Edgar's video diary for November: transcript - translation from Spanish into English
Hi, my name is Edgar. I am from Venezuela; I am working in the west coast of Scotland as a language assistant.
What I have found the most difficult thing, the most problematic thing these first two months in Scotland, is to find accommodation, because it's easy to find something together with some other people, but when you're looking for something on your own, or you're looking to share with someone you don't know, it's a quite difficult task, because people are really different, with different customs and different ways of behaving. So it's not always very suitable for what you are looking for. And I would recommend the authorities that work with the assistants to try, I don't know, to help a little bit, especially with lots of people who come from Latin America, or just from America, or Asia, or some assistants who come from too far away, to solve that problem as soon as possible. That would be great.
One of the most interesting things I have found here working with students in Scotland is to work with the really young students. I'm working with students from the third year to sixth year in secondary school, and I thought it was going to be easier to work with the students in the sixth year, for example, which are the ones who have more advanced levels of Spanish, but surprisingly, I found it quite interesting to work with the youngest ones, because they are really interested to learn Spanish. Although they don't know anything about Spanish, they don't know anything about Spain or Latin America, they are quite interested in learning things, and learning words, and asking about the lifestyle in Latin America, for example. And I'm quite happy to work with them.
What I felt really interesting in Scotland is how kind people are. We can never generalise when we judge people, talking about people from one country or one city, but I think most people here in Scotland, and especially in Glasgow, are really, really nice. I've been having lots of good experiences with people, like in the airport when I just arrived in Scotland, at school in my work, or just people on the street when I have to ask for some directions for something. They are really, really helpful, they are willing to help. And I think that's really, really good for my impression as a Latin American, the impression I have for Scottish people.