Time transcripts of Alex 

[00:00:00:00]	Interviewer: Please state your name.

[00:00:01:26]	Alex: Alex.

[00:00:03:02]	Interviewer: Is there anything else you'd like  to say about yourself?

[00:00:05:16]	Alex: I'm a freshman  at The Ohio State University. 

[00:00:08:27]	Majoring in Civil Engineering  with a minor in business.

[00:00:12:06]	Interviewer: And what is the subject  of your narrative today?

[00:00:15:16]	Alex: I'm talking about when I felt  that I was most literate in another language

[00:00:20:27]	which took place last spring break  with my high school trip that I took.

[00:00:29:28]	Interviewer: Please continue with your narrative.

[00:00:31:28]	Alex: All right. So, since I was in 4th grade  I have been taking Spanish.

[00:00:37:26]	So, it's like 12 years, 13 years of Spanish.

[00:00:46:09]	And being in the states,  Spanish is kind of like homework. 

[00:00:52:02]	You don't really think about it too much.

[00:00:54:05]	You just kind of copy stuff down.

[00:00:55:07]	You don't really talk in Spanish outside of class

[00:00:58:29]	or you don't really talk in Spanish  that much during class

[00:01:03:04]	even though your teacher wants you to.

[00:01:04:29]	So, I never really had the opportunity to see 

[00:01:09:17]	if I could actually talk in Spanish  for a long period of time

[00:01:14:23]	until spring break my senior year.

[00:01:17:21]	My orchestra and I went on a trip to Spain.

[00:01:23:28]	Specifically, Barcelona, Toledo, and Madrid.

[00:01:26:08]	And that was the first time  that I really got to use my Spanish at all.

[00:01:33:06]	We got there, and Madrid was our first stop,

[00:01:38:02]	then we went to Barcelona.

[00:01:39:08]	More people speak Spanish in Madrid,

[00:01:41:12]	so the first 3 or 4 days that we were there,

[00:01:44:14]	any shop I would go into or restaurant, 

[00:01:48:06]	even the tour guides that we had  I would talk to in Spanish.

[00:01:52:24]	And it was actually really cool because  I didn't have to think about it too much 

[00:01:58:07]	cause in class you know  you're learning all these big vocab words

[00:02:03:13]	and all this crazy stuff, 

[00:02:04:14]	but you already know most of what you need to know without actually realizing it.

[00:02:10:04]	So, it was pretty easy to communicate with them.

[00:02:12:27]	There were a couple hold ups, but it was straightforward for the most part.

[00:02:19:06]	And they understood me.

[00:02:20:06]	It was a really cool experience 

[00:02:23:06]	because for how ever many years you think  that you're not actually learning Spanish 

[00:02:28:14]	when it turns out you can. 

[00:02:30:21]	I remember the first day that we were there

[00:02:36:05]	we went into this little shop,

[00:02:37:05]	and the guy that was serving us  got really pissed off 

[00:02:41:26]	cause nobody spoke Spanish except me.

[00:02:45:08]	And I wasn't really talking. 

[00:02:46:16]	We wanted separate checks  and it was just like this little pub.

[00:02:50:04]	It would take like 40 minutes  for him to do separate checks.

[00:02:53:02]	And so, I had a five minute conversation with him 

[00:02:56:21]	apologizing on behalf of the 20 kids  that walked in there and ordered food. [ laughing ]

[00:03:02:19]	And, we just did it all on one check.

[00:03:05:03]	We had a teacher there that was supervising

[00:03:08:04]	and she paid for the whole thing

[00:03:09:17]	and then we all just paid her.

[00:03:10:16]	The guy in the shop was so thankful that somebody spoke a word of Spanish.

[00:03:16:05]	And from there on and on,  it got easier and easier.

[00:03:20:19]	My accent improved, I came back 

[00:03:22:20]	and it was like oh my God,  you can speak Spanish.

[00:03:25:18]	So, since then I've lost it a little bit,

[00:03:32:14]	but I can still pick it up fairly easily.

[00:03:34:19]	It's something that I want to pursue,

[00:03:38:25]	and I'm hoping to take classes here at Ohio State  in the next year or two.

[00:03:43:29]	Granted my schedule fits it in.

[00:03:47:03]	So, that was when I felt I was literate in Spanish.

[00:03:53:11]	I felt that way since,

[00:03:55:06]	and I know that regardless of how ever much time past, I can still pick it up.

[00:04:02:04]	Interviewer: Is there anything you'd like to add?

[00:04:05:17]	Alex: Not that I can think of, no.

[00:04:08:29]	Interviewer: All right. Thank you.

[00:04:11:10]	Alex: Your welcome.