Blog
HAPPY MIKE
The older I get the more I think about the past, especially my childhood. I think of all the people I met, who for varying reasons, left their mark on me during those early years. I’d like to share just a few.
LITERATURE V READING
Ask any teenage student at a secondary school in Spain if they like literature and the reaction will probably be one of complete disinterest or just totally negative.
THE SPOOKIEST TIME OF THE YEAR
As I sit here typing away, I can hear the wind howling outside my window and I’m reminded that Halloween is around the corner.
EBOOK? NO THANKS
As I get older and the memory starts to fade, I’ve noticed there are certain things I still remember as clearly now as the day they happened, and many of them have one thing in common. They were firsts.
A LEGAL ALIEN
One question I am often asked is whether I miss England. People are often surprised to learn that I have lived more of my life outside the UK than in it!
HURLING
There is hardly a child in Ireland that hasn’t tried his or her hand at hurling at some time or other.
BACK TO SCHOOL
September, love it or hate it, is always a special time of year for students and teachers alike.
THOSE LAZY, HAZY, CRAZY DAYS OF SUMMER
Like many language teachers, my first class back after the summer holidays was getting my students to talk about what they did over the summer.
MARMITE – LOVE IT OR HATE IT
Marmite is a sticky brown spread used on sandwiches, toast or crackers, across the English speaking world. It is part of British heritage and it helped the nation survive two world wars.
LOST FOR WORDS
“Is that an iPhone?” A student asked me after giving a class. When I didn’t know the answer she was shocked! Then when I told her I wasn’t a mobile phone person her shock turned to confusion.
DUBBING
As a British child growing up in Spain in the 70’s and 80’s watching American and British films and series, dubbing was the norm. We simply didn’t know any better. When I went to university in Barcelona in the first half of the 90’s I discovered a whole new world in this respect: films in VO.
PLACE NAMES
“What’s in a name. That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet”. Shakespeare uses this line in Romeo and Juliet to argue that names are irrelevant. Well, I hate to disagree with the Bard of Avon, but names can tell us a great deal, especially when it comes to place names.
TEATIME
Over the years I’ve been asked many times by Spanish friends, teachers and students alike if it’s true that the British like to stop what we’re doing around 5pm for a cup of tea and a chat, what they understand to be ‘teatime’.
APPLES AND PEARS
“Apples and pears = stairs.” That was the first time I’d heard about Cockney rhyming slang years ago in Portsmouth, England, while getting a tour from my now dearly departed friend, Alex.
IRISH AND GALICIAN CULTURE
I’m from Ireland and it’s been said on more than one occasion that there are quite a few similarities between Galicia and Ireland
YOU MUST BE KIDDING!
In some of our talks for students, we talk about the different words that we have for baby animals. This is to contrast them with the use of diminutives in Spanish, which often substitute the ‘baby’ word, so that, for example, cachorros de perro y de gato become perritos y gatitos…
