English in Madrid

The other day I went to see Darkest Hour. I have just read some of the reviews just now. I wouldn't rate it as highly as the majority do. When you see a film (even one in Spanish), you could read some of the reviews. I recommend Rotten Tomatoes . Movie Info During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms . As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman). While manoeuvring his political rivals, he must confront the ultimate choice: negotiate with Hitler and save the British people at a terrible cost or rally the nation and fight on against incredible odds . Directed by Joe Wright, DARKEST HOUR is the dramatic and inspiring story of four weeks in 1940 during which Churchill...

Source:  Sergio Arze on Unsplash Macron: French baguettes should be Unesco-listed treasures The French baguette should be listed as a Unesco cultural treasure, says France's President Emmanuel Macron. "The baguette is the envy of the whole world," he said, in support of a national bakers' association that is promoting the application. The bakers have been inspired by the success of Italy's Naples pizza, which was protected by the UN's cultural body last year. Unesco's list aims to save traditions from globalisation. The Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage meets annually to evaluate nominations from around the world. Why do the French think this is necessary? The bakers say it is not just the name and shape , but the recipe and ingredients that need to be enshrined . "Excellence and expertise must be preserved, and that is why it should be heritage-listed," President Macron told French radio ...

Source:  Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash   How to drive safely in snow and ice  Driving in snow and ice is tricky  to master – but here are some tips that should help  With more ice and snow forecast , it's time for many of us to revisit the skills and precautions required for safe winter driving. Driving in such extreme wintry conditions is fraught with inherent risk , so it should always be avoided. But if you really have to venture out , there are a few things you can do and techniques you can use to make sure you stay as safe as you possibly can.  So if you’re daunted by the idea of driving when the snow lays thick and even , have a read through our advice guide – it might make you feel a little more at ease . Drive only if it’s necessary Yes, you’ve heard it on the weather forecast all the time, but people say it for a reason. Put simply , if you don’t go out, you can’t come to any harm on the road. Is your journey really that urgen...

Source:  Mika Baumeister on Unsplash Spanish court ruling gives parents permission to read their children’s WhatsApp messages  The mother argued that her ex-husband had breached Spain's privacy laws by checking his nine-year-old's messages  A father who was sued by his ex-wife for reading his two children’s WhatsApp conversations has been cleared by a court in northern Spain. The mother claimed at a court in Pontevedra on 26 December that her daughter’s privacy had been breached by her ex-husband, after he ordered his children to hand over their mobile phones so he could read their WhatsApp messages. The unnamed woman told Spanish daily newspaper El Español: “Both children told me that their father put them in a room and went through his daughter's conversations on her mobile phone. When he asked his son to give him his mobile, he said no.” The father allegedly threatened his son with the police if he did not give up his password. An earlier lower...

Source:  Tim Mossholder on Unsplash   Learning a language is resolution for one in five Brits, survey says   Learning a language will be a new year's resolution for about one in five Britons in 2018, a survey suggests. About one in three said they intend to learn at least some key phrases. Spanish was the most popular language among 2,109 UK adults questioned by Populus for the British Council. "If we are to remain globally competitive post-Brexit, we need more people who can speak languages," said British Council schools advisor , Vicky Gough. Of the representative sample of adults polled : 64% said they had always wanted to speak another language fluently  56% said they regretted never hav ing made the effort to do so   58% agreed it was more important than ever for people in the UK to learn another language  but only a third said they could currently hold a basic conversation in one  45% were embarrassed by their poo...

Source:  Annie Spratt on Unsplash Polar bear video: Is it really the 'face of climate change'? It is harrowing footage . An emaciated polar bear searches for food on Baffin Island, north-eastern Canada.  Exhausted, it drags one leg slowly behind it, eventually trying to eat some discarded seating foam among rubbish humans have left. Polar bears hunt from the sea ice, which is diminishing every year, and the photography team are certain the unfortunate animal died within days . Watch the video here     Source : National Geographic "This is what starvation looks like ," wrote one of the photographers, Paul Nicklen. "The muscles atrophy. No energy. It's a slow, painful death." Mr Nicklen's colleague, Cristina Mittermeier, said: "We cried as we filmed this dying bear. This is the face of climate change." The clip has gone viral, widely shared as a warning about the dangers of climate change. But is there more to it ? ...

Source:  Annie Spratt on Unsplash Warmer Arctic is the 'new normal' A warming , rapidly changing Arctic is the "new normal" and shows no signs of returning to the reliably frozen region of the past. This is according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Arctic Report Card . Director of the administration's Arctic Researcher Program, Dr Jeremy Mathis, said the region did a great service to the planet - acting as a refrigerator. "We've now left that refrigerator door open," he added. Dr Mathis was speaking at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans, where Noaa presented its annual summation of Arctic science. This is the 12th report the administration has produced. And although it pointed to "a few anomalies" in a recent pattern of warming in the Arctic region, Dr Mathis said: "We can confirm, it will not stay in its reliably frozen state." "The thing I took t...

Source:  Ric Matkowski en Unsplash Garden shed becomes best rated restaurant on TripAdvisor - but it serves up Iceland ready meals  Oobah Butler created the fake "appointment only" restaurant in his garden using photographs of food and decoration made up of shaving foam and bleach A garden shed became the top-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor after a writer tricked the popular review site by submitting fake reviews. Oobah Butler, who writes for Vice, created the fake restaurant in his garden by setting up a website with photographs of food, which were in fact made from shaving foam, bleach and extra texture provided by using his bare foot as a backdrop . He based his meals on moods in a bid to set it apart from other restaurants - but many of the dishes served on opening night were in fact, Iceland ready meals . He bought a mobile phone and registered the number as the restaurant's while refusing to give an address as it was "appointment-only...

Source:    Bas van der Linden en Unsplash On Thursday I went to a vegan restaurant and without a doubt , it was the tastiest vegan meal I have had in Madrid. I will certainly go back. Ver esta publicación en Instagram Una publicación compartida de • V E G A • Restaurantes (@vegarestaurantes) Here are some of the reviews of Vega on Trip Advisor : ***** 28 September 2017 Dinner We went last Saturday evening. Food was yummy . Simple wholesome dishes filled with organic veggies and accompanied by some yum black rice. The mushroom croquetas were really tasty. As was the dessert, Panna cotta. The staff were helpful and very friendly. Would definitely go back. ****  22 June 2017 Fun, different and tasty ! We visited on a Saturday night and they were full (so definitely book in advance , thankfully we had). The atmosphere was great, it's a small place and it was bustling . The dining style is fairly casual with high tables, people eating at t...

Source:  Jay Wennington en Unsplash How to crowdfund a restaurant empire   When award-winning chef Gary Usher was * turned down for a loan to open a second restaurant, he * set up a crowdfunding campaign. Now he 's about to launch his fourth restaurant.  All restaurants have a coming-of-age moment, the point at which they survive and thrive , or go down fighting . For Gary Usher’s Sticky Walnut, in a two-up two-down house in Hoole, just outside Chester, that moment came in 2013, about 18 months after they had opened. Usher, like any ambitious young chef * starting out on his own aged 30, had * ploughed every penny he had into Sticky Walnut. He had gone back to Chester to open the restaurant – not far from where he had started out working in pubs – after successful stints in London at Michelin-starred Chez Bruce, and running Gordon Ramsay and Angela Hartnett’s kitchen at the York & Albany. He couldn’t afford to fail .  Sticky Walnut had started well. H...