English as spoken by foreigners

Hi guys,

Check out this video on a MSN blog:

http://msnukhomepage.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!7BDE7EE9F7039764!4055.entry

It's interesting to read the comments made about it by some native english speakers and how they feel about the way foreigners speak. I find in some of the responses good pieces of advice about what to do and what not to do.

Cheers!

Your love is by Paul and Storm

Lyrics:

My love is a butterfly
Floating sweetly through a summer field
Spreading beauty and love under the midday sun
And your love is an entomologist
Chasing me down, ensnaring me in your net
And taking me home, jabbing a pin through my guts
And mounting me on your wall
A pin
Your love is a pin through my guts
My love is a sailing ship
Seeking out a friendly shore
To cast out my anchor, happily never sail no more
And your love is the ocean that drowns me
Leaving my bones to be picked at by crabs
And bringing settlers to the New World with smallpox and influenza
And wiping out the indigenous population
Smallpox
Your love is smallpox
You are a giant redwood falling on a family of deer
You are a soaring eagle landing in a minefield
You are river rising over the downtown levees
You are Christmas in Iran
My love is a tiny puppy
Knowing only joy and trust
Greeting each new day like a miraculous gift
And your love is an underground dog-fighting ring
Catching me and keeping me in a cage
On the brink of starvation
Torturing me daily until all I that know is hate and rage
And death holds no meaning for me
Just like Christopher Walken in the end of The Deer Hunter
Christopher Walken
Your love is Christopher Walken

Your extra verses:

My love is like argentine football full with talent and joy,
your life is like boring English football, with nothing more than fouls
My love is a magnificent midfield goal, your love is a lucky rebound score

My love is the NBA, the best league in the whole world with the best players,
your love is the Torneo Nacional de Ascenso, with awful referees and falling stadiums
My love is an alley-oop, your love is a shot that didn´t hit the ring

My love is Federer and Sampras, unic, winner and fantastic
Your love is Andy Murray, Coria and Gaudio, loser and sad
My love is a great drop, your love is a double fault.

My love is Ferrari and Mc Laren
Your love is Renault and Honda
My love is Fangio and Shumacher
Your love is Barrichelo and Mazaccane

Alan

My love is New Year in Paris
Full of lights and hope
And your love is the following day
Full of hangover, headaches and hunger

My love is sailing though Venice channels
With soft music and romantic kisses
And your love is pigeons flying over
and pooing over people’s heads

my love is New York
with all its shiny and glamorous style
and your love is the fast food
and the imperialism eating third-world countries.

Caro, Agus and Anita

My love is promotion
Rising up from janitor to boss
After working all day long, finally receiving an amount to take home
And your love is getting fired from every job,
Being blamed for someone else’s mistakes and flaws.

My love is a paid vacation, flying high on a first class seat
Drinking wine and room service all day long.
And your love is working 24-7 all year long
Without hope of leaving those four walls.

Micaela, clara and Leila (with jobs)

My love is a mouth-watering chocolate cake filled with caramel
And sweets of all sort and kinds
Your love is the ugly lettuce that falls off my King-size burger
And leaves a greasy stain in my favorite pair of pants
My love is a raspberry gum
That I chew with so much delight
Your love is the leftovers of my dog’s dinner
Wrapped in the fridge and two days old.

Tino and Juan

My love is a chocolate
Melted over banana split
Spreaded over your table, always at dinner time

Your love’s a frustrathed chef
Unable to fry a single egg
And when you cook at home, it only gives me cholesterol

Coles
Coles
Terooool
I’ll die of cholesterol

Your love’s like salt to an hyperthense
Or some sugar for a diabetic
Do keep cooking or you’ll kill me
Or maybe I suicide

Zeke and Nikita

My love is a furry coat,
Keeping us warm in snowy winters,
Spreading airs of luxury along foggy streets
And your love is a ragged old-fashioned outfit,
A Charleston dress in a seventies party,
A leather jacket in a table of bargains,
where Bronx ladies struggle for style.
A bargaaiinnnn
Your love is a bargain.

Mickey and Lucrecia

My love is a last minute winner
Floating through a soccer field
Spreading beauty and love like a referee giving a free penalty kick
Your love is like a defender
Chasing me down while I try to score in the goal
Your love is like getting relegated to the 2nd division
Or like the worst injury in the beginning of the season

My love is...

Pato and Seb

My first love is a flower crown
Filling my mind with bird songs and colours
Making me feel like a booming King..
And her love is an artificial rose
Lacking scent and taste
Thrusting me a thousand thorns.
A needle,
A deadly needle through my skin.

My second love a summer beach
Making me dumb with her tropical drinks
Drying me out like an omnipresent sun
And her love is a warm poison
Blowing my mind away like a raging storm
Leaving me all wet and shivering.

Andrea and Lupe

Test 1, Paper 3, Part 5 Summary model answer.

Nowadays perfume companies can produce any scent they wish including unusual and unpleasant ones. This has lead to strange new perfumes becoming more common. In addition, smells can be used in public places such as the cinema to enhance experiences. Unfortunately smells are difficult to remove when no longer wanted and can become mixed up leading to unpleasant situations.

Paul says: You can see that the first line encapulates the basic idea that any smell can be produced artificially now. It them continues by showing the results positive and negative. How does it compare to yours?

