Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Holidays in the Hills

I hope you are having great holidays. Perhaps you will get out to see the hills. Whatever you do, try to avoid getting stuck in front of a TV set. We were visiting some relatives in Santa Brigida at Xmas. As we sat in their tiny living, a dozen of us huddled together, chatting amicably (and way too loudly), the dreaded TeleCinco was blaring. It sure put a damper on the visit!


Monday, December 19, 2011

Lourdes, the Public Health Care Liaison Officer



Lourdes has a great job, but she imagined herself looking for work and wrote a great letter of application. Many thanks to Lourdes.

Do you need a nurse? -- Lourdes

(We have been working on formal letter writing in our fourth year NIA class. Here is a great letter of application by Lourdes, a highly qualified nurse. Remember that we do not use contractions in this type of writing.)

A JOB APPLICATION BY LOURDES / N12A
Dear Sir / Madam,


I would like to apply for the job that I have seen advertised on your website.
I graduated as a nurse in 1984 in Tenerife (Canary Islands), and I did a Masters in Public Health from the University of Havana (Cuba).
As you can see in my CV, I have been working as a nurse in primary care since 1985 in different health centers, and in two of the Canary Islands.
In the last 5 years, my work has focused on Gran Canaria, and basically as a liaison nurse in the most aged areas of the island. As you know, the figure of the liaison nurse is well recognized in Spain and elsewhere in the world.
I am very interested in this work, because in England the nurse plays a very important and recognized in the health care offered to the public. In addition, the Primary Care in your country is highly evolved, and I think I am qualified to take the job you offer.


Furthermore, I want to improve my English. I am studying to improve it, but I think working in an English speaking country, would help me learn the language faster.
I enclose my Curriculum Vitae. Thank you for taking the time to consider this application, and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours faithfully,
Lourdes S


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Talk, talk, talk! Some Advice On Line

This is a great link for students who want to practice their speaking skills with a classmate.
I use the questions in class sometimes but there are too many to keep up with, you just choose a topic that may be of interest to you. Good luck and keep talking!
http://iteslj.org/questions/



Seeing with my Ears

We have been rehearsing this song about blindness in our NB1 class. The chorus is quite catchy and we complimented our voices by signing it out with hand gestures. 

Seeing with my Ears (Tom Hunter) 

I was sitting in the kitchen, talking to a friend
When my friend said she knew there were cookies in the tin.
I knew she couldn't seem 'em, wondered how could she tell?
She must have seen them there by the way they smelled.

Seeing with my ears, seeing with my nose
Seeing with my fingers, seeing with my toes,
There's magic in the morning and big surprise
All the things I can see without my eyes!

Yesterday at school our teacher said we could begin
So she openned up the door and let an animal in.
We had to tell it what it was when the room was dark
I knew it was a dog because cats can't bark!

Last night in my bed, when I was fast asleep,
I saw some people in a field and 
They were playing with some sheep,
I was sleeping, it was dark, but do you know what?
There's lots of ways that I can see when my eyes are shut!