Another specific case of Preterite vs Indefinite
 

Hi,

In my exercise book there is a model answer which includes two seperate sentences I'd like to highlight:

"Mientras viajaba, hacía fotos."

And

"En su viaje aprendió much sobre la cultura de la gente"


In my own answer, I´d written: Mientras viajaba, aprendía mucho sobre la cultura de la gente"

Could anyone illustrate the distinction between the two variants, and tell me if my answer is incorrent?

Thank you.

Your answer would be correct, depending on what you want to say:

"Mientras viajaba aprendió mucho sobre la cultura de la gente" means that during his/her trip (one-time event), that person learnt about people's culture.

"Mientras viajaba aprendía mucho sobre la cultura de la gente", means that he/she would learn from people's culture every time he/she travelled (a habit).

Understood.

Thank you :).