Are you interested in gaining some practical work experience in the heart of London in a trendy hotel?  Kensingtonrooms are interested in taking on an intern at their centrally located hotel.  We went to see them last week both to have a look around and to check out what the role would involve.

Kensingtonrooms is a recently renovated, modern chic hotel with 88 rooms.  A lot of their business is from conferences, weddings and events and you could be involved in many aspects of the hotel.  In the past couple of years Kensingtonrooms has taken on various interns for two week to 4 month placements.  Set in the heart of Kensington with state-of-the-art facilities this would be a pleasant and enjoyable place to work.

This opportunity is particularly aimed at students interested in eventually working in the hospitality sector.  Amie, who is in charge of events, devises a plan for you depending on what areas you wish to work on.  Maite, a Spanish student that was working there, told me how she had really enjoyed her internship working in every department; from helping clean the rooms at first to being an events assistant when they were running events.

The working hours tend to be between 7:30 – 15:00.  This is an unpaid role.  It is a great opportunity to gain practical experience in a London Hotel whilst improving your spoken English.  If you are interested in taking an internship with Kensingtonrooms Hotel please send me an e-mail to: james@answerenglish.com with your CV and a letter detailing why you think you would be good for the role.

James Bond is the archetypal British hero.  Created by Ian Fleming, Bond is a real man’s man.  He averts global catastrophe, he swims with the sharks, and he always gets his girl.  Under his codename 007, he takes on archenemies of all shapes and sizes; men with golden guns, women with knives in their shoes, dwarves with 3 nipples, he rarely has it easy.  Although I’m sure seducing women like Honey Rider and Pussy Galore must compensate. 

Casino Royale is the latest instalment in the on-going 007 spy series.  It goes on national release on November 17 following a Royal Film Premiere at London’s Odeon cinema in Leicester Square.  Internet chatrooms are already awash with excitement with the prospect of the 21st movie this time starring the first blond Bond, Daniel Craig. 

Bond movies are always remembered for their exotic locations.  Think of Ursula Andress coming out of the Jamacian sea, and I’m sure you get the picture.  However if you want to share in some of the magic of Bond movies why not visit these locations whilst you are in London: The Ritz Hotel on Picadilly where Bond stayed during Diamonds are Forever, the MI6 building in Vauxhall where Bond meets M during Tommorrow Never Dies and Sotheby’s auction house where Roger Moore in Octopussy switches a rare and expensive Faberge egg. 

There are also more royal 007 settings too, near St.Paul’s Cathedral you can go to The College of Arms where Bond played by George Lazenby checks Blofeld’s ancestry in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the Queen’s residence Buckingham Palace makes an appearance in Die Another Day when Gustav Granes flies in to receive his knighthood by helicopter.

Enjoy your movie scene spotting and remember have your Martini’s shaken not stirred.  Bond Enthusiasts might like to check out these sites for more investigation: www.mi6.co.uk and www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site

Silence is no longer golden in the art world.  In fact something very noisy is going on down on South Bank.  The Tate Modern has commissioned British music acts to record tracks in celebration of their favourite works of art.  This is an exciting project as it establishes the connection between art and music and challenges the staid silence of many galleries.  They have approached a diverse range of musicians from former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon to hip-hop star Estelle to contribute to the project.

Opening this month Manchester electro-dance act the Chemical Brothers have written ‘The Rock Drill’ in celebration of ‘Torso in Metal.’  The Jacob Epstein piece shows a man turning himself into a machine.  Quoted in The Independent the duo said ‘we chose to write music for The Rock Drill as it seemed so dynamic, powerful and modern. We could imagine music as soon as we saw it.’ 

Graham Coxon, a former art student, has chosen Franz Kline’s Sixties picture ‘Meryon’ as the focus of his piece, and Estelle has contributed ‘Common Sense’ as her interpretation of Martin Parr’s work of the same name.  The project runs through till April with a different art piece and musician’s track every month. 

The Tate Modern is on the South Bank of the River Thames opposite St. Paul’s.  The nearest tubes are Southwark (Jubilee Line) and Blackfriars (District & Circle Lines).  For more information go to the Tate Modern website.

‘Underground, overground Wombling free,
The Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we.
Making good use of the things that we find,
The things that the everyday folks leave behind.’

This ditty from the opening credits of the popular BBC series The Wombles has lessons for us all.  In terms of philosophy Decartes it is not but as a lesson for life it has a lot of value.  The World and London in particular needs to embrace recycling, energy saving, and area regeneration.  To give you an idea, every 8 days we produce so much rubbish that we could fill Canary Wharf Tower.  This cannot continue and we need to find new solutions.

Turning London ‘green’ is the theme of a new exhibition opening on the 8th September to inspire and educate Londoners about doing more for the planet and the environment we live in.  Entitled Footprints of a Generation, Future London are bringing this exhibition to The Old Trueman Brewery and later to the Science Museum.  There you can investigate what action is being taken to make a brighter future for London.

