Learning another language is not an easy task. However, there are shortcuts and even a few tricks that can be employed to make the job a little easier. Over the years I have learned over 20 languages. I have also learned survival skills for another 20 or so. I learned my first – second language, the hard way. I have learned all the others using accelerated learning methods, many developed by others, and some by myself.

My own language learning journey started with Spanish. I picked up some survival skills in the language as a sailor in the Navy after port calls in Spain, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Afterwards, when I attended college I took some Spanish courses as electives. This brought me to a basic level. But I desperately wanted to go all the way.

What followed were several years of difficult yet self-determined study. This included: studying the same textbooks over and over, memorizing textbook glossaries, countless hours listening to language tapes in the car, lots of Salsa, Tejano, and Latin Pop music, Mexican radio and television, and most importantly, frequent trips to the border.

Even after 6 to 8 years of study, I had only reached the advanced level. Finally, I headed to Mexico for 3 months to teach English at a well-known college in Tampico. This extended period of total immersion in a Spanish-speaking environment pushed me over the top to full fluency. Reaching the top and becoming totally fluent was a tremendous achievement. It felt truly wonderful. I would encourage anyone to follow the same path. But the amount of effort and time I invested for fluency in Spanish was enormous.

I did not learn my other languages in the same manner. Before I ventured into learning other languages I invested some time reading books on language learning methods, accelerated learning, advanced study techniques, and brain development. For my next language – Italian – I cut the language learning time in half. For French and Portuguese I cut the time it took me to learn Italian by half. Since then, I've been able to learn other major world languages to a medium level of fluency in about a year.

So, what are the tricks?

Build Your Vocabulary – There is a core group of about 50 to 100 essential words in any language that should be mastered right away. These words include prepositions, question words, a few adjectives, and some selected nouns. Learn these words and many other words can be understood eventually through context.

Memorize Vocabulary Words – Word lists should be memorized and then reviewed many times over. Saying the new words out loud, rather than just reading them silently, helps greatly. Word association, imagining an equivalent word in your native language, can also be helpful. Flash cards might seem a little low tech but they are quite effective tools for this. Even Post-it Notes placed on household items with the vocabulary word listed can help. To gain maximum retention the vocabulary list should be reviewed daily for a week or two and then again weekly for at least 4 to 5 weeks.

Always Read Aloud! – Don't just read new phrases and vocabulary silently to yourself. Read aloud. Studies show that this helps you retain new vocabulary at a much faster rate, plus it helps with pronunciation.

Don't get Bogged Down by Grammar – Let's be honest. Grammar is a dry subject. It can be an absolute incentive killer. So, just start out with a brief overview of prepositions, definite and indefinite articles, singulars and plurals, adjectives, and most importantly, pronouns. Put off learning conjugation for verb tenses for later on. Just learn enough grammar at the start to get you by. If you make mistakes no big deal. Native speakers can understand what you are saying 90% of the time through context.

Study Phrase Books – Always carry a phrase book with you for the targeted language you are learning. Study it at every opportunity including standing in line at a grocery store, waiting on a train or bus, over your morning cup of coffee, or while relaxing in the yard.

Immersion – Look for every opportunity imaginable to use your languages skills. The best way of course, is to physically go to the actual country where your target language is spoken. I cannot stress enough how critical an element this is. Even if it's for a very short time. Look for any excuse to travel to the country where your targeted language is spoken. The next best thing is to visit an area in your city or town where the language is spoken. Hang out at cafes, libraries, malls, bars, and other locations and engage foreign language speakers with simple conversation. Make friends with native speakers. Invite them over for dinner or a few drinks. Tell them that you want them to speak to you only in their native language. Date a native speaker. The absolute best way to immerse yourself quickly is to find a boyfriend or girlfriend who speaks the native language you are trying to learn.

Watch Television and Movies for Your Targeted Language – These days television stations are available in a whole range of languages over satellite and on cable. Watch them for an hour or two every day and try to pick out familiar words and phrases. Additionally, try to mimic the tone and accent of the speakers. Go to the local video store and rent movies for your targeted language. Have a 2-hour review session of vocabulary before you watch the movie. It's even better to watch them more than once.

Listen to Music for Your Targeted Language – Give your native music a rest for a short while and experiment with some music from the country of your targeted language. Many of the national bookstore and CD chains now have excellent World Music sections. Listen to stations and programs on radio for your targeted language. You can tune in to some of these stations on-line.

Listen to Language Tapes! – Purchase some language learning tapes and listen to them as often as possible. First read the accompanying booklet to get a feel for the vocabulary and grammar. Then, listen to the tapes while relaxing at home, while driving to work, on a Walkman when jogging or while working out, and even while in the shower. Be a maniac with the tapes. Don't just listen to the tapes in your easy chair or in your car once a day. Listen to them around the clock. You need to listen to the tapes about 15 or 20 times before they really start to sink in.

Take Computer Language Courses – Whether on-line or a software program, computer language courses provide good visualization for learning vocabulary words.

