The schools are shut this week, but all Yakety Yak sessions are taking place as normal.

Come along and yak with us!

Thursday 26th January: Launch of Edinburgh Jam House Salsa nights

There will be salsa DJs, warm-up dance routines and a professional dance team and doors open at 8pm. If you want to stay till the end, the night is due to last till 1am. Entry is a very reasonable £6 and the cloakroom charge per item is £1.50.

At least 5 Yakety Yak customers and tutors are planning to go so far. If any other yakkers want to go, please phone Freda of the Yakety Yakety team on 07826 555134 by 7pm Thursday 26th January so she can keep a table. Even if you just want to socialise and watch the dancing, it sounds like a great night out!

http://www.thejamhouse.com/edinburgh/live-music/event/1952/salsa-buena-january-2012.htm

PS: The next salsa night at the Jam House, with live music, is on Wednesday 7th March.

Freda

Another very interesting talk for those who understand German: 

Alexander Weigel: From Goethe's Faust 1968 to Müller's Hamletmachine 1989

Please note that this lecture will be held in German, followed by a discussion and drinks.

More information here: http://www.edinburgh.diplo.de/Vertretung/edinburgh/en/__events/Kalender/Alexander_20Weigel.html?archive=3029204

How important is funding language learning in school, given the financial pressures councils are under?

This question was addressed in an animated discussion the BBC Radio Scotland show "Call Kaye" last week. It's available on BBC iplayer (unfortunately, only until tomorrow morning), so I don't want to spoil your enjoyment. Just one little teaser: you'll hear a couple of familiar voices. :-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b018wsfv/Call_Kaye_04_01_2012/

Christina

With thanks to Sheila, who has sent us this French recipe - it sounds delicious!

It's for Forgotten Chocolate Meringue Cookies, especially light and airy after all the rich food of the festive season, and Sheila says it's very simple - preparation time only 10 Minutes. 'Forgotten' because you leave them in the oven and forget about them. Sounds like the perfect kind of cookie to me!

Biscuits oubliés - Meringues

Rendement : trois douzaines

INGRÉDIENTS

2 blancs d'œufs à la température de la pièce

3/4 de tasse de sucre

1/2 c. à thé d'extrait de vanille

6 oz de brisures de chocolat mi-sucré

1 tasse d'amandes rôties, hachées

PRÉPARATION

1. Chauffer le four à 350 degrés F. Battre les blancs d'oeufs en neige molle, puis ajouter le sucre sans cesser de battre, jusqu'à la formation de pics fermes. Ajouter l'extrait de vanille, les brisures de chocolat et les noix, en pliant.

2. Laisser tomber par cuillers à thé sur des plaques à biscuits recouvertes de papier parchemin. Mettre au four et éteindre le four immédiatement. Oublier les biscuits au four toute la nuit, sans jamais en ouvrir la porte pour ne pas laisser échapper la chaleur.

Due to things getting so busy with the Christmas party season, we won't be able to yak at bia bistrot next week in the evenings, unfortunately. This concerns the French session on Tuesday, 13 December (6-7pm) and the Spanish session on Wednesday, 14 December (6-7pm).

Both these sessions will take place just around the corner at Inca Restaurant, 183 Bruntsfield Place, EH10 4DG instead, and we look forward to seeing you there.

From January onwards, we will be back at bia bistrot as normally. All other sessions will take place at their usual venues (incl the morning sessions at bia bistrot).

Directions to Inca Restaurant: http://www.inca-restaurant.com/Contact.htm

I know, I know - "Christmas gift ideas" is what you're hearing everywhere this season. Well, what can I say - here's another one.

Those of you who, like me, spend a fair bit of time on the bus every day and sometimes grab a Metro to pass the time will have seen the advert for language CD's and to "Give the gift of language". No surprise here that I think language makes a very good gift indeed - but even better if it includes fun company, inspiring chat and a good cuppa!

