For those who don’t know, Gallego is the language of the region of Galicia in Spain.

I am studying abroad in A Coruña, in Galicia, and one of the things that I only learned once I enrolled in the University of Coruña, is that many of their classes are taught in this language that neither I nor any Holy Cross student here can speak. But, having taken a class in this new tongue, I have learned that there are actually some perks to this situation!

1. You don’t have to listen to boring lectures.

We’ve all been there. We show up to class just to sign our names on the participation paper, and then we just want nothing more than for the professor to stop talking so we can go to sleep. Well, when you don’t speak the language, whether you’re being extremely attentive, or taking a nap, it doesn’t make a difference!

2. No one can understand your whispered English conversations, because they’re busy thinking in Gallego.

Everyone loves a good covert conversation during class. While many students here don’t speak much English in the first place, the fact that their thinking in Gallego puts up another barrier between their ability to hear what you have to say.

3. You don’t have to give presentations, because you don’t speak Gallego.

Every group in the class has to go up and give a presentation on the material, but no one likes doing it. I mean, why must professors torture us with course work? Luckily, since we can’t give a presentation in Gallego, we are utterly exempt from this type of work!

4. When the homework’s in Gallego, you have a good excuse why you didn’t do it.

If you can’t understand Gallego when it’s spoken, you also probably can’t read it. So if you’ve ever wanted to skip a reading, but you felt obligated to do it because it’s in a language that you speak, well then a class in Gallego might just be for you.

5. If you leave class early, you can’t understand if the professor is telling you to stay.

Back at Holy Cross, I would often get up to leave class as early as 20 minutes before the bell, but the professor would always tell me to stay. Therefore, it great to escape when you have no idea what the professor is saying.