Immerse yourself in the language learning experience and you will learn much more quickly.

Eric Dondero is a Certified Language Instructor and Interpreter in Houston, Texas. He speaks over 20 languages. He is the author of “Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book.” Further language learning tips, a Free Quick Spanish Lesson and a Crash Course in Chinese are available at his web site at www.portsidelanguages

The International HUMANA People to People movement is currently running over 150 humanitarian projects in Africa, Asia & Central America, working in fields such as: basic health care, pre-school and primary school education, child care, vocational training, teacher training, environment and community development, AIDS, etc. So far, more than 6000 Development Instructors (our word for volunteer) have participated in starting up and running these projects.

For the successful continuation of our work we are always looking for people, who would like to participate in the program.

The program is open to everybody, regardless of educational background, experiences and nationality. Minimum age is 18 years. It consists of 3 periods – training & preparation period in one of our Travelling Folk High Schools, the working period in a Humana project, a follow up period (evaluation & information work in Europe / USA). Through out the whole program, the Development Instructors are part of an international team.

TCE (Total Control of the Epidemic) is a Humana People to People award winning program to fight AIDS in Southern Africa. In its conception it is based on the experiences of more than 20 years of development work in and with the communities of the region.

HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa is out of control. 26 million people in this area are HIV positive, 10 million children have already lost one or both parents to AIDS. A situation that can only be managed in a great act of international solidarity. In Botswana between 35 and 40 percent of people in the sexually active age group are infected, the highest rate in the world today. TCE (TCM) has been adopted by the government of the country to fight against the epidemic. The results so far are promising, and more and more countries in the region have become interested.

On the subject of costs, we rely on contributions from the volunteers – for food, accommodation, etc. during the preparation period. Visas, flights and vaccinations are paid half by Humana, half by the participants. Scholarship programs are available. Whilst in Africa, Humana pays food, accommodation and pocket money.

We need volunteers, people with good will, hearts, souls and a lot of energy to take part in the fight against AIDS in Africa. If you think you can help, please contact Henner Rödiger on henner@volunteerwork.org or call on 0045 24 42 41 32.

Burma's military government has released the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest in Rangoon for the past 20 months. A government spokesman told the Reuters news agency she was “at liberty to carry out all activities, including her party's” from Monday 6^th May.

Aung San Suu Kyi has not had an easy time in her native country, Burma. She is the daughter of assassinated independence hero Aung San, and was held under house arrest from 1989 to 1995. She was placed back under house arrest in 2000 when she tried to travel by train to Mandalay in defiance of restrictions put on her. As a result of this, and Burma's human rights record, Burma has faced international isolation and economic sanctions. Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma to nurse her dying mother in 1988 and in 1990 her party was elected to power, but this was ignored by the ruling army. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. She was not allowed to return to Oxford, England, where her husband, an Oxford don was dying of prostrate cancer as she knew that she would not be allowed to re-enter the country.

If anyone would like to read more about Burma and what has been happening, the Beetle recommends reading a fantastic book by a Burmese writer called Pascal Khoo Thwe, From the Land of Green Ghosts – A Burmese Odyssey, published by Harper Collins. It is an amazing read – see www.fireandwater.com for details.

Sunrise. A paw-paw coloured ball makes the sky smoky mauve and the tiny clouds burnt pink. The land and sea are the same temperature. There is no wind. The water is still. This is a place of two skies, the modest orange sun and its paint box sky reflected in the floodwaters of Tonle Sap Lake. The birds are hardly awake, but at the water's edge there is a frenzy.

Most of the tourists here at this time have only one motive, to run the gauntlet of locals selling everything from egg baguettes to anti land mine t-shirts and climb onto the roof of a floating aeroplane fuselage without wings that will blast them across the lake and down the river to Phnom Penh. As they are shepherded past the merchants in their chequered krama they might get the idea that this part of Siem Reap is different from the Angkor temples they have clambered over for the last few days. As the boat engines roar to leave the floating village in its wake, a few photos of an upturned boat in a bamboo dry dock or a saffron robed monk under a black umbrella in a canoe are rattled off.

Thirty minutes south of Siem Reap and Angkor is Tonle Sap Lake. The lake provides not only an antidote to temple fatigue; it also gives extra insight for travellers into the strength and tradition of the Khmer empire. The Tonle Sap monsoon cycles had particular significance within the religion of the ancient Khmer. New Year is celebrated in the spring equinox. In March when the sun rises over Angkor's central tower, the flows begin to fill the Tonle Sap, bringing rich fishing harvests that supported the Khmer. The ancient Bayon and Angkor temples depict in exquisite bas-relief how the life along the lake affected all walks of life.

To ensure access to the lake no matter where the shoreline is, the houses of the fishermen, who depend on the waters for their livelihood, are designed to float on the lake's surface. Chong Khneas provides an excellent opportunity to experience the way these lakeside dwellers live. The village is home to 200 Khmer families, 250 Vietnamese families and another 200 who are Muslim. In the still morning, the call to prayer sounds over loudspeakers scattering dozing cormorants.

