If you’re looking for a beautiful, small city in France with regional flavor and a depth of culture that can keep you excited for a couple of weeks…if you’re a person who prefers a more leisurely vacation experience…if you've been learning French for a while (we used the free Duolingo and Gamesforlanguage courses) - THEN my wife and I have discovered the town for you!
Choosing a French City
Dijon (see picture above) is on the mainline of the TGV, France’s answer to the problem of fast, comfortable, worry-free travel, and can be reached easily from Paris. We chose it after a bit of casual research and previous visits to France that never amounted to more than two or three days in Paris for the Louvre.
This time around, we wanted to get to know France better. A few months after starting our online French courses, we focused on Burgundy and chose Dijon as our base of operations for launching our experiment in becoming basic, functional French speakers. (While Part 1 describes our experience of "discovering" Dijon, Part 2 focuses on the realities of becoming fluent during a one-month stay.)
There we expected to avoid the hectic pace of Paris (and the expense!) while enjoying life in a thoroughly and uniquely French place. We haven’t been disappointed.
Exploring Dijon
Our first two weeks in the city were full of constant discoveries launched from our base, a comfortable second-floor apartment in the very quiet Rue Proudhon. We had only a short stroll to the magnificent Ducal Palace (see picture right) to be in the heart of historic Dijon, with streets (for pedestrians only) lined with a potpourri of styles, beautiful 18th century palaces, fine 17th century townhouses, and half-timbered medieval buildings.
The broad streets and plazas teem with people of all ages. We were most impressed at the beginning by the affection between parents and children and by the helpful friendliness of the natives when we asked advice or help. Giving us a simple answer often wasn’t enough and people would walk with us to make certain we reached our goal.
It made us wonder why some of our friends back home had so often complained that the French are rude or unfriendly! What part of France had they visited? Certainly not Burgundy!
If you like to eat, you’ll love les Halles (see picture left), a huge, l9th century steel and glass structure that covers a vast market full of vendors touting everything from cheese to horse meat.
On market days (Tuesday and Friday, though there are some vendors open for business on Thursday as well) the pedestrian areas within a couple of blocks of les Halles are crowded with booths of vendors selling everything from books to clothing, and the crowds pulse with excitement.
More discoveries
The pedestrian sections of the old town are the focal center and heart of the place, both beautiful and full of elegant shops, good cafes, and plenty of opportunity for people-watching.
The broad avenues emanate out from the gorgeous Ducal Palace and the 12th century church, Notre Dame, with its unique, Burgundian version of Gothic and the relief carving of the owl that small crowds of tourist always seem to be rubbing (for good luck).
There are surprises galore in town that challenge and stimulate the patient tourist. Take the Musee de beaux Arts whose collections are divided into epochs (Middle Ages, Renaissance, etc) that are each displayed in a wing of the ducal palace built at that particular time.
Wander across the magnificent half-moon plaza in front of the ducal palace and take the second left down what looks to be an alley – and discover the delightful Magnin Museum, an eclectic jumble of art crowded on the walls on rooms of period furniture left as they were in the family palais by the last two members of the Magnin family.
A National Campaign?
There are so many pleasant encounters in town with locals from Dijon and I must report this one. The battery in my watch ran out and we went to the jewelers to get a replacement. A young lady asked what our nationality was (my accent?) and I said American. She said, "Oh, we love Americans!" This happens to us all the time.
It is so odd, because over the last forty years during our stays in and travels through Europe, the last thing I've encountered is people liking me BECAUSE I'm American - rather in spite of it, if at all. This has been our experience again and again in Germany; in England pleasant condescension if anything. Back many years ago in Paris: rudeness.
I'm beginning to wonder, if the French have had a national campaign to teach them to become more friendly and hospitable? If they have, it has certainly worked and it seems to be genuine, so warm, even kind. It goes far beyond just being polite or even reasonably considerate. But it is certainly a delight to be on the receiving end.
T.H.P. is a retired Professor of German, who has taught at several US universities. He speaks German fluently, reads French and is working on improving his French speaking skills.
