Eco Holidays

posted by Catherine on May 7

Colloquial Language Series - The Complete Course For Beginners. 

Format: 2 CD’s and a Course Book

Style: Mostly reading for understanding – but native speaker recording to assist.

Language: Cryllic Script – (My Language: Roman Script)
Have I Tried This Language Before? – No, Never Learned A Cryllic Script.

General Comments:

Well, the type of language is going to make this course more fun as you will have to translate things twice really.  Due to the different alphabet script, you have to learn the whole alphabet first, join them into words and then learn what the words mean.

Rather than with a same script language where you just learn what the words mean, here you have to translate it all first into the new script, where letters have a different sound – like the ‘P’ letter has an ’R’ sound and the ‘r’ has a ‘g’ sound!

As I am good at learning little things by rote – literally by just learning this letter means that sound – I was soon able to translate the letters and read out the words – but only if the words were similar to ours anyway! 

At the beginning you can just literally swap their letters for ours and the words make sense – but only with ‘borrowed words’ like ’academee’ (academy) and ‘compiyutor’ (computer) – but then it heads straight off into completely random ones like ’gorodok’ which means table, and ’kharandash’ meaning pencil!

Luckily the course has a CD to help with the pronunciation – and you really need it here as the language is so different from my own! I think you would need to spend a long time learning the alphabet sounds before you could get comfortable with the language – however I did feel like I had really achieved something after a short time as some of the symbols began to make sense to me.

You would really need to want to learn this language to make it an effective course – otherwise it would all go to waste and you would forget it all very quickly.

It certainly hasn’t put me off trying another ‘non-Roman’ language course – but it has certainly made me aware of the commitment to learning something so very different. 

Ease Of Use: 3/5

Result: Finished But Confused

Reason: Too Difficult for me and Probably Need To Complete Again

photo credit: mikecogh

posted by Catherine on Feb 22

Why not take an extended eco holiday to a part of your past?

These days you can buy yourself a genome-realted DNA test that may well help you to see where your ancient ancestors came from or travelled through on their journey to becoming you!

It is currently believed that around 60,000 years ago the first humans started to move away from their original homeland. Theories still abound as to why they moved and how they managed it – but basically from those first steps – they sowed the seeds for all the thousands or cultures, languages and peoples that we know today.

Some of these groups are still very isolated such as island communites, whereas others are now highly mixed up including many capital cities like London and New York.

Over thousands of years of migration, settlement, working and trade; cultures have met, mixed and moved on. But where does your history come from – where has your distant family been living all this time?

Genome Testing.
It is now possible to buy a testing kit for yourself or a friend that will tell you about the journey of your ancestors as far as we know it.

There have been many studies over the past few decades that have found certain ‘markers’ in human DNA which can be plotted on a map of the world based on where these markers are found within indigenous populations still living in those locations.

For example, certain markers found in indigenous people living on Island A will be identified as different to all other marker combinations, so if your DNA is found to have most or all of those same markers, then you can almost guarantee that your ‘family’ were there too at some point.

And as humans moved from Africa across Asia, Europe and the Americas, they left a trail of these similar markers – and it is these markers that the DNA test can highlight for you.

These markers can be found for both your maternal linage – through your mother and then her mother and then all the mothers for ever; or paternally through your father, then his father, then all your family’s fathers (however only males can follow their paternal lineage due to the ‘Y’ chromosome – as ladies don’t have one!).

This tracing backwards doesn’t give you a list of all their names and addresses of course, it just tells you whether your markers are found in certain populations over time and in which areas and countries.

Wow!
This is of course something that could change your life. Especially if you have no idea what your ancestry is and find out that most of your past relatives were from a totally different continent to what you thought.

I know skin colour and your direct relations might give you a clue to more recent family ties over the past 100 years (like the last 3 generations of my family were all from Europe) – but they can be hiding a whole host of other relatives over the past 59,900 years that are hidden within our genes!

And finding out that your history is focussed in a whole new landscape could be the very input you needed to find a new path in life. What if you could travel back to that place for an extended period of time; learn about who still lives there and past events.

