留言冊：2008

以下是2008年1月以來各方朋友的留言，因爲改了版面，由原來的留言冊搬了來這裡，歡迎繼續在這裡留言。（如果是針對個別文章的内容，還請在有關文章下留言）。

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eliza

Hi anna

Thank you very much for your sound advice for learning spanish in Mexico last year and I have spend a very good time in Cuenavaca. I have the itch to go again this year. Do you have any information of learning spanish in Oxaca ?

From 留言冊, 2008/01/08 at 10:59 PM
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anna

Hi Eliza, I am very glad indeed to know that you have had a wonderful time in Cuenavaca. Which language school did you go to? Will you write about your experience there? I will be your first reader, for sure.

Sorry that I do not have any info on learning spanish in Oxaca.

From 留言冊, 2008/01/12 at 12:54 PM
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eliza

Love to share my experience with you.

I went there in Jan 07. Cuenavaca is a very nice city with fine weather. It’s 1.5 hr from Mexico city. Remember there was a video in your site with people dancing in a square ? I have been there and really saw people dancing there in Saturday evening.

I‘ve enrolled a 3 week’s course with a few private sessions in a school called Encuentros. Before enrolment, I requested 3 hours instead of 5 hours daily because I think 5 hours is very tiring and I want to have more time to explore the city leisurely in the afternoon. The fee was US$433. I think you can negotiate the fee and lectures hours with them before enrolment. Actually they have waived my enrollment fee. I stayed in a host family (US$400) with full board but I seldom went back to lunch which was at 3pm (not used to eating so late). I preferred to eat at local restaurants.

Though I request a double room because it is cheaper but I was given a single room(without additional charge) because the host family got enough rooms to accomodate all students. (There were 3 including me in the 1st week, 2 in the second and only me in the 3rd).

The learning environment in school was relaxed, teachers and staff were conscientious and helpful. There were about 2-4 students in each class. There were only 2 in my class. One of the thing I like is that most of the students were mature but energetic. I do not like to mix with teenages because I am of a certain age myself.
I visited Teotihuacan, Taxco and Puebla during weekends. I spent a few days in Mexico City ( I stayed in Hotel Cathedral which is clean and comfortable and at good location) before returning to Hong Kong.

I didn’t find it dangerous travelling alone in Mexico. After I returned to HK, I enrolled a course in HKU space and I found that my spanish has really improved a lot with my study in Mexico. I think learning spanish in a spanish speaking country for 3 weeks is better than learning it in HK for 3 years.

The only thing to concern is that the travelling time to Latin American is really very long !

From 留言冊, 2008/01/12 at 3:14 PM
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anna

Thanks so much Eliza for the detailed info. I surely agree with you that what you learn in a spanish speaking country for 3 weeks is more than what you learn in HK for 3 years.

Also, if you choose host family accommodation, do not choose full board. That is the advice I gave people and Eliza’s experience has testified again.

Thanks again, Eliza for your time and your kindness to share.

I will also put Eliza’s comment under my post about learning spanish in mexico.

From 留言冊, 2008/01/13 at 8:05 AM
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xiao yu

我又來了!無意間發現你的網誌，原本一開始只是想尋找西語學習的目的，在你其他的文字中反而變淡了。細讀你的各式各樣篇章，都能從其中感受到彷彿是自己的體驗。像你在蘇格蘭遇見那個男人的記事，我看完之後有說不出的感傷，我也常常自己旅行，在途中有時感到其實旅行沒有想像的浪漫，有時更是需要忍受很大的寂寞。即使如此，還是想要收拾行李到一個完全陌生的地方生活。希望接下來的西語學習之旅趕快成行，在青春的結尾…
還是要再說，能發現你的網誌真好，請繼續加油

xiao yu ,taipei

From 留言冊, 2008/02/06 at 4:01 PM
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Chocosea

Hello Anna, hope you still remember me! I am now in Buenos Aires!!

I just have a 4-hour private lesson today. I only have time to study for a few days, so I go for private lesson.

