It's the start of the 3rd day of the Pueblo Ingles program.
Day 1 we spent 4+ hours travelling by bus from Madrid up to the hotel near L'Alberca. It is in the mountains, in the midst of the oak area where they make the most expensive jamon (cured ham) in Spain. The black pigs only eat acorns from this particular oak and it gives a rich dark colour to the ham. So there are acorns all over the ground, as well as chestnuts which are also prolific.
The hotel is built like a monastery or castle, but we are actually staying in a series of cabins which are slightly down the hill and have our own dining room, meeting room and bar. This helps to keep the Spaniards away from hearing Spanish. At all times we are paired off Anglo/Spaniards: travelling up in the bus, in the cabin, at meals, during presentations and information sessions and, of course, in our individual sessions.
The day starts at 9 with breakfast, then from 10-2 we have a range of sessions: 'one with one', or 2 with 2', telephone calls, telephone conferencing and Spaniards doing short presentations. So far we have only had 1 with 1 sessions, but the others start today. Lunch is 2-3 then we have a break from 3-5 where we can rest, go for a walk, use the internet, catch up with work or family etc. At 5 there is an hour of presentations, a group session from 6-7, then 2 more individual sessions, until dinner at 9. Early by Spanish standards: most of them would eat at 10. After dinner we generally stay around for a chat, some go back on the internet, or off to their rooms. I usually last until about 11:30 but I heard some returning to their cabins at about 3 this morning!
For the 1 to 1 sessions there is a roster of who you are talking with, and for each session a verb, and a saying which need to be discussed at some point. You can sit inside or out of the central area, go for a walk around the property, or use the sitting room of your cabin. Walking for at least part tends to help relax the Spaniards, although by the last sessions last night it was quite cold and we were happy to sit inside. Some of the discussion points we had yesterday are 'ask for, ask about', to 'come across', 'get to know', 'cheer up'. They are also given a book where they can write notes which has pages of idiom, which they can ask about if they like. But the purpose of the sessions is really to converse about a range of topics: their work, travels, life in Spain or Australia, music, sport, art etc. some ask to be corrected when they make a grammatical (usually verb) error, some will ask how to say a word correctly, but the aim is to help them widen their vocabulary. They are all in high powered jobs, so it is challenging for them to be the 'student' and to be occasionally struggling to find the words.
Some of the people I spoke to yesterday were a lawyer specialising in internet privacy/ market research/cookie issues, a psychologist who practices Zen, eats Japanese food, and is obsessive about jazz, the marketing manager of Real Madrid - a very charming guy! a guy who provides Nestlé, Heinz, etc with bottles, and the marketing head of the European market for a magazine stable, including Elle.
In our group activity we had a large object (which was actually an old still made from copper which looked a bit like a bird) placed in the room. As a group we had to decide what it was put together an advertising campaign for it, with each person speaking. Great fun!
Each of the Anglos is also asked to do a short presentation on one of the evenings, basically on whatever you like. Last night one lady spoke and showed pictures from a walk in the mountains of Washington State in the US - she's in a bush walking club, and a guy did an Elvis and a Beatles song (with backing music) and encouraged us to sing along.
My impressions so far? Very well organised, a great range of activities, excellent venue, totally committed people on both sides and really interesting and enjoyable. Although the days are long, they don't drag at all. The only down side is that I would like to get a bit more sleep because I still wake at 6-7.
Day 1 we spent 4+ hours travelling by bus from Madrid up to the hotel near L'Alberca. It is in the mountains, in the midst of the oak area where they make the most expensive jamon (cured ham) in Spain. The black pigs only eat acorns from this particular oak and it gives a rich dark colour to the ham. So there are acorns all over the ground, as well as chestnuts which are also prolific.
The hotel is built like a monastery or castle, but we are actually staying in a series of cabins which are slightly down the hill and have our own dining room, meeting room and bar. This helps to keep the Spaniards away from hearing Spanish. At all times we are paired off Anglo/Spaniards: travelling up in the bus, in the cabin, at meals, during presentations and information sessions and, of course, in our individual sessions.
The day starts at 9 with breakfast, then from 10-2 we have a range of sessions: 'one with one', or 2 with 2', telephone calls, telephone conferencing and Spaniards doing short presentations. So far we have only had 1 with 1 sessions, but the others start today. Lunch is 2-3 then we have a break from 3-5 where we can rest, go for a walk, use the internet, catch up with work or family etc. At 5 there is an hour of presentations, a group session from 6-7, then 2 more individual sessions, until dinner at 9. Early by Spanish standards: most of them would eat at 10. After dinner we generally stay around for a chat, some go back on the internet, or off to their rooms. I usually last until about 11:30 but I heard some returning to their cabins at about 3 this morning!
For the 1 to 1 sessions there is a roster of who you are talking with, and for each session a verb, and a saying which need to be discussed at some point. You can sit inside or out of the central area, go for a walk around the property, or use the sitting room of your cabin. Walking for at least part tends to help relax the Spaniards, although by the last sessions last night it was quite cold and we were happy to sit inside. Some of the discussion points we had yesterday are 'ask for, ask about', to 'come across', 'get to know', 'cheer up'. They are also given a book where they can write notes which has pages of idiom, which they can ask about if they like. But the purpose of the sessions is really to converse about a range of topics: their work, travels, life in Spain or Australia, music, sport, art etc. some ask to be corrected when they make a grammatical (usually verb) error, some will ask how to say a word correctly, but the aim is to help them widen their vocabulary. They are all in high powered jobs, so it is challenging for them to be the 'student' and to be occasionally struggling to find the words.
Some of the people I spoke to yesterday were a lawyer specialising in internet privacy/ market research/cookie issues, a psychologist who practices Zen, eats Japanese food, and is obsessive about jazz, the marketing manager of Real Madrid - a very charming guy! a guy who provides Nestlé, Heinz, etc with bottles, and the marketing head of the European market for a magazine stable, including Elle.
In our group activity we had a large object (which was actually an old still made from copper which looked a bit like a bird) placed in the room. As a group we had to decide what it was put together an advertising campaign for it, with each person speaking. Great fun!
Each of the Anglos is also asked to do a short presentation on one of the evenings, basically on whatever you like. Last night one lady spoke and showed pictures from a walk in the mountains of Washington State in the US - she's in a bush walking club, and a guy did an Elvis and a Beatles song (with backing music) and encouraged us to sing along.
My impressions so far? Very well organised, a great range of activities, excellent venue, totally committed people on both sides and really interesting and enjoyable. Although the days are long, they don't drag at all. The only down side is that I would like to get a bit more sleep because I still wake at 6-7.
Hi Mum,
ReplyDeletelooks like you're having a blast. Sorry I didn't comment earlier - I've been nutso at work. it's going well but i'm TIRED!
Looking forward to your next post.
love you