Job Offer in London

This is real! You can have a look at the full offer here.

Spanish speaking, live in Au Pair to help Mother with 2 fun 4 year olds 

We are looking for an experienced Au Pair, preferably with Spanish as a first language to help us to look after our 4 year old boy and girl.. If you come from a family with younger siblings that is definitely a plus. We need a non smoker.
References and a CV are essential.

We are looking for someone who manages to combine being well organized, totally honest, reliable and level headed with the ability to have fun with the children, to enjoy their curiosity and to fit in well with the household. We would all like to learn Spanish as we holiday in Spanish speaking countries a lot.

We live in North Kensington near to great public transport, language schools and the attractions of Portobello and Notting Hill.

We need 25 hours per week plus 2 evenings babysitting plus one Sat morning per month.. That would break down into 6.30-9.30am Monday to Friday and 5-7pm Monday to Thursday.

Duties incluide getting the children ready for school and dropping them off, playing creatively with the children, some child related chores and helping with evening meals/bath/bedtime preparation. We will provide a detailed job description for clarity.

You will have your own spacious room on a separate floor which has a balcony, an iPod docking station, wifi and TV/DVD player

We will pay competitive au pair rates. The job can start anytime from the middle to the end of March.

If you think this might suit you and would like to hear more please respond by e-mail and enclose your CV.

Today's Oral Exams

17:20 Joaquín M and María M
17:40 Estefanía, Mª Pilar (and Miriam?)

18:20 Yanet and Lidia
18:40 Paqui and Isabel L

20.30 Isabel Ñ and Inma

GOOD LUCK!

Travel Chaos at British Airport

Reading Comprehension Exercise

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

season   deal   spent   haul   centre   lack   heavy   frustrated   worries   mess   executive   declined   offered   aspect   storm   behalf

London’s Heathrow Airport is at the ____________ of criticism for its virtual shutdown during recent ____________ snow in England. Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports, yet it failed to ____________ with snowfall of 9 centimetres, even 3 days after the snow fell. Airport authorities cancelled more than 3,200 flights, leaving thousands of ____________ passengers stranded in the terminal buildings. The situation is made worse as the Christmas holiday ____________ is one of the busiest times of the year for air travel. What has been frustrating travelers most is the ____________ of flight information and basics like food and water. Passengers who have ____________ days sleeping on the airport floor are perplexed as to why only one third of flights are leaving, mainly long ____________, when there has been no snow for three days.

Colin Matthews, chief ____________ of British Airports Authority, is facing a ____________ of criticism over this problem. Mr Matthews could not give any real answers to journalists’ questions about the ____________. He said in an interview with BBC radio: "I am really sorry…We are going to crawl over every ____________ of these last few days when we've got every passenger in the right place.” Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has added his ____________ that the airport should not come to a standstill because of snow. He said: “I'm frustrated on ____________ of all those affected that it's taking so long for the situation to improve.” Mr Cameron ____________ the help of Britain’s Army to help clear the snow from the runways, but the airport ____________, saying they already have 200 volunteers.

Look at the comments to this post to see the key.

Learn English with podcasts

Here are 3 websites I recommend for you to practice, especially, your listening skills. On them you will find plenty of podcasts (audio files) that you can listen to or download directly from your computer.

BBC Learning English

Containing a variety of resources to practice English, including the interesting "6 Minute English" series and hundreds of articles to listen to while you read. Mainly British English.






VOA News Learning English

Here you will find lots of interesting articles to read and listen to. Also a great variety of podcasts and videocasts especially prepared for students. Mainly American English.

Vaugham Radio

Really cool online radio especially designed for students of English. One of its outstanding features is that it is a bilingual radio (English and Spanish), programmes are in English but Spanish is used for explanations or advice. You can listen to this radio online, or by FM or TDT. You can also download previous episodes from its podcast section.

Remember the more you study and practice English the better your level and results. Being constant is essential, so if you listen to podcasts regularly you will soon notice how your listening comprehension improves naturally and quickly.

Taken from David García, guest blogger at http://wwwhatsnew.com.

Viaje a Londres

DEL 5 al 8 de MARZO 2011

 

 4 días 3 noches   

 350€ 

•Autobuses hasta y desde aeropuertos.

•Billetes de avión.

•Estancia en hotel 

Royal National 3* o similar, 

con desayunos y dos cenas.

•Seguro de viajes y tasas incluidas.

•Sólo se garantiza plaza a las 50 primeras reservas. 

•Para reservar ingresa 150€ en la cuenta 

 Nº 2043 0212 10 2007001222 

(Titular: Viajando en grupo s.l)  indicando tu nombre completo.