As you said, the problem of learning Spanish in Argentina is their pronunciations. Their pronunciation of Y and LL are so different. And they use Vos instead of Tu to represent informal you… sigh… But luckily, my school and teacher are really good. My teacher is very serious and i found i´ve learnt a lot in a mere 4 hours.

But still, I think for tourists who wanna grab some basic vocab, its still a must to at least learn some spanish before starting their adventures in South Am. I found that most salespeople and restaurant waiters speak no english at all.. and no english in menu too.. so sometimes I ordered my food without knowing whats that exactly..hehe.

After this 4-hour lesson, I found that I really wanna learn more spanish.. so I am now thinking to change my original travel plan, squeezing maybe 2-3 weeks in Santiago de Chile for more spanish classes.

PS the spanish private classes here cost around USD 15-25 per hour. The one I got costs USD20 per hour. But it is a solid hour, i.e. the lesson really lasts for 60 minutes, instead of 45 minutes in many other schools.

From 留言冊, 2008/02/13 at 3:41 AM
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anna

hi chocosea, it is really great to know that you are in ARGENTINA NOW. of course i remember you! sometimes it is not bad that you can read spanish only in a foreign country so that you are forced to learn the language. :)

and thanks so much for sharing your experience. i love to hear more of your stories and experience here!

when u are in buenos aires, do go to the “siga la vaca” restaurant i recommended in my blog. it is a great bbq restaurant.

From 留言冊, 2008/02/17 at 1:16 PM
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chocosea

Hello anna, I have changed my tickets so now I will return to Buenos Aires in mid March and stay there for 1.5 months! :)

In fact I was struggling if I should return to Buenos Aires to learn Spanish, or simply go to Santiago or other cities. The main concern I got was the pronunciation and special use/slangs in Argentina spanish.. But finally I still choose to return BsAs because I really love the city. I think it is importnt to find a city that we really enjoy, although it may not be the first best in learning spanish. :P

Siga la Vaca! I really love steak in Argentina. Hehe, I think the first two words to learn about Argentina are not Gracias and Hola, but Bife y Vino!!

I am starting up a blog, hope I can write some more and then share it with you later. :)

P.S. Thanks a lot for the info and sharings in your website. I hope I can also tidy up my thoughts and create some great website as yours.. hehe.

From 留言冊, 2008/02/20 at 6:27 AM
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anna

Hi Chocosea, I support fully your decision to return to argentina. Argentina is my favorite country. I spent nearly two months there. Consider renting an apartment and living like an “argentino”. That is the best way to enjoy the country.

look forward to reading your travel thoughts and experience. :)

From 留言冊, 2008/02/20 at 9:17 PM
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chocosea

Hi again Anna, I got something about accomodation looking for your advice..

I have confirmed my class in Buenos Aires for 1.5 months. As I want to learn more in a limited time, I decide to go for private lesson. Now I have to think about the accomodation options.

I do not take homestay into account as my spanish level is still too weak to make any meaningful conversation in depth.. (also i dont want to be with the same group of people for too long) but I am a bit indecisive between renting apartment and staying in hostel. I think renting apartment is a best way to live indepedently, however, given i have private lessons and i get no friend in this city, I am a bit afraid i cannot make any communication with others if i got my private apartment. I stayed in a hostel before which is quite cozy and homefeel, i am thinking if i should go for hostel instead of apartment.. but staying in a private room in hostel actually costs as much as renting my own apartment.. seems it is not of good value of money..

what was your experience of staying in apartment in a completely brand new city? I find it is difficult to balance between freedom and degree of communication when choosing accomodation.. :(

From 留言冊, 2008/02/22 at 7:06 AM
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anna

chocosea,

hostel has one major disadvanage: you end up speaking english with those staying there. i think you should seriously consider homestay. that is really the way to maximize your exposure to spanish. u don’t need to command good spanish to have deep conversation. as long as you can try to use a bit of spanish you have learnt, it serves the purpose already. and in fact, through homestay, you learn more.

if u don’t want to stay in one home for 1.5 months, ask the school to arrange two homes.

renting an apartment is really good. i absolutely enjoy it. but then it will depend on what priority you have. enjoy life or learn spanish? if it is for enjoying life, no doubt apartment rental.

hope it helps.

have a wonderful time in buenos aires!

