Conversations in Spanish Bring Students, Volunteers Together

It’s first period at Issaquah High School and Joel Petersen’s Spanish 2 students are arriving for class in the library, where they’re gathering for a special year-end experience. Waiting at tables around the room are eight native Spanish speakers who volunteered to come talk with students in Spanish. 

“My idea is to get kids talking to native speakers and engaging in conversations with the community,” said Petersen, who provided each student with a “pasaporte hispanohablante” or Spanish-speaking passport. At each table, a small group of students spoke in Spanish, either asking the volunteer questions or answering questions from the volunteer. Then, the volunteers signed their passports and the groups of students rotated to the next station. 

The idea for this activity stems from Petersen’s belief that communicating in a foreign language is important, and that communication, even at a novice level, is much more important than translation or spelling. “My goal is for all students to feel confident communicating in Spanish, even if it isn´t perfect, and that they know a sincere effort will be met with a sincere response,” he said, noting that he plans to offer the activity each year as a capstone or culminating project and possibly expand it to Spanish 1 as well. 

This project isn’t the first brainstorm Petersen has had to offer his students authentic opportunities to engage face-to-face with native Spanish speakers. He also organizes annual food truck visits to the high school so that his Spanish students can practice ordering from a menu in Spanish. 

Around the library, conversations ranged from basic greetings such as “¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás?” (Hello! How are you?) to asking one another what they enjoy doing for fun, what kinds of music they enjoy, favorite foods, how many brothers or sisters they have, sports they enjoy, what types of pets they have, summer plans and more. At one table, a volunteer offered tips about spelling and phrasing in Spanish. After asking the student to try that phrase again, he grinned widely and gave the student a fist bump. 

Afterward, ninth grader Ollie Barquist said, “It was really fun, and it felt like what I learned in Mr. P (Petersen)’s class was useful.” Other students shared their reactions: 

• Sebas Csonaki, 10th grade: “It was a lot of fun talking to people from all over the world.” 
• Chris Brown, 10th grade: “It was great to get experience having conversations with Spanish speakers.”  
• Tessa Miller, ninth grade: “It was fun to meet so many different people.” 
• Darren Lian, ninth grade: “It was good to use all the vocabulary, words and questions I learned during the school year.”  
• Owen Hornschemeier, 10th grade: “I liked getting to talk to people from all over. 
• Arman Herzog, 10th grade: “It was a good and interactive way to practice our Spanish.”  
• Morgan Stromberg 11th grade: “The activity made me think in Spanish and have to come up with responses.” 

Some of the students said it was interesting to learn that Spanish speakers from different countries have different meanings for the same words. Ninth grader Emmaline Chiou noted that one of the volunteers who is Mexican said he sometimes doesn’t understand what a volunteer from Argentina was saying. Chiou also said the experience made her less nervous about talking in Spanish with native speakers. Several students said they hope to communicate in Spanish during their travels this summer, or with extended family members who speak Spanish. 

The volunteers said they enjoyed talking with the Spanish students. "I liked the way they shared their favorite place, food and a favorite thing they like to do,” Elvia Escobar said.  

The students spoke Spanish well enough that they impressed some of the volunteers like Venus Requena, who commented on their speech and pronunciation. 

Grecia Carrero agreed and said she loved that the students weren’t shy. “I think they are very good in Spanish,” Carrero added. 

If you are a Spanish speaker and would like to volunteer next year, please email Mr. Petersen.