You can find out how London is working with large cities across the world to cut carbon emissions, and how the Mayor of London has set in place plans to designate a Low Emission Zone in the city.  By protection and enhancement of our abundant parks and open spaces, and the conservation of rare habitats and wildlife, London can and should become one of the greenest cities in the world.

Answer English plans to visit Future London when it arrives at The Science Museum on the 29th September.  If you would like to come along with us and learn about what you can do to making London a greener place to live: Contact Us.  For more information on this FREE exhibition visit the Future London website.

Name: Harry Watkinson
Job Title: Political Consultant
Age: 30
From: Forest of Dean, UK

How long have you been in London?
This is my second spell in the capital and I’ve been here a year now.  Previously I lived in Tooting Bec, working as a journalist for the Crawley News.

What were you doing before this?
I was a TEFL teacher and freelance journalist for InMadrid, a listings title in the Spanish Capital.  I was also an occasional contibutor to Hot English Magazine, an english language learning title, and the British Chamber of Commerce Annual.

Why did you come to London?
This is where a lot of my friends live and the place where I feel most comfortable living in England.  I enjoy the wide variety of opportunities here for entertainment.  I especially like being by the River Thames and Richmond Park and meeting up with friends for a good chat.

What did you hope to achieve?
I hoped to find the true direction in my life.

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?
Consulting with local communities and local politicians about developments that may be built in their local surroundings.

What responsibilities do you have?
Working as a manager I am responsible for agreeing programmes of community and political consultation and ensuring that these agreed courses of action are followed through effectively and efficiently.

What are the best bits?
The people I work with, and the opportunity to do lots of different things: writing reports, meeting politicians, speaking to journalists and going to events.

And the worst?
Dealing with John Prescott’s M4 bus lane on a daily basis.  This was the ingenious idea of ‘Two Shags’ to give over the fast lane of one of the busiest motorways in the UK to buses and taxis.  In turn leaving the remaining two lanes to a large parking lot!

What is the typical package (salary + benefits) for your job?
Around £25 – 30k to someone with a couple of years experience.

Do you have to have prior experience?  If so, what helped get you the job?
Experience of politics is essential.  Ideally some form of political campaigning where you have knocked on doors and dealt with the questions and queries of the general public.

How did you go about getting it?
I saw it advertised on the www.w4mp.org website and applied.

Any tips you could give our readers?
Join a political party and get involved because real political experience and contacts are what are important.  Also make sure that if you want to get to know British popular culture you watch at least a couple of episodes of ‘Bullseye’ with Jim Bowen.  And if you master that then try tackling ‘Play Your Cards Right’ with Bruce Forsyth.

Anything you know now that you wish you’d known before coming to London?
For some reason that despite the change in the licensing laws, most Central London bars are determined to close at 11pm!

What, if any, lessons could the readers of AE Blog learn from your experience in London?
Don’t get caught in the trap of trying to maintain a wide circle of friends.  Instead really pursue what you really enjoy either by yourself or with a select band of comrades.

What does the future hold for you Harry?
Hopefully health, love and happiness.

Thank you Harry for talking to Answer English

There is now a NEW WORLD RECORD.  Last night ZRSDP, a small UK based charity that builds classroom blocks in Zimbabwe, was given permission by Guinness Book of Records to attempt to break the world record for Apple Bobbing.  Prior to their summer party, the record stood at 8 apples in a minute.  Not only was the record broken repeatedly during the night it now stands this morning at 17!  And we have not one holder but two!

Apple Bobbing is a game traditionally played at Halloween and involves taking apples out of a bucket of water using only your teeth.  The rules state that you must have your hands behind the back and not use them at any point to assist getting the apples out of the water.  The record is set for the number of apples taken out of the bucket within a minute by an individual person.

Last night Al Graham, a ZRSDP trustee, and Naser Turabi both achieved 17 within a minute.  Congratulations go to them.  Nick Woolley, who had travelled from Brussels to attempt to break the record, said ‘It’s a lot tougher than you think, but with a good technique anything is possible’.  Jo Hardern from Sutton Bonnington, who was the first lady to stand up to the challenge, ‘there are different ways of doing it, but if you don’t want to get your hair wet or your mascara to run - it’s near impossible - you’ve got to get your head in the water!’

ZRSDP organises a series of events throught out the year.  These include Pub Quizzes, Speed Dating nights, London Challenges and many more light-hearted fun fundraisers.  To get involved please feel free to send an e-mail to James Herbertson: james@answerenglish.com

To see more photos from last night’s event click on Past Events

NEW!!! Footage from the Night, click here for You Tube

Glam rockers The Scissor Sisters are set mark their return to the UK music scene with a free concert in Trafalgar Square.  The band that brought us gay favourite Filthy/Gorgeous are playing at a free concert in support of fighting AIDS in Africa.  The gig is on the 16th September and is in support of The Global Fund.

