Message Board challenge

The message boards are now up and running, and we hope to see a lively exchange of ideas, experiences, questions and answers about your language learning journeys.

While I was tempted to get the conversations started, instead I'd like to issue a challenge. We have three boards - one for learners of French, one for Spanish and one for English - and I'm offering three prizes.

• The first person to register and post a relevant conversation starter on the French board will be awarded the Bien-dire Essential audio learning guide of their choice;

• The first person to register and post a relevant conversation starter on the Spanish board will be awarded the Hispanica Esencial audio learning guide of their choice; and

• The first person to register and post a relevant conversation starter on the English board will be awarded the Go English Essential audio learning guide of their choice.

Whether a travel anecdote, a funny language quirk or a question about an idiomatic phrase, we want to hear from you. We're all involved in this rewarding but sometimes frustrating process of learning a new language, so let's share our experiences and learn from each other.

And speaking of frustrating, I have nothing fun to report from this week's French class. Numbers, numbers and more numbers. I can't tell you how many times I confused 61 with 71, 86 with 96, just listening to telephone numbers and transcribing them. Then there was an exercise listening to a long dialogue with numbers scattered throughout, and we all found it almost impossible to pull the numbers out. I think I need to put Master French Numbers on auto-repeat on my computer.

Hope to see you on the message boards! If you're the first to post, just send me an email with your contact information and your choice of prize at david.donaldson@languageroutes.com.