These past days we've been reminded that the fall of the Berlin Wall (the picture shows the Wall with the infamous "Todesstreifen" ["death strip"]) occurred 25 years ago, with the official celebration on November 9, 2014.
For many Germans the Berlin Wall also involves personal memories either directly or through relatives or friends.
When the Wall was built in 1961, it further divided a city which, since 1945, had been living with the division into four sectors: US, UK, French, and Soviet.
The “brain” drain through the open border in Berlin caused the East German government (obviously with Russian concurrence and some say, encouragement) to opt for a wall: Too many East Germans (estimated at about 3.5 million) were voting with their feet and sought refuge and freedom in the west sectors before being flown out to West-German.
“Ich bin ein Berliner”
The building of the Wall was also seen by many observers at the time as a test of the new American President, John F. Kennedy. Historians seem to be divided over whether and how much the President and the intelligence community knew about the plans for a wall, or if there was even a tacit American acquiescence for its construction.
President Kennedy visited Berlin in 1963 and his speech - with its now famous words “Ich bin ein Berliner” - was credited for giving West Berliners a very needed moral boost. I remember this speech very well as a teenager, and while we may have chuckled a bit (see also our blog post Quick German: “Ich bin ein Berliner”), we certainly understood the significance of the speech.
Memories of Frightened Teenager
West-Berliners were not allowed to visit East Berlin initially. These restrictions were later eased for holidays and other "hardship" circumstances. (And East Germans could only travel to West-Berlin and West-Germany with special authorizations and under tight control in later years).
On the other hand, West Germans could usually visit East Germany and East Berlin after obtaining a visa. A trip to Berlin had become a tradition for many senior classes in West-German High Schools and so, in 1965, I found myself on a bus to East Berlin going through the Wall at Check Point Charlie.
While I do not recall being checked as we entered East Berlin, I certainly remember being stopped on the way out. We all had to get out of the bus and present our passports to an East German border guard.
He looked at my passport, then asked me to step into an adjacent room. A grim-looking officer waved the passport in front of my face and said that it was not valid. By that time (and while our teacher and my class mates looked on helplessly through a windowed door) all I could think of saying was “But this is a new passport, I just got it before the trip.” The officer looked me up and down, looked at the picture again and then, reluctantly satisfied and after what seemed like an eternity, finally said: “Then you'd better sign it.”
I still remember now that my legs were shaking when I joined my class again. What seemed like an insignificant and easily corrected oversight was a serious issue in 1965 in East-Berlin (and, with heightened security concerns, maybe it is now again everywhere).
Many attempts to escape from East-Berlin were made, through tunnels, through sewers, in cars, by swimming, etc. Over 100 people were killed during such attempts, when the East German Police received shoot-to-kill orders shortly after the Wall was built.
And while I, as a West-German, should have had nothing to fear, the climate of intimidation, cold-war press reports, etc. had affected me as well and frightened me.
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
After President Reagan had made another famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, it took a little more than 2 years for the Eastern Block to disintegrate. Historians and politicians may still debate whether President Reagan's or Bush's policies were more responsible for the fall of the Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the countries it controlled or whether such policies just accelerated an inevitable system failure.
Hungary and Czechoslovakia had already started to allow East Germans to leave through their countries in mid1989; protests in East Germany culminated in a demonstration of over half a million people on the Alexanderplatz in Berlin on November 4, 1989.
And then events further accelerated. By November 9, the new East-German government saw the handwriting on the wall (no pun intended) and amidst confusion of directives and orders to the border guards by government officials the borders opened up.
(This 1961 picture actually shows the iconic photo of Conrad Schumann, an East German soldier of the People's Army escaping, just as the Wall was being built. As described in this 2009 Wordpress post, his story had a tragic ending.)
The official dismantling of the much-hated Wall only began in mid 1990. On October 3, 1990 the East German state was dissolved and joined the West German state in becoming the reunited Germany.
Today, Berlin is again the capital of Germany and, with a population of about 3.5 million, its largest city. It has also regained its status as, arguably, one of the world's top cities for science, culture, media, and politics.
