[0:00] Moving abroad changes more than the country you are in. It changes how you see the world and how you communicate
[0:06] with it. In today's episode, we are joined by an English teacher currently living in the south of Spain and the
[0:12] founder of Pink Flamingo English online. Originally from the UK, she lived in
[0:17] Poland and Spain. And the difference between these countries stood out. Living in Poland, yeah, it was the
[0:23] biggest culture shock out of any of the countries that I've been to. Put it that way. It just it it felt different you
[0:29] know felt different the appearance the buildings even was different because of that you feel different looking around
[0:36] the language probably the language I would say the language was the probably the main issue that experience didn't just shape her
[0:42] life abroad it shaped the way she teaches language today and in this episode we also challenged the biggest
[0:48] myths about learning English as a foreigner you need to live in an English-speaking country to become
[0:54] fluent in English generally this is false this is always false. You don't have to. That being
[0:59] said, it absolutely helps when you're learning a language that you live in the country that you're you're learning. You
[1:05] might progress more, maybe faster. So, what really makes the difference?
[1:10] Connection, confidence, and showing up wherever you are in the world. Today on Almost Local, the living abroad story of
[1:17] Amy Smith. Let's start.
[1:28] I'm Amy. I uh currently live in Spain. So, oh, maybe my history. So, I'm
[1:33] British. I was born and raised in the UK. And then I I spent quite a lot of my adult life living living abroad. And at
[1:40] the moment, I'm currently living in Spain. And I've been here for about 5 years. Previously, I lived in Poland for
[1:46] seven years. So, longer longer than what I've been living here. And yeah, this is more or less it. There were a few other
[1:52] places in between but yeah these are the two main you know expat experiences I would say.
[1:59] Nice. Where in UK are you originally from actually? Yeah so I was born in Birmingham which
[2:04] is in the Midlands. I actually moved from here from there sorry when I was
[2:10] quite young. So I grew up in Southport which is northwest. So it's near Liverpool. Mhm. Nice. Yeah. Maybe out of curiosity
[2:17] I know that you're teaching English right now. I know that you have a SELTA certificate. So you are like a real
[2:23] official teach English teacher in that sense. Yeah.
[2:28] Was that your original studies or you always wanted to become a teacher? No. No, I didn't always. I actually
[2:34] spent a few years not sure what to do and I kind of went to and from a few different options. Sorry, excuse me. I
[2:42] decided first I decided that I like to travel. I think this is the the the reason that a lot of people get into
[2:48] teaching. It's definitely not the right reason, but probably it was the the reason that I I took an interest in it.
[2:54] Let's say that I wanted to travel and live abroad. And yeah, this probably isn't the the best reason cuz there's a
[2:59] lot of involved with teaching. It's not so simple as oh yeah, I'm English. I can go and live abroad and teach. It used to
[3:05] be like that, I guess, but it's definitely changed. So yeah, this when I started out, this is why I wanted to be
[3:10] a teacher because I wanted to be able to work abroad basically and I have been
[3:16] doing it ever since. I guess this is why I started, but it was this was 13 years ago. So, I've been teaching for a long
[3:21] time. It wasn't just a it's not something that I just did while I traveled around Asia, which a lot of people do. Nothing wrong with that at
[3:28] all. But that I did it and I actually moved to Poland to do the training. So,
[3:34] I did my Selta in Poland and then I stayed in Poland afterwards. Yeah. And then just Good question. I think I mean
[3:42] before previous to living in Poland I had lived in Spain and I'd sort of spent some time in warmer countries and for me
[3:48] Poland was very different just you know it was very different just very different to any country that I'd been
[3:55] in before country that I'd lived in so I had quite an interest in in doing something different this was the initial
[4:01] reason and also I I I had worked with a lot of Polish people so I had some friends and you know in in the UK at
[4:07] that time there were a lot of Polish people working and you know I just took an interest in the country basically and
[4:12] this is why I wanted to do my training there. Um and when I initially started it was kind of between Poland and Spain
[4:20] where where I was going to continue. Um and I just got offered the job in Poland. So this is why I stayed in
[4:26] Poland. How long is the Sela training? Not very long. How long? Not very I assume it's still the
[4:32] same. I mean like I said this 2012 when I did mine, but it was only a month. I mean it's it's quite an intensive month.