Eulogy for the late, great, Mickey F

Never have I met such a creative artist as Micaela was. Having shown literary qualities from a very early stage, she produced and published her first poetry book at the age of 19. Not only was this first book a massive sale success, but also implied for her the possibility to travel abroad. Being invited to deliver a lecture on Argentinean Literature in Paris, she also showed her great aptitudes for public relations, hence being offered a post in her country’s French Embassy as part of the Cultural delegation. As a result of being promoted to the head of the Argentinean delegation two years afterwards, Micaela finally had the opportunity to fulfill her life’s dream: participating in the ordinary sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations as a representative of her own country. Never before had a writer achieved such honorable position that Micaela acquired at the age of 35. Working as a peace ambassador, she visited several African nations and spoke before plethora of International Forums. Rarely did she take a time to rest, except for this last one. Only by chance will her enterprise be imitated and that is the reason why we will remember her forever and ever.

Mica, Zeke and Leila examen exams

Alan, Luli and Stepo get progressive

Script:

ALAN: I would like to begin by saying that you can´t have a traditional education in a progressive society. In our particular changing world, you can´t keep the same learning methods that the ones used hundreds years ago. Education should adapt to this new era.
STEPO: I don´t think you fully appreciate the fact that it is this changing society that should be built upon a rigid traditional instruction so that students learn the proper values of an upstanding lifestyle.
LULI: On one hand, I agree with the idea of constantly improving the methods of education but on the other hand, I feel that some techniques should be maintained so that a minimum of education is ensured. For example, beating kids with a ruler when they misbehave to keep the order of the class is necessary in modern education.
STEPO: I couldn´t have put it better myself. Without a teacher that doesn´t have authority, children wouldn´t learn effectively.
ALAN: Under no circumstances could I agree to that. It is highly unprobable that students learn more wth an authoritarian teacher. In recent times, little kids need a comprehensive and friendly instructor that can help them not only with school subjects but also in every aspect of their lives.
STEPO: I firmly believe that teachers shouldn´t trespass the academic environment with such nonsense as sexual education and phsycological assistance…
LULI: With all due respect, you just can´t ignore these aspects of everyday life that students should be aware of as they grow up.
ALAN: Exactly, it is certain that the education that we are receiving is not preparing us to the real world - we should change the syllabi and educate our children with stuff they are really going to use in their life.
STEPO: Well, I think I can agree on that, seeing that much of what I’ve learned at school doesn’t help me with the daily grind.
LULI: I think we have agreed that we should keep a traditional educative method while updating it with the needs of an advancing society, such as sexual ED, drug prevention and first aids programmes.

AgUs Carissima and Clarita talk singl sex vs co-ed

Script:

C: I would like to begin by saying that I have only experienced the idea of an all-girls school and as I see it, this kind of education reduces distractions and the formation of cliques in the classes.
A: I totally disagree with you. I reckon that mixed schools are way better than the other ones because they teach you how to socialise with different kinds of people and you get used to be with the opposite sex.
M: I can see both points of view but surely you can accept the fact that it isn’t totally influential when it comes to learning. There are, if I may say so, certain points you should bare in mind that everyone has their own individual way of learning and connecting with the teacher and their classmates.
A: I think we can accept your position on that, it depends on how the group works as a team more than how it’s composed.
C: You’re completely mistaken. How can a group work correctly when you have to face different reactions or thoughts according to the gender of the students?
M: Your question leads us back to my statement. It’s all about the relationship between the members of the group; it’s about how comfortable they feel with each other. I consider that there should be no problem in talking about certain issues in front of the opposite sex.
A: I am of exactly the same opinion. Sharing experiences with the other gender from a young age is the best way to learn how to act and how to react in front of everyone. It opens your mind in a big way.
C: With respect, I don’t agree with you at all. Coming back to what I was saying…
M: Sorry to interrupt but I think we could agree that both of you are right in some points, the difference caused by gender might be problematic at times, yes, but it can also help us open our minds and learn a lot from one another... don't you think? So maybe we can just conclude that none of the two kinds of education is better or worse than the other one.

Nikita, Caro and clarita talk teachers vs students

The apprentice

As far as I am concerned, the best performers in the groups were Paul and Syrah. Whereas Paul’s outstanding performance is evident (he is an innate salesman), Syrah’s is more ambivalent. At the beginning of the show, the Project Manager of the female group [Syrah] proved herself to be authoritative and autistic (you mean like Dustin Hoffman in Rainman? Paul)concerning the views and opinions of the rest of the group. However, as the task unfolded, she also demonstrated an important working capability, even if her marketing strategies were unorthodox, or too physical, for she literally forced customers to stop and buy her flowers. The worst performers were Matthew and Auderike, both provoking serious delays in accomplishing the tasks, not only due to their inefficiency, but also due to their egotism, which made them clash with their Project Managers.
Still, the predicament between the contestants and the Project Managers was less intense in the male group than in the female one. This is because Tim applied a more democratic, consensus-based decision making method than Syrah. Nevertheless, quarrels among females also arose due to their general incompatibility, demonstrating that powerful women are not meant to work together, even if at the end of the day, they achieved better sales results than the men did.
This triumph over men is the consequence of a good decision –selling flowers at King’s Cross- taken at the very moment when men mistook the course of action, attempting to flog at the Baker Street Station. This, however, is the effect of pure luck. The male team had been selling at a constant successful rate, implementing wise strategies –such as door to door selling and price bargaining- while women were rehearsing more chaotic methods, which even included selling at a loss.
In my opinion, and with evidence against all common sense, it is the female group who finally sold the most, even if they achieved this at the last part of the test. Men would have been able to comply with the task faster if they had not chosen to sell their last bunches at Baker Street.
So, if I were Sir Alan, I would chose to fire a member among the losers and that would be Matthew, not only because he did not bond with his team, but also because he is arrogant and overconfident, two characteristics that should be banned from the business world.