And if it is still a developing region – there may be volunteer or teaching opportunites close by so that you could actually be helping people still living in that very place who share a similar past to you.

If you are interested in learning more about yourself, then maybe take a look at one such Genome Project and take it from there?

photo credit: Lordcolus

posted by Catherine on Jan 29

Michel Thomas Language Series – The 8 Part Course For Beginners.

Format: 8 CDs

Style: This course is completly reliant on you listening to his voice and the efforts of his 2 students. He basis his teaching on ‘No Books, No Writing – Just Confidence In Hours’, so just sit back and listen your way to a new language.

Language: Latin/Roman Script – (My Language: Same)
Have I Tried This Language Before? – Yes, but I have only learnt basic phases – Michel promises to teach you how to use the language rather than just repeat it.

General Comments:
I love it! Seriously – it wasn’t the same old things as all the other language courses.

There was no ‘Hello my name is….’ or ‘I am from….’ or even ‘Where is the tourist office/train station/chemist’, infact we hardly learned any nouns at all.

So how can you learn a language without pages and pages of fruits, vegetables and furniture? With ease! These can all come later as Michel Thomas teaches you how to use verbs to express yourself.

Once you know a verb – you can use it to mean dozens of different things; and use these verbs alongside ‘it’, ‘that’ and ‘this’ and add in a ‘here’, ‘there’ and ‘tomorrow’ and you can say what ever you want.

If you only learn the nouns you can only ask the same question or state the same thing to use any number of nouns (for example ‘I like dogs/cats/cheese’ or ‘I want a sandwich/coffee/room’) whereas I can easily now say plenty of more interesting things like ‘I don’t like that’, ‘I don’t want to go there today’ and ‘Will you buy that for me tomorrow as I can’t buy it myself today’.

It really immerses you in the very heart of the language rather than skirting you around the edges. And although every single thing he said hasn’t stayed stuck in my mind and I get some of the verbs mixed up – I feel so much more confident about the language.

And it’s great to listen to other people trying to learn at the same time as you on the CD – almost like you are in a classroom. That way you can feel that you are doing as well as or even better than the students in the recording – or huff at yourself when you can’t remember the verbs and they say it for you! The number of times I said to myself ‘oh I knew it!’.

There were times when a whole section went over my head the first time, but then I just went back over that section again a second time and more of it slipped into place!

I have learnt so much more than I expected on this course as it is so different from the other approaches that I have reviewed on this site. You really have to try it for yourself.

So if you are bored of the ‘standard’ approach of ordering food and taking directions at the start of every language course; then maybe it is time you tried the Michel Thomas way!

Ease Of Use: 5/5

Result: Finished And Confident

Reason: Perfect Layout For Me

posted by Catherine on Oct 22

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Spring is in the air – and you might not ever have to be again!

One of the largest and most comprehensive adventure travel shows is back on the schedule – and gives you plenty of time to start your own research into your next eco adventure!

If you are thinking about a volunteer Gap Year, a few months independent green travel, starting a career in travel writing or just trying something totally different – then the Outdoor Adventure Travel Show 2011 in London is the place you should really be planning for.

Not only are there travel companies galore to visit, but there are also writing and photography seminars, travel clinics and discount clothing and equipment all waiting in 1 place for you.

Who Can You Ask?
If you are thinking about trying something a little bit ‘new’ or stepping out into the wide world for the first time, then you should really get several opinions on locations, projects and transport from experts.

Not just a travel agent – as they tend to sell package deals and flights only – if you want a real eco adventure or to try out some green travel packages, then you need to speak to the people who specialise in that.

In the same way that a car salesman can’t give you the best advice to drive around the world and an estate agent can only give you a few general tips on how to spot an eco home - a high street travel agent can’t really offer green advice based on experience.

You need to weed out the ‘generalists’ and look for the specialists.

The Plan:
Needless to say – if you just turn up to this event on a whim you will still have a great time and gets lots of great information – but you won’t really be gleaming the best of the best.

As the show isn’t until January 2011 – you have 3 months to get researching yourself.  Find out what possible dates are for travel; which countries or regions you are hoping to travel to – and how you plan to get there.

