Age with dignity

As always, Serrat leaves me speechless ...

maybe today I feel and understand this song much more ...

maybe the lyrics of this song hurts me much more,

maybe it's harder to avoid remembering how you were and how you are today ..

Maybe I can never avoid thinking that I do not do enough to make you feel better ...

I wish you could read what I write,

I wish you could go home walking ...

I hope these words and all my love will fly to you

and they will comfort you when you need it most ...

" What can't be cured must be endured"

Language & identity

• When I read this article I thought: I never would have explained it better!!!  I recommend reading it because in it you will find food for your thought. 

bilingual-personality-change/

Passive Causative

Tips to solve gapped texts

We aren't what we were called !

Finding your purpose

I am more and more convinced that we are living in extremely challenging times. These challenges not only compromise our minds, capabilities, health, beliefs and economy among other things; but also these challenges especially compromise our well-being as human beings; that is why we are in a permanent search.

Throughout our lives challenges will be constantly knocking at our doors. Perhaps the greatest  challenge of all lies in identifying our purpose in life (what a task!) and if we are fortunate enough  to understand what this is, then another challenge will follow: structure it, "feed it" and then re-create it or even modify it so that it  has a meaning in the different stages of our lives.

In this sense, it is inevitable to ask how we find our purpose in life ... I guess there is no single formula to answer this question with multiple and complex answers. However, someone very wise told me that to really find our purpose in life is to be willing to live different experiences but above all to be attentive to what they make us feel. The key therefore is to be able to listen, feel and even savour our experiences, even the most insignificant ones, since any of them could be the compass that guides our future life.

VOCABULARY RELATED TO THE LAUGHTER

verb	meaning	sentence
Laugh(laughed)	express joy by making a sound (Ha-Ha)	He is laughing on this matter.
Laugh into cramps(Laughed)	Laugh a lot	He laughed into cramps when he saw his naked picture of childhood for the first time.
Giggle (giggled)	laugh quietly and repeatedly because you are nervous or embarrassed.	Do not giggle ,it does not sound good
Grin (grinned)	Laugh with smile.	She is grinning sitting there
Utter a guffaw (uttered)	laugh noisily.	He uttered a guffaw like Ravana.
Chuckle (chucked)	laugh quietly, because you are thinking about something funny.	She is chuckling to herself.
Simper (simpered)	Fake laugh	He usually simpers
Make laugh (made)	Entertain someone	He made us laugh during the whole journey
Please (pleased)	happy	In order to please my parents ,I obey them always
Smile (smiled)	A happy or friendly expression on a face	He always smile and spread happiness.
Snigger (sniggered)	Laugh quietly	When he saw his teacher entering the class room he could only snigger.
Play prank (played)	Making  fool by act something	We play prank with our friends.
Cut or Crack a joke (cut) (cracked)	Something funny you have said that make someone laugh	He made us laugh by cutting a fresh joke.
Laugh at someone(laughed)	Make fun of somebody	Don’t laugh at the poor.
Have fun (Had)	To enjoy oneself	We had a lot of fun on the trip.
Make merry (Made)	Enjoy oneself with others by dancing and drinking.	Children make merry in groups.
Have a hearty laugh (Had)	In a cheerful way	We had a hearty laugh after listening to his funny experience.
Burst into laughter (Burst)	Laugh all of a sudden	When I fell down with a thud, he burst into laughter.
Laugh away (laughed )	To dismiss by laughter	Do not laugh me away, take me seriously.
Howl with laughter (Howled)	When a group started laughing with energy	He got a sudden tight slap from his teacher which made us howl with laughter.
Jeer (jeered)	Laugh at someone to insult	Some boys from the audience were jeering at the singer.
Treat as joke (Treated)	Don’t take something seriously	He is treating it as a joke but it is not a fun at all.
Joke /kid (joked) (kidded)	Act in a funny way	I am not kidding.
Be highly elated	Happy from heart	He is highly elated to know the news of his brother’s marriage.

Blow off steam

Turning point ....

Well, finally back to my English classes after a painful ankle sprain. The truth each course represent a challenge, but it's well worth the effort !!