Micaela (Micky)

Antidisestablishmentarianism

Antidisestablishmentarianism (listen to British sample (info), American sample (info)) is a political position that originated in nineteenth-century Britain, where antidisestablishmentarians were opposed to proposals to remove the Church of England's status as the state church of England forwarded principally by both Payne and Tuffin.

The movement succeeded in predominantly Anglican England, but failed overwhelmingly in Roman Catholic Ireland – where the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871 – and in Wales whose Church of Wales was disestablished in 1920. Antidisestablishmentarian members of the Free Church of Scotland delayed merger with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in a dispute about the position of the Church of Scotland.

The term has largely fallen into disuse, although the issue itself is still current (see Act of Settlement 1701).


Word Length
The word "antidisestablishmentarianism" itself is often referenced in English-speaking popular culture due to its unusual length of 28 letters and 12 syllables. It is commonly known as the longest word in the English language, excluding coined and technical terms not found in major dictionaries.

Longer words typically have been coined by specific authors in relatively modern times, or are obscure technical names. For example, floccinaucinihilipilification, first used in prose by William Shenstone in 1741, is 29 letters long, but was thought to have been coined as a nonsense word by a single person or small group of students at Eton. It is rumoured that this was intended to mean "to value something at nothing" or to describe a lack of value. Another word specifically coined to be the 'longest word in the English language' is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from the song of the same name in the film Mary Poppins.

Recently, the 2007 edition of Guiness Book of World Records listed "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" as the longest word in the English language. The medical term is a lung disease, caused by the "inhalation of very fine silica dust." This too was a purposely coined word, with the explicit intent of being a long word.

Source: Wikipedia

JUAN

Canadians flock to Cuba

Canadian tourist are flocking to Cuban beaches in record numbers and helping Cuba's tourist trade end a two-year slump. A surge in Canadian

tourism led to unprecedented tourism. In addition prospects for hotels during the summer improved last week, when new President Raul Castro lifted a ban on Cubans staying at resort hotels formerly reserved for foreigners only. American tourists are still barred by US law from visiting the country.



My opinion

I'm glad Cuba is able to reactivate their economy by improving tourism, one of their major sources of income. It's understandable that Canadians tourist choose the Caribbean island for holidays given their strong dollar.

Shoppers in fear - Worries about the economy in the US...

This article highlights the reaction of US citizens to the country's worst recession in 35 years, which forced them to change their way of life: Americans are now worried about rising unemployment and need to cut down on expenses by replacing some products by cheaper counterparts and avoiding 'big-ticket' items altogether. This is mainly because the cost of essential goods (food and fuel among others) has been growing faster than average wages have, and debt service is becoming a huge drain on monthly income. This reduction of the consumers' spending has been a blow to bigger retailers as their profits are greatly diminished.

---------

Well, one thing of this article that shocked me is the description of how many things Americans want to buy (and actually get, if their economy is doing well), which is completely different from the situation in Argentina, for example. Also, it's surprising how many debts pile up on them as a result of this monstrous spending.

Stefano

A new consensus in Latin America

A new consensus in Latin America by Marcela Sanchez
The article is about the global credit crisis many countries are living in. The United States, “epicenter of this turbulence”, and other countries affected demand for commodities such as oil, copper, tin and soybeans. Meanwhile, Latin American economies and financial markets have proven more resilient to the crisis than it has been expected. These countries have implemented reforms such as increasing taxes and social spending.
Finally, the author puts emphasis on how governments have chosen different approaches to take advantage of the current windfall.

As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t the first time the whole world is affected by a credit crisis and many countries decide no to cooperate with the ones who are in need. In my opinion, every country should take the economical crisis as an international problem and instead of taking advantage of other countries, work together and help each other as a team. Wouldn’t it be easier if we dealt with this problem all together?

Memory techniques

'All learning depends on memory – without it everything would be new and unknown everyday.'
'You have more brain cells in your head than the number of trees in the Amazon rainforest. You have more connections between brain cells than the number of leaves on all the trees in the Amazon rainforest.'

What is memory?
Memory is our ability to receive, retain and retrieve ideas and information.
Remember the three 'Rs' of memory: receive, retain, retrieve.
A convenient way to think about memory is in three distinct parts:
• short term memory
• medium term memory
• long term memory
We think of these three types of memory as operating in different ways.

