Activities usually ended before 8:30 p.m. as the Spanish eat dinner late. During that week, we really enjoyed ourselves. Everyday we kept speaking to people surrounding us: teachers, the host families, shop assistants, etc. They only spoke Spanish, which increased our oral speaking skills greatly; we studied grammar of higher levels in class, broadening our knowledge; we experienced the real traditional life of Spanish people in Salamanca, enjoying a joyful holiday with five meals a day.

During the weekend, we went to Madrid to feel the prosperity of the large city. We also climbed the mountains nearby, like we were doing IA again. In the museums, we improved our listening skills when we tried hard to comprehend what the tour guide was talking about. In this way we also learnt about the historical background of this country, feeling the glory and the slump of it from our deeper mind.

Weekdays were time for courses. When we got up in the morning, beams of sunlight penetrated through the curtains, falling on my bed, which gave a vague feeling of autumn. The weather there was really agreeable, a little bit like winter in Shenzhen.

In the morning, you may feel a bit cold; while when it comes to the noon, the sun starts to warm up the whole world, yet it is not as scorching as that of summer. There is a Chinese traditional poem that describes the charm of West Lake in Hangzhou, saying that it is always beautiful no matter how you polish it. It also resembles Spain, while it’s a pity that it can’t be translated into English properly.

In general, it is the nice weather and conditions of Spain that influence the way of life for Spanish people. No wonder there is no people sitting in the squares and enjoying tea in Shenzhen — it is unbearably hot!

We arrived at Tia Tula and got ready for our lessons. Professors here only taught in Spanish. As a result, we could clearly feel our weakness in speaking and listening at the beginning.

Though luckily I achieved good results last semester, my oral speaking needed improvement. We’re pretty clear that there is no shortcut in the language learning process. Only practice makes perfect. The language immersion environment is really beneficial to beginners especially.

At first, we didn’t even understand what our host family said at home; while after only a few days, we were able to comprehend the laconic introduction made by the tour guide in the museum. That was really marvelous!