Brad Wilson

As I sit looking out of my bedroom window looking at the miserable British weather, I’m writing this blog wishing I was still in Alicante studying in the sun. At the moment, I’m nervously waiting to go to my second Erasmus placement where I will be studying in Brussels, Belgium for the French part of my degree. Unfortunately, the weather in Belgium will be very similar to that here in the UK. However, despite the weather, I’m sure Brussels will be incredible in many other ways.

Look out for the vocab in bold!

A veces (at times) puede ser difícil hacer amigos en un país extranjero (foreign) porque hay muchas diferencias culturales entre la vida aquí en el Reino Unido y en España por ejemplo. Aunque, dado que estaba estudiando (I was studying) en Alicante como estudiante de Erasmus, tenía la oportunidad de conocer a españoles (spanish people) y a otras personas internacionales como yo. En mi opinión es necesario que se esfuerce (make effort *subjunctive*) más con los españoles por que ya tienen (they already have) amigos en la ciudad pero la gente española es muy amable.

Luckily while I was in Spain, I was approached by my coordinator over there to be part of a scheme which included me presenting myself (in both Spanish and English) in front of a class studying English and they then had an opportunity to ask me questions about how I was settling in and questions they had about life here in the UK. So I told them about how much I was enjoying my stay in Alicante and answered funny questions about topics like the differences between their work hours and ours. For example, they eat their evening meal at 10:00pm. This was very difficult for me to adjust to! Interestingly, this class then had a homework assignment to meet up with me for them to practice English and me to practice Spanish. So I met with a group from the class and went for a meal and went bowling (I won of course!) This was a perfect opportunity for me to make friends.   

Here I am with a group of Spanish girls after I beat them all at ten pin bowling!

With people from England, Ireland and Scotland!

Como en todas las ciudades universitarias, hay muchas organizaciones que crean (‘they’ create) eventos y viajes (trips) para los estudiantes internacionales. Recomiendo que haga (do *subjunctive*) todo lo que sea (is *subjunctive*) posible porque estos viajes y eventos son lo más importante para hacer amigos en el extranjero (abroad). Hice varios eventos y viajes por ejemplo:

Noches en la discoteca de estudiantes internacionales con personas de Irlanda (Ireland), Alemania (Germany) e Inglaterra.

¡Halloween con amigos de Irlanda, Escocia (Scotland), Inglaterra y Armenia (Armenia)!

Viaje a Benidorm

Viaje a Cartagena y Cala Cortina. ¡Qué Bonita! (Beautiful)

1. !!!Without cheating and looking back at what I have written above!!!, try to remember the meaning of the following Spanish words:

• A veces
• Extranjero
• Estaba estudiando
• Españoles
• Se esfuerce
• Ya tienen
• Crean
• Viajes
• Haga
• Sea
• En el extranjero
• Irlanda
• Escocia
• Armenia
• Bonita
• La piscina

Con amigos españoles en la piscina

I also think it is a great opportunity to travel and learn about the country you are living in, whilst on a year abroad. I tried to visit as many places as possible. My parents (mis padres) weren’t able to visit me in Spain so this meant that I had a lot of free time at weekends and bank holidays (there are loads in Spain) and I used this time to visit different Spanish cities. Here are examples of my personal trips:

¡With my girlfriend (novia) at el Estadio Santiago Bernabéu watching Real Madrid in Madrid!

Christmas Lights in Madrid surrounded by lots of families (familias), including mothers (madres), fathers (padres) and children (niños).

Visiting the bullfighting museum in Murcia with a girl from Germany (amiga)

The thousands of palm trees in Elche/Elx.*
(Elche in Spanish/Elx in Valencian and Catalan)

Watching the Spanish national team in Alicante. On the ball is Gerard Piqué the husband (esposo) of Shakira.

