On a standard ten-day holiday, you will be able to see a destination’s major tourist attractions, but you won’t have time to immerse yourself in the culture and vibrancy of the people. To experience the full potential of visiting a place, you need to find an activity that will keep you there for longer. Learning the country’s language is a great way to extend your visit and meet more people

Visa and accommodation

If you want to extend your stay beyond a standard holiday, you are going to need a visa and a place to stay. Work visas, which often have elaborate requirements, are more difficult to attain than student visas. An accredited language institute will help you with all the visa and accommodation admin. This perk makes it much easier to settle and to start exploring your surroundings.

Double benefit

Language learning programmes are popular because they offer the two-fold advantage of exploring a destination while learning a new skill. Living in a foreign country as a student allows you to explore further than the touristic safe-zones – meaning that you can scratch deeper than the surface of a country’s culture.

See more, do more

Most students begin their study abroad experience by visiting the standard tourist attractions, but this rarely takes more than a few days. As the language course progresses, you will have several months to explore the city’s unknown museums, bars, music venues and natural sites.

Find local spots

When you are on a short holiday, it’s easy to get caught up in the tourist traps, which locals avoid. Enrolling for a language course gives you the time to work out where the locals prefer to hang out. As your language proficiency improves, you will be able to make new friends and experience life from the perspective of a city’s local.

Many Options

Some people want to visit a certain country, but they want to learn a different language than that which is spoken there. In the past if you wanted to learn German, you had to go to Germany. Fortunately, due to globalisation, this has changed – today, if you’re looking for German lessons London, Zurich and Paris all have great schools with native language teachers.

Teachers as reference guides

At a language school, you will have reference guides at your disposal every day. The teachers, who live and work in the city, will give you honest advice – as opposed to the tourist agencies that only want to make a sale.

Language and culture

Language and culture are interwoven and they develop together over time. When you are studying a new language, you learn about the culture and it allows you to gain a better understanding of the people and the place. For students enrolled in French courses London with St Georges is a stepping-stone to understanding the food, art and culture of France. Many students who complete these programmes are often inspired to see more and explore further once they leave the school.

Keeping the culture in you

When you combine tourism and language learning, you will carry a piece of the destination with you forever. Learning a country’s language is a skill that no one can take away from you. When you hear the language spoken on television or in your hometown, the warm memories of your time in the country will always return.

Visitors enjoy Buenos Aires in the spring (September to November), although its sub-tropical climate has generally pleasant conditions year round. Also in the spring-summer months, the city hosts festivals and sporting events that are popular among tourists, for which a variety of airlines allow you to organise your next cheap holidays.

People from Buenos Aires are known as “porteños”, or people of the port, with European roots that date back to the 16^th Century. A variety of Spanish, German, Greek and Italian influences can be seen in the local architecture. Hence, there are no dominating monuments, but a variety of touches and details that hail from across the world, and can be seen in beautifully preserved 19^th Century houses, majestic churches and opera houses.

Similarly, the city neighbourhoods are unique, with emphasis on local flavour following Argentinian independence in the early 19^th Century. An exception is the Buenos Aires Cabildo, a public building that was once the seat of the colonial council and which now houses a museum. The Palacio de Las Aguas Corrientes, Palace of Running Water, was the city’s water works, built with myriad terracotta tiles and which today houses a museum with antique equipment. The neo-Gothic Palacia Barolo rises up 22 floors and was built as a tribute to Dante’s Divine Comedy, each floor supposedly representing a verse in the Italian poet-philosopher’s masterpiece.

Buenos Aires has a world renowned party atmosphere, not least because of its national dance, the tango. Perhaps best exhibited in the city’s dance halls, plazas, glittering ballrooms and outdoor parks, the tango is both elegant and passionate, combining discreet separation between participants that achieves lasting intimacy. Interestingly, in Buenos Aires, tango-dancing schools were traditionally men-only places called academias, and the dance was only popularised in Paris in the 1920s.

The city hosts the bi-annual Buenos Aires Fashion Week, which displays both national and international designers’ collections, and garners plenty of exposure. It’s held at the La Rural Fairgrounds in February, for fall and winter collections, and in August for spring and summer clothes. In addition to high fashion, Buenos Aires has a reputation as a party city, with bars and clubs of all sizes opening their doors late in the evening and remaining open all night.

Energy, enthusiasm and a willingness to recreate itself; Buenos Aires continues to earn the accolade of the ‘Paris of South America’. Buenos Aires flights are affordable particularly between October and January, when the weather is warm and the mate, or traditional infused drink, is readily served.

One of the significant places we visited during our Vanuatu getaway, was the Cultural Village located on the eastern coast of Efate. We shared a small taxi/bus with a middle-aged couple who happened to be from Queensland, Australia (this was their first overseas trip) and their enthusiasm was contagious. The bus pulled off the main road which circles Efate and we drove for some 15 minutes along an extremely weathered dirt road. We soon pulled into a clearing, beside thick jungle and in the middle of nowhere, with the driver telling us to all hop out, adding ‘You can leave your bags in the bus!’. I suddenly felt dubious what was happening and was not going to leave bags behind. However, it turned out to be completely innocent.

The six of us headed into the jungle along the path we were instructed to take. It was quiet and beautiful but we were not sure where we were heading. Breaking the silence came the sound of the conch shell and then quite unexpectedly came tribal warriors out of the jungle towards us. Spears in hand, wide-eyed and yelling at us in a foreign aggressive manner, they charged. I got such a fright I swore!

Once they warriors realised we came in peace, we were escorted into the village and welcomed! We were shown how the traditional tribes lived and witnessed food preparation and preservation, fire walking and a tribal dance. The children were wide-eyed throughout. It was a wonderful experience.

