What Immersion Does To Your Brain

In two days, it will be three weeks since I arrived here in Mexico City for the first time. Two years ago, I would have never thought I’d be here. It’s funny to me because in the first semester of my freshman year, when UT Austin was heavily promoting study abroad, I did not care about it and didn’t understand how studying abroad would change my life.

A couple months later, I developed a passion for learning the Spanish language. I self-studied intensely for the next four months, from the end of the semester through the summer of 2021. I decided during that time that I would go to Mexico for a semester. It’s been a year and a half and I’m blessed to be able to have the opportunity to become fluent in a second language and experience a new culture. 

Upon arriving here, I knew my Spanish was limited, and one of the first things I needed to do at the airport was to find a store where I could buy a local SIM card. I had to find someone who worked in the airport, and once I did, because I had little confidence in speaking Spanish, I tried to speak to that person in English.

When the woman at the airport told me she didn’t speak English at all, I said to myself, “Why did I not just speak Spanish?” I thought, “This is what I’m here for.”

It made me realize that there are people in this world whom I will not be able to access if I don’t speak their language. I knew it’d be a difficult first month to navigate, but I had accepted that challenge when I decided to study abroad. There was no turning back now — nor did I want to.  

I currently stay with a host family, and to say that they’ve been a massive help to me would be an understatement. I’d originally planned to stay in an apartment with other students until the idea of living with a host family was presented to me. The benefits of being integrated into their culture (and the potential for language practice) intrigued me, so I gave it a shot. What I did not realize was how much confidence it would give me to speak the Spanish language.

Aside from my host family making me feel at home through the multiple conversations I have with them every day, my host family also motivates me to talk to people in Spanish, no matter the circumstance. They warned there will be people who will try to speak to me in English because I’m a U.S. student, but they advised that I continue to speak Spanish. I’ve had that happen to me multiple times already and I take the advice from my host family to heart.

My main goal while abroad is to become fluent in Spanish, or to at least accelerate the process. In just three weeks, my host family has brought me closer to my goal. I recommend living with a host family if the option is available because it has improved my knowledge of the culture and my language skills. I know my experience would be a whole lot different had I not stayed with a host family.

Last week was our orientation week, and it was great to get to know the campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey better, as well as get to know other international students. I even found an interest in the French language, as I’ve interacted with a plethora of French students who are also studying abroad with me.

What I cherish the most from last week was a simple conversation I had with one of the janitors. I was looking at the campus map when he came near me, to which I greeted him in Spanish. He seemed to be ecstatic that I knew how to speak Spanish. We proceeded to have a conversation completely in Spanish for the next 2-3 minutes. We talked about where we were from, how I learned Spanish and how the world becomes a better place when people take interest in other cultures.

Let me remind you that prior to coming here, I did not make an effort to practice speaking Spanish at all. Remember, the very first day I was here, I could not even ask someone a simple question in Spanish — and yet here I was, completely integrated into the culture as if I had been here for months.  

Of course, I still have days where I feel like I don’t know what planet I’m on. For example, today in class, I was asked to describe something, and when I failed to give a complex response in Spanish, it would have been easy to point out the negatives, but I didn’t. What I know is that with every mistake I make comes more knowledge, and for that, I am grateful.

If you’ve ever watched Laoshu505000 on YouTube, you know the impact he has on the people he speaks with and those who watch him speak other languages. Thinking back on my experience, I won’t forget how happy that janitor was to hear me speak his language.

If I can provide that feeling to every person I talk to, then making those mistakes are well worth it, and I look forward to making more. Cheers to the next five months and me waking up to these words: “Se compran colchones, tambores, refrigeradores, estufas, lavadoras, microondas, ¿o algo de fierro viejo que vendan?” Special thanks to the Gilman Scholarship Program for making this experience possible!

This post was contributed by Adrian Ogunbunmi, a Global Ambassador for Spring 2023. Adrian is a junior biology studies major studying abroad in Mexico City, Mexico.