•Precio sujeto a disponibilidad.

Key: Extra Practice 5

G1

1 advertise (or could advertise)  2 would (or might)   3 ‘d give   4 were   5 asked   6 wouldn’t know   7 Could/give   8 could reach

G2 3

1 less important   2 big   3 more complex   4 fastest   5 cheaper   6 highest   7 as   8 more 

G2 4

1 much better   2 a little   3 as interesting   4 much more   5 the least  

KL

1 e   2 f   3 b   4 d   5 c   6 a   7 g

V1

1 endorse   2 eye-catching   3 sponsorship   4 catchy   5 logo   6 slogan   7 exotic

V2, 3

1 advertising manager

2 TV commercial

3 vast sums

4 mail order

5 product placement

6 interactive website

7 fast food

8 junk food

9 persuasive message

10 word-of-mouth

Key: 5.2 Grammar: 2nd Conditional

Ex 5 (p. 51) 

In the 2^nd conditional…

1. We use the past simple in the if-clause, and the would (‘d) + infinitive without to in the main clause

2. We can use a modal verb, e.g. could or might, in the main clause

3. We talk about an unreal situation in the present or future.

4. We can say If I were you to give advice.

Ex 6 (p.51)
1. knew, ‘d/would phone 
 2. had, ‘d/would advertise
3. were, would you do? 
4. would happen, advertised 
5. applied, wouldn’t/would not get

Key: 5.1 What makes a good advert?

Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising. 

Quote by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, (1835-1910) known by the pen name Mark Twain. He was an American writer and humorist, most famous for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

2a.  1 T   2 T   3 T   4 F (people want adverts that ‘take away the ordinariness of everyday life’)   5 T   6 F (‘But for me, an instantly recognizable logo is really important’)

2b. 2 Text 3: Coca-Cola

      3 Answers depend on your own opinions but logical answers are: a) Text 1; b) Text 3; c) Text 2

3. 1 attention-grabbing   2 eye-catching   3 catchy   4 shocking   5 effective   6 persuasive   7 witty   8 dull   9 original/creative   10 exotic

4. 1 commercial   2 sponsorship   3 slogan   4 endorse   5 misleading   6 logo   7 promote

2011 to be the best year ever

 Make sure you remember the meaning of the highlighted words and expressions!

 

Futurologists and experts who study New Year’s resolutions predict 2011 will be the best year ever for many people. This is welcome news for the billions around the world who hope this year will be better than last year. 2011 will see more people lifted out of poverty and there will be a greater number of people with access to computers. One expert looked forward to new developments that will help the environment. California will open the world's largest solar power plant and several electric cars will go on sale, including the much-awaited Tesla. It’s going to be a great year if you study English. There will be more cool websites and applications for students to brush up on spelling, vocabulary and grammar.

It seems more of us will keep our New Year’s resolutions this year. According to a New Year’s Day poll, the top resolution is to spend more quality time with family and friends. This means talking to them rather than being on the phone or texting messages in front of them. The second most popular thing we will resolve to do is get fitter. Experts say many of us could keep this promise well into February before giving up. We usually forget about this resolution in mid-January. Other top plans include quitting smoking, getting out of debt and helping others. Of course, studying English more featured high on many people’s lists. Make 2011 your best ever year and stick to your resolutions.

What are your New Year Resolutions? Why? What are their chances of success? Are they related to any of these topics: Study, Family and friends, Health, Money, Habits, other...

What are your predictions for 2011? Make some about these topics: money, sport, war, my English, technology, environment, weather, my country, my hometown...

Key: Extra Practice 4

G 1

1 ‘ll look   2 ‘re meeting   3 ‘re going to get (or ‘re getting)   4 ‘m doing   5 ’re going to offer   6 ’ll probably go   7 will be   8 ‘ll stay   

