“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
This year, we want to host a series of fun events that will help you feel even more comfortable with English and as I like to say, help you “step out of the box”. Our first series of events will be our Round Table Conversations or as you better know it: Tertulia.
Did you know that the literal meaning of tertulia in English is Salon which obviously does not evoke the meaning a word like Tertulia has. Therefore, we will have to call them Round Table Conversations.
We want to offer you thought and conversation provoking topics that will get you speaking and thinking at the same time! So please join us every last Thursday of the month for coffee or tea and biscuits and some stimulating talks. All levels and everyone is welcome.
Thursday, February 25 | The Adventure of the English Language hosted by Madeleine
Thursday, April 28 | Tip of the Iceberg~Finding your motivation at work host to be announced
Thursday, May 26 | Storytelling hosted by Madeleine
Thursday, June 30 | Today’s Social Media and Technology hosted by Heidi
As we head straight into February (is it me, or did January fly by??) Some of us have left our resolutions behind and are focused on other things, like getting your work done before Friday comes around again…
This video, talks about challenging yourself, pushing yourself to an extreme in the name of passion. Would you do it? Do you already challenge yourself to an extreme? And all at an Andante pace or slow tempo (rhythm) How, when, why?
Before we look at the video, lets go over some Wh- word questions. See if you can either construct your own questions or answer the following:
What (object, idea or action) is this person doing?
Where (place) do you think Ruth Boden is from or where is she doing this?
Why (reason–frequently answered with because) would she want to do this?
How (manner) did she get to the top? **did you know you can use many other forms of HOW to get different answers?: How many (quantity, countable) How much (amount price, uncountable) How long (duration, length) How often (frequency) How far (distance) How old (age) How come (reason, similar to why)
Who (person) do you know has done something similar?
While you watch the video, ask yourself a few questions, like:
How does she compare the cello to a human? Why does she say, “There’s no ticket stub, just a memory?”
Finally, see if you can use some of the adjectives we learned last week to describe the video. Happy watching!
https://aeon.co/videos/a-bach-cello-piece-played-atop-a-mountain-is-as-exhilarating-as-you-d-expect
https://aeon.co/videos/how-a-massive-painting-project-is-transforming-a-haitian-slum-through-colour
This week we are making room for a very compelling (interesting) post from Madeleine!
Our last post was titled Blue Monday, and that got us thinking about colour, or a lack of (not much,) colour! Some parts of the world are not lucky enough to enjoy the Barcelona blue sky this time of year, and the sky is mostly grey and the light is dull, (lacking brightness.) If you live in these kind of countries, it is not surprising that people start to feel a little depressed.
So, in celebration of all things colourful we would like to share this video about a transformation of a hillside slum in Haiti. So beautifully simple and inspiring.
After watching the video, try to think of how many adjectives you can think of to describe colour? Yes, it’s pink or green or blue, but what kind of blue?
Here are some adjectives to help you, and remember that some of these words can also be used to describe other things too.
Intense
dull
pale
subtle
radiant
rich
light/dark
luminous
shiny/matt (Am. E.: Matte)
dusky
neutral
bold
cold/warm
deep
fresh
soft/hard
sober
vibrant
vivid
translucent
Descriptive language really helps you to communicate well in another language, so go on, don’t be afraid to use some adjectives!
Note: Did you notice the spelling of the word colour in this post? In British English the word is spelt with a ‘u’ and in American English, we drop the ‘u’. British English: colour American English: color
There is a story behind why the Americans spell some words differently from the British, but we’ll save that for another post!
According to the news today, January 18, 2016 has been named as #bluemonday or the most depressing day of the year. We had no clue this even existed! But apparently they even have a mathematical equation to determine when Blue Monday is.
![\frac{[W + (D-d)] \times T^Q}{M \times N_a}](https://upload.wikimedia.org/math/1/d/a/1da90efee88e1a738833621cba3b84ff.png)
But, we won’t pay attention to mass media today, will we? Instead, we have come up with some fun articles on how to beat (win) blue Monday and have a bright start to the week!
Bibliotherapy: Reading can make you happy
Spelling tests to keep busy and challenged (Tim’s recommendation)
And in case you are still doubtful, the advantages of learning a second language
Have an excellent Monday!
We are four days into 2016 and about to put our shoes out for those 3 wise men and their gifts. In the meantime, we have had enough time (and days off) to give some thought to what we want 2016 to look like…right? Or maybe some of you are more of the September resolution kind of person?
If January is your month to shake off the previous year and start fresh with new goals, this post is just for you! Have you ever wondered where the idea of New Year’s resolutions come from anyway? Find out from this short video:
And this short article explains The History of New Year’s Resolutions
We have gathered some interesting links on New Year’s resolutions and what to expect for 2016 in regards to reading material and food:
50 New Year’s resolutions and how to achieve them
Top 10 healthiest New Year’s Resolutions
Vegetables likely to take over your plate in 2016!
What makes a good life, happy? VIDEO
What to expect in 2016 (according to The Wall Street Journal)
Books to Read this year (according to Brooklyn Magazine)
Top 10 Movies to watch out for in 2016
May it be a fun year for you all and full of health, happiness and accomplished resolutions!
Wishing you a fabulous 2016 full of prosperity, health and happiness.
Thank you for yet another wonderful year and for reading our blog!
