It's Wednesday evening and I'm a good half-way through my five day "minimmersion" in the Indonesian language, here in Yogyakarta on the island of Java. The day began, as yesterday, with a 45 minute lesson via skype where we dealt with ways of saying "have" and some important "classroom" vocabulary (table, chair, pencil, pen and so on). Then it was over to the language … [Read more...]
“Minimmersion” Indonesian 4: Day 2 (video) begins online and ends with a splash
It's Tuesday night, the end of Day 2 of my five-day crash course in beginners' Indonesian. I got a good start this morning, even before I left my Yogyakarta hotel room: a 45 minute lesson on italki with Zacky, the teacher I met up with in a café yesterday afternoon. I had a different teacher at the school today for my daily 10:15 to 12:00 session: a young lady called … [Read more...]
“Minimmersion” Indonesian 3: Day 1 (with video) at the school, further explorations & speaking some Indonesian
Yesterday I posted for the first time from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I'm here on a one-week "minimmersion" to try to get some Indonesian language basics and to learn about the country and culture. Today was the first of my five days of study. The day started with a good breakfast at the hotel, then I was picked up and driven to the language school. The driver told me to … [Read more...]
“Minimmersion Indonesian” 2: arrival video
I'm now in my hotel room in Yogyakarta on the Indonesian island of Java on "day zero", the eve of my week's intensive Indonesian. The flight from Singapore was smooth, made easier by the efficient civility of the airport there. I was pretty tired on board after only about four hours' sleep last night and, as a result, I worked less on vocab that I'd have liked....I did try … [Read more...]
Basque Intensive! 5: post-course native speaker call
Hi from Thessaloniki where I've arrived for the 4th Polyglot Conference. Look out for more later on the site on that, as I'll be blogging and vlogging like last year and the year before. I'll be straight on from here to Singapore with work. A second leg to Hong Kong was cancelled at short notice, so I'll have a spare week in South East Asia. So, just time to duck and dive … [Read more...]
Basque Intensive! 4: second half diary
I'm now back in London after a month's intensive Basque course at the Maizpide residential language course south of Donostia (San Sebastián) in northern Spain. Regular readers will know that I've been learning Basque for a while now, taking classes in London and online via Skype but this has been my first time "in the field" as a Basque learner. The Basque Country straddles … [Read more...]
TRKI 4th certificate: this top Russian exam really does exist and CAN be passed (interview with a successful candidate)
A lot of mystery surrounds the TRKI 4th Certificate, the top exam for Russian as a foreign language within the framework guidelines established by the Russian Ministry of Education (тест по русскому языку как иностранному Четвертый сертификационный уровень (ТРКИ-4)). It's "the ultimate" Russian exam, the equivalent of the C2 level ("Mastery or proficiency") on the scale of … [Read more...]
Basque Intensive! 3: half way diary
I’m two weeks into my month’s sabbatical from work, at the language school at Lazkao in the middle of the beautiful Basque countryside of Gipuzkoa province in northern Spain. I've made a video of the journey here already and now here's my diary of impressions of the trip at the half-way point. It's an insight into life at an intensive summer language school and an account of … [Read more...]
Basque Intensive! 2: from London to Bilbao and Lazkao (a vlog)
Hello from Lazkao, a small town in deepest Gipuzkao province in the Basque Country. Below you'll find the link to the first of my vlogs from here. I'm already half way through the first week of my four week intensive Basque course and am really enjoying the experience so far. With full board, the company of other enthusiastic learners and committed teachers and in lovely … [Read more...]
Basque Intensive! 1: on the eve
Today was the first day of my one-month mini sabbatical from work. The excitement is mounting here at Howtogetfluent Towers as tomorrow I'm off to the Basque Country (northern Spain) for the fist time since I started learning the Basque language, a unique old tongue, related to no other. I'm bound for a one-month intensive language course. It's three years since I started … [Read more...]