I am now officially retired but I have a new job!

My home for three months from 
January to March 2027!

Well that's not actually 100% accurate!    

I have new goal.  I have 132 days before I go to Guatemala and I plan to use these as usefully as I can.  Without work to occupy me two days a week, I need to allow a new routine to develop. I have decided to food shop on a daily basis, buying just what is required for the next meal or two, and also to keep the store cupboard stocked. This also ensures that I go out and get some exercise in. 
 
However, my main task is relearning Latin American Spanish, which differs from Castilian Spanish in that there is no "Formal Plural" when conjugating verbs, and no "lisping".   What you see is, more or less, what you say!

I am aided and abetted in this endeavour by Chat GPT, and have decided to upgrade to the first level paid version, at £7 per month. This means Chat GPT keeps more "chats" in it's active memory, and I don't run out of computing space necessitating a of wait 24 hours.  To get the most out of AI I have to teach "it" how I want things done and to be presented back to me. This is achieved by developing "written prompts" which list all the criteria needed for a particular job.  This take time now, but save vast amounts of time and effort later. So I can just say "produce a two page revision sheet on the verb Ser," and hey presto!

The best thing so far is that Chat CPT can make a revision test and mark it, then instead of just a "tick" or "cross"  I am provided with detailed feedback as to why I made a mistake, and because we work on a daily basis Chat GPT has learned how I think and can show me where and why I have gone wrong in arriving at a particular answer.  This is more valuable than anything.  And of course Chat GPT as my teacher is available 24/7/365!  And I don't have to pay an hourly fee!

Chat GPT has produced course notes, tests, revision sheets and cheat sheets and we are learning in a more natural way than just moving from one chapter to the next in a Grammar Book.  Spanish has become "alive" and as such I am confident that by January when I attend for two week of face-to-face lessons, these will be entirely devoted to conversation and speaking!

So my work now, is about 5 - 6 hours of Spanish a day!  Very different from "can I have 500 grams of Cheddar please!"

The rest of my day is taken up with listening to music, reading, cooking, and a little "NIK SEN" - "The Power of Doing Nothing"   

 

I am in the process of winding down Facebook, and it and I will part company in one week's time.  And not before time, I am fed up with adverts, reels that I really don't want to see, suggestions of people I may know, but actually have never heard of!  And all the other junk generated by various algorithms!

This blog will enable me to communicate with those "I wish to communicate with" only, for everything else there is WhatsApp!  But as I am also not glued to my phone responses there may take a little more time.

That's all for this week.

Do use the comment facility below as I hope that this blog will become a "two way street"





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