For a few months now we have been baffled why certain search dictionary terms are on top of our site's Search traffic.
For several weeks now, 1957 in Spanish (mil novecientos cincuenta y siete) has been on top and we can't figure out why. Obviously, one reason is the fact that our Spanish dictionary entry for "in 1957" has a top position in a Google Search.
However, it does not explain WHY people are looking for this term in a Spanish translation. It's a puzzle!
La Torre de Madrid
In Gamesforlanguage's Spanish 1 course, our traveler David learns that the Torre de Madrid (Picture by Carlos Delgaso; CC-BY-SA) was completed in 1957.
Even now it's still one of the tallest buildings in Madrid. At the time, it actually was the largest concrete building in the world. According to this Wiki entry, the tower also appeared in numerous Spanish movies released in the 1960s, as well as in the 1984 movie The Hit.
As we can't imagine that OUR users are the ones searching for the translation, we can only speculate that people are looking for other events that happened in 1957. A quick Google search for “events in Spanish speaking countries in 1957” surfaces these possibilities:
Seve Ballesteros and Gloria Estefan
Disregarding the first two entries - the 1957 movie “The Pride and the Passion” and the Wiki event listing of 1957 - here are the ones that follow:
Both the late Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros and Gloria Estefan, a well-known singer of the band Miami Sound Machine, were born in 1957. A possible, but not very probable explanation for why people are searching for 1957 in Spanish.
Diego Rivera and The Treaty of Rome
Maybe the life of the famous Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) who appears as the next Google entry, has art students look up the year for a term paper. Or, political science students are researching the Treaty of Rome, which gave birth to the European Union and was signed in 1957. In either case, it seems more likely that the translation of the year is required for a speech or an oral report, and students are checking on the pronunciation.
Asian Flu
Britannica.com reports that “the 1957 Asian flu was the second major influenza pandemic to occur in the 20th century; it followed the influenza pandemic of 1918-19 (also know as the Spanish flu) and preceded the Hong Kong flu pandemic of 1968."
Maybe the recent Ebola scare has people looking up such events, as they need to talk about them in training and explanations. That would explain why the Search Traffic for the Spanish translation and pronunciation of 1957 has been increasing since the beginning of October.
Other Reasons?
Many other events happened in 1957 - including the launch of the Russian Sputnik - and one or more of them are causing people to look up the Spanish translation for 1957.
What do you think? We are inviting you readers to share your thoughts: Just maybe, one of you has searched or is searching for 1957 in Spanish. We'd love to have you help solve this puzzle!
Write us your suggestions at Contact or enter your comments below.
Sabía (I knew) - that Scotland recently voted to stay part of Great Britain. It should have given Madrid some confidence that letting the democratic process play out may in fact be the right idea.
In an earlier post we had excerpted a portion of our friend Jordi's e-mail in which he traced the political conflict back to 1714.
Here is Part 2, in which he describes his view of the ongoing language struggle. "There is no problem with the level of the Spanish/Castilian language in Catalonia. All the statistics show that the current Catalan educational system - which is in fact bilingual - provides the students with a higher knowledge of both languages - Catalan and Castilian - than the monolingual Spanish system.
The knowledge of Castilian in Catalonia is above the average in Spain and even higher than in many parts of Castilia itself. There is not a single person in Catalonia that knows only Catalan and not Castilian. However, for many residents of Catalonia, the opposite situation is true.
What the people that ask for 'more Spanish' really want is 'less Catalan' in Catalonia, asserting 'the right' to be ignorant of the language of the country they are living in. In fact, they deny the existence of Catalonia as a country.
On the other hand, it is worth knowing is that, for the period of 2013-2014 only five (yes, 5) families asked for an education in 'Spanish only' - in a population of about 7.5 million people. For the current period of 2014-2015, there is not a single family yet asking for 'Spanish only' education.
This, in spite of the fact that Mr. Wert, the Minister of Education in Madrid, has decreed that the Catalan Government will pay for 'Spanish only' education of students that ask for it.