G2

1 If you revise, you’ll pass your exams

2 We should ask your teacher for the correct answer when we seehim

3 The world might only have one or two languages in the future unless we protect them

4 I won’t go unless you go

5 If there isn’t lots of traffic, I’ll be there about 5 p.m.

6 When the class ends, we’ll go for coffee

7 Unless I’m busy, I’ll give you a call

8 If you don’t have much money, you should stay in

KL

1 sure   2 think   3 cause   4 worth   5 like

V1

1 accent   2 foreign   3 bilingual   4 dialect   5 native   6 grammar

V2

1 down   2 behind   3 up   4 by   5 on   6 up   7 with

V3, 4

1 allow   2 die   3 disastrous   4 disappearance   5 extinction   6 let

Key: 4.3 Disappearing languages

1. A dead language is one which is no longer spoken by any community. It may be spoken/understood by a few academics.

To die out = stop existing

2a. 1 c 2 c 3a

2b. 1. - People moving from rural to urban communities;
          - People moving because environments are destroyed;
          - Natural disasters;
          - Governments establishing “official languages”
      2. Because it’s part of human evolution and there are great benefits to people speaking one language
      3. Because we also lose ways of life, knowledge and identity
      4. a) Steve Sutherland: in the past 500 years, 4.5% of languages have died out;
          b) The Ethnologue: 417 languages are in the final stages of becoming extinct (dying out)
          c) Ani Rauhihi: language and identity are linked

3. 1. verb = disappear (are disappearing – line 5),
        phrasal verb = die out (have died out – line 10)
    2. extinction
    3. disappearance
    4. extinct
    5. devastate
    6. disastrous

Controversial Ads

Here you have some samples of controversial ads from all over the world. What are they advertising?

Can you imagine the reasons why some of them were banned?  

Please feel free to search the Internet to find more interesting ads.















This last one was voted Best European Commercial:

Lessons and Exam Calendar

Dear students,

As there have been some unexpected changes in our planning for the coming weeks, let me just summarise it so that everybody can have a look at it and organise themselves. In brown you have the times to do the Speaking exams. Please register as soon as possible.

Tuesday 25 Jan
19-21h Class as usual.

Thursday 27 Jan   BIG CHANGE! The building is open!
19-21h Class as usual
(Note: This can change, if students want to do their orals)

Monday 31 Jan
16-18:40 Oral exams 

Tuesday 1st Feb 
18:25 - 18:45 Oral exams
19:15 Reading exam
20:30 Listening exam

Thursday 3rd Feb
18:10-19:10 Oral exams
19:30 Writing exam

Monday 7th Feb
16:30 - 18:30 Oral exams

Lost in translation?

Look at what The Guardian (British newspaper) published yesterday about the use of interpreters in the Spanish Senate.

Lost in translation? Spanish senators allowed to debate in five languages

Opposition says allowing Castilian, Catalan, Galician, Valencian and Euskara in senate is waste of money.

You can read the full article here.

Also interesting, click here for an interactive map of the languages spoken in Spain.

What do you think about this controversial topic? 

Please feel free to share your opinion with us.

El inglés, filtro para los empleos del aeropuerto de Corvera

Las oficinas de empleo y los servicios de orientación registran las primeras colas de candidatos a conseguir una de las casi 1.300 plazas

Haz click aquí para ver la noticia en La Opinión Digital.

"No hay un perfil concreto de aspirante, pero sí un nexo de unión: la necesidad de dominar la lengua inglesa. Es lógico que al tratarse de un aeropuerto internacional quienes trabajen en él deban dominar dicho idioma, pero para muchos de los aspirantes ha supuesto toda una sorpresa. En la mayoría de los cursos se exige, como mínimo, el nivel B1 (cuarto curso de las Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas o títulos de varias instituciones privadas que están homologados)."

Friends: TOW All the resolutions

WHAT ARE YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS?

I hope you enjoyed watching Friends today. A shame we didn't have time to comment on it in class.

I couldn't upload the videos on the blog as I usually do, but you can still click on some links and watch extracts of the episode again.

Click here to watch all of the resolutions with English subtitles.

Click here to watch a video with a summary of Ross's resolution... and little incident with his leather pants :)

Click here to watch Chandler's resolution... and how it went.

Click here to watch when Rachel finds out about Monica and Chandler... and she can't tell anyone.

English in Ireland

CURSOS DE INGLÉS

EN

IRLANDA

Learn English

in the Irish town of Cork!

*Language Courses during the month of July 1, 2, 3 or 4 weeks

*Language courses for all ages and all levels with native teachers 

*Accomodation with Irish families, University Campus or apartments

* Underaged will be accompanied and supervised by a courier from Murcia

*Excursions, sightseeing and visits to most emblematic sites

Contact details and further information:

Lucía Barbudo 968 293193 / 696366076

luciawoolf@hotmail.com 

The King's Speech

Here is a film I recommend you see for various reasons.

It is based on true historical facts about King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II. The film stars Colin Firth as King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as speech therapist Lionel Logue, who helped him overcome a stammer.

On top of that, Colin Firth gives an outstanding performance and he's favorite to get, at least, an Oscar nomination.

I really enjoyed watching it, I hope you have the chance to see it and like it too.