Leisure Vocabulary

The topic of leisure activities brought out lots of interesting vocabulary in our NI1 sessions

1. Tiempo de ocio = leisure time (free time, spare time)
2. hacerse socio de un club = sign up for a club, join
3. mantenerse en forma = keeping fit
4. patinar sobre hielo = ice skating
5. practicar deporte = play sport (tennis, football)
6. bricolaje = DIY (do it yourself)
7. hacer ejercicio = do exercise
8. meterse en clases de spinning = take up spinning
9. abandonar clases = give up classes
10. dibujar = draw
11. jugador = player
12. arbitro = referee
13. cancha de tenis = tennis court
14. piscina = swimming pool
15. barco de vela = sailing-boat (yacht, ship)
16. campo de futbol = football pitch (UK) field (US)
17. coleccionista de sellos = stamp collector (philatelist)
18. natación = swimming
19. pesca = fishing
20. lucha libre = wrestling
21. boxeo = boxing
22. voley playa = beach volleyball
23. lectura = reading
24. patchwork = quilting
25. jardinería = gardening
26. caminar, senderismo = walking
27. hacer caminatas = hiking
28. escalar = climbing mountains
29. paracaidismo = sky-diving
30. playing the lute = tocar el laúd (o timple)
31. ciclismo = cycling
32. esnorkeling de tubo = snorkeling
33. buceo = scuba diving
34. ver la tele = watch TV
35. ir al cine = go to the cinema
36. esquiar = skiing
37. esqui acuatico = water skiing
38. snow boarding
39. surfismo = surfing
40. baile = dancing

Post Card Speaking Activity

Post Card Speaking Activity 

In pairs, look at a post card from the collection.

 

One partner must speak for a 90 seconds, describing what they can see in the post 

card. The other partner should not speak during this first step.

 

Then the second partner speaks for a further 60 seconds (1 min).

Here are suggested commentaries:

• “In this picture, I can see …” “There are many birds in the trees ...”
• “The people in the picture are dressed in ...”
• “In the foreground there is (are) ...” “In the background, I can see ...”
• “Underneath the trees, we can see ...”
• “There is snow on the mountain tops.”

• narrow and wide /tall buildings
• cobbled streets (adoquines)
• taxi rank (parada de taxis)
• wharf, pier, harbor (muelle)

• town hall, city hall = ayuntamiento
• fountain (fuente)
• tram tracks
• arches (arcos)
• statue (estatua)
• street lamps (faroles)
• roundabout (rotonda)
• clay pot (vasija de barro)
• carriage = carruaje
• ravine = barranco
• river = rio
• it dates back to = data a
• married couple = matrimonio
• roof = tejado
• cave = cueva
• tattered flag = bandera en harapos
• nostalgic = nostálgico/a
• oven = horno
• fishing boat = barquilla
• peasants = campesinos

• on top of her head (encima de su cabeza)
• big waves on the ocean (crash)
• the cross on the church steeple (campanario a dos aguas)
• terraced (row house) = casa terrera
• quaint, typical houses of the period = casa típica de la época
• sea weed = algas 
   
• sidewalks on both sides of the street= aceras a los 2 lados de la calle
• ornate, wooden balconies

Good Advice

Don't make a mountain out of molehill! 
                                                  - Ana (La Calzada)

STEREOTYPES: Opinion Essay N1

Opinion Essay about Stereotypes

Choose one of these titles to write a 100-word essay.

• Do gender stereotypes annoy you?
• Why do people use stereotypes?
• What are the stereotypes about people in your country?

Remember to :

1. Start your essay with a brief introduction
2. Then write a body of two paragraphs
3. Include a conclusion

Useful language

In my opinion,

I am inclined to believe that …

From my point of view,

Generally speaking,

Personally, I believe that…

It seems to me that …

As far as I am concerned …

I feel very strongly that …

However,

I would say that …

I do not have any problem with ...

In conclusion,

We recommend "Reverso.net"

An advanced (NA2) student Raquel recommended a translation web page called 

http://diccionario.reverso.net/ 

which she uses to get a better understanding of expressions in English.

I queried this site recently regarding "keen on" as in 

My friend is not keen on vegetables. = A mi amigo, no le gustan las verduras.

Reverso.net gave me this 

he's a keen cook      le gusta mucho or le encanta cocinar 

and 

I'm not very keen on him      no es santo de mi devoción, no me cae demasiado bien 

Thank you, Raquel! 

Letter of Complaint (Paz NA2)

TASK Read the instructions carefully and write a letter of complaint of 120-150 words.

                                                                                               Carretera a los Olivos, 41

                                                                                               35300, Santa Brígida

                                                                                               25th February, 2016

Av. Tirajana, 25

35100 Playa del Inglés

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Dear Mr. James Redston,

I am writing to complain about the meal I was served. Despite reading a positive review on the website, I went to eat to your British restaurant in Gran Canaria. A friend had recommended it to me as a good place to go for a romantic dinner in my holiday. It was the last day in the south of the island and I wanted to go somewhere special. When I phoned to reserve a table I specifically asked if we could eat gluten free food because my husband is celiac. The person I spoke to assured me it would not be a problem.

However, when we arrived at the restaurant, the menu had not gluten free food. When I informed the waiter that I had specifically requested food for celiac, he said that he did not know nothing about that.

They brought gluten-free food from another of their restaurants. Although the food was fine, the service was slow and the waiting staff unfriendly. When I was presented with the bill, I noticed that a 15% service charge had been included. I mentioned that I had been unhappy with the service and politely asked for the service charge to be removed. When the waiter refused, I demanded to see the manager but was told that he was away. I doubt very much if I will ever eat at this restaurant again.

Of course, I hope that the list of allergens will be included in your menu. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Paz

Travel Essay by Helena A (NA2)

Business has always been a reason to move to unknown lands, to search for treasures and mineral or to trade spices and fabrics.

The travel boom started with the Industrial Revolution mainly when people started to get some better rights, higher salaries and days for rest. During a long period, travel as a hobby was limited to the rich, but the travel sector started to grow faster and develop different methods of transport after the steam ships. The concept of travel changed in the nineteenth century. Firstly, people traveled to visit their family by train or ship but then appear the plane as a business. The plane was the second boom. With commercial flights, came tourism as we know it now.

Nowadays the most common method of transport continues to be the plane. It is a global business. It is because the relation between price and time is quite competitive. On the one hand, airlines have been reducing their costs, removing free food for four or less hours flights, keeping sits just in one position and introduce more rows… and also, they apply logistic strategies on their aircraft fleets, for example to share some with other companies or some strategic stops to fill the plane. On the other hand, with a plane you can cross half the world in 10 hours. This helps to save time, and time is money. That is the reason people prefer to pay a little bit more.

Although the conditions on the planes are getting worse for the costumers while the airlines are increasing their profits, we continue to fly. We haven’t any other option, have we?