Diary of a Beginner in Salamanca

My name is Lee and I'm from county Wicklow in Ireland. This is the story of my first Spanish class

Upon arriving in Spain from Ireland, I knew how to say:

Hola, por favor, gracias and no habla español! Clearly, I was a complete beginner! As many of you may remember, it can be quite intimidating arriving in a country where you don't speak the language. making the trip from the airport to Salamanca involved my map, phrase book and lots of patience on behalf of the helpful Spanish locals! But I got here, and arrived at my host family on the Sunday night and began to adapt to the life of a Spaniard!

Day 1:

I was accompanied to the don Quijote school on Monday morning by my Spanish Madre (presumably so that I couldn't get lost). All new students were welcomed to the school and then taken on a guided tour of the area. This was good for finding our bearings as well as learning a bit about the history of the town. On our return to the school, we were divided into our class groups and given a welcome pack and timetable. Lessons commenced the same day and we began to slowly learn the basics.

That evening, a welcome dinner was held in the don Quijote school garden. This was a great way for the students to get to know each other. Afterwards, we went on to a local nightspot, where some of us enjoyed the fiesta until the wee hours of the morning!

Here I am at the welcome dinner after my first day of class