Speak Spanish with Language Exchange Partners

I just got to Spain and I’m a little bit lost. I like don Quijote, it’s a good school and the teachers are patient and nice and they seem to know what they’re talking about. My classmates are from four different countries, and the group-activities we do are engaging.

The city is fantastic, and I plan on traveling around to other places that I know I’m going to love! I’m only going to be here four weeks though, and I’m not sure if I’m going to have enough time to do everything I want to do.

The Spanish people seem friendly, but talking to them in Spanish makes me kind of nervous because I’m worried I’m going to say the wrong thing, and that they’re going to smile at me and think I’m just another foreign student that doesn’t know how to speak right. I have to practice more so I get over my fear of speaking the language.

Vivien, a classmate of mine that got here a week before me, suggested I check out the school notice board to look for an intercambio (language exchange partner). I went and I saw a list of names with phone numbers and languages next to each name. My teacher explained that these are people who want to practice the language they’ve indicated, and they’re willing to help a speaker of that language with their Spanish in exchange. All I have to do is call one of these people’s number and get together with him or her to see how it goes.

Speaking Spanish

I was a little nervous (speaking Spanish isn’t easy, and speaking it over the phone is even harder). I chose Santiago, who said he wants to practice English. I called him and felt very satisfied to find that I could get by pretty well in Spanish. He talks slowly and clearly. We planned to meet at the Café de la Plaza de España at seven to have coffee and get to know each other. I hoped he’d be on time, because Spaniards aren’t known for their punctuality!

I was still nervous when I got to the café ten minutes early (whenever I meet up with people, I always show up too early). I found a table out on the terrace, where I took a seat and ordered a café cortado (I know what it’s called now, because the other day we did a role-play activity in class on how to order in a café or a restaurant). I prepared to wait for a minimum of ten minutes, thinking to myself that I shouldn’t feel disappointed if Santiago got there late. He is after all Spanish, and in Spain time is like Einstein’s theory: relative.

Just a couple of minutes later, before I'd even gotten my café cortado, I saw a guy who looked about 30 years old, smiling and wearing glasses, make his way toward my table (I was glad that he shows up to meet-ups early too). He said:

“Hola, soy Santiago, ¿eres Lawrence?”.

I was happy to get off to a good start. We started talking, and without even noticing, we went from going over things he wanted to know about English to things he asked me (and which I answered) in Spanish. He nicely corrected me a few times… it was pretty cool!