English in Madrid

Source:  Carlo Bazzo on Unsplash   Rafael Nadal is writing a blog as he participates in the tournament of Wimbledon . It doesn't make difficult reading. Don't rely on it for grammatical accuracy - how many mistakes can you spot ? Do you think Rafael will conquer Wimbledon at last? Hi everyone, Well, to be honest with all, if it was for me, I would only talk about football all night. I am writing this blog tonight a couple of hours after Spain has defeated Russia and qualified to play the final of the Eurocup of football. Big night for us Spaniards, very big. I love football and everyone knows it. I had a great time today and I am very proud of what the guys have done. What a match, what a team we have. I believe they can really win the whole thing and that could be historical for my country. I might sound a bit over excited, but you know what, I really am. I watched the match again at home, at the house I have rented during my stay at Wimbledon. I had my team wi...

Accident-free zone: The German town which scrapped all traffic lights and road signs If you find yourself crossing the road in the German town of Bohmte, look both ways – and then perhaps check again. It has scrapped all its traffic lights and road signs in a radical experiment designed to make the streets safer. Yesterday, the local council said the scheme was a complete success. In the four weeks since the signs were ripped up , there has not been a single accident. Officials wanted to test the theory that the 13,000 drivers who use the town every day would take extra care and show each other greater consideration if they were not told what to do. They secured a £1.8million grant from the European Union to set up the scheme in the town near Hanover. Four weeks ago, Bohmte banned traffic lights and warning signs, including those instructing drivers to give way or stop. Only two rules remain – drivers cannot go above 30 mph, the German speed limit for city driving, and ...

Source: Hulki Okan Tabak en Unsplash Dawn revellers greet summer solstice More than 30,000 summer solstice revellers refused to let a chilly , wet morning dampen their spirits as they welcomed the longest day of the year. It was the biggest turnout for five years at Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, where dawn broke at 4.58am and was met by a large chee r from the gathered crowd . Thousands arrived at the world-famous stone circle overnight , despite rain fall ing in Wiltshire, and gathered at the Heel stone Peter Rawcliffe, 26, a toy designer from Oxford said: “I’ve done this for the last three years, I suppose I’m a bit of a closet druid. Most of the year I go about my business, but summer solstice brings out the hippie in me . It’s a really magical experience.” A spokeswoman for English Heritage, which runs the 5,000-year-old site, said today's turnout was the biggest since 2003. She added: “It’s been very wet and soggy . I don’t think it will discou...

By the time that you have read this, we will know the result of the Spain v Italy game. Was Zapetero right with his prediction? Did you watch the game? Did the winners deserve their victory? Source: Fauzan Saari on Unsplash Zapatero predicts end to football curse with 3-2 victory for Spain v Italy The Spanish Prime Minister has called on the national football team to “break the curse ” that has seen them consistently underperform in international championships, predicting that they would beat Italy 3-2 on Sunday. “We have to break the curse that seems to hang over the Spanish national team,” José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero told state radio. “We are good at football, but in international matches our team has always had a problem of self-confidence. At the moment our national team is better than Italy's, and I believe that we will win 3-2.” Spanish media have veered between optimism and despair over the quarter final match against world champions Italy. After a near-perfec...

Source: Wikipedia (Antony McCallum) WyrdLight.com   Ascot to turn away women for wearing short skirts   Women face being turned away from the Royal Enclosure during Royal Ascot if their skirts are too short or if their dresses have straps less than an inch wide. Visitors who display their midriff or wear off-the-shoulder tops or halter necks will also be ejected on the orders of the Queen's representative, the Duke of Devonshire. The duke, the chairman of the course, has clarified the strict dress code for next week's event in guidance sent to all 80,000 Royal Enclosure badge holders . The code dictates that only "formal day dress" is acceptable and that ladies must wear hats or "substantial fascinators" - Ascot's terminology for feathered adornments . Mini-skirts are considered "unsuitable", midriffs "must be covered" and trouser suits are acceptable but only if they are "full length and of matching material an...

Source: Wikipedia (Jlechuga86)   Source: You Tube (jambard)   Key Words:  Rodolfo Chiquilicuatre I know Eurovision is over and done with for another year but just to mourn (or celebrate?) the passing of Chikilcuatre, here is Chiki Chiki for one last time. That is, if it isn't going to be the summer hit this year lol One of you out there (mentioning no names) does a pretty good impersonation of Rodolfo.

So it looks as if this man could become the 44th President of the US. Are you disappointed that Hillary didn't make it through to the battle with John McCain? Meet Barack Early Years Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Barack's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton's army. Her mother went to work on a bomber assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to Hawaii. It was there, at the University of Hawaii, where Barack's parents met. His mother was a student there, and his father had won a scholarship that allowed him to le...

MONEY A man will pay €2 for a €1 item he wants. A woman will pay €1 for a €2 item that she doesn't want. BATHROOMS A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor , a bar of soap, and a hotel towel. The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify most of these items. ARGUMENTS A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument. NICKNAMES If Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose. If Mike, Charlie, Bob and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla, Peanut-Head and Scrappy. EATING OUT When the bill arrives, Mike, Charlie, Bob and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for €32.50. None of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back. When the women get their b...

Source:  Dimitry Anikin en Unsplash German tabloid mocks UK tourists Germany's tabloid newspaper, Bild, has printed a list of holiday resorts to avoid - those dominated by the British. This comes after a British man was awarded £750 (953 euros) after suing his travel company over a holiday at a resort filled with Germans. Bild quotes a German legal expert saying that Germans holidaying in all-British resorts would not have the same opportunity of suing. It goes on to poke fun at British cuisine, drinking-habits and sport. David Barnish, 47, was awarded compensation last week for a holiday in Greece which he argued had been spoilt by the number of German tourists and the fact that all the activities were organised in the German language. Penalty jibe Bild points out that Germans will find it hard to get their money back if they find their hotel overrun with Britons. "Even if the travel company announces in the brochure that the resort is 'fa...