Carving a Thanksgiving Turkey

Today is a very speacial day for USA people. If you want to share with them the art of curving a good turkey, here you are a very practical video taken from NYT to do it ;)

WRITING AND DESCRIBING. You can learn anywhere.

EBAY, as you all know is basically a website to buy and sell items so it is essential to write a very good description of what you want to sell or need to buy. They include some hints about this which you may find interesting to read and then use in your essays, compositions, etc as thay are practical and easy to use.
This is their advice:

Writing a good title and description

Writing an effective title
What to avoid in your title
Writing an informative description
What to avoid in your description
Examples of titles and descriptions

Your listing's title and description are your advertisement; an opportunity to inform and excite buyers. A good title and description provides a clear picture of your item, which increases your chances that buyers will find and bid on or buy your item.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/title_desc_ov.html

If you also want some listening practice on "Learn How To Sell On Ebay - Tips For Selling On Ebay" and get your ear working, here you can find some videos to learn some more vocabulary on descriptions:

Video Games - E3 2010

http://g4tv.com/videos/8093/EBay-Tips/




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Mn9C-3pGI&feature=related

Hotel vocabulary

When dealing with writing and spoken skills (units 7 and 8), having a good command of hotel vocabulary is crucial. Here you are a very simple but practical website to revise your knowledge on this kind of data.

And talking about vocabulary study, I would recommend you as well to have a look at this new visual dictionary. Type a word and see its results...http://www.englishclub.com/english-for-work/hotel-vocabulary.htm

Did you like it? Post your comments if you wish it...

EASTER BREAK

This is a delicious dessert recipe, and easy to do, that Dra. María Jordano has left for you all as a little gift for the Easter break!! Really mouth-watering...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCdy4vmqwx0
Any other "weight-reducing" but yummy recipes?

A "Gazpacho" recipe explained by an anglosaxon cook?

What do you think? Do you make "gazpacho" in the same way?

The facilities that every good hotel need to have.

As you might know, depending on the country, hotel uses different types of classification to let us know the kind of facilities they could offer. Sometimes, requirements deals also with the culture and costumes the clients could demand. Read the following article about a famous hotel in Milton Keynes, UK, and try to think if a Spanish person could evaluate a hotel by looking at the listed factors.

Use the "comments" option to add questions that you would never asked about the facilities offered by hotel. Would you add anything?

Christmas time...

These days (and some weeks more), I will stay in the UK for work. Today, as an advance for Christmas, we had a very special lunch at the University Cafeteria. Have a look at the picture provided and try to answer the following questions...

1. First dish. And this is not a Christmas typical... but, I can tell you it is made of cheese, eggs and tomato, apart from some other ingredients...

2. Main course. Apart from having some boiled vegetables like carrots or Brussels sprouts, it also has...

3. Dessert. I can't tell you anything, but it is something extremely typical from the UK. It has alcohol...

4. Can you see the red bar behind the main course? what's that?

To find some tips to find answers for these questions, you can also visit websites like these:

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/holiday-recipes/christmas_recipes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_dinner#United_Kingdom_and_Ireland

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/occasions/christmas/

http://www.robinsfyi.com/holidays/christmas/christmascooking.htm

Many of our students travel really often and tell us about their impressions and discoveries while they are away.
Would you like to write about that very special corner, place, hotel, city, shop, ... you found out last summer, two years ago or last week????
Come on, use your keyboard right now!!!

I'll try and write about the first one. I'll show you a wonderful place I "discovered" a couple of summers ago that takes you for a while into the Arab world : extremely delicious teas, wonderful sweet treats and home made tasty confectionery and baking!! You can even smoke one of those exotic pipes. The tea list is written (drawn) on a wonderful paper, the decoration is superb, the place is incredible and the owners the best hosts. The customer is their most valuable jewel. You will learn what excellence in service and professional dedication mean.

There is also a small cozy hotel of 7 exclusive rooms you have to see.

The front door comes from a palace in Tetuán, some bronze lamps are handmade, original pigments from Marrakech

They offer whirlpool tub, wifi, satellite tv, welcome tea, wonderful breakfast, welcome fruit basket, etc. Really value for money.

The place: Arabia Riad
Address:Plaza del duque 5, 10003 CÁCERES

http://www.arabiariad.com/

Now it is your turn!!!!