[4:39] I would say it could have been better to be spaced out a bit more. It is quite full on but it was only a month but it
[4:45] was every day you know okay so it was more like a intensive month.
[4:50] Yeah but this yeah this was another thing cuz I didn't get to do anything. I had visited Poland before I did the
[4:56] Selta but and I was hoping to do the Selta and maybe see a little bit more but I was actually quite glad that I
[5:02] because I had the job offer before I finished the Selta. Obviously, it was on the provision that I I passed, but I did
[5:07] already have this job offer before I moved. But I was kind of glad about that because during that month, I didn't get
[5:13] the chance to to do anything other than study. So, I didn't get chance to see it really to see to experience Poland. So,
[5:21] yeah, it was it was the right decision at the time. Nice. I mean, at the end you stay because they offered you a job, but
[5:27] seven years it's a lot of time in a country. It is a long time. I mean being honest
[5:34] for me my personal feeling it was too long do you know I mean Poland is a very nice country but it just I I realized
[5:40] quite early on that it's not it wasn't the place that I wanted to live for for many reasons sense I mean it is curious like the the
[5:49] the transition like UK Spain Poland and back to Spain like they are very
[5:54] different countries like what surprised you the most when you arrived to Poland
[6:00] how was the cultural adjustment that Yeah, I mean I'll be honest, the culture shock in because I had lived in Spain
[6:06] before, you know, so I the culture shock from um just living in Poland, yes, it
[6:12] was quite it was the biggest culture shock out of any of the countries that I've been to, put it that way. I don't
[6:18] know why now. I can't quite remember because I don't know. It's just very different, you know. It's um the people
[6:25] are quite different, you know, generally the it's uh it's different. I don't know
[6:31] how to say it you know it's uh it just it it felt different you know felt
[6:36] different the the appearance the buildings even was different so because of that you feel different just looking
[6:42] around the language that probably the language I would say the language was the probably the main issue
[6:48] yeah it makes sense what about teaching like that's also suppose it's very different from one place to another like
[6:54] it's the methodology is very different or like are there a lot of common because it's the same language that
[7:00] you're teaching To be honest, I know that I now that I live in Spain, I don't actually teach in Spain. I teach online
[7:06] and the majority of my students are Polish. I always because I prefer working with Polish speakers actually.
[7:11] And I think this is is simply because I know I lived there for so long and I worked with so many Polish speakers. I'm
[7:17] quite familiar with them the mistakes that are common, you know, going from Polish to English, you know, the common
[7:24] mistakes, the common problems. So, I think this is why I continued working. I don't only work with Polish speakers but
[7:30] yes the majority of my students at the moment are Polish. I mean you touched a little bit that you are doing now fully online. No. So you
[7:38] it's the moment where you launched Pink Flamingo English the whole uh project or
[7:43] business at that moment of time when you left Poland or No no no no because I had a lot of I had
[7:51] children in this in the meantime. So this had quite a big impact on uh you know how my work let's say. So yeah how
[7:59] the how did it work? I'm just thinking back the the sequence of events. I I've been teaching online for I've been
[8:07] running my own business. I've been teaching online for a long time but I've been running my own business for about four years and I've actually just
[8:13] recently changed this um the direction of of my online business focusing on my
[8:19] experience. This is maybe changing it's going going ahead a bit of what what we were before but um I've started a
[8:25] community like an online learning community for mothers. So this is based on my experience know personal
[8:32] experience and my teaching experience. So I've kind of put it together. So this is what the the Pink Flamingo English is
[8:38] now. It's like an online learning community for international mothers that live in the UK. So basically it's the
[8:45] situation that I'm in but you know in in Spain you know because I'm in that situation. So this is what that that
[8:52] business side is now. I changed it based on my my personal experiences and
[8:57] professional. Very interesting. Did you become a mother in Poland or in Spain? Both. I have experience in both. I've
[9:05] actually never had children in my own country. Um how how was it actually? like be it must
[9:12] be a I don't know you add an extra level of stress on top of like becoming mother
[9:18] that it's big enough of uh of a thing
[9:23] uh yeah it's it's diff difficult very difficult maybe the second or third time
[9:29] or you know after several children it probably gets easier but I think the first time if you you do this abroad
[9:35] it's difficult there's a lot of challenges involved you know personal challenges there's a lot of language
[9:41] issues. Yeah. And this is exactly why I changed my business to what I did because you know I have quite a lot of experience you know in it in terms of
[9:48] language as well. You know I know the language struggles that are involved in in that personal as well.