Short term memory ('Electrical' memory)
Short term memory is like the RAM on your computer. It is limited in capacity, it's the holding centre for about seven pieces of information. If we try to add an item to short term memory, the new item pushes out one of the older ones.
Your short term memory can retain (for short periods) information which you only partially 'understand' (like telephone numbers) but you require 'understanding' to receive and retain information for longer.
When the power is switched off, all short term memory disappears.

Medium term memory ('Chemical' memory)
Medium term memory can store more data (information and ideas) for longer periods. Data can only be received into medium term memory by regularly activating and using the data. Even if we activate the material regularly over a period of time, a long period of inactivity will cause the
memory to disappear. We can all remember how to ride a bicycle, but do we remember the colour of our first bicycle? Medium term memory is like the hard disk on your computer.

Long term memory ('Structural' memory)
Long term memory is so deep that it actually changes the structure of our brain. In computer terms the memory is 'hard-wired'. Even if the power is switched off and the computer is left unused for many years the memory is retained within the structure (circuits) of the computer. In Italian, people talk about the 'incarnation' of memory – where the memory becomes part of our
own flesh.

Receiving multi-sensory experience
Your working memory receives information through your senses. If you see it, say it, hear it and do it in a revision session, you will create a four-lane motorway into your medium term memory.
This is why you should try to learn in a multi-sensory way and use them all to make as many different 'mental' connections as you can. So sitting for hours just reading will take you four times as long to memorise the same information! See it, say it, hear it, do it!

Why do we forget?
• Poor understanding
• Poor attention, poor listening
• Distractions
• Tiredness, anxiety, emotions, mood and stress
• Interference new information being confused with existing information
• Poor learning strategy – not having cues or memory triggers to unlock and retrieve the
• facts
• Disuse or insufficient rehearsal or practice using a review cycle
• Lack of importance – you don't remember what you don't value
• Improper organisation – trying to cram too much information into your brain without sorting it into categories
• Dehydration – the brain needs water to conduct electrical pulses fast

Using learning strategies to remember
• Rhymes: 'I before E except after C.' This easily remembered spelling rule avoids spelling mistakes in words like 'receive' and 'retrieve'. Get students to invent rhyming raps to memorise grammar rules.
• Physical prompts: in Libya, I was taught to use my two fists to remember the days in the months. If the first high bone is January (31) it is followed by a dip, February (28/29). March (31) is the next bone followed by a dip, April (30). July (31) is the last bone on one hand and August (31) is the first bone on the other hand.
• Memory workout : read, cover, write, say, check. (repeat the workout circuit many times!)
• Visualisation prompts: to remember a sequence of facts, think of a regular journey such as to school or to the shops. Connect each fact to a point on the journey.
• Sound prompts: the same as above but connect each fact to a stage in a piece of music you know well.

General principles to aid memory
• Create interest: find a purpose, 'This will be useful for ...'
• Understand it: it's impossible to learn what you don't understand.
• Positive thinking and confidence: often we fail to learn because we are convinced we can't do it.
• Intend to attend to it!: be determined to learn – avoid distractions.
• Organise information into sensible chunks and rehearse. Do not try to learn too much at one time – remember your short term memory can only hold seven items. Plan what you are going to learn.
• Look for meaning and compare with what you already know: comparative
• grammar is not a waste of time – most languages have countable and uncountable nouns!
• Remember the unusual: some aspects of English grammar and usage will appear bizarre to the students. Learn them like the information about trees in the Amazon rain forest (see part one).
• Develop a system of memory triggers for each item you wish to remember. A 'souvenir' will trigger your memory of a holiday.
• Use a multisensory approach: employ a combination of audio, visual and physical strategies to use your audio, visual and motor memories.
• Be relaxed: play non-lyrical music to help your brain's Alpha waves buzz.
• Doodle, highlight, cartoon, underline: decorate your notes with colour and pictures to make them more memorable.
• Involve your emotions: feel happy and reward yourself when your memory works well. Develop an emotional relationship with the information you are learning!
• Use concrete materials: make a model or game to represent the information you need to remember.
• You remember best the information you receive at the beginning or end of a work session: Try having a short change in the middle of a work session so you have two beginnings and two endings.

Training your students to have better memories
• Make memory training a significant element of the course.
• Encourage students to think carefully about how their memories work.
• Start each lesson by asking students to recount the sequence of events and ideas in the previous lesson.
• Encourage the students to experiment with memory techniques. Eliminate their fear of investigating their mental processes. Many techniques will seem strange or silly but students will find they work!
• Words die in lists - encourage students to contextualise, visualise and personalise their vocabulary.
• Build self-confidence by teaching students to begin each lesson by repeating three times 'Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better.'
• Teach your students to use diaries or calendars to keep records of their 'review cycle'. This should be based on One hour, One day, One week, One month. So a lesson is reviewed after one hour, then the next day and so on.
• Test students' memories regularly so they can see their memories improving!
• So how will you remember all the information in this article?

The ideas in this article come from many sources including:
Longman Brain Trainer ~ Jonathan O'Brien - Longman 1999
The Good Study Guide ~ Andrew Northledge - Open University 1990
The Human Brain ~ Susan Greenfield - Phoenix 1997
Memory, Meaning and Method ~ Earl Stevick Newbury House 1976
In your hands ~ Jane Revell & Susan Norman - Safire Press 1996
Wordflo ~ Steve and Jacqueline Smith - Longman 1997

This photocopiable activity has been downloaded from www.longman.com/exams/
© Pearson Education 2005

sorry, what was your name?

