The Language of Stone - Part 2

A steel knife and hydrochloric acid

I started this Language of Stone Blog, not long after I had finished an account of my last visit to Spain, 2 years ago, when I participated in a trial Anglo-Hispanic Language Exchange programme - staying with a Spanish host and contributing to English language workshops in the city of Murcia.

Before this trip to Spain, I had been thinking about the possibility of teaching general English and combining it with Geotourism, following on from ideas that I had when working for the Geological Survey of Ireland and, although I had no firm ideas for excursions, a shortlist of places to visit included the region of La Unión and one of the World Heritage Sites - to see some rock art.

An unexpected bout of la gripe curtailed my plans but I managed to take a look at the ancient city port of Cartagena, where the idea of teaching technical English to geologists came to me.

Wandering around the back streets, to look at the various hills and walls, I encountered the Polytechnic of Cartagena and knowing that work for geologists, engineers, architects etc in Spain had come to an abrupt halt – having discussed this with friends in Madrid a couple of years earlier – I reasoned that they must need to learn English to explore opportunities that might exist abroad.

Following up this idea through the IGME and the ICOG  I have discovered that various attempts have been made to establish such courses online, particularly in the north of Spain. My Spanish has since improved considerably and I have developed a vocabulary list for teaching English to tour guides, based on my own experience of visiting geological sites and historic monuments.

The next step has not been an easy one to make. On a minimal budget and with my means of travel restricted to a limited range of public transport, I have come near to the end of a list of places that I can easily visit here in England - to further develop my varied practical experience.

I would like to visit another place where the concept of Geotourism is being embraced by like minded professionals who appreciate the relationships between the geology and the subsequent cultural development of their region.

Spain has been foremost in my mind, simply because I have taught English to very many students from all over mainland Spain, Las Canarias and South America too - in the classroom and via Skype – and I have briefly explored some of these places; however, I have visited Italy, Holland and Greece several times and I also have a good grasp of their Language of Stone.