[9:54] How was moving to a new country also with their children because that's another transition with a kid. It's
[10:00] always not easy I suppose. Uh yeah. Yeah it's uh it's difficult.
[10:06] It's difficult I guess. I mean I don't know. I don't have anything else to compare it to because I it was sort of
[10:12] normal for me, let's say, cuz I don't have any other experience. But yeah, it's definitely not easy. Yes, there are
[10:18] challenges. There are challenges. Obviously, as well, when we moved to Spain, it was um cuz I said it was 5
[10:24] years. It was right like not in the middle. It was just before co so this was quite a challenging time in general
[10:31] to move to another country. Yeah. Regardless of personal situations, this was quite hard.
[10:36] I see. And the move to Spain was due to
[10:42] like being enough time in the cult of Poland or it was like a a chosen
[10:49] decision or there was anything else. Yeah, I mean there were it was due to just family reasons, you know, there
[10:56] were different different family reasons and work opportunities and that that type of thing, you know, it was it was
[11:02] not so much planned. I'm not going to it wasn't one of those things that was long like a long-term plan. It kind of just
[11:08] happens, you know. That being said, because I had lived in Spain when I was younger, it's something that, you know,
[11:14] I wanted to do. You know, it was a a welcome change, let's say. Can I ask where are you in Spain? Spain
[11:21] from Barcelona. It's a curiosity question. No, at the moment we're we're in the south. So, actually though, when we
[11:28] first moved, we were in the north, not in the north, slightly north of Madrid, but now we are um we're in the south.
[11:34] So, near Malaga, I would say. at the opposite end. And how is life in Spain with a family?
[11:40] I suppose it's a different experience that the one that you had when you were younger. Oh yes.
[11:46] Do you like it? Yeah. Um I think from the family perspective, I think Spain is a really
[11:52] nice country to raise to raise children in general. It's a nice country for a lot of different reasons. You know,
[11:58] there's not just one reason here. It is a very it's a nice it's a nice place to live anyway, regardless of your
[12:03] situation. But I think especially when you've got children, it's a nice way, you know, when I compare to my own
[12:09] childhood, for example, you know, it was quite different, you know, the things that children are able to do here. The
[12:15] weather obviously has a lot to do with it. And the location as well, of course, it depends where in Spain, but you know,
[12:21] we're we're by the sea, so you know, it's it's a nice life. It's a nice place to raise children.
[12:26] Lovely. It's also very family orientated. Sorry. Yeah. No, no, absolutely. I mean, makes
[12:31] sense. I mean if you are looking for this kind of of family life it's important to have this kind of
[12:38] environment. That's for sure. And I would say we jump to the to the first reply segment like I ask always
[12:44] the same 12 questions to everyone. In this case I give it up to you like if you want to talk about Poland or or
[12:51] Spain. So whatever you prefer but let's focus in one of them. Uh
[12:56] what what are you up to? Probably I mean it's I don't mind. It might be easier to keep it to Spain
[13:02] because it's more recent perhaps. Maybe because I might not Yeah. Yeah. remember the answers if it was for
[13:07] Poland perhaps. Perfect. Then let's do Spain. The first one that I have it's cultural
[13:12] adjustment. The thing that took you a while to adapt to. Okay. Let me think. Sorry. I don't know
[13:18] whether I have to answer these quickly. I I know I need to think about them. I think going back again to the you know
[13:24] the family focus. I think there are maybe some differences with with schools culturally, you know, or maybe
[13:30] behaviors, I would say. I don't know. Maybe I would think about that. I mean, generally culturally there's the Spain
[13:37] cult Spanish culture is very different, but in a positive way. So, there's not really it's not it's an adjustment, but
[13:43] it you don't notice it, you know, if you enjoy doing it. It's not when you know, and it's not a negative adjustment. I
[13:49] would say maybe that there's maybe some differences with schooling that that take a bit of getting used to. Second
[13:55] one that I have it's social life. How do you meet friends in Spain? Do you connect with people?