2. Did you notice the different types of friend and family members that I wrote above? Try to translate these people:

• My parents
• Girlfriend
• Families
• Mothers
• Fathers
• Children
• Friend (girl)
• Husband

Mi experiencia en España fue increíble e hizo muchos amigos allí. Pensaba que era muy importante que hiciera muchas cosas con personas de países diferentes. Tener amigos en el extranjero es fantástico para los estudiantes de idiomas porque se puede practicar fácilmente. ¡Nos vemos en Bélgica!

My experience in Spain was incredible and I made so many friends there. I thought that it was really important that I did many things with people from different countries. Having friends abroad is fantastic for language students because you can practice easily. See you in Belgium!

I’m about halfway through my semester in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium and this semester has been just as exciting as it was in Alicante before Christmas! However, Brussels is very different for various reasons and, in many ways, there are a lot more similarities between here and the UK. Without a doubt, getting around the city is a lot easier and cheaper than it was in Spain.

La Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles (STIB)

STIB est un organisme de transport à Bruxelles en Belgique qui contrôle les trams, les bus et le métro. C’est très utile que tous les moyens de transport dans la ville font partie d’une compagnie parce qu’on peut utiliser les mêmes tickets pour tous les moyens de transport. Un voyage coûte 2 euros et 10 centimes et quand les tickets sont achetés, c’est possible de prendre le bus, le tram ou le métro pendant une heure. Donc vous pouvez faire les courses sans devoir acheter deux tickets! Cependant, vu que je vais habiter ici durant le semestre, les tickets de chaque voyage seraient trop chers, surtout quand on connaît que je dois prendre le métro et puis le tram chaque jour pour aller à la fac. Heureusement il existe une carte d’abonnement qui s’appelle la carte MOBIB. Normalement cette carte coûte plus ou moins 40 euros par mois mais la dame qui travaillait au bureau de STIB m’a informé qu’il y avait une carte MOBIB d’étudiant  qui coutait seulement 55 euros pour toute l’année!

Getting to Brussels

However, more importantly, how do we get to Brussels in the first place? There are many ways of travelling to Brussels from the UK but the three most common are:

• By plane
• By train (Eurostar)  
• By ferry 
   

1. I personally prefer to go by train as the Eurostar is so handy and perfect for moving to a country for a long time because you are allowed to take two large cases, with no weight restrictions, and a small bag. Many of you will know that you can travel to Paris on the Eurostar but it actually goes to a few other cities in Europe from the UK. The Eurostar sets off from St Pancras train station in London and goes to Lille (France), Brussels (Belgium), and Paris (France) as well as plans to extend the Eurostar to Amsterdam in Holland.
   


2. There are two airports that serve Brussels: Brussels Charleroi (roughly an hour from the city of Brussels by shuttle bus) and Brussels Airport, which is just outside the city. Remember Ryanair only fly to Brussels Charleroi so that’s the airport for the cheaper flights!


3. The ferry is the longest journey as you have to travel across the whole of Belgium from the coast at Bruges.

Voyages en Europe

Si vous voulez voyager aux autres villes belges ou françaises, c’est facile et il y a beaucoup de moyens qui sont bon marché. Aussi bien que les trains, vous pouvez prendre les bus et les cars qui partent de la Gare du Midi dans le centre-ville. Je suis allé à Lille en France par car et le voyage a coûté seulement 9 euros! (Lille est une ville vraiment belle). Il faut que vous téléchargiez l’application ‘Go Euro’ pour comparer les prix et pour acheter les billets de bus, train et avion. C’est très utile quand on étudie à l’étranger.

 

A Quiz!

Which of the following cities is in Belgium?

1. Liège
2. Dunkirk
3. Rotterdam

Can you name the three official languages of Belgium? (Bonus point if you know the official language/s of Brussels)

How would you write the word for ‘Brussels’ in French?

1. Brussel  
2. Bruxelles
3. Bruxellois

Which is a famous monument in Brussels?

1. The Atomium            
2. The Eiffel Tower
3. The Temple of Debod

Can you locate Brussels on this map?