In the Valencian County, thousands of families have been asking the Government for new schools where the functional language would be Catalan, which is their mother tongue.
The response of Minister Wert has been to close many of the Catalan schools and to increase the number of schools in 'only Castilian.' There have been many demonstrations against that decision but the policies of education don’t change.
In the Balearic Islands, where there is the same system of immersion in Catalan as in Catalonia, a new law allows schools to hold only 30% of the classes in Catalan. There has been a long strike of about two months, in which more than the 90% of teachers, and children with their families, participated. Eventually the teachers decided to return to work but not abide by that rule.
So, as a matter of conclusion, I would say that there is no 'language problem' in Catalonia, but only policies for the 'cultural genocide' of Catalonia that Spain tries to implement."
Those are strong words by Jordi, born out of frustration with the often heavy-handed educational policies decreed by Madrid, but not isolated ones. We recently met a Spanish college professor who has lived in the US for many years, but is following the events in Spain with great interest. Growing up in the northwest of Spain with a Basque father and a mother from Catalonia, she knows the language issues well.
She told us that her nieces and nephews in Catalonia are all participating in the many demonstrations for a referendum. And while they all support the independence of Catalonia from Spain they also are quite pessimistic about the outcome of a vote - assuming that Spain's Supreme Court would even allow such a referendum to proceed in the first place.
(Updated 8-9-2017) Ken Burns' documentary “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History: Get Action (1858-1901)” brought back childhood and school memories. As the narration turned to Franklin Roosevelt's stay in Germany, I immediately recognized the spa where he had stayed with his parents four times during 1891-1896.
His father had sought the water cure there for his heart condition and Franklin even went to the town's public school for 6 weeks. While not identified in the documentary, the spa was located in Bad Nauheim. (Photo of Sprudelhof, Bad Nauheim, by Hiltrud Hölzinger.)
A Well-Known Spa and Famous Visitors
For 12 years I passed the “Sprudelhof” - as the square around the fountain in Bad Nauheim was called (see picture) - every day on my way to and from school. Now the complex of buildings surrounding the fountain is also recognized as one of the largest examples of Art Nouveau in Germany.
The mineral waters, which were believed to benefit various heart ailments, made Bad Nauheim a well-known spa between the second part of the 19th and the first part of the 20th century.
Three empresses stayed there: Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) of Austria and Hungary, in 1898, Czarina Alexandra Feodorowna of Russia, in 1910, and Auguste Viktoria - Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia, in 1912.
As a child, I was greatly impressed by the story that a special railway station was built for the Czarina, so she could step from her private railway car directly into her carriage. And the German newspapers began to call Bad Nauheim the “Drei-Kaiserinnen-Bad” (three-empresses-spa).
Other royalty and famous people also sought the mineral water's curative power: Otto von Bismarck, Mark Twain (see also our Heidelberg & Mark Twain post), Richard Strauß, Albert Einstein, Edvard Munch, William Randolph Hearst, Anwar Al Sadat, Zarah Leander, and many others.
George S. Patton and Elvis Presley
George Patton only stayed for a short time in Bad Nauheim, the headquarters of the Fifteenth Army, to which General Eisenhower assigned him in October 1945. (General Patton died in December 1945 in a car crash on his way from Bad Nauheim to Mannheim.)
I still remember the stir that Elvis Presley's stay in Bad Nauheim created. He served his military service at the US garrison in Friedberg, a neighboring town, between 1958-1960, but was allowed to live off base.
He initially stayed in the Park Hotel in Bad Nauheim, but after complaints from other guests, he moved to the house on Goethestrasse 14. (On a visit to Bad Nauheim several years ago, we noticed that his memory was still being kept alive with a small shrine and fresh flowers.)
“Bad” Changes...
The German word “Bad” can both mean “bath” and “spa.” Towns that have “Bad” as a prefix, such as Bad Nauheim, Bad Vilbel, Bad Homburg, etc. are spa towns, which is an official designation for towns where cures for certain ailments are offered. Using this prefix in Germany requires governmental authorization.