We've recently been contacted by someone who was looking to give their friend one of our cards for Christmas - what a brilliant idea! Each card costs £30 and is valid for six sessions within the space of three months. They can be used either for six sessions at the same time/venue, or spread out across different times/venues of one language, or even different languages altogether (perfect for those polyglots!), and there's no need to book or register in advance. If it's not convenient for you to pick up a card at one of our sessions, just get in touch via the contact form on our website http://www.yaketyyak-languagecafe.co.uk/Contact-Us%282054031%29.htm so we can post a card to you.

Christina

With all the yakking in foreign languages we've been doing, time does indeed fly. It might not quite feel like it yet, but Christmas is coming closer – and with it the Christmas break.

Yakety Yak will take a little break over the holiday period as follows:

All sessions will finish run up to 15 December 2011 (inclusive).

Most existing sessions will re-start in the week beginning 9 January 2012 - apart from *French at Bia Bistrot*. Both the Tuesday morning and the Tuesday evening French session at Bia Bistrot will re-start on 17 January. The exact dates for each session can be found on our website: http://www.yaketyyak-languagecafe.co.uk/index.htm

In January, we will also start a brand new Italian session on Monday mornings, 10-11am, at eteaket (41 Frederick Street, EH2 1EP). It will take place every week from 16 January onwards.

Another new session which has started recently is a second Spanish session on Thursday mornings at Henderson's (94 Hanover Street, EH2 1DR). In addition to the existing session at the same venue from 9.30-10.30am, we're now also yakking in Spanish from 10.45-11.45am. This session will re-start after the holidays on 12 January.

Unfortunately, our Chinese sessions will have to stop with the beginning of the Christmas break. Your last chance to yak in Chinese is on 13 December – come along and give it the good send-off it deserves.

Christina

Elizabeth, who is a regular at our German sessions, would like to invite other German speakers or those with an interest in Germany to attend the German Circle:

"Do you know about the Edinburgh German Circle? Have a look at their website: http://www.spanglefish.com/theedinburghgermancircle/. This winter's session has already started and there have been 3 very interesting talks to date. Come along and give it a try."

Klingt interessant, oder?

Christina

We're right in the middle of the French Film Festival, which will last until 6 December. While it might not be practical for most of us to go to London or Aberdeen to see films being screened there, there are plenty to watch in Edinburgh, Glasgow or Dundee, too. All come with English subtitles, so are perfect even if, like me, you think you might not be able to follow a film in French only. See you there!

The full programme can be found here: http://frenchfilmfestival.org.uk/wp/

For films screened at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, have a look here: http://www.filmhousecinema.com/seasons/french-film-festival-2011/

Christina

From next week (starting on 10th November), we're going to have a new Spanish session on Thursday mornings, 10.45-11.45am at Henderson's, 94 Hanover Street.

Come along and yak with us! You could even combine it with the existing session from 9.30-10.30am at the same venue and enjoy two hours of Spanish conversation - or just have a longer lie-in. :-)

Christina

Places to visit in Germany

Just a quick note to let you know that all Yakety Yak sessions will take place as normal during the school holidays next week. If you can't make it to Spain (or France, Italy, Brazil...) for the holidays, come along for an hour or two of Almost-Spain (France, Italy, Brazil - you get the gist! :-)).

Details of all times and venues under the respective tabs on the left-hand side.

Christina

Here's an opportunity to practise your French, and taste some excellent wines as well.


Provenance Wines, an off licence with a difference in Tollcross, is running wine tastings in French on:


Sunday 16th October at 1-2pm
Monday 17th October at 6-7pm


There will be 6 wines for you to try, along with some nibbles, and the whole evening will be in French.   If you are not sure if your French is good enough, don't worry as Valerie, who is French and runs Provenance Wines, speaks perfect English.


The tasting costs £10 and if you would like to go along, please phone Valerie after midday any day on 0131 229 0841 to book your place.   


Provenance Wines is at 39 Home Street, Tollcross (opposite the Cameo cinema).  Le vin et le Francais - splendide!


Fiona

What a co-incidence: this morning in our German session at Henderson's, we were talking about what it's like to forget things in general and Alzheimer's in particular (I promised you I'd write a blog about you, didn't I?! ;-)), and now I get to tell you about three events on Alzheimer's disease, run as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival.