That way you have a rough plan in mind before you come face to face with the experts!  What if there is a great deal on a trip to Asia – but you hadn’t looked into opportunities in that area before – you might go away feeling like you have to start all over again.

What if you had been thinking about travelling from A to B to C – but then find out that you had the seasons all wrong and it will be the rainy season in the tropics - or the dry season when you arrive at fjords or great waterfalls!

If you have your plan already set out in your head, then you can bend and twist that plan once you have discussed a few things.  If you have no plan at all when you arrive then you could be quite overwhelmed – maybe even coming away from the show with 15 years worth of travel ideas rather than the 6-month trip you were hoping for!

The Dates:
Well, the show isn’t until the end of January, so you have plenty of time to get some of your basics together.

Whether it’s toying with a new language, thinking about a route across the globe or worrying about your carbon footprint – start putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and get some sort of structure to your plan.

Check on the Adventure Show website and see what’s on offer and which lectures or workshops might be of use to you in advance and start to give your eco holiday a backbone.  Maybe even set out a budget in advance and plan to buy the things you need at bargain show prices!

posted by Catherine on Jul 18

Collins Language Revolution – This Time You’ll Remember – Beginner Level

Format: 2 CD’s and a Coursebook. 

Style: 1 CD follows you through the 10 Units in the coursebook, and CD 2 follows the same (9) Units but can be used alone without using the coursebook.

Language: Latin/Roman Script – (My Language: Same)
Have I Tried This Language Before? - Yes, but still a beginner.

General Comments:
The idea is wonderful – a well laid out coursebook and 2 cds.  Bright colours, large lettering, mainly nouns (so no horrible verb conjugation) and some useful accompanying pictures.  However, it’s a little tougher than it looks.

There is quite a small amount of actual ‘tested and repeated’ language.  By this I mean that the course teaches you say, 10 new words, then the little test part might only test you a a couple of them.  Or in one Unit – give you the longest conversation in a foreign language I have ever sat through in a ‘Beginners Course’.  Even after pausing and rewinding it several times I couldn’t make all the details out – and even after trying to write it down, there were parts that we incomprehensible to my ‘learner’ ear.

Also, alongside this course – there is the idea that you can use Mindmaps to re-inforce the learning.  Basically using a spider diagram or sorts to keep reminding yourself of the learned words.  So in the unit discussing food and drink, you might draw a menu in the middle, then a glass to one side for drinks and a plate to the other side for food.  Then leading off from these you would have images and written names of the foods and drinks you had just learnt.

I can see how this would be a great exercise for some people, my brain doesn’t really work like that, so I found spending time writing down what I had just said but with wavy lines and sparkly colours wasn’t something that I felt increased my learning.  However, I know of friends who prefer this style of learning.

They may well have been useful tools towards the final chapter, as the course started throwing 2 or even 3 times as many new words at you at a time – and they weren’t really related either.  I mean Unit 9 had Lost Luggage, Going to the Dr and Broken Household Appliances!  40 new words in total and Unit 8 had 48.  Compare this to 18 in Unit 1 and 27 in Unit 2 (and 10 of them were 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10!).

With reference to the CD’s with this, they had both good and bad sides.  The ‘good’ was the noise they used to signify the end of a track – as it allowed you to know the track was about to end, and so you could skip back easily to hear it again – which I had to do many times!

The ‘bad’ part was that there were seemingly endless different tracks along the way, sometimes with only 5 or 6 words on it.  And there seriously were not long enough pauses sometimes to answer the questions or repeat the conversations.  You would listen to them, then think of your answer, but part way through they started talking – so not only did you lose your concentration, but you didn’t hear whether you were right or not! 

I did however, really enjoy working through their exercises (and there is more support online if you want it), but as there was no ‘answers’ section or glossary in the book.  So unless you logged on in the middle of the course you wouldn’t be 100% sure your answers were right, and if you came across a word you didn’t remember from earlier in the book, you had no choice but to flick back through all the previous pages to locate it or just ignore it!

Perhaps I should try the course again and make a go of the mind maps – as although I got to the end of the course, I don’t think it improved my confidence very much! 

