Tips and Tricks Archives - A Thing For Wor(l)ds

How to Kick a Language Barrier’s Ass

Jenny Tips and Tricks, Words August 26, 2015

I used to believe that language barriers were just a social construct. An invention of the unadventurous. A non-issue because life is beautiful and “language is diversity” and everything you really need to say can be expressed with you eyes . . . Bullshit. That ...Read More

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Tips For Learning Spanish

Jenny Spanish, Tips and Tricks, Words April 22, 2015

Nothing makes you appreciate learning a foreign language like trying to decipher a menu in Czech. In light of a recent trip to Prague and Budapest, where I could discern approximately zero words in each language and did a whole lot of drawing and ...Read More

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Visiting San Francisco: Tips and Tricks

Jenny Tips and Tricks, United States December 11, 2014

I repeat a little white lie when I’m abroad: “I’m from San Francisco.” I tell myself it’s because no one’s ever heard of San Anselmo, my tiny hometown 20 minutes north of the city. But perhaps the truth is that I’m dying to be ...Read More

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How To Make Friends Abroad: The Lonely Expat’s Guide

Jenny Expat Life, Tips and Tricks October 27, 2014

Friends. /ˈfɾɛnz/ n. The people whose mannerisms you unconsciously adopt, because you spend too much time together. The people you can go a year without seeing, and still feel as close as ever. The people you miss desperately from home, and search desperately for abroad. ...Read More

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Monday Open House: My Barcelona Flat

Jenny Expat Life, Tips and Tricks September 1, 2014

Idealista. /i.ðe.a.ˈli.sta/ Language: Spanish. Meaning: Idealistic, which we all are when searching for a Barcelona flat. Then we grow desperate after crashing in a 12-bed hostel for a week, and settle for a windowless room and half a working burner in the kitchen. Also, ...Read More

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Pack This, Not That (Spain Edition)

Jenny Expat Life, Tips and Tricks August 25, 2014

Packing for Spain: The Essentials 1. Purse > moneybelt. You’re not a tourist, you’re an expat. Actually, even tourists shouldn’t wear moneybelts, but that’s beyond my reach here. Spain is a really safe place, though theft can occur, especially in Barcelona (possibly the pickpocketing capital ...Read More

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10 Tips for the Spanish Housing Hunt

Jenny Auxiliar de Conversación, Expat Life, Tips and Tricks July 11, 2014

Piso /ˈpi.so/ n. Language: Spanish. Meaning: Apartment or flat. This word has fully replaced its English counterpart in the expat community in Spain. Frequent Spanglish exchanges between my American friends and me: “Let’s meet at your piso for wine” and “I hate my piso ...Read More

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Auxiliar Health Care

Jenny Auxiliar de Conversación, Tips and Tricks April 7, 2014

After six months as an Auxiliar, and coincidentally six months dealing with a very weird thumb infection (I’ll spare the details), I finally plucked up the courage to give socialist medicine a try. I put it off for so long because a) everything in ...Read More

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