[14:01] Spain is a very very social country. So you know there's there's always many possibilities. This again is another
[14:08] positive change I would say comparing to in England. I know the weather has a lot to do with it of course when the
[14:14] weather's warmer you can be outside more but it's not only because of the weather. You know I think you know
[14:20] socializing is it's just part of Spanish life. And again, going back to the the family issue, when you've got children,
[14:26] it's very possible to socialize with children. And I think this is something positive about Spain. You know, you can
[14:32] go out in the summer 12 1:00 and the children are out still playing in a bar,
[14:37] you know, and in England, there's no way you would take your child out to a a bar at 12:00 at night, you know, regardless
[14:44] of the season. Probably there'd be safety issues as well as many other issues, but this is this is a positive
[14:49] about the social social side of Spain. Makes a lot of sense. Third one that I have, it's language,
[14:55] right? Are you learning Spanish? Do you do you speak Spanish? Any learning tips?
[15:01] My Spanish is definitely not as good as it should be. I know that it it needs improvement. That being said, I I don't
[15:08] expect people to speak English. You know, I live in Spain. I have to communicate in Spanish. But it needs work, let's say. I at the moment, I do
[15:16] struggle to find time um to study. You know, in terms of speaking, of course, I
[15:21] can practice speaking, but probably, you know, as as I'm a teacher, I know what sort of things I need to do to learn a
[15:28] language, and I think I need to put a bit more time into the academic aspect. Nice. Fourth one that I have, it's cost
[15:34] of living, right? How is it in the south of Spain? Because I know that changes a lot depending on
[15:40] where you are, but what is surprisingly cheap, what is surprisingly expensive, how how much costs living in in there.
[15:48] Yeah. I mean it depends what you're comparing it to I guess and I I can't remember really cost of living in UK to
[15:55] compare it. Maybe it's not so much cost of living but what I would say is the property prices are quite high. This is
[16:00] something maybe they are higher in comparison to everything else. You know generally the cost of living is okay.
[16:06] You can get things for a reasonable price but property prices especially where we are are very very high relation
[16:12] to other things. I see. Related to that actually uh the fifth one is finding a
[16:18] home or finding an apartment. How do you find apartments? How do you search? What is the hardest part of the process of
[16:25] getting a property in Spain? Yeah, this I think probably varies quite a lot in the depending on where you are
[16:31] in Spain. But if you are in a holiday region, you know, where that's popular with tourists, the main thing if you
[16:38] don't well there's obviously different issues with renting and buying, but for example, if you're renting, it's very
[16:43] hard to find a long-term rental because a lot of property owners, they'll rent
[16:49] from usually September till June and then who knows what you you're expected to do in the summer, but the it's very
[16:56] hard to get it all year round, a rental. So, this is this is an issue with renting. Um, I believe that there's a
[17:02] lot of changes, suggested changes to try and improve this situation, but it it is
[17:07] very challenging for people that live somewhere long term. I see. Sixth one I have it's living like
[17:12] a local. What's the thing that you kind of like now do to try to blend in uh
[17:18] your life or the mistakes to avoid to not be a spot in the middle of Spanish
[17:24] people? I don't know about that. the things that we don't do. But again, like living like I said about the social aspect, you
[17:30] know, the in the summer especially, this is this is how you you do automatically adapt to this. I find often when people
[17:37] visit me, do you know they'll want to go out it's normal for them to want to leave to go out early, you know, like
[17:42] 8:00, but do you know generally locals in in the summer, they don't go out till about at least 10:00, you know, they
[17:49] they'll go out at 10:00 at night. at the weekends obviously they stay longer and it's normal you know 12 one two to still
[17:55] be out and it's normal for us as well you know when you live somewhere all year you kind of adapt to this lifestyle
[18:02] of going going out very late in the summer but yeah often if people come to visit me I noticed that they struggle a
[18:09] bit with this you know because they're used to their timetable their normal hours and it's hard to adapt but yeah
[18:14] you ain't adapting to your your timeline or time schedule to whatever you live that's kind of normal I think
[18:21] Yeah, you have to. Seventh one that I have um maybe not from your own exact experience but from
[18:28] friends and people that you have around. How is the work life or the work culture in Yeah. That is hard for me to answer. I I