From 留言冊, 2008/02/24 at 8:11 AM
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Vanessa

Anna 您好，

看了您的文章，知道您有些關於中南美洲學習西班牙文的資訊，但不知有智利及阿根廷的大學 或是語言學校的資訊嗎？

我預計在今年四月或五月去智利唸書，但手邊資訊很少，在學校專科主修西班牙文，但畢業之後很少用到，所以退步許多，計畫到智利先念語言學校之後再轉當地大學念正式課程，不知您有沒有語言學校可推薦？或是大學裡的語言課程可推薦？

期待您的回覆，謝謝。

From 留言冊, 2008/02/27 at 5:12 PM
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anna

VANESSA﹐ 你好。很抱歉我沒有在智利學西班牙文的資料。令你的期待落空﹐不好意思。

From 留言冊, 2008/02/29 at 9:19 PM
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sanna

噢…chocosea是香港人嗎? 我也正在阿根廷BsAs讀西班牙語, 不過我會留到8月才走.

1.5月其實好短, 好難找到apartment的, 一般來這裡的人都會住上3個月,即是一個semester.

anna, 之前問你有關donquijote的讀書狀況, 你有沒有朋友到過那裡讀書呢? 我看他們網站好像很professional, 但是真的很貴. 有你有沒有其他推薦呢?

我想9月去granada take一些courses, 然後考試, e.g. DELE, BUSINESS SPANISH 或者 TOURISM SPANISH.

From 留言冊, 2008/03/15 at 11:24 PM
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anna

找公寓住，想住幾日/幾月都可以。沒問題的。可看我介紹阿根廷住公寓的文章，有連結。

有關donquijote, 我在你上次的提問下作了回覆。請參看．

我在GRANADA只去過Castilla,所以只敢推薦這所學校。但碰過其他人，對他們的學校很滿意，不過名稱忘記了．

Chocosea 是香港人，如果你想聯絡她，我可做個中間人。

From 留言冊, 2008/03/18 at 2:11 PM
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sanna

謝謝你的建議…反正我還有時間, 可以慢慢揀.

冇呀, 見在阿根廷冇咩香港人嘛…總覺得大家可以聯絡吓的.

From 留言冊, 2008/03/20 at 1:22 AM
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sanna

想問下你在castilla讀書的時候, 係住學校宿舍, 定係自己租屋住.
因為想試下讀一個course先, 不過覺得佢地提供的宿舍好貴.
你有冇d咩link可以租間房呢?

From 留言冊, 2008/04/13 at 8:47 PM
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anna

i chose the cheaper option - to stay in the school’s shared apartment. you share it with two to three students an apartment and that should be among the cheapest accommodation options.

it is not cheap to rent an apartment by yourself, but you may be able to find a room mate to share an apartment. but that usually means that the lease time is longer. near the university, i noted that there were quite a few ads put up asking for room mates to share an apartment. most of them were university students.

another way is for you to seek help directly from castila. to see if it can help you to find an even cheaper accommodation option.

From 留言冊, 2008/04/14 at 1:53 PM
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sanna

thanks, anna. i’ll see what options i have.

From 留言冊, 2008/04/17 at 12:44 AM
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chocosea

Hello Anna!

我現在仍然在 Buenos Aires﹐不過後天就要走了。本來我打算待到五月尾﹐但因為我要回趕回家辦學生簽證﹐趕及七月到美國開學﹐所以不得不走了。

明天就是我最後一堂spanish課了。上了近四星期的課﹐我現在學到 imperfecto de indicativo﹐我覺得很難啊﹐我經常會把幾個時態的conjugation攪亂了。我想這個也算是我在學習spanish上的一個樽頸位吧。可惜我要走了﹐沒有機會突破這個樽頸位。