Ease Of Use: 4/5

Result: Finished But Still Confused

Reason: Didn’t Like The Style, Still Not Sure Of Key Verbs & Probably Need To Complete Again

posted by Catherine on Jun 18

Teach Yourself: Holiday & Business Basics – Introductory Course

Format: 1 PaperBack Book & CD

Style: Learning phrases common in introductory conversations, with verbal accompaniment.  Unit tests and quizzes throughout to test learning with answers in the back of the book.

Language: Latin/Roman Script – (My Language: Same)
Have I Tried This Language Before? - Yes, but still a beginner.

General Comments:
You start the course with the most common conversation details – introducing yourself to others and finding out about destinations and jobs.  You read the full conversation in English, then read the full conversation in your chosen language.  You can instantly see familiar and common words and new words are explained over the page in the remainder of the unit.

The accompanying CD helps you with the pronunciation, but you can use the book on it’s own throughout if you are confident with your own pronunciation.  There are also nice and easy quizzes on your new vocabulary to build up your confidence – and finally a very thorough Unit Test (with answers at the back!).

There are no grammar lessons in the course or boring repetitive sentences – just simple phrases that you will use most often; like ‘I like to go to A’, and ‘We need a table for 4′.  Not ‘I want, You want, He wants, She wants, blah blah blah!’  Just the basics, from start to finish.

There are even some nice little cut-out-and-keep flash cards at the back if you don’t mind destroying the book!  And because it’s a tiny book, you can always find things again easy to learn again or to check up on without getting stuck in the middle.

However, due to it’s lovely format, I found that I ended up learning the conversations in full, as though they were words in a play.  So I was remembering how they were used in the conversations rather than what the individual words were.  This is fine for those routine question and answers like ordering food and describing your family, but useless for spontaneous interactions – but then, this is only the very basic level, so it’s just a taster course really.

I completed it easily and felt like I had learnt something new, but I wasn’t 100% certain I could actually have a proper conversation abroad using it.  I may well have got through in a bit of a mess, but I would definately got a room for the night and ordered some dinner!

Ease Of Use: 4/5

Result: Finished And OK

Reason: Still Not Sure Of Key Verbs but Perfect Layout For Me

posted by Catherine on May 18

Pimsleur Language Program: Quick And Simple Course – Introductory Level.

Format: 5 Language CD’s – plus 1 CD for Course Introduction.

Style: 100% listening and repetition of words and phrases.

Language: Latin/Roman Script – (My Language: Same)
Have I Tried This Language Before? - Yes, but still a beginner.

General Comments:
This course was perfect for the beginner as it was so simply laid out.

There was a recorded conversation at the beginning of each module/unit and then you were asked to repeat certain words and phrases to become part of that conversation.

At the end of each unit you could then converse similarly to the original conversation as well as using many new words along the way.

You were offered gaps in the narration and conversations to speak aloud and would then hear the correct words or phrases afterwards to check your progress.

It did get rather too repetitive at certain points and I was just repeating the same words over and over again. And to be honest, once you know the word ‘peso’ you know the word ‘peso’!

The whole course didn’t really get anywhere fast in terms of language – I mean I wouldn’t be able to do much more than partake in 2 or 3 conversations in the language, but this was more than compensated for by being able to complete the course with ease.

Many courses just get too involved and you end up giving up part way in – but this course you just had to finish – it was silly not to.

There was no written text either, so it was great that you couldn’t see what was coming up next and start to get worried. The number of times I have flicked through a language course text book and thought the last few modules/units were too complicated – and it almost makes you not want to get there, and you give up.

Similarly, as you didn’t know what was coming up, you didn’t worry about repeating yourself. Learning a new language isn’t always straight forward, and you may stop and start several times. This means that when you see a language text book, you find the same old things over and over, like directions and ‘what is your name’. It almost forms a barrier to learning.

But this course was easy to follow, easy to complete and nice and short. This is actually the first language course that I have actually 100% finished!

Ease Of Use: 5/5

Result: Finished And Confident

Reason: Perfect Layout For Me