Poor old Horatio Nelson, following the torture of a face lift and suffering Bruce Forsyth’s record breaking dance-athon, he now has to put up with New Yorks finest!  The Scissor Sisters will be playing material from their new album ‘Ta-Dah’ and no doubt hits like Mary, Take Your Mother Out, Laura and new single ‘I don’t feel like Dancing’.

Tickets for the Trafalgar Square concert were only available by text, with proceeds going to the worldwide fight of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  If you missed your chance to get your hands on one of these tickets don’t despair.  In November the Scissor Sisters do a UK wide tour kicking off in Manchester on the 6th and culminating with a sellout show at Wembley Arena on the 24th.  For more information go to: www.scissorsisters.com.

If you want to read more about The Global Fund, set up by Irish rockers, U2, famous frontman Bono, go to: www.theglobalfund.org

The 26th September is The European Day of Languages.  It does seem that these ‘days’ are now two-a-penny, we’ve got the National Fish and Chip Day, National Ride a Bike day and so on.  I’m not saying these aren’t good causes but after a while there are so many they start to lose their individual value & importance. 

It’s a bit like Mother’s day and Father’s day, the cynic in me says that these days have been invented by the Card Manufacturers to sell more cards.  Of course you should dedicate some time to your parents & family, but you should do be doing this all the time anyway.  You don’t need a Card company to remind you!

That said, Answer English, is going to throw itself behind the European Day of Languages.  We want to see what people on the streets of London feel about learning languages, whether they consider it something important and what the European Day of Languages means to them.  We plan to report from the streets, filming and recording people’s opinions, telling you what they really think.  We also plan to let you know what is happening at other events round the UK and the World.

If you have plans for the European Day of Languages, please let us know.  We would be interested to hear how you plan to celebrate.  Then we will see if this just another day or it really means something! 

To find out about events occurring near you, why don’t you check out the European Council’s Calendar of Events

English as a language has no bounds.  As Londoners rub shoulders with people from all over the world new dialects spring up constantly.  ‘Jafaican’ is one of these, a mixture of English, Jamaican Patois, West African and Indian dialects.  The language ‘officially’ called Multicultural English is used in everyday speech by kids in many areas of London.  Jafaican words include ‘yard’ for home, ‘nang’ or ‘sick’ for good and ‘creps’ for trainers.

Visit London and the Mayor of London’s office are offering a course in Jafaican today.  In Trafalgar Square between 11:00 and 2:00 you can take a three minute one-to-one class as part of their Festival Season Language School.  In total 5 languages or dialects will be taught as part of a celebration of London’s diversity.  These include Cockney, Teen Slang, Bengali, Spanish and Sign Language.

If you go, be sure to let us know how you get on!  The nearest tube is Charing Cross.  Click here for a map of Trafalgar Square

Name: Maria Rivas
Job Title: Teacher
From: Salamanca, Spain
In London Since: February 2004

Why did you come to London?
I actually went to Bath at first for a two week language course to learn English.  I loved it so much I ended up staying for 9 months there before I moved to London and have been here for a year and a half now.  I never thought I would stay for so long, I guess I just wanted to have a change of lifestyle and experience something else.

What did you hope to achieve?
Learn English properly!  Now with time I now know how much I enjoy teaching Spanish.

What were you doing before this?
I was working in the administration team of the University of Salamanca.

How do you find teaching as a job?
Very tiring at first!  London is a big place, and I was moving about a lot, with not a lot of experience of teaching, working hard.  Now I know more people, are more selective where I work, it is a lot easier!

What does your working day consist of?
12-15 hours a week typically, although now in summer it’s dropped down to just 3 hours!  I give classes in colleges as a part-time lecturer.

What are the best bits about teaching?
When you teach students who really want to learn.  Or when you finish the course and they show real interest, there are visible results and they then go and book a language course in Spain or South America.

And the worst?
Some people just choose to complain about everything!  The you’ve got a real challenge to maintain the interest of the other students.

How did you go about becoming a teacher?
I studied for a teaching degree at university.  Then I worked as an assistant teacher for kids with learning difficulties.  When I came here it was quite easy.  I just typed ‘learn Spanish’ or ‘Spanish classes’ into Google and all sorts of language schools and agencies come up that are looking for teachers.  Cactus Languages, Spanish Machine and Spanish Express are some of the biggest firms in the UK.

How have you found living in London?
London has a load of opportunities, it is a great place to come for an ‘experience’ like after university but to be honest after a couple of years I’m looking for a new adventure somewhere else in England.  I’ve had a lot of fun, but it’s time for something else.

How much do you think your English has improved?
At first I met a lot of English people and it really improved, but now with my work I end up speaking a lot of Spanish, so not as much as I would have liked. 

With this experience, what do you plan to do next?
I plan to set up some classes of my own.  I’d like to have my own little business and teach Spanish to people in my local area.  If anyone is interested in Spanish classes they can mail me on: rilopez04@yahoo.es

Thank you Maria for talking to Answer English.  We wish you the best of luck with your project.