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For the first time, I’m the quietest one in the family
January 17, 2014
So having moved onto my second placement here in Barcelona I have a lot of ‘new’ challenges. First of all, I am working as an au-pair so I am both living and working with one family which can be amazing but also incredibly tiring as you simply can never get away! But thank fully I …
Necessity has broadened my vocabulary
January 8, 2014
Of the many aspects of learning a second language, pertaining to correct grammatical constructions whilst having a quick-fire (normal!) conversation is the one that proves the most difficult. Until spending an extended period in Spain, commonplace questions would leave me faltering, panicking to the point of absurd! Now I can proudly say that this is …
There are two different ways to define the word ‘fluent’ – unfortunately I haven’t achieved either of them
January 6, 2014
Spending four months in Spain you would think you’d be able to become fluent in the Spanish language. Unfortunately, my expectations did not turn out to be anywhere near true. To sum up my “language acquisition”, I would say that whilst I have improved, there is still so much more I need to learn and …
Talking like a local
January 5, 2014
I have an advanced level of Spanish and what I now find very interesting about language is all of the words and gestures which you don’t find in dictionaries and textbooks. These are things that you can only truly pick up and dominate after living abroad for an amount of time. During my time in …
My next goal is to improve to the point where I’m no longer asked “Ingles?” every time I walk into a shop
January 4, 2014
I’ve been living in Melilla (a Spanish protectorate on the northern coast of Morocco) for over three months now. I have yet to find a shop that sells cheddar cheese and still struggle to mask my oh so English accent when conversing in Spanish, but other than that I feel very much at home here. …
You’re learning without necessarily studying
January 2, 2014
Post written by Lucy Kirkup. When arriving in a new country for a period abroad, language acquisition is something that plays heavily on your mind. Using your language in a real-life situation is worlds away from learning grammar points in the classroom. The year abroad is one of, if not the most exciting part of …
If I can survive the Southern accent, I will be able to understand every Spanish accent in the world
Post written by Georgia Brookes. After finding out I was going to the Universidad de Cádiz but before arriving, when telling family and friends where I would be spending the winter months of my year abroad, I kept hearing about the infamous Andalucian accent and wondering how bad it really was. Well it turns out …
The greatest hindrance for speaking Serbian was simply nerves
January 1, 2014
Post written by Rebecca Wright. Having only studied the Serbian language for two academic years before arriving in Belgrade, admittedly I did feel rather anxious about living in the country. Of course, I knew my teachers at Nottingham would never have let me arrive without giving me all the knowledge I would need, but I …
For me the biggest improvement is my confidence in speaking French
December 31, 2013
Having spoken very little French over the Summer, which I regretted instantly when I arrived in France, I really struggled for the first few days to get back into it. My landlady, normally a little rudely, would often have to correct me or point out that I wasn’t making much sense! However since then I …
I’ve started to speak Spanish with an accent
When I started my year abroad in Seville, I had only been learning Spanish for two years. Naturally, I was worried about how my limited vocabulary and basic grammar was going fair whilst setting up a new life completely in Spanish. Having previously been told that simply by living in a country and being surrounded …
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