Cat got your tongue? - News

"Modal Land" and Wonderland: worlds of endless possibilities

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 08:24:00 +0000

When you think you've mastered English verbs and then you get to modals, you begin to realise that they're rather a different ball game because they only loosely play by the same rules. One modal verb can have more than one meaning or structure depending on its function in the sentence. It's a bit like stepping into Alice's Wonderland; a world which is fashioned on reality but with a topsy turvy logic. Rather than learning modal verbs individually, it's best to learn them by categories so as not to get confused by all the different uses each modal has. In this article we'll look at modals for probability, which I think are most in-keeping with the Wonderland theme.

Before we take a trip to "Modal Land", let's just have a look at the general structures for modal verbs, as they don't follow ordinary verb tenses.

In the present:

Modal + bare infinitive ( inf. without 'to')

E.g. Alice might be dreaming when she enters Wonderland.

In the past:

Modal + have + past participle

E.g. Alice might have been dreaming when she entered Wonderland.

This is the structure for what are known as "pure" modals. Note that the modal itself never changes form. However, there are also "semi" modals: do, have to, need to and can, which conjugate in the same way as verbs in the present simple and past simple but are still followed by the bare infinitive:

E.g. Alice can play croquet but she's never played using flamingos and hedgehogs. (In present) Alice could play croquet but but she'd never played using flamingos and hedgehogs. (In past)

Modals for certainty: must and have to

When you're sure of something, use must or have to. They both mean the same, the only difference is that must is a "pure" modal and have to is a "semi" modal (see above).

E.g. The Queen of Hearts' card guards are in her gardens with red paint. They must/have to be painting the roses red.

The Queen of Hearts' card guards were in her gardens with red paint. They must have been/had to be painting the roses red.

Although both are grammatically correct, I'd say that must is more commonly used for certainty than have to.

You may be wondering at this point: "Aren't must and have to used for obligation?" Well, you're absolutely right, they are! But who said modal verbs can't have more than one function? Welcome to "Modal Land", where nothing is black and white and the possibilities are endless!

Modal for impossibility: can't

When you know that something isn't possible, use can't.

E.g. The Hatter and the Hare can't be sane because they celebrate "unbirthday" tea parties.

The Hatter and the Hare can't have been sane because they celebrated "unbirthday" tea parties.

Note that this use of can is a "pure" modal. Remember can/could as a "semi" modal is for ability or permission. I'll talk more about these uses in another article.

Modals for possibility: could, might and may

These are the modals we use for speculation; when we can't be sure of something and we want to discuss the possibility of it being true.

E.g. The White Rabbit could/might/may be late for visiting the Queen of Hearts.

The Cheshire Cat could/might/may have created Wonderland.

Could in terms of possibility is used independently from can, which, as mentioned above, is only used for either ability or permission. Unless you're using can't for impossibility. Are you still with me? Or am I starting to sound like the Caterpillar? You might need to go back and review this article if I've stopped making sense and you're lost in the woods.

To sum up, the main thing you must remember when venturing through "Modal Land" is not to treat modal verbs as separate verb entities; think of them in terms of categories of functions - such as certainty, possibility and impossibility. As I said earlier, we'll explore more functions in future articles. In this way, you're less likely to get confused by them. For those of you who are studying to take exams in English, in order to get the top marks, you need to be prepared to take a trip to "Modal Land" and use these verbs when speaking and writing. Like Alice visiting Wonderland, the more times you explore "Modal Land", the more you'll understand. Enjoy the adventure!

From head to toe : body idioms

Sun, 11 Oct 2020 21:40:00 +0000

It's been more than a year since my last blog entry and I'd like to say thank you to the students and teachers who have inspired me to take up writing again. Where to begin? Well, for starters, it feels like the world's pulled the rug from underneath our feet (nos ha fastidiado). Living in such nail-biting (emocionante) times, it's hard not to tear your hear out (arrancarse los pelos) or worse, to lose your head (írsele la olla) completely. Like everyone else, with the state of alarm, I've been forced to spend more time at home and have had to develop coping methods for lockdown.

One method which has helped me to keep my feet on the ground (mantener los pies sobre la tierra) has been practising yoga. It's taught me a new kind of self-awareness and to notice how I feel from head to toe (de pies a cabeza). It's also inspired me to write this article and, similar in a way to what I do in my practices, we'll look at parts of the body and also study at least a couple of English idioms connected to each.

