Spanish Club: About My Enrichening Experience
Dear teachers and language club hosts💗
Maria Soledad BancoffTranslator & Lecturer
Hosting a Spanish Club was certainly one of the most rewarding yet challenging experiences I’ve had in the last time. I decided to share this entry in English, as I think it could be useful for hosts of different languages.
I must say Belgrade 💖 grew on me; it drove me towards new
possibilities. One of them was hosting a Spanish Club: I gave it a try the
first time, and it actually went really well! It was a relaxing and alternative
space for creating a new kind of learning environment. The main challenge of this
event was the daily uncertainty about the attendant’s number and level. So, to broaden
the possibilities of us having a good time, I prepared easy and FUN games to play,
and some questions to trigger debates about random and interesting topics. I
suggested a different game and topic every week and, luckily, it couldn’t go
better!
After the first positive experience, I felt so comfy that I really felt the call to host another Spanish club and
build a community in Belgrade. So, in my month in Bulgaria, I contacted the hostel
manager in Belgrade -SHE was the BEST!- to host the club again. Surprisingly, she told
me there were prospective attendants for my class!. This lead me to think: why
not inviting people to a themed Spanish Club. November was coming soon, and
with it a very special Mexican celebration in the Spanish speaking world: El Día
de los Muertos.
This time, I prepared a planning, a cover image for my FB
page and for FB events, and ideas to be able to provide learners from different
levels with a fun learning experience. I though that if true beginners joined,
they could pair with more experienced learners and collaborate with each other
(and actually that was what happened). The attendants ranged from true
beginners to native Spanish speakers (even a very cool Mexican guy showed up, and
he was kind enough to tell us all about his upbringing and experience celebrating
the Día de los Muertos in Mexico).
We learned about alebrijes, calaveritas literarias, la Llorona, the altar and all the rich cultural content of this celebration. In my experience, here in Belgrade, where the community of Spanish learners is quite big and self-sufficient, having a theme, a plan, and some hints about our meeting was definitly much more engaging for all of as that just joining to talk. I don't think it's the same in every location, though.
My Advice for Language Club Hosts
Bear in mind that hosting a Language Club (especially at a hostel), is
quite different from delivering regular classes. In my perspective, the main
difference is that in a Language Club you must be ready to constantly adjust
your contents to your attendants’ number and level by 90% more than in your daily classes. So, in order to host a good
quality language club, you have to be really well prepared, ready to think out
of the box, and have a problem-solving attitude, because it will always be a new
adventure.
Take a look at my IG and FB page to see more photos and
videos of my club, and feel free to ask me any question. Also, only
for USD 7.99 get all my outline, planning and materials to host your own Día de
los Muertos themed club in Spanish. (the materials were designed for 4 meet-ups).
I hope you find my experience useful to prepare and host
your own Spanish Club at your current location! I’m looking forward to hosting
my next club in my next destination, and sharing more adventures soon.
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