The secret to learning English

El martes 22 de mayo volvimos a reunirnos en  la librería +bernat para compartir un nuevo Talk About. El tema de este mes, The secret to learning English, convocó a un numeroso público: alumnos de Ziggurat, muchos seguidores de la Daily Vitamin y los clientes habituales de la +bernat.

Me gustaría destacar la presencia de 2 personas en especial: Tona y Nil, su nieto de 14 años. Nos hizo una especial ilusión contar con un asistente tan joven al lado de su abuela, una mujer extraordinaria con muchas ganas de aprender.

Después de ver el vídeo de Jay Walker,  Mathew Ray, director de Ziggurat, nos explicó por qué fracasamos con el inglés y nos hizo reír al contarnos experiencias de aprendizaje con las que muchos nos sentimos identificados.

Al final del evento, Matthew reveló el secreto para aprender inglés u otros idiomas que no es otro que buscar momentos, si puede ser cada día, para estar en contacto con el idioma, seleccionando actividades que sean de nuestro interés (leer un libro, un artículo, escuchar un podcast, ver un capítulo de una serie, entrar en los links que encontrareis en el Zigspace,  escuchar la DV…)

Y recordad que si necesitáis apoyo u orientación contáis con nosotros!

¡Nos vemos en el próximo Talk About!

Relaxing Work: Testimony of an Immersion

Last Sunday, May 13th, at 7:00 in the morning, I headed up to the Sant Bernat Hotel in Montseny to begin a three-day English immersion course with four managers from Azucarera. In Ziggurat we have done dozens of English immersion courses and I was accompanied by two experienced Ziggurat teachers, Jenny and Peter, but I have to admit that I was a little nervous since it was the first time we would hold an English immersion in the Sant Bernat Hotel, and Azucarera was a new client.

Thanks to Peter and Jenny’s professionalism, the excellent service offered by the Sant Bernat staff, the delicious food and, above all, the students’ enthusiasm and sense of humour, the course turned out to be one of the most enjoyable that I have ever coordinated or taught on. I was very impressed by the students’ progress and their understanding of an English-learning reality: no one can teach you English, you have to learn it! When these managers return to work, they know that they will have to continue to maintain what they have learned, making English a part of their daily routine by making an effort to increase their daily contact with English.

An English immersion is a very effective, albeit intense, way to improve your English quickly. The Ziggurat immersions vary from 2 days to a week. Immersions do not cause miracles, but if they are done as part of an overall long-term English-training programme, the results can be spectacular. I think that’s why I enjoy participating in them so much. In 48 or 72 hours you can observe lots of progress in the students. And although it’s work (for both teachers and students), it is quite relaxing and both staff and students tend to forget about their problems and stresses waiting for them back home and back at the office.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Peter, Jenny, Joan, Angeles, Carlos and Marcel for their dedication and enthusiasm during the course! I also want to thank Ramon and Carol and the rest of the staff at Sant Bernat (Rocío, Raquel, etc. etc.) for their hospitality. I can’t wait for the next course.

P.S. I love you. Book Review

Haven’t you read ‘P.S. I love you’ yet? 8 years later chick lit lovers all over the world are still moved by this successful novel. We would like to share the following book review with you.

«Are you one of those people who is keen on romantic novels? Do you love to identify with the characters? With ‘P.S. I love you’ you will break down in tears, at times, and burst out laughing at others.

About the novel
‘PS. I Love You’ was written by the Irish writer Cecelia Ahern in 2004. The book was the number 1 bestseller in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands for almost 20 weeks. 3 years later, the novel was adapted for the big screen, but with some changes.

The plot
Holly and Gerry are happily married. She is head over heels in love with her husband but, unfortunately, death snatches Gerry from Holly’s side. Holly is devastated, she isn’t able to leave the house or look for a job. She completely isolates herself!

However, Gerry comes back to her on her 30th birthday. During the last months of his illness, he had prepared some letters for her, which she will have to open monthly; all of them signed ‘PS, I Love You’. His instructions will help her to find a new lease of life. She will laugh, sing, dance and be more courageous than ever.

The characters
As you can imagine, Holly is the main character in the story, although we meet other people along the way who have an important role such as Daniel, her friends Sharon and Denise or her close family.

My opinion
I wholeheartedly recommend reading this amazing story about love and the way to come to terms with the death of a close one. Personally, as the plot develops I got more engrossed in the story and I could not put the book down until the end. However, if you do decide to read it, make sure you have Kleenex with you! ».

Excuse me? I put my foot in it too!

