This is an extract from a talk I did recently for the together I’m possible network – an amazing bunch of people you should definitely check out if you don’t know them already! Language groups as third places I’m sitting watching a group of people chatting to each other and laughing, making jokes and sharing their lives – a new job, a fight with their neighbour, their new favourite song.  I can’t help it – a huge smile spreads across my face. A smile that I can’t control, the most genuine kind that comes from deep inside you, one of sheer joy.  I’m proud of what the group has created,…

I just got back from India where I took a food and heritage walk of old Delhi with Stanley at The Lost Compass.  The tour was fantastic – we tried the street food in a safe way and Stanley helped us to navigate the chaos of old Delhi in a way that we would never have been able to on our own. We tried many foods (fried potato with pomegranate flavour was a definite favourite!) but we also learned about the history of the city and the past and present culture of the place and it’s people. We got to know Stanley over the course of the evening, and we…

Intensive language courses are where you spend a week or more studying a language, usually in the country itself.  Packages start at 20 hours of classes per week but there are normally activities like walking tours or cooking classes in the afternoon, or you can top-up your group classes with some one to one tuition in a specific area.  The week starts on Monday morning with a level test – a short written test and conversation with a teacher so they can decide which group to put you in.  Normal routine is then 4 hours of classes in the mornings with a break in the middle where you can go…

A while ago I got my TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), I did it partly for my own interest but also so that I could consider some volunteer work. I ended up doing my first teaching quite unexpectedly!  I had reached out to a few organisations in my local area and one of them invited me for a chat to get to know me and see how I could help out. I went during my lunch break on a Monday and happened to turn up while they were in a bit of a panic. Monday is the day they usually do assessments to decide which level class…

I love serendipity. She is one of my best friends. She has never let me down, and she has a magical way of opening my eyes when I think they are already wide open enough. The other day I was convinced that I had a writing workshop, so, making my way to North Shields, I was full of excitement to get the pen and paper out and let my imagination flow. Admittedly, that is not always easy after a busy week. It turned out, however, that I did not have a writing workshop – I had got my dates mixed up! There I was, standing outside of the library, cursing…

How much do we really know about our parents and what they got up to, or where they travelled to in their youth before we were born? As a woman on a mission, I decided to interview my dad to find out… What did you do before going to South Africa? I did an apprenticeship as a barber in North Shields for three years. This involved another two years after the original apprenticeship in Spence Terrace. The extra two years was an improvement course, but I wanted a better job as the money wasn’t all that good, so I didn’t complete the two extra years. I wanted to travel and…

I hide myself at the back and hope that if I can just stand up and sit down at the right time, I’ll be fine. I don’t speak or understand a word of German but here I am at a Sunday afternoon church service…all in German! I recently found out that a church on the outskirts of Newcastle has a German speaking congregation and a regular mass, they had kindly agreed to meet with me for a chat over coffee and cake after the service.  Being part of a church brings a great sense of community to some people already, and I was interested to hear what it meant to…

I’m from the North East of England, but my mind is often somewhere else. There are two things which scare me most in life: big dogs off their leads and narcissists. Let’s just say I have experienced both! Give me a chance to go somewhere new on my own, however, and I’ll jump at the chance. Just let me plan and get the logistics sorted first, and I’ll try my best to make the most of it. They say travel broadens the mind, and, in general, I would agree. What nobody tells you, however, is that an extended period in a place where you assimilate the culture very successfully can cause…

A topical question under our post Covid reality is can we really build or maintain a meaningful relationship with someone over skype? I use Italki quite a lot in my language learning and practice, it’s basically one on one conversations either with a teacher or informal language partner.  I say absolutely yes we can get to know someone and develop a relationship without being in the same room. Let me tell you why. There is a Spanish word ‘Sabiduría’. I’m not sure we have an equivalent in English – it means the wisdom that can only come with age and life experience. My Spanish conversation partner Rosa was the embodiment…

Lightspeed Spanish is a YouTube channel owned by a guy called Gordon who is originally from the North East of England so not far fro me, but now lives in Spain. I told him to come to our Spanish conversation group to say hi the next time he is in Newcastle, and he invited me to make a video about it!