Until Germany's Universal Health System clamped down on the free/paid-for stays in the “Sanatoriums” of German spas in the 1980s, towns like Bad Nauheim benefited greatly from Europe's popular spa culture.
Today there are still over 150 towns in Germany with the “Bad” prefix. The suffix “-bad/-baden” can also appear in town names such as “Wiesbaden” or “Marienbad” or make up the whole name as in “Baden-Baden,” arguably Germany's most famous spa town.
But while the heydays of German spa visits may be in the past, German spa towns (“Kurorte” or “places for a cure”) still attract affluent and famous personalities that do not have to rely on their health insurance.
The second chapter of his book gives a fascinating glimpse at how Roosevelt's German experience may have influenced his views and political decisions later on.
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact or below.
You Want to Practice Your German?
Our games and travel-story based courses are also a great way to practice your German. With our German 1 and 2 courses you'll learn and practice German for FREE - with stories of a young man traveling through Germany and - its sequel - solving a "Blüten"-mystery in Berlin. "The Story" and easy games will let you forget that you are actually learning German!
Since then, we've been following the recent developments in Catalonia with interest. (Left, view from Antonio Gaudí's Parc Güell)
Jordi, our friend in Barcelona, has continued to educate us about the historical background of Catalonia's differences with "Spain." And I certainly did not know - no sabía - that this struggle, has its 300-year anniversary this year.
Here is an excerpt from one of Jordi's recent emails: "When 'Spain' was founded by joining Catalonia and Castilia, each of the kingdoms kept its own laws, its economical and social systems, political structures, internal hierarchy, and its traditions.
All this was destroyed in 1714, when King Felipe V of Castilia invaded Catalonia and eliminated all the political, economical, and cultural systems of Catalonia. The language was part of this process, and Castilian, proclaimed as 'the Spanish', was imposed as the only language accepted, even in the private sphere.
For the last three centuries, Catalonia has tried repeatedly to recover the institutions of a free country but has been violently attacked by 'Spain' each time. The 'Catalan Republic', for instance, has been proclaimed five times. The last one, in 1934, ended when the dictator Francisco Franco invaded Catalonia, with the help of Hitler's and Mussolini's armies.
Since 1714, we Catalans have never been asked by the Spanish whether or not we wanted to be part of Spain. After the Franco period and 40 years of dictatorship, the new winds of democracy gave Catalonia some hope for change but, sadly, after more than 30 year of transition between dictatorship and democracy, the real democracy is still not here.
Besides, not only have the 'autonomy' and recovery of the Catalan institutions not gone ahead, but Madrid’s government is implementing a new plan of extinction of the Catalan culture, subtle but persistent."
If you google the Economist article "How to Make a Country for Everybody," you'll find some excellent information about the Catalan language and how other countries are dealing with language issues.
The article's final comment makes a lot of sense: "The cheapest solution is merely an attitudinal one: all Spaniards should treat Galician, Basque and Catalan not as regional languages. They are languages of Spain, full stop. Treating them as such, and not as a bother, would go a long way."
In Part 2 we'll let Jordi explain his view of the Catalan/Castilian language struggles and how the current language policies play out in Catalonia and Spain.
This goes to show that plenty of Americans strive to overcome "monolingualism" - and are looking for tools to do so.
I posted the New York Times article, adding: "Language learning for adults has become easier than ever!" and shortly thereafter got a comment by a fellow language teacher.
He didn't deny that fun, inexpensive tools are a boon to language learning, but simply said: "Although, being immersed in the language as it is being lived is still the best way. And it is easier due to the ease of travel!"
Prepare for Language Immersion
Can't argue with that one. Acquiring a language through immersion by being in a country where the language is spoken is the ideal setup for learning. I learned two languages that way as a child (Dutch at age nine, English at age eleven), and three more as an adult, during prolonged stays in Rome, Paris, and Barcelona.
But the experience of language immersion reaches a new level when you've done some preparation beforehand. It goes without saying that if you're planning a stay in another country, you'd enjoy arriving there with some basic knowledge of the language - before soaking up a lot more during your visit.