What brings these events into the blog of a Language Cafe is not just that they sound very interesting, but especially that they are an initiative of the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh: Spanish visual art, films and a lecture with a Spanish author, all dealing with various aspects of Alzheimer's disease.

See below for more information.

Christina

Now a regular on the arts scene, the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival has grown to become one of the key dates in Scotland's cultural calendar, with nearly 200 exciting and affordable events taking place across the country to help stimulate thinking about mental health through the arts.

'TO THOSE WHO FORGET' is conceived as a part of the cultural initiatives that the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh and CQTC Branding Talent are developing in Scotland. This approach aims to face the consequences of Alzheimer's disease on patients and their families from a scientific, artistic and emotional perspective.

2 days event where you could learn more about:

VISUAL ART_ 'VEMOS'

* Suso33 (Madrid 1973), pioneer of iconographic graffiti and author of one of the most recognizable icons of the spanish urban culture, 'la plasta', will surprise us with a new exciting project inspired by the neurodegenerative process of this illness.

http://www.suso33.com

SCREENINGS_ 'SIENTEN'

* Directed by the oscar-nominated director Carles Bosch 'BICYCLE, SPOON, APPLE' shows a history of struggle and hope. The documentary features first-person testimonies of Pasqual Maragall (Mayor of Barcelona 1982- 1997)

http://www.bicyclespoonapple.com/en/

* Directed by Ignacio Estregui, "¡Al Quinto!" is a humorous history of a disoriented old woman that says she was kidnapped by a stranger

* ‘Bucarest, La memoria perdida’ Goya Best Documentary 2008. From within a double exile, it follows the personal pursuit of Albert (a journalist born in exile in 1962) to recuperate his own roots. His father, the Spanish politician Jordi Solé Tura, who became a key figure during the Spanish Transition

LECTURES_‘PADECEN’

* “Arrugas”: Comic and film. A story about an old man’s encounter with Alzheimer’s Disease Paco Roca's wonderful comic ‘Arrugas’ (wrinkles) is now completed as a film. Join Paco Roca, comic author, co-scriptwriter and designer, and director and coscriptwriter Ignacio Ferreras at Old Ambulance Depot and then join a discussion around their creation.

More info:

http://www.cqtcgroup.com/

Besides yakking and meeting up with like-minded people (which, of course, is the most fun, as we all know!), there are many other ways to improve your foreign language skills. If you feel like some Spanish, Portuguese or Russian at 2 o'clock in the morning, when most of your fellow yakkers are fast asleep (and maybe dreaming in those languages or of a holiday abroad?), then there are various resources for improving your language skills available online. The below information has reached us from Edinburgh Libraries – hours of language-learning fun are waiting for you!

Christina

http://yourlibrary.edinburgh.gov.uk/languages

Edinburgh libraries are very proud to present our fantastic FREE new electronic language resources, Tell me More and Byki.  Whether you are a seasoned linguist wishing to pick up another language, or a student wishing to supplement your studies, you are sure to love these fun and easy to use tools.

Byki offers you easy to digest phrases and vocabulary in 80 languages, and even has convenient apps you can use on your iPhone or Android! Tell me more offers an innovative service for learners at all levels, and includes amazing speech recognition software!  We also offer access to the Oxford Dictionary Online and Oxford Reference Online. 

(If you are not already a member, you can join the library in person or online. Information on joining the library and registering for the e-book service is available on our website.)

I have to admit, I don't think I'll ever understand bank (and other) holidays in this country. There are just so many different ones, and none of them seem to apply to everyone.

This morning, I was going to go to the swimming pool to get myself in the mood for the two French sessions at Henderson's when I noticed that Lothian Buses are running a Saturday schedule today. Would that mean the pool wouldn't be open according to a normal Monday schedule either? I decided that an extra quarante minutes in bed would be a better preparation for French yakking than possibly standing in front of a closed pool.

