TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — The Department of World Languages and Cultures held the first event of its new Spanish Language Immersion Series.

The event, which consisted of coffee, snacks, and introductory conversation, took place in Wright Hall in the World Languages and Cultures office Wednesday. The goal was to get the students more comfortable in having full conversations in Spanish. According to Elijah Brooks, a senior Spanish student at Troy, there is only so much you can learn from taking classes. 

“Even just being in the classroom you’re not going to fully grasp a language unless you practice outside of the classroom,” Brooks said. 

The Spanish language has many different regional dialects. Often, each individual Spanish-speaking country will have different preferred versions of words or slang. This can make learning to speak the language fluently more difficult.

“I speak a different Spanish, kind of, than some of the other people in there so it’s just good to understand differences between people and get that exposure,” Brooks said.

Because of the importance of getting experiences not replicable in a classroom, many students in Troy’s Spanish program had common complaints. 

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“A lot of the feedback that we have from students who want to practice Spanish is there are very limited opportunities here,” said Department of World Languages and Cultures Chair Kelly Suero.

That’s where the new series comes in: it aims to give students the opportunity to practice with their teachers and each other throughout the semester. According to Suero, that practice can give students a leg up post-graduation. 

“Right off the job market, employers tend to give between five to 20% of an increase, just for being bilingual,” Suero said.

Suero believes speaking more than one language does not just provide a professional advantage. There are social and cultural benefits as well. 

“One in five people in the United States identifies as Latino or Hispanic,” Suero said. “There are 42 million people in the world who speak Spanish, at least as a second language. It’s beneficial for you to learn the language.” 

Anyone interested in furthering their Spanish is welcome to attend these events. You do not have to be taking a Spanish course. However, there is not much English spoken at the events, so they recommend at least a basic understanding of the language.