Radio Show 27 April 2010

You can hear the show broadcast Tuesday 27 April 2010

Listen to the radio show broadcast April 27th 2010.

Recipe from Caravaca Radio programme 13.04.2010

A Recipe = Una Receta

A great, easy recipe for Shepherds Pie.

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
1 large onion chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
560g beef mince
400g can tomatoes
290ml beef stock
1 bay leaf
fresh thyme leaves from 1 sprig
2 tbsp tomato purée
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the topping:
750g potatoes peeled and chopped
75g/2½oz butter
55ml/2fl oz milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and carrot and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft.
3. Add the minced beef and cook for 3 minutes to brown.
4. Add the tomatoes, purée, beef stock, bay leaf and thyme.
5. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Season.
6. Make the topping:Put the potatoes in a pan and boil them in water until soft. Drain and mash with the butter and milk. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Spoon the meat into an ovenproof dish. Top with the mash and put in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.

We are on the radio!!

Every Tuesday, starting 13th April, you can hear El Centro de Ingles on Caravaca radio. 21:15 - 22:15 (9:15pm - 10:15pm)

107.4 FM or on the internet http://www.caravacaradio.com/frames.html

The objective of the programme is to give Spanish people, learning English, the chance to hear native English speakers talking about subjects relative to them.

Each week there will be 2 native English speakers and at least one Spanish person speaking English.

Please tell your friends about the show and if you want to take part please contact us.

Interested in history?

We have discovered a great radio station website from Dublin, Ireland.

This site is mainly history, Irish and world history, including the Spanish Civil War.

You can listen and download podcasts. Listen to many different types of speakers ,on this site ,with many different types of accents, mainly Irish.

It's "good craic" as the Irish say.

http://media.newstalk.ie/talkinghistory

Words....etmology

Did you know etymology means the study of words? For example did you know that ferrous is derived from the latin ferreus"made of iron", from ferrum "iron".

http://www.etymonline.com/

A Bit of fun! - Does English really sound like this to non-English speakers?

It may come as a surprise to English speakers that the language they speak is pretty complicated phonetically-speaking.

Pat yourself on the back because if you have mastered 44 different phonemes or sounds that you use to construct everything you say in English.

By comparison our friends in Italy only use about half that number.

Click on the link below to see a funny video, it is about how the Italians think English sounds.......

http://music.todaysbigthing.com/2009/11/03

English Spelling Problems?

Post by Tony Higgins 8th April 2010

The English language, from a spelling point of view, can look chaotic, unpredictable and disorganised to a Spanish student. However, a benefit, because of the English language links to Latin, is that some vocabulary is almost identical.

As part of my TEFL studies I am currently reading a book by David Crystal "The English Language - a guided tour of the language" . According to the book,the English spelling system has taken over 1000 years to develop and the complications that we are left with today are a result of major linguistic historical events that have happened over that time. There is also the added factor that British English and American English spell words differently. So it is little wonder even native English speakers (including me)can have problems with spelling never mind EFL students.

Here is a good site provided by my TEFL tutor Terry McClean. Thanks Terry!

www.lupinworks.com/os/spelling/prefix.html

Best regards and happy studying

Tony