OUR PROJECT: TEH_006_ Small Talk with Nicole M. . writer Ottar Martin

OUR PROJECT: TEH_006_  

Small Talk with  Nicole M. . writer Ottar Martin  

 Correspondent: Joan Martinez -25/11/17

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Small talk with Nicole Millar 

Nicole interviews the Icelandic writer Ottar Martin. (03/11/2017)

http://www.elpuntavui.tv/video/240688506.html

          1-    Why do many Icelanders live in Barcelona?

2-    What does Ottar miss most from Iceland?
3-    How many times does he go to Iceland a year?
4-    Before he came to live in Barcelona, where did he live? and why is so special for him?
5-    Which are the main differences between Sevilla and Barcelona for him?
6-    How long has he been living in Barcelona? How is for him to live in Barcelona?
7-    How did Ottar know he was turning into a writer?
8-    What were his first impressions about reading novels?
9-    What did he study in the University?
10- What was the reaction of his mother when he told her that he wanted to study philosophy?
11- Why studying philosophy in the University was so important to him?
12- Who taught him how to play chess? Does he like to play chess nowadays?

TEH_006_  Small Talk with  Ottar Martin  KEY

1. Why do many Icelanders live in Barcelona?
Spain is very popular for Icelanders and he came here on a trip. For the past ten or twenty years Ottar has become quite popular to move here. In the past in the Iceland’s schools only taught English and French and now this situation has completely changed, the majority of young students are learning Spanish at the school.

2. What does Ottar miss most from Iceland?
Ottar misses the basic staff like family and friends, but nothing too much because they come here to visit him quite often and he really loves Spain a lot.

3. How many times does he got oIce land a year?
He goes to Iceland quite often, because of his work he has to go to Iceland two, three or four times per year. He needs to travel to Iceland to meet with editors, directors and producers.

4. Before he came to live in Barcelona, where he lived and why is so special for him?
He had lived in Sevilla for 5 years and then he lived in a small town for half a year called Utrera, where he learnt how to speak Spanish because before going to live there he did not know how to speak a single word in Spanish. He did not have more choices than to learn Spanish. His wife is from there too.

5. Which are the main differences between Sevilla and Barcelona for him?
Sevilla is beautiful like someone made it for you, above all his downtown is very beautiful. In comparison with Barcelona, Sevilla is smaller, but with a nice atmosphere. Barcelona is more like a metropolitan city. He can’t choose between one of them because they are different.

6. How long has he been living in Barcelona? How is for him to live in Barcelona?

Ottar has been living in Barcelona for two and a half years. He loves living in Barcelona because Barcelona has many things that remember him Iceland, for example the sea and the mountains. In comparison, in Sevilla Ottar missed the sea and the mountains that in Iceland he always had, and in Barcelona he has this feature as well. Although Barcelona is a big city, nature is quite close by. And of course, its people, its food and events that attract people from all over the world.

7. How did Ottar know he was turning into a writer?
It was hard for him, he felt that it was coming up from the closet, he felt that he had a voice inside him getting bored when he was thirteen or fourteen years old he was with his friends playing basketball and he started to feel this inside voice more poetic and he started to write in his notebook in hiding. His first way to express this inside voice was with poetry.

8. What were his first impressions about reading novels?
When he was young he enjoyed more watching movies than reading poetry or novels, and he thought that reading novels was a nerd thing that only nerds do. Reading was a bit alien to him. Later on, when his inside voice started to get bored he started to see the connection in telling stories through novels and poetry. 

9. What did he study in the University?
He studied science in college, his parents were in the hard science, his brother were an engineer and his grandfather were a doctor, so science world came natural to him. He was reading novels and poetry while he was studying science but he thought that science was more practical than novels and poetry. But when he finished college and started university he started a philosophy degree.

10.What was the reaction of his mother when he told her that he wanted to study philosophy?
She put a skeptical face because she wanted him to become an engineer like his brother.

11.Why studying philosophy in the University was so important to him?
The five years that he spent studying philosophy in the university were the most important thing to become a writer. For every day he was reading interesting texts, writers and philosophers, and they were teaching him how to work with ideas and get to grips with conveying ideas in essays and he tried to get across some thoughts, some feelings, and how to express himself.

