My thoughts - Podcasts and Spanish classes

Last Wednesday on the way home for work I stopped off on the way home from work and enrolled in a course called “Spanish for holidays” at my local adult learning college. The lesson is two hours of a Saturday morning, and the course is only three weeks long – so the £10.40 price tag seems more than reasonable as is the effect this course has on my busy social life!

Well, today I had my first Spanish lesson. I have done a couple of courses there this year – so I was rather blasé about my timings and consequently I found myself running late and indeed I crawled into the class five minutes late.

We started learning simple conversational ‘bits’ this week - hello, good bye, how are you, my name is, where do you live and how old are you. Of course before we started doing this we spent some time looking at the pronunciation of various letters, and also the pronunciation of numbers… it is a little bit difficult telling people our age without knowing some numbers. We have only got up to twenty so far but I believe we will get to 50 at some point over the next couple of weeks!

The teacher of the class is a very nice lady called Mary Jesus, who speaks really great Spanish – which isn’t surprising because I think it is her native language! The only thing that disappointed me about the course was the fact that the room next door was the music room, and when we returned from our short coffee break the drum class started in the next room – and hearing a teacher – and maintaining concentration under such noisy circumstances is next to impossible!!

I don’t think I am really going to pick up enough Spanish in five and a half hours to make me feel comfortable when travelling – but at least it is a starting point for me.

I have over the months downloaded a number of language podcasts French, German, Italian, and even Thai! I have three Spanish language podcasts which are:

• Learn Spanish – Survival Guide
• Learn Spanish With Coffee Break Spanish
• Finally Learn Spanish – Grammar Tips And Dialogs

They are all very different and all have their respective merits but the problem with learning a language on a tape/cd/mp3/podcast is that sometimes you don’t hear exactly what is said. The natural reaction is to rewind a little and listen again. Sometimes – or in my case most of the time – when I rewind and listen again I am no surer of what I heard second time around. Third forth and fifth times are no better so I tend not to bother with that many tries anymore.

As I see it I have picked up a few words here and there from the podcasts but if Maria Jesus can correct the pronunciation of what I have picked up so far then I will stand better chance of reading back correctly once the class has finished and I am on my own with the ubiquitous podcast. More to the point it will help me understand a little better what I am hearing. So, although three lessons are not enough to get me where I want to be, they are a step in the right direction. I think that is what it is all about in life. Most things don’t get us where we want to be but if we are looking we can make steps in the right direction then we will eventually get to where we want to be – even if on the route we change where we want to be.

So, Maria Jesus, I heard something on my podcasts that sounded like “ness-is-seed-a are-you-the por favour?” I believe it is meant to mean “I need help please.” I think this is one I need to get sorted sooner rather than later – don’t you?

My thoughts - Tenerife trip - Whale and Dolphin Watching

P&O Cruises Official Website Artemis Cruise P718 - Artemis South American Odyssey Ports and Excursions - Tenerife trips - Whale and dolphin watch

I have started looking at the excursions being listed on the P & O website that tie in with my forthcoming holiday. This is partly in an attempt to keep me happy but mostly because from what I have seen there tend to be ten or so different excursions from each location. Considering that almost all locations are visited only for the day it seems to me that there has to be some tough decisions being made along the way.

I am aware the real list of excursions isn’t available until 12 weeks before the trip but those listed for previous visits have to be a good place to start – it gives an indication of what is available in the area. So, I decided to go through the last set of excursions to see what takes my fancy - I didn’t think it was a bad idea to get a head start.

As I looked through the excursions it dawned on me that there were similar excursions at a number of locations, so with ten excursions per location it seemed sensible to see what caught my attention because I believe there is going to be a huge element of juggling excursions at some point.

Anyway, the first destination we will be stopping off at is Tenerife. The comment that has been made about this location is that it is a duty free destination. It one of those places to pick up duty free. I anticipate it being a place to pick up some ‘provisions’ in an attempt to keep down the holiday costs – snacks and drinks cost on the boat so cutting down any of these expenses by buying stuff when stopping off is probably a good idea!

The other thought that crosses my mind when I think of Tenerife is the fact that one of my old testing colleagues spends an awful lot of time out in Tenerife – perhaps she will be there when I am. If that is the case it would be good to be doing a little sight seeing with someone who is English and knows about the place… that said I know I am not that lucky!

When looking at the tours I think it is worth remembering the arrival and departure times. For Tenerife we arrive at 8am and leave at 1pm. This to me means we will need to be onboard at least 30 minutes if not an hour ahead of this. So we will only have four hours in the city so activities are going to be strictly limited. I confess being ready to go ashore at 8am having already had breakfast is going to be a tough challenge – I was hoping for a nice leisurely holiday.

So, if I find that I am alone and left to my own devices in Tenerife I think I rather like the idea of the Whale and dolphin watch. “Experience the thrill of seeking out whales and dolphins in their natural habitat.” The trip is 6½ hours by coach and catamaran. The trip talks of sunbathing on the catamarans netting and drink complimentary drinks while watching what is going past. It talks of diving into crystal-clear waters of a nature reserve or snorkel with equipment provided. P&O put on a caveat that although there is never a 100% guarantee of whale or dolphin sightings, the crew are always optimistic and will make every effort for you to see some.

P&O go on to say that free time will be given in Puerto Colon after the 3-hour catamaran trip and advice of the return to boat pick up point. I wonder if we are having such a short day there that three hours on a catamaran is going to be possible with travelling time either side. Would we stand enough chances of seeing dolphins and whales if our trip was shorter? I really would like to see dolphins and whales on our trip, I suspect I will get the opportunity on a number of occasions so it wont be the end of the world if I don’t do it here, but I really would like to spend time with nature…. Perhaps even swimming WITH dolphins! The other thing this trip offered that appealed to me was the snorkelling, now I have my six mega pixel digital camera I cant help but want to use it a number of times – although perhaps the crystal clear waters might contain more interesting specimens’ in the Caribbean – who knows!!