Spanish TV

I would argue strongly that, if you come to live in Spain, you should at least attempt to learn Spanish. I would even go so far as to say that the Government should consider making it a legal requirement for your entry into the country.

Even if you live in an area which is predominantly British, there are going to be lots of occasions when you need to interact with people who only speak their native tongue. Without some understanding of Spanish, you are going to find these situations impossible to contend with.

Back in England, one of our daughter's friends married a Portugese man who spoke perfect English. You didn't need to pick your words carefully when you spoke to him; this guy could even crack jokes in English.

I asked him how he had learnt to speak such good English. After all he hadn't been taught the language in school. He told me it was by watching English programmes on TV and later by reading English newspapers.

Now that BskyB have virtually cut off all of their programmes to this country,  you have  every reason to start watching Spanish TV instead. You only need an aerial to pick up a whole range of programmes - in most cases an indoor version will suffice.

By watching local TV, not only will you start to pick up the language but you will learn something of the culture of the country where you now live.

The advice my Portugese friend gave me was start with children's programmes. The ones with subtitles are the best because you learn to read at the same time. He said you'd be surprised how quickly you will learn to associate the actions you see on screen with the dialogue. Then you can progress onto light entertainment and when you are really conversant - news and documentaries.

So if you are bored with staring at a blank screen - give it a go. You might just get to enjoy it!