[18:36] I I don't know. I I guess it obviously varies. But in what what way? What sort
[18:42] what what do you mean in regards of timing schedules? It's like it's more laid out. It's more relaxed. It's more an environment where
[18:49] people it's more like stressed. Yeah. So, it's more relaxed generally in in Spain. It's quite relaxed. It's it's
[18:55] quite okay to to you know to take a long time to get back to people to that's one
[19:01] of the main things. You don't always get a response to things even even at work if it's something important. Obviously,
[19:06] if it's really important, I guess that you do get a reply, but you can expect to wait a while and it's it's quite
[19:12] normal. Timing. I mean, of course, when you've got to be at work at a certain time, you have to be there, but few
[19:17] minutes here and there, it's not such a problem. I mean, I've often there are times where I've been to a shop that's
[19:22] supposed to open at 5:30, you know, after the siesta, and it's not. You know, people are standing outside. It's
[19:28] like4 to 6. Maybe they'll open then, maybe they won't. I see. Sounds familiar. The next one is getting around. How do you move uh
[19:35] around the city? It's public transport good. You need a car. Is there any
[19:40] system? Yeah. Again, it depends quite a lot on the city. I mean, where we live, there is public transport, but it's probably
[19:46] not as good as what it is in cities cuz we don't live in a city. This Yeah, depends. It depends a lot. I actually
[19:52] have a bike, which I find Okay. I only recently got this bike, but I I quite enjoy this because it's a small town.
[19:58] And there's also I I think it's quite common in a lot of the coastal areas. There's a lot of cycle paths and they're
[20:05] always next to the sea. So, this is quite a nice way to travel around. you know, if you're only traveling within
[20:10] your town, I I think a bike is a good idea, do you know, cuz you you're quite mobile and, you know, the weather as
[20:16] well allows it. Obviously, in the winter, it's a bit unpredictable, but taking the whole year into account, it's
[20:22] quite a good place to to travel by bike, I think. Next one. I mean, you touch it from
[20:28] giving birth for sure. So, the healthcare uh how does the system work? Is it good? It's uh easy to access the
[20:34] quality. Yeah, I mean overall Spanish healthcare public health care is is good. I couldn't say that it's bad. I
[20:41] don't think there's any issues any other is any different issues to what other countries have. Obviously there were
[20:46] much worse countries but I mean the ones that are on a similar sort of level. Yes, there's um a delay sometimes. You
[20:52] know you have to wait if you want some sort of specialist but overall the care is is very good. Private as well is it's
[21:00] okay. You know, you can get more or less everything you want if you have private insurance. This is another possibility.
[21:06] But overall, it is good. The public care is good in Spain. I have three more. The next one, it's
[21:11] something that everyone blames and normally doesn't like it that much. But the bureaucracy always dealing with
[21:17] paperwork, visas, permits, and so on. Yeah. I mean, Spanish
[21:24] bureaucracy is quite well known, I think, to not be very straightforward. It's difficult. I I suppose every
[21:30] country has their systems. A lot of stuff now is increasingly online or
[21:35] digital. This does make it a lot easier when you can set everything up. Yes, there are some things that are really
[21:40] easy to do. But when when the things that you can't do like this online, you have to go into any sort of office
[21:46] depending on what it's for. It can then become a bit complicated because there's not a very often there's not a very
[21:52] unified opinion in a lot of the offices in Spain. So one will tell you one thing, then one will tell you something
[21:58] else. And this is a little bit complicated for everybody, not only foreign people. Yeah. So it's it's
[22:05] difficult. Sometimes it can be very difficult. And it is. Yes. In a lot of countries. Yes.
[22:10] Every country has its own uh downsides on on bureaucracy. That's all. Yeah. Of course.
[22:15] Next one. It's the best and worst. Like what is the best thing about living in Spain and what is the worst thing about
[22:21] living in Spain? Do you know really for this you could probably put the same thing the the weather I think could
[22:27] possibly go for both sides because you have a lot of lot of sun a lot of sunny days you know a lot of time outside but
[22:35] in the in the summer this this heat is quite difficult so yes okay you do have
[22:42] warm hot summers but there's a long period of very high high temperatures
[22:47] and this is quite difficult so it's quite interesting that I think you could put that for both good and bad, like the
[22:53] best and the worst. I think you're the first guest who combined it both of them. So, I like that.
