First days of school difficulties

I think that upon my arrival in Europe, I had underestimated heavily the difficulty of being instructed in a language that isn't my maternal language. I had only studied in groups that were specifically tailored for international (english speaking) students, and somehow I came to assume that all classes would be similar.



However, after my first days of class in the University of Seville, I have begun to realize how babied we are by international programs and that real foreign universities are extremely difficult, requiring that every single brain cell functions.

In Spain, we have a kind of syllabus week just like in the U.S. I started off my first class (Comparative Literature) thinking things were going to be fine just like before. I could understand the professor, the concepts were easy, etc.

Then I go to my grammar class.

I sat in the back with a couple of French and German girls, and we all had the same look of "please, kill me now" on our faces. The professor talked a billion kilometers an hour in a very heavy Andalusian accent (which almost anyone will agree is the hardest to understand), and every five minutes we were asking each other, "Qu'est-ce qu'elle a dit?" shaking our heads, "Moi, je sais pas."

My linguistics professor after that class was much easier to understand.  I think she knew that most of her class is all foreign (there are more Germans than Spaniards in my class, I believe), so she spoke very clearly and somewhat slowly (unless she got carried away making a joke and talked at normal speed). However, I'm sad that I love her so much because I think I'm going to have to switch our of her class because I know absolutely nothing (or very little) about linguistics. I now risk being plunged into another class that is completely over my head.

SO so far

Bad thing is: I realize now how poorly I actually understood spanish before.

The good thing is though, I already feel like my spanish comprehension and speaking skills have improved by a billion times just by being in my grammar class for two days.