Learning the Lingo

Lacking inspiration for this summer's holiday? How about taking a
course to improve your language skills?

Like most people, I was less than gifted at languages at school.
Whether this was because of general classroom embarrassment, prevalent
whenever I attempted to say anything out loud, let alone a foreign
language, or whether I was basically useless, has never been clear to
me. So when my friend Rachel suggested that we go to Spain to do a
Spanish course, I was immediately in two minds – would I be the
tongue-tied ten year old of yesteryear or would I roll my "r"s like
all ragged rascals can? Holding back any reservations that I'd be
worse than pathetic, Rachel persuaded me that it was a great
opportunity to not only acquire a new skill (my CV did need a bit of
colour), but it would also be an almost essential asset for all future
global escapades... (Spanish being the second most widely spoken
language in the world). Besides, she continued to reassure me, it
would be a culturally enriching experience and wouldn't I feel better
knowing that I hadn't wasted my holiday by lazing around on an
overcrowded beach somewhere? She had a point, or two.
Learning a foreign language in the safety of an English classroom
isn't quite the same as actually living in the country and talking to
real live foreigners, (as many failed conversations with the waiter to
understand what exactly is on the menu will prove). An immersion type
course is the best way to make a lot of progress in a short space of
time, whilst also enjoying a holiday, of course. Embarking on this
break was beginning to seem like a remarkably good idea, and so I
grabbed the "toro" by both horns, and booked my flight to Spain and my
course.

Apart from a handful of words along the lines of "rioja" I knew no
Spanish at all… I therefore enrolled in a beginner's course, and
linguistically lissom Rachel in the intermediate level, with a school
we had found on the Internet (www.spanishlanguage.org). Weeks later
on a sunny Monday in June we joined a variety of fellow students from
all over the world in the picturesque town of Ciudad Rodrigo, in
central Spain.
First impressions were good, yet it was obviously going to be
challenging. Ciudad Rodrigo is an ideal place to learn Spanish, as the
majority of locals know very little English, unlike in most larger
towns or resorts, where you may splutter your question in the local
lingo only to find yourself being answered in fluent, although
accented, English. Yet here in Ciudad Rodrigo every encounter – from
asking the way to the ice cream shop to buying a stamp for my postcard
of the castle – proved to be a valuable opportunity to test my newly
acquired Spanish and no one, thankfully, replied in my own mother
tongue.

The other important factor was being located in the region of Castilla
y León – where "Castilian" Spanish is spoken, this is widely accepted
to be the standard for "proper" Spanish. Accents and dialects vary a
great deal in Spain, depending on where you go. For example, the "s"
in Andalusia is rarely pronounced, whilst in Barcelona they speak
Catalan – a completely different language to what we know as Spanish.

The lessons held each morning were immensely enjoyable, and the
sincere efforts from my equally novice classmates really encouraged
me. We focused a lot on the practical side of the language, and
effective communication was the main theme. Rachel (with A level
Spanish under her belt) was equally enthusiastic about the progress
she was making in her Intermediate class, and her re-found fluency
helped me cope when conversations out of the classroom were way beyond
my skills.

My progress was good, but not good enough to avoid my embarrassment
when I confused the word "caballo" meaning horse, with "caballero"
meaning gentleman. I had wanted to say that I like riding horses...
but it didn't quite come out like that. My face turned a nice shade
of puce after our Spanish teacher Isabel had kindly let me know what
she found so funny.
The classes were over by 2pm each day, so we had plenty of spare time
to practise what we had learned and to enjoy more typical Spanish
holidaymaking: swimming, sunbathing, and sampling tapas!

Again, the setting was a real delight, the town jammed full of
monumental historic buildings – mostly in sandstone, glowing warmly in
the evening sun. The tranquil ambience was a total escape from
London's rush and stress, and the "mañana" spirit accompanied us
everywhere. The town is also graced by an idyllic stretch of calmly
flowing river set amid shady trees in a grass park at the foot of
town. This is a popular place with the locals – small bars on both
banks provide additional refreshment to the cooling effects of river
bathing. Ciudad Rodrigo is a well-kept secret; it deserves to be
better known; yet the joy of being there was precisely because it is
so little known.
The academy also organised several activities for the students,
including horse-riding trips over the distant and low mountains
surrounding the town, guitar lessons, flamenco dancing instruction,
canoeing, and several excursions to nearby cities and places of
interest.

There was also a choice of accommodation – staying with a Spanish
family (full or half-board), renting your own self-catering apartment,
or staying in the student residency with other international students.
Rachel and I chose to sample the best of homemade Spanish cuisine and
culture by staying together with a recommended host family. This is
obviously a bit of a risk as you could end up being fed and watered by
the likes of the Osbournes. Fortunately, the academy professes to be
very careful with their family selection, and indeed our family were
genuinely lovely. We were continuously plied with food and drinks and
information about Spain, with Rachel acting as my intrepid interpreter
for most of our fortnight!

Sadly, two weeks was not long enough – there was plenty to see and do,
and so much more Spanish to learn! It's a whole language!

Spending time doing this immersion course was an experience that I
totally recommend, I made great friends with some of the other
international students, and now feel equipped to plan my trip to South
America. I'm also planning to update my CV with the boast of "Basic
Spanish"....

Philippa Lacroix – Travel Writer, stayed with Spanish Language Academy
in Ciudad Rodrigo Spain. www.spanishlanguage.org,
[email protected] Price per week for tuition and half-board
accommodation with a host family only, based on a two week stay, from
only £150/$225.

In article ,
[email protected] (Spanish Fan) wrote:

    >
    > Like most people, I was less than gifted at languages at school.

Were you a seven-stone weakling too (until you discovered Charles Atlas)?