Have you ever watched the movie, “The Matrix” and just wished there was something in the back of your head you could plug into to download a new language? Well there is a technique called “Suggestopedia” which almost does that. It’s a teaching style, developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov, which means you will learn three to five times quicker than with any other type of method.

Glossolalia, the language school in Palma, has helped many students using this, and it’s becoming more and more popular on the island. Their approach is inventive and fun and it’s certainly not boring when you set out to learn with them. 

The Glossolalia courses are designed to stimulate your “learning centres” which will improve your memory and ability to remember.The structure of the learning process, based on the five senses (to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste) is of significant importance. Through the combination of different techniques, namely role playing, relaxing audiovisual exercises, and daily excursions to appropriate places for your learning needs both hemispheres of the brain are activated, resulting in the achievement of their main goal which is that you will be able to communicate fluently in a short time period.

There isn’t a “typical” day at Glossolalia, but they do follow a teaching framework. Over a coffee you will make a plan with your teacher about what you will cover that day. You willstart off by reading a short story, the plot of the tale then retold in various ways throughout the day with active exercises to help you retain the new words. Then head off to their private cinema where you sit in comfortable chairs as you experience multimedia projections of the vocabulary that you are working on. After that it’s time to get out and about for lunch. Your afternoons are spent using your new language skills in context, so for yacht crew it would be time to get down to the waterside and talk about boats: in Spanish, German, Russian, English or Italian, whichever you are working on.

You can expect to learn a thousand new words in a week’s language course at Glossolalia, which words they are is up to you and your needs. Here’s a sample, FYI this is just 1/40th of what you could learn in a week. You can find out more about at www.glossolalia.com or check their advert in this month’s edition. 

                 

 

 

 

 

                  English                        German                      Spanish

 

                  Anchor                       der Anker                                     el ancla

 

                  Astern                         achtern                      la popa

 

                  Beam                          der Holm                                     la cuaderna

 

                  Below                         unter                                            bajo cubierta

 

                  Berth                                           die Koje                      el punto de atraque

 

             
     Boom                         das Brausen                                 la botavara

 

                  Bow                                              der Bug                      la proa

 

                  Buoy                                             die Boje                      la boya

 

                  Cleat                                             die Klappe                                   la cornamusa

 

                  Compass                    der Kompass             la brújula

 

                  Deck                                              das Deck                     la cubierta

 

                  Galley                         die Kombüse                              la galera

 

                  Halyard                      der Aufholer                               la driza

 

                  Helm                                             das Steuer                                    el timón

 

                  Hull                                               der Schiffsrumpf      el casco

 

                  Jib                                                 der Ausleger                                el foque

 

                  Keel                                               der Kiel                       la quilla

 

                  Marina                       der Jachthafen         el puerto deportivo

 

                  Mast                                             der Mast                    el mástil

 

                  Mooring                    der Ankerplatz          las amarras

 

                  Port                                              der Hafen                                    el puerto

 

                  Propeller                                      die Schiffsschraube                   la hélice

 

                  Rigging                       die Takelung                                la jarcia

 

                  Rudder                       das Ruder                                    el timón

 

                  Starboard                                    das Steuerbord         estribor

 

                  Stern                           das Heck                    la popa