One Step at a Time

Lo siento. Mas despacio, por favor...

After my trip to Instituto Cervantes this morning, it seems apparent I’d have to enroll at Instituto Cervantes quite soon.

And it may be best to start at Level 1.

Ana says so.

Ana is a staff at Instituto Cervantes who attended to me this morning. Actually, she is probably not just a staff as she had a room to herself, equipped and furnished quite similar to the rooms of some partners in my former law firm. She could have been the headmistress.

It was not quite easy to find Instituto’s new location. They have moved from their Leon Guinto corner Estrada Street building just this June to this new address at 855 Kalaw Street which actually not along the main Kalaw Street, as coming from Roxas Boulevard, you had to cross Taft Avenue, go past Masagana Superstore and find the building right beside Casino Espanol. I can see that their new building is architecturally pleasing to the eye. Plus, they have a swimming pool at their courtyard! The building has that academic feeling, bringing me back to my wonderful memories from school. I miss going to school, I realized that this morning at Instituto.

Of course, schools are not just about pleasant classrooms and interesting libraries. They are also about recitations and nerve-wracking tests, and I seemed to forget that. I actually went to Instituto today to have a diagnostic test to determine which on level I should start. Before I went there, I was told by a friend who’s been attending Instituto that there are actually 24 levels and she has already finished level 5, at which level she could already read texts but still couldn’t converse very, very well. Hearing that, I was quite relieved because I thought I had to finish at least 10 levels to be able to say I’m conversant in spoken and written Spanish, and that would take me 2 ½ months per level if I attend the Saturday classes only. I was hoping I’d qualify to skip even a few of the initial levels to save on time and money. Thus, my trip to Instituto today.

As soon as I stepped inside the administration office of Instituto, I was reminded what tests are all about. I was quite intimidated by the fact that, except for the security guard, I haven’t encountered another person who wasn’t speaking in Spanish. After waiting for a few minutes, I was ushered in by Ana inside her office. Still not an English word spoken. She said, “Me llamo Ana” and stared at me, seeming to expect an answer. After some dead air, I figured I had to say “Me llamo Mary Rose.” She went on to ask me, still in Spanish, where I studied Spanish. She went on and on with her questions, still in Spanish. Nobody told me the diagnostic test was an interview! Talking about not being prepared. Needless to say, I only went as far as partially answering her question why I wanted to learn Spanish. For the first time in my life I was embarrassed to be speaking in English. Think about those times when, while you were still learning English, someone talks to you in English and you are aching to express yourself in Tagalog. That’s how it was in my interview.

I thought the exam would be written, and if I had known it was an oral exam, I wouldn’t have thought of taking it in the first place cause I know very well that I could understand a bit of written and spoken Spanish but definitely couldn’t express myself verbally.

And so, Ana gave the verdict, saying “It may be best to start at Level 1.” Since I also wanted to know if there will be classes in the Ortigas Building, I filled up a form and gave it to her. They are supposed to contact me if there will be enough students enrolling in Ortigas for them to create a class. If there won’t be any class in Ortigas, I think I’ll still enroll in their main office. I’d love to go to class again in a proper classroom. Hopefully, I’ll learn fast enough to be able to enjoy their library, libraries being my eternal favorite place.