The Best & Worst of Spain

I'm afraid l agree with Roly. My favourite restaurant plays host to what he calls the "point and grunt" brigade every Wednesday. Instrad of giving the English group proper menus, the food is laid out so they can ..... You've guessed it ..... Point and grunt at what they want. Is this really acceptable from people who have lived here full time for 21 years?

Vocabulary can be picked up as we go along, but SOME basic grammar is essential as it is the building block for the language. Have you tried the Michel Thomas CDs, Ted? No "learning", just "soak it up" but it really works! And you DO learn the tenses. Which are, after all, pretty important if your neighbour is telling you about a great fiesta with free paella in the village, and you don't know if it was last week, this week, or next week! If you are still in the UK you can get your library to order in the Michel Thomas courses. And strangely, for an expensive set of CDs, they are not copy-protected .......

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And they say ancient language degrees are useless 

I've spent the last few years learning Egyptian at uni. It does really help your understanding of how language in general works. Since you are dealing only with the written form of the language, understanding the grammar is essential. However, it has been an extremely hard struggle to get where I am now, as at school I was taught absolutely nothing about grammar - not a single lesson. One reason I want to go into EFL teaching is because of that - it'd be a shame to let it go to waste after all the blood sweat and tears of learning like to you make to speak youknowwhatimean?

 

 

 

 

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Like llegaralasestrellas I learnt no real grammer at school. It was not until I could express myself almost as well as I can now that we learnt 'the parts of speech'.  This is my point, we became proficient in our own language without learning grammer academically. This was probably wrong, for, whatever the merits, it leaves us at a disadvantage when trying to learn another language. So the best way forward must be to learn the new language the way we learnt our own.

Yes verbs are the basis of language but we learnt our own without analysing them. Why not do the same for a new language?

I have been through the Michael Thomas tapes. I felt at the time they were great, but in fact they washed right over me leaving me with very little extra knowledge but giving me pronounciation that was not understood here. If you get to the point where you can communicate with your neighbour you will 'feel' and adopt his speech when he moves to the past, present and future as you did in your own.

 

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tteedd.

Slight problem with learning as a child.

Children's brains are programmed to learn language, as adults we loose that ability.

 

And do you really want to live in a Spanish family who speak no Englush, in an area where they speak no Engish,  for several years ?

 

Probably not.

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 A Spansh friend said to me once that the reason the British of a certain age (40+) struggle to learn Spanish is because we were never actually taught English correctly...i though this was a strange comment until i actually thought about it!

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 I think that's exactly right Georgia.  After all, who ever "learns" the subjunctive in their own language???

As for the Michel Thomas tapes, well of course his method works better for some people than others, but for me it's been superb - but I have ALSO had lessons and used other methods.  I keep Michel's Advanced CD4 in the car permanently, as it goes through the most complex tenses, and it means I recognise them when used, as well as being able to use them.

But of course the best lessons of all are to be forced to use the language or not communicate.  So my village is the best professor I could ever have.  Nobody in my street has a word of English, and there are only half a dozen non-Spanish in the village (there are more out in the campo).  So from morning to night all communication is in Spanish.  And then when I need to rest my poor hurting brain, I can retreat to the one English-run bar to hear my first language as a treat on alternate days!

 

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good-

 Sun, warmth,sitting out in the evening. 

 Food and drink.

 Empty motorways

bad-

Dog poo everywhere.

The rest I can put up with (beaurocracy,poor driving)

 

 

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worst

Sahara rain-an absolute nightmare to clean up afterwards.

those who insist everything is cheaper, better,fresher, healthier, warmer etc

lack of regulation;conflicting advice-from professionals!

ex pats who live "under the radar"

Best

emphasis on family life

spring  weather/almond blossom/wild flowers

helpful people

health care

 

 

 

 

 

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