This is me


My name is Graham - a name that some Spanish students have difficulty pronouncing.

I'm from Inverness which, unless you've been to Scotland, is a city that you have probably never heard of. It is in the far north of the country and the most famous lake in the world lies next to it.

1. How is Inverness?
  • It's a pleasant city to visit. It has a castle on a hill with some nice views of the surrounding countryside. There is a river that runs through the centre.

2. How long time are you teacher?
  • Over twenty years now. I never thought that I'd still be teaching in my forties.

3. What would you do if you don't be a teacher?
  • I'm not sure but when I was younger I liked the idea of being a journalist.

4. How long are you living in Madrid?
  • Thirteen years.

5. Do you enjoy to live here?
  • Not as much as I used to but I still think Madrid is a great city.

6. Have you lived in other country besides Spain?
  • I lived in Rome for nearly eight years.

7. Where did you go on holidays the last summer?
  • I visited my parents in Inverness and then I flew to Munich. From there, I went to other cities in Central Europe.

8. Do you practise any sport ?

  • I go to the gym and I try to go jogging once or twice a week. I'm thinking of doing a half marathon early next year. And then a marathon - who knows?

9. What more do you make in free time?

  • I like eating out and going for some drinks. I like visiting different places but I don't get away as much as I would like to.

10. How many times do you go to the cinema or the theatre?
  • I occasionally go to see a film but it's not easy to find a film that I really enjoy. I hardly ever go to the theatre.

I hope that you noticed that all the questions have mistakes. Can you correct them?

Write some paragraphs about you and your life.

Comments

Roberto said…
Je,je...I don´t know if "cute" can be used in that context. Spanish "señoras" usually say "qué rico"(grabbing the baby´s cheek).Your hairstyle was exactly the same as now!.
Graham said…
Roberto,

It's true. I have always had receding hair.

I don't think anyone can deny that I was a cute baby. And there are some ugly babies - though parents are always blind to the fact LOL
Anonymous said…
Hi Graham !. This is Asun. I think that the correct questios are:

1.- What's Inverness like ?
2.- How long have you been a teacher?
3.-What would you do if you weren't a teacher?
4.- How long have you been living in Madrid?
5.- Do you enjoy living here ?
6.- Have you ever been living in other country besides spain?
7.- Where did you go on holidays last summer ?
8.- Do you usually do any sport?
9.- What about your free time? What do you do?.
10. How often do you go todo the cinema orden theatre?
Con M de Maca said…
Hi Graham,
I'm Macarena. I was born in Sevilla in 1986, but I live in Madrid since 1989.
I have studied Politcs Science and a Master in Protocolo.
I like Madrid very much but I would prefer to live in a other city like Toledo, Avila o Sevilla, I prefer smaller city.
I'm goint to the gym four days at week and I practise spinning.
Graham said…
Hi Rodrigo and Cristina,

You should say:

It's Rodrigo and Cristina - even when there are two of you.

All your questions are right apart from:

6. Have you lived anywhere else besides Spain?
(and with singular noun it'd be another country) See the post:
http://madteachergraham2.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/another-v-other-v-others.html

7.Where did you go on holiday last summer?

9. What else do you do in your free time?


Well done to both!


Graham said…
Hi Asun,

Good to see you here on the blog.

When you say hello, you say:
Hi! It's Asun

When you say This is (+name), you are introducing that person to another.


You are right apart from:


6. Have you (ever) lived anywhere else besides spain?
Have you been living...? = the action continues now

7.- Where did you go on holiday last summer ?
You could also say for your holiday(s).

9. What about your free time? What do you do? This is correct.
It'd translate as "¿Y tu tiempo libre? ¿Qué haces?"
If you translate:
"¿Qué más haces en tu tiempo libre?", it'd be:
"What else do you do in your free time?"

10. How often do you go to the cinema or the theatre?

Well done!

See you tomorrow!

Graham said…
Hi Macarena,

I hope you find the blog useful in your quest to improve your English.

It's Macarena. I was born in Sevilla in 1986, but I have been living in Madrid since 1989.

I studied Political Science and I have a Master in Protocol.

I like Madrid very much but I would prefer to live *somewhere else, like Toledo, Avila or Seville. I prefer smaller towns.

I go to the gym four days a week and I do spinning.

* See the post about "another":
http://madteachergraham2.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/another-v-other-v-others.html


See you tomorrow!

Unknown said…
Hello !!
It's Marta, I found a moment to write in your blog.
I read your post about your life and want to say that your photo is so nice.

About me, I was born in Madrid in 1995 and now I am studying in collegue to be a future teacher of children aged 0 to 6 years.
In my free time I love stay with my friends and my family and I go to the gym all weeks.

See you tomorrow in class!
Graham said…
Hi Marta,

Thanks. I like the photo. It's clearly me. I was pretty good at posing for the photographer. :-)

I was born in Madrid in 1995 and now I am studying at college* to be a future teacher of children aged 0 to 6 years.

In my free time I love being* with my friends and my family and I go to the gym every week*.


* a colleague is a person you work with.

*What's the difference between "be" and "stay"?

