The Flemish polyglot

The kids are back to school, finally some time for myself again! And finally some time to set myself some language goals again. Since I have decided to quit completely with language school and take matters into my own hands, I have to set some goals for myself and I thought sharing them with you would make me more accountable. But I have learned from last year. I found that setting goals that are too tight (or just goals in general) gives me stress. ‘Have to’ doesn’t sit that well with me. Therefore a list of goals to strive for rather than to reach. English and French , these are my main working languages and I translate on a regular basis from these two into   Dutch. So my only goals here are reading some books (no fixed number per month, remember the ‘have to’). Books by authors Marc Levy and Guillaume Musso are easy to read, so I might go and get a few of those from the library. I also record a series in French about history and I would like to watch a few epis...

Euphoria, euphoria, wherefore art thou, euphoria? Okay, this may be a bit melodramatic, but it is an understatement to say that I did not get to speak as much Spanish as I had hoped or wanted to. Why is that, I went to Spain, didn’t I? Well, first thing, the campsite was French, we were automatically addressed in French and everyone assumed that we were French as well. As much as I had hoped to speak Spanish, it flattered my vanity that they asked ‘Vous êtes de quel département?’ and then looked shocked when I said I am actually Flemish. We also made a short stop in Arles on the way to Barcelona, where again I got to use French! And second, I have been ‘englished’ many times. I bet you recognize the situation: you have studied a foreign language, go to the country and hope to speak the language and then immediately everyone starts speaking English to you … Even if you reply in Spanish (in my case), they keep on answering back in English. Very frustrating, but I did not giv...

Finally, finally! I will have the chance to immerse myself in Spanish for 2 whole weeks! When the kids and I discussed a destination last year, I gently pushed them in the direction of Spain or Italy (since I’m studying both languages and I always try to combine pleasure and pain). They went for Spain in the end and D-day is approaching rapidly … I will also score some bonus points since we will make a stop-over in France , so hopefully I will get a chance to brush up on my rusty French speaking skills as well! In preparation I have treated myself to a little crash course in Spanish grammar and vocabulary. When I decided in June not to go for a fifth year in school, but instead continue the Spanish journey on my own, comfortably in my couch, I ordered three grammar books in the Aula Internacional series (levels B1, B2.1 and B2.2) They arrived within a week and now I am working my way through book 1 (a walk in the park since this is actually third year material, so...