Anyway, the point of this blog? All our sessions today are taking place just like on any other Monday. Autumn holiday or not, we'll be yakking away!

Christina

September is an exciting months for us yakkers: it's a month of new beginnings with new sessions in new locations, a couple of new tutors, even a new language added to our portfolio (though, admittedly, Gaelic itself is quite a bit older than Yakety Yak ;-)) and, most importantly, new people deciding to brush up their language skills and joining us for a yak all over Edinburgh. A big welcome to all of you!

Likewise, it is of course just as exciting to catch up with regular customers after the summer break, hear about their summer holidays in the sun (or in Scotland ;-)), and generally enjoy what Yakety Yak is all about: having a chat in our favourite foreign languages. To you all, welcome back!

Week by week, more sessions which had paused over the summer are re-starting. In the last two weeks, evening sessions at VinCaffe, CaffeBar and bia bistrot have started again. We have also started a new French session at Le Marché Français at Haymarket on Thursday mornings.

Next week, our Portuguese, Chinese and Russian sessions will re-start at Henderson's, Hanover Street in the evenings – have a look at the respective tabs on the left-hand side for times. And the week after, our brand new Gaelic groups will meet for the first time on a Monday (starting 26^th September) and Thursday (starting 29^th September) morning – come along for a yak in this truly Scottish language!

One of the new things this autumn is that we're going to update this blog more regularly. There will be news about Yakety Yak sessions, info on other language-related projects in Edinburgh, the inevitable musings by yours truly, and perhaps even some games, riddles and other language-y fun. Come back and check it out regularly, see what's new, comment on our blogs, and drop us an email if there's anything you'd like to see included.

Speaking of emails: we're still going to send out emails about new yakking times and locations every now and then. One of them is about to go out to you tonight. If you would like to be kept up to date via email, please enter your name and email address on the left hand side of this page. Those of you who have attended Yakety Yak sessions before and given us their email address should all be on the mailing list already. However, sometimes technology seems to be playing tricks on us and there are always some emails that come back undeliverable – if you haven't received an email from Yakety Yak by Saturday evening, please either drop us an email or simply re-enter your email address on the left-hand side where it says "Mailing List".

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Christina

Summer seems to be finished and Edinburgh is getting back to normal after the Fringe, which means it's time to re-start our evening sessions.


VinCaffe and CaffeBar start again next week, and bia bistrot sessions will start the week after (week beginning 12 September).  Hendersons evening sessions in Russian, Chinese and Portuguese will start the week beginning 19 September.


The website has all the details of times, languages and locations but any questions, please get in touch.


Phone 07826 555134 or email mail@yaketyyak-languagecafe.co.uk

Look forward to yakking with you soon.


Fiona

Yakety Yak will continue over the summer, although there will be fewer sessions as some of the cafes will be too noisy to yak in.

All sessions continue as normal until the end of June and full  details of summer sessions are now on the website. 

You may have seen STV's programme The Hour yesterday - and we were on it!

Thanks to everyone who came along to moo cafeteria where we were filmed, and especially those who were interviewed.  If anyone missed the programme, but would like to see the piece on Yakety Yak, have a look at part 3 of the programme on this link http://youtu.be/WqIlGn7TUKg  

Fiona

Yakety Yak should be appearing on STV's The Hour this Wednesday (11th May) from 5-6pm.

You may know some of the people who are yakking in French, or maybe some of the teachers.  It was filmed last Wednesday (4th May) at our French session in moo cafeteria.  I was interviewed, so I may make an appearance too, although I dread to think what I might be yakking on about!

I will put a link on the website so that if you miss the live show, you can watch it if you would like to.

Fiona

Well today was the big day and STV came along to film our French session in moo cafeteria for their programme 'The Hour', which is shown at 5pm on weekdays.

I have never been involved in anything for television before so it was very interesting.  The TV 'crew' - James and Mags - brought along a very big camera and a very small monitor and that was it.  Isn't technology amazing?  The 2 groups were filmed yakking and then 4 of us did short interviews.  Claire, one of the tutors, also went over some French vocabulary, so it will be interesting to see the feature when it appears. 

