Hello again.

Today's edition of El País comes with an interesting English course endorsed by Cambridge University no less. I don’t usually comment on specific language courses but I must admit that this one got my attention. I walked into a coffee shop, sat on a couch and proceeded to flick through the 130-plus pages of the accompanying booklet. Guess what? I felt pleasantly surprised. The method covers three levels: elementary, intermediate and advanced and does it with style.

I have some objections, though.

For the most part it only deals with standard British English (so… not much American vocabulary, I’m afraid).  I’m not wild about some questionable assertions either. For instante, it presents dated expressions (like “it’s raining cats and dogs”, which some 90-year-olds might still use) as if they were up-to-date slang. It also says that the sentence “I feel good” is just wrong. Well, I figure that if James Brown and Nina Simone were still around they would beg to differ. Some other common phrases should probably  “To pull someone’s leg” is perfectly okay but, quite frankly, in the 21st century it’s probably not most people’s first option (do you really say “me estás tomando el pelo” in Spanish?).

On the plus side, it has some interesting and useful vocabulary, like the description of the symbols you find on a standard computer keyboard (are you sure you know what to call “_” and “ \ ”?). It also offers lots of fixed phrases and idioms which are really used in spoken English. For example, it explains how to use the expression “cheers” in British English. It comes with an audio CD full of material and promises access to an on-line course.

In short, despite some minor slips, it appears to be a quality course. The layout is attractive, the focus refreshing and it can help you to either revisit areas that you’ve seen before or open your eyes to new ones. As it tends to happen, there is a catch. Those who are interested in following the course need to register on this website and probably pay a rather hefty fee next Sunday. Or not… I really don’t know.

N.B. James Brown sang “I feel good” and Nina Simone “I’m feeling good”. Two wonderful tunes, by the way.