Guided tour at MNAC with James

The Association of students of the Cornella's EOI has organized some activities to practice English in a real context and outside the usual academic background.

I have had the pleasure of attending the Guided tour at MNAC with James, who is an assistant conversation teacher from London.

Speaking Corner

I went to a new Speaking Corner with my classmates Mary, Raquel, Paqui and Montserrat.  I think it will be my last Speaking Corner in this course because if I want finish the course successfully, I must focus all my attention and effort in the year-end tasks.

We talked about Sant Jordi Day, wich takes place on 23th April and is one of the most original celebrations in Catalonia. Sant Jordi is a beautiful  and very  popular festival that combines culture and romanticism: traditionally men receive a book and women receive a rose.

Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

I was snooping around in the library and I found Pride And Prejudice movie. I knew the story because I had read the book in Spanish, so I decided to see it. I didn't like the version. In my opinion the rhythm was quite slow and the leading actress was very dishevelled.

I decided to take away the  bitter aftertaste by reading the novel again in English, so last days I read Pride And Prejudice for intermediate students. As we have worked the conditionals in class, I took advantage of the reading to try to find this type of sentences.

Zero conditional?

• [...] when a woman has five grown-up daughters, she ought to give up thinking of her own appearance. p. 3

1st conditional

If + Present simple , + future (will+ verb)

• [...] You must go, because it will be impossible for us to visit him if  you do not. p. 3
  
• Lizzy says that she will not have Mr Collins, and if you do not hurry, he will change his mind and not have her! p.30
  
• Your mother will never see you again if  you do not marry Mr Collins, and I will never see you again if you do! p.31

2nd conditional

If + Past simple , + would + infinitive

• He really believed that, if it were not for her inferior relations, he would be in some danger of falling in love. p.14
  
• It might ruin him forever, if his past became known. p.61

I found other sentences which I think are 3rd conditional, but I haven't still studied this tense:

• If there had not been a ball to get ready for and to talk about, the younger Misses Bennet would have been in a sad state at this time. p.25
• It is very hard to think that she might have been Mr Collins's wife by this time, if it had not been for her own bad character! p.36
• [...] her pride was satisfied with believing that she would have been his only choice, if fortune had permitted. p.38
• [...] I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be persuaded to marry.' p.53
• 'If you knew,' said Elizabeth, 'of the very great disadvantage which has already come from the public notice of Lydia's uncontrolled behaviour, I am sure that you would judge it unwise to let her go.' p.64
• Mrs Gardiner would have been extremely pleased  if her niece had introduced the subject! p.74
• 'If I had been able,' she said, 'to go to Brighton with all my family, this would never have happened p.80
• 'Yes, if they had fixed on any other man, it would have been nothing. p.106
• I knew enough of your character to be certain that if you had been completely decided against me, you would have admitted it to Lady Catherine openly.' p.108

Tout about Kino Contest

I have participated in the Tout about Kino contest, organized by the Cornella's EOI. This year, CINEMA is the cross-cutting theme that the whole school works in different languages. I couldn't miss the opportunity to get free tickets to the cinema 😉

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Last days I read Persuasion by Jane Austen for pre-intermediate students. I love Jane Austen's novels, but graded versions for students run out too fast.

The story concerns Anne Elliot, a young Englishwoman of 27 years, whose family rent their home and is moving to Bath to lower their expenses and get out of his debt.

Vocabulary

Acquaintance: persona conocida
Allowed: permitido
Beside: junto a
Blush: sonrojarse
Break off: poner fin
Briefly: brevemente
Charmed: encantado
Gladly: gustosamente
Hedge: seto
Inn: posada
Lively: vivaz
Misunderstanding: malentendido
Still-born: mortinato
Sensible: sensato
Sensitive: sensible
Settle down: sentar cabeza
Straightforward: honesto
To curtsy: hacer reverencia
To shiver: tiritar

Logan's Run

Yesterday I finished my shadow reading of Logan's Run. My last readings have been of romantic or police theme and I wanted to change to avoid getting bored.

I chose this science fiction story because I remembered a television series that I watched a long time ago. I was a girl and I really loved Logan, the character played by Gregory Harrison. He was very handsome and brave. 😍 The protagonist girl always wore a very short miniskirt. 😏

The book has surprised me a lot because the story is very different from the TV series. I looked into it, there is also a film starring by Michael York. When I saw the movie trailer, I thought it should look more like the book than the series.

April's Speaking Corner

I went yesterday to a new Speaking Corner with my classmates Mary, Raquel and Montse. We practiced how to ask questions in English. The teacher showed us pictures of the movie Titanic and we asked each other questions about it.

We still forget the auxiliaries and the order of the sentences 😔

An unexpected meeting in the supermarket

Last weekend I had an unexpected meeting with two young Japanese athletes in the supermarket. They asked me for help. They wanted to buy typical Spanish snacks. I asked them sweet or salt. They didn’t understand me and then I made a mistake and said sweet or salad! When I told that, you could see the astonishment on their faces.😂 I know, it is sweet or salty!

They stood in front of chocolate biscuits and asked me about Kinder products. I told them that Kinder products are European, but no typical Spanish. I suggested Huesitos, but they were not sure...

Then I realised, I asked them if they wanted to eat now, or they wanted to take them to their country. Obviously, they wanted to take them to their country. They carried several bottles of oil and asked me if the oil was typical. I answered that the olive oil was typical Spanish. They thanked me and left.

My progress in English Training game for Nintendo Ds

I'm very proud of my progress in English Training game for Nintendo Ds. I worked a little almost every day and I think I have improved a bit.

I advance step by step 😊