It’s one thing to learn another language. It’s a whole other world to be intelligent in that language.

I have “successfully” completed my first two weeks of school. I put that in quotes because there were some mishaps along the way, but I have so far worked to the best of my abilities, and I suppose that is all you can hope for when you’re taking graduate-level classes in a foreign language in a class of students who are native speakers of the language. I am taking the following classes:

“Comunicación de Masas” (Mass Communication). This is an introductory class that teaches about the theories and history of mass communication. Throughout the semester we will be applying the various theories we learn through analysis projects of various mass media (newspaper articles, media company structures, television shows, etc.) and the tools they use.

“Investigación Cuantitativa” (Quantitative Research). This is a research class that discusses and applies quantitative mass media research methods, like surveys and laboratory experiments.

“Seminario de Comunicación Organizacional” (Organizational Communication Seminar). This class is of particular interest to me, since I worked for a nonprofit for the last year. We will learn and discuss the most effective communication strategies for an organization (both internal and external), while studying various cases. I also like this class because naturally we will discuss barriers in intercultural communication, and therefore the best ways to accommodate other cultures from a communications perspective.

“Nuevas Tecnologías: Implicaciónes e Impacto” (New Technologies: Implications and Impact). The title is pretty self-explanatory. I think I would like this class a little bit more if the book we were reading wasn’t essentially a science book (well, the history and development of science). Imagine having to read a science book in Spanish, when you’re studying communication...

Salsa Dance: Of course! You can’t be in Mexico without taking salsa, right? :)

Truth be told, I love my classes. The teachers are wonderful, great teachers, and very helpful and willing to accommodate my less-than-perfect Spanish. I’m really glad I chose to study communication, also. The material being taught is so interesting, and although they didn’t offer any intercultural/international communications classes this semester, because we are in Mexico (so close to the U.S. and also housing thousands and thousands of internationals) and also because of the topics of the classes, we can’t help but discuss communication and use examples from an international perspective.

Although I am able to follow a good bit of what is being taught in class, and can pick up enough to definitely get the jist and most important parts of everything, it is still going to take some adjusting getting used to classes being taught in Spanish. As I entitled this blog post, it really is a whole other ballgame to be expected to think critically in a language that is not your first. Up till now, I’ve only really had classes on the Spanish language itself (grammar and conversation), which drilled me to perfect my Spanish – to be able to speak and write well. Now, I’m forced to put behind me the focus on the language that my teachers here are speaking, and move past that – move into actual comprehension of the ideas, theories, and analysis being discussed. I bring my Spanish-English dictionary to class with me everyday to look up various vocabulary words that come up during class, and I try to take advantage of the fact that the classes are being taught in Spanish to perfect my Spanish listening skills, but in order to fully absorb the material being taught, I need to move past that. I know it will come with time, so I’m not going to be too hard on myself, but I thought I’d give you all some insight into the world of the sincere mastery of another language. And hey, I am proud to say that I have read – and understood the general jist of - the first three chapters of a Spanish science book! Now if only I can master the vocab of the region, next time I will do my homework correctly instead of assuming that “dos cuartillos” means “two paragraphs” (turns out it means “two pages”...whoops!).