12.Why visual arts was a huge influenced for him?
He studied visual arts. His parents were architects and for him, the architects are in two worlds, the science world and the artistic world. This created a gap in his brain and although he studied both worlds, he realized that he wanted to follow the artistic world.

13.Who taught him how to play chess? Does he like to play chess nowadays?
His father, who passed away, taught him how to play chess because he was a very good chess player. He taught him when he was two years old. He won a championship in his school. He loves to play chess and even now when he sees someone playing chess he stops and watches the game. 

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005_TEH_ Going native with Neil Stokes: Giulia Valle

005_TEH_ Going native with Neil Stokes: Giulia Valle__

http://www.elpuntavui.tv/video/233846934.html

By Efrem Batriu.   18/09/2017

       Q1- Giulia, Julia or Júlia, how does she like to be called?

Q2- How did her musician career begin?was there any musician in her family? 

Q3- Why did she choose to play the double bass? 

Q4- Does Giulia like to say that she composes music?Which word did she use instead of compose? 

Q5- Where did Giulia study music?What is her opinion about classical music teaching method? 

Q6- How does Giulia define jazz music? 

Q7- According to Giulia, what is the best thing that a jazz musician can do in the actual jazz scenario? 

Q8- How did Giulia define her first attempt at music writing? 

Q9- If someone asked Giulia " What are you doing in your life?" what would she answer? What is the meaning of her answer? 

Q10- Nowadays, how does Giulia feel if she is called to play as a side-woman?

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TEH_04 . CatConnect with Allison Malisnky

TEH_04 . CatConnect with Allison Malisnky

TODAY at our listening test with The English HOUR, Marcela Topor interviews American artist Allison Malisnky

http://www.elpuntavui.tv/video/157470570.html 

(02/03/2016 -- 30 min)  Correspondent: Laura Sotoca 

For our first part, listen up to the minute 13:15 and answer the 14 questions:

Q1. Where does her surname come from?

Q2. Where is she from? When did she move to New York and why?

Q3. Which things does she value most from the place she grew up?

Q4. In which sense her first degree did not satisfy her... so what did she learn in the end?

Q5. What is interesting about her awareness of becoming an artist?

Q6. What things does she say that she remember from high school?

Q7. Does New York stand for a "city that never sleeps" when you are an artist?

Q8. How did a friend put her on the track for Barcelona?

Q9. How true was it that "All we need is love" to make a serious-minded artist end up in BAR- CEL-ONA?

Q10. What are the best things she values in her studio?

Q11. How has she and her artwork been influenced by living in Barcelona?

Q12. Why couldn't she work on her studio in New York? What project does she describe? Q13. Why did she start doing 3D paintings?

Q14. What does it represent for her the yellow-brown 3D painting showed?

TEH_04 . CatConnect with Allison Malisnky_14Q____  KEY   


Q1. Where does her surname come from?
It comes from Eastern Europe. Her great grandparents were Russian. (0:20-->)

Q2. Where is she from? When did she move to New York and why?
She is from New Hampshire and she moved to New York at 17, to study in the NY University. (1:05-->)

Q3. Which things does she value most from the place she grew up?
She is grateful to her parents for raising her there. She remembers simple things such as watching trees, listening to the noises from nature or smelling those smells from the country. (1:20-->)

Q4. In which sense her first degree did not satisfy her... so what did she learn in the end?
A few years later she decided to go to the graduate University and study photography, but finally she realized that she preferred work with her hands and for her thesis for graduate school she changed and did painting. (2:05-->)

Q5. What is interesting about her awareness of becoming an artist?
It wasn’t a decision; it was part of her. She remembers herself all her life watching TV, or simply listening to it and making things with her hands. Making creations and little works in her room. (3:00 -->)

Q6. What things does she say that she remember from high school?
She remembers herself skipping classes except sciences and going to the art
room. (3:40-->)

Q7. Does New York stand for a "city that never sleeps" when you are an artist?

