I’ve now been a student in four different countries, as I’m now studying Spanish here in Uruguay. None of this was planned. It just kind of happened.
It’s a very tough language to grasp and I’m not particularly strong with languages, I remember the words but my pronunciation is so shit I might as well not bother. Even a few days ago, I tried to talk to a Uruguayan in Spanish and he didn’t even understand when i said “de donde eres?” which means “where are you from?” his reply was “dont speak english much” to me, he didn’t even realise I was trying my Spanish. Then I learn that here in Uruguay they actually say “de donde sos?”, yes Spanish differs from country to country…
I am living with Perla here in Guana, Parque Rodo an inner suburb of Montevideo. I am attending the local Spanish School which is on Gomez, by Plaza Independencia in the city centre of Montevideo.
I was always fascinated by Uruguay as a child, especially given their football history and to be living here and studying here feels good. I don’t have much time to hang around though so will stay a few weeks, finish my course and get the certificate and then move on. But it would be nice to stay longer.
Uruguay, once dubbed the Switzerland of South America, is certainly a nice place to be right now.
From a 30 year old student…
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That’s cool that you spent some time learning Spanish in Uruguay of all countries. I hear that most backpackers usually spend 4 – 6 weeks in Mexico or Guatemala to get a basic grasp of the language. Any particular reason why you chose Uruguay of all places? Perhaps convenience and the overall beauty of the country?
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Hi Ray, apart from Buenos Aires, Uruguay was the second decent sized city I visited in South America, so it was better to learn it at the start. I have definitely written about this before – the original plan was to study in Bolivia. But by that stage I’d have backpacked 3-4 other Spanish speaking countries and besides, I loved Uruguay. Safe travels. Jonny
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