[22:58] Nice. And the last one that I have for this section, it's the top tip. If anyone is moving to south of Spain right
[23:06] now, what would be your one line of advice to give them? Yeah, my initial thought was, you know,
[23:11] just do it. Maybe that's not the type of advice that you need. That was more like motivation reason, you know, encouraging
[23:17] people to move. I mean, I think it probably isn't specific to Spain, but you it applies to wherever you go. You
[23:23] know, you do need to do some research. You know, research the the sort of official procedures that you need to go
[23:29] through so that you're doing everything legally um and you know, learn the language. I
[23:37] think this goes so yeah. Cool. So, with that, uh thanks a lot for
[23:42] your for your responses and your your experience on Spain. I will jump quickly to the to the mini game that I prepared.
[23:49] I call it true or false learning English edition. Wanted to focus a little bit in there. It's basically a very easy true
[23:56] or false. And if you have any explanation on why this is true or where it's false from your experience, just
[24:02] put it in. If not, we leave it just as a true and false and that's it. The first statement that I have is
[24:09] you need to live in an Englishspeaking country to become fluent in English. No. Okay. Generally, this is false. This
[24:15] is always false. You don't have to. That being said, it absolutely helps. You know, when you're learning a language
[24:21] that you live in the country that you're you're learning, of course, you might progress more, maybe faster, but in
[24:28] terms of fluency, no. Especially not with online now. You can you can have contact with anybody with anything. So,
[24:35] false. Makes sense. Next one. Having a strong accent means that your English is bad.
[24:41] No, this is false. Having an accent shows that you speak another language. This is something that you should be
[24:47] proud of. You know, you should celebrate. I forgot the wording that you use, but it's definitely not negative. Kids learn languages faster than others.
[24:55] Always. Well, okay. I don't know the the statistics behind this, but I would be inclined to say true. Um, they learn it
[25:03] depends on the age of them, of course. I think the younger you are, the faster you learn a language because, you know, you learn in a different way. I don't
[25:09] know the science behind this, but um I think true. I think as well they can learn in a different way. They they
[25:16] speak the language differently because they can pick up the sounds and they might sound more native, let's say. I'm
[25:22] not saying that's better or worse, but that tends to happen more with children. Next one that I have, it's grammar. It's
[25:28] the most important part of learning English. No, it's not the most important. So, this is false. It's important. You know,
[25:34] you can't say that it's not important. Depends a lot on the level as well. You know, I think when you're a lower level,
[25:39] then yes, there's more importance on grammar and when then when you get higher then vocabulary might take over
[25:45] slightly. It's difficult to say. I can't say that it's not important because it is. You do need grammar to communicate
[25:50] effectively. But it's a lot of people do focus only on grammar and I think the the focus should be communication not on
[25:58] grammar and you can sometimes communicate without the correct grammar. Makes sense. Watching Netflix in English
[26:04] actually helps you improve. Yeah. Yes. And it helps you more if you've got subtitles in English as well
[26:10] because then you can you can hear and see what they're saying because sometimes people don't understand fast
[26:15] conversation which is normal. So when you've got the subtitles in English this is an even better way to to help.
[26:22] Makes sense. Speaking in your native language and translating is a bad habit. You should not do it.
[26:28] I mean it's it's one of those some people might say yes it's a bad habit but I think again it depends on the
[26:34] level. I I think as you become a higher level, this this stops automatically. It's not something that you can control.
[26:40] I think if you need to do it, I mean, what's the point in saying that you can't do it because then you won't speak at all. Think, oh well, I'm not speaking
[26:47] in I'm not thinking in English. I I can't say anything. I mean, I think it's inevitable at the at lower levels that
[26:53] you will do this. It's better if you can get out of this habit, which I think happens naturally anyway, because it
[26:58] might help you. It might help you be more, I don't know, be able to think more in English if you you try to train
[27:05] your mind in that way, be more natural at the end. Yeah, of course. The last one that I have, it's you should avoid speaking English until
[27:11] you can speak it correctly. No, this obviously this is false. This is false. I think nobody would make any
[27:17] progress if this was the the case. That being said, it's the thing that holds most people back. You know, it's a very
[27:22] common fear. It's normal. I mean, I have the the same, you know, I I don't want to speak if it's not not correct or I'm
[27:29] worried it's not correct or it's not perfect. It is very common. But the reality is you need to get through this.