In case you firstly need to review the bare bones (lo básico), I've provided a diagram of body vocabulary. Once you've revised this and are comfortable with the words, you can head for (tirar para) the idioms.

THE HAIR

Get in someone's hair = molestar a alguien de forma continua

E.g. I'd be able to finish my work more quickly if my colleagues weren't getting in my hair!

Let your hair down = relajarse

E.g. You work too much, you should let your hair down once in a while and do something fun.

Split hairs = rizar el rizo

THE HEAD

Be all in your head = Ser su imaginación

E.g. There's no-one there - it's all in your head!

Have your head in the clouds = estar en las nubes/estar en Babia

Be/fall head over heels in love = locamente enamorado

E.g. After their first date, he fell/was head over heels in love with her.

Keep your head above water = mantenerse a flote

E.g. With all the bills they had to pay, they were struggling to keep their heads above water.

THE EYES

An eye for an eye = ojo por ojo

Have an eye for something = tener buen ojo para

Keep an eye out for something/someone = estar atento

E.g. Keep an eye out for thieves in the metro station.

See eye to eye = estar de acuerdo

E.g. We don't always see eye to eye on everything.

There is more to something than meets the eye = aquí hay gato encerrado

THE EARS

Fall on deaf ears = caer en oídos sordos

Be all ears = ser todo oídos

Be music to your ears = te suena música celestial

Somebody's ears are burning = pitarle los oídos a alguien

Play it by ear = ver qué pasa

THE NOSE/MOUTH

Look down your nose at someone or something = mirar a alguien por encima del hombro

Pay through the nose = pagar un ojo de la cara

All mouth and no trousers = mucho ruido y pocas nueces

Put your money where your mouth is = del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho

E.g. I you think you can do better, then put your money where you mouth is!

Be left with your mouth open = quedarse con la boca abierta

THE FACE/CHEEKS/CHIN

Keep a straight face = mantener la seriedad

E.g. She couldn't keep a straight face while she was telling her friends the joke.

Tongue-in-cheek = en chiste/broma

E.g. Everyone laughed at his tongue-in-cheek comment.

Take it on the chin = aceptar sin quejarse

E.g. The losing side, although they were unhappy about the result took it on the chin and congratulated the winning team.

THE NECK

Be neck and neck = ir a la par/ser parejos

Something/someone is a pain in the neck/butt(ocks) = ser un coñazo/un pesado

Stick your neck out = jugarse la vida

THE CHEST/SHOULDERS/BACK

Have a chip on your shoulder = ser un rencoroso

E.g. He's got a chip on his shoulder about not having been to university.

Get something off your chest = desahogarse

Be/have a weight lifted off your shoulders = quitarse un peso de encima

Stab someone in the back = dar una puñalada por la espalda

THE ARMS/HANDS/FINGERS

Twist someone's arm = torcer el brazo a alguien

To have your hands tied = tener las manos atadas

Live from hand to mouth = vivir precariamente/al día

E.g. Employees who live from hand to mouth shouldn't be asked to work without pay during an economic crisis.

Lend a hand = echar una mano

Wrap someone around your (little) finger = tener a alguien comiendo de la mano

THE LEGS

Not have a leg to stand on = no tener pruebas

E.g. With no evidence to incriminate the suspect, the police had no leg to stand on.

Pull someone's leg = tomar el pelo

Cost an arm and a leg = costar un ojo de la cara

THE KNEES/TOES/HEELS

Think you are the bee's knees = creerse el rey (o la reina) del mambo

Keep someone on their toes = mantener alerta

E.g. To keep students on their toes, teachers like to give class tests every now and again.

Dig in your heels = ser cabezón

E.g. I'm going to dig in my heels on this issue because I know I'm right!

Be someone's Achilles' heel = ser su punto débil

THE FEET

Put your foot in it = meter la pata

Foot the bill = pagar la cuenta

Get cold feet = echarse atrás

E.g. Due to cold feet, the bride ran away from her own wedding.

So now it's time to face the music (dar la cara), to not lose your nerve (no perder el coraje) and get learning these idioms! But don't worry, if all these phrases are making you go weak at the knees (hacerte temblar las piernas), keep your chin up (¡ánimo!) and perhaps study the phrases just for one or a couple of body parts per day.

