Start YOU up!

Time to jumpstart your English! 

Fall has just set in, and the memories of the recently concluded summer vacation, though barely 8 weeks ago for most of us, start to fade and slowly turn into blurry images of sun and sand, or faint recollections of fresh mountain air infused with hints of the aromas of the earth…and the rush of our day to day existence leaves us with hardly any time even to daydream and let our minds go back to how much you enjoyed that charming little tourist trap of a restaurant in Pozal de Gallinas (where????), or that splendid week you spent in that bed and breakfast in Canillas de Rio Tuerto (??!!??)….ah yes, your great summer destinations….!

But now it´s time to resume your English studies….! Time to make it past that infamous Intermediate stage and get that B2 level, gosh darn it! 

So here a a few tips we thought we´d share with you to make sure you get the most of your English classes this year.

Show up for class!

Make it a priority! So we all know how busy you are: work, school, family, home chores, gym, Pilates, jury duty, your night job, massage sessions, and a whole list of other essentials….but, hey, if you´ve signed up for class it means you wanted the classes. So make the effort and come to class. You´ll find it can be quite enjoyable (especially at our place!)

Be mentally present!

Yes, we know it can be difficult to tune out your daily life (work, relationships, bills, why didn´t that little man handing out leaflets in Moncloa give ME one?, etc) and just switch to English mode. But you  have to make the effort and then, once all your mental capacities are focused on the task at hand, you´ll find that the task itself is not THAT difficult.

Bring a notebook and pen….and use it!

Uh, no…it´s really NOT advisable to just take a photo of the board with your smart phone. Part of  learning a language is learning how to actually WRITE it, so let´s get primitive and use our pens and notebooks for this. Write down words that are new to you, examples of sentences or expressions that you find useful and interesting. Then you´ll quickly realize that you´re starting to spell better and that writing in English seems foreign no longer.

Go over what you wrote in that notebook!

Admit it: you´re one of those that only looks at their notes while in class… Go ahead, you´d be among legion. Seriously, I mean, what´s the point? That´s just as lame as taking a photo of the board with your smart phone! Only dumber because you actually had to exert more effort WRITING the notes. Go over them! Peruse them over breakfast instead of your Facebook wall. Pore over them while waiting for the bus or standing in line at any Bankia branch office (enough time). Slowly all the concepts you learn and hear in class will sink in and form part of your thinking processes.

Ask and interact!

Don´t understand what "rathskeller" means? Ask the teacher! You´re not sure whether to mention the adverb of time BEFORE the adverb of place or AFTER? Ask the teacher! And it really gets fun when you interact with your fellow students and ask them follow-up questions in English. "So, what exactly did you enjoy most of Torrente 5?" or "How did you feel when your boss caught you reading 

Salvame Deluxe Online?", you get the point…the important thing is to jump in the conversation and it doesn't really matter if your English isn´t perfect…it never WILL be if you never interact and speak.

So there. Not rocket science, is it? And it´s a lot simpler than most of the tasks you do at work or at the university….!

…and, as a bit of comic relief, here is a short video for those of you who remember what Tag Questions are, or for those who are familiar with some idiomatic expressions, or for those who have difficulty spelling or just simply have no vocabulary….