Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

Francophile

droopsnout wrote: »

Oddly, no!! I was up the steps again to fit a new light over the dining table.

You're either brave or mad!!

droopsnout

Hehe!! Depends who you ask!

seven-day-weekend

gfplux wrote: »

Hello Seven-day-weekend.
I have to say my wife and daughter both speak fluently French, English, German and Luxembourgish. My wife is semi fluent in Italian and my daughter is now doing Spanish which the school will expect her to be fluent in 2 years time.!!
And me, well don't ask, just remember I was born in England!

Er yes, same here. We(Brits) really ought to stop assuming that everyone else is going to rush to speak to us in English and learn languages properly (and at a young enough age) at school.

I seak English and Pidgin Spanish!

donny-gal

The answer may be Both!

:easter::EasterBun:easter_ba:easter_os:easter_ba:EasterBun:easter:

DG

adam7436

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Er yes, same here. We(Brits) really ought to stop assuming that everyone else is going to rush to speak to us in English and learn languages properly (and at a young enough age) at school.

I seak English and Pidgin Spanish!

That is very true. I moved to Spain 2 years ago and for the first 6 months everyone did speak english. Then I moved to a more traditional Spanish town and found it very frustration that no-one spoke english! however i did manage to get a few lessons in and now speak a little spanish. i have recent moved into gibraltar though so my spanish lessons are on the back burner. however listening to them on a day by day basis i am picking it up slowly.

if anyone does want any advise on moving abroad then feel free to email me and ill give you as much honest advise as i can.:rotfl:

donny-gal

I have to agree on the Spanish. I did not learn any languages at school, but due to holidaying in France, took myself off to evening classes in my mid-late 20's, which were called French conversation, and I can cope with everyday thing, and even some conversation, provided it is done slowly, and with consideration that most of my context will be in the current tense. Spanish I am slightly coming to grips with, I have more fear of trying in than French, heaven knows why, and if they give me thinking time, instead of breaking into English I can handle shopping, restaurants, etc., but it is a slow process, as my thought process is English-French-Spanish. I know that the answer is to go through the tapes/cd/dvd (yes I have them all) daily, but I don't. I think one of the reasons is the evening/day classes in the UK, are on a series which ensure the colleges get grants, rather than what the students want. I want simple repetitive roll play, until phrases are locked in my mind like the French ones are. As everything if I could not cope then I would get myself in gear and study more, but I am in the ex-pat belt:rolleyes:

Route home now organised, due to time and locations will be using the autoroutes to the French border near Perpignan, and then staying overnight at Beziers, and then via Millau and Clermont Ferrand to Verdun. While other routes not much further or even shorter, the time taken on them were prohibitive. Looking forward to some Donny retail therapy and seeing DS, together with new great nephew who arrived on Wedneday.

DG

droopsnout

donny-gal wrote: »

Looking forward to ... seeing DS, together with new great nephew who arrived on Wedneday.

But I won't be there!

droopsnout

donny-gal wrote: »

I think one of the reasons is the evening/day classes in the UK, are on a series which ensure the colleges get grants, rather than what the students want.

I think they get their money on how many students do the course, but it is certainly true that many college decisions are based around money-per-student rather than on what is really best for each individual learner.

Since the last Conservative government, education has been run on money lines, as if it were a business. It's time those in power realised that the human mind is not like a milk bottle, just ready to be filled with stuff. You can run a milk bottling plant purely on physical science: if it's possible to make the bottles go round faster, you'll fill more bottles more quickly.

We humans are not quite like that.

donny-gal

They are based on evidence, which the teacher ensured you complied with, a bit like NVQ's - Not Very Qualified!

droopsnout

The qualifications are, yes.

Whether the qualification is worth anything depends on many things, including your own abilities. For some, tying a shoelace might be a triumph, because of physical or mental limitations.

There are qualifications for just about anything these days. The value of each should be judged against the needs of the candidate and the needs of society.

Whilst it may sometimes seem that educational standards are falling, it remains a fact that in the fields of human endeavour and research, we still seem to be progressing.

Whether we use those new-found skills and competences wisely is another matter altogether.