Lola's Blog

Photo from Wikimedia Commons Today we are having an oral presentation about the Spanish judiciary system. But what do you know about the judiciary system in England and Wales? Click here to see a diagram of the courts. Task 1.  Your task is to draw a similar diagran of the Spanish courts and compare both systems. Task 2. Legal English is a minefield; it is full of false friends . Click here to see a compilation of frequent false friends . A word of caution: there are more than 4000 false friends and false cognates (Spanish-English). Task 3. Video. In this video four district judges talk about the most difficutl decisions they have to make. Before you watch Check the meaning of the following words: bailiff      eviction Watch the video and write down what the four judges say about the most difficult decisions they have to make. Judge 1 Judge 2 Judge 3 Judge 4 Watch again . There is a link below the video to a transcript if you find this task difficult.

Photo by Ben Spark. Flickr.com We celebrated Book Day today with a workshop on Children's Books. Here is a photo of Paddington Bear. You can guess why the author of the book called this delightful bear, Paddington! Here is a link to the Paddington Bear official website . Read the Then and Now icon and find out some interesting facts about the book and its author. You can browse the website. I'm sure you'll love it.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons Big day for book lovers on 23 April this year. To celebrate bring your favourite book to class for discussion. You will give a short presentation of your book. Tell us the title, some interesting facts about the author, the plot -but not all. We want to read the book! Is your book listed on this page ? You'll be surprised what books are favourites among English readers.  Go back to the same page. Look at the first 52 titles. There are 11 children's books "hidden". Can you spot them? Have you read any of them? We'll talk about a selection of them on 23 April in class. 

Poverty has a child's face. Flickr.com Here is a link to my glog on Poverty in the world . I used Eduglogster, a great tool for digital posters. You are very welcome to browse the glog.  Video on Debt Last Tuesday we discussed world problems in class. One of the issues listed was "debt". Go to the glog and click on the video hidden behind Debt. Watch the interview with Nick Dearden, a campaigner in favour of debt relief, talking about vulture funds. Answer the following questions: What are vulture funds? Is anything being done about vulture funds? What does Nick say about Liberia? Was the campaign successful? How? What does Nick say about vulture funds and the US? How successful has the campaign been in the UK?      Reading 1) Here is a link to an article by Greg Palast on Vulture Funds . Read the article and take notes under the following headings: His definition of vulture funds One example of a highly indebted country Zambia and Romanian tractor

BBC comedy Fawlty Towers Have you ever watched Fawlty Towers ? This BBC sitcom was very popular in the 1970s. Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) is the eccentric proprietor and manager of  Fawlty Towers, a cheap hotel in Torquay, a seaside town in the south of England. Manuel (Samuel Sachs), who is Spanish, works as a waiter in the hotel. Sibyl is Basil's wife and Polly works in the hotel. Watch the clip and answer the following questions: What is Basil looking for in the guest's handbag? Who manages to find the animal and what does he do with it? How does Basil react to the situation? Watch the scene again and focus your attention on the way people speak. Who is polite? What kind of language do they use to show politeness? What does Basil say to the guest who requested biscuits? What variety of English do the actors speak? After you watch Read about Received Pronunciation ( RP ) and find out: a) what it is b) what other names RP is given c) what percentag