While I back home, I kept thinking about different turning points in my life. For instance, studying twelve years in the same school, not only taught me academic contents but I also learned an important lesson in my life: to be and not seem to be.

Oddly enough, every turning point in which I thought was connected immediately with a song. Obviously as for many of you, music plays a very important role in our lives. In this sense, one special duo in my life was and is: Hall & Oats. Firstly, by their videos, which are a little bit strange, and secondly, that fantastic voice of Daryl Hall touch my nerve

I love this version of “I can't go for that” .... enjoy it!

and the second  song  .....That's my personal favourite !

Thinking 'bout you... my dear father!

Speak Spanish..a hard task

Beats me!!!!

It beats me why summer time has to end!!!

The saddest day....

Perhaps today was the most heartbreaking test I had to face.

My family and I had to choose  between the welfare of my Dad or  that he stays home with us. His illness made us aware that we are not trained to treat him  as he deserves. 

We decided  with great sadness that the best option is a nursing home.... What a sad day we lived  today!!!!.... But we are hopeful that it will be more comfortable for him. 

I pray for you daddy!

I pray for you Dad!

Five useful English expressions

Everything starts again ....

Something very valuable that I learned is that when you take a flight (that is to say, when you start a challenge, dream and so on), you should only carry in your luggage  the desire to follow and pursue your purpose.  

Surely, despair would try to trap us in its complex web ... then is when we must take care of our vital energy, don't get me wrong ! I don't want to say that we have to escape from the problems, not!....what I mean is that despite the problems, the negative people who want to catch us, let's move on ... without losing our essence ....

Count-down

Have you ever felt that you are working,
cooking, studying, etc with your eyes shut????...

Sometimes, it happens that I have already done many activities of my routine without being aware of it...I do not know what the reason is ....maybe this is due to I focus my interest on what really interests or worries me.

Phenomenal Art

Music ...The perfect therapy !!!!

I think I've already found the perfect therapy before my final English exam ... 

I love singing as well as talking with my best crazy- friends!!!

Moms don't quit !!!

Sadly, many women are between the back and the wall regarding how to live our motherhood without leaving aside our professional achievement ... it is a pity that we continue living this paradoxical situation in the 21st century

For my best friends J & L

Over time, I am increasingly convinced that love is a day to day construction, including bad times, discussions and disappointments. Fortunately, I am at a stage in my life, in which I feel totally grateful to the life for her generosity of sharing with me a wonderful traveling companion … my husband.... and at the same time, for giving us the opportunity to grow alongside a little girl to whom we owe All our happiness ...

Why Are Brits So Obsessed with Tea?

More trees ....

Laura's birthday

The tree of Life

God is like a big and leafy tree,

full of sap and life,

which is renewed without end.

God is the tree,

we are its branches and (its) leaves.

If we are torn from the tree

we wither and dry,

but together we bear fruit.

Branches are nothing without the tree

and the tree is nothing without its branches.

Each one can not be who he is without the Other

and both to one,

are a renewed and unfinished life.

The tree's life is very special,

because he is able to do something amazing:

It becomes seed.

The big tree and its leafy branches,

(they) become seed

falling off the branch

and are hidden in the earth

From that seed, it sprouts again

little by little the Other and the same huge tree

and its green branches, which,

greet each other smiling.

Like that, so special and admirable

the tree's life,

at his birth, dying

at and his death, being born.

So, never forget, please, the following:

the branch alone is not a branch

the branch is always a branch of the tree

that in both fruit and seed

it renews without end.

With all my love

Mummy

It Should've Been You ...

Ways to say goodbye :)

Finally, vacation time has arrived  yupieeeee!!!!. for this reason I tell you .....

See you later !

See you around !

See you!

See ya!

Have a good one!

Goobye!

Bye bye!

So long!

Take care!

Catch you later!

DECISIONS & INDECISIONS

Every day, since we are conscious we are exposed to thousands of decisions. Decisions that fluctuate from the most trivial to the most fundamental in our lives. This idea is so certain that right now, you can decide if you continue reading this article or not.

In this sense, I think that everyone can differentiate all decisions and indecisions into crucial ones and inessential ones. To ilustrate this idea, we could think that every morning when we are waking up we

have to decide whether to have a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast, whether to get dressed in a formal or informal way, whether to opt to drive or take the bus or underground and something like this.

