English Chat

What do you get when you mix a dozen or so Chileans and a family of gringos in a room at the cultural center? English Chat! Tonight was our first night of weekly 7-8pm meetings to practice English, learn new phrases and chat in English.

Since we've moved here, people as diverse as an auto dealer, an officer at the Castro naval base and the checkout lady at the supermarket have all asked us if we would give English lessons. My hunch is that many employers reward language skill. As well, Castro has a good sized tourism business in the summer. After a taxi driver asked if we'd give lessons, Mike instigated a weekly language exchange between the two of them. Meanwhile Lisa was looking for a way to get out of the house now that school is on vacation. If we were in Cambridge, we would put up fliers saying meet in this or that coffee house. Castro doesn't really have coffee houses, and bars that allow smoking (i.e., all of them) are restricted to adults. Someone told Lisa that rooms in the Centro Cultural can be reserved for classes and seminars. The ladies at the cultural center were enthusiastic, and merchants on the main street were quite willing to post fliers in their front windows. The only question left was... Would anyone come?

When we arrived at five before seven, about six people were already and waiting. A rare moment, the gringos were not the first to arrive! In the next ten minutes about ten more folks came in. We started the chat with an introduction in English and Spanish. We figured some of our Spanish would break the ice and make folks feel more comfortable with their English. Our group was pretty diverse across ages and language proficiency. A college student and a high school student who spoke English quite well chatted with Mike about music, sports, veterinary school, Temuco, and getting settled on Chiloé. Lisa talked with a larger, intermediate group about a variety of topics: How to give directions around Castro, Babysitting versus take the kids out with you till 2am, Insulate your house versus wear a hat inside, and whatever else someone wanted to know or crossed Lisa's mind. The hour flew by before we knew it. English Chat will be repeated next Wednesday . It looks like we have finally come up with something to give back to Castro as a thank you for all the help folks have given us.

If you would like to help the efforts of the Castro consulate of Gringolandia, mail a postcard with a scene from your part of Gringolandia to Embajada de Gringolandia, PO Box 161, Castro Chile. Visual aids are always a welcome teaching tool or conversation starter.