CARPAL TUNNEL

pictures: http://www.nitsugamangore.com/forearm.jpg carpaltunnelwristbrace.solverblog.com/.../ http://www.portaldenoticias.com/tag/Podcast

I have had a hard week: My right hand/arm aches like mad and I 've known I may have carpal tunnel syndrome!! It really aches, even in your sleep, and it gets worse if you have to use your pc mouse, of course, so I've been browsing the net and this man has saved my life, percusionist David Kuckhermann.
I know this post may have little to do with our subject but as we all use the computer for long hours, here is my contribution today. A really useful listening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUyMNyrOHJQ&feature=player_embedded

Thanks David!!!

*Now to you:
Have you surfed the net for help like me?
Did it work?
Any positive/negative answers?
I'll go and do my daily stretching... :-)

****By the way:
Tendinitis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaTendinitis (informally also tendonitis), meaning inflammation of a tendon (the suffix "itis" means "inflammation"), is a type of tendinopathy

More on resorts

photos:

http://www.escapadasfindesemana.net/wp-content/uploads/spa-balneario-barato-escapada-hotel-resort-con-encanto.jpg

http://image.pegs.com/content/h/h75/h75g/h75ge/spa%20hot%20stones_j.jpg

What is a Resort Spa?

A resort spa is a place where you can enjoy spa treatments while staying overnight. While a destination spa offers an overall immersion in healthy living and an opportunity for personal transformation, resort spas are more about providing a relaxing, pampering experience for people staying at the resort.
Resort spas come in a wide range of sizes and styles, from small privately owned inns like to the lavish, over-the-top resort spas in Hawaii. It's good to do your research before you go. You don't want to find out the "spa" is a hot tub, or one treatment room off the gym.

Listen and watch:

Spa etiquette:

http://video.about.com/spas/Spa-Etiquette.htm

Hot stone massage:

http://video.about.com/spas/Hot-Stone-Massage.htm

source- http://spas.about.com/od/resortspas/a/resortspa.htm

It must be really relaxing to visit one of these resorts. Here you have some information about Spa resorts, Spa etiquette and Hot stone massage in spas.

Do you have more information about spas, what they have to offer?

Do you know other types of resort?

Remember this may be part of your mark... :-)

Your comments are welcome!

Are old constructions better than the new ones?

Read the following text about the terrible earthquake occurred near Rome and try to answer the question made in the tittle of this entry. Do you think architects were better in the past in Italy? What about other countries? What about Spain? Could you give examples?

Improving your listening by podcasting

A very good way to practice your English listening could be podcasting. The web is now full of this very good audio invention for ESL learners. Why? It is a cheap and efficient way to listen to fresh content based English. You can listen to all these audio recording either in the way or by copying them all to your mp3/ipodcasting player in order to hear them while in the underground or by car in your way to work. The quality of sound is great in most cases and you could find them in many different accents, which is very recommended for you are tourism professionals to be in a very close future.

Here you are some suggestions for you to listen:

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Travel (very practical in order to study unit 5, you will see why)

Open University ITunesU (You need to have Itunes software installed)

University of Oxford ITunes (Arts and Humanities)

Tourism, Travel, Geography and Education Podcasts (A very complete compilation of podcasts dealing different fields of tourism, including airplane topics, new destinies, travelling guides, etc.)

Idiotvox-tourism (assorted podcasts dealing with tourism fields, very focussed on education)

Let's talk tourism podcast (Dublin Institute of Technology. Good to revise topics dealing with unit 1)

You will find some of these and others in the right section of this blog.

More suggestions? Opinions about this post? Do you agree with this? Please, use comments to reply.

Google Earth and El Prado Museum

Now there's no need to travel to Madrid in order to admire all the famous masterpieces from El Prado. Thanks to Google Maps, you can do it. To do this activity:

1. Read the following information and give your opinion here about the quality of the images, variety of works presented, etc. After doing that write here using the comments option your opnion about this. Would you recommended? Is is good enough? (Use page 42 from your book to do this in order to describe the advantages and disadvantages of visiting artistic places in a vistual way)

2. Choose a portrait, and try to describe it here (page 106 from your books).

Resort Tourism

"A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company. Such a self-contained resort attempts to provide for most of a vacationer's wants while remaining on the premises, such as food, drink, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping. The term "resort" sometimes is misused to identify a hotel that does not provide the other amenities required of a full resort. However, a hotel is frequently a central feature of a resort, such as the Grand Hotel at Mackinac Island, Michigan. A resort is not merely a commercial establishment operated by a single company, although in the late twentieth century this sort of facility became more common".

Do you like this kind of tourism? or Have you been a very special resort? Tell us about it.

A good way to compare linguistic structures....

Islamic Tourism Magazine

Today, I had the intention to suggest you to write a text in relation to the pilgrimage to the Mecca, but I found something better. It is website written in diferent languages (Spanish English and French among others) which is perfect for you to contrast grammar structure in two languages. Remember that one of the worst errors that you have with writing in a foreing language is traying to translate directly from your mother tongue, so that you get a text full of wrong built structures. You may find some fragments or text which are not literal translations of the other language version, that could be due to cultural or pragmatic reasons. Pay attention to this point too.

A very good practice for units 2 & very close to the kind of vocabulary and writing asked...

English for Hotel Staff (EnglishClub.com)

in the exam. Have a look at the link before and to this one!

This one for unit 3

Also this one is very good for some topic dealing with the next semester...

The Phrase finder

One of the most difficult things to understand and reproduce when writing is dealing with fixed expressions, sentences, etc. Apart from having a look at all the dictionaries that I have been mentioning this course, you could ask here for some help.

St. Patrick's Day

This week, Irish people celebrate Saint Patrick's day. But, do you know why? What kind of things are done either in Ireland and New York to celebrate this festivity? This is also a wonderful occasion to visit Ireland. Try to plan a cultural trip to Dublin and other famous town in Ireland during a whole week. Any suggestions?? Remember to post your writing task using the "comments" tool.

** Click here to know more things about this festivity at the same time your practice your English with language exercises