1 week to go!

So the flight is booked and I leave on the 16th January to start my semester abroad in Valencia! I wasn't sure which date I'd be coming back to England, so I got a one-way ticket (this sounds good!). Summer and World Cup 2010 being considerations here....and the fact I'm not coming back until I'm fluent!

I'm excited...a bit nervous, but not as much as I thought I'd be - probably because when I arrive, I know that everything will be sorted out for the first two weeks (accommodation and the language course).

I'll be doing the two week intensive language course in Gandia, organiased by the UPV (Universidad Politecnica de Valencia). The price of the course was around €200, with hotel accommodation (on the beach...shame!) being another €90 - so it's pretty expensive. I've heard English is spoken far less in Valenica than in Madrid and Barcelona (gulp), so doing this language course at the start will hopefully give me some confidence. I'm sure being confortable with the language will make the whole experience more worth while.

Starting to learn Spanish

I've been learning the language with two programs:

Rosetta Stone - an amazing software that immerses yourself in the language and gradually builds your vocabulary, etc. It's quite repetitive but definitely more enjoyable than other software packages.

Michel Thomas' audio tapes - another really impressive way of learning a language. (Believe me it's so much better than how the website looks).

Both were really useful which took me from knowing probably only two words (hola y gracias), to building useful sentences. I also found it worthwhile finding some Spanish speakers to practice the language with, on Babbel.com, which is a sort of social network for people interested in learning languages together.