Afterwards, you may want to continue to learn your new language, just as I have maintained my languages, by reading foreign newspapers, watching films, and sitcoms, participating in social media, and using various online language learning tools.
Short Trips, but a Life-Long Hobby
The point is that trips are short, though they provide vivid experiences that deepen our understanding, as well as allow rapid learning of a language. On the other hand, learning another language can become a wonderful life-long hobby that we start before a trip and continue long after. With the new, free or cheaper, inventive tools available online, it has become easier than ever to continue learning a language, forever.
A couple of weeks ago, a friend wrote me: "Language learning is definitely on top of my list. I especially want to learn Spanish. But life is too hectic!"
My reply to him: "Ten to fifteen minutes a day can boost your Spanish significantly. Just use the time - that you would otherwise waste - by jumping on Duolingo (gamified lessons); or Memrise, Anki (flashcards); or Digital Dialects, Mindsnacks, Gamesforlanguage (language games); Tunein (foreign language radio stations).
So, plan that next trip for language immersion, but add some preparation and follow-up with online tools, a language exchange partner, a tutor, or a local class. Not only will you enjoy the pleasure of communicating in your new language throughout your life, you brain will also thank you. But that's another story.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She's a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments right here!
During our month-long stay in Barcelona and travels though Spain in 2012, we became keenly aware of the brewing conflict between Spain and Catalonia.
This was a conflict we did not understand that well initially.
Is Bilingualism the Answer?
Our previous post, In Barcelona Speaking “Spanish” Is Not Enough..., only touched the tip of the “language iceberg.” We were surprised at the time in Barcelona how many people appeared to be truly bilingual.
A recent Reuters article: "Catalan language revival fuels backlash in Spain"reminded us of the language issues we had learned about during our stay. The article points to bilingualism as a potential solution, but disagreements remain. With the monarchy's fallen popularity, even the new King Felipe VI, who speaks Catalan, is not given much of a chance to heal the divisions.
More Than a Language Conflict
Our friend in Barcelona, Fabian, recently updated us on the events since our visit: huge demonstrations; a human chain of about 2 million people from southern France to València in 2013; even bigger demonstrations planned for September 2014 and the planned referendum for independence of Catalonia on November 9.
Fabian also sent us a link to an in-depth and quite balanced review of the situation, written by an English journalist, Gary Gibson: Spain's Secret Conflict, which includes interviews with many players. It is now obvious to us that, while language is an important issue, it is clearly more than that: cultural, historical, economical, emotional, political, and many other aspects are mixed into the disagreement.
We hope that Fabian's ominous statement - “Sadly the Spanish government has the bad habit of bombing Catalonia now and then. We will see!” - is just reflecting historic events, and that democratic processes can avoid violence. Examples exist: in 1905, Sweden agreed to a peaceful dissolution of its union with Norway; and German speaking South-Tyrol is now a multicultural success story after years of conflict.
(Updated April 10, 2017) Often when we suggest to baby boomer friends of ours that they should start learning a language ahead of a trip abroad, we hear: “I am too old to learn another language.”
Or, “I was never good with languages at school.” Or, “There is not enough time to learn enough before our trip.” The third excuse may often be the most valid one, as one certainly can't learn a new foreign language in 10 days.
But learning some essential vocabulary and expressions is easy. For us, happily preparing for the trip will add another dimension to any upcoming travels. (See also our post: What a great Trip! And we'll speak with the Locals!)
A Second Language and Brain Health
Learning a new foreign language as an adult is not really difficult, but it takes effort and some discipline. A good way to go about it is to create a habit, starting with a few minutes a day.
Our brain is certainly able to acquire new vocabulary and new grammar rules. In fact, research has shown that such mental exercises can be especially beneficial to an older brain.
In the language community, it is no secret that both children and adults only learn a second language “when they really need to.” Can the recognition that learning a second language is beneficial to their brain health motivate baby boomers enough to get started?
This is still an open question, but as a worthwhile long-term project with multiple benefits, it really should!