If learning these (or life in general for that matter) becomes too much and you feel you're struggling to keep a cool head (mantener la calma), then remember that you don't always have to shed blood, sweat and tears (sudar tinta). In order to chill out, you can try your hand at (probar suerte con) something which makes you feel good. In my case it's yoga.

All that remains to be said is: break a leg! (¡mucha suerte!)

Summer Intensives

Sun, 23 Jun 2019 13:43:00 +0000

Thank you very much IsmaelDiazArt for the design!

Would I lie to you?

Sun, 03 Feb 2019 08:22:00 +0000

There are three tricky verbs in English which often get confused; these are lie (regular verb), lie (irregular verb) and lay. Let's study them!

Lie (reg) = Mentir

This is an intransitive verb (a verb with no direct object).

Conjugation:

Lie Lied Lied Lying

Examples: If Pinnocchio lies, his nose grows.

Si miente Pinocho, se crece la nariz.

Pinnochio lied to his father, Gepetto.

Pinocho mintió a su padre, Gepetto.

If Pinnochio hadn't lied, his nose wouldn't have grown.

Si Pinocho no hubiera mentido, no se habría crecido la nariz.

It's easy to know when Pinnochio is lying.

Es fácil de saber cuando se está mintiendo Pinocho.

Lie (irreg) = Tumbarse

This is also an intransitive verb and is often used as the phrasal verb, lie down.

Conjugation:

Lie Lay Lain Lying

Examples: My cat often lies on my bed.

Mi gato se tumba a menudo encima de la cama.

My cat lay down on my bed and fell asleep.

Mi gato se tumbó encima de la cama y se echó a dormir.

My cat has lain there all afternoon.

Mi gato ha estado tumbado ahí durante toda la tarde.

My cat is still lying there.

Mi gato está tumbado ahí todavía.

Lay = poner

This is a regular, transitive verb (a verb with a direct object).

Conjugation:

Lay Laid Laid Laying

Examples: I have to lay the table.

Tengo que poner la mesa.

The hen laid an egg.

La gallina puso un huevo.

The table still hasn't been laid.

La mesa no se ha puesto todavía.

The hen is laying another egg.

La gallina está poniendo otro huevo.

To sum up, lie and lie are both regular and irregular verbs which are intransitive. They also share the same -ing form, lying. Lay is a regular, transitive verb but it is also the irregular past of lie (tumbarse). Not sure what I'm talking about? Look again.

We Three Kings of Orient

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 20:11:00 +0000

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--

Lewis Carroll

"The Walrus and the Carpenter" from Alice Through the Looking Glass

We're only going to be talking about the last topic mentioned in the quote: Kings. The Epiphany (El Día de Reyes) is fast approaching. Although in anglophone culture we don't have a festive day dedicated to Gaspard (bringer of gold), Melchior (bringer of frankincense) and Balthasar (bringer of myrrh), they are known and go by various different names: The Three Wise Men, The Biblical Magi and, most famously, The Three Kings. To mark the occasion, let's learn some common expressions with the word "King".

To be the King of something

A phrase given to a master or pioneer of something. The female version can be used with "queen". Eg. Elvis was crowned the King of Rock and Roll.

A king's ransom

A fortune. Eg. We had to pay a king's ransom to rent a flat in the city centre.

To live like a king

To live exceptionally well. Eg. My cat lives like a king. All he does is eat, sleep, play and receive lots of attention.

The King's English

Considered the highest and most educated form of British English. As the current ruling monarch is a queen, today's phrase is The Queen's English. Eg. You would never know he was foreign; he speaks the Queen's English.

Fit for a king

Luxurious or delicious. Eg. Our hotel suite was fit for a king. The Christmas dinner was fit for a king.

As cocky as the King of Spades

Overly proud. Eg.The firm's CEO is as cocky as the King of Spades, just because he's earning a 8-figure salary!

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Desiderius Erasmus

One of my favourite quotes. Someone with limited ability is considered special by those having no ability. Eg. My Spanish isn't very good but my friends can't speak a word. So as the saying goes, "in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king".

