‘Here it is Merry Christmas, everybody’s having fun, look to the future now, it’s only just begun….’  Thank you from all of us at Answer English for a fantastic 2006.  We have enjoyed every minute of helping you learn languages, find English Schools and Accommodation in London, and most of all bringing people together at our Language Learning evenings.

We are now closing for the festive period and re-open on the 8 January.  Whilst we are away if you are looking for general information or to make an enquiry, please e-mail: james@answerenglish.com.  I will respond on my return. 

In an absolute EMERGENCY you can contact James on Tel: 00 27 21 797 7746

We hope you have a fantastic Christmas and wish you the best of luck in the New Year.  Festive regards!

All the best from Ann, Charlotte, Jordi and James

Put this date in your diary: Thursday 18 January 2007.  Answer English is hosting a teacher training event at the British Council in Madrid like no other.  Not one, not two but three teacher trainers will be on hand from some of the best schools in the UK and Ireland.  Covering topics as diverse as ‘Practical Ideas for engaging students in the learning process’, ‘Correction techniques and strategies for the English language classroom’ and ‘The State of the English Language’ - this is an event not to be missed.

Cork English College from Cork, Excel English from London, and Lake School of English from Oxford will be giving these inspriational insights into teaching the English language.  Answer English will also be on hand to talk teachers through the opportunities available from Comenius to win funding for Teacher Training Courses abroad.

If you are a Teacher of English as a Second Language from the Comunidad de Madrid (Madrid Province) you are eligible to come to this event FREE.  Refreshments are provided.  The event takes place on Thursday 18 January and runs from 18:00 to 21:45.  If you are interested in coming you must book your place.  To do so either fill in the reservation form or e-mail: james@answerenglish.com

We look forward to seeing you there! 

You may well have heard of Velázquez, the famous court painter of Philip IV of Spain and the artist that painted Las Meninas in El Prado in Madrid.  But did you know that he was exhibiting in the National Gallery?  Yes for the first time ever in Britain, there is a major Exhibition dedicated to one of the greatest painters of all time.  Answer English went to investigate this Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition and would strongly recommend it. 

The exhibition runs until the 21 January.  You are advised to book tickets in advance to avoid queues because certainly when we were there, 10:00am bright eyed and bushy tailed it was very busy!  For more information go to the National Gallery Website.

If you aren’t very familiar with Velázquez, here is my guide to him that I produces in my column inside European Vibe magazine:

Who was Velázquez? And what of his art? His flair for diverse brushstrokes, his subtle use of harmonies of colour, and his ability to achieve effects of atmosphere, space and light meant he was the forerunner for 19th century French Impressionism.  For many to understand Velazquez is to understand art itself.  Our man of culture, James Herbertson, brushes over the life of ‘the painter of painters.’ 

From the aristocracy of Seville

Born Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, ‘Velázquez’ was the son of Juan, a Portuguese lawyer of noble descent, and Jeronima, a member of Seville’s hidalgo class (a sort of minor aristocracy).  From an early age he demonstrated a gift for art and was schooled in Seville under the artist Pacheco, known for his simple and direct realism in his art.  Here Velázquez ability to capture everyday human life, such as ‘An old woman cooking eggs’ or ‘Tavern Scene’, blossomed.

To the royal court of Madrid

In December 1622, opportunity knocked at Velazquez’s door. Rodrigo de Villandro, Philip IV’s favourite painter had died and with the introduction of Olivares, the monarch’s right hand man, in 1623 the King sat for Velazquez. So pleased with the results Philip quickly ordered that Velazquez should move to Madrid and become his official painter. At a relatively young age Velazquez was catapulted into the most powerful court in the world, that of the Spanish empire. Here he remained until his death in 1660. Such was the acclaim that Velazquez wrought, that all other portraits of the King were taken out of circulation.

Brushstrokes

From the humble ‘Water Seller from Seville’ to portraits of Philip IV you are drawn into the picture, the subjects reaching out to you.  So much you can almost feel the beat of their hearts and the air of their breath. Velazquez chose not to portray his subjects in kindly light, but more with a warts and all approach.  So much so that he could be quite mischievous.  Take his portrait of Mars hung in El Prado.  Here the God of War is not shown as the almighty but as an exhausted, deflated even jaded, philanderer.

Technique

Not only was he capable of capturing a remarkable likeness of his sitters, but Velázquez was famed as an exceptional observer of human life.  He had an enormous talent for recording reality, so much so that his paintings sparkle with great human emotion.  Las Meninas, the chamber maids, is probably the best example of this.  The way the Infanta, the chamber maids and the painter himself look out seemingly inviting you in to this typical courtroom scene.  He creates an illusion that makes you wonder whether it is you admiring the subjects or whether you yourself are the subject of their attention.