I hate when it happens, because you just feel so uncomfortable!, you are walking down the street when you hear this person you feel you know from somewhere saying, heey!so you start thinking, WHO IS HE? WHAT WAS HIS NAME? WHERE DO I KNOW HIM FROM? and while you think all that stuff, this person is telling you about his, life, his friends and nothing seems to make you rememeber why this person knows you!!
Finally, when the torture ends and you manage to go, you remember this person´s name, but it´s too late now!!
Caro

Venezuela axes "The Simpsons" as bad for kids

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela has forced U.S. cartoon "The Simpsons" off its airwaves, calling the show a potentially bad influence on children, and filled its morning slot with reruns of the beach-and-bikini show "Baywatch."

"The Simpsons" satirical take on a dysfunctional American family had been shown, dubbed into Spanish, on the Televen network at an 11 am slot.

"Today I believe they started broadcasting something else," said a spokesman at Venezuela's broadcasting regulator Conatel. "They were infringing many things in the television and radio social responsibility law."

Conatel said it started proceedings against the morning airing of the show after complaints from viewers.

Televen has replaced the long-running and popular cartoon with "Baywatch Hawaii," late seasons of the "Baywatch" series that made actress Pamela Anderson a household name.

20th Century Fox Television, which owns "The Simpsons" and is part of News Corp, said it was not immediately able to comment on the decision to pull "The Simpsons." The long-running show was once criticized by former U.S. President George H. W. Bush but is now a major U.S. cultural reference.

Many Venezuelan television stations fill their schedules with reruns of old U.S. series and Latin American soap-operas.

So the debate is: Is Baywatch the new role model for a Chavezesque society? Are the Simpsons really so subversive? Comments please!

It's not football, It's culture

We're all witnesses of recent episodes of serious violence in football stadiums, which has lead to different opinions, most of them inaccurate.
Firstly, respect to lower divisions, AFA has banned visitors to support their team in other's stadiums, preventing this sport to be as exciting as it gets when both sides scream for their team. Indeed, it didn't have a good result at all respect to aggressions, not even in Division A. Outrageous events -ironically - between River Plate fans among themselves had me thinking about the real causes of this facts.
It is commonly stated that football itself is violent, yet I disagree with those. From my point of view, the activity itself and its surroundings are not violent, but create an auspicious ambience to reflect society matters. In other words, violent is our daily routine in Argentina. Violence is to be insulted, assaulted, sequestered, murdered. It's our culture what is reflected on match-day. Two opposing gangs letting all their accumulated desire of hate and revenge out is the consequence of our behavior as a society.

(Ezequiel)

The power of dreams

Have you ever had a bad dream and woke up with the wrong feet? Is it true that while you’re sleeping you can sort out many difficulties and can surprisingly get the solution to a problem?
It is common knowledge that when you dream the unconscious part of the brain appears and many of your deepest feelings come out. However, some of these dreams can affect your temper.
How many times have you woken up by an awful nightmare that changed your mood and the way of confronting things for the rest of the day?
Dreams are more powerful than what we think and we should pay more attention to them as the have a lot of things to say.

Your first job

In recent times, getting your first job has become quite a challenge. Most people begin this search right after finishing school. Here is where the big trouble appears. Most job offers are reserved only for those who already have work experience, not to mention incredible high requirements such as great manage in the a second language, and other different habilities. Seems to me that society is telling them to forget about finding work in the area of their university studies, to give up, and conform themself with looking for a job in supermarkets or as a clothes sellsman. Not that there anything wrong with that, only that clearly is not gonna make such a difference in your future interviews.

To be cool or to be a loser?

We live in a society that judges what’s cool to do and what’s not so cool. Teenagers behave differently from how they truly are in order to fit in. They start drinking and smoking at an age when they should be playing with their friends. I find it unbelievable to see twelve year-olds getting drunk and acting as if they were older. What’s really sad is that they act like that just because they want to be liked by the others and they think that if they express what they really think they are going to be called losers and are going to be outcasts. For example, when someone says they are not willing to have premarital sex people start saying he’s either a liar or way too stupid. But, why do people have to act according to what the majority does? I firmly believe that everyone should have their own beliefs and act according to what their heart dictates, not according to what a bunch of people think what should be done.

Violence in Colombia

To be honest, I believe that what's happening in Colombia with the rebel group FARC is a threaten to the human rights due to the large quantity of civilians that are affected. This rebel group which focuses on drug-trafficking, is also responcible for kidnapping, tortures, killings and keeping hostages, like the former presindential candidate Ingrid Beancourt.
Frankly, I think it's a shame that these kind of groups are not only allowed to exist but also to act in such a violent way.

Ana Pecoraro

why can´t we be friends?

why is it that we insist on having friends from the opposite sex? its quite clear that in some point of the relationship, you´ll stare at your companion and say WOW!. maybe when looking for consolation or support; perhaps that one time you were so drunk you couldn´t remember his name. one day you´ll gaze at your best friend and say: im in looooveee!

What do you expect me to do?

