Time out

I'm afraid we'll have to take some time out in our weekly meetings as I've just come back from Barcelona where I've had surgery on my right hip. I'm recovering quite well but I'll need a long while to rehab and I'll be on crutches  that time. 

Sorry about that. In the mean time I offer you this beautiful poem "To an English friend in Africa", by Ben Okri, a Nigerian poet and writer. I first heard about him through my daughter, at that time studying Politics at Edimburgh University back fifiteen years ago.

To an English friend in Africa

For Daisy Waugh

Be grateful for the freedom

To see other dreams.

Bless your loneliness as much as you drank

Of your former companionships.

All that you are experiencing now

Will become moods of future joys

So bless it all.

Do not think your way superior

To another's

Do not venture to judge

But see things with fresh and open eyes

Do not condemn

But praise when you dan

And when you can't, be silent.

Time now is a gift for you

A gift of freedom

To think and to remember and understand

The ever perplexing past

And to re-create yourself anew

In order to transform time.

Happy Summer!!

The school year is now over. Lots of work lies behind and now the time has come to enjoy a well-deserved rest. It has been a great pleasure to work with you this year. We have all learnt so many things that will be of great use in our lives. Thanks for your contribution and enthusiasm. I'll be looking forward to seeing you back again in September. Till then, all the best.

I will not update this blog during the summer as often as I have done during the school year. However don't forget to pay us a visit once in a while.

Relative clauses

Here's a bit of grammar to help you understand the use of relative clauses. And here you will find more information about relative clauses and lots of exercises and tests for further practice. Good luck!

Cycling for food

I just loved the title of this recording: "Cycling for food." Any good guess what it might be about? Let me give you a clue: it's a new Danish scheme which has to do with cycling, food and energy...

Well, if you give in, I'll tell you that it is the title of a 6 minute recording from the BBC. A very interesting initiative although I wonder if I'd be hungry after so much pedaling!! If you need help with the script, you'll find it here. Have fun!

Made in Spain

The Passive voice is a very important issue in English language. Maybe Spanish speakers are not aware of its importance because we don't use it that much in our own language; instead we use other structures which are more appropriate or popular. When we turn to English though, we must learn to appreciate what a useful structure the passive voice is and how many things we can express with it.

Basically speaking we use the active voice when want to put the stress on the subject of a sentence -I bought a new T-shirt yesterday. And we opt for the passive when the focus is on the action itself and we don't know or don't care about who or what performed that action -My car was stolen last night.

Click here you will find some notes explaining some aspects of the use of the passive voice in English. For further practice and more exercises use this link.

She refused to tell me what Mary had told her...

Reported speech means using our own words to report what another person has told us. Reported speech is so important in English first because we use it all the time and second, because it allows us to choose the most appropriate words in order to be as faithful as possible to the original message.

You can find a few grammar tips and exercises here. For further exercises click here.

Here a couple of tutorial videos to illustrate different aspects of the use of Reported Speech. The first one is focussed on the forms, and the second one deals with the use of "say" and "tell" among other things. I think they can be quite useful.

Shopping

If I needed to buy some meat, where should I go? Choose the right shop for each item. Test yourself with the following crossword.

International Day of the Book

April 23rd was declared as International Day of the Book by UNESCO in 1995. This day marks the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, the two giants of literary history, on April 23, 1616.

This celebration of books, literature and music draws its inspiration from a Catalan tradition, the Festival of the Rose.

I liked what Natalia Crespo wrote on her blog about this day; I think it describes very accurately what we all have felt one time or another while reading a book.

We cannot finish this post without referring to one of the most beautiful Shakespeare's sonnets. Read sonnet 18, Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Or maybe you'd rather listen to it.

Have a Happy Book Day.

PS. I found this video and thought it was very funny and clever. It makes us all look a bit ridiculous with so much "high technology". Sorry I couldn't find it in English.

Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupts

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland is causing a world crisis due to the cancellation of thousands of flights leaving from or arriving at northern and central Europe.

We want to say a special hello to our schoolmates who were on their way to Ireland on a school trip yesterday and had to come back home straight from the boarding gate of Málaga airport after their flight was cancelled due to the volcanic ash cloud. What a pity!! We are so sorry for you, folks!!

If you want to read further about this event which has collapsed most European airports, take a look at today's Guardian. When you really need to travel in these circumstances, you must be creative to find peculiar -and perhaps expensive- solutions like British comedian John Cleese, who took a $5,100 taxi rice from Oslo to Brussels after becoming stranded in Europe's volcanic ash travel crisis.

I've found this video of the eruption taken from the air.

CV and cover letter

If you are considering or planning to make an application for a job with an English speaking company you will probably need to get familiar with the terms: CV, resume, cover letter, application letter, etc. Here's a link where you can check the definitions of these terms.

Here are some more interesting hints and examples to help you write a good cover letter.

English or British?

How much do we really know about the UK? If you still feel uncertain about the following terms: British, English, United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, etc, take a few minutes to complete this crossword from BBC Learning English, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. After that you can read these notes I prepared for you.

Have a nice weekend!

April come she will

It has always been one of my favourite songs by Simon and Garfunkel. I still quite often find myself humming the tune or singing the words. It's hard to describe what I feel when I hear this song, but it's a feeling I like and I long for. So many emotions described in just a few lines. Art Garfunkel said about this song: "I consider it one of the sweetest poems about time." Here are the lyrics:

April, come she will

When streams are ripe and swell with rain;

May, she will stay,

Resting in my arms again.

June, she'll change her tune,

In restless walks she'll prowl the night;

July, she will fly

And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,

The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;

September, I'll remember.

A love once new has now grown old.

Now, close your eyes and enjoy the song:

Gerund or infinitive?

To be or not to be? Or shall we better say "to be or being?" One of the most common difficulties for foreign learners of English is when to choose an infinitive or a gerund; and it is not an easy choice indeed. In these notes I have prepared for you you will find lots of information to help you make a correct choice. However the best way is to practise and listen to your inner voice advising you whether to opt for an infinitive or a gerund. If you want to practise a bit more click here.

On the Internet you can find lots of useful materials illustrating the use of gerund vs infinitive. I found this video quite useful and clear. Have a look at it.

April Fools' Day

April Fools' Day is celebrated on April 1st. On This day you play hoaxes or other practical jokes on other people to make them look silly or stupid. It's an old tradition of a dubious origin. In the wikipedia you can find a list of some well known pranks which in the last few years appeared on radio, TV, magazines, papers and the Internet; some of them are really curious and funny.

Here is a video with some easy ideas you can use to tease your friends. Which one is your favourite?

By the way don't forget that this year's Easter holidays will last three weeks instead of one!!

A warning to our students visiting the Guinness Storehouse on your next visit to Dublin: have a look at the transformation I suffered after a few pints of Guinness!!

Getting old

How old is "old"? Is there anything we can do to avoid getting old? What factors does getting old depend on? Why are people so reluctant to accept they're getting old? Which country has the highest life expectancy? This and much more in this 6-minute listening from BBC. If you want to have a look at the script click here.

Once you have finished maybe you want to share with us your attitude towards ageing: which is for you the best and the worst about getting old?