It all started at HKU.
I studied Spanish language and culture in HKU from 2008 to 2011, and courses were taught by friendly native Spanish teachers. The Spanish program offered a wide variety of courses that I really enjoyed, from Writing Workshop to Spanish phonetics, Spanish Culture, Translation, etc. These courses provided us with in-depth knowledge of the topics. During the summer holiday after my second year, I took a summer intensive language course in Spain, in Universidad de Salamanca and Don Quijote language school in Barcelona. In the third year, I was given the chance to do an internship in the consulate of Colombia.
Apart from the academic courses, every year we got to participate in different cultural activities, like the Feria de abril and many other activities organized by the Spanish teachers during Hispanic Month. Guests were invited to give conferences on topics regarding Hispanic culture and teachers taught us to dance salsa and flamenco.
The activity that I enjoyed the most has to be the Spanish cuisine workshop where we got to try different Spanish tapas and drinks, like jamón serrano, queso, pinchos, sangría and tortilla de patata. Also, during a movie screening of the award-winning film Pan Negro, I was lucky enough to get my book signed by the Spanish director Agustí Villaronga. Another great memory is when my friend Lorenzo and I joined and won the Spanish Karaoke night competition singing Shakira’s famous song Waka Waka.
After graduating from HKU, I decided to continue my Spanish studies in Spain. I first studied C1 level in Don Quijote language school in Barcelona. Then, I did a Master of Translation and Intercultural Mediation at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona while preparing for the DELE C2, which is the highest level of Spanish as a Foreign Language and I finally achieved it in August 2015. ¡Ole! (Well, you can tell that your Spanish is good enough when you can understand and laugh at Spanish jokes!)
I lived in Spain for some time and adapted really well to the Spanish lifestyle. I learned to make really tasty tortilla de patata, albóndigas en salsa and a few other Spanish dishes. I also love reading in Spanish. One of my favourite activities while living in Spain was to learn belly dancing (I am pretty good at it). A few months ago I returned to Hong Kong and have recently found employment in Prochile Hong Kong/ Trade Commission of Chile in Hong Kong, a place where I get to use my Spanish. In the future I would like to work as a translator or an interpreter. And I would like to take the chance to thank the Spanish Programme for giving me such wonderful opportunities.