 Una de las maneras más fáciles de protagonizar anécdotas divertidas es viviendo en el extranjero. En este artículo encontramos dos historias:

Like many Spaniards, I’ve been studying English for almost all my life. Although I’ve taken English classes all through school and in an academy as well, I’d barely had the chance to have a conversation in English (this is how Spanish education works). This is why I was so excited when I received a MEC grant to study abroad.

My choice was London, a melting pot with a long history and a great variety of leisure activities. However, there was something which took me aback. I had always been told that English people were extremely polite… so when I was first lost looking for the College, I asked a newspaper vendor for help. As I had learned, I started with… «Excuse me, would you mind to telling me how I can…? ». He rudely interrupted me and said «I don’t have time»… «Ok! Thanks» I answered. (He had plenty of time, as he wasn’t doing anything!). From that day on, I started to ask questions like «Camden Town?». Some years later, I can’t deny they are polite… though I didn’t receive a warm welcome.

Another funny anecdote is when one of my new friends was telling me «Your English is terrific», while he was smiling. I thought he was laughing at me… then I got angry: «Excuse me?», «Yeah!» he replied…that was strange… at that point, instead of seeing red, I chose to look up that word in the dictionary… and I realised that he was saying that my spoken English was incredible… just great! So I kindly exclaimed… «Oh, thanks!»

Despite these anecdotes, it was amazing to be immersed in their culture; above all, because that trip was vital to boost my level.  So I want to finish by saying I’m proud of having put my foot in it!

J.B.M.

ENGLISH OR FRENCH? I put my foot in it too!

Otra de las seguidores de Ziggurat nos ha querido divertir con sus anécdotas vividas con el inglés para el concurso literario:

I was working in a mall selling mobile phones two years ago when, one day in Summer, a couple from Switzerland came to the shopping centre to buy a phone. They could speak French and English very well, they could change the language without any problems!

 First, I spoke to them in French because I speak French better than English. But, suddenly, they changed the language and spoke to me in English. So, I began to talk in English… but with French pronunciation! When I realized it I changed the language too, but then speaking in French with English pronunciation!

The couple didn’t know what was happening! They laughed and then I said: “Shit!! Oh no! Excuse-moi…no! Sorry, sorry!” Finally, they understood me and bought a mobile phone.

This is why I can say I put my foot in it too!

A. Spínola

DÓNDE VAS ATONTAO. I put my foot in it too!

Os dejamos el primer texto que participa en el concurso de relatos breves en inglés I put my foot in it too!

This story didn’t happen to me, but to a workmate of mine, many years ago.

She was on holiday in London and she had problems understanding native people and being understood by them.

Once, she was in a ticket office trying to buy a ticket for the Tube. The ticket vendor said something that sounds strange to her. She understood “on the bus” and answered: “I don’t want to go on the bus; I want to go on the subway”. After a while trying to understand each other, the ticket vendor said: “Que soy andaluz! Te pregunto dónde vas!” (pronounced like Andalusian people do).

At last, the man asked her again where she was going, and she answered: “I’m going to Acton Town”. The ticket vendor replied: “Speaking like that nobody won’t ever understand you”. My friend told him that was true: nobody understood her when she asked to go to Acton Town. The man said: “It’s easy! You have to say atontao!” (with Andalusian accent again).

Effectively, the next time she had to ask for Acton Town she said “atontao” and everybody understood her!

E.Vilaclara

Esperamos que os haya gustado. Y recordad que ya podéis empezar a votar(!).

 

Chip Kidd en nuestro Talk About

El jueves 19 de abril celebramos una nueva sesión de nuestro Talk About en la en la librería +bernat. En esta ocasión y teniendo la fecha de Sant Jordi tan cerca, aprovechamos para seguir hablando de libros, concretamente sobre cómo nos influyen sus portadas a la hora de hacer nuestra elección.

Matthew Ray, director de Ziggurat, y Rachel PLayfair, profesora del equipo, seleccionaron una interesante y divertida charla de TED en la que Chip Kidd nos explica el proceso creativo que lleva a cabo para diseñar una buena portada.

Como siempre, queremos destacar la gran participación de todos los asistentes, dando su opinión, preguntando sobre vocabulario o expresiones que escuchamos en el video y sobre todo aprendiendo de las aportaciones de todos, sin dejar de hablar inglés en ningún momento (bueno, sólo hubo un par de ocasiones cuando Matthew ”sacó la tarjeta amarilla” para amonestar alguna breve intervención en catalán o castellano;-)

¡Gracias a todos por vuestra participación, y a los que no habéis venido todavía os animamos a hacerlo el próximo mes! Vale la pena también disfrutar de las bebidas y deliciosos bocadillos que nos prepara Farfalina para reponer fuerzas durante el debate.

