Hey! I have neglected you a little, haven't I? Well... I've been busy. That doesn't mean that I haven't thought of you. To prove it I took this picture:

My pronunciation freaks will immediately understand the reason for the text in the postcard (if not its actual meaning). Anyway, how is it going? Can you pronounce you and Jew differently? Keep working on it. We have already covered a lot of ground: the day, everybody, you're a Jew, America and all those words with the repeated vowel (image, vintage, ticket, etc.).

What else? Oh yes! I got news! I got news! Next week I will be busy doing some lecturing. On Wednesday I'm going to give a talk in Castro Urdiales (19:00 Salón de actos del IES Ataúlfo Argenta) about constructed languages in Hollywood. I will make the same presentation in Laredo the day after, that is, on Thursday 20 at 19:00, most probably in our classroom.

Those of you who find the topic interesting enough might want to check out this five-minute presentation created by linguist John McWhorter. Think of it as an appetizer. My talk will consist of a brief history of conlanging (the creation of constructed languages) followed by a discussion of the most relevant projects that have become so popular over the past 30 years. I will show clips of Klingon, Sindarin, Dothraki, Na'vi and up to 20 fictional languages that have been used in TV series and motion pictures.

I promise to address specific Intermediate issues as well as some areas that my C1 students should find appealing.

Hi again, I'm back. Yes.
My dear pronunciation freaks: you may feel slightly frustrated by the challenges you have already encounter. If sequences such as "the day" are something of a tongue twister to you or you still struggle to say "decision" you might get a kick out of this video:

As you will notice, this video was edited in the U.S.A., where a significant number of people believe that "white" people are never native Speakers of Spanish, that is to say, they don't even consider European Spanish Speakers and, well, all those Caucasian Latin Americans simply don't exist. Anyway, take comfort in the thought that pronunciation is tough for everyone.

To my C1 students: we have started to explore that overwhelming world of words and expressions. For the time being you should probably concentrate on how to broaden your horizon in terms of vocab. Some C1 features that have been mentioned in the classroom include: a learner's ability to hesitate, to be vague, to use idioms or colorful phrases, in other words, to sound "interesting". Check the differences between these two utterances:

B2 student: I felt really uncomfortable but I don't have much money so I had to accept the situation.
C1 student: You know what it's like... I was out of my comfort zone, to say the least... But I'm a guy on a budget so I had to basically grin and bear it.

Idioms are, by definition, unnecessary, they just add some flavor to your speech and generally make you sound more natural. If you're interested in idioms I suggest you take a look at this funny list.

Oh! I forgot my intermediate students. Okay, okay... How about this list of REAL celebrity names? Not bad for a Tuesday morning, isn't it?

Hi everybody! I'm just checking that my old blog still works. Okay. I wanted to let you all know that I'm going to start posting pretty soon. That's all for now.

Exams looming ahead, the dreadded deadline is nigh! Is it “prone to jump” or “prone to jumping”? wonders a C1 student (both are correct. I use the latter, though). Should I plant a conditional sentence in the oral exam? thinks an Intermediate student. Let me tell you something. When it comes to oral tests there’s no such thing as a magic formula. That said, I can give you a couple of pointers you may want to consider…

Intermediate learners. One of the adjectives you should probably avoid is "important" (we’ve seen “influential”, “relevant”, “major”, etc.). Remember that a film can be entertaining, enjoyable, predictable, for example. Please, please don’t just say it’s a good movie, it’s a good idea. Ideas can be original, practical, unrealistic, etc.

C1 students. You are expected to show some serious knowledge of collocations and specific vocabulary “ruthless assassin” belongs to your spectrum. “Horrible killer” is definitely a no-no. Although I can imagine that sometimes a basic expression might be the only option that comes to mind. Anyhow, here’s a tip: use your hesitation to your own advantage. Show that you know how to hesítate in English (let me organize my thoughts for a seconds, I’m afraid I lost the thread, what I’m trying to get at is, and so on and so forth…).

Hello!!! I know, I know... It's been a while. Well, well...

My intermediate students might want to check out this website which offers some simple exercises that will allow you to practise those relative sentences you may or may not have problems with. Did you notice how cleverly I slipped THREE relative sentences in the previous sentence? Isn't that genius? Speaking of genius... My C1 students are still dumbfounded after that C2 + display on Monday. Granted, that excerpt from "The West Wing" may have been too demanding but hey you should be ready to face up to those kinds of challenges. Anyhow, I thought you might get a kick out of a this thought-provoking article that also delves into the murky waters of intelligence. It's a little long and clearly C2 but it's worth reading, if only for its vocabulary. By the way you probably know that The New Yorker is a magazine that centers on the cultural life of New York city. It's the kind of smart magazine that any would-be Woody Allen ought to read once in a while. For those of you less prone to bookish intellectualism here is a fun (short) article about real blunders made by businesspeople who should know better. That's all for now.

In Memoriam

Jorge Luis Borges was blind and old when he traveled to Egypt. He crouched down and ran his fingers through the African sand for a while, after which he remarked that, by doing that, he had altered the face of the desert. Poetic, hyperbolic and yet accurate. By the same token one could easily argue that he had also changed not only a part of the desert, but also the universe… My mind wanders to that anecdote every time someone I know dies.

María is gone. She passed last week. I believe she was only 32 years old… and no matter how odd we may consider the statement. The universe is slightly different today. Our classes will certainly not be the same every Monday and Wednesday at 16:00.

Those of you who were in the classroom last Wednesday may remember how I mentioned that some Americans don’t seem to be aware of the word “chickpea”. Instead they use the rather contradictory term “garbanzo bean”. Likewise, I said, they wouldn’t probably know what to call a “bota de vino”. María objected that she had seen “botas de vino” in a U.S. store which were not labeled “wineskins” (the actual word in English) but “bota bags”. She then produced her cellphone and proceeded to show us a photo that proved her claim. I asked her to email me that picture so I could upload it here. Well, María did send me the photograph (which you can see below these lines).

May she rest in peace.

Okay, what can I say? I’m busy. I know it may sound like a rather poor excuse but the truth is… researching all my jokes takes up most of my time I got. So, now you know my secret: I can't really improvise a joke. I use jokes I find on the internet and I rehearse them so I can slip them into my classes and pass them off as material of my own.

Ok.. seriously, I am busy. Honestly. The exams are round the corner and, as you probably know, it's my duty to take care of the technical side of things (checking computers, editing and burning CDs and DVDs and that kind of stuff). It's time-consuming and not as fun as teaching you guys but someone's gotta do it, right?

Anyhow, I decided you may get a kick out this on-line English test. Regardless of your EOI level it will certainly boost your self-esteem quite a bit. Trust me on this.

Of course I also have news. C1 students! Do not forget that being an EOI student this year does not automatically guarantee you will have a place in October (should you choose to come back). The official registration process should start sometime in July.

More stuff, for those of you intermediate students that didn't come to class the day we discussed the Scottish accent you may want to check out this classic (and hilarious) clip which comes to show how complicated pronunciation is even among native speakers!