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Sep 16

Adapting to a new culture

By Juan Rosa Melendez, Spanish tutor at Spanish Blackbelt language school, Brooklyn, NY

My passion for art, dances and languages has given me a lot of satisfaction and the chance to meet people from all over the world. That allowed me to become familiar with different cultures and their gastronomy, music and traditions. It also made possible for me to meet people and socialize with them, but also to have better job opportunities and to expand my dreams.

Before coming to New York, I had been living with my extended family in Venezuela for more than 7 years. Living in Venezuela, far away from my close family, was the first experience I had immersing in a country with a mixture of cultures. I now think that experience well prepared me, a traditional Peruvian girl, for my cultural immersion in NY, this time alone, a few years later.

As a Latina and Spanish Blackbelt tutor in New York, I now feel very proud to teach the Spanish Language. Every class is a journey. My Spanish students and I enjoy an atmosphere of intercultural exchange. Some students talk about the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River while I talk about Macchu Picchu and the Urubamba River in Cuzco, Peru. Some have given me lists of many good restaurants where to eat the best pizza in New York and I have encouraged them to eat at the best Hispanics restaurants and try some sangria and “pollo a la brasa” from Peru.

I celebrate my students’ interest in my language and culture. I see satisfaction in their eyes when they are finally able to communicate their ideas in Spanish and understand aspects of my culture they didn’t know before. It reminds me of my own journey. In my case, for example, all my effort and dedication to learn English while I was in Peru and Venezuela was rewarded when I was finally able to communicate my ideas, feelings and thoughts to others, in English, here in the United States. Learning English opened doors for me to get to know the American culture. And the more I learned abut the culture, the more I got involved into the language.

Learning about other cultures is an adventure. The most important thing is to always respect each other and embrace our differences. Everybody is proud of their roots. For example, in New York, the diversity of people from all over the world is huge, but we all fit together in this great City. The Spanish community is growing in a fast pace and many people are now involved in Spanish lessons, not only to socialize but also to get better opportunities in life. No matter where I go, my culture will go with me, and is both, an honor and a responsibility, to always show the best of my beloved Spanish Culture to others.

Teaching Spanish, dancing and having appreciation for other cultures has given me a lot of smiles and joy in my life. I just wish now the same to my students. 

Posted 1 year ago

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spanish tutor, language school, Spanish culture, cultural immersion, latina, teach spanish, spanish class, spanish language, spanish lessons, spanish student, submission,

May 21

My Experience With Cultural Immersion

By Guilianna Zamora, Spanish Tutor at Spanish Blackbelt Language School, Boston, MA

     The experience of getting to know another culture can be exciting and rewarding, but it can also be very difficult. How can you best come to understand and fit into another culture? How can you share your own culture with others? As a Catholic Peruvian woman married to a Jewish American man, I ask (and answer!) these questions every day. Intercultural marriage takes a lot work, dedication and commitment. As part of an intercultural marriage, I constantly work hard to understand and fit in with another culture, but along the way I’ve learned a great deal about myself and my own culture.

            When I first met Jon in my hometown of Cuzco, Peru, it was exciting to see that we had more similarities than differences.  Even though it was very obvious for the rest to see we were very different.  I will always remember my first conversation with him talking about our families. Jon told stories about his family with great love. He affectionately described each member of his family. So I realized that family values for both of us were essential. Among other things that also captured my attention were  his passion for his studies as a mechanical engineer, and his enthusiasm about climbing and hiking in the mountains of California.  While I had these conversations with him, I noticed how interested he was to learn about my culture and my language. 

          In some cases, there are real differences between our cultures that are difficult to adapt to. For example, while Americans consider dinner the most important meal to share with family, Peruvians treasure lunch as an opportunity to bring families together and share a feast. In the morning before lunch each day, my mom used to cook delicious dishes such as papa a la huancaina, ceviche, arroz con pollo, lomo saltado, ají de gallina and other traditional Peruvian dishes. At two in the afternoon my dad would walk home across town from work, my brother from school, and I from the university, and we would eat together over lively conversation. After that each of us would return to our duties. When I moved to the United States I found that the tradition was very different. Here lunch is a meal of convenience. It’s very common to eat a sandwich, a slice of pizza, salad or a burrito and have just a few minutes to eat it. People often commute long distances for work and would never consider coming home in the middle of the day. While this is a cultural difference that I am not used to yet, Jon and I decided to integrate our cultures. For instance we often cook dinner together, sometimes Peruvian food (one of Jon’s favorite foods). We pray before the meal and we share our stories of the day, sometimes speaking English and sometimes Spanish.

            Over time we have learned that life can be fun when we embrace each other’s culture and enjoy our differences. This was exemplified by our wedding day in which our families united in a celebration with both American and Peruvian traditions. Our wedding was held in an ancient mountain town called Yucay near my hometown of Cusco, Perú. The priest who led our ceremony invited my father-in-law to say traditional Jewish prayers in Hebrew. During the reception, our fathers gave their speeches in their own language one line at a time, giving Jon and I time to translate for our American and Peruvian guests. It was fun to watch our American and Peruvian friends manage to communicate with each other despite their language differences, to see our American friends enjoy a Peruvian feast, and to dance to popular songs in both Spanish and English.

            After almost ten years together we have had many fun cross-cultural experiences. Jon was thrilled to go to a huge soccer game in Lima with my family, and I got to celebrate when Jon’s home team won my first Super Bowl. I took him hiking in the Andes while he took me hiking around Lake Tahoe. I showed him around Lima, while he gave me a tour of Washington, DC. Jon learned to dance salsa while I learned to dance hip hop. Furthermore speaking different languages ​​has given us a great asset because it has made us ​​bilinguals. This has allowed us to integrate and interact very easily in  various social situations as well as in our professional fields. For instance Jon was working last winter on a project in Colombia where he used his Spanish extensively. I have worked in the hospitality business for many years and studied in United State, and have found it essential to speak English well. As Spanish tutor I feel very fortunate to teach my language and my culture to others as I did with my husband.

            Immersing yourself in another culture is not easy. It requires extra effort and major commitment. We have learned in our marriage, though, that every challenge we overcome strengthens our relationship. During our time together, we have learned a lot about each other and the cultures we come from, and we keep our eyes open for fun and rewarding ways to bring our cultures together. We have learned that the difficulties involved in getting to know another culture are worth it.

Posted 2 years ago

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