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 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 Dec 4

Walk your way into the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

We all have many pairs of shoes – but are we thinking about their eco impact? We buy Fairtrade clothes, eco friendly materials, organic cottons and the like – but what about our footwear?

Do you own any shoes that you could call eco friendly shoes?

Probably not. But now there are some on the market that you could buy – and they are by a well-known footwear specialist!

Timberland Shoes:
This outdoor shoe and boot specialist – with a high street name – have come up with the perfect eco friendly shoe and boot which could possibly be a first for mainstream footwear.

And it’s not only the shoe that is eco friendly – the box is too!

Plus – the sole of these shoes is totally natural and reusable – something that isn’t always the case in other eco friendly footwear (where the ‘upper’ is usually holding all the eco credentials!).

Yes – leather is technically ‘natural’ in all leather shoes – but with artificial and damaging dyes, glues and solvents used – they aren’t so good for recycling!

The sole of these shoes is a solid mass of natural latex rather than multiple layers or man-made materials glued together, and is filled with a spongy layer made of coconut husks to act as a natural shock absorber!

And as all 3 component parts are minimally treated – they will all decompose naturally into the environment if they are not recycled into new products.

Their Afterlife:
Not only are they great ecological shoes in the first place – but they have a very eco friendly after life too.

They have been designed to be taken apart into their basic parts very easily so that the individual bits can be used again if possible – for example to make new shoes!

By grating down the latex sole – new soles can be created and the leather can be reused for other products.

The coconut husks are also used for creating their unique ‘shoe-box’ unit that is a sturdy carrier for the shoes – as well as totally biodegradable if left in the right conditions. Being made of 60% husk and 40% latex – these boxes can be used for plant or vegetable trays which when planted out into the ground will naturally break down allowing the produce to root into the soil naturally.

Yes, the traditional cardboard will sort of do the same thing – but cardboard involves cutting down the whole tree – whereas both coconut husk and latex can be harvested while leaving the tree itself still alive and well!

Conclusion:
Well, you can now feel totally at ‘eco ease’ when buying and wearing shoes like this – not only will you eco adventure itself be eco friendly – but your shoes will have had virtually no impact on the environment at all!

Oh, and one last thing – by using the design of their shoes to it’s full potential – you can have shoes and boots in the same package!

Imagine the traditional loafer design with the threaded edge around the opening – now imagine ‘sewing’ on a high top that will instantly transform your shoes into a pair of boots! 

2 eco pairs for the price of 1!

For this new range, Timberland have joined forced with Po Zu – a well established ecological footwear specialist with a whole range of indoor, outdoor and convertible shoes, slippers, sandals and boots!

posted by Catherine on Jul 30

Why wash your toiletries into already polluted water ways when you don’t have to!

By investing in biodegradable toiletries and sunscreen etc, for your trip abroad, you can make sure that your hygiene regime doesn’t damage the ecosystem and that your travel products leave the area as naturally as possible.

I mean – why visit a beautiful place if you are going to ruin it!

What Does Biodegradable Mean?
Biodegradable products are those that will break down readily and quickly into virtually natural particles that can be used again by nature. 

These products also have to ‘break down’ readily in a natural environment – for example when mixed with water, buried in the ground or left exposed to the weather.

Products which are not labelled as biodegradable will also eventually break down into smaller particles – but their products will not be ‘natural’ by any means – and can usually not be used in any way by natural organisms.  And these products are normally harmful to the environment and the animals that live in it.

One example would be a plastic carrier bag.  Yes, it will eventually break up in bad weather or if buried under the ground for a few years – but it will only break down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic until they are so tiny that they can’t be broken down any further.

So in theory, plastic bags are ‘biodegradable’ in the sense that they won’t be plastic bags for ever!

But, obviously this is not what we mean when we think of biodegradable products – so you really need to rely on manufacturers to tell you that their products are made of natural (or near-natural) ingredients.

The Perfect Rainforest

Biodegradable Labelling:
As with so many assumed categories – there is no specific laws that govern the use of the word ‘biodegradable’ on a product. Basically anyone can use it.

In general the term is used for products that will readily break down into natural particles within 6 months of disposal – and even this is a bit vague.

AND as biodegradable products rely on the natural effects of weather, bacteria and sunlight – eliminating these by incorrect disposal can render them trapped in their complete state!  For example without air – only anaerobic respiration can be used to break products down; and photo-degradation only occurs in sunlight.

Take the human body.  It is made of natural particles and will break down naturally in the environment in most circumstances – but bury in under peat, desiccate it in a desert or trap it in a thick layer of ice and it will be virtually intact thousands of years later!  And we have found entire humans with intact skin and hair all over the world because of this.

