Today I took my first official test in Spanish school...Actually that's a lie. I already took one, but it was in English class...which is taught in English...sooo that doesn't really count. But today I had a test in Latin...
Now, keep in mind that Latin is somehow my easiest class right now. I understand almost everything in class and I am able to do the homework with almost no problems.
However, when I went in to take that test, I swear my mind went totally blank. I couldn't remember a thing at first. But then after a few minutes of literally just staring at the test and probably looking either crazy or stupid (or quite possibly both), I started to remember things. So, I started the first part of the test, which was conjugating words in their "casos" within 2 different "declinaciones." I have 0 clue how to explain this, so we'll just leave it at that.
But then I moved on to the section that was translating sentences, and there were some that were super easy, like the ones we did in class. But there were other sentences that even the people that KNOW Spanish didn't understand, because there were things she never explained to us, and there were things that were in general just more complicated than anything we've done so far.
Now, I know that's normal. The things on the test are a lot of times a little more in depth and complicated than the things in class. However, when I am struggling to understand the language they're teaching me in, for me, it's kind of a nightmare for them to make it even more difficult than normal.
I was sitting there, so lost on some of the sections, and just thinking to myself: If this is how I feel on the test for the class that I actually understand, how am I supposed to understand anything for, say, History, Literature, Economy...?
But thank God I have a super nice teacher for Latin. She came and asked how I was doing and that's when she saw the look on my face that obviously said Uhm are you dumb? Clearly I have no clue what the hell any of this means...
So she gave me some help with the sentences, pointing me in the right direction, telling me the meaning of some of the words, whether translating from Latin to Castellano (Spanish) or Castellano to English.
And there was a section in which we had to explain "Latin Expressions" in Spanish, and I only understood what three of them meant when they were directly translated. However, I had absolutely no clue how to explain them or what to put for the example. So I had to leave them blank.
I took the whole hour to take the test (actually most people did) and when I gave it to her, she was all like "It's okay, I know this section (Latin Expressions) is really hard for you at this point, don't worry about this section. You're doing extremely well in this class. From what I saw when I was helping you, you did a great job on what you had written on the test...blah blah blah." Of course, all of that was in Spanish...
So, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that test. I know I didn't totally bomb it, because there were things that I understood and knew how to do. Also, as far as the things I didn't know how to do, she helped me with some of them, and others she said not to even worry about at this point. So, I guess I feel alright. But now I'm dreading even more the thought of the other tests...which I'm most definitely going to fail...
Sooooo moral of the story: school here is really damn hard at the beginning....and my grades are literally going to tank.....but hey, I'm having an amazing time, so at this point, it's not bothering me as much as it would have before. I've come to terms with the fact that I can't have everything. I'm having this incredible year in a beautiful place with amazing people (AND DELICIOUS FOOD) but my grades are going to suffer. And yet, I'm okay with that. Because making new friends, finding a new family, living in a new environment, learning a new language, and exploring a new culture is so much more important to me, and I know that for a fact now. So yeah, I guess you could say I'm pretty content.
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