Adventure sports

Do you like extreme sprts? Tell us about your experiences of white water rafting, bungee jumping, sky-diving, abseiling or whatever. Have you ever gone on school trips on which these activities or others like them were available? Do you think they are too dangerous for teenagers under the age of 18 to be allowed to do without their parents knowing exactly what kind of activity their kids are doing?

Personally I am terrified of heights and of speed, so extreme sports are definitely not for me. But I'm sure that's not the case for the rest of you.

(We could also begin a series of messages in Spanish on the same subject)

Verdad o mentira

Esta actividad se podría hacer tanto en inglés como en castellano. Se trata de explicar tres anécdotas. Dos de estas tres anecdotas serán verdad y la otra será falsa. Hay que intentar adivinar cuál de las tres anécdotas es la falsa, la inventada. Se permite hacer preguntas a la persona que ha enviado las historias antes de decidir si una historia es verdad o si es un cuento chino. Propongo que cada cual escriba las historias en el idioma que esté estudiando. Y otra condición. No se puede escribir más de 60 palabras.

Things in common

As part of their oral exam my students will have to aswer questions on general personal topics like: Where do you live? What are your hobbies? How long have you been studying English? What is your opinion of Barcelona and the neighbourhood where you live? What are your plans for the future? etc. What I suggest is that we play a kind of online game. The object is to find someone in the other class that you have TEN things in common with. There are obviously a lot of things that will be very different, like residence. But maybe you nwill find some interesting things that you have in common. Use the "comments" space to say some things about yourselves, and then ask the others some questions.

Happy hunting!

Big Brother

I would just like to say how angry programmes like Big Brother make me. Many people complain about "Operación Triunfo" (the Spanish equivalent of Pop Stars), but at least there is an academy, and the young people who take part really do learn how to sing. But what does anyone learn by taking part in or watching trash like Big Brother? It is just an endless display of grotesque, anti-social behaviour. The prticipants are conscious of being in the public eye so they are always play-acting. They are always just playing to the gallery, even when they are trying to give the impression that they are being "natural". I just cannot understand how anyone would want to waste even five minutes watching such junk. And yet the audience ratings are still high, even after two or three years. It is a very sad reflection on the cultural level of TV viewers!

Do you not all agree with me?

Topics for debate

I've just published a post proposing some topics for debae in Spanish. I also suggest that simultaneously we have similar debates in English. The topics could possibly be the same:

• How do you feel about the smoking ban in all public places?
• Should violent films be screened on TV before midnight?
• How do you feel about the new ID card in the UK? Will it violate people's right to privacy?

I look forward to some good discussion both in English and in Spanish.

Bye for now

Temas de debate

Propongo que iniciemos una serie de debates en castellano y otra en inglés. Los temas incluso podrían ser los mismos. ¿Qué tal los sigueintes?

• la prohibición de fumar en todos los lugares públicos, incluso en los bares y restaurantes. ¿No os parece que así se vulneran los derechos de los fumadores?
• La imposición del nuevo carné de identidad en el Reino Unido. ¿Atenta contra el derecho a la intimidad?
• El alojamiento y la enseñanza escolar deberían ser universales y gratuitos.
• No debería haber películas violentas en la tele hasta después de las doce de la noche.

¿Se os ocurren más temas de debate?

Películas

Hola a todos.

¿Habéis ido al cine últimamente? ¿Qué películas habéis visto? ¿Cuáles recomendáis?

Ayer fui a ver "El Mercadero de Venecia" en Barcelona. La vi en versión original, con subtítulos. Me gustó mucho - especialmente la actuación de Al Pacino como Shylock. También me encantó la forma como recrearon Venecia del siglo 16.

No le gusta a todo el mundo esta clase de cine - estos dramas ambientados en épocas anteriores. Personalmente, a mí me encantan. Contadnos vuestras preferencias en este aspecto.

Films

Hi everyone,

In class we are doing some work on films and TV programmes. I think it would be a good idea to put some messages in the blog about our favourite films and TV programmes. I will create two separate threads: one of them for messages in English and the other for messages in Spanish. We can all use both of the threads. If you are learning English, you can ask questions and express your opinions in English, and the others can respond in English. If you are learning Spanish you can write your comments and questions in Spanish, and we can all respond in Spanish. It will be interestiing to compare our favourite films and TV programmes.

I am going to start. What are the bes films you have seen recently? I went to see Pride and Prejudice in Belfast in September, and I loved it. Unfortunately it hasn't arrived in Spain yet, so I don't think any of my students have seen it yet. The actors are not very well known (except for Donald Sutherland as Mr Bennet), but the acting is wonderful. It is much funnier, and the manners are much less refined than most people expect from Jane Austen.

Have you seen Pride and Prejudice? Did you enjoy it? Which other films do you recommend?

Bienvenidos todos los alumnos de Belfast High

Espero que disfrutéis mucho comunicándoos en español con algunos jóvenes de Barcelona. Ellos están estudiando inglés y apreciarían vuestra ayuda cuando comiencen a comunicarse con vosotros en inglés. ¿Qué tal si reservamos este "hilo" de mensajes para textos escritos en castellano? Al mismo tiempo puede haber otros hilos para mensajes escritos en inglés?

¡hasta siempre!

Welcome (Bienvenidos)

Hello everyone,

The purpose of this blog is to make it possible for a class of intermediate students of English in Barcelona to communicate with a class of Northern Irish students of Spanish. This will give students of both languages the opportunity to write about themselves, their families, their hobbies and many other things in the language they are studying. We can decide as we proceed which messages should be in English and which in Spanish. The idea is that students in each class will help students in the other class to express themselves better in the language they are using, and also that you begin to get to know each other a little.

I hope you enjoy the experience and that you find it helpful.

Roger Marshall

(English teacher in Barcelona)