* every + singular nouns

José said…
Hi Graham,

I wonder if the toy with which you play in the shape of a bottle is full of Scotch whisky. LOL

You have to update your curriculum because you are an important runner. You did a half marathon in Madrid and they gave a running shirt with your name. This event was broadcasted on TV Inverness. Your next challenger will be a complete marathon. Is it okay?

I understand that you don’t enjoy living in Madrid, me neither. You should try in Segovia. It’s better than Madrid. I would like to live in Segovia but I can’t work there, for this reason I must live in Madrid. As well, my family lives in Madrid and I don’t have age to live alone in a mountain.

See you.
Graham said…
Hi José,

I think you have acquired a liking for tequila. I don't see a bottle - it's clearly a toy rabbit. Though with that silly smile on my face, I might have been at the whisky.

I'm seriously thinking of doing a marathon next year. The most likely venue is my old home of Rome. It'll be a run full of emotions for me - memories are bound to come flooding back.


You have to update your curriculum because you are a serious runner. You did a half marathon in Madrid and they gave you a running shirt with your name. This event was broadcasted on TV Inverness. Your next challenge will be a complete marathon.

I understand that you don’t enjoy living in Madrid, me neither. You should try in Segovia. It’s better than Madrid. I would like to live in Segovia but I can’t work there, for this reason I must live in Madrid. What' s more my family lives in Madrid and I don’t have the age to live alone in the mountains.



Vanessa said…
Hi Graham! It's Vanessa

The first, I learned to pronounce your name last week. Now I say well because before I pronounced bad.

I am 31 years old. I was born in Madrid. When I was 18 years old I went to live to Torrelodones. It's a Madrid's village very beautiful, there are a Palace and Tower but the best know is Casino. I am commuting every day to Madrid.

I studied Law at Carlos III University. After I studied a public exam for Judge for 8 years but I didn't pass the exam so I began to work in enterprise as Lawyer/Legal Counsel. In June I left the company and now I am looking for a job. Recently I have finished a course of Technological Contracts.

At present I am studying English and I am going to start course of Compliance in November. I hope to find a new job very soon.

I am an only child but I have a lot of friends who they are like brothers. I enjoy to be with them. We like going to the cinema, eating out, traveling and going out for a stroll at night.

I like to be with my family. We always do some journey together. We went to Russia last summer.

I want to learn English for to find a better job and I would`t mind living in another country for some time.



See you tomorrow :-)





Graham said…
Hi Vanessa,

It's good to see you using the blog. I hope you find it useful. Some of the posts will be difficult for you but there are plenty to choose from. Explore it, find something that interests you. Don't forget to leave me a short comment each time you look at a post.


The first thing that I learned was how to pronounce your name last week. Now I can say it well but before I pronounced it badly.

I am 31 years old. I was born in Madrid. When I was 18 years old, I went to live in / I moved to Torrelodones. It's a village near Madrid which is very beautiful, there is a palace and a tower but it's best known for the Casino. I commute to Madrid every day. (every day = routine = present simple)

I studied Law at Carlos III University. After that, I studied for 8 years to do the public exam to become a judge but I didn't pass, so I began to work in a company as a lawyer/legal counsel. In June I left the company and now I am looking for a job. Recently, I have finished a course of Technological Contracts.

At present I am studying English and I am going to start course of Compliance in November. I hope to find a new job very soon.

I am an only child but I have a lot of friends who are like brothers and sisters. I enjoy being with them. We like going to the cinema, eating out, traveling and going for a stroll at night.

I like to be with my family. We always go on / do some trip together. We went to Russia last summer.

I want to learn English to find a better job and I wouldn`t mind living in another country for some time /a while.




A good start. You used some nice expressions and structured the sentences well. Take a note of any mistakes and if you have any questions, just ask me in class.



Unknown said…
Hi Graham! It's Violetta
Actually i don't like very much to write something, because you really need to think a lot, i prefer to have a dialogue and see a companion. But i understand that writing in engglish is very important and very useful to learn english well.
What's about me?
I am 23 years old and i am from Belarus, it's a country that often people don't know about it or confuse with Russia.But actually it's an independent country with its own culture and own language.
Nowadays i live in Madrid. I have been living here for 2 month. When i was 6 years old i went to spain at first time but only for 1 month. And then every year i came to spain to spend my holiday. I like so much Spaon that i decided to try living here.
I want to find a good job very soon and i hope english courses will help me in this.
P.s. thank you so much, Graham, for opportunity to comunicate with you and improve my english.

See you on Wednesday!
Graham said…
Hi Виолетта! :-D

I understand. Most people can't be bothered to write; they can't think what to say and it takes time.

Having said that, I think it is time well spent.

I hope this won't be your first and last comment in the blog. LOL



Actually, I don't really like writing / I don't like writing very much because you really need to think a lot. I prefer to have a dialogue and see a classmate. But I understand / realise that writing in Eglish is very important and very useful to learn English well.

What about me?

I am 23 years old and I am from Belarus, which is a country that people don't often know about or confuse with Russia. But actually, it's an independent country with its own culture and own language.

Nowadays I live in Madrid. I have been living here for 2 months. When I was 6 years old, I came to Spain for the first time, but only for 1 month. And then every year I came here to spend my holiday. I like Spain so much that I decided to try living here.