Song: Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson
Wishing you all the best as the countdown begins for the holidays. If you are feeling curious and want some fun topics for the dinner table, check out this video on the History of Christmas
And if you are in the singing mood and want to impress your family with some Christmas Carols, take a look here
Finally, 20 bizarre Christmas traditions from around the world and 29 Heavenly Christmas foods from around the world.
Happy Holidays to all of you and may you be surrounded by your loved ones!
Before we dive into the full holiday season and gather (get together) around the table for wonderful holiday food, I thought I would share a few random (unusual/unexpected) links to help you deal with (get a handle on) dining etiquette around the world. Check out this great info-graphic here: http://visual.ly/business-etiquette-western-europe
And check out this dining etiquette info-graphic
How about 10 different ways to respond to Thank you? Did you know all of these?
Finally, I thought I would give you a bonus. Here is a cheat sheet (reference card) on those IT symbols we have such a hard time remembering:
Have a great week and remember to take it easy, it’s just another holiday season and…
The holidays are upon us and to help you get into the spirit, we thought we would share our holiday traditions with you. There is nothing better than learning a little something new on how the holidays are celebrated elsewhere (somewhere else) and taking a peek into your teacher’s life…
Madeleine’s Traditions:
When I was a child, I would always enjoy singing traditional carols (songs) with my family at Christmas. One I always remember was ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ which dates back to 1780. It’s a cumulative song, so it starts with one line and gradually different lines are added to make twelve. For example, “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me “. Then, the generous gifts get more and more complex, such as “ten ladies dancing” and “twelve drummers drumming,” which after a lot of repetition and a loss of memory gets very confused and funny. Especially after a few tipples! *small alcoholic drinks
(We don’t do this anymore, but I always find myself humming the tune this time of year). You can find out more about the history of the carol here: Twelve days of Christmas
Claire’s Traditions:
A tradition that goes back on my Father’s side of the family is to eat pork pie for breakfast. But it can’t be just any pork pie…it has to be from Melton Mowbray, a small English town in the Midlands – an area in the middle of Britain. For those who are unfamiliar with pork pie, it is a traditional British meat pie. It consists of roughly chopped pork and pork jelly sealed in a hot water crust pastry. It is normally eaten as a snack or as part of a meal.
Another more recent tradition that seems to have caught on in my family is serving the Christmas Day gravy (sauce that is poured over meat) from a tea pot!!!! This funny tradition simply arose from a lack of available jugs in my house…..so a tea pot had to do! 🙂
Tim’s Traditions
My best Christmas tradition I no longer partake in but sincerely miss consisted of “Christmas Tree Day”. My ex-wife and I had a very big allotment (land) with lots of vegetable plots, fruit trees, chickens, and my beehives; but we also planted and grew Christmas trees to sell and raise money for charity. Every year in January, I would plant about 70 baby Christmas trees. I would mow the grass (which grows very thick and fast in Devon, England) to stop it from killing the trees and in the Spring I would prune (cut away the unwanted parts or branches) the trees with my fingers (no shears required) and then finally two Sunday’s before Christmas Day we would let friends, neighbors and the people in our village know it was Christmas Tree Day.
We would have a bonfire to keep people warm, serve warm mulled wine and hot mince pies to everyone who came (because it’s Christmas) and invite them to choose their tree and then dig it up – roots and all. We would then ask them to contribute to our charity (we set one up in a rural village in The Gambia, West Africa to provide education, health and economic development). They could give as much or as little as they wanted.
Some families have been coming every year since 1987! It takes about 5 to 7 years for a fir tree to be big enough to sell, and after that they speed up in their growth and are too big for a house, so we sell the very big ones to schools and churches.
I loved this day because we would reconnect with our friends, neighbors and wider community in a spirit of friendship and giving. It was a long day full of hard work as many people could not dig their own trees and we had to do it for them. We would have this day even if it was storming with rain, hailing or covered in snow and ice.
Heidi’s Traditions
As many of you know, I come from a family of immigrants and traditions are not necessarily 100% North American, but nonetheless they are fun and quirky (peculiar or unexpected traits or aspects).
My mother is from Guatemala and so we would gather at my aunt’s house on the 24th of December with all of the family (over 20 people) and eat homemade tamales that my aunt would prepare. Tamales come from the Maya Cuisine and take days to prepare but are delicious. There is also something so magical about eating a dish on the night before Christmas that has been prepared since 4500 BP (or 45,000 years before present). In a way, unwrapping the tamale was like opening a Christmas present on the night before.
My mom’s family has the tradition of opening their gifts when the clock strikes midnight. Our family though, would wait till the next morning. We adopted both the Latin American tradition of waiting until midnight on Christmas Eve, setting up baby Jesus in the nativity, and the more USA tradition of hanging up our stockings handmade by mom on the mantle (fireplace) and waiting for Santa Claus to make his arrival as we slept. Do not ask me why a house in Los Angeles has a fireplace. As a child, I imagined it was only so Santa Claus could come on Christmas day.
But to be honest, my favorite part as a child was going with my parents and brothers to look for our Christmas tree! My birthday is a week before Christmas, so I always got the honor of choosing the tree and then we would drive home excitedly to trim the tree and sing carols.
I hope you enjoyed our stories and we want to wish everyone of you readers a wonderful holiday season, no matter how you celebrate it!
From the team at Heidi Schmidt Business English Specialists, Happy Holidays!
I just wanted to thank all of those who made it out to the gallery last Thursday. It was an honor to have all of you in one room and to celebrate all the hard work we did this last year. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and we cannot wait to do it again!
