Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

Savvy_Sue

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

We are up to CD 5 of Michel Tomas Spanish (I thinbk his name is spelt differently depending upon which language he is speaking at the time) and can confirm that they are indeed excellent.

We have CD 1 of the Michel Tomas series, and with that and my rusty French we've survived two separate weeks in Spain ... DH found it really tedious to listen to, but I found it helpful because it starts from where you are, and shows you how to turn English into Spanish. It was a freebie ... so I've never got any further than that, but then I am only ever going to be a holiday visitor, not a resident!

seven-day-weekend

Yes Savvy Sue, I agree. The first time I heard Michel Tomas he told me I already knew 100s of Spanish words. 'Errr...what are they' I thought. But then he said that anything ending in -ible or -able was the same word but proounced differently e.g possIBle, notABle.

So that gave me great encouragenment and a head start!!

wallacebob

Re: language CDs. Michel Tomas is good, but I found it very boring, and the actors annoy me!
For basic phrases I have used Earworms, French and German were great. As a complete novice I was understood in France easily, basic phrases but got by! It gets into your head quickly, and I listened in the car, no attention needed. For basic stuff on visits I recommend these, gives you confidence. I got mine from Waterstones but I think they are available widely.

donny-gal

I agree it can be a little irritating, but to be honest, and I have Michel Thomas, and others, and have done 3 years night school, but have not disciplined myself to do some daily, hence not been very successful.
DG

Francophile

When I'm driving in the car I try to speak to myself in french. It doesn't matter what it is. Just whatever I think about I try to do it in french which means when i get to France instead of taking 3 days to get tuned in, I slip into it right away.

droopsnout

I think it's important that each person decides exactly what they want to get out of their language learning.

For example, I am presently teaching French to a Brit lady who has just opened a B&B locally. She wants to know how to welcome her guests, take them to their rooms, show them where things are, ask what they would like for breakfast, etc.

Her goals are clearly defined, and it is easy to set targets, reach them, and feel that a specific task has been achieved.

Others may have a desire to come to grips fully with the language, with a solid grammatical background, knowledge of tenses, fluency in spoken language, etc. This is much more generalised, and really requires a highly structured course which needs to be followed for years.

Whatever your needs and preferences, it's a good idea to set yourself small, short-term targets within a framework of bigger, wider-ranging goals. Then as you achieve them, tick them off.

Also, I am probably preaching to the converted here, but don't forget that there are numerous free resources on the web.

donny-gal

I think that is the trouble, at night school we covered the Spanish gramatics more than the talking, reading also is not too difficult unless technical, when I learnt French first of all we spoke then turned to the gramatics, both done since I left school but about 25 years apart:rolleyes: . I think I actually know more than I think I do IYKWIM. What I need is to a nice Spanish couple who know no English and just talk about day to day things slowly and simply over coffee and I am sure I would improve rapidly. I tried watching the Spanish TV, but the speed is faster than the French speed I am sure, and they do not seem to move their mouths very much which does not help.

I am thinking of putting a sign up in our local supermarket to see if there are any takers, but I know I need to do it more often.
DG

bobito

I live in Gran Canaria and I'm always meeting spanish speakers who want to improve their english. Several times we've arranged "spanglish" sessions in one another's home or in a bar.

It's helped my spanish, and I've also made some good friends, as well as learning a lot more about spanish and latin american cultures.

I'm sure a notice in the local supermarket would bring in some interested people.

Bob

binnie

I struggle speaking english somedays, I get all my words mixed up, lol.
Seriously though, we do try when we go over there, and always ask people to say words in spanish.
They know we are english though and always try and speak english as they like to learn our language too.
Some days we never get anywhere.

As for spanish TV, they speak like Speedy Guns Alis or whatever he's called, ten to the dozen, so i can't make out any words.

xx

Savvy_Sue

Speedy Gonzales?