I put my foot in it too!

Concurso de relatos breves en inglés

¿Alguna vez has metido la pata con el inglés? Muchos estudiantes de inglés han vivido situaciones anecdóticas, divertidas o incómodas, por un malentendido con la lengua inglesa. Como se diría en el mundo anglosajón they put their foot in it (han metido la pata).

Para celebrar el Día Internacional del Libro y la celebración de la Diada de Sant Jordi en Catalunya, lanzamos el Concurso de relatos breves en inglés: I put my foot in it too! que tanto éxito tuvo en su primera edición de 2010.

Si eres seguidor de Ziggurat en las redes sociales (Facebook y Twitter), si eres uno de los 7.000 suscriptores de la Daily Vitamin o alumno de Ziggurat, te animamos a participar y divertirnos con tus historias y anécdotas relacionadas en inglés (¡qué seguro que tienes alguna!). ¡Solidarízate y di I put my foot in it too!

Cualquier situación anecdótica que hayas protagonizado hablando inglés es válida; ya sea por una mala pronunciación, por temas culturales, por no entender a tu interlocutor, por una mala lectura… ¡cualquier historia que desees compartir con otros estudiantes de inglés!

En la última edición, tuvimos los siguientes relatos ganadores: A funny story in Ireland ganador del 1r premio,  Sheet and shit; please clean! que obtuvo el 2º puesto y Little Garden que quedó en 3r lugar. Y en nuestro blog podrás consultar también el resto de artículos que participaron.

A medida que vayamos recibiendo las redacciones las iremos publicando en el blog; abriremos también un sistema de votación a través de las redes sociales y entregaremos un premio a los artículos más populares.

¡Consulta las bases del concurso y escríbenos ya!

The White Tiger. Student’s Book Review

One of our students has sent us the following Book Review, which she wanted to share with the rest of you. We would also love to recieve your Book Reviews!

The White Tiger was written by Aravind Adiga, who was born in Madras in 1974, and it was the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2008. The novel consists of a long letter that the main character, “The White Tiger”, writes to the Chinese Premier on the occasion of his visit to India. The White Tiger wants to show the truth of his country and tell Wen Jiabao how to be an entrepreneur. To do this, he is going to explain his life.

For 7 days, Balram Halwai, the real name of The White Tiger, also known by his alias Munna, explains his story: his childhood (in school and in his 1st job), when he worked as a driver (the main part) and, at the end, his present situation and his plans for the future.

Balram Halwai learnt a lot about how to be an entrepreneur working as a driver (in fact he was a servant) for a rich business family. His master was Mr. Ashok, who was living in the USA and had an American wife, Pinky Madam. Because of his American influence, sometimes Mr. Ashok doesn’t agree with his brother and his father but in fact he isn’t capable of changing.  What were they using the car for? Mainly for two things: to go to pay bribes and to go to the shopping malls.

Throughout the novel, we can see the contrasts between the darkness (the poor country) and the rich city and also between the master and the servant class. Important subjects such as political corruption, globalization, religion, morality are shown with critical opinion, irony, humour but also sometimes with all their cruelty. You can laugh, feel tenderness or be in shock.

I totally recommend this book. I like it because I’ve learnt about India. It makes me think about important subjects and all of this with humour through a special character who is difficult to forget, The White Tiger.

M.B.

Talk About… Digital Books

El pasado martes 27 de marzo disfrutamos de la primera sesión del 2012 de nuestro Talk About en la en la librería +bernat, un entorno ideal para charlar sobre libros, en este caso libros digitales.

Matthew Ray, director de Ziggurat, introdujo la sesión y antes de visionar parte de la charla que Brewster Kahle ofreció en TED comentó el vocabulario que había seleccionado para la ocasión.

Todos los asistentes (o mejor dicho las asistentes, ya que la mayoría éramos mujeres participaron activamente y demostraron, como siempre, sus ganas de aprender inglés y compartir opiniones.

A una de las conclusiones que llegamos es que los libros impresos y los libros digitales son complementarios y por el momento, conviven en armonía. Lo importante es que las personas sigan creando, comunicándose y transmitiendo conocimientos y experiencia, independientemente del formato.

¡Gracias a todos por vuestra participación! Esperamos veros en el siguiente Talk About el jueves 19 de abril!

See you soon