The hottest hotels 2009 (the Times online)

What are the main features a good hotel need to have? Do you think most of the clients share the basic ones? What is a luxury hotel for you? Have a look at the following hotels rank proposed by The times On line and comment here you favourite ones by explaining why.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/where_to_stay/article5389541.ece

By the way... have you even stayed in any of the listed hotels? ;)

Famed El Bulli chef Ferran Adria accused of 'poisoning' his diners - Telegraph

Famed El Bulli chef Ferran Adria accused of 'poisoning' his diners - Telegraph



As you may have read in the news this week, a very famous Spanish cooker, Santi Santamaría, has accused one of his colleagues, the also well-known Ferran Adria, of using dangerous product to created his most sophisticated dishes. This information has been transformed into articles like this one, found in the Daily Telegraph.

Do you think this kind of articles could damage the good image of Spanish gastronomy?

Visual Dictionary Online

Most of the times, you will need to use vocabulary related to architecture when trying to describe a monument from the place where you live. Here you are a very good visual dictionary which also includes the pronunciation of every word found in the picture (Am En).

This image is just an example, but you could also find other sections related to other units from our course, such as transport, leisure, gastronomy, etc.

Will we have food enough in the future?

Last evening, I met I girl who told me she became vegetarian two weeks ago. I asked her: "why?" Are you sure you will survive in Spain without eating meat, the delicous cured ham? She replied that it was a question of ethics. It was a reason that I could understand at the begining, but then I did more or less. Now, I can understand it better with the help of articles and videos like these. I am still thinking of all that...

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...

Typical Spanish food.

Galician cuisine refers to the typical dishes and ingredients found in the cuisine of the Galicia, a region of Spain. These include shellfish, empanadas, polbo á feira (a dish made of octopus), the cheese queixo de tetilla, the ribeiro and albariño wines and orujo liquor.
Compared to the wide variety of food in the cuisines of France and India, for example, Galician cuisine could be considered to be fairly simple. In Galician cuisine, neither the cook or the recipe really matters; what is being served is the central part of the cuisine.
In Galicia, a wide variety of sea
products can be found in traditional dishes, due to the province's long shoreline
and traditional fishing economy. Agriculture products such as potatoes, maize and wheat are also a staple in the Galician diet, along with dairy and meat products from animals such as cows, sheep and pigs; Galicia's grasses and shrubs are green year-round and are excellent for grazing.

What other types of typical spanish food do you know? Please, could someone tell us about the mediterranean cuisine? Or tell us about the cuisine in your region. What about an exchange of recipes? It could be very interesting!

Writing task. Unit 3. Promoting Spanish products...

This weekend, I have been visiting a medow where pure Iberian pigs are feed in order to produce Iberian ham and other selected Iberian products. One of the most beautiful areas was the one devoted to the lactation and breeding of the little ones so that I took a picture for you... These little pigs will be later feed on natural products from the medows: acorns, taken from cork oaks and holm.

Write a composition using "comentario" promoting Iberic ham in a foreign country. If you want to do it more real, using this demo-template.

You could read also page 58 from your book in order to be more precise on your writing. Have a look also to this website written either in English and Spanish to acquire new vocabulary and structures on this topic.

What's "continental" about a continental breakfast?

What's "continental" about a continental breakfast?

Just because you live on a continent and are eating something in the morning, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a "continental breakfast." While croissants and hot chocolate in Belgium would qualify, penguin bacon and Sanka in Antarctica wouldn't. That's because "continental" refers to Europe, really mostly to France, which for many years enjoyed cultural hegemony over its neighbors.

A typical continental breakfast consists of "a breadstuff (such as toast, croissants, pastries) and coffee, tea, or other liquid." Furthermore, the continental breakfast is the "antithesis of the hearty English breakfast," in which you sit down to cereal, bacon, eggs, sausage, tomatoes, toast, marmalade, tea, and, most likely, some Alka Seltzer.

The continental breakfast concept isn't limited to Europe, as evidenced by the numerous American hotel chains that offer this service. And according to Ochef.com, some countries, especially those in Scandinavia, do add fruit and cheese to the bread menu, and even a boiled egg or salami.

http://www.top-greetings.com

How to write recipes (Unit 3)

Since you could be asked to write an article/report about the gastronomy of the area you live, I thought I might be of your interest this website, a section from Spain.info

http://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Gastronomia/Productos+y+Recetas/?Language=en

I invite you also to write here more recipes about the town where you are living now...

María

Unit 3 Writing task. Opening a new luxurious hotel

A new luxurious hotel has been opened in Waikiki beach, Hawaii. You are a jounalist and you need to write an article explaining all the facilities and services that this impressive hotel will offer its guests.

Remember to use the main grammar and vocabulary topics dealt in this unit (adjectives and passive)

As usual, use "comentarios" to write your article.