Don´t take the Spanish people out of learning Spanish

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 / Published in Bilingual Families, Learning Spanish in Spain, Teaching Spanish
Spanish conversations with Spanish people
I am always amazed at the number of Spanish language schools in Spain that boast about their highly sophisticated language labs full of the latest technology! Surely, (I have always thought) it is far better to learn languages with real people? Surely, the elderly señora with time to talk on the plaza, or a friendly shepherd bringing

Change of Language? Change of Personality?

Friday, 14 December 2012 / Published in Bilingual Families, Spanish-English differences
Once again thank you to Francois Grosjean, Ph.d. Emeritus professor of Psycholinguistics at Neuchâtel University, Switzerland, for his latest blog on bilingualism and personality change. Without falling into boggy ground over the definition of personality (something so difficult to define and yet something we are so acutely aware of ) the question ‘do our personalities change when

What Lozanov has to do with our Spanish house parties (and in defence of the comment ‘Mummy, your job is just like having a party!’)

Wednesday, 27 April 2011 / Published in Learning Spanish in Spain, Teaching Spanish
Spanish lessons, laughter and lunch at our favourite Michelin recommended restaurant
Twenty years ago, when Jan, the Polish sandwich boy, visited my PR office in Canary Wharf neither he nor I had any idea of how our brief exchanges would sow the seeds for the Spanish language courses I run in the Pyrenees today. It all started as he handed me a ham and pickle sandwich

Why do the British suffer so acutely from Linguaphobia?

Tuesday, 22 March 2011 / Published in Learning Spanish in Spain
Learning Spanish on the hoof
On my travels I meet a stream of intrepid Brits in everything except learning foreign languages. They trek the Himalayas in thunder storms and raft the Zambezi with the crocodiles and yet,  no matter how extrovert and gregarious they are by nature, one obstacle seems always to obstruct their path – the language barrier.  Lame

Mummy, I can’t speak English! (The languages used between bilinguals).

Monday, 21 February 2011 / Published in Basque Lifestyle, Bilingual Families, The Basque Language
Marion at school in local peasant dress
On Friday, I sent an e-mail to François Grosjean, Emeritus Professor of Psycholinguistics, from the University of Neuchatel, about my 6-year-old daughter, Marion, and her tri-lingualism. Within hours François had emailed me a very personal reply of which I was extremely appreciative and had me mulling over the characteristics and quirks of her tri-lingual nature

Spanish Courses in Spain – are they really necessary?

Wednesday, 16 February 2011 / Published in Learning Spanish in Spain, Teaching Spanish
Spanish classes in disguise
Spanish language courses in Spain – which one do you recommend? Where should we go? Where is the best place to study Spanish in Spain? I hear the question again and again and I am usually quite baffled by the insistence on a formal Spanish course and the intent search for a formal Spanish school