Pre course assignments (lets begin!)

Dear Students,

This is a really important Yak to start building our community. Thanks for reading this carefully and working on the assignments that we think will enrich your experience!

We have a collection of small assignments for you, that will help us all to start engaging with the themes we’re going to be learning about and get to know our travel companions, so that we’re all on the same page and super excited when the course begins.

Please make sure that you work on these tasks. This will show your commitment to the course, which is always important to see when we are traveling in group. It helps to know that everyone is engaged with the experience.

Assignment #1: Post an introduction Yak!

We want to know who you are. Please post a short introduction Yak of yourself answering the following questions:

1. Introductions tend to go the same every time, like this: “My name is Evo Morales and I’m from La Paz, Bolivia. I went to school at Agrarian Humanistic Technical Institute of Orinoca. I’ve never been to Peru before but I’ve been to Costa Rica, where people also speak Spanish…” How boring! So, without telling us where you are from, where you go to school, your major life achievements, or where you have traveled, please tell us briefly: who are you?
2. What are the things you are most eager to experience and to learn about on this course?
3. What role does this course play in your life?
4. What did you find out about Pachamama
5. Make sure to post a picture of yourself with the Yak.

Assignment #2: Watch this video!

• “Latinoamérica” by Calle 13 (with so many bonus points if you learn all the lyrics)

Assignment #3: Research about Pachamama

Our course theme will be PACHAMAMA. This is a really important concept in Andean culture. Please do some research on what Pachamama is and post a short paragraph on your learnings in your intro. We want the conversation about this really important topic to be started before we get to Peru.

Assignment #4: Brush up on your Spanish!

Five minutes a day. Every day. A big part of learning language is about the span of time in which you’re listening and speaking in that language, not how many hours you can cram. Activate those neural pathways and get your brain ready for immersion! 100% of Dragons students wish they had practiced Spanish more before coming to Latin America. If you don’t know where to start, we recommend the app Duolingo, which you can download for free.

Un abrazo fuerte,

Your instructors