It´s 12:00 am, the night of your birthday. You´re either celebrating at home with family, or out with friends. Having a great time! Suddenly the cake part arrives.
Everyone gathers around you singing ¨Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you..¨ What do you do while they are all singing?
Do you sing along with them? Just stand there and smile? Or just look down and wait for the song to end?
Even if you do any of those three you know you´ll feel really stupid and awckward. Because who seriously sings to their own birthday??
Wait for it to be you´re birthday and remember this, you won´t know what the hell to do!

Hideous littering

Don't you hate when somebody throws garbage on the street without any scruples?
There is a lot of people who don't even bother to move their heavy ass towards a trash can and just have that automatic habit of letting their things "fall" from their hands to the floor.
What about those how have lunch at a fast food and leave their trays on the table? Don`t they consider that someone will have to do it for them?
We think it´s time to stop thinking only about our present comfort and become more councious about each other.

Guys at work

Here I am in my office sorrounded by fifty men, listening to unpleasent dirty jokes. You would expect me to be annoyed and tired of this job, but on the contrary i feel very happy with it. Although some people may think i'd feel umcomfortable, i really enjoy not having bitchy two-faced female work mates. Not only do i play jokes on my companions, but i also like football and sports in general, which usually gives me the opportunity to join their conversations.

should we leave the seat in a bus?

Sometimes you are half asleep on the bus, listening to music, expecting to arrive home, after a hard day at work when you suddenly realise that everybody is expecting you to leave your comfort and let the old woman sit down. Then you start thinking, should I stand up?, why me? what is the policy? the youngest man, who should stand up?

The Olympic beverage

On April, 11th, the Olympic flame is arriving at our country, sponsored by Coca Cola. But... How are we gonna receive it?

The Olympic Games are going to take place in a country which doesn't respect the Human Rights (China)and whose form of government is clearly opposite to the sort of democracy the International Community is so concerned in defending and promoting.
But the most outstanding issue is that these celebrations are sponsored by one the biggest companies in the world which is, for sure, against communism and all kinds of "mixed-system" economies as the Chinese model.

The question is, then: Why are they together? What does Coca Cole pursue? We're sure that, whatever it is, it can't be good.

And so...

Are we going to remain silent, hypocritically accepting the "conspiracy" that The Coca Cola Company and the Chinese State are leading? or, are we going to stand up for the Human Rights, and protest against it, as London did this week?

We still don't get the origin (or worse, the aims) of this awkward couple, although we are fully aware that it pursues no Humanitarian goals.

Should we be on guard?

Psycology as a recruiting device

Even though I believe that Psycology as a "pseudo-science" could be useful to address a wide variety of phenomena, I kind of look down on its use as a recruiting device. If you think about how it is loosely applied at job interviews, you will understand what I mean. How can a test that was "dubiously" proved to "statistically" work in a certain environment/culture, be taken to decide who should be taken on/rejected for a certain position? In my view, the statistical nature of those tests make them questionable in that you are deciding how appropiate someone is by just resorting to "findings" that work on average.

If you are not in the list, you are not getting in

Saturday night,you decide to go clubbing with your friends, get in line and finally get to the door. While walking in, a big guy grabs you by the shoulder and tells you that you can´t get in. You may ask why? Well he actually has no reason at all not to let you in; he decided to do so just by looking at the way you are dressed or your skin color. Not everyone can fit the perfect standards that this society sets. Not everyone can afford expensive clothes, nice shoes or be born into a blonde blue-eyed family. So why don´t we stop this nonsense and start judging people for what they really are. Just think about it.

WTF! (What the f**k)

There was me thinking 'Wow, a youtube service for the CPE' well I spose it could be useful, but only if your on ACID! Enjoy!!

A whole lotta lingo!

Hi Guys, wasn't sure whether to post this whole lot onto the blog but it's cheaper than printing it all out so here it is. See how many of these you can get into your presentation next week and your writing and speaking this year.

Beginning

- Actually
- Well
- Frankly
- To be honest
- As a matter of fact
- In those circumstances
- In fact
- To put it bluntly
- I would like to begin by…
- I would like to make a few remarks concerning
- I would like to mention briefly that
- The most important points seem to me to be

Introducing a new point

- Turning to…
- The next issue I would like to focus on is..
- I would like to turn briefly to the problem of…

Adding

In addition
I might add that
As well as…there is also..
Not only…but also..
Furthermore…
Moreover…

Giving an example

Let me give an example
To illustrate this point, let us consider…
A case in point is…

Balancing

On the one hand…but on the other hand…
Although…we mustn’t forget…
Whereas…we have to remember…
In spite of… I still think…
Despite the fact that…I …

Generalising

On the whole…
In general…
Generally speaking…
By and large…
All in all…
All things considered…

Stating preferences

I’d rather…than….
I prefer…to…
I tend to favour… as opposed to…
… has an advantage over…in that…
The main advantage of… is that…

Concluding

Let me conclude by saying…
I’d like to conclude by stating that
Allow me to conclude by highlighting the fact that
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that…
I would now like to conclude my comments by...

Asking for an opinion

What’s your opinion of….
What’s your position on…?
What do you think of…?
I’d like to hear your views on…?

Asking for a reaction

Could I ask for your reaction to…?
I was wondering where you stood on this question?
Where exactly do you stand on this issue?
I wonder if you’d like to comment, X?

