Author Archives: Lily Altman

About Lily Altman

Spanish major, education minor. Certificate in Civic Engagement and Public Service

Service Learning at Fort River Elementary School in Amherst

I had the experience of participating in service-learning with Fort River Elementary School. In 2019, Fort River piloted a bilingual elementary school program starting with two kindergarten classrooms. One classroom would spend the morning in Spanish and the afternoon in English and the other class would participate in the opposite way. Going into this service-learning, I had some previous in-school learning with Danielle Thomas in Spanish 357. In this class, we discussed differences in ways that Anglo Americans communicate with each other versus Hispano Americans. I was told that I was in the school to promote speaking Spanish in the hallways and to be a Spanish-speaking role model to the children. I spent some time in the Spanish kindergarten classroom and got to help children with their work. I also played games in Spanish during recess such as “Simón Dice” and talked with the kids during lunch. I developed my listening skills because the pronunciation was difficult to understand and I expanded my vocabulary so I would have things to talk about with the children such as every different species of animal.

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Reflecting on Studying Abroad in Granada

Reflections and Advice for Studying Abroad

I was nervous about so many things before studying abroad. Will I make friends? Will my host family be creepy or weird? Will I be robbed? Am I packing enough clothes? Will the Spaniards make fun of my accent?

I wish so badly that someone told me to stop worrying about the future because you have no idea what is going to happen. Just focus on the excitement of a new experience.

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