Off-road Training & Training Vehicle Technology
To prepare for off-road driving and car maintenance we took training that was organized by the Dutch LandCruiser Club or its partners. See details here (in Dutch).
Spanish Course in Buenos Aires
Because the shipment of our car "Dappere Dodo" (Brave Dodo) from Namibia to Uruguay was delayed by more than a month and because we had fixed the departure date to Uruguay we decided to make use of the time available in South America by joining a Spanish class. About 35 years ago we had had Spanish classes during two years, but that knowledge was buried very, very deeply in our brains, so we felt a refresher course would be in place. A good place to learn Spanish is Buenos Aires, not only because you can choose between a lot of different schools, but also because it is a nice place to stay.
After comparing schools on the internet we chose for the Spanish Course in Buenos Aires from El Pasaje Spanish School. We selected it because it had one of the best ratings of any school we looked at. We found much positive feedback, among others at TripAdvisor and hardly any negative comments. Furthermore it was one of the least expensive schools: we paid USD 175 per person per week. Initially we booked for two weeks, because we wanted to judge the school before committing to anything longer, but almost immediately after the start we decided to extend with a third week. One can choose between three lessons per week, five lessons per week or individual lessons. Each lesson is 3.5 hours. We decided for the "intensive course" (five group lessons per week). Groups are eight persons maximum, in the first week our group was six people, in the second and third week five.
The way El Pasaje Spanish School works (and we expect most schools will work) is that you do an enrollment test via the internet before the course starts and are put in a group that complies with the test results. During and after the first lesson it is checked if you feel comfortable with the group you are in. At each level a program is run that spans several weeks and that covers a range of grammar topics as well as sets of vocabulary. After you complete one cycle and stay longer you move up for the next higher level cycle, if you stay shorter you obviously get a subset of the cycle.
We had two teachers, Pablo and Silvina. They had different styles, but both were very active, well qualified and very experienced. It was a pleasure to be in their groups. They made it a principle to speak Spanish at normal speed and with words and pronunciation that is typical for Buenos Aires, "because that is the way you will hear it in the street". With body language they make clear what you miss in words and only in exceptional cases they switch to English. We felt the lessons were a good mix of conversation, vocabulary improvement, grammar theory, games and written exercises. If we ever should opt for more Spanish lessons we would certainly go back to El Pasaje Spanish School. One disadvantage we felt is that the school is in a traditional building in the center of Buenos Aires, easily accessible by public transport, but rather noisy because of traffic.
We came home with an average of some fifty new words per day. That was more than we managed to learn during the course, but a good basis to be further internalized during long drives over empty roads in Patagonia.
The school offers a range of additional activities such as movies, tango lessons and walking tours. We did the 3.5 city walk as well as the 3 hour street art walk.
We decided to make use of accommodation offered by the school. We lived in a nice traditional Argentinean house. We felt that the price of the house was comparable to similar offerings via AirBnB. Because the other student in the house happened to be in the same class as us it was a good opportunity to exercise more Spanish, both with her and with the hosts.
After comparing schools on the internet we chose for the Spanish Course in Buenos Aires from El Pasaje Spanish School. We selected it because it had one of the best ratings of any school we looked at. We found much positive feedback, among others at TripAdvisor and hardly any negative comments. Furthermore it was one of the least expensive schools: we paid USD 175 per person per week. Initially we booked for two weeks, because we wanted to judge the school before committing to anything longer, but almost immediately after the start we decided to extend with a third week. One can choose between three lessons per week, five lessons per week or individual lessons. Each lesson is 3.5 hours. We decided for the "intensive course" (five group lessons per week). Groups are eight persons maximum, in the first week our group was six people, in the second and third week five.
The way El Pasaje Spanish School works (and we expect most schools will work) is that you do an enrollment test via the internet before the course starts and are put in a group that complies with the test results. During and after the first lesson it is checked if you feel comfortable with the group you are in. At each level a program is run that spans several weeks and that covers a range of grammar topics as well as sets of vocabulary. After you complete one cycle and stay longer you move up for the next higher level cycle, if you stay shorter you obviously get a subset of the cycle.
We had two teachers, Pablo and Silvina. They had different styles, but both were very active, well qualified and very experienced. It was a pleasure to be in their groups. They made it a principle to speak Spanish at normal speed and with words and pronunciation that is typical for Buenos Aires, "because that is the way you will hear it in the street". With body language they make clear what you miss in words and only in exceptional cases they switch to English. We felt the lessons were a good mix of conversation, vocabulary improvement, grammar theory, games and written exercises. If we ever should opt for more Spanish lessons we would certainly go back to El Pasaje Spanish School. One disadvantage we felt is that the school is in a traditional building in the center of Buenos Aires, easily accessible by public transport, but rather noisy because of traffic.
We came home with an average of some fifty new words per day. That was more than we managed to learn during the course, but a good basis to be further internalized during long drives over empty roads in Patagonia.
The school offers a range of additional activities such as movies, tango lessons and walking tours. We did the 3.5 city walk as well as the 3 hour street art walk.
We decided to make use of accommodation offered by the school. We lived in a nice traditional Argentinean house. We felt that the price of the house was comparable to similar offerings via AirBnB. Because the other student in the house happened to be in the same class as us it was a good opportunity to exercise more Spanish, both with her and with the hosts.
Spanish Course in Sucre, Bolivia
In order to further improve our Spanish after we had been exposed to the language for about half a year we took an additional one week class in Sucre, Bolivia at "Me gusta Spanish". We had a very affordable semi-private class with a teacher for just the two of us. It was an excellent way to get a targeted training by a motivated teacher with good sense of humor.
