Chile: The Parallel Progression of Spanish Speaking and Kayaking

Alzar School | 14.03.16

As our time in the Lake District comes to a close, we have traveled 5 hours south to embark on our final Chilean expeditions. Our time in the Lake District was split up between the students focusing on cultural exchange and improving their technical kayak skills.

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For some of the students, this is their first time in a foreign country and also their first time in a kayak. Skills in both of these are built by a progression; for example, in the student’s Spanish A classes, they learned vocabulary appropriate for the environment that they were in. When we were flying into Santiago, the students were learning airplane vocabulary and words that they would need in order to travel through an airport.

Students of all levels of Spanish speaking ability have had room to grow and improve; not just the beginners. Through conversational challenges in the towns and interacting with the locals in soccer games, students have been pushed out of their comfort zones in order to improve their fluency. Both beginner and advanced students need a foundation of basic skill that they can build upon in order to improve overall.

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Like this progression of confidence in a foreign language, the students who were new to kayaking also needed to start from a foundation of skill in order to grow. Students in Choshuenco spent time practicing the basic paddle strokes of kayaking on the flat water of the lake before going out on the white water of the Rio Fue and the Enco. Students also learned how to safely exit a kayak and some mastered their roll.

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These past few weeks in the Lake District of Chile have been essential in the progression of the students’ confidence in cultural exchange as well as their confidence on the water. These skills are not learned and perfected overnight; it takes time to build upon past experiences in order to master a certain amount of expertise in these skills.

This final expedition on the Petrohue River challenges students to use the basic skills they have learned on the lake and rivers in Choshuenco. This river is larger and faster than what they have been training on, and will help them further improve their skills for the waters of Idaho.

I know that this growth is only the beginning for these students, with both kayaking and Spanish speaking. Students will continue to learn not only in their Spanish classes, but also on the water in Idaho. Chile has been just a glimpse of what these students are capable of; I look forward to continue to watch them exceed my expectations.

Here is a video summing up our highlights in Choshuenco and Neltume!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7innJTxn9w&feature=youtu.be