Of course, this list can be endless and at the same time we could presume that all these decisions are superfluous because we have turned them into something habitual. Consequently, all these decisions have become small decisions that do not affect our ability, and what is more, they do not concern us or occupy an important place in our lives.

Nonetheless, the other side of the coin shows us that many of us have to face multiple and significant decisions, such as the choice of our degree, the university where we will study, the place/ country where we will live, the person with whom we want to share our life, if we want to be parents, among many other things.

It seems that at every stage of our lives the decisions are our travelling companions. Then, at this point, I wonder if there is any way to learn to make decisions. Of course, I am thinking about how to make good or correct decisions. In this sense, I reckon that formal education only teaches us that we will have to face many decisions or we will have to need to make up our own mind, but they will not teach us how to do it effectively. For this reason, many times we are in two minds about an important decision.

Unfortunately or fortunately, we have learnt to make decisions through trial and error pedagogy. Through making the wrong decisions, through many errors, we have learnt to have more flexibility or freedom to choose.

Maybe that's why I now understand much better the saying: ´there's no substitute for experience and so, older but wiser´.

Jet lag

This song, is the perfect summary of what I feel when I miss my family ... I can not get used to the time difference :( ..... However, the positive thing about all this, is that when I go home everything becomes even more special.

Make up your mind !!!

I'm in two minds about travelling to Bolivia the next summer. I need to make up my mind!

Poetry in Spring ...

Today is the perfect day, because this day is the first day of the spring and at the same time today is the World Poetry Day. I Love it!

Bolivian Zebras

I will definetely need one of them, for my next speaking test  :)

What's behind the chocolate?

Coincidence or Causation?

It is funny how we learn the most important and relevant things in our lives. Most of the time these

meaningful learning are acquired by chance. Oddly enough, this was just how I learned to make origami.

Nowadays, I can remember with a half smile my first years living in Spain. At that time, although I tried to see the positive side of things (a long and tedious process to validate my degree, living away from my family and friends, not having friends in this country, starting a life with my husband), I inevitably fell into the temptation to think negatively and consequently to fall into a stressful situation.

That was until I met a person who would mark my life forever. One day, I attended a conference on immigrant women which exposed the complex problem of migration. Then, I was surprised how my story was repeated over and over again with different faces and nationalities. The weight on my shoulders seemed to lighten when I heard that my problems in this country were more common than I could imagine.

On that day I met Megumi a formidable Japanese woman. Since then we have forged a great friendship. In fact, thanks to her I was able to learn that patience is truly an art that can be learned and stimulated. So every time I feel that a situation stresses me, I make some origami cranes because: “An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. Some stories believe you are granted eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury.”

The Only One ...

Loving you is everything
The meaning to these years ...

 

Like a clockwork slave, always getting wound up !

Through his comics wisely Quino said: “As always: what is urgent does not leave time for what is important”. This troubling truth, could be the prelude to understanding our current stressed society.

I often wonder why we are so stressed, ​if we are supposed to live better with all the technological advances at our disposal, why do we always say that we do not have time? Or rather why do we not have the time to do what we really want or need?

I believe, one more time, that the real problem is that most of the time, we have lost perspective and the balance of what is really important in our lives. We are losing our own skills to know how to prioritize, to detect what truly makes us feel owners of our time and, in the last instance, builders of our happiness.

Funnily, those who know how to handle stress better are the children. Their cries, jumps, their inexhaustible energy to play and make up awe-inspiring stories, games and so on, make them free to fall into "the urgent".

Obviously, they know what the urgent and the important is:  .... happiness.

Identity

Incredibly, some communities only adapt a sense of identity as an opposition to the Other. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/storywall/hyphen-nation?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

A special gift, in a special day

Fortunately for all who admire him, he was so clear with his vocation.

David Cameron ...unemployed

Without words .... :)  :) :)

The Chaos by Dr. Gerard Nolst Trenité

They say, if you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world.

 

 

 

The Man with the Golden Voice ...

I love how he sings ... he has an incomparable voice !!!!

If you were an adjective ...

