Beatles Concert at EOI Sta B

Historic photo: Dani Machín (guitarist of The Birkins) rehearsing for Beatles concert this week in EOI Sta Brigida (with David Shea) in a Mariana Shea original tie dyed T shirt. My wonderful colleague Diane has suggested that everyone wear 60s garb for the event. Although Dani refused to don a Beatle wig on stage (gee, I wonder why!), he gladly accepted the hippie flower power motif. Now I have to match him on this groovy note.

The Beatles concert is at 8 pm on Wednesday evening (30th of October) in the library of the IES Sta Brigida. There is limited seating so be sure and get there early. Do not forget your 60s gear!

Reggae ABCs

Easy as ABC

Thanks to my colleague Liz for sharing this link which should make learning the alphabet in English more fun.

NA2 Application letter (~250 words) Dr Alberto

Alberto from the ULPGC, an experienced researcher and scholar, provided this excellent application letter which may help other students tighten up their prose. By the way, I have not included the requisite headings and date at the top of the letter. 

Dear Mr. Cunningham,

I am writing to apply for the post of camp monitor recently advertised on your website.

I am a researcher who has finished a degree in Industrial Engineering and recently read my European PhD in Biomechanical Engineering. I speak Spanish as my first language, but I do have a good command of English, as part of my doctoral thesis had to be written and presented in English in front of an international panel. I also spent four months in Scotland researching my PhD studies.

As the attached CV indicates, I have worked as a researcher at the university for more than five years. Therefore, I am used to working in a team environment. I have also given lessons for several years in my field, allowing me to improve my teaching skills. Any of my supervisors from Spain and Scotland would be glad to provide a reference.

I believe I would be suitable for the job as I have always been keen on sports and enjoyed working with children, so I would welcome the chance to be part of this summer camp. I also consider myself patient and pragmatic enough to deal with the different issues that can take place in a job of this type.

I attach a full CV for your consideration. Should you require any further information, I would be glad to provide it. Thank you for taking the time to consider this application. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours sincerely,

Alberto C

Model Application Letter (Based on this week's class work)

Janice Scott

75 Bank Row

Hartford, CT 02987

October 24, 2013       

Glinda Mathers
PC-Aware Company
889 Danver Road
Hatfield, CT 08065

Dear Ms Mathers,

I am writing to apply for the programmer position advertised in the Times. As requested, I enclose a completed job application, my certification, my CV and three references.

The opportunity presented in this listing is interesting and I believe that my technical expertise and educational training make me a competitive candidate for this position. The key strengths that I possess for success in this position include successfully designing, developing and supporting live use applications. I strive for continued excellence in my work and provide exceptional contributions to customer service.

With a BS degree in computer programming, I understand the full life cycle of a software development project. I also have experience in learning and excelling at new technologies as required.

Please see my resume for additional information on my experience. I can be reached anytime via email at janice.scott89@gmail.com or by mobile, 911-567-5572.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to speaking with you about this employment opportunity at your convenience.

Sincerely yours,

Janice Scott

A Job I Would Hate to Do (by Alicia NA 2)

 Have you ever had a short-term temping job at Christmas? If the answer is yes, I am sure you do not want to repeat it ever again. 

When I was twenty I decided to apply for a job in a Mall. It required a person with good appearance and ready to spend eight hours wrapping Christmas gifts. In spite of the low salary, I thought it was a good opportunity to earn pocket money. 

I got the job and I had a half an hour training course about how to wrap things with little paper. It seemed simple. However, when I started to wrap things with strange shapes, like a knife or a pan, I began to worry. My first week at work was horrible. I used to have an endless queue of moody people waiting for me to wrap their gifts. It also involved dealing some very difficult clients. One thing that drove me mad, was when I had to wrap a pair of socks or a watch and the battery in separate packs. Why did people request that?. “The quantity is important because my children boast  (= presumir) to their friends about how many gifts they have received,” the people would tell me. It was a bad experience. 

The job was monotonous and the shift was ten hours. Furthermore, there weren´t enough staff to take a rest. So I hope I never do it again. The only positive side to the job was I got paid. 
-- ALICIA

..

Phrasal Verbs (GET) Research team: Cristina, Esther O, Miriam

 GET-got- got     

•  UP….  levantar
•  DOWN  to…….ponerse a
•  ALONG with= ON with…  llevarse bien
• THROUGH = superar algo 
• AWAY      = escaparse (prisson) 
• OFF      = salir ( Can you get Monday off?)
• IN  = lograr entrar
• IN  with somebody = conseguir cuña
• AHEAD…… progresar
• BY on  … …apañarse con algo
• BEHIND =  respaldar o quedar atrás

Did you catch him out? (phrasal verbs with CATCH)

Nancy's group in NA 2 came up with this listing of different phrasal verbs using the root  verb "Catch":

- to catch somebody out = pillar. *

- to catch on ( to sth) = enterarse de algo *

- to catch on = ponerse de moda. *

- to catch at something = tratar de agarrar algo. *

- to catch in = verse envuelto.

- to catch up = ponerse al día.

- to catch up on something = recuperar. *

- to catch up with sth / sb = alcanzar a. *

- to catch somebody up = alcanzar a alguien.

- to be/get caught up in = estar metido en algo. *

Yurena's Dream Job (NA2)

I feel very strongly that the job of my dreams is teaching.  For me, the teacher’s role is very important in our society because the better teacher you are, the more your pupils learn.

I personally believe that teaching children has several advantages. If you ask me, I would say that the most important thing is working with children and playing while you work. Furthermore, being part of the children`s world everyday is relevant. As a result, the happier the children are the more satisfaction I have. Moreover, I can enjoy myself everyday with the close relationship among teachers and students. In addition to this, it is vital when I recognize not only the mistakes but also children`s progress and effort.

Apart from this, there are other things that make me happy at work. Firstly, having a good work-life balance is fundamental because everybody needs to do other things apart from their job. Take for example, going out with your family, practicing some sport or spending the whole afternoon with your children. At the same time, having friendly, supportive colleagues is important for me. Obviously, if I work as a teacher, I will need to have good workmates. Thus I could share my knowledge and materials with them.

However, without a doubt, there are disadvantages of being a teacher. I mean, the fact that a teacher has great responsibilities and has to seem happy and nice everyday even though they might feel stressed. Most teachers feel that work with children is not always easy. Although, when the children smile you forget your problems.

To sum up, my feeling is that teaching is beautiful because everyday I do something rewarding. I wholeheartedly believe that the best teacher is that one who considers that before being a good student, they have to be a good human being.

NB Nayra describes her classmate

Hello David, this is a description of my classmate. I hope you like it!

                Her name is Iluminada and her surname is Suarez. She’s from Spain and lives in the Canary Islands, in the remote, mountain town of Tejeda.  Her telephone number is 667830 and home number is 9286664.

                She has got two sisters and one brother. She also has a dog. In terms of sport, she practices padel, which is like tennis and squash. Her favorite number is eight and her favorite color is blue. She loves eating spaghetti. Her favorite film is The King’s Speech (which in Spanish is El discurso del Rey) and her favorite book is El tiempo entre costuras (which is now a movie, too) and her favorite car is Nissan Qasqai. She likes the actress Jessica Alba and her favorite singer is Luis Fonsi.

                If I had to choose a word to describe her I would say she is a funny girl.