I wish you all a Happy Kings' Day, and a prosperous 2019! I leave you with the first verse of an English Christmas carol about The Three Kings:

We three kings of Orient are

Bearing gifts, we traverse far
Field and fountain
Moor and mountain
Following yonder star

English words with Spanish/Amerindian origins

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 14:09:00 +0000

Last Friday, as well as being Pilar day, was also the Fiesta Nacional de España (formerly known as Hispanic Day), which marks Christopher Columbus´ first arrival in the Americas on 12th October 1492. The exploration of the New World brought British and Spanish conquistadors in contact with each other. Words given by the Spaniards to discoveries they made were also assimilated into the English language, which is why many anglicized Spanish words are related to the Golden Age and the colonization of the Americas. However, plenty of these adopted Spanish words have their roots in idigenous cultures, such as the Aztec, Arawakan, Inca and Mayan, mostly those of native American populations that were subjugated by the Spanish colonial empire. Although most Amerindian languages were wiped out during this period, many of their words still live on today in European languages.

Let's have a look at the Spanish/Amerindian influences on the English language.

The Wild West

Let's face it. The first cowboys were Spanish speakers. The proof is in the vocabulary.

Buckaroo : an old word for a cowboy, this is an anglicization of vaquero

Chaps : originally used by cowboys to protect their legs when riding, from the Spanish word chaparreras

Rodeo : a bull-riding competition from the verb rodear

Desperado : used in the old West to describe a reckless criminal, from the Spanish adjective desesperado

Ranch : Rancho, meaning a small rural community

Stampede : from estampida

Lasso : a rope with a loop used to tie escaping cattle, from the Spanish word lazo.

Ten-Gallon hat : there are 2 theories about the kind of hat a cowboy used to wear. Both have Spanish roots. The first is that the wearer was tan galán and the second is that the name comes from the galón worn around the hat.

Weather and Geography

Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries have some of the best weather. It's October and I'm still not wearing a coat. Where I'm from, that's reason enough to celebrate.

Breeze : from brisa in Spanish

Sierra

Savanna : in Spanish sabana from the Caribbean Taíno language zabana

Canyon : from cañón in Spanish

Parasol

Tornado

Hurricane : huracán in Spanish, from Taíno language hurákan

El Niño : fenómeno del Niño, literally, "the Christmas child" due to the warming of the Pacific waters around Christmas time

Food and Drink

Hispanic gastronomy is some of the most delicious there is. It's so good that both English and American cultures have adopted it into their cuisine. Here's proof in the language.

Avocado : anglicization of aguacate, from the Mexican Nahuatl word ahuacatl

Barbecue : Spanish barbacoa, from the Central American Chibcha word

Chipotle : meaning “smoked chili pepper”, literally from Mexican Nahuatl chilli + poctli (smoke)

Chocolate : pronounced "choclat" in English, from the Nahuatl word xocolatl (“hot water”)

Cocoa – Spanish cacao, from Nahuatl cacáhuatl

Chorizo : pronounced "chorítsou" in English

Guacamole : from Nahuatl ahuaca-molli, ahuacatl (“avocado”) + molli (“sauce”)

Oregano : pronounced "origáno" in English

Jalapeños : named after Jalapa, a city in Guatemala

Paella : pronounced "paela" in English

Tomato : Spanish tomate, from Nahuatl xitomatl

Potato : Spanish patata, from Taíno batata

Daiquiri : pronounced "dáqueri" in English, this cocktail gets its name from a port city in Cuba

Vanilla : vainilla

Sherry : Jerez

Burrito, Nachos, Piña colada, Mojito, Tequila, Sangría, Salsa, Churros, Cilantro, Chili con carne...the list is endless!

Art, literature and culture

Often overshadowed by the food and drink, but still as important, Hispanic culture has also made it's way into the English language.

Aficionado

Savvy : "Savvy?" = ¿Sabes? "A savvy person" = una persona sabia. Jack Sparrow's favourite word. Here's the proof.

Bodega

Fiesta

Flamenco

Macho

Patio

Rumba

Siesta

Salsa

Tango

Tobacco : Spanish tabaco, from Caribbean Taíno language tabako

Cigar : (puro) from the Spanish word cigarro, originally from the Mayan word sicar (tabaco)

Silo

Quixotic : derived from Cervantes' delusional knight Don Quijote, this adjective describes something completely idealistic, unrealistic and impractical

War and conflict

Conquistador

Bandolier : from bandolera, a shoulder belt with loops or pockets for cartridges

Armada : a fleet of warships, from the Real Armada Española

Guerrilla : pronounced "gorila" in English

Renegade : from renegado in Spanish

Vigilante

Trade

Trade between different nations was essential during the colonial years, which is probably how these Spanish words made their way into the English language.