Thanks to everyone who came along and helped make it a lively morning.  I hope we are all looking our best on telly! 

We should be on 'The Hour' sometime next week, but I am not sure what day yet.  As soon as I know I will update this blog.

See you soon.

Fiona

We are on holiday on the next 2 Mondays (25 April and 2 May), but as our sessions are continuing as normal the other days, you do not need to miss your weekly dose of 'yakking'.

In fact, if you come to moo cafeteria (in Canonmills) on Wednesday 4 May, for the French session, you may even be filmed in the group for STV's 'The Hour', shown on weekdays at 5pm.

If you come along to this session, you do not have to be part of the filming, so don't let that put you off, but it should be an interesting session, with a film crew there, doing a feature on Yakety Yak. 

So if you speak French, come and join us in moo for the 10-11am French session.

See you there.

The Scotsman

Yakety Yak Language Cafe was featured in the Scotsman today - a 2 page spread, which is superb.  

The photos were taken in eteaket in Frederick Street at a Spanish session a couple of weeks ago.

See http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Chatting-over-a-cuppa-.6750893.jp?articlepage=1  if you would like to read the article.

Spanish Meal

Thanks to everyone who came along on Wednesday night to La Tasca for the meal.  It was a great night and we all yakked in Spanish - superb!  I think we might have lapsed back into English towards the end of the evening, but that's allowed. 

The Scotsman

Still no news on when the article on Yakety Yak is going to be in.  I will blog here when I hear anything. 

Easter Holidays

Yakety Yak will be on holiday on

Monday 25 April (Easter Monday)

Monday 2 May 

Other than those dates, all our sessions will continue as normal.  (Sorry if you yak with us on a Monday, but join us another day for those 2 weeks if you can.)

Spanish Meal

To celebrate Yakety Yak's first birthday, the Spanish tutors are organising a meal at a Spanish restaurant for all our Spanish yakkers.  We are going to La Tasca in South Charlotte Street on Wednesday 23 March at 7.30.  If you would like to come, please let your tutor know, write on the 'Forum' page of this website or else email me on mail@yaketyyak-languagecafe.co.uk so that we get an idea of numbers expected.

We may try and organise meals for other languages over the next few months.

Article in The Scotsman

A journalist and photographer from The Scotsman newspaper came along to Yakety Yak sessions last week and there will be a feature on us in the paper soon - how exciting!  As soon as I know when it is due to appear, I will post a blog here. 

Henderson's Restaurant

The sessions in Henderson's Restaurant in Hanover Street are going very well.   We have plenty of space and peace and quiet to chat.    

A wee reminder that you have to order your coffee at the main counter on the way in, so you may wish to arrive a few minutes early to get a drink before yakking begins!

Russian

Unfortunately the number of yakkers in our Russian sessions remains fairly low.   So the Thursday evening session at 7.30 in VinCaffe will continue but the Monday morning session in Le Marche Francais will stop on Monday 7 March.

Hopefully everyone who wishes to yak with us in Russian will be able to come along to the evening session.

See you soon.

French and Spanish

Some of our sessions at eteaket are getting very popular, which is great.   However sometimes the groups have been too big for everyone to have a good yak.

So starting from Monday 14 February we will have a couple of new sessions at Henderson's Restaurant in Hanover Street, at the same time as the sessions in eteaket.   I am sure most of you know Henderson's already, their coffee is lovely and I hope this will make for a more satisfactory yakking experience!

So the sessions in Hendersons will be:

French - Mondays 10.15-11.15am

Spanish - Thursdays 9.30-10.30am

All sessions in eteaket will continue but you will now have a choice of venues at the above times.

Chinese

eteaket has been pretty busy recently when we have been yakking in Chinese so we are moving the Chinese sessions to Hendersons in Hanover Street.   We will have our own little alcove to yak in so it should be a lot quieter.   I have also taken this opportunity to change the time to 6-7pm on Tuesdays as I believe this will be more convenient for many of you.   So from Tuesday 15 February the Chinese session will be:

Tuesday 6-7pm in Hendersons.