Giving strong opinions

I firmly believe that…
I am absolutely convinced that…
It’s my belief that…
There’s no doubt in my mind that…
It’s quite clear that..
I’m certain that…
It’s my considered opinion that…

Giving neutral opinions

I think that…
In my opinion…
It’s my opinion that…
As I see it…
As far as I’m concerned…
From my point of view…

Giving tentative opinions

It seems to me that…
I would say that…
I think it would be far to say that…

Summarizing

Well, if I could just sum up the discussion..
To summarize, I think we are in agreement on…
To sum up, there seems to be…
In short…
Briefly, the main points that have been made are…
Well, at this stage I feel I should summarize the matter as it stands…
If I may just go over the main points raised so far?

Strong agreement

I completely agree…
I agree entirely with your point of view…
I’m in total agreement…
I am of exactly the same opinion.

Neutral agreement

I agree.
I think we are in agreement on that.
I think you’re right.
I think we can accept your position on that.

Partial agreement

I would tend to agree with you on that.
I agree with you on the whole, but it could be said that…
I agree in principle, but…
By and large I would accept your views, but…
Although I agree with most of what you’ve said, I find it difficult to agree with your point about…

Softening strong disagreement

Frankly,…
To be quite frank,…
To put it bluntly…
With respect,…

Strong disagreement

I totally disagree with you.
I don’t agree with you at all.
You’re completely mistaken.
I disagree entirely.
Under no circumstances could I agree to that.
What you’re saying it’s just not feasible.

Softening neutral disagreement

I’m afraid…
I respect your opinion, of course, however…

Neutral disagreement

I don’t completely agree with you on that.
I really can’t agree with you on that.
I can’t say that I share your view.
We’ll have to agree to differ.
I can’t accept your point of view.
I can’t help feeling that…
I feel I must disagree.
I really must take issue with you here.

Tactful disagreement

I agree up to a point, but…
To a certain extent I agree with you, but…
You have a point there, but…
I take your point, but have you considered…?
I can see your point of view, but surely…
I have some sympathy with your position, but…

Interrupting

May I interrupt you for a moment?
Sorry to interrupt, but…
If I may just interrupt you for a moment, I’d like to…

Coming back to a point

As I was saying…
Coming back to what I was saying…
Perhaps I could resume…
If I may just go back to the point I was making…
If I could continue…
Your question leads us back to…
To return to…

Asking for confirmation

Would it be correct to say that…?
If I’ve understood you correctly, you’re saying that…?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but…?
Am I correct in assuming that…?
When you say…, do you mean that…?
Basically, what you’re saying is…

Asking for a repetition

I’m afraid I didn’t quite get your last point. Could you go over it again please?
I’m afraid I’m not quite clear what you mean that.
I’m sorry, I didn’t quite follow what you said about…
I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean.

Correcting misunderstandings

That isn’t quite what I meant
I’m afraid there seems to have been a slight misunderstanding.
We seem to be talking at cross-purposes.
That isn’t quite what I meant.

Re-phrasing

Basically, what I’m trying to say is…
Sorry, I’m probably not making myself clear. Let me put it another way…
Perhaps I should make that clearer by saying…
Allow me to rephrase that.
To be more specific, …
Put simply, …

Asking general question

Would you mind…?
I was wondering if you…?
I wonder if you could…?
May I ask…?
Would you mind if I asked…?

Asking for further information

Could you be a little more precise?
I’m sorry, but could you explain in a little more detail?
Could you give us some details about…?
Would you care to elaborate on that?
Could you expand on that?

Playing for time

That’s a very interesting question.
That’s a difficult question to answer.
I’m glad you asked that question.
You have raised an important point here.
I’m sure you will appreciate how complicated this matter is.

Saying nothing

Well, it’s rather difficult to say a present.
I’m afraid I don’t have enough information at my disposal to answer that.
I’m afraid I’m not in a position to comment on that just yet.
I don’t think we have enough time at our disposal to consider all the implications/ramifications of this particular aspect of the problem.

Questioning

It depends what you mean by…
I’m not quite sure what you mean by that.
I’m afraid I don’t quite follow…
I don’t think it’s quite simple as that..

Recommendations and suggestions – Strong

I strongly recommend that…
I suggest most strongly that…
I advise you most strongly to..
In our view, it is high time that..
In my view, the only viable solution is…

– Neutral

I propose that…
My proposal/recommendation/suggestion…

- Tentative

I would propose that…
If I may make a suggestion, we could…
I would like to put forward a proposal that…
I wonder if I might suggest…
Would it be a good idea to…?
Wouldn’t it be better to…?

Expressing total support

I am fully in favour of…
This proposal has my full support.
I can thoroughly recommend that…
I should like to express my total/wholehearted support for this…
I totally/wholeheartedly agree with…
I entirely approve of…

Expressing support

I am in favour of…
I would certainly give my backing to…
I would certainly endorse such a proposal.
I would approve of such a proposal.
I see no objection to that.
I would not be opposed to that.

Expressing partial support

My initial reaction is favourable, but…
With certain reservations, I would support your proposal.
I shouldn’t like you to think that I’m necessarily against this in any way, but I can’t help wondering…

Expressing total opposition

I am totally opposed to the proposal.
I see no valid/good/real reason for supporting the proposal.
Frankly, I think that’s out of the question.
I’m afraid this proposal leaves a great deal to be desired.