So, really you need to aim for more ‘natural products’ – but then again, there is no legal definition for labeling a product as natural!  Oil is natural after all!

The Result:
You can see that the theory of using biodegradable products is 100% eco friendly and can help to reduce our impact on the planets waterways and oceans.

However, the practice part is a little more difficult!

The best you can do really is to think about reducing your dependence on excessive toiletries in the first place.  I mean do your need to remove your nail varnish in the middle of the jungle?  Or style your hair so it doesn’t move all day when trekking up a mountain?

And secondly, look at who is making it.  If a big chemical company is making it – then it probably isn’t the most natural product – no matter what they say!  They know that there is no legal definition for certain things so try to ‘trick’ consumers with flowery pictures and ‘natural sounding’ words.

Basically, if it’s a household name and is found in virtually every supermarket – it won’t be good for the environment!

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 28

When the little guy took on 1 of the largest petrochemical firms in the States!

I just love a David and Goliath case – it makes you proud to be the little guy!  That is why I wanted to tell you about this amazing film I just watched about just that: A newly qualified young Ecuadorian Lawyer is fighting a case against Texaco (now owned by Chevron – one of the 6 ‘major’ petroleum companies in the world).

Basically, over the past 2 decades petrochemical companies have moved in on the Ecuadorian rainforest to drill for oil and haven’t really paid much attention to the effects on the local people and the local environment.  And although it was only really a short while ago – the people involved didn’t really think it was ‘that much’ of a problem – and so did nothing about it.

But now a local has changed all that.  Sickened by all this pollution, disregard for human life and wanton destruction of such a beautiful and irreplaceable environment – Pablo Fajardo struggled against the odds to get a law degree and is now fighting for the 30,000 indigenous people who have been affected.

The Facts:
In The Ecuadorian Amazon there were many indigenous tribes living a peaceful existence off the land.  The habitat was lush, the wildlife plentiful and the people were healthy.  Then they found the Lago Agrio Oil Field.

Texaco moved in to the area and started setting up drilling and refining factories and littering the rainforest with miles and miles of oil-carrying pipelines.

They took over large areas of the rainforest either for mining or for waste dumps – and in their time they really made an impact – a bad one!

Yes, the Ecuadorian government gave them permission to drill for oil – but I don’t think they were aware that the results would be so damaging to their own country and people.

As a result of their presence here and their bad management and control practices they are quoted as having dumped ’18 billion gallons of toxic filth into the Amazon’; ‘flooded 17,000 square miles of both rainforest and agricultural land with toxic waste and cancer’ and have spilled so much oil here that they have surpassed the Exxon Valdez disaster by nearly 30 times!

One of Texaco’s responses was that people shouldn’t be living here anyway as it is a working oil field and that ‘it isn’t contamination – it is industrial exploitation permitted by law’!

The Effects:
Amazingly, there is still totally obvious areas of pollution today – literally pits of thick oil waste all over the place! 

They do not need to rely on witnesses from the past – they can simply take people to some of Texaco’s waste pits and see the destruction for themselves – and the new Ecuadorian President did just that in 2007; nearly 20 years after the lawsuit was first filed!  It’s all still there……..

As the local people have no real water system for their homes – they all bath and drink from the rivers and stream where they live – and unfortunately this is where most of the toxic waste has been and still is running into.  There has been an increase in cancer and leukemia across the area as well as many other illnesses that we associate with pollution and petrochemicals.

However, the Texaco Chief Scientist claims that they have tested water across the area ‘all the time’ and that ’99% of streams sampled meet US EPA and WHO drinking water standards’!  I doubt if a test on US streams would ever be that high!  Anyway – she then goes on to say that all the rashes and skin complaints that babies and children are getting are because they have ‘poor sanitation’ and that ‘their water contains fecal bacteria and sewage’ – so how does THAT pass for ‘drinking water’?

I love it when their own arguments contradict each other!

The Results:
Well, you can still help with this battle and others like it by supporting charities that work in these areas. 

I mean you don’t have to become a human rights attorney to make a difference – although if you did – that would be great! You just need to keep yourself aware of all the injustice in the world, and try to support those charities and groups that are making a difference in the areas you are passionate about.

Charities involved in this area include the Rainforest Foundation Fund, Oxfam America, Amazon Watch, Amazon Defence Front, Rainforest Action Network, Unicef, WWF, Flora & Fauna as well as Pablo himself!  And I’m sure there are many more.

So whether it is just people in general, sick children, the environment, the wildlife, the Amazon itself or the rights of indigenous people – your volunteering or regular donations can all add up to get things put right!

I’m not going to tell you what happened in the film – you will have to go out and watch it yourself and add your support to the cause!

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