Cargo : from the Spanish word Carga

Embargo

Galleon : from galeón in Spanish

Canoe : Spanish canoa, from Arawakan canaoua

Jade : pronounced "lleid" in English, from the same Spanish word jade

Platinum : platino

Animals

Many animals found in the New World were given names by the Spanish and then adopted by the British. Here are some of them.

Alligator : caimán (literally from the Spainsh El legarto)

Armadillo

Mosquito

Iguana : from the Arawak languages of the Caribbean, iwana

Cockroach : an anglicization of cucaracha

Coyote : from the Mexican Nahuatl language coyotl

Barracuda

Bronco : this wild horse gets its name from the adjective in Spanish

Mustang : deriving from the now exclusively Latin American word mesteño (caballo salvaje), referring to the feral horses which are a descendent of the originally domesticated Spanish horses brought to the Americas.

Puma : pronounced "piuma" in English, from the Andean quechuan language

Shoulda woulda coulda....but did ya? : informal contractions

Sun, 07 Oct 2018 06:44:00 +0000

As promised, above are some examples of informal contractions. If you want to brush up on your ordinary contractions first, take a look at this article first. While I don't recommend you learn to speak using informal contractions, especially if you're thinking of taking an official English exam, you definitely need to be aware of them so that you can understand colloquial speech.

Have a look at the table below. Remember: all contractions are informal and I encourage you to use the "official contractions", except in formal pieces of writing such as reports, essays etc., however "informal contractions" are considered slang and should be avoided altogether if you want to speak properly. Many informal contractions don't have official ones.

INFORMAL CONTRACTION OFFICAL CONTRACTION SEPARATED

Shoulda Should've Should have

Woulda Would've Would have

Coulda Could've Could have *

Dunno Don't know Do not know

Gimme - Give me

Lemme - Let me

Gonna - Going to

Wanna - Want to

Gotta - Got to

(have got to)

Hafta - Have to

Lotta - Lot of

(a lot of)

Kinda - Kind of

Outta - Out of

Wha-di-ya - What do you

Whatcha What're you What are you

*Can't remember when we use past modals? Check out the 3rd conditional in my article King Arthur and the Four Conditionals.

If you'd like some listening practice with informal contractions, I recommend you have a go at the lyrics gap-fill exercise here. It's for the song Shoulda Woulda Coulda by the British singer/songwriter Beverly Knight. Listen to the song on youtube or spotify and see if you can fill in the missing lyrics. Once you have all the lyrics, see how many different informal contractions you can identify. The song is about past regrets. Need help with constructions with wish? Review my article Qué serían tus 3 deseos? For more lyrics gap-fill exercises, go to ¡Yo Amo el Jamón! I Love Rock and Roll!

Jack the Stripper strikes again!

Sat, 15 Sep 2018 20:35:00 +0000

That's right! He's back for the new academic year! If you've got no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you read this article first. In short, I've compiled together more of the most common vocabulary mistakes I've heard made by Spanish speakers due to false friends; words or phrases that have a similar form in a person's native language but a different meaning in the second language. The best (and funniest) example is "Jack the Stripper" instead of Jack the Ripper (Jack el Destripador in Spanish). So the false friends are Destripador/Stripper. Take note and try not to fall into these traps if you want to avoid being one of the "Stripper's" victims.

Note/Nota

In English, a note is only a short piece of writing such as a memo but never a test score, which is a mark.

Salón/Salon/Saloon

Let's look at salón vs. salon first. Salón means lounge, living room or sitting room in English. You can use any of those words but never salon. A salon refers to the place where a hairdresser or beautician (esteticista) works. So unless one of those is your profession, I highly doubt you have a salon in your house.

A saloon in English is one of those old-fashioned bars seen in Western films with the iconic wooden doors. If you told me you had a saloon in your house, I might ask you how the neighbours felt about it.