I look forward to yakking with you soon.

I am always amazed at the interesting things our yakkers do when not yakking.  

Shiela, who comes to Spanish and French, currently has an exhibition of her painting at McNaughtan's Bookshop in Haddington Place at the top of Leith Walk.   The paintings are inspired by nature and gardens and the exhibition runs until 5 February (11am-5pm, Tuesday-Saturday).

Tom, who comes to Spanish,  composed the music for 'The Okavango Macbeth' -   the story of Macbeth played out in a troop of baboons in Botswana.   This opera, written by Alexander McCall Smith is at the Queens Hall, Edinburgh for 2 nights in April.   Sounds intriguing!

Finally one of our tutors, Adrian, writes a blog on life in Edinburgh.  It is written in English and Spanish, so it is good practice in reading Spanish, with a translation just in case!  see http://livingedinburgh.blogspot.com/ 

Happy yakking and see you soon.

Happy New Year - I hope you all have a good Christmas and new year and are enjoying fairly snow-free pavements for a while.

We start yakking again in most cafes next week (bia bistrot starts in the week beginning 17 January) so come along and join us.

We have a few new sessions:

Portuguese on Wednesday evenings

Russian on Thursday evenings

Spanish on Monday mornings

French and Spanish for teenagers

Happy yakking!

Yakety Yak Language Cafe is now on holiday until January.

Most of our conversation sessions will start again on Monday 10 January 2011, however the sessions in bia bistrot start a week later - week beginning Monday 17 January. 

Most sessions will remain the same - all details on the website.  A few new additions:

Portuguese - we start Portuguese conversation on Wednesday 12 January in Valvona & Crolla's Multrees Walk.

Russian - we start an evening Russian session on Thursday 13 January in Valvona & Crolla's Multrees Walk.

We are starting new conversation sessions for school pupils studying French or Spanish.  Sessions will be in bia bistrot in Bruntsfield.
 

Full details on the relevant language page of the website.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year.

See you in January.

A lot of the snow has now melted, so hopefully it will be a bit easier to get out and about this week.  So all our sessions will go ahead as planned. 

The sessions in both Valvona & Crollas have finished for the year - we re-start there the week beginning 10 January 2011.

Stay warm and hope to see some of you this week.

It is pretty cold out there but it's warm in our cafes so all sessions will go ahead as normal.   I know it is difficult or impossible for many of you to come along and join us at the moment so see you once the weather improves.  

Our sessions at Valvona & Crolla's VinCaffe and CaffeBar have now finished until January.  All other venues continue until 17 December.   We start back week beginning 10 January everywhere except bia bistrot in Bruntsfield, where we start yakking again the week beginning 17 January.

Thanks to those of you who are sliding along to join us despite the weather, and see you soon.

Last updated - 8.30pm, Tuesday 7 December

ALL SESSIONS ON WEDNESDAY WILL GO AHEAD.

All sessions for the rest of the week should also go ahead.

Thanks to yakkers and teachers for braving the snow to yak!  Also thanks to all our cafes for remaining open for us.

Please check here or our Weather page this week before you slide along for a yak - just in case!  Alternatively phone Fiona on 07826 555134 to check.

German at Falkos is getting very popular, which is great.  To make sure the groups do not get too big, we will start another session at Falkos starting on Wednesday 24 November at 10.15 - 11.15am.

So from Wednesday 24 November the sessions at Falkos will be

9 - 10 am - 3 groups

10.15 - 11.15am - 2 groups

Come along and yak with us!

In an email I sent out last week I said that the sessions for French, Italian and German at Valvona & Crolla in Elm Row are very quiet.  This has prompted a few questions about the German sessions there - maybe they are quiet because they are not shown on the website?  Good point - in fact we do not have German in Elm Row - we do have SPANISH, which I did not mention. 

So for a quiet yak in French (Thursdays), Italian (Wednesdays) or Spanish (Mondays), why not pop along to Elm Row from 4-5pm.