Our Spanish language student Essa Al Hammadi shares his experience learning at Eton Institute. Here’s a snippet of his language journey, why he decided to learn Spanish and how he intends to use it the workplace.
Hello Essa! Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Hey! Me llamo (my name is) Essa. I’m from Dubai; I was born and raised here. I’m a Commercial Pilot with Emirates Airline. In my free time, I like to scuba dive, skydive, exercise or just be outdoors somewhere.
I speak two languages Arabic and English and I’m currently learning Spanish as my third language.
Why did you decide to learn Spanish?
I’ve been learning Spanish for nearly a year now (sometimes I stop between courses because of my job). The reason why I’m learning it is that I studied in Spain for about a year and I’m really annoyed that I left without learning the language, so I’m starting again now. I use Spanish a lot at work as I have colleagues from different nationalities and many of them are native Spanish speakers. I also fly to Spain and South America often so I will have many opportunities to use my language skills there.
What do you enjoy the most during class?
I enjoy the speaking and interaction between students and the teacher, it allows you to learn from your mistakes. That said, I aspire to reach a level where I can comfortably start and end a conversation in Spanish and I’ll do it as long as it takes me to reach that level.
However, there are quite a few challenges when learning a new language. What is most challenging is that you learn reading and writing faster than speaking. This is because with speaking you have less time to process the words and sentences and to translate them and respond. The only way to overcome that is by practicing speaking and making mistakes which we already do in class but we have to keep practicing outside classes too.
“I aspire to reach a level where I can comfortably start and end a conversation in Spanish and I’ll do it as long as it takes me to reach that level.”
Tip: try to talk and socialize with native speakers if you want to learn Spanish more quickly. In my opinion, this is by far the best way to learn.
What advice do you have for other language learners?
Keep working hard, try to socialize with native speakers and don’t ever be scared or ashamed of mistakes because that is the way to improve. Eton Institute is a great language school. Everyone is helpful and the teachers are really good and experienced. Good luck to everyone!
Learn Spanish and boost your career! Check our courses.