I had quite the cultural experience after watching the Spanish sitcom “Extra” . The show revolves around 20-something year old girls, Lola and Anna, who share a flat in Spain. They have a neighbor named Pablo who is very much interested in Lola, while she only finds him to be a nuisance to her day. In the first episode, Lola receives a letter from an old American pen-pal stating he has been working on his Spanish and is coming to visit her (and little does she know, stay with her). The entire first episode took place in the flat, so as far as travel, food, weather, and activities go, it was hard to tell. However, just in the 30 minute period alone I was able to spot other similarities and differences. The show reminds me of the English spoken television sitcom, Friends. Even though I was following along to English subtitles, the energy within the show and characters reminded me much of what we have here in America. As far as differences go, I noticed immediately that they referred to the girls’ apartment as a “flat”. The flat itself was decorated differently then most apartments we know look like. The walls and furniture were all bright colors, which is what I personally imagine most homes in Spain to resemble.

I did not particularly struggle to follow along with the subtitles, however if I looked away for just a moment, I missed anything the characters were saying. While doing this I could not help but imagine how students who do not speak English as their first language must feel in the classroom. It can be overwhelming constantly having words that you do not know by heart thrown at you, and you be expected to understand and complete an activity immediately without any extra guidance. This was a great exercise for students of all ages to put themselves in a different pair of shoes.