I am a member of Spanish National Honor Society. We (Spanish National Honor Society) have

been teaching Spanish to fifth graders at Oakville Elementary for four weeks. If I had to describe

my experience, I would describe it as interesting. We only have twenty five minutes each day

and we go Mondays and Wednesdays. The first day that we went was crazy. These kids are a

very diverse group. Some prefer to participate more than others, which is challenging. We have

had problems with kids who do not want to participate. One kid told us “I would rather be

learning German because I know it” and then my friend asked her if she spoke German, in

German, and the kid looked dumbfounded, needless to say that the kid did not know the

language. Most of the kids, however, have been very interested in learning the little bit of

Spanish that we are able to teach them. It also probably helps that we, as teenagers, are teaching

them because the kids look up to us. It is funny to listen to the kids try and pronounce the

Spanish words because some of the words are butchered. However, their pronunciations have

given me greater respect for first year Spanish teachers, and all teachers, who have to deal with

us butchering the language every day. Overall, I think this experience at Oakville Elementary has

been worthwhile for us as well as the children. The kids learned basic Spanish, but more

importantly they were exposed to the language. With this exposure, I hope the kids will want to

go to high school and take Spanish, or even another language. Kids at this age are very

impressionable and I hope that we have made a good (hopefully lasting) impression on them.