¡Viva México, Distrito Federal!

Many of us spent July and August strapping on a backpack, rafting, or pulling weeds out of our vegetable gardens. But one On-campus student headed for the biggest, highest, and most historic national capital in the Western hemisphere: Mexico City. Désirée Dorsainvil designed an independent study titled “Spanish Language Immersion” for summer block and spent three and a half weeks living with a local family, attending Spanish language classes, and roaming the important cultural sites of the vast city, camera in hand.

Although Désirée reported that her whirlwind visit to México, D.F. was “largely overwhelming”, the blog she kept as a learning journal shows that she made great strides in her beginner’s knowledge of Spanish and more than held her own in an intensely urban setting. 

The IS “was an amazing introduction” to both the Spanish language and Mexican culture, wrote Désirée in her self-evaluation. She added that the experience “will certainly propel my continuation of Spanish language studies beyond this course.” 

True to her word, Désirée is continuing to practice and develop her Spanish speaking skills this fall with a second independent study in Intermediate Spanish with Spanish mentor and graduate teaching assistant Emily Affolter. 

Another On-campus student, Michael Broad, is joining Désirée and Emily as they engage with the local Spanish-speaking population through two community groups, Latino-Anglo Alianza and the Prescott Plaza Comunitaria. The opportunity to speak and interact in Spanish about real world matters is alive and well right here in Prescott, as Désirée and Michael have found out thanks to Emily’s connections to local Latino advocates.

Prescott College will offer an intermediate course in Spanish for Spring 2013 and an immersion block course at the Kino Bay Research Station. If you have questions about how to further your Spanish language skills, contact the Learning Commons World Languages Initiative to learn about your options.