Ten tips to learn languages

This is interesting... 

Reading and Listening

Some people, like Mónica Oriol, should read articles like this: 
Election in Iceland: Campaigning with nappies in hand.

Not my last goodbye....

Dear All,

Some of you probably already know, and some don't. I've temporarily changed jobs, and I'm currently teaching English to singing students in Madrid's conservatoires. This is a motivating challenge and I'm sure it's going to be a fun and beautiful job. 

I'll be available through the blog and email, if you want to contact me. I wish you the best for this academic year, and I hope our paths cross again at some point  ;-)

Keep learning and keep singing no more guachi-guachis ;-) 

Hugs for everybody! 

European value for EOI Certificates!

If you think that EOI certificates should be recognised not only in Spain, but also in the rest of Europe, please sign the petition in this link:

https://www.change.org/p/ministerio-de-educaci%C3%B3n-por-el-reconocimiento-de-los-t%C3%ADtulos-de-las-escuelas-oficiales-de-idiomas-de-espa%C3%B1a-en-la-uni%C3%B3n-europea

Tainted Love

Hi there again!
This morning I woke up with this song... Hm "Sometimes I feel I've got to run away..." Why such sentence on a day like this? ;-)


Welcome back!

IPA Tweets

Hi there!
I just started following a Twitter account that has all its tweets in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). It's a fun way of practising your phonetics ;-)

You can follow them here or visit their webpage here.

Want to become a cinematographer?

News in English (with subtitles)

Did you know the CNN has a You Tube channel for students? Check this link

Improving your speaking skills

Check this link on typical pronunciation errors by Spanish speakers

Summer Readings (revisited)

Dear All, 

Some of you asked me to recommend some readings for the summer. Sorry it took me a while (the last weeks have been a bit crazy...)

This year we've lost some great authors, so you may want to pay them some tribute by reading one of their books:  
- Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. You can read the first chapter here. 
- Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief (novel) or any of his stories collected in Island. I have both, so let me know if you want to borrow them. 
- Three stories by Ana María Matute translated into English. I found this PDF online; the stories start on page 8, and then you have the Spanish original as well.
- All of the books by Gabriel García Márquez can be found on Amazon in English translation. But if you want to print or read Love in the Time of Cholera online, you can find it here. 

Other books that you may also want to read easily are:
- John Steinbeck's The Pearl
- Any of the novels in the Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series that you already know about
- Typical teachers' recommendations include: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Kite Runner, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, etc. 

Here's a link I found with original books recommended by levels.
And here's another one my colleage Ms Bermejo just gave me, including other non-fiction genres.

A couple of years ago, my NA1 students wrote a review on the books they read during the course. Here's the post where you can read their reviews and see if there's something you'd like.

I hope you can find something to read and enjoy this summer. 
I'll post the call for oral exams next week, so I'm not saying goodbye yet! ;-) 

Summer courses

Summer courses you might be interested in...

Theatre in English

Hi there!
I know that this weekend you'll be preparing for your oral exams, but you may want to take a break and see this play in English. It's a comedy, so I suppose quite different from the one some of you saw a couple of months ago... ;-)

Exam parts and duration

Reading Comprehension: 4 tasks. Total time: 70 minutes
Listening Comprehension: 3 tasks. Total time: 40 minutes (max)
Written Expression: 2 tasks. Total time: 75 minutes
Oral Expression: 2 tasks. Total time: 25 minutes

There will be a break after the Listening Comprehension, so the total time of the written parts is approx. 3.5 hours.

More listening practice

Dear All,
Last week the Mo. & Wed. group did two oral comprehension exercises in class. Here are the audio files in case you want to listen to them again. The Tu. & Thur. group can also do the exercises as exam practice (listen twice and then check your answers).

Ottawa (audio)
Preparing for hurricane season (audio)

Questions Ottawa
Questions Be prepared for Hurricane Season

Key to the exercises

Sample exams

Hi there!
My colleague Mª José has published this wonderful compilation of NI2 sample exams (from other regions in Spain). So check it out and do the practice! 

Key to Reading Comprehension (pp. 94-95)

1 - B
2 - D
3 - A
4 - H
5 - G
6 - I
7 - F
8 - E
The texts contain interesting vocabulary and expressions. Make sure you find and understand the following words in the texts: give in, set out to, stand up for (yourself), steer clear of, put off, when it comes down to it, for the sake of, lose face, tackle, rub up, fall out, go over old ground.

Moving On

Beautiful and moving

Did you understand some of the lyrics?

"Like" and "As"

Several of you have asked me about the difference between "like" and "as". Here are some explanations and examples that can help you to understand that difference better. There is also an exercise you can do.

Mind maps to revise vocabulary

Hi there!
My colleague Mª José has created this mind map on the topic of crime and punishment. You can also create your mind maps about other topics on paper or - if you're more tech-savvy - on your computer. 

Key to Multiple Choice Text

And here's the key to the text I gave you to read as homework (Greeting 'Big Brother' with open arms):

7 - A
8 - B
9 - B
10 - B
11 - A
12 - C