Donostia San Sebastián



A weekend in Spain

We took a trip to San Sebastián last weekend to make the most of the unseasonably warm October weather.

The harbour and bay area
 

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza



Boys in football gear

San Sebastián is a beautiful, lively city in the Basque region of Spain. The busy shopping area is located right next to the beach. Spanish families eat ice creams and mingle with tourists in the old city. Children play football in the streets, or enjoy the park on the seafront.


 

Basilica of Saint Mary of the Chorus
 

Carousel in front of City Hall














Children dressed alike

Adults dressed alike, maybe they're brothers

   

 A stroll through the narrow city streets led us to tapas, and more tapas. Or Pintxos in Basque. Delicious. Although (and I have a hazy memory of a forgotten new year's resolution) my Spanish did let me down badly. The words came out in Italian, in French, even in Irish (!)...  But we still managed to eat well by pointing and gesturing. The locals are used to the influx of tourists, especially French (it's only a half an hour from Biarritz) and switched easily from Spanish and Basque to French and English.

      

 

The best views of the city were to be enjoyed from Mount Urgull. We climbed up through the park to the historic castle and the statue of Jesus overlooking the city. My calf muscles are nearly back to normal now, thanks for asking.




Playa de la Concha was ideal for people-watching. A bride and groom arrived down from the city hall for a photo shoot--the bride struggling through the sand with her long white dress, the groom carrying the Champagne and glasses for that perfect photo. Children played in the sand--often naked, as seems to be the norm. The melodious tune of a saxophonist on the promenade wafted down towards us. A businessman arrived after work with a novel, stripped down to his boxers, and went in for a swim. Then he lay there reading until he was dry enough to put back on his shirt and tie and head home. Made me wish I lived closer to the sea.

 

 

Certainly the nicest city beach I've ever visited.

 

 

 

La Mala Educación Spanish film review

La Mala Educación was written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar and opened the Cannes Film Festival in 2004.

Set in the 80s in Madrid, Enrique Goded, a film director, meets up with his childhood friend Ignacio Rodriguez (also his first love). Ignacio has written a book based on their days in a primary boarding school, where a priest sexually abused Ignacio. Enrique reads the script, and decides to make the film.

The action moves from the present to various stages in the past as Enrique tries to figure out what really happened between Father Manolo, the paedophile priest, and his friend Ignacio. Ignacio is a transsexual and, in a way, I was reminded of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, but the overall story is darker and more intense. A film I'd watch again, if only to piece together the real sequence of events better. And to watch the wonderful football scene again.

I bought this DVD on a recommendation from a friend as part of my Spanish language-learning journey. Pity I only have the subtitles in French!  Spanish subtitles would have been useful. I was rather surprised to see a 12 rating. I would recommend this, but not to 12 year olds due to gay sex and heroine overdose scenes.

Here's the trailer on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz2B5RL7fQQ

Spanish Progress Report

Time for an update on my Spanish learning    

Language CDs:  

As is often the case with new years' resolutions, the novelty has begun to wear off  by now and I wonder if I'm going to succeed. I managed to listen to my language CDs for two months but really lost interest in March. I do notice progress though when I listen to conversations that seemed impossible on first hearing, but now I can understand them fairly well. 

Music: 

 

Having learned the words of one song off by heart, I'm confident that if I’m ever in Spain and need to say ‘I would come back to find you in my time machine’, I’m sorted! Music is helpful for practising pronunciation and intonation, and some of the vocabulary is useful. I'm not that sure I'll find a use for 'time machine' but who knows? Some day I’ll drop it into conversation while nibbling tapas before a bullfight, and I’ll think of this. Overall, learning through music is a positive experience and I'm going to buy the Amaral album and listen to that in the car instead. 

Forums: 

I've made several attempts to chat on forums in Spanish, with my Spanish-English dictionary to hand and using very simple constructions. I've been able to make myself understood. The advantage over actual conversations is that you have the time to respond. From the SpanishDict site I've also been receiving the 'Word of the Day' by email.

Books: 

To begin with, I'm concentrating on reading books in English about Spain rather than actually reading a novel in Spanish. I've started 'Guernica' by Dave Boling, which is proving to be an interesting read. I love the cover picture too. Next up will be 'Ghosts of Spain' by Giles Tremlett.
 

                    

Summary:

January: Language CDs

February: Language CDs, Music

March: Forums, Books

My plan for April: 

I'm hoping to watch a couple of Spanish films, over and over, to really absorb the language and intonation. I do need some good recommendations first though.

All you need is...

... on the world wide web!

I was preparing to spend a year in Japan on the JET Programme. I tried to learn the language from a book. But I knew very little about Japan or the Japanese. I'd read 'Shogun' and that was the extent of my knowledge of the country. In pre-Celtic Tiger days there were very few foreigners living in Dublin, so I had never met or spoken to a Japanese person.

Learning is much easier when you can find what you need on the internet. To learn Spanish I've been following an audio course, but grammar and vocabulary can be dull, let's face it! So I asked for music recommendations on the web and was offered suggestions with links that lead to other links. I spent hours on youtube discovering Spanish and South American bands. Amaral's 'Como hablár' was a happy discovery.



The next phase may be to watch Spanish films, I'll purchase the DVD from the comfort of my sitting room. Then I may try to participate on a forum, and look for recommendations on where to stay this summer. Speaking to real people will be the final phase. There are many Spanish people looking for language-exchange via skype.

The danger though is getting lost on the internet. It's easy to look up one thing and find yourself clicking hither and yonder and soon you realise it's four o'clock in the morning and you still haven't checked the weather forecast. That's the real challenge these days - staying focused when there's so much information out there.

¿Habla espagñol?

Have you ever learned a new language as an adult?

I'm taking up Spanish. I started two weeks ago using the Michel Thomas method and I'm listening to it in the car every day for about twenty minutes. I wonder how well I'll be able to speak by the time my summer holidays roll around...

Learning languages is a something I've always been interested in. I studied French and German and live in France so I use French every day. My children are bilingual and I'm often amazed at their ability to process new vocabulary. They're starting Spanish in school now so it's interesting to see the difference in the way we learn. They're already mocking my Spanish accent, even if they only know about twenty words themselves! 

Now how to pronounce that dish? Paella!!!

I've been following Benny the Irish polyglot for a while now and I love the way he has the courage to jump in at the deep end and even post up videos of his progress. So, rather than 'fluent in 3 months'  I could call my challenge: Paella en seis meses.
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