Mi Nuevo Instituto

Since I moved to a new city, I had to change schools. Right now, I am attending IES Illa de Tambo. IES stands for instituto educacion secundaria. (Secondary school education). It is a a little bit bigger than my old school but there isn't a cafeteria, which is kind of strange. Kind of funny, but the doors of the bathrooms don't have boy or girl signs. Most people in Bachillerato go outside the school during recreo, because it is located near cafes supermercados, a church, and a bus stop. As of now, I only have around 8 or 9 friends but I hope I can make more after Christmas break! All my classes are really boring. All we do is listen to our profesores talk and talk and talk. Many people complain, that the Spanish Education system is too much sitting down in the class and not enough activities.  I actually have to count down the hours until I get to go home. I can't hep but agree, but it would be really hard for the government to change the education system because. As of now, none of my teachers are "colegas" (friends) with people in my class. In my other instituto, we had some profesores who would hang out with us in class. 


For some unknown reason, I wasn't nervous at all on the first day of school. I had a couple of friends that showed me around the school. I am not completely sure, but I think June and I are the only exchange students. There are 2 or 3 other asian kids in school and I also met a kid from Brasil. The second day of school, we had a free class, so all of us guys played soccer. I'm not sure, but I think my friends in Ponteareas are better players. However, a bad soccer player in Spain means a normal or above average player in Canada. My schedule is a little different from my other Instituto. On Mondays and Wednesdays we go home at 3:00 and on the other days we go home at 1:55.  

La Biblioteca

Mi Aula

El Pasillo 


There is a popular online game in my class called Comunio. I am last place in the game because I made a stupid mistake. In this game, you are assigned soccer players and get points based on their real life performances. You can trade players with other players and choose the starting lineup. The person with the most points at the end of the season wins.

http://www.comunio.es/

Asignaturas

English

My profesor in English class is Elena. In this class, we translate Spanish phrases into English, which helps me learn as well. Sometimes she teaches really strange grammar stuff that us Native English speakers don't normally use. A lot of times, the translation don't make sense so she asks me to correct it, but honestly, sometimes I don't know if I am doing it right. Around 6 people are passing in this class because 1. The teacher is strict, and 2. the curriculum is way too hard. I don't know who makes it, but I think they should go a little bit easier on the students.   

Historia

This class is extremely pointless because no one listens when the teacher is talking. The teacher just keeps talking when the class is being noisy and interruptive. Almost everyone does whatever they want in the class, chat, or use their phone.  

Economia

This is my favorite class right now because I actually understand something. We are currently learning about "Costes, Ingresos y Beneficios de la empresa". (Costs, Income, and Benefits of the company). I was pissed off because I wasn't allowed to go on the field trip to the Inditex headquarters in Arteixo, A Coruna because they already planned the trip beforehand. Everyone got a free Zara t shirt! For those who don't what Inditex is, it is the company that owns clothing brands like Zara, Pull and Bear, and Massimo Dutti. 

Lengua Gallega/Lingua Galega 

Because I am excused from doing any exams, I don't have to pay attention in class. We learn stuff like grammar and mostly phonetics. If it is hard for most of the students who speak Galician fluently, it is probably impossible for me. Time goes by really slowly in this class, so I just read a book in Galician or maybe take a nap. 

Religion/Relixion

There are 3 options. Evangelica, Catolica, or At Ed (free block). Most people in my class chose At Ed and only a couple chose Evangelica or Catolica. Most people just go home early because there isn't much you can do inside the school, except for studying in the library. I am "supposed" to go to Clase de Evangelica, but I don't attend every class because there is only one other person in that class. I usually just play soccer. 

Lengua Castellana/Lingua Castelan 

In this class, we learn about grammar, phonetics, and have to memorize facts about some famous Spanish writers. Can't understand most of the phonics and grammar stuff, so I just read my other textbooks or study Spanish verbs and vocab. This one time we analyzed Latin American Spanish text and compared it to Castillian (Spain) Spanish. 

Filosofia

The profesora in this class is almost always annoyed, because there is this guy in the class that won't keep his mouth shut. He constantly interrupts the teacher and makes jokes. It was kind of funny when she said "Hombre, eres un accidente". (Dude, you are an accident) She keeps telling the class that if they don't listen up, she will fail everyone. 

Geografia/Xeografia

I don't dislike this class or like this class. We are currently studying Pollution and forest fires which is pretty interesting. I will probably enjoy this class more when we start studying political geography. 

Mi texto nuevo

Francais

My least favorite class of all. We have a really small french class, around 7 or 8 people. I don't understand NADA because I don't know any basic french. Maybe except for Bonjour, Merci, and comme ci comme ca. Two weeks ago, we had to do a presentation about a French singer and I chose Jacques Brel. I basically just translated Spanish into French. My pronunciation was also horrible. 

Literatura Universal

Here, we learn about Universal  Literature, hence the name Literatura Universal. We study writings or writers, like Edgar Allen Poe, Gullivers Travel, Pride and Prejudice (Orgullo y Prejuicio), and Frankenstein. This is probably the most interesting class because we sometimes have discussions and actually get to participate. The teacher speaks really slow but I'm not sure if she does it for me...

Historia de la musica

In this class, we study music history and the work of famous  classical composers like Handel or Vivaldi. 

http://ciug.cesga.es/grupos/musicaaudicion10.php

 

Just posters I saw at school.