False friend of the week

Despite the overwhelming popularity of Word of the week, we've decided to make a change to False friend of the week. Since we've been in Spain, we've noticed a few common mistakes made by people who are otherwise very good at speaking English. Over the coming weeks we will introduce you to some of these.

Sensible  - Sensato


Sensitive - Sensible

Phrase of the Week

It's raining cats and dogs - Está lloviendo a cántaros
Definition: To rain a lot.

e.g. Look outside, it's raining cats and dogs!

Figueres

Last month my parents came to visit, and Joe, the greatest boss in the world (he's standing behind me!), offered to take us to Figueres for a tour of the Salvador Dali museum. The drive through Catalunya was stunning: out of the left window the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees, and out of the right the sun rising across the Mediterranean Sea. If the drive was impressive, that was nothing compared to the exhibitions inside the gallery. Dali is renowned for his powerful Surrealistic creations, and we were all really looking forward to exploring the museum. The (sur..) reality of the amazing gallery inside was even better than I'd expected. It was like walking into a dream. It's impossible to do justice to Dali's work through mere descriptions... there aren't enough superlatives or adjectives! I can only post some pictures and encourage you to visit if you ever get the chance.

My favourite piece was a painting in the main hall. I remember my Dad pointing out a picture of what appeared from my angle to be a naked woman bathing in a dreamy landscape. "Do you see it?" he said, to which I replied "see what?" My Dad told me to squint my eyes and look again. Suddenly the portrait had changed completely, and I was looking at a picture of Abraham Lincoln! It was incredible!! From different distances and different perspectives you can make out the two very different images from the same picture. The genius of Dali!

She turned into... 

You may remember a story about Brendon getting lost whilst skiing in France. Well our visit to Figueres was on the same day. So as we happily drove home I got a phone call informing me that Brendon had been missing for 6 hours. We all looked out of the window to the snowy mountains in the distance and thought of Brendon, the Laurie Lee of our age!

Thanks to Joe for taking us, it was one of the highlights of my year so far. Here's a final picture of the whole troop: me and my parents, and Joe with his wife Alicia and daughter Claudia. To the Salas family, muchas gracias!

James

A Day in the Life...

Here are some photographs taken during our lesson with 3rd ESO. We are busy preparing for the job interview project for April. Except Jan...

Word of the week

Stingy - Mezquino / Tacaño
Definition: To be unwilling to spend money or give something.
Synoynms: Tight, cheap, tight-fisted and mean.

e.g. He never paid for anything, he was very stingy.

Phrase of the week

Turn the other cheek - Dar la otra mejilla 
Definition: To ignore an insult or something that bothers you.

e.g. Although he was being very rude to me, I decided to turn the other cheek and not reply.

Mataró meets Paddy

Last Saturday, in cities like New York, Dublin and London, millions of people were celebrating Saint Patrick´s Day. Bizzarely, there were also 5 people celebrating in Mataró!

Saint Paddy's Day!

On the 17th of March every year, it is Saint Patrick's Day. Saint Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland, so this holiday is widely celebrated in the UK and Ireland. There are also celebrations in parts of the USA due to it's history of Irish immigration and the widespread influence of those Irish immigrants within the country - even Barack Obama is part Irish!

This Saturday, there will be millions of people partaking in parades and parties. It's typical to wear green, drink Guinness and dance to Irish folk music! The best street parades are in Dublin, the capital of Ireland; New York, which boasts the biggest Saint Paddy´s Day parade; and Liverpool, due to it's large Irish population.


Ireland is also famous for the 'lucky' symbol of the four-leaf clover, which has become a icon for this celebration.

Saint Paddy´s Day party-goers. 

New York´s Saint Patrick´s Day parade.

So this Saturday, put on your green suits or hats and celebrate like you´re from Killarney!

What a blog!!

Oh my God!!!! Haven't you written anything yet??? This is quality!! The best blog I've ever read. Good for your English and also very interesting. You can learn new vocabulary - phrase / word of the week - and enjoy yourselves reading about James and Brendon's experiences here in HOT Catalonia.

Love from,
Joe

Word of the week

Charming - Encantador
Definition: To be extremely delightful or easy to talk to.

e.g. She was very charming.
Colloquial usage: Prince Charming

Phrase of the week

To get (hold of) the wrong end of the stick - Malinterpretar (la discusión, la intención, la situación etc.)
Definition: To not understand a situation correctly. 


e.g. Her friend saw us arrive at the party together and got hold of the wrong end of the stick

The Messi Show!

We went to watch Barcelona in the Champions League last night with Pep and Luis. We picked a good game to go... Messi scored five and Barcelona won 7-1!! What an incredible team!!

                                              Força Barça!

English projects

We feel like it’s time for a change. We have done some important work together in the last six months, and have both noticed that the general level of English, particularly speaking, has steadily risen. The conversation tasks have been performed well by the majority of you, and we are sure that you will be well-prepared going into your speaking exams this year. We have described so many different pictures and situations together that you should feel confident about your end-of-year assessments. However, to welcome the new term we have decided to set all of the ESO students a new assignment. Working in pairs, you must produce a presentation on one of the following topics. Find the task that is set for your class below. 1st and 4th ESO must do the Dream Project, while the 2nd and 3rd ESO classes must do The Job Application.

The Job Interview

You must apply for the role of Conversation Assistant in an English school.

Working in pairs, you must present your application to an elite judging panel.

You must...

- Create a Curriculum Vitae (CV) in English. The purpose of the CV is to advertise your talents and convince us that you are the right person for the job. You should include details about your family, hobbies, and interesting past experiences like holidays. Tell us who your favourite football team is, or who your favourite actress or singer is. But remember to tell us why, and what this demonstrates about your character. The way you present your CV is up to you. Be creative!
- Take your CV’s to the judges on the assessment day and prepare to present them in a formal interview. You will spend 10 – 20 minutes telling us about your work.
- We will then ask you 5 questions, 3 of which will be chosen from those that are listed below. You should prepare answers to all of these. The other 2 will be specifically based on your presentation.

Questions:
1) Why do you want to go to the U.K?
2)  What would make you a good Conversation Assistant?
3)Describe your best talent? How long have you been doing it, and how have you improved?
4) What do you want to do in the future?
5)Tell me about a time when you and a group of friends worked together to overcome a problem by demonstrating teamwork.

Word of the week

Carefree - despreocupado
Definition: To be free of troubles and responsibilities.               
A Synonym:  Easy going

e.g. Children are often carefree. They don´t have to worry about jobs, money or anything else.

Phrase of the week

Speaking of the devil - hablando del Rey de Roma, por la puerta asoma
Definition: When you are talking about someone and they appear.





e.g. Speaking of the devil, here´s Joe!