Indeed, restlessness person!: She lived in 10 different places. She moved at least once a year. She lived in the Village, in Brooklyn for 8 years. (4:00-->)

Q8. How did a friend put her on the track for Barcelona?
She came to Barcelona 8 year ago and she felt in love with this city. Then before she moved that last time, as she has a friend who has a protocol “before I die...” and she promised herself that before she dies she wanted to move to Barcelona, and that’s it! (5:50-->)

Q9. How true was it that "All we need is love" to make a serious-minded artist end up in BAR-CEL-ONA?
She had to leave New York because she needed silence and a quiet life for painting. She got a grant from the Spanish council to teach English in Spain. She thought of spending 2 years in Spain but during that time she met her husband and then she moved to Barcelona "as she followed the road of the heart", 2 years ago. (6:30-->)

Q10. What are the best things she values in her studio?
It has perfect light. The view, it’s over the Seminary. The fact that it’s next to plaça
Universitat, it has free space and the air and light comes into it. (7:20-->)

Q11. How has she and her artwork been influenced by living in Barcelona?
Her work has changed a lot..... it is about femininity, emotions and gestures; but it’s about space and light here: light and shadow make volume and in BCN you have a lot of that, you can be in an open space like the beach with shiny light and also being in a closer space. (7:50-->)

Q12. Why couldn't she work on her studio in New York? What project does she describe?
Of course places change people. In New York, Space is a premium (very expensive), her Studio was horrendous and dim (no light), so she went to Grand Hotels, to catch interaction between people and space. (9:15-->)

Q13. Why did she start doing 3D paintings?
Because she was painting 2D paintings in a sculptural, but she decided that it was enough and she needed one more step forward. Then she started working with textures and 3 dimensional paintings, which really change with light, but they also need more space to show those changes. (11:20-->)

Q14. What does it represent for her the yellow-brown 3D painting showed? It is someone sunbathing. (12:50-->) 

TEH_03 . GOING NATIVE with Miquel Hudin

TEH_03 . GOING NATIVE with Miquel Hudin

TODAY at our listening test with The English HOUR, Neil Stokes interviews Miquel Hudin sommelier, writer and wine expert Miquel Hudin

http://www.elpuntavui.tv/video/162403164.html162403164 

(115/04/2016 -- 31 min)   Correspondent: Maria Roca 

For our first part, listen up to the minute 10:020 and answer the 12 questions:

Q1. How did Neil Stokes break the ice at the beginning of the interview?

Q2. Why did Miquel Hudin become interested in wine?

Q3. Why did he enter the professional side, and when did he move to Catalonia?

Q4. Is there any anecdote that he remembers related to his wine interest?

Q5. Related to his profession, why did he come to Catalonia?

Q6. What does he think about Priorat wines? Can they be considered as important as French wines, for example?

Q7. When he says Catalonia is a "crossroads" in the wine culture, he means ...  

Q8. How did he start to write guide books about wines? 

Q9. How did the outcome turn out? 

Q10. From 2007 until now, what has he written about wines?

Q11. How come the edition ended up printed (in paper)? 

Q12. Have these guides been successful?

TASK 2. Check your work with the key.





TEH_03 . GOING NATIVE with Miquel Hudin _____   KEY  

Q1. How did Neil Stokes break the ice at the beginning of the interview?
He accepts his limitations in the universe of wine... very limited: " I like it", so he asks for patience to understand the breath and depth of the sommelier in this matter (0:20 --->)

Q2. Why did Miquel Hudin become interested in wine?
He first took wine as a hobby, and then he became more and more curious about this beverage. So he started finding some more information related to wines . (1:10 - -->)

Q3. Why did he enter the professional side, and when did he move to Catalonia?
He worked on the internet in California, and finally he started working in the wine industry, made some research for wine firms, for a couple of years, ... as the wife is from Figueres, he set up shop here in 2012. (1:50 --->)

Q4. Is there any anecdote that he remembers related to his wine interest?
Yes, the first time he visited Croatia (as his family background comes from there), he tasted wine for the first time. That was like a fire that opened his curiosity. In fact, it sounds strange, because he grew up without wine. His favorite beverage was beer. (3:10 --->)