I want to find a good job very soon and I hope these English lessons will help me in this.

P.S. thank you so much, Graham, for the opportunity / chance to communicate with you and improve my English.



I've been reading a bit about Belarus. Remember, I knew that the capital was Minsk. :-)

And I have also heard of and recognise the President.



Here's a link to the country profile from the BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17941131


PS. So Russian is an entirely different language to Belarussian?


See you in the morning!
Helena said…
Incredibly cute!!!
Helena said…
Hi Graham.. Its Helena and I dont know if I am getting the message published or not.....
Graham said…
Hi Helena,

Welcome to the blog. It might take a while to get the hang of it but it's worth it.

You'll find a wide range of topics to choose from; there's bound to be something that catches your eye.

And yeah, I reckon I was a cute baby too. haha
Anonymous said…
Hi Graham, This is Rafa from Madrid. As discussed during our first class, I'm interested in refreshing & improving my english skills, in both, writing and speaking. Currently, as part of my professional activities I use to manage virtual teams from different locations as a responsible for project outcomes delivered by those teams. As you could imagine, a good communication skills are vital for my job.

In my recent projects, i didn't has the change to communicate in english (all teams were located in Spain), so since one year and a half I didn't use english at work , and now I'm feeling pretty unsecure in expressing myself properly (my english is now a little bit rusty ;-) ) and need to improve for avoiding communication barriers that can put me in difficulties in managing those teams.


Some hints about me, I'm from Jaen (an inland andalousian province) not so well known for foreign people, but nevertheless, very interesting from the point of view of nature(Jaen has the largest protected wild area in western europe) and also from the historical perspective with places like Ubeda & Baeza with a very rich heritage from renaissance period and islamic past.

About my hobbies, I like archaelogy, history, and outdoors sports (trekking, kayak, etc)

That's all for the moment, let's continue talking about us in the next class
Graham said…
Evening Rafa,

You are quick off the mark. I usually have to wait longer for a student to show signs of life on the blog. Great start. Keep it up.


It's Rafa from Madrid / Rafa from Madrid here (INF) (This is ... = introducing someone else). As discussed during our first class, I'm interested in refreshing & improving my English skills, in both writing and speaking. Currently, as part of my professional activities, I manage virtual teams from different locations - I am responsible for / in charge of (el responsable = the manager) project outcomes delivered by those teams. As you can imagine, good communication skills are vital for my job.

In my recent projects, I didn't have the chance to communicate in English (all teams were located in Spain), so for the last year and a half I haven't used English at work , and now I'm feeling pretty insecure in expressing myself properly (my English is now a little bit rusty ;-) ) and I need to improve to avoid communication barriers that can create difficulties when managing those teams.


Some info about me (a hint is kind of like a clue) - I'm from Jaen (an inland andalousian province) not so well known by foreigners, but nevertheless, very interesting from the point of view of nature (Jaen has the largest protected wild area in western Europe) and also from the historical perspective with places like Ubeda & Baeza with a very rich heritage from the renaissance period and islamic past.

(I was in Ubeda and Baeza a few years back so I've been to the province of Jaen without realising it)

About my hobbies, I like archaelogy, history, and outdoor sports (trekking, kayak, etc)

That's all for the moment, let's continue talking about us in the next class
María Rossignoli Montero said…
Hi Graham! It's María.

I enjoyed reading your intro, have to say that you were such a cute baby!

About me, i lived all my life in Madrid. It's a city that i enjoy and it's estimulating for me, but probably i'd rather life in other city or town in the future, a place a bit more calm and smaller.

I studied psychology and a master's degree. Firstly i started my career as a therapist, but soon i changed into HR world. Nowadays i'm working as a recruiter. I've been working at my current company for 4 months.

About my hobbies, as i told you in our last class, i love cooking and painting. I'd like to get really well in cooking, specially spanish traditional dishes, i made a deal with mishelf to learn 30 new dishes jajaj.

I like doing sports as well, i try to go to the gym at least twice per week, i love going to the zumba and spinning class!

And i think this is all it comes to my mind now,

See you on Monday!
Graham said…
Hello Maria,

Let's see if you keep on writing in the blog, unlike most students who write just once or twice.

Since I wrote this post, I have done a few marathons - two last year. I much in the last year and I haven't been to the gym for four years.


I enjoyed reading your intro and (I) have to say that you were such a cute baby!

As for me, I've lived all my life in Madrid. It's a city that I enjoy. I find it an exciting place to live but probably, I'd rather live in another city or town in the future, somewhere a bit smaller and calmer.

I studied psychology and a master's degree. I started my career as a therapist, but soon I moved into the HR world. Nowadays I'm working as a recruiter. I've been working at my current company for 4 months.

About my hobbies, as I told you in our last class, I love cooking and painting. I'd like to greatly improve my cooking skills, especially traditional, Spanish dishes, I made a deal with myself to learn 30 new dishes jajaj.

I like doing sports as well. I try to go to the gym at least twice per week, I love going to the zumba and spinning class!

And i think this is all that comes to my mind right now.