My dream of embarking on a pilgrimage across Spain may be delayed temporarily, but it is not over. The initial disappointment of postponing my trip is easing and I am focusing on the positive by teaching myself Spanish and attempting to improve my bird photography skills.

There are numerous websites and online resources for studying Spanish, so there is no need to pay for private lessons or attend a class. I am using the free resources provided by the American government for its foreign embassy staff. The emphasis is on the spoken language, with lots of practice exercises for pronunciation and intonation. The material is a little boring, so sometimes I switch to traditional study methods and use Practice Makes Perfect and Spanish Essentials for Dummies. (If you would like copies of these books, you can click on the links to download the books as PDF files.) Practice Makes Perfect – Basic Spanish and Spanish Essentials for Dummies

Luckily, I am fairly comfortable in French, and with so many cognates and similarities with Spanish I am picking up the language quickly. I know it is not necessary to speak Spanish to walk the Camino because most places that cater to tourists and pilgrims will be able to converse in English. Thus, my goal is not to master Spanish, but to develop a rudimentary grasp of the language to facilitate my travels in Spain.