Signature/Assignment /Asignatura

A signature is a firma in Spanish, an assignment is a project and an asignatura is a school subject...got it?

Target/Tarjeta

A target is like an objective and a tarjeta is a card.

Sympathetic/Simpático/Sympatic

Sympatheitc is empático but it never means simpático. Those are false friends. But really, simpático and sympatic mean the same, it's just that sympatic in English has gone out of use. We prefer to use words like kind and friendly instead of sympatic.

Media/Media

Media in English only refers to audiovisual content or the Media (los medios de comunicación). Una nota media would be an average mark and las cinco y media, half past five.

Suceder/Succeed

Suceder in Spanish means to happen. ¿Qué sucede? = What's happening? On the other hand, to succeed in English means tener éxito/triunfar. He succeeded in passing the exam= tuvo éxito/triunfó a la hora del examen.

Suceso/Success

The same goes for these two, which are the nouns of the words above.

Cost/Costar

Cost is only used for money in English. For costar tiempo we say that something takes time.

Probar/Prove

Probar means try and prove is to show something is true with evidence. Therefore, you can prove a theory but you can't prove a cake!

Evidencia/Evidence

Similar to above, evidence are pruebas and evidencia is something obvious or a fact.

Efectivamente/Effectively

These two do actually have the same meaning when you're making an affirmation. However, be careful because we're unlikely to use effectively in this way in English outside of formal contexts, when it's replaced by in fact.

Eg. What you're saying is effectively* true. *formal

in fact true

When efectivamente is used as a one-word affirmation in Spanish, this becomes of course in English : ¡Efectivamente! Of course!

Don't forget that effectively has another meaning in English, which is eficazmente. So this is the false friend.

Eg. Shakespeare used language effectively.

Shakespeare usó lenguaje eficazmente.

En caso de/In case of vs. Por si acaso/In case

Make sure you don't get these nasties mixed up! In case of is used for emergency situations:

Eg. In case of fire, break the glass.
En caso de incendio, rompe el cristal.

In case is simply a precautionary measure in preparation for a possible (not neccessarily catastrophic) occurence:

Eg. Take an umbrella in case it rains.

Llevaros paraguas por si acaso llueve.

Actually/Actualmente

Actually means en realidad and actualmente is currently.

Grape/Grapa

A grape is a fruit and a grapa is a staple.

Cup/Copa

Don't go ordering a cup (taza) of wine - you won't sound very dignified! A copa is a (wine) glass.

Fail/Fallar

The verb to fail is suspender but fallar means to make a mistake.

Savage/Salvaje

The word savage has a negative connotation in English, similar to brutal. On the other hand, salvaje normally refers to something wild. To make the distinction, think of a rabbit. They can be wild (salvaje)but not savage (brutal). The Monty Python bunny being the exception.

Plato/Plate

These two are friends if we're talking about what you put food on. When they become false friends is when we start talking about starter, main course and dessert. Then they're dishes (or courses) not plates.

Curso/Course

As I said above, a couse can be a starter, main or dessert. It can also be something you take classes for eg. An English course. However, it isn't used in English to refer to the academic year. For instance, in Spanish you could talk about el último curso and this would be the final year in English.

Pretender/Pretend

Pretender means to try but pretend in English is fingir.

Circulation/Circulación

Both refer to the blood flow around the body and also with reference to publishing. But the difference lies in the fact that we can't use circulation to describe the movement of people or traffic arount a city. In this case, circulación would be flow.

Who was Jack the Ripper?

See if you can identify the false friends from above in this text.

We actually don't know who he was! Jack the Ripper is only the nickname given to a savage serial killer who was active around Whitechapel, an area of London, in 1888. His target victims were female prostitutes, of whom he pretended to be a potential client before brutally murdering them. The Media and police even received notes from the supposed killer, however, these may have been written by journalists in an attempt to create fake evidence, heighten interest in the story and increase their newspapers' circulation.

Although at the time the police failed to prove the true identity of London's most infamous killer, they believed the Ripper, if not a surgeon, had anatomical knowledge due to the fact that many of his victims were mutilated with a certain precision. They also suspected he was a local Whitechapel resident. His apparent ability to disappear immediately after the killings suggests an intimate knowledge of the Whitechapel neighbourhood. Despite continued interest in the case, as well as ongoing investigation by both professional and amateur researchers, Jack the Ripper's true identity will almost certainly never be known.

