We decided to hold our first meeting in a place where we could also experience some Finnish aspects – Fazer Café. Once we were able to fix the time (scheduling with a larger group can always be tricky), we all met on Monday evening.
We chose to simultaneously teach / learn from both sides, meaning I taught German and learned Spanish, while my Spanish-speaking friends learned German and taugh Spanish. This method seemed to work well as we were always able to touch on the translations of whatever it was that we were talking about in English at that point.
It was the basics that we focused on, learning how to introduce oneself and counting from 1 to 10 (and a bit above). We also looked at the similarities of the languages in terms of grammar and structure. I was able to learn a bit about the differences between the Spanish spoken in Mexico and in Spain due to the mixed group. This was very interesting to hear. All in all, the group worked well.
There was also an attempt to distinguish the difference between soy and estoy, which apparently is one of the most confusing things in the Spanish language. Soy is used for more permanent stuff, like what you are permanently. Estoy is used for conditions, like what you are right now, but could change…I think. I also finally learned how to count above 5 in Spanish without it then transitioning into Italian, which is what my previous number vocabulary was.
I also showed the difference between German and Swiss German (which is what I speak at home in Switzerland). Since it is an unwritten language, it can be complicated to show this (Ich spreche Schweizerdeutsch vs I rede Schwiizerdütsch). There is still quite a big difference in my opinion. I will stick to teaching “normal” German though!
We had a few coffees and tasted some Finnish liquorice chocolates. I kinda liked them, but I can see how they aren’t for everyone. Definitely better than Salmiakki, that’s for sure.
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