If girls were like guys...

What if girls were like guys...?




And if guys were like girls...?

The Highs and Lows of Teaching English to Spanish speakers by Paul Knowles (A2Z School of English).

A2Z School of English is the most vibrant, international language school in the heart of Manchester. They have a wide range of different courses, times and prices to suit anyone needs.

I´ve been a student there myself and loved it. Great classes, teachers and classmates. But it´s not only that, as A2Z has one of the busiest social schedule in Manchester, from bowling to walks around the city.

Paul Knowles is the Internet Marketing Manager for A2Z and he´s been an English teacher himself for over 10 years, apparently he has had MANY Spanish students during these years (I don´t know how, I haven´t seen a Spanish person around Manchester for months!).
He´s sharing here in Funny English his thoughts about our highs and lows in the English learning process.
You can check more A2Z articles here! http://a2z-english.com/blogs

I have been a teacher of English for about 10 years and because for most of that time I have taught in the UK most of my students have been Spanish.

Thus, I feel qualified to talk about the joys and frustrations of teaching Spanish speakers the English language.

Spanish students are great to teach. They are generally chatty, opinionated and full of fun. However, they have specific problems in learning English which can be trying for both the student and the teacher.

The Spanish Accent is here to stay

Spanish learners of English will never lose their accent. Fact. End of.  It is impossible so just don’t try. No matter how advanced a Spanish student I have taught the Spanish accent sticks like super glue. And this is not a bad thing. Every English speaker around the world and in the UK has an accent. It just tells people where you are from. Even if your accent is very strong it doesn’t mean people cannot understand you if you use the correct word stress.

There is no E in Spain…really there is no E in Spain.

Every Spanish student I have ever taught puts an “E” in front of Spain.

In fact Spanish people seem to like putting vowels in front of every word.

‘Hello, where are you from?’  ‘I am a-from e-Spain’ 

No matter how many times I have tried to stop Spanish students doing this it always will happen but it always drove me bananas!

To speak English clearly you must perfect the art of mumbling

Spanish and other Latin based languages pronounce every part of every word. The English though push words together to make them shorter and more concise. Also, we add sounds between words for no apparent reason. To the Spaniard this sounds like mumbling. To English people this is clear pronunciation.

Don’t say ‘A blue apple’ but  ‘A blue wapple’ . You might read ‘It must have been a long day’. But you say ‘It mustov been a long day’. Don’t ask ‘How are you doing? But ‘ Howyadowing? ‘ If in doubt make it into one word and omit as much as possible.

To be or to have? That is the question.

This is something Spanish beginner students always do and more advanced learners still do very occasionally.

“I have 23 years old” or “I have hunger”

Language structures are about concepts and here is way English and Spanish concepts differ. Is age and hunger a state (English) or a possession (Spanish)?

I could continue ad infinity (false friends, phrasal verbs, invented words) but these are the most memorable and common mistakes and problems Spanish students have. But please check below for some great links to help you iron out (fix) your English language problems.

http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/l1spanish.html - pronunciation help

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/spanish.htm - difference between English and Spanish

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/espanglishtips/- a whole load of help and advice for Spanish speakers.

Playing for a change. Connecting the world trough music.

Buenos días!
Para esta mañana de viernes proponemos Stand by me, temazo donde los haya, especialmente en esta versión, acompañado de un reading sobre el maravilloso proyecto que es Playing for a change. 
Nada más, que tengáis un fantástico fin de semana. 



A decade ago a small group of documentary filmmakers set out (proponerse llevar a cabo) with a dream to create a film rooted (arraigado) in the music of the streets. Not only has that dream has been realized, it has blossomed (florecer) into a global sensation called Playing For Change, a project including musicians of every level of renown (fama, renombre), that has touched the lives of millions of people around the world.


While travelling the world filming and recording musicians, the crew (equipo/personal en cine) became intimately involved with the music and people of each community they visited. Although many of these coMMunities had limited resources and a modest standard of living, the people in them were full of generosity, warmth (calidez), and above all they were coNNected to each other by a common thread (hilo): music.


Out of these discoveries, the Playing For Change Foundation was born and made its mission to ensure that anyone with the desire to receive a music education would have the opportunity to do so.


The Playing For Change Foundation is dedicated to creating positive social change through music education. We are driven by (lo que nos mueve) the belief that peace and change are possible through the universal language of music. By providing children a safe place to learn, flourish and express themselves, PFCF helps provide a creative alternative to the struggles many of these children face daily.


STAND BY ME:
When the night has come
and the land is dark
and the moon is the only light we'll see
no I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
just as long as you stand, stand by me
and darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
stand by me, stand by me


If the sky that we look upon
should tumble (caerse, venirse abajo) and fall
and the mountains should crumble (desmoronarse) to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
just as long as you stand, stand by me
and darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
stand by me, stand by me, stand by me


Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me,
oh now now stand by me.

Couch culture.

Good morning Spaniards!
I hope you all had an amazing time this week and you are full of energy for what is yet to come!


First of all I want to strongly recommend Vaughan, as it´s a really useful method for our purpose.


As a part of this method, I just discover this, wich I think it´s great.
It´s basically two people (AN Spanish advance student of English and a native English speaker) talking about series, movies and other current issues.


A really useful series I think, as they talk about things we´ve all seen or at least know about and because the mistakes that the student does and the teacher corrects are very common mistakes, that we all have doubts about.


Let´s starts with Family Guy!