Yes snow! As if England was not cold enough, my minor brush with a snowstorm while driving through northern England was nothing close to the white blanket I experienced this past week.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Starting at the beginning, the culmination of my trip to the UK is a return visit to La Alberca for another session with Pueblo Ingles. For those that have followed all of this blog (OK, just my Mum) you will already know about the program. For the remainder, and smarter, of you, Pueblo Ingles is a program which gathers a group of around 20 Spanish participants, who are learning English, and an approximately equivalent number of native English speaking volunteers (hereto known as Anglos) and whisks them off together to a fairly remote (sometimes very remote) location. The purpose is conversation, in English.
The Spanish participants must attain a certain level of English, and are tested by telephone before they are accepted for Pueblo Ingles. They know the basics of introduction, and have usually had several years of English lessons in grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, etc. Beyond that their levels can vary from very fluent, to very cautious, at least at the beginning of the week! What they have not generally had, in their English lessons, is exposure to many different accents, talking to several people at once in English, and not being immersed in the English language for 14 hours a day. That is the purpose of PI.
The Anglo volunteers are of all ages, and from all over the English speaking world. At each program the majority are usually from England, the US and Canada. North American accents alone are probably enough of a challenge to anyone who has learned to speak from predominantly English Enlish speakers, but always added into the mix are a couple of Scots, Welsh, and Irish accents, maybe an antipodean (New Zealand or Australian), Indian, Jamaican, South African, or many of the other places the English language is widely spoken.
The program is structured in such a way that each Spanish "victim" will spend at least one hour speaking to each Anglo, and much more. As well as the one to one sessions, the days are interspersed with group activities, two to two discussions, theatre skits, and of course, mealtimes. This goes on from 9am at breakfast, to the official end of the day after dinner around 10:30pm. After dinner the bar is open for several hours for those that still wish to converse, and many do. On several evenings, disco music is provided for dancing.
The idea is to keep the Spanish hearing English from dawn to dusk and beyond. The days are long, but always filled with activity. Anglos are not there primarily to teach, but more to talk, and listen. Small corrections of grammar and syntax obviously do occur, but the Spanish are required to delve deep into their memories of vocabulary they have previously learned. Any Spanish who cannot find the word they want is encouraged to describe the item, and if necessary the new word is provided.
The accomodations provided vary according to the program location, but all are very comfortable and clean. The location at La Alberca consists of chalet sytle cabins with seperate upstairs and downstairs accomodations. Generally a Spaniard occupies the upper room, with an Anglo house downstairs. The chalets cluster around a large meeting, dining and bar complex where all meals are taken. The food is good and plentifull, and always accompanied with as much wine as desired. The conversation always continues over meals, as all are taken with at least 2 Anglos or Spanish at each table. Conversations with wine during dinner, or after at the bar tend to center on more relaxed topics. The alcohol seems to loosen the tongues somewhat, however it is rare to see anyone overindulge beyond social drinking.
For this particular program, all of the Spanish participants were teachers. The Administrative areas (or Juntas) of Spain have instituted a program where some teachers will start teaching some subjects in English. All of the participants have volunteered to take part in this program. Let me make it clear that they are teaching their regular subject, such as Music, Art, Geography, Mathematics, History, or Physical education, but conducting at least on class per week entirely in English. There are no textbooks for them to refer to (excepting of course their regular curriculum in Spanish), no pre prepared worksheets for them to use, few resources for them to refer to. All of that, and they are teaching 3-6 year olds, or 12 year olds, in a language that is not their native tongue. And they volunteered!
This brave, brave group of "victims" started off the week, waiting at the bus stop in typical style: huddled together conversing in Spanish, with a look on their faces as if they had been condemned to a firing squad. By the end of a thoroughly enjoyable week of conversation, shared houses and meals, skits, group activities, special ceremonies, singing and dancing, they were laughing and smiling, joking and joining in fast conversations, and even striking up conversations in English with people they met in bars, shops, streets and bathrooms.
Despite the weather, which provided us with daily doses of freezing cold rain, which then turned to several inches of snow, back to rain and ice, and finally for our last couple of days more soft dry snow, it was one of the best weeks I have spent at
Pueblo Ingles.
View more pictures at:
my Picasa album
After getting that business out of the way I skipped over to Lake Powell for the night. Waking up this morning to a gorgeous sunrise just started the day off right. the remainder of the day was spend visiting a couple of BLM offices to get hiking maps, brochures etc., then finally it was time to get out and hike. The closest place I could find to hike that was on the way home was the Toadstools. What a great way to spend a couple of hours walking in the sun. 