[27:35] You know, you you have to try and get through this. There's different ways to do it though. I mean, I'm not saying you have to go out and give a presentation
[27:41] in English, but even if you speak on your own, this is quite helpful. You might feel a bit stupid, but you have a
[27:48] conversation with yourself because you know it helps you practice speaking in a environment when nobody's going to hear
[27:54] you and it's it's a good way to build up confidence at the beginning. There's many different techniques you can try like that.
[28:00] Perfect. Thanks a lot for for the replies. There was like a little bit specific, let's
[28:05] say, about learning English, but I think it makes sense knowing your background and and what you're working on.
[28:10] So, I would say before we close the episode, can you share what you're working on? right now if there is
[28:16] anything else than what you already explained going on in parallel what it's your projects where can people find you
[28:24] also of course the links will be in the description but where can the audience contact you also
[28:30] if they are interested yeah okay so it's it's as I mentioned earlier my my main project at the moment
[28:36] is is as it's on my Instagram Pink Flamingo English online this is an online commu um no an online English
[28:43] learning community for mothers international mothers that live in the you know so they've probably moved there
[28:49] for whatever reason various reasons and they need to learn English or improve English so it's basically a space where
[28:56] there's they the primary goal is to learn English so there's like English lessons every week to to teach the
[29:03] language it's not norm it's not like a normal course though like where you've got a course book they're English lessons focused on the language that you
[29:09] need to raise children so you know the the language that you need to talk to all the parents at parties to talk to
[29:15] the doctor to talk to teachers this is completely different language to what you get in a course book and this is why
[29:21] I did it because it's something that I need you know it's based on my own experience of what I I'm lacking in
[29:28] Spain you know like WhatsApp groups for example it's a nightmare you know when you there's so many messages so it's
[29:34] focusing on this type of thing but in English because that's based on my professional experience so yeah this is
[29:40] the main project it's a community they have lessons every week speaking practice every week. What else? There's
[29:45] a live meeting with me every month for grammar and vocabulary. So, it's quite
[29:51] short, you know, this grammar and vocabulary focus because it's not the main focus. It's connected to your one
[29:56] of your previous questions. You know, communication is the focus here to to communicate and to feel confident and to
[30:02] just basically manage life in the UK with children, to be able to interact with parents, interact with teachers,
[30:09] and not be like standing at the side because you you're scared to speak to people. And the main focus then here is
[30:14] the community. So there's a community of other mothers in the same situation. So you can also connect with other other
[30:21] women you know and talk and you can do this through the weekly meetings and a chat group which I'm also active in you
[30:28] know sharing my experience like personal and some tips about learning English. So
[30:33] yeah this this is my main project at the moment and I have a website there's more
[30:38] information on there as well. Fantastic. I mean so mainly point of contact Instagram website uh
[30:45] yeah on my website there's all of the contacts yeah all the social media there's an email address there's a
[30:50] contact form but all through Instagram as well is fine on Instagram as well you know I share just tips you know
[30:56] vocabulary tips for mothers or just general tips for learning English and you know relatable situations with
[31:02] children so even following that you know if you're in if this sort of fits you if you think oh that sounds like me then
[31:08] that might be quite helpful as for the audience as always like if you don't find it easily you will have the
[31:15] links on on of the website plus the the Instagram and every channel on on the
[31:20] description of the episode so that don't worry go there and you will find it thank you thank you so much for for
[31:25] joining the show and and being able to to to share your experience but also a little bit about your project yeah
[31:31] thanks for for joining was very interesting yes yeah it was nice thank you thanks for having me my pleasure and again for the audience
[31:38] if you enjoy this episode. Don't forget to subscribe and give some love to both the project of Amy and and the show.
[31:45] Until next time, keep exploring, stay curious, and see you in the next episode.