Spanish as a memory exercise
Spanish as Memory Training
For over 20 years, Rudi Vanloock led CVO Tervuren-Hoeilaart, now Crescendo CVO, Campus Tervuren in Tervuren. His days were filled with planning, organizing, looking ahead, tackling and solving problems, and more. Recently, he closed that chapter. At the same time, he rediscovered his passion for languages and started taking Spanish lessons. As a Germanist and linguist, language has always been a central theme in his life. For Rudi, language is not only a means of communication but also a way to keep the mind sharp.
Rudi Vanloock: “I speak German, English, French, and Dutch and wanted to learn a new language, preferably in Tervuren out of fondness for the center. When traveling, the local language opens many doors. The Spanish lessons, level 3, on Monday mornings fit well into my schedule. Learning a language is a great way for me to train my memory: I practice the vocabulary two to three times a week. During class, grammar is thoroughly explained, and we are given time to practice it. The exercises ensure that you also work on Spanish at home. We have access to a blog with lesson preparations and exercises. Some exercises, such as BookWidgets, are corrected automatically. For creative tasks like writing and speaking, feedback is given later.”
Cultural Immersion
“From the very first lesson, everything is in Spanish. Almost no Dutch is spoken, except occasionally to translate a word. The listening exercises are sometimes difficult for me to follow, especially because Spanish in Spain is spoken so quickly. We also learn about the culture and customs in Spain and South America and had the opportunity to participate in a study trip to Mexico. Participants noticed that the speaking pace there was slower than in the listening exercises during class, which made the conversations much easier to follow. Seeing mouth movements and facial expressions also helped.”
Unraveling Language Structure
“As a linguist, I am fascinated by the structure of a language. Yesterday, we discussed the word pescar (to fish) in class and explored all its derivatives, such as fish, fisherman, and fishmonger. This shows how words are formed. The lessons are quite intensive: often, at the end of the morning session, we have to review our notes to reconstruct what we started three hours earlier. It can be a bit shocking to see how much material has been covered. Yet, few students drop out. Most participants learn Spanish to use it during vacations. Although for me it is really a hobby, I look forward to each week’s lesson because of the enjoyable atmosphere in our group.”