Baby Boomers and the Web
The Internet has brought language learning to each connected home, making it free or affordable for many. Most of the baby boomers - even the first ones - are computer “literate.” Indeed, many are quite adept at using computers and, increasingly, mobile devices, smart phones, and tablets.
Playing electronic/computer games does not have to be the purview of children and young adults, as we know quite a few seniors who love to play various games on their computers or mobile devices.
Language Learning “Gamification”
Most online or app-based language programs are increasingly using gamified lessons. Our Gamesforlanguage.com uses games as a key teaching tool, but we are not alone.
For good reason: Those who play language games also exercise their gray cells and have fun doing so. They don't feel guilty. They are learning a new language at the same time! And, if they start early enough, they can also make it part of their preparation for the next trip abroad!
Childhood memories can be strong, and if a foreign language is connected to one of those memories, they can become the seed for a choice or an experience later in life.
I still remember the riddle which my grandmother used to entertain us children and our friends: "Was ist ein piccolo viech mit quattro haxn?"
The words "piccolo" (small) and "quattro" (four) are Italian words. But "viech" (animal) and "haxn" (legs) are Austrian dialect. We children always found this funny.
This riddle became more relevant when my parents took me and my two older siblings on a trip to Venice, Italy. I was five or six. We went by car from Carinthia (southern Austria) along the Slovenian border and the Italian coast north of Venice. It's a distance of 265 kilometers, which now would take about three hours. At that time it took us closer to five.
For our drive to Venice, we left very early, at about four in the morning. I remember arriving in Venice as the morning was in full swing. The outdoor market was bustling, with vegetables and fruits heaped up at the stands. St. Mark's Square with its pigeons and small vendors was fascinating. And then there was the language. I loved the sound of Italian. It's melody was as exotic to me as the smells and sights of the city.
This early trip to Italy was an experience that lingered in my memory. When I was seventeen, my older sister and I drove to Italy, this time starting out from Vienna. We both agreed that our first stop should be Venice - to recapture the magic we had experienced twelve years earlier.
Then we slowly made our way to Rome. We stayed at camping places, sleeping in the car (an old beetle!). Armed with a phrase book, we did everything in Italian: asking for directions, ordering in a restaurant, buying fruit at the market, flirting with the guys. At the end of our three weeks, we had pretty well mastered Italian as the language for daily (tourist) living.
Life and work happens, but I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to recapture Italian. It took some years before I could make my dream a reality: to learn Italian from the ground up, and to do this in Italy. My husband was newly retired and I was able to continue my editorial work over the Internet.
To prepare for out five months in Rome, we had gone through a series of Italian audio lessons. Once settled into our rental apartment in Trastevere, we found a tutor for daily Italian lessons. She taught us to write in Italian, discussed newspaper articles with us, explained grammar points, and helped us hone our conversational skills.
Needless to say, our stay in Rome was great, and all the more so because we were able to engage with locals in their language. And so, a child's funny puzzle and a childhood trip to Venice had provided the incentive for later language adventures.
If you’re looking for a beautiful, small city in France with regional flavor and a depth of culture that can keep you excited for a couple of weeks…if you’re a person who prefers a more leisurely vacation experience…if you've been learning French for a while (we used the free Duolingo and Gamesforlanguage courses) - THEN my wife and I have discovered the town for you!
a comfortable second-floor apartment in the very quiet Rue Proudhon. We had only a short stroll to the magnificent Ducal Palace (see picture right) to be in the heart of historic Dijon, with streets (for pedestrians only) lined with a potpourri of styles, beautiful 18th century palaces, fine 17th century townhouses, and half-timbered medieval buildings.
If you like to eat, you’ll love les Halles (see picture left), a huge, l9th century steel and glass structure that covers a vast market full of vendors touting everything from cheese to horse meat. 
(Updated 8-9-2017)
During our month-long stay in Barcelona and travels though Spain in 2012, we became keenly aware of the brewing conflict between Spain and Catalonia. 
Childhood memories can be strong, and if a foreign language is connected to one of those memories, they can become the seed for a choice or an experience later in life. 