Stripping the Coconut

Children in Traditional Dress

Spider

Preparing for the Fire Walk

Evidence of Past Sacrifices

On our recent family holiday to Vanuatu we spent quite a bit of time in the produce market in Port Vila. We had this recommended to us by regular reader Julie. The food is fresh, run by locals for the locals, making it very cheap by Australian standards. The market for most of the time was full of locals with few tourists. We chose to visit on days we knew the cruise ships were not visiting. Apparently on these days not only is the place swarming with tourists but the price of ‘everything’ gets trebled! So we visited on the quieter days and stocked up on tomatoes, pawpaw, mangoes and oodles of bananas. At this time bananas were very expensive at home with much of Queensland (the banana producing State) devastated from Cyclone Yasi. Bananas were a luxury item, so here we gorged on the most divine sugar bananas and one large bunch (bottom photo) was no more than AUD $1.70.

Port Vila is the capital of Vanautu. A cluster of 83 islands located in the South Pacific. Port Vila is situated on the west coast of the island of Efate within the sheltered Vila Bay. There has been a lull in blog posts here and that’s due to a recent 10 day family holiday to Vanuatu. I was determined to take a digital-detox and so no blogging was done whilst away! Only lots of time in the 3D world – sightseeing, swimming, snorkelling and relaxing with the sun on my face!

In and around Port Vila there’s plenty to see and do. We stayed at the mid-range priced boutique resort ‘Poppys on the Lagoon‘ which is an easy and pleasant walk to the town centre. This allows for walking the streets and passing the locals which you are greeted with cheesy grins and a great big “hello”. The people of Vanuatu are known for their happy, friendly ways and we had that confirmed!

Places of significance to visit include the Port Vila markets (I had a ball here), Erakor Island, Iriki Island, Hideaway Island, Mele Cascade Waterfalls, Tanna Coffee Factory and the many eating places offering fresh seafood and French cuisine. I don’t doubt I will be visiting Vanuatu again in the future especially considering it has 83 islands to explore! We were very impressed and highly recommend it as it’s certainly an easy trip from the east coast of Australia.

Lonely Planet Vanuatu & New Caledonia

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TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Port Vila

One Great Reason to Visit Port Vila

One great reason to visit this travel destination is for the laid back lifestyle and perfect climate. You can’t but relax here!

Vanuatu: Central Markets

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I discovered the Gipsy Kings early in the 1990s and fell in love with their acoustic sounds of Spanish flamenco and salsa. The Gipsy Kings are made up of two families of brothers. They started out as a Gipsy band travelling about playing at weddings, festivals and busking in the streets. Hence, their name the “Gipsy Kings’. They were enormously popular throughout the North Africa, Middle East and Europe. They live anything but the gipsy life now being very well known internationally but they have not forgotten their humble beginning.

Bamboleo – Gipsy Kings

The Best of the Gipsy Kings

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The Balinese Monkey Chant is an excerpt from the beautiful non-verbal film, Baraka. The rhythms and beat are divine. Baraka was filmed back in 1992 by Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson. The music adds to the visual feast and includes musicians such as Michael Stearns and Dead Can Dance. Twenty Four different countries have been represented throughout the film.

Baraka takes the viewer into a delightful trip around the world witnessing splendid landscapes, cultures and humanity. It also makes one question many things about our world and what is becoming of it. I watched it again recently and found it even more moving that the first time I watched it. Why would that be?

Balinese Monkey Chant

Baraka – Special Edition

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Korce is the capital of the Korce Region located in the south/eastern region of Albania. It’s most well-known for its beautiful landscapes, medieval history, culture and festivals. There is always something happening to attract you to Korce.

Korce has served as an important trading market and route throughout the centuries. Albanian caravans began their travels from Korce to surrounding countries such as Turkey, Greece and Russia.

The outlying Korce Region is a place of great natural beauty, featuring the renowned Ohrid and Prespa Lakes, mountains and the National Park of Drenova. Twenty kilometres from Korce you can visit Dardha, a mountain village located at an altitude of more than 1,300m above sea level and is a great spot for hikers. With the region offering so much, Korce is an ideal travel destination as a base to explore the surrounds.

Lonely Planet: Western Balkans

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TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Korce

One Great Reason to Visit Korce

One great reason to visit this travel destination is for its natural beauty as Albania’s best-kept secret!

Korce, Albania

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These Cambodian Monks were captured during their lunch time. The vivid orange of their robes lining the floor whilst they ate their meals, together with the colours and patterns of the nearby pillar added to the cultural experience not readily seen in the western world.

Photo courtesy of Australian reader Julie.

The Blue Mosque

Whilst Ankara is the governing capital of Turkey, Istanbul was and continues to be the Turkish metropolis with it’s highly recognisable sky-line of mosque minarets. Istanbul has a population of more than 13 million which stradle two continents, Europe and Asia being separated by the Bosphorous. The two continents are now connected by the Bosphorous Bridge built during 1973 but prior to that, the only way to go between the European and Asian parts of the city, was by boat.

I travelled Istanbul and other other regions of Turkey on my own and felt completely safe as a solo-female traveller. I found it a fascinating travel destination where east meets west, the Ottoman architecture and hard working, friendly people.

If you intend to spend some time in Istanbul I highly recommend you find a hotel in The Sultanahmet district being the heart of the historic Old Istanbul. There are numerous hotels suiting all budgets. A hotel near the Blue Mosque or a hotel near the Hagia Sophia, where you will have ready access to other grand historic sites such as the Cistern Basilica and Topkapi Palace just to name a few. It really is your best base for sightseeing in Istanbul.

Rick Steves’ Istanbul

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TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Istanbul

One Great Reason to Visit Istanbul

One great reason to visit this travel destination is to view the splendid blue mosque and other divine architectural sites from the Ottoman empire.

Istanbul, Turkey

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