                                                            

Pas de tricherie!!!

B Vocabulaire!
Connaissez-vous les traductions de ces mots anglais?

• Coach
• Bus
• Tram
• Plane
• Underground (train)
• Map
• Country
• City
• Ticket (x2)
• Border
• Flag
• Train station
• Airport
• The sea
• Boat

Merci beaucoup de lire mon blog pour ce mois. J’ai abordé le sujet de déplacement et de transport et j‘espère que vous ayez appris beaucoup! À tantôt! 

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The food!

When talking about the local culture of a country or city, where better to start than the local food? Belgium and Brussels in particular is very famous for certain foods.

Of course there is Belgian chocolate which is possibly the most famous Belgian foods. Did you know that the first ever chocolate to have a filling was made in Brussels? There is a famous chocolate shop in Brussels which used to be a pharmacy. People used to hate taking their medication because it tasted disgusting so the pharmacist decided to coat the medication in chocolate so it would taste nicer. One day he left his son in charge of the shop and he was bored at work so decided to fill the chocolate with cream rather than the tablets and that is when chocolates with a filling were invented. So you’ve got him to thank for caramel Galaxy!

Bruxelles est bien connue pour ses gaufres. Il y a beaucoup d’options de nappage par exemple du chocolat, de la crème ou pour une alimentation saine, des fruits comme des bananes ou des fraises! Personnellement, je prends les gaufres avec de la crème et la sauce à la fraise ou avec du chocolat blanc (qui est vraiment délicieux mais mauvais pour la santé). Cependant, il faut que vous prêtiez attention, les gaufreries incroyables disent que les gaufres coutent deux euros mais cela est le prix sans nappage. Chaque type de nappage coute plus! Néanmoins, les gaufres sont excellentes seul parce qu’ils contiennent beaucoup de sucre!

What do Americans call chips? French fries right? Well they’re wrong! The original thin chips or fries don’t come from France at all, they’re Belgian! American soldiers were posted in Belgium during the war and they found the fries and loved them. They assumed that because everyone was speaking French, they were in France but they were actually in Wallonia, the French speaking region of BELGIUM!

Les langues!

Il existe trois langues officielles en Belgique: le français, le flamand (néerlandais) et l’allemands. Mais Bruxelles est une ville qui est officiellement bilingue. Tous les panneaux de signalisation de Bruxelles sont écrits en français et en néerlandais. Il y a des publicités en français et néerlandais aussi. Vu que Bruxelles est une ville internationale, l’anglais est parlé par beaucoup de personnes. Il est parlé spécialement au centre-ville où il est très touristique et aussi à la Commission Européenne (l’Union Européenne).

Bikes!

Bikes are everywhere in Belgium! Especially in Flanders, in the north, everybody goes around on bikes! This is because Belgium is such a flat country so it is a lot easier to cycle everywhere. I don’t think we could say the same about North Wales do you? But even where I live in Brussels, despite being a busy city full of traffic, people are on bikes everywhere you look.

You can pay to rent the ‘villo’ bikes. ‘Villo’ is a mix of the words ‘ville’ (town/city) and ‘vélo’ (bike) that are stationed around the city and they are very popular. You can pick one up in one place and drop it off at a station in a completely different area so they are really handy!

Music!

Arguably the most famous singer from Belgium is Stromae. (Stromae is a play on the word ‘maestro’. Mae…Stro changes to Stro…Mae).

Pouvez-vous traduire ces paroles de sa chanson <<Formidable>>. (Il utilise l’imparfait beaucoup ici).

Formidable, formidable Tu étais formidable, j'étais fort minable (pathetic) Nous étions formidables Formidable Tu étais formidable, j'étais fort minable Nous étions formidables

Vous pouvez vérifier les paroles avec cette vidéo ici https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_xH7noaqTA (la vidéo a été filmée à Bruxelles et en fait, je prends le tram dans la vidéo pour aller à l’université!)