SKYPE

[landlady]

How are the skype meetings coming along? I read the thread about it and would be interested in joining in a few if they are still being held.

I used to use skype to chat to someone from Majorca who wanted to improve his English, but we were not really at an equal level for me to speak in Spanish at the time, and as he worked, we could only chat quite late in the evening, which didn't really suit me too well so it fizzled out.

I also used to meet up with a local Spanish lady for a weekly coffee, (I live on the Costa Blanca) This was great for me, but very intense as she spoke only a few words of English and an hour or more of trying to listen, understand and talk in Spanish was exhausting. Unfortunately due to her work times changing and family commitments she wasn't able to continue :'(

It would be much better if I had someone to chat with who is, mas o menos, at the same level in English as I am in Spanish, (lower intermediate I'm guessing) we could then help each other much more I feel, but even if I just listened in to some of the arranged skype chats, it would help - much like listening to a Spanish podcast :D

[alanmalarkey]

Hi, If you mean spanishconversationsworldwide, They went pretty well. I am also a lower intermediate living in London and we had about 5 group meetings facilitated by Eleenor from Madrid who was excellent. It was a bit wierd at first and we had a few technical problems but the advantage was it was in your own home, free and fun. I am not sure if they will be running more sessions - suggest that you 'sit in' on an intermediate session to get a feel for it. Have you tried listening to Ben and marina's intermediate podcasts? They are very accessible.

Alan

[landlady]

Hi Alan,
Yes, I've downloaded all three of the intermediate pocasts and have the transcript for the first. They are really good, I can understand everything, (apart from a few odd words I needed to look up) and listen to them repeatedly so that the phrases become familiar to me. They are really helping me with the language and I even taught my Spanish group something when I explained what being, 'en Palma' meant :)

Its a shame I lost my Spanish friend to chat too as I feel I am now ready to converse with her, before I wasn't really at a good enough level. I would love to listen in on the next intermediate spanish conversation if they run any more. Hopefully it will be announced on this site? I had better get SKYPE set up on my new laptop por si acaso.

[alanmalarkey]

It sounds to me like you are probably up to par, sufficient to join in. The best way to be notified is to access spanishconversationworldwide by registering it as a selected yahoo group. This will give you access to the various threads and discussions. If you just say that you would be interested in joining an intermediate group this should be picked up by Lisa who organises this resource and hopefully you will be contacted. There is a database of members and advanced and intermediate groups with homework assignments. Sometimes the timings are a bit odd because of USA time zones. Look forwward to chatting with you online, hasta luego, Alan

[landlady]

Okay Alan, I have joined in the yahoo group (under my username costablancaforums) and it seems the next intermediate conversation is this Sat at 12.00UTC/GMT time - so for me in Spain, that would be 1pm to 2pm ( This is new to me, so hoping I get this right)

I have SKYPE setup, but have yet to test out the headphones/mic on my new laptop.

I will try listening in on Sat. and if I feel confident enough - and my system setup works okay, will join in to say hello.

Hope you will be there to give me a helping hand http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons6/42.gif
Jan

[alanmalarkey]

Well done - I am sure you will be OK. I was not aware of that group as my sessions were Wed evening but the set of sessions has completed. Daytime weekends are not good for me so I won't be joining but will be out on my bike (como siempre). Next week I go to sevilla for a short break and I'll hopefully look forward to a new group starting after that - There is no reason not to attend more than one group but it takes some organisation, and I have a couple of young inter-cambios that I meet to further my poor conversation skills.

The technology is fairly forgiving and as long as you try the test phone call and it works you'll probably be OK, particularly with a new set up.

have fun and let me know what you think - also check out the resources bank on the group - there are one or two that I hadn't seen before that you may find helpful.

buena suerte

Alan

[Tony]

Alan and Landlady...

I dont know much about SKYPE but is sounds potentially really useful to have a realtime conversation online.

I have been learning spanish for a while now and I am totally obsessed by it. My level is intermediate and I am looking for ways of having more conversation to improve. I go to a weekly conversational spanish night class and I am getting a lot from this as well as Ben and Marina's fantastic Podcasts of course :thumbs-up: (Keep them coming please)

Going to Spain a couple of times a year to practice is great but expensive...... I was wondering if you would be so kind as to give me more information on SKYPE and whether the groups are still meeting ?:rolleyes:

Hasta luego

[greytop]

Okay Alan, I have joined in the yahoo group (under my username costablancaforums) and it seems the next intermediate conversation is this Sat at 12.00UTC/GMT time - so for me in Spain, that would be 1pm to 2pm ( This is new to me, so hoping I get this right)

I think you'll find that is 2-3 pm as it is still summer time
GMT 1200 = London summer time 1300 = Spain summer time 1400
All change 29/30 October

Try http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/about.html for a personalised world clock. You can set up as many cities as you like. It needs Java enabled in your browser for the personalised version.

[landlady]

Thanks Greytop, I did realise my mistake after I had made that posting, so had the correct times, unfortunately I have been having great difficulties getting involved (invited) to the group Skype meetings on the spanishconversationsworldwide site. I tried 'ringing' Alan and the group leader on the appointed day/time and have sent emails and messages from my SKYPE setup, but not managed to get anywhere with it as they haven't added me to their contacts list.
http://www.feebleminds-gifs.com/smiley-faces20.gif
Tony - You could try this site if you wish to have an online chat using SKYPE.http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/ I used them in the past and found someone to chat too. I only stopped because the Spanish friend could only chat late at night as he worked and I found I was too tired to concentrate at 10pm onwards, (plus I wasn't really at a good enough level at the time) I would advise that you pay the small registration fee, rather than use the free option though, so you can contact others, rather than wait to see if paid up members will contact you.

[Tony]

Muchas gracias Landlady...

I will let you know how I get on but have not loaded the software yet. Having an online buddy from spain sounds great for progress and practice.

hasta luego..;)