Q5. Related to his profession, why did he come to Catalonia?
From a professional point of view, he says that in California there’s not much possibility to develop in this sector; however, Catalonia offers plenty of possibilities. There are many wine regions in this country, all of them very near to the capital, Barcelona, which is an advantage. (4:40 --->)

Q6. What does he think about Priorat wines? Can they be considered as important as French wines, for example?
From all "regions" in the French sense, Yes, there is clear the quality of Priorat, for instance. The main factors that influence the quality of grapes are the type of soil and the climate. (5:55 --->)

Q7. When he says Catalonia is a "crossroads" in the wine culture, he means ...
Catalonia, in general, has good grapes (LLeida, Montsnat, Penedes, ...), and the conditions to grow the grapes are fine. A crossroads between Iberian and French wines. (6:45 --->) 

Q8. How did he start to write guide books about wines?

The main reason was that he started travelling across Europe (like American people usually does), and he wanted to write two pages related to wine for each country that he was visiting, as he considers that food and wine define a country well. (7:35 - -->)

Q9. How did the outcome turn out?
However, this was a frustrating idea, because the result wasn’t good enough (7:55 - -->)

Q10. From 2007 until now, what has he written about wines?
He has published different guidebooks related to wines from Croatia area, plus the ones after 2009 Empordà, Priorat and Montsant. The information was in a digital version. (8:35 --->)

Q11. How come the edition ended up printed (in paper)?
As some cellars asked him to write in paper, and so did he. However, these guides should be up-dated, as the type of wines evolves and they become old-fashioned. (9:00 --->)

Q12. Have these guides been successful?
Yes, They are running in their second edition. (9:40 --->) 

Learn languages and expand your horizons

                 Taken from the Guardian, Education/ Languages  

I have been learning languages since the age of 10, when I started French at junior school – and I’ve never looked back. Learning French led to learning Latin, then German, then Spanish and then even some Italian. It has helped me to make wonderful friends in this country and abroad, and given me a first-class university education, ... a knowledge of other countries and cultures, a love of wine and food and indirectly of classical music, art and heritage – and an ability to communicate with people at all levels. 

In spite of the undoubted importance of English internationally, other languages still matter at the local level and for a whole host of other reasons. 

A lot of smart organisations favours job applicants with language skills because they are clever, flexible and able to think outside the box, in addition to the obvious benefits of being able to communicate with speakers of other languages. 

         Andrew Smith - Altrincham, Cheshire 03/09/2017

TASK- Read ONE of the following links and  write a summary (150 words) for next day 

1  The cost of Britons’ failure to learn foreign languages

Native English speakers can’t simply rely on the rest of the world’s desire to learn their language, say Gabrielle Hogan-Brun and Jennifer Jenkins, while Jane Sjögren quotes Nelson Mandela on the importance of linguistic skills and Trevor Stevens says learning a foreign language should be compulsory at GCSE 

    2  Just speaking English won’t get us very far in the world

Language learning is inextricably bound up with history, culture, business and economics. It is also a mental exercise that delays dementia – and many children find it fun, too. Readers’ responses to Simon Jenkins’ claim that modern language classes in schools are irrelevant 

3  Ignore the panic. There’s little point learning languages at school 

Pupils are not stupid. They take subjects they find relevant to their future lives. European languages are not that. Europe is universally adopting English as a lingua franca. Continental universities are increasingly English environments. In addition, translation, spoken as well as written, has (like maths) proved susceptible to computerisation.

4   'Southern' English language course for foreign teachers –  Historical archive, 1922

If Chaucer could come back to earth and attend the vacation course in English phonetics for foreign teachers of English which commenced at University College to-day (1922) he would probably understand less of the explanations than say, the visitors from Egypt and Czecho-Slovakia, who are attending in force. Professor Daniel Jones, head of the Department of Phonetics at the College, has often explained how changes affected society. 

      BONUS:     

Jokes and American Language variation.... 



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PRODUCTION work.

