Speakout Street Interviews 4

H = Hina     W1 = 1st woman etc.     M1 = 1st man etc.

H:     I have a full-time job but I like learning new things in my spare time. At the moment, I’m studying Spanish. I’m enjoying it but I’m finding it quite difficult. Today we’re asking people about learning new things.

W1:  I’m learning to speak another language, actually. I’m learning French. I’m also learning to drive.

W2:  I’m learning to play golf at the moment. My husband and my son play golf, and when we go on holiday, I feel I want to be able to play with them.

W3:  I’m learning to speak Spanish.

W4:  I’m learning Arabic.

M1:   Well, I’ve been learning to play the guitar for about 50 years now. And it’s a constant process, so still learning bits, yes.

W5:  I’m learning yoga at the moment, and I’m finding it quite hard.

M2:   The courses I’m taking are training courses for leadership, negotiation, evaluation.

M3:   I’m learning Swahili.

W6:  At the moment, I’m learning to paint and draw in evening classes for adults.

W7:  I’m studying part-time after work.

M4:   I’ve just learnt how to do a lot of kayaking.

W8:  I’m learning how to design a website, at the moment.

W9:  I am in a choir so singing, I guess, is pretty much the only thing I’m doing at the moment.

M5:   At the moment, I’m taking up a new instrument. It’s a traditional instrument from Zimbabwe, and it’s called the Imbira. Let me show you.

H:     What’s the most difficult thing you’ve ever learnt?

M5:   Patience, I think.

W4:  Arabic.

M2:   Courage.

W3:  Learning a language is particularly difficult for myself, so probably learning the Spanish.

W6:  The most difficult thing I have ever learnt is Mandarin Chinese. I did it in evening classes a few years ago and I found it really, really difficult.

W5:  Probably capoeira, which is a Brazilian dance, martial arts, fight thing. It’s a combination of all these things. And yes, that was very difficult because there were lots of unusual body movements to learn.

W1:  Learning to drive was the most difficult thing.

M3:   Well, I learnt some Sanskrit, and that’s got nine cases, two more than Latin. It’s quite difficult by most standards.

M4:   I think I found French very hard at school.

W2:  I learnt the trumpet at school. That was pretty difficult. And maybe learning to drive. I hated learning to drive.