Everything floats. Students tie their canoes to the rail alongside the floating school. The campaign headquarters for the local politicians, the barber's shop, the gambling dens and boat builders float. The floating barge markets sell local delicacies like Elephant fish, which has developed the ability to last for several hours out of water, in case the fast receding waters leave it stranded in the mud. The boats hang a sample of their wares on a pole to indicate what they are selling.

For US$ 10 you can get on a boat to putter through the impromptu gaps between houses. The boat moves slowly, a bit too fast to take decent photos, but it feels right to see a floating village this way. You can make up your own mind about getting off the boat at the tourist fish farm to see specially bred catfish, as well as a collared gibbon a caged porcupine and a python around a smiling girl's neck. A few sick looking pelicans are chained in the sun for visitors to photograph here too.

Some of the village can be explored on foot via thin roads that are inches above the waterline so ask your motorbike or car driver to give you some time to walk around. While you are strolling, drop in at the Gecko Environment Centre for further information about the environment, people and culture of the Tonle Sap.

In the wet season the village lies at the base of the only hill for miles, Phenom Krom. Shooting across Tonle Sap on an express boat, the hill is the only landmark above the water level as far as the eye can see, so a climb provides great views back towards Siem Reap and Angkor and over the vast lake. Three weathered ninth century towers dedicated to the Hindu deities, Shiva Vishnu and Shiva await you at the top of your 140-metre climb. From here, as the practicing monks chant their prayers, you understand the ancient relationship between the stone towers of Angkor to the north and the life giving Tonle Sap.

David is trying to combine careers in internet, marketing and travel. Travel Writing and Photography is one of several projects he is currently working on. Information about other projects can be found at www.dmfreedom.com . David can be contacted by email at dave@dmfreedom.com

Ian, a former teacher, has worked on the Mikindani project, in Tanzania, for nearly two years and was responsible for the transformation of the Education section of Trade Aid. The legacy he leaves behind is one of sound training and education structures as well as a vision for the future conservation of the Mikindani area and its natural resources. Ian was responsible for creating the enormously successful Mikindani Tree Nursery, which, in conjunction with the local primary schools, is helping to halt the massive soil erosion problems in the area, through education and replanting. The Beetle met Ian and shared a few beers when she was last in Mikindani and can vouch for the terrific job that he and the other volunteers are doing in Mikindani.

Well about a year after I intended to leave, I'm finally going to escape the grip of Mikindani. What a place and what a project. The one thing I've found here is that you exist on two levels, high as a kite, exhilarated by the place and some small achievement that has been made or deflated and worn down by the frustrations of living and working here. There is rarely a happy medium, which is annoying as that is the state that the majority of the people in Mikindani seem to be able to achieve. I have stayed this long for a number of reasons. The people at the Boma and in Mikindani are almost to a man and woman friendly and welcoming, though I would not pretend to be closely integrated into the village even after 20 months. Language aside, the cultural and economic gap is massive and I would suggest insurmountable. Mikindani has a lovely ambience and is visually quite stunning. However to the casual observer it may appear more like a malarial infested swamp, its people living in mud huts, dressed in rags with cholera a recurring problem. You have to look beyond that though.

The project and the work have been a constant source of frustration though I think many worthwhile projects have been initiated and are now producing results. The renovation of the Boma is an awesome achievement and we must continue to spread the word of its existence to a wider audience both in Tanzania and beyond. The new volunteers have been fantastic company, have managed to keep themselves more or less healthy and achieved a great deal for Trade Aid and the Boma. Our returned volunteers Len and Alex continue to provide a vital input both on the ground in Mikindani and in the UK. It's proof of the fact that this place and project does change lives. We now have a rolling three-year plan that provides some direction for Trade Aid and should keep the volunteers gainfully employed. A couple of pet projects of mine have taken off. I'm proud of the Information Room and delighted that the tree nursery will continue to run next year and hopefully for years to come. In addition, many of the staff have developed beyond all recognition learning new skills in computers, English or other vocational activities. Developments on the hotel management side also bode well for the future.

I have also had the opportunity to travel in one of my favourite parts of the world, spending plenty of time bird watching, game viewing (which on a good day surpasses anything else the World has to offer) and generally being a natural history anorak. I've met so many great people, friendly, interesting and good company. Even the less savoury characters that occasionally pass through here have on reflection provided me with an endless source of amusement.

And finally I have had the company of the canine duo, Chagga and Diablo. Everyone says they're mad, but what I've come to realise is that you have to be mad to live here for an extended period. It's Catch 22; they are in fact superbly adapted to have a long and happy life in Mikindani. I'm sure some time in the future, I'll come back and share a small piece of that life with them.

Thanks to Sherie at Trade Aid. For more information on the work carried out by Trade Aid in Tanzania, see their website www.mikindani.com