不過以學習語言的進度來說﹐我覺得很滿意。現在我到洗衣店﹐搭的士﹐買東西﹐到航空公司改機票﹐都可以用spanish表達和溝通。我甚至會打電話叫外賣﹐亦試過寫email到智利的酒廠﹐告訴他們我多喜歡他們的白酒﹐問他們在英國有沒有銷售點… 我想﹐在這裡學習一個月﹐比在香港學習一年甚至兩年更有成效。所以﹐我覺得有興趣學西班牙語的人﹐其實不必在香港讀那些每星期只有3小時的興趣班。除了因為語言需要環境去練習外﹐每天密集式的上課亦令學習更有效率﹐老師不用花太多時間去重溫上堂學過的東西。

不過﹐更重要的是﹐我對這四個星期在 Buenos aires 的生活﹐感到非常非常的滿足。我一點也不後悔放棄遊覽秘魯和巴西的機會﹐因為布宜諾斯艾利斯的確是一個很特別的地方﹐有很多地方很像歐洲﹐但又有南美人獨特的個性。而且這裡的人﹐比西班牙很多大城市的人好得太多了。他們熱情友善﹐而且都很快樂。而且﹐在這裡上課的價錢和生活費都比西班牙便宜﹐用同樣的價錢﹐我想我只能在西班牙的小鎮跟一班人上group class﹐但在這裡﹐我可以每天上4小時的私人課。

在學習西班牙語前﹐我在阿根廷和智利旅遊﹐渡過了非常非常難忘的一個多月–那是我人生中最最最快樂的一個月!! 城市﹐冰川﹐火山﹐瀑布﹐動物﹐牛扒﹐美酒… 每天都讓我興奮無比﹐每天我都過得很快樂! 這種感覺﹐是我從前在其他亞洲和歐洲地方旅遊時不曾感受過的。

連同學習西班牙的這一個月(不是不快樂﹐但我感到有點寂寞…)﹐我總共在南美逗留了兩個多月。這兩個多月是我一生人最有意義的日子。雖然有時候﹐在這個陌生的國度﹐沒有家人和好朋友的陪同﹐我會感到非常的寂寞﹐但能夠學習spanish這一種曼妙優美的語言﹐跟這裡快樂的人們溝通了解﹐實在是一個非常獨特的經驗。

我相信﹐到我70歲時﹐我仍然會為我這個旅程回味無窮!

From 留言冊, 2008/04/18 at 9:46 AM
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anna

Chocosea, 親愛的朋友，感謝你在離開Buenos aires的前夕，給我寫了這封信。相信我，我的心很暖。

你所訴説的我都明白，能夠用另一種語言去生活，那種經歷，很奇妙。我真的很開心知道你的這段旅程，是這樣富足，滿足和快樂。

其實旅程的寂寞是必然的，你有否留意，其實寂寞也是可以享受的？

聽説你又要去美國展開新的生活，真的替你高興，人生就本應創造種種的經歷，享受種種的經歷。記得常來探望呀！

祝福你！

From 留言冊, 2008/04/18 at 6:40 PM
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小因

ANNA,你好，从你这里认识了Mercedes Sosa，谢谢你！：）
我现在计划去南美洲游学，正在为选择国家苦恼，我留下ＭＡＩＬ地址，你有空时能否联系一下（我在你这里没有找到ＭＡＩＬ地址），我有些具体的问题想问你，主要是阿根廷的疑惑，和旅行上面的一些事情，谢谢！

From 留言冊, 2008/04/29 at 4:25 PM
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kenneth

hi, anna, this is Kenneth, I guess we meet before in the bookshop i used to run in TST a year ago.

From 留言冊, 2008/05/14 at 11:31 PM
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Pablo

Hola！ muy Brabo！
真是個太棒的網站了。
我想請問各位板友和版主一些遊學相關事宜
這個月暑假　想要去阿根廷或是祕魯　短暫遊學　約兩個月！
請問是否你們有推薦的語言學校呢？
費用大概十萬元上次。包含機票。這樣夠嗎？
謝謝各位喔！
muchas gracias 　

From 留言冊, 2008/05/16 at 4:52 AM
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anna

hi kenneth, nice to meet you here.

希望有緣再見。

pablo, suggest you use the research function of this blog to find more info on studying spanish in argentina. there is some experience sharing on the topic of recent. best wishes.

From 留言冊, 2008/05/16 at 11:44 PM