This year is being simply fantastic !!!! why? Because, I've decided to learn English with my little daughter, and we are discovering many fun ways to learn...one of them is through videos, songs and listening good stories like this.. ....

Other, Another, The Other, Others

I needed  this explanation, because   I've used them wrongly many times.

Kissing a Fool ...

The Musical Time Machine !!!!

This is the best way to travel not only around the world, but also over through the ages....You only have to pick a country, pick a decade, then sit back and listen to some great music from 1900 to now!

If I forget my smile somewhere in ...

The Darknest Valentine ....

Well, finally the day is here ... Many expect it, others fear it, why?. As I see it, because we are basically social beings and therefore we need the 'other' to understand the world around us and to try to understand ourselves through others.
 

To love someone we need to transform us, and  of course this process could become so complex. It is so complex because since we are children, the world  has taught us,  has sold us a very naive face of love. For example, we have been told us that to be happy we have to have a couple. However, this situation  does not always happen. Maybe over time living as a couple or with the inappropriate couple we will be more unhappy.

Another fallacy that the world has sold us, is that after having a couple or getting married, we will  live happily ever after ... until you realize that love is transformed. Thank God this is transformed!!!! Otherwise we would never reach maturity.

In short, at this point I believe that love is more puzzling than we are told. For these reasons, I like this video because, although it may has a pessimistic tint it is very real, as real as error and forgiveness.

It was love at first sight ...

Although it may seem incredible, the destiny gives us amazing things when you least expect it... In my case,  I've rediscovered a very special memory some days ago. Since then, I couldn't avoid humming his songs !!!!

I loved him, I loved his music, his poems.
Thanks to him I've known many styles of music.

 If you want to know more about him, I recommend you this interview: 'Encuentro en el Estudio'. this is a good summary of his career.

Cold phrases ...

All that we share ....

Sadly, many people are only insist on 'seeing' the differences ....leaving aside the important things that could lead us to unite.

Peace of mind ...

Without a doubt, the best way to start a 'perfect' day like this, would be the moment when I take a cup of coffee while I'm reading  the newspaper and  listening a song like this .....

Hummm I wouldn't change this moment for anything, 

so it is the best thing since sliced bread !!!!

Time capsule

Since an activity about time capsules was proposed in my English class, I have kept thinking about what I would put into one of them. Immediately, the name of my favorite author came to mind: Yasunari Kawabata. However, it was a very arduous task to choose just one book, but I finally decided one: Beauty and Sadness. I wish the future would hold the certainty that reading was a food that not only nourished my mind but also my soul.

The second object in which I thought was music -I have to sigh- so this decision is still harder than the previous. But I think I would choose some Jazz CD. I must confess that I still have not decided on just one CD. However, there is no doubt about the style: yes, it definitely has to be Jazz! Because through this style, I am able to fuse different sensations.

My third object would be a crochet needle. If I believe in reincarnation or if I had some previous life, I would certainly be reincarnated as a spider. I love knitting. It's a hobby that I enjoy because I think weaving is the art of creating, of combining, of dreaming and telling stories. And this is how I understand life: like a large and colorful loom, like that piece in which we draw our dreams and illusions, our failures and disappointments.

The colors of the wool and the different textures that we apply in our loom are friendships, they are all the people who we are getting acquainted with, who transform us throughout our life; these wool & colors are all the people with whom we grow, and each one of them will provide an unrepeatable color and tone that will make our loom unique and unmistakable. In this way, our loom will be interwoven by our experiences, learnings, disappointments, challenges and so on.

READ-LISTEN-LEARN

Yesterday I found a great tool. I reckon with  this web many of us could improve our reading, writing, listening, pronuntation and so on, because most of the texts have audio recordings, so you can read and listen at the same time. Similarly, the stories have a glossary and some graphic aids to help you  understand the most complex vocabulary in the stories.

 I hope it will be useful for you !

Prayer Of The Haven

They are the "simple" things,

The ones that make me happy

A hug, a smile,

A drawing and the most important an:
 'I love you mom'...

They are the only things I treasure

And the only ones

Of which I would never let go ...

 

I have my shadow warning about the scale of the open water

and vertiginous rest of the espinel

dream that I raise the bow and climb to the Moon in the canoe

and there rest made my own skin a haven.