A Spanglish Session

Is it possible to deliver a speech in Spanglish? What is exactly Spanglish language? Last Wednesday, we had something similar to a «Spanglish session» in Toastmasters Seville. We lived a very special one, because we merged our both languages (Spanish and English) into the same day.

Firstly, we had our monthly ordinary session of Toastmasters in English featuring evaluations and speeches (one, to be precise) in that language. Rafael González led this part with one sentence in Spanglish as its moto: “Are you listo to move?” It happened that all the attendees were not only ready but wise enough to move their bodies. 😉

The only speech of the day was given by María León who broke her ice with it. She told us about her gap year and how her to-do list is being checked. Our mate Chema Garteiz (yes, we have reduced his long family name) evaluated it with the high quality of someone who is a specialist in that matter.

Table topics were brought by Leon Lassovsky (no, we have not reduced his familiy name, yet). He suggested some very challenging subjects that were bravely tackled by our volunteers.

The session was globally evaluated by Fernando Cobreros who took over the role with very short notice. This spirit of cooperation and comradeship is one of the corner stones of Toastmasters and one clear reason of success.

When this session in English finished, Rafael González dio paso a nuestra presidenta Penélope que presentó a la siguiente ponente. Nuestra compañera Fátima Santos iba a realizar un taller en Español sobre el mejor uso de la voz.

¡¡Y, qué taller!! Estuvo lleno de consejos útiles, ejemplos didácticos, buenas prácticas alcanzadas por ella en sus años de experiencia profesional. Muchos tuvieron la ocasión de probar las técnicas que nos propuso, mejorando con ello la expresividad de su voz. Desde lecturas de letras de canciones de reguetón hasta trozos de Don Juan Tenorio, pasando por trabalenguas formaron parte del arsenal utilizado.

Es un honor contar con socias como Fátima que, de forma generosa, comparten un conocimiento atesorado durante años para el aprovechamiento de todo el club. ¡Mil gracias por ello, Fátima!

Como suele suceder últimamente, contamos con una buena asistencia de invitados. No podemos más que destacar a nuestra compañera Joanna Karolina U, Toastmasters del club Na Szczycie de Polonia. Fue un placer para nosotros que nos acompañaras en esta sesión tan singular.

And this is it. Esta session in Spanglish está over. Hacemos una pausa en Semana Santa, so we are meeting next 24th April. Mismo lugar, same hour. 🙂