In case you're interested in thrillers about investigating serial murders, you might want to try watching The Alienist on Netflix.

Languages are for life .... not just for your CV

Sun, 02 Sep 2018 20:54:00 +0000

No one can deny that speaking a foreign language is a skill which looks great on your résumé. Here in Spain, an intermediate level of English is also needed nowadays in order to graduate from university and, if you're thinking about a career in education, a qualification in a foreign language scores you extra points in the government exams, particularly as many Spanish public schools are now bilingual. That said, foreign languages can be so much more than simply a way to score points, if you let them become a part of your daily life.

The Frankish King and Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne supposedly once said:

To have another language is to possess a second soul.

This couldn't be more true. And he should know, given that he spoke at least 3 other languages apart from his native tongue. Speaking a foreign language is like possessing a magic key that opens the box to a part of your brain that perhaps you never knew could exist. Some people even have a different voice when they speak another language. Having this "second soul" adds value to your personal and professional life. By speaking a foreign language you almost undoubtedly establish relationships with others, with whom perhaps you couldn't in your native tongue. If you're speaking another's native language, you will often be applauded just for trying and maybe even viewed in a different light.

By speaking the language of the country in which you live, work or travel to, you are immediately treated with respect and are able to access a completely different level of that society because language is the key to understanding culture and customs. It may allow you to enjoy the experience more as you're free of the stresses of making yourself understood and cultural differences won't seem like such a shock.

While it might be true that youngsters can pick up a new language more easily, an adult has something a child may not have; the motivation and understanding of the need and value of learning something, which is the key element to being a successful language learner. In addition to this, language learning is good for your mental health as it keeps your brain active. Scientific research even shows that being bilingual may prevent the onset of dementia. Now that’s definitely one of the best reasons to speak a foreign language later in life!

If you know you need English to get that qualification or to stand a better chance in the global job market, I can't stress this enough: plan ahead. Think of going from A1 to B2 level English as a diet where you're trying to lose weight. If you've got a lot of weight to lose, or in this case, a lot of English to learn, then the healthiest and most sustainable way to do it is over the course of several years. Crash diets, similar to crash English courses, rarely work long term and operation bikini (or operation First Certificate) in 3 months can be overkill; to the point that after the operation's over, people seldom want to continue. And what are the best diets which help you achieve your weight goals? The ones which most easily can become part of your lifestyle without being too restrictive. Find ways to make English part of your life. This doesn't mean seriously hitting the grammar books all the time or forcing yourself to learn the Oxford Dictionary by heart.

Think about what you like to do and try to fit English around it. If you're a cinephile, watch films in original version. If you're into books, try reading your favourite in English. If you love socialising and meeting new people, then join an English language exchange or conversation group. If you combine English with something you enjoy, you're more likely to keep it up, so once exam time or an English job opportunity comes around, you're already halfway there!

San Fermín: bull and cow idioms

Sun, 08 Jul 2018 14:17:00 +0000

Continuing with our Saints theme, we come to the second big summer festival, San Fermín, celebrated every year in Pamplona from 6th-14th July. This is perhaps the most famous Spanish fiesta worldwide and the main event is the encierro, which involves running through the streets being chased by bulls. If that's not your cup of tea, why not try learning these bull and cow idioms in English?

A bull in a china shop = un elefante en una cacharrería

Hit the bull's eye = dar en el blanco

Take the bull by the horns = tomar el toro por los cuernos

A cock and bull story = un cuento chino

A cash cow = una mina de oro

Have a cow = get very angry or upset about something

Eg. Bart Simpson is famous for his phrase "don't have a cow, man!" when he tries to calm someone down.

Until the cows come home = until very late/early morning

Eg. They partied until the cows came home.

As awkward as a cow on roller skates = someone who looks very awkard

Eg. She was the only one in fancy dress at the party and looked as awkward as a cow on rolloer skates.

Athough bulls aren't widely used in festivals in anglophone culture, like in Spain, comparable events in North America involving them are rodeos; such as the Calgary Stampede in Canada, which takes place during the exact same dates as San Fermín. For those of you, like myself, who won't be going to Pamplona this year, you can still get in the spirit by learning some of these expressions in English. Go on! Take the bull by the horns!