Legacy

With the decline of the Spanish empire, so did the popularity of his work.  But by the 1850’s Velazquez’s star rose once again, and his place in art history was once again secure.  You can draw an artistic line from Italian masters through realism, impressionism and modernism that carve through Velazquez’s groundbreaking works.  His legacy is the inspiration for future realists and Impressionists such as Edouard Manet Spain’s Picasso, Goya, and Dali and Francis Bacon.  I urge you to head down to El Prado and see for yourself quite how great ‘the painter of painters’ really was.

Learning a language often requires tears, toil and sweat.  But it doesn’t always need to be hard graft.  There are many ways to make learning languages easier.  Dedicating ten minutes to the cause can make all the difference.  By prioritising learning languages, so that it doesn’t become a chore, but an integral part of each day you can make great advances.

Get Fluent Fast, is a guide with 61 tips on how to accelerate your learning, whatever your level.  Rajul Chande, from Get Fluent Fast, has kindly contributed to our English Class and given us a couple of exclusive tips.  The first was in our December English Class:

Use “vocab. stickies”
 
Here’s an easy way to build your vocabulary in English for little effort.  Stick post-it notes on everyday objects around you with the English word for the object placed on them.  Use different colours for different categories of word (e.g. red for adjective, blue for noun etc) or for different types of information.  You’ll become more and more familiar with them every day.

The Second is: Translate your favourite song lyrics
 
You’ll find lyrics on the internet or on your CD covers.  Just put them into English from your own language.  Better still, only listen to music in English!  Once you have them written down you’ll enjoy reading them and also analyse them for grammar, new expressions, vocabulary.  You can also do this while listening to your favourite singers/bands.  It’s a lot more fun than textbooks!

For more useful tips I urge you to go to www.getfluentfast.com.  If you would like to purchase a copy of Get Fluent Fast, we are selling them in our offices.  For more information Contact Us.

‘ I can see a better time, when all our dreams come true….And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day…‘ Thanks to all those that came last night to our last Social Event before Christmas.  We had organised a ‘Get-Together’ at the local pub to our offices in Marble Arch.  This was an opportunity for all the language learners that had come to the last Spanish and French Language Learning Evenings to meet up once again and have a Christmas drink.

The turn out was great as ever, we had over 20 people down at the Marylbone Bar & Kitchen in our specially reserved section.  The crowd was international with Spanish, French, Italians, Dutch, Colombians, Peruvians, Cypriot Greeks, Welsh and English amongst our ranks.  Unlike our other more structred evenings, this was a more of a free for all and we ended up with Spaniards speaking French in the end!

We will be posting up the photos later on our Past Events section.  Our Social Events will return in the New Year with French, Spanish evenings and a new Italian night.  We will also be looking to get the community, we are steadily building, to Salsa and Swing dancing.  We may even throw a party in for good measure!  We hope you will join us.  To keep up-to-date on what we are up to, check out our Social Events Page.  See you in the New Year!

Stuck for something to buy for your loved one?  Not sure what to get Uncle Albert this Christmas?  Well what about some ‘study at home’ language learning CD’s from Gazelle Publications.  This is the perfect gift for someone looking to take up a foreign language or for those that want to master one they are already learning.  Gazelle have all the languages under the sun including French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Polish and are offering you a chance to save money on your Christmas purchases.

Special Offer

Yes, all Answer English Blog readers and students can benefit from 25% off future purchases of Language Learning CD’s and books.  All you have to do is make an order from their website, call 01524 68765 or fax your order to: 01524 63232, and quote ‘Answer English’ to benefit from this offer.  You could save up to £10!  Who says Christmas doesn’t come early!

Save Money this Christmas

Gazelle have been extremely generous in their support of our Language Learning Evenings.  At both our Spanish and French nights they have donated prizes for our infamous Linguistic & Cutlural quiz.  These included the Spanish Learn in Your Car 6 CD packs and French in 10 minutes a day.   Now they have made this special offer.  Thanks a lot to them.  Now no one can complain if you don’t have any ideas for Christmas!

‘Christmas time, Mistletoe and wine…’ yes, Christmas is nearly upon us.  One unmissable event in London in the run up to Christmas is the lighting of the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree.  The lighting takes place THIS EVENING, Thursday 7 December, at 17:45. 

As I spoke about in my guide to Christmas in London this year is extra special as the tree is the 60th to have been donated by Norway in gratitude for our assistance during World War II.   The ceremony will include carols sung by the Choir of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the famous Norwegian boys choir Sølvguttene (Boys of Silver).

We will be going down to Trafalgar Square around 17:30.  You can call me on 07946 534 814 if you wish to join up with Answer English.  To read more about it go to the Visit London Guide to Christmas

‘Parlez vous francais?  Mais oui monsieur.’  Yes, last night was our inaugural French English Language Learning Experience.  The evening was held at Bar Room Bar in Gerrard Street, Central London and we had a fantastic turn out.  As you can see from the photos here, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as French learners rubbed shoulders with French people studying in the capital.

