English in Madrid

Source: Wikipedia   Source: You Tube (tarot1984)  Key Words: catch it bin it kill it Here is an ad, in reaction to the flu pandemic, which shows how easily a virus is spread . Do you think that the advert is effective? What do you think about the whole Swine flu thing?  Do you think we are over-reacting or should we be doing more to combat it? Are you ready? What's the difference between ill and sick ? This is a difficult one because there is sometimes little difference but I'll try to explain. Ill implies a more serious condition that lasts longer. He's been very ill . (He was off work for a long time) As soon as I started to feel ill , I went to the doctor (I had symptoms and the doctor told me what I had) I got ill while I was on holiday. ( I discovered what I had when I returned from holiday) Sick implies a less serious condition that doesn't last long. It can also mean to vomit. He 's off sick today. He'll be back tomorro...

Source:  Brittany Colette on Unsplash   Not feeling well? Here are a few useful expressions: What's the matter? I have the flu . BBC News - Coronavirus: Boris Johnson hospital stay and parallels to Lloyd George https://t.co/3jhsZDmZpE — English in Madrid (@madteacher72) April 8, 2020 I have a cold * . #PV COME DOWN WITH - to start to suffer from an illness e.g. I think I'm COMING DOWN WITH A COLD. e.g. I'm off home. I don't feel great. I must be COMING DOWN WITH SOMETHING. e.g. My wife CAME DOWN WITH THE FLU and so we didn't get away for the weekend. pic.twitter.com/KQ65vRsqIt — English in Madrid (@madteacher72) May 17, 2020 Put a warm jacket on otherwise you'll catch a cold . JUST MY LUCK - in bed sick on my DAY OFF. http://t.co/AZ83CYEAEY The other day I was BOASTING that I hadn't CAUGHT A COLD this year. — English in Madrid (@madteacher72) December 6, 2013 I can't stop sneez ing . I can't stop cough ing. I have a ru...

Police battle May Day protesters Clashes have broken out in a number of countries as unions used traditional May Day * marches  to protest against the handling of the global economic crisis. In the Turkish city of Istanbul, riot police fired tear gas and water cannon as protesters threw petrol bombs and attacked banks and shops. Police made dozens of arrests in the German capital, Berlin, where protesters set fire to cars. Greek police battled to quell rioters in Athens after banks were attacked. There have also been marches in France and Russia, as well as the Philippines, Japan and Hong Kong, where demonstrators called on the authorities to do more to protect jobs. Major demonstrations were also planned in Spain, Italy and Cuba. "Workers are reiterating their demand that the government should find a way to stop mass lay-offs of workers and it should provide decent jobs, not short-lived jobs, not jobs for three months," said Leody de Guzman, of the...

Source: Scott Graham on Unsplash Your career is only related to your professional life. It has nothing to do with university. Está haciendo la carrera de Derecho : He's doing a degree in law. Está en primero de carrera : She's in her first year at university . No sabe que hará cuando termine la carrera : He doesn't know what he will do when he finishes university . Quiere que sus hijos estudien una carrera : She wants her children to go to university . Necesito un cambio de trabajo . : I need a career change . Desarolló su carrera profesional en el campo de la publicidad. : He made a career for himself in advertising. Do you have a degree? Is your degree relevant to your career? What did you do after you got your degree? Would you like to have studied something different at uni? Would you like a change in career? If you could choose a different career, what would it be? Why?

Spain's jobless rate soars to 17% Spain's unemployment rate hit 17.4% at the end of March, figures have shown, with the jobless total now having doubled over the past 12 months. In the past year, two million people have lost their jobs taking the total out of work to just over four million. The Bank of Spain recently predicted the jobless rate would reach 19.4% in 2010, as the recession took hold . "It is a terrible figure," Octavio Granado, secretary of state for social security told state television. He said the first quarter of any year was traditionally bad for employment in Spain. Mr Granado also said that 2009 was expected to be the worst part of the economic downturn . "So we are in the epicentre of the crisis. We are in the eye of the perfect storm," he said. The National Statistics Institute said Spain's jobless rate at the end of the first quarter was up 3.45 percentage points from the end of 2008. The BBC's Steve Kings...

Source: You Tube (Sam Ratcliffe)   Key Words: starkey scotland question time  'Feeble country' jibe sparks row  MPs are demanding an apology over remarks made by the outspoken historian Dr David Starkey. Dr Starkey described Scotland as a " feeble little country" and said Robert Burns was a "deeply boring provincial poet." He made the comments on the BBC's Question Time programme after he was asked if he supported a public holiday for St George's Day. Dr Starkey has refused to apologise and says he stands by his comments. To boos from the audience, Dr Starkey said: "If we decide to go down this route of having an English national day, that means we become a feeble little country, just like the Scots and the Welsh and the Irish. "Once upon a time England was a great country. Remember we're distinguished by the fact that we don't have national dress. "We don't make a great fuss about Shakespeare like ...

Source: Wikipedia ( Deborah Wilbanks)   Talent show singer is online hit   A 47-year-old church volunteer from West Lothian has become an unlikely overnight singing sensation with millions watching her perform online. Susan Boyle, from Blackburn, stunned judges on ITV's Britain's Got Talent with her performance of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misèrables on Saturday. Since then Hollywood actress Demi Moore has joined the legions of fans who have voiced their support on the internet. Ms Boyle has now become the bookies' favourite to win the talent show. Ms Boyle, who told viewers she had "never been kissed", said she had always wanted to be a singer. She said: "I entered the competition because I wanted to have a chance at my singing. "I found it very nerve-wracking to begin with but once I settled down and began to sing, I thought that the audience accepted me a bit more. Then I sort of relaxed and began to enjoy it. Ms Boyle, who is c...

Source:  Simon Berger on Unsplash The anti Valentine website: find a girlfriend and you’re out   Himote SNS is an internet forum for the habitually unpopular and the brainchild of a 23-year-old virgin. You ’ve got to love it...  Valentine’s Day is a torment for single people all over the world but few have as much to endure as young Japanese such as Hiroyuki Egami. The soppy   pink cards and boxes of over-priced chocolate start appearing in shops in early January. By the time February 14 finally comes around shops, advertisers and the mass media are united in a sugary hymn to the virtues of romance. “It’s this idea that you only have value if you’re half of a couple, that you have to be in a relationship,” Mr Egami, a 23-year-old website designer, said. “But I never had a girlfriend. I am still a virgin. I think I am more unpopular than most people. And there are others like me.” Rather than suffer ing in silence, a few months ago Mr Egami set up...

Source: Enrico Tavian en Unsplash If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men . ~ St. Francis of Assisi God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages . ~Jacques Deval, Afin de vivre bel et bien I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. ~Abraham Lincoln Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they're in the game. ~Paul Rodriguez The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. ~Alice Walker Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage. ~Sri Aurobindo Deer hunting would be fine sport , if only the deer had guns. ~Will...

Source: aboodi vesakaran en Unsplash "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated"  I like to think the above quote from Mahatma Ghandi is true. Here are some more Ghandi quotes: An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind. In a gentle way, you can shake the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed . Read more Ghandi quotes here . What are your favourites? Read the quotes of other famous people here . What are your favourites and why? Source: Brainy Quote