Yesterday I was due to meet Fernando at 7:30. I left the house with plenty of time, and made my way slowly through town towards the school. Just as I was approaching I looked at my watch and realised it was 7:55 - I'm not really sure how that happened but I think I had read my watch wrong earlier.

We were supposed to meet outside the school but when I arrived the door was open so I went in and Maite and Fernando were waiting for me. I apologised for being late and I think Maite was surprised because normally I'm always early for everything. When we left the school Fernando confessed that he had to run because he was running late too.

We sat outside a bar close to the school and chatted for about half an hour in Spanish, and about an hour in English. I was happy with this arrangement because Fernando doesn't get as many opportunities to practice as I do. He told me that he is training to be a police officer, and we talked quite a lot about the experiences of learning a new language. It was interesting because it seems things have been very similar for both of us in a lot of ways. He said that the first time he watched a film in English and understood most of it made him feel really happy and I agreed - for some reason it is really pleasurable the first time you understand something complicated in a new language. We also talked about the weirdness of English spelling and pronunciation, and he told me that he found English quite easy to read, but found speaking and listening more difficult. We also both agreed that it is much more difficult to understand each other's languages when we are tired. He said sometimes he watches a film in English, and understands the first half, but can't understand anything towards the end. The same thing happened to me on the Ruta Nocturna the other day.

It was also interesting to see the way he spoke - throughout the whole session he made very few mistakes and seemed to have a very good vocabulary and pronunciation. It was only the speed at which he spoke and could understand me speaking that gave him away as being a learner. I felt like I could probably talk about most things with him and he would understand though which is pretty impressive considering he has only been learning English for about 6 months. A few times he asked to repeat what I said because I had said it too fast - he said that when I speak fast he can't tell where one word ends and the next begins. This is a problem that I used to have with Spanish, but not so much any more. Normally I can understand the rhythm of Spanish now, but when spoken fast I simply can't process the information quick enough.

The way I speak Spanish is very different, I think. I have brief moments where I speak quite quickly, but only when I am familiar with the subject and normally when I am talking in the present tense and about myself or things that I have done. The problem that I have though is that there are a lot of things that I still struggle to say and understand. Some of the grammar is way beyond my grasp (for example the subjunctive) and I think that I need to improve my vocabulary a bit before I can talk about everything. When I talk I still make quite a lot of mistakes too.

After our intercambio I walked Fernando to the bus stop and we agreed that next time it would be easier for both of us if we meet outside the casco, and he takes me somewhere in his car.

Today was Saturday so I didn't have class today. I couldn't really be bothered to do much this morning so I went for a walk and then sat in the park near my house and read some of my book of Spanish short stories.

For lunch I had Caesar salad, followed by a mixture of potatoes and vegetables with pork kebabs, followed by natillas. I don't really have much planned for this weekend, but next weekend should be much more interesting because my Dad and Sue are visiting (from Alicante).