Found Pau's favourite place in London

Hi guys!

This is Xavi, reporting from London. I agreed with Lewis that I would post in the blog from time to time, especially when I had some English-related issues to talk about.

Last Saturday, I was wandering around in the Brick Lane area, which is a zone full of restaurants and vintage clothing shops. And then, I saw it. There it was, standing proudly right in front of me: Pau's favourite place in London:


As you can see, it's a bar/restaurant (whatever), and it's called "Verge".

Literally, the neighbours living upstairs are "on the Verge". Hahahaha! Sorry, I just couldn't help taking that picture and posting it.

By the way, TV programs here are permanently subtitled. Or at least, I don't know how to switch the subtitles off in my TV set, I admit it. What an engineer.

Anyway, thanks to that, I have learnt that there is another expression equivalent to the famous "to be on the verge of (...)". It is "to be on the brink of (...)". Am I right, Lewis?

Well, my best regards to all of you. Keep in touch!

The Love Story of Jeanette and Tom

Today we took a look at some verbs like regret, mean, forget followed by either -ing or infinitive in the context of making up a story (in a cafeteria-very romantic!).

Homework:
Look at vocabulary on page 56 (ex.1)
Think about doing another presentation in the next week or two, and giving me a writing sample of something you're working on at the moment, or any kind of writing of all.

Vocabulary

cufflinks gemelos
canteen cantina
cafeteria cafetería
standoffish distante
I fell into it Caí en ella
nerves get frayed nervios se deshilachados
snowed under Nevó en
up to my eyeballs in work hasta mis ojos en el trabajo
convoluted complicado

Vocabulary

Asparagus hunting video link
Sorry but I only got some of our vocabulary today...
fate suerte
my troubles fall away mis problemas desaparecen
everyman hombre de la calle
role model modelo a seguir
mirror of society espejo de la sociedad
pay the price pagar el precio
living in sin que viven en el pecado
choose your clother elige tu clother
choose what to wear elegir qué ponerse
pillar of salt estatua de sal

Amazing Experts

Lot and His Daughters, from the Prado

Thanks to everyone for their presentations today!
Pau talked about the Old Testament, specifically Eden and Lot.
Andeu explained his asparagus hunting philosophy
Ruben broadened our minds with his presentation on quantum chromodynamics
And...Ester anthropological significance of Belen Esteban's popularity.

TED Talk

Guys, the talk using prezi presentation software is: the hidden power of smiling
http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_gutman_the_hidden_power_of_smiling.html

Bread & Butter LaSalle

Thanks to Ruben for his interesting presentation today! He left us all wanting more...

Presentation tool (see video at bottom of page):  http://prezi.com/

Recommended by Ester:  http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/

Today we:

• Listened to Ruben's presentation on personal image (and asked questions, too), and discoved some fashion never goes out of style.
• Did the prefix word activity.
• Savored some of Pau's home-grown strawberries.
• Enjoyed the special treats that Xavi brought us for his last day--Xavi, we all wish you the best on your adventure in the UK

Vocabulary

corn on the cob de maíz en la mazorca
corn syrup jarabe de maíz
sneaky furtivo
detach separar
detached individual
counterattack contraataque
withdrawal symptoms síntomas de abstinencia
supercomputer supercomputadora
superfine extrafino
semi-conscious semi-consciente
semi-detached house casa adosada
interchange intercambio
intercontinental intercontinental
overcautious cautelosos
overhang sobresalir
underline subrayar
underappreciated subestimado
counterattack contraataque
counterargument contraargumento
pseudo-intellectual pseudo-intelectual
pseudo-science la pseudo-ciencia
vintage clothing ropa vintage
freckles pecas
fitted shirt camisa entallad
bow/ribbon arco / cinta

Great TED talk using Prezi software:

The Empathic Civilisation

A video I think you'll all find interesting:

The Empathic Civilisation

(http://youtu.be/l7AWnfFRc7g)