Group Talk on Skype: Join us on Saturday!
We meet on Saturdays to group talk. We used to meet on tokbox, which broke down all the time, so we decided to try skype and the result has been spectacular!
The alma mater of the talks is Valerie, so we missed her last night
Ruben from Chile is there too, but he also had to leave, but next time they will both be there
The meeting is between 5pm and 7pm USA time, which is for me like 2am, but as I am a *vampire*, I don't mind
We met last Saturday and a lot of friends were there, but this time, it was even better.
Goyo, Markbaker, Soccer, Izanhoni, Calvo viejo...and myself were there. I was lucky, no woman around, so I had all those great guys to myself! 
Goyo, you are the man, so are you Maaaak!
Greg started to come along like a month ago. I think he didn't understand a single word the first day he came...which did not prevent him from coming again, and again.....and yesterday he finally got to talk, and pretty well in my opinion and he understood ok. You are the man, goyo!
Mark has also been with us for a long time, but he had never talked or understood. It is not easy for him, but he tries and tries...he was shy at first, and only listened in, but now he is talking, some, mind you Good for you mark for jumping over your own shadow (hopefully the same expression in English)
Calvo viejo sounds like a Latin, his Spanish is beyond any doubt Not much to say really!
Soccer, his Spanish is really good and we have often talked, so I know, he does not feel ashamed to make a mistake now and again.
And Izan! My friend Izan who is on all my threads and his "hang" of the language is getting amazing, surprised me with this great spoken Spanish too!
Good job everybody, I slowed down for the beginners, and I sped up for experts like Calvo or even Izan.
I hope you want to join us next Saturday
Please:
Send me your skype name/nick by PM!
Please don't forget to tell me your screen name or nick on the forum!!
94 Answers
When I woke up this morning one of the first things on my mind was to come on here and thank Heidita for such a great time in the chat yesterday. How nice to see there is a thread open about it so that I can do it publicly!
The Saturday group talk is so much fun, and it's a chance to speak and listen to real Spanish being spoken- something we all need more of.
If you say something wrong- you're corrected. You're asked questions. You're put on the spot a little bit. But it's a very accepting and forgiving atmosphere. It's totally OK to make mistakes, we all do. And I think there is more laughter than anything else. And there is no doubt that I have not only learned new things, but just as importantly, my confidence level has grown.
I intend to come as often as I can, and I hope to meet some more of you there!
Too bad I dont have 10 Rep Points and I cant send you a PM 
I would like to join in with Greg in thanking Heidita for such a wonderful experience. It was nice to get to hear from some of the other great members here as well as to get the opportunity to practice our Spanish together.
I think that the "expert" tag might be a bit of a stretch as there were a couple of times where I was "put on the spot," and I couldn't even remember my own name. 
But again as Greg said, even this was not a big deal as the overall atmosphere was very light and enjoyable.
I definitely look forward to the next time and hope to see more of you there
Thank you Heidita with the captivating voice. It was great this morning to watch and listen as all those little avatars come alive , personalities , real faces , and characters burst into being . Laughter and genuine friendship emerged from hitherto disconnected and impersonal names and photos, it was as if an old family had just reunited and were finding out who we now were and where we were living . I felt quite emotional when it all petered out , I was disconnected in not only a technical sense but i was missing the warmth that we all shared , . So roll on next Sunday morning ( for us antipodians) I am determined to become more fluent by next week. Thank you to all who participated , you are the best.
I am so sad that I couldn't be there yesterday! 
Talking with this group is always a highlight of my weekend. Goyo is right that there is more laughter than anything! Just in case it's not obvious from Goyo's comment above, I think Heidita means 5:00 - 7:00 PM Central daylight time (GMT-6), although lots of times some folks show up earlier . I can't wait for next weekend!
p.s. If you don't have skype, you can download it here. Skype Download It is free and very easy to install and use. I promise.
If you've never tried the Skype chat before or you are too nervous or shy ..... don't worry, we have people here of all levels of Spanish. As Heidita said - we have fun and laughs aplenty but ..... I consider this to be one of the best resources for learning Spanish on the internet. Your level of comprehension will improve!
We have a wonderful teacher to guide us - clearly experienced in controlling a classroom full of naughty children () and who gives everyone a chance to speak. Really nice.
Did you know that "rubio" doesn't neccesarily mean blond? Neither did I until last night's chat. If you don't listen in you won't know all the latest gossip!
Just make sure you have a good headset (microphone and earphone) and you are all set.
Thanks for the free Spanish lessons!
I'm joining this Saturday. I'll be home and I think I have enough vocabulary to cause some trouble.
To all the "Skypers" who were there this morning - well, my "this morning" anyway..great effort, thanks guys.
It was a bit of a rocky start but we soon found our sea-legs and were ably assisted by Goyo (I think it was Goyo) and Santiago (a friend of someone who was there this morning.) Santiago is a native Spanish speaker, presently learning English. Being the only hispanoblante of our little band he was quickly nominated as the head honcho of this particular session and stepped up to the task well. If you're "out there" Santiago - bien hecho - I look forward to speaking with you again....
Lively chat tonight
There were lots of people, so many we lost some actually.
Anyway, there are so many of us now that I am organizing an advanced chat, I will let you know.
The group on Saturdays will have to be limited to more or less 15 users, as we are getting too many and when I had like 20 people connected, most of them "fell off" line. So that is impossible.
In the end I divided the group which was a mess as the other person could not call them back-
Anyway, stay tuned for news on the advanced chat
Hello everybody,
I would like to make a suggestion about the chat time. Would be there any possibility to bring the time forward?. I´m suggesting that because this timetable don´t suit my friend and me because due to the time difference it is nearly 12 p.m in Spain . If it wasn´t possible, the only option that comes to my mind would be meeting another day besides on Saturdays, but earlier.
I´m looking forward to your replies and opinions.
Cheers Ana
YAY!!! I participated in a couple of the TokBox chats and I'm glad to see that the chats are back. AND I have Skype. Oh, yeah, baby.
Off to PM my SkypeID to la reina Heidita.
And of course I read this post on Sunday 
If you couldn't make it to the "Saturday chat" today, bang your head against the wall!! it was really funny today!
We had several newcomers and some oldies:
nametaken from England
Annie and Ray from Australia
Moe from Canada
And the usual: Mark, Valerie, Samdie, Dillon, Debbie
I was the only Spanish native there, but I talk a lot so that made up for that
It was great fun! I think that whenever I talk to someone on the phone, they know by the time I've said two words that I'm not a native speaker, but thanks for the flowers Heidita.
The connection was excellent. I rarely have any problems with Skype, and yesterday's chat was typical. There didn't seem to be any delay, and I could hear all the participants without any trouble.
I enjoyed hearing from some of the folks whose names I know and whose posts I have often read but had never heard before. Mark did not sound anything like I expected after seeing his old avatar.
Everyone, come and join us next time!!
OK, if I'm at home and still awake at 2am next Sunday I'll try and join in - I might even say hello!
How does it work, does somebody collect everybody's skype names and invite them all to a conference call? I've only ever used skype for one to one conversations.
