So I’m now here in Toulouse, Managed to do a stonking 170km from Andorra felt fantastic to finally get some real downhill after all that climb. I will upload photos when things are little less turbulent here. In fact I’ll probably write more about all of it when I get the chance at present things are going… Well I have a place to stay, I have arranged accommodation and schooling from the language school. Met some nice people, it all seems quite hopeful right now.

My only real worry is French, or rather my ability to learn it. I know it doesn’t help to worry about such things I just need to do my best consistently and time will sort it all out. Well I’m going to upload photos over the weekend and try and find somewhere to couchsurf instead of staying in the auberge I’m at until the 5th.

I’m also looking at books to buy, lists of words and verbs to learn, I have a suggested book by the course which I’m buying today, I’ve also found stores stocking English language books but I guess I should pick up French versions. I feel like this is a baptism of fire, but little by little I’ll get there, it’s a lot like cycling I guess .

Well Sans Sebastian is going well, life is good and I’m feeling pretty relaxed right now in life. I have also decided as I have the time, to try and work on my awful memory. For one thing I hope that’ll help me improve learning languages as I travel, people I meet and the people I’ve left behind. So I hit the best reference I could.. Google.

There are LOTS of memory improvement techniques, all of which can have a profound affect on your ability to retain information and words. So I’ve been studying during the rainy days we’ve been having with mixed effects. I’m still new at all this and already I’ve learned from my mistakes, but already I think I’m beginning to improve.

One great method that seems to suit me is the memory palace, you create an imaginary building in your head (usually based on reality) in my case Keynes College and the campus at UKC. Then you populate it with the information you are trying to retain, each room can contain a person, a route can be used to remember a list, a wardrobe in a room for a telephone number of the resident etc.

Then you just mentally go to the correct room when you need to gather information on something. Where you use other methods like the peg, link or Dominic system to remember details. Obviously I’m a complete novice so far and I’m not sure how to go about organising languages and new words into the mix but I’m starting by memorizing all the information I can on all my friends, birthdays, phone numbers. I know a lot of these already so it seems the best angle to start everything. Then I’ll work on maybe adding the Templeman library for my language area. Who knows, I’m just picking places I know fairly well and I’m still ironing out the creases.

On another note I think it is helping my number of Spanish words has shot up this week, so perhaps all the memory work is helping my ailing brain . Still back to relaxing and memorizing.