Congratulations go to our Quiz winners on the night: Fiona who won the French – English 6 CD French in ten minutes set, Joanna who took second prize of the Euro Talk 30 minute language taster sessions CD and Katoon who won the French – English dictionary from Harper Collins.  Again we had a fierce tie breaker between Dorrie, Natalie, Joanna and Katoon.  This time they had to guess how many cubic metres of chalk were pumped out of the Euro Tunnel on the English side.  Any ideas?  The answer is 4 million cubic metres.

Thanks once again to our partners who help make these Language Experience evenings, nights to remember.  So many thanks to Dani from Bar Room Bar for hosting the evening, Malvern House, Hot English Magazine, the Cine Lumiere and the Institut Francais for their support and generosity in filling up our goodie bags, and last but no way least thanks to Gazelle, Euro Talk and Harper Collins for the prizes. 

Also it wouldn’t be the same without the great crowd that come to our events, thank you all for making the evening so special.  Next Tuesday, as a send off before Christmas, we are having a more informal get together at the local pub to our office.  This is really a chance for us to meet socially with our students and language learners from the last 4 Language Learning Experience evenings.  We have already people confirmed from the Spanish – English Evenings and there was a lot of interest last night from the French as well to come along and practise languages in a more informal setting.

The pub is the Marylebone, Bar and Kitchen on York Street.  The nearest tube stations are Baker Street, Edgware Road and Marble Arch.  If you are interested in coming please contact James: james@answerenglish.com.  We will be getting there just after 19:00 and have a private area reserved.  You can either meet us straight there or come via our office just before and walk up with us.

The next French night will be in the New Year.  If you would like to see Photos from last night click on: Past Events (they will be going up later today).  To keep up with our Language Learning Evenings go to: Social Events

They say Christmas comes earlier every year.  But in August this year Harrods outdid everybody with the announcement of their new Christmas Shop. As temperatures soared in London to 47 degrees on the Underground and the UK had one of the hottest summers on record, the Kensington department store was selling tinsel, trees and trinklets. Their Christmas Shop recorded a busy day for sales as shoppers sought out gifts and decorations including £329 Sarabella blown glass baubles, Elvis figurines and a range of giant Mother Christmases costing up to £1,699. With an astounding 138 days to go before the 25 December, Harrods move left religious leaders lost for words.

Hamley’s

Many lament the commercialisation of Christmas.  Although in Britain Christmas’ religious significance is clearly waning, one of the delights of the festive period is to venture into Central London. I suggest you head to Oxford Circus and from there wander down Regent Street admiring the incredible window displays.  The toy store Hamley’s is the one place children of all ages wish to peer into and dream the magic of Christmas.  Every year they seem to outdo themselves with more and more elaborate displays of Santa Claus, the Reindeer, the Christmas Carol and the Nativity Scene.  This serves as a magnet to draw you in and buy little Johnny that toy car he always wanted.

Christmas Lights

Along Oxford and Regent Street you will discover fantastic light displays.  Every year a famous celebrity, musician or sportsman is invited to ‘turn on the lights’.  This is normally a great fanfare with many spectators.  One year the organisers chose massive light beams that could be seen from Outer Space and another Harry Potter characters brightened up Britain’s busiest shopping street.  On this occasion actress Emma Watson, who plays Hermoine, turned on the Oxford Street lights.  This year boy band G4 flicked the switch on 9 November. According to tradition the lights are turned off and taken down on the 5 January at Epiphany.

Carols

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a good singsong. One of the best places to do this is at Trafalgar Square. Every day between 5:00 in the afternoon till 9:00 at night red-cheeked choirs entertain crowds with their renditions of ‘Silent Night’ and ‘O Little Town in Bethlehem’. Groups come from all over Britain to sing and often to raise money for good causes. You can join in the fun between 11 December and 23 December and sing your heart out.

Norwegian Tree

In Trafalgar Square you will find an extraordinarily large Norwegian Christmas Tree.  This year is extremely special as it marks the 60th year that Norway has donated a tree.  In celebration Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit is coming to turn on the lights.  The first was brought over in 1947 as a token of appreciation for the role Britain played in the liberation of Norway in World War II.  The tree itself is a Norwegian spruce and is plucked from the forests surrounding Oslo.  Great care is taken and the foresters have a great pride in selecting what they call the ‘Queen of the Forest’ for the Trafalgar Square display.

Christmas with Answer English

To get truly into the Christmas Spirit, Answer English will be having a get-together at the Marylebone Bar & Kitchen on 12 December.  You can find the Pub at 74-76, York St, London, W1H 1QN.  The nearest tubes are Baker Street, Edgware Road and Marble Arch.  If you would like to come along, we will be there from 19:00 onwards.  It is about 100 metres from our office, if you want to meet us first come to our offices just before 7.  For more information visit our Social Events