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The Tranquilo Traveler

The Tranquilo Traveler is a celebration of voluntourism, slow travel, and other interesting ways to see the world. Travel writer and award- winning Moon Handbooks author Joshua Berman created The Tranquilo Travel as a resource for world trippers and international volunteers, a window to the author’s travels in Nicaragua, Belize, and beyond, and an update of his books and articles.
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¡Hola Lola! The importance of learning—and teaching—a second language

Username By Joshua | September 17th, 2008 | Comments 2 Comments »

A few weeks ago, I added “Spanish Teacher” to my list of day jobs. I am teaching grades 1 through 7, exposing them to the language, the culture, and the rhythm. I learned to speak Spanish when I was 24, in a Peace Corps language boot camp where I lived with a Nicaraguan family and drilled with a personal language instructor for eight hours a day. I’m happy that, once again, my life is awash in Español—this time in games, poetry, storytelling, canciones infantiles, and a puppet named Lola.

¡Hola Lola! — ¡Muy bien, clase! — ¡Excelente!

In the words of one of my new colleagues, “I love teaching children about another culture and another language. It’s like planting a seed for greater tolerance, which has the potential to expand their awareness of world citizenship.”

Related: Budget Travel article I wrote about Spanish schools in Nicaragua

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2 Responses to “¡Hola Lola! The importance of learning—and teaching—a second language”

Steven Roll | September 25th, 2008 at 6:53 pm | comment link
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That sounds like an awesome experience. I have no trips planned at present. But one way I keep my limited Spanish skills sharp is to listen to free podcasts of Spanish lessons. My favorites are Coffee Break Spanish and Spanish Pod. They are both available for free on iTunes.

Claire Walter | September 26th, 2008 at 9:01 am | comment link
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Lucky, lucky kids to learn a second language so early. I grew up bi-lingually, and my German is fluent. My French, which I “learned” in high school and took for 2 years in college, has retreated to the adolescent level of present tense/simple past tense/limited vocabulary. It’s serviceable but hardly fluent.

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