Expressing opposition

I am opposed to the proposal.
I’m afraid I can’t support the proposal.
As it stands, I would not be able to give it my backing.
Without substantial/considerable/large changes, I cannot give the proposal my support.

Expressing tentative opposition

On the face of it, this seems quite a good suggestion, but…
I can see many/some/certain problems in adopting this.
I’m not sure the proposal is feasible.
I’m not convinced that this proposal is really worthwhile.

Asking questions

Have you taken into account…?
Has it occurred to you that…?
Do you realise that…?
I was wondering if you’d thought of…?
Wouldn’t you agree that…?
Wouldn’t it be a great idea to…?

Adding information

There are, if I may say so, certain points you should bear in mind…
There are other considerations. For example,…
If we look at it in another light…
Seen from another angle, one could say…
I wonder if you’ve considered…

Challenging

I wonder if that view is justified in the light of…
I don’t think you fully appreciate the fact that…
It would be in your own interest to…
I would be inclined to…, if I were you.

Expressing reservation

I have certain reservations about..
I think we should give ourselves time to reflect on…
I’m rather worried about…
Under the circumstances should we come to a hasty decision on this.
I am afraid such a decision might lead to…
I feel that in view of… it would be prudent/sensible to…
I can’t help feeling that.

Reassuring

There is no cause/reason for concern as far as…. Is concerned.
Let me assure you straightaway on that point.
I can assure you that…
We understand your concern about… and we assure you that we will do everything in our power to…
We share your concern about this, and you may rest assured that…
You need have no fears about…

Emphatic views

I particularly want to emphasize the fact that…
It is essential/ imperative to realise that…
This issue is highly significant
I feel this is a vital issue.
I consider this point to be of utmost importance.

Neutral views

I attach considerable importance to…
Allow me to emphasize at this juncture that…
We mustn’t underestimate the importance of…
It is well worth noting that…
We cannot stress too much the importance of…
Let me say again how much importance I attach to..

Tentative views

I would like to remind you that…
I wish to draw your attention to …
We cannot overlook the fact that…
I believe this warrants/calls for further discussion.

Playing down a point

These are minor issues when one considers…
But this is only of secondary importance.
But this is, after all, a relatively small point.
I’m afraid I regard that as of relatively minor significance.
I’m afraid I’m not totally convinced of the importance of…

Degrees of certainty

Certain

I’m certain that…
It’s certain that…
There’s no doubt that…
Without doubt…
Undoubtedly…

Probable

I’m almost certain that…
It’s highly probable that…
It’s quite likely that…

Possible

This could well…
It’s possible that…
It’s not out of the question that…
It’s not impossible that…
I think there is every possibility that…

Unlikely

It’s highly improbable that…
It’s highly unlikely that…
There’s very little likelihood of…

Uncertain

I’m not certain that…
I have doubts about…
I doubt if/whether…
I’m uncertain about..

Ana showing you how to make a tortilla

Yes, here is my girlfriend showing you how to making a fantastic Spanish tortilla. Personally I prefer ones filled with tuna or chorizo but she refused to do it!!



So now it's over to you - I want some 'how to' videos from you guys. All you need is a digital camera and a drunken afternoon. And we all have plenty of those!!

Lover, come back to me

A decade after the appearance of professional splitters who specialized in ending relationships at the request of an unhappy partner, Japan has a boom in the opposite - services that promise to reunite couples months, and sometimes years, after they have parted. Ladies Secret Service, a private detective agency in Tokyo, has successfully rekindled romances on behalf of hundreds of people who are prepared to spend huge sums on their quest.The agency's president, Yoshiko Okawa, employs about 300 people selected for their ability to befriend their targets and convince them that breaking up with, or divorcing, a spouse was the biggest mistake of their lives. Her team of fukuenya - 'those who restore bonds' - use hi-tech surveillance, counselling and deception.'After they have won the target's trust, they might mention our client in passing and feign amazement when they realize they have a mutual acquaintance,' Okawa said. 'All the while, our agents are learning as much about their new friend as possible and devising a plan to reunite him or her with our client.'In 2005, Ladies Secret Service received 110 requests for help; in 2007, it handled more than 800 cases. About 70 per cent of its clients are women between 20 and 40, who are prepared to spend up to $6,500 a month for the chance of a successful reunion.When the obstacle to a possible reconciliation is a third person, the agents face the task of engineering the end of one relationship before they can repair the other.Fukuenya carry out their operations in utmost secrecy. Even when attempts at reconciliation are successful, the targets must never learn how they came about, says Okawa.Okawa puts her success rate at around 50 per cent and believes that, as long as Japan can stave off a major financial recession, more lovelorn people will seek her help. 'When the economy was in real trouble, people tended to give up on relationships too easily,' she said. 'Now that they have more money they are naturally more optimistic, even about winning back old flames.

''Lover, come back to me' by Justin McCurryCopyright The GuardianThis adapted text Copyright Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008

What do you think of these services that reunite couples?
Do you agree with their methods?Do you think the reunited couples will stay together?
What factors do you think are important in helping couples stay together?