SAMPLE WR summary. by Carles Dueñas   C1-A

1  The cost of Britons’ failure to learn foreign languages

The article deals with the lack of language skills of Britons, along with its costs, difficulties and possible solutions. Four people give their opinions about the different aspects of this topic.
To begin with, Gabrielle Hogan-Brun, author of Linguanomics, claims that British businesses are relegated to trade only in the zone of European linguistic proficiency, missing important markets as China, Russia and other developing countries, as a consequence of the inability to speak foreign languages of their workforce. Moreover, this incompetence with languages has a cost of £50bn a year in failed contracts.
In addition, Professor Jennifer Jenkins, focusses on the Britons’ necessity to learn how to master English as a lingua franca. That is because the English of British speakers is not the English used by the vast majority of the world’s English users.
Likewise, Jane Sjögen quotes Nelson Mandela on the importance of commanding the native language of our interlocutors.
Finally, Trevor Stevens argues that the solution lies in a drastic change in educational policy. He states that it is time the Brits made learning a foreign language compulsory at GCSE.

                                                                        

DAHL - way up to heaven

“The Way up to Heaven” by Roald Dahl

It seemed that language is important, well, we’d better get going to read these sentences. Comment on them.

                   seemed

1. She couldn’t be sure, but it seemed to her that there was suddenly a new note in his voice, and she turned to look at him.
2. On one or two special occasions in the later years of their married life, it seemed almost as though he had wanted to miss the train simply in order to intensify the poor woman’s suffering.
3. She looked at him, and at that moment he seemed to be standing a long way off from her, beyond some borderline. He was suddenly so small and far away that she couldn’t be sure what he was doing, or what he was thinking, or even what he was. 
4. They were standing in the hall - they always seemed to be meeting in the hall nowadays 

                 

              we’d better get going

1. she would flutter and fidget about from room to room until her husband, who must have been well aware of her state, finally emerged from his privacy and suggested in a cool dry voice that perhaps they had better be going now, had they not?

1. “Well,” he said, “I suppose perhaps we’d better get going fairly soon if you want to catch that plane.”

1. “Ah yes,” he said. “Of course. And if you’re going to take me to the club first, I suppose we’d better get going fairly soon, hadn’t we?” 

2. Sharing this analysis: 

Setting

Originally published in 1954, the short story  is probably meant to be set as contemporary to the time of publishing, and it takes place in New York and Paris.

Physical setting.  

The action spans over the course of six weeks, yet the main events take place in the course of two days in the beginning, when Mrs Foster gets ready to leave for Paris.
Consequently, we can say that the main events take place in New York where elements of the physical setting are the Foster house, the cabs, and the airport terminal.

Social setting. 62nd street # 6th Avenue

The social setting illustrates two important aspects; family relationship and the status of the upper class. The Foster couple is part of the upper class in New York, owning a “six-floor house” and having “four servants”.
The way they treat the working class, represented by their servants and the cab drivers, indicates superiority and suspicion. Both spouses order the servants and the cab drivers around.
Furthermore, even though they are rich, they seem to be cheap, as they would rather leave the house empty than pay servants to check on it while the woman is in Paris and the man at the club. What is more, they are also suspicious of the servants, as they say that “you never know what people do when they’re left alone in the house”. Finally, they are also accustomed to comfort and being served; the night Mrs Foster sleeps in the house without servants she is worried that she has nothing to eat, indicating that she would never cook for herself.

family relationships. 
The two spouses form an old couple who seems to tolerate each other but are in fact bothered by each other’s habits. The husband is bothered by the woman’s anxiousness and fear of being late, while the wife is...
...

A reading questionnaire -across booking time

Book Adventures

Booking cross or Crossing booK?

1) The pleasure of answering a....

  A reading questionnaire

3 Reading 55 questions with 55 answers.  
Would you dare a go?

•  by BOY somewhere 

•  by Sarah Norfolk

•  by Philip Pullman    

•  by Stuck in a book  (20/09/2010) 

Pullman's Wordle image

For questions on the The boy in the striped payamas, click here.




2)  CLASS LIFE    

22 questions to get started:

1. Favorite childhood book?
2. What are you reading right now?

3. What books do you have on request at the library?

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

14. Favorite place to read?

15. What is your policy on book lending?

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?

20. What makes you love a book?

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

22. Favorite genre?

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year?

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?

38. Favorite fictional character?

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?