “That can’t be true. I must be dreaming. Did he really say that?” You will see why.

For the background information, I study Marketing, and so are the lecturers. During class they walk through the rows, sit on the student’s desk, and make jokes. Sometimes you hear a phone ringing but it does not come from the student’s side. If the call is really important, the lecturer leaves the room or stays that everyone can follow the conversation. But most of the time, they apologize, look at their phone, put it on silent, and continue with the lesson.

One time we had to introduce ourselves, talking about standard stuff like who we are, what we do, and so on. For example: a Spanish conversation between three students and the female teacher.

• Student A: “Hello everyone. I am Horst, 22 years old. I come from Germany. I live in Madrid and like to party.”
• Teacher: “Thank you Horst. It is nice to have you in class. Let’s continue with your neighbour.”
• Student B: “Hello, I am Juliette. I am 20 years old and come from France. I also live in Madrid and live with three Erasmus guys. And...”
• Teacher: “You live with three guys??!? Usually you share the flat but ...”
• Student B: “Yes, I share the flat with them. They are very friendly.”
• Teacher: “And where do they come from?”
• Student B: “They come from France, Spain, and Italy.”
• Teacher: “You are so lucky! Living with one guy is already very good, but with three... That is awesome!”, with a twinkle in her eye.Laughter from the audience.“That is great. And what about your seat neighbour? Do you have male housemates?”
• Student C: “No.”
• Teacher: “What a pity. Then you should go to Juliette because she has three of them.”, another twinkle in her eye.  

In one of my first lessons, the prof asked me, “Do you know what botellón is?” I answered, “No, how do you spell that?” “B-O-T-E-L-L-O-N. It is very important to know that word.” Curious as I was, I typed it in wordreference, an online dictionary. Unfortunately, I could only find botellín which means a small bottel of beer. So I looked it up in a forum and there I got the translation “big bottle”. Very helpful! So I stopped to search for it and followed the lesson. The same day, I asked a friend what botellón meant. Now I know that it is a meeting initiated by a group of young people. They are all equipped with magical liquids and consume these in a public street before they toddle to the main event of that night. Consequently, “hacer botellón” is the equivalent to the German “Vorglühen” or the English “Pre-drinking”. Anyhow, the main purpose is to meet a bunch of like-minded people and enjoy the time while drinking. “Gezellig!”, my Dutch friends would say now.  

Another day, we talked about marketing strategies with another teacher. Our task was to pick a famous brand and analyse it. While we were presenting what we have found out about each brand, the teacher started to talk about a company. He did not know the name but he was sure that it was very popular because of the sex toys. My eyes widened in surprise. And a student came up with the name. So we started to talk about that company that produced sex toys and analysed its marketing strategies.

Of course not all lecturers at UAX are like that, but there is a certain openness that I was not familiar with. Anyhow, I really like the mix of the laid-back and authoritative personality of my Spanish lecturers. That makes the theory more entertaining.

Well that was it for today. I hope you enjoyed reading my post, and feel relieved that you will be fine. Now you know that classes in Spanish and Spanish lecturers are actually awesome! My next post will be about my experiences with the Spanish language. Have a great time wherever you are!

¡Adiós muchachos!

Photo gallery