Training to lead for HF Abroad 

I wanted to lead for HF Abroad so I did an Open University course and got my School German back up to a reasonable level. We're not talking fluency here - just enough to get by - manage to make a bit of conversation with people. However, the fact is that HF currently have two holiday locations in Austria and one in Germany. They sell a lot more holidays in Spain (9) and in Italy (7). Lots of people speak Spanish so I thought learning Italian would help me to get more appointments. In fact last year, they only accepted new Abroad Leaders who spoke some Italian!

I bought a copy of Rosetta Stone. I only have to pay two thirds of the price of courses because there's a deal at work where they pay one third. It consists of a series of DVD's that you install on your computer. There is no English in the course. You are introduced to Italian via pictures and Italian Phrases. There is also speech and voice recognition software. You could be any nationality and still do this same course as it's all in Italian. It sounds hard but it's easy enough to pick up. The trouble was that after about 3 months of this, I felt that I was (sort of) absorbing Italian but I didn't feel any closer to doing simple things like ordering a coffee.

I then saw a course organised by Calderdale Council. Italian for beginners in Brighouse. That's a bit of a trip but not too bad if I go after work. The tutor, Dennis was very good and it was fun learning alongside other students and having real people to talk to instead of a computer. Dennis based the course around the BBC 'Talk Italian' Books and CDs so I bought those. I could then carry on with those at home and move onto the second of the two books in the set. What I liked about Dennis's course and the BBC Talk Italian series was that it taught you phrases that would allow you to do things on holiday but used them as a hook to hang more general lessons on - to extend your vocabulary and grammar.

While I was leading at Glencoe I spoke to one of the other leaders who led abroad and he recommended the Michel Thomas CDs. The 'Total' course of 8 CDs is £90 but you can get it on eBay for about £12. I really like this. It suits the way my mind works. It's much more grammar orientated. I like having a structure that I can then build from.

Then I found a class in Hebden Bridge. About two minutes walk from where I live. The teacher Gillian is very good. I was able to join the intermediate class. The other students are a bit better than me but that's ideal. I have also gone back to Rosetta Stone and it makes more sense now.

So I thought I was ready to take the HF Abroad Assessment. This involved a long weekend at their house in Whitby. There was a lot of preparation required as I would have to do several presentations and discuss a number of different scenarios. There was also a language comprehension test and an aural exam. This was combined with a lot of training. It was full on, with every hour possible being made use of.

The short GPS course was particularly interesting. HF do provide a more in-depth course if you are accepted to lead abroad so this was just a taster. However, it made me realise how much the technology has improved. For years I have carried a Garmin eTrex in my bag in case I got totally lost and needed to find out my Grid reference. I've always been sceptical about using a GPS for navigation as I felt it threatened to erode the map and compass skills you'd need if the batteries ran out. However I think you have to recognise that it's too good a tool not to be using. Especially if you are responsible for the safety of a walking group. Many people on HF Holidays carry them now and it does look a bit unprofessional if the leader isn't equally well equipped. So I have taken the plunge and ordered a Garmin GPSMap 64s. I'll let you know how I get on.

I don't plan to rely solely on it. I like to understand what's around me and you need the map for that. It's just another tool. Let's face it, I haven't forgotten how to do arithmetic just because I use a calculator. Then again, perhaps I'm not representative of the average member of the population as I was Maths teacher for 12 years.

I'm very pleased to say that I passed my Abroad Assessment. So I am hoping to lead a couple of holidays in Italy next year.

I have told my manager at work that I want to take Early Retirement next year and we are currently in discussions about when I can leave and how they'll replace me.