English in Madrid

When I tell anybody who hasn't toured Scotland I am from Inverness, they reply with a blank look. As soon as I say it is the town next to Loch Ness, there is instant recognition and interest. More often than not , the question that follows is "And have you ever seen the monster...". If only I had a pound for every time I was asked.... And what is my answer to the much repeated question? "Well, one day a few years ago now I ..." Here is an article about the recent lack of sightings of the elusive monster: Source: Wikipedia   Has scepticism done for the Loch Ness Monster? Not so long ago it was impossible to visit Loch Ness without trip ping over somebody who claimed to have intimate knowledge of Nessie. But in the twilight zone of Britain’s deepest freshwater loch, a strange sanity is suddenly prevailing . There have been only two reported sightings so far this year and there were only three in 2006. A decade ago the numbers were consist...

Hi people! My name is Juan Antonio and I suppose I'm the laziest and shyest student that (1) ever Graham had . But he was kind enough to offer me the opportunity to write something about me. I couldn't refuse his offer. (2) Ask about to him... I was born in Madrid, the best capital of Europe. If you don't think so, how can you explain all these foreigners that come to Madrid just to teach us English? Even when they “do miss the Italian food.” Oohh Mamma mia! With the     kitchens that we have in Spain. It's a pity that they don't have a Spanish mother to teach them to eat all our marvellous food; like I did. This is why I love Spanish food and I miss it (4) the most of the times that I travel around the world. When you are more than 4 days eating the same foreign food, all the meals have the same taste. Don’t you think so? Even in India or Turkey, where I ate the most (5) original and made food, a long way from Spain. Thank God, in ten days I travel to Japa...

Here are three new verbs that came up in class this week : bother , regret and dread . Have a look at this extract from Cambridge Learner's Dictionary : Verb 1 ANNOY [T] to annoy someone by trying to get their attention when they do not want to see you or talk to you Don't bother your father when he's working. Sorry to bother you , but could you spare any change? 2 WORRY [T] to make someone feel worried or upset Living on my own doesn't bother me at all. 3 DO [I,T] to make the effort to do something [+ doing sth] Don't bother mak ing the bed - I'll do it later. [+ to do sth] He didn't even bother to call. 4 can't be bothered INFORMAL If you can't be bothered to do something, you are too lazy or tired to do it. [+ to do sth] I can't be bothered to iron my clothes. 5 not bothered UK INFORMAL If you are not bothered about something, it is not important to you and does not worry you. "Do you want tea or coffee?" ...

This is a pic of my Mum.  Do you think I look like her ? What does she do for a living ? She doesn't work now; she's retired. She keeps busy about the house. What's she like ? She's quite reserved and very kind. She's a great Mum. What does she like doing in her spare time ? She loves gardening. She is hooked on a couple of soap-operas. She isn't so keen on  cooking now. Do I take after my mother? I suppose so. We are both quite stubborn at times. Do I have any brothers or sisters? I have one brother but we seldom see each other. We don't * get on . We are like chalk and cheese . Have a look at Grammar Challenge from the BBC Learning English site. It practices questions (as above) with "like". It is divided into 4 parts. First, listen to Lorenzo doing the Grammar Challenge and then read Find Out More. Do practice quizzes 1 and 2. Finally, read the descriptions of a well-known international person. Write a descri...

This is me. My name is Graham. I am from a town in the North of Scotland called Inverness. I left there more than 13 years ago to go abroad. I have been living in Madrid for (1) the past six years and I used to (2) live in Rome. I prefer life in Spain but I do (3) miss Italian food. I am also proud of my roots . I am 35 years old but most people think I look older. I have been teaching ever since (1) I left home. I have never been passionate about it but at least it gives me the chance to meet all kinds of people. It also means I have long holidays. This year I have done quite a bit of travelling. I spent a week in Paris in July. I hadn't been (4) there for 14 years and it was great to be back. From there I * headed to Sicily, a region of Italy which I regret not visit ing (5)   while I lived there. I also went home to visit my parents, as I do twice a year. Apart from travell ing , (6) I spend a lot of time (and too much money) going out. Madrid has so...