What Makes Men Fall in Love?

Some more relationship lingo to learn and practice. What makes men fall in love? Yahoo expert David Zinczenko thinks he knows. Curious? Check his article. Do you agree with him?

Some quotes:
"When a man falls for a woman, he falls hard. Men love to be in love."
"[...] half of men say that they're currently not with their soul mates"
"Men want to be with women who challenge them, who push them, and who take the lead some of the times."

PS: Next article will be from a woman's point of view.

How well do you know your own country?

Let's move away from difficult collocations and sociological debates and get closer to your own reality. How well do you know Spain's geography and culture? See how well you score on these quizzes designed for speakers of English.

Apart from some motivation, in them you will find useful vocabulary and structures to describe your cultural environment. It is also very interesting to see how people from other countries perceive your closer reality. Comments welcome. Good luck!

Cities of Spain Too easy!

Spain Geographically

A Grand Tour of Spain I

A Grand Tour of Spain II

It's All In Barcelona!

Spanish Food and Drink

Spanish Cuisine

Are women too aggressive?

Language is mainly a means of communication between human beings. As living in partnership - or 'family' of whatever type - is our basic cell of social organization, people spend a lot of time thinking, talking and debating about relationships. To have a good command of a language like English you need to be familiar with the language of human relationships and the expression of feelings.

Here's a controversial article on the changing nature of female/male roles and expectations: "Are Women Too Aggressive?". The article deals with American society. Do its assumptions hold true for your own society?

Some interesting quotes:
"more than 40 percent of both men and women say they spend at least two hours every day thinking about their current or potential relationships. (Scary fact: About 10 percent of us spend more than six hours every day doing so, according to a national Harris Interactive poll.)"
"...women have become increasingly financially independent, increasingly sexually liberated, and increasingly determined not to let their biological clocks dictate their relationship status."
"...few things are as attractive to a man as a woman who's unafraid to pursue the guy she's interested in."

Grammar Review Quizzes

Tired of the festivities? Ready to do some more work on your English? Don't worry, these grammar quizzes will keep you going for some time. Good luck!

Various Questions 1 Various Questions 2 Various Questions 3 Grammar & Vocabulary Test Choose the correct verb form 1 Choose the correct verb form 2 Connectors

Particles in Conversation - 1 Particles in Conversation - 2 Particles in Conversation - 3 Particles in Conversation - 4 Particles in Conversation - 5 Particles in Conversation - 6 Particles in Conversation - 7

Mr. Fawlty tries to teach Manuel

Let's move a couple steps away from the highbrow stuff of Fry & Laurie, although we're still dealing with language as a means of communication.

Learning to speak English can be stressful enough if you're working in a hotel in Torquay, now imagine what can happen if your boss is Basil Fawlty. He's got his own teaching method!

Basil Fawlty: [indicating Sybil] This, Basil's wife.[indicating himself]This, Basil. This, smack on head.[smacks Manuel on the head]

The Substance of Language, by Stephen Fry

One of my favourite British comedy series is 'A Bit of Fry & Laurie' (Hugh Laurie currently stars as the main character in the US series House). Let me share with you an excellent sketch from this series: Stephen Fry plays an English professor who delivers a witty and ironic speech on the very substance of (the English) language. Hugh Laurie plays the baffled interviewer who can hardly come to terms with Mr.Fry's dazzling display of wisdom. Among the many interesting questions: what if Hitler had spoken English?

Remember what we said about plosives in English? Please pay attention to Stephen Fry's pronunciation (repeated) of the word 'capable'.

Just enjoy: "[...] language is my whore, my mistress, my check-out girl. Language is a complimentary moist lemon-scented cleansing square or handy freshen-up wipette. Language is the breath of God, language is the dew on a fresh apple, it's the soft rain of dust that falls into a shaft of morning light as you pluck from an old bookshelf a half forgotten book of erotic memoirs; language is the creak on the stair, a spluttering match held to a frosted pane, it's a half-remembered childhood birthday party, it's the warm wet, trusting touch of a leaking nappy, the hulk of a charred Panzer, the underside of a granite boulder, the first downy growth on the upper lip of a Mediterranean girl, it's cobwebs long since overrun by an old Wellington boot. "

Theatre at the EOI Auditorium!

The Up Front Theatre Company presents:

'The Portrait of Dorian Gray'

Enjoy a new version of Oscar Wilde's classic tale, enriched with music-hall entertainment and insights into Pablo Picasso's personality and work.

Volunteer extras from the audience will be kindly asked to join in some of the music-hall numbers.

Where and When:
EOI Auditorium
Wednesday 7 March 6 p.m.

Tickets: 1 € (available at the EOI Administration Office)

George Costanza's Answering Machine

Time for a smile. George Costanza (from Seinfeld) shows us how to use an answering machine to avoid unwanted calls. To start with: personalize your message, make it sound believable!

GEORGE [on tape, singing] "Believe it or not, George, isn't at home, please leave a mes-saaage at the beep. I must be out or I'd pick up the pho-one. Where could I be? Believe it or not, I'm not hooome." [beep]
JERRY George, pick up. I know you're screening for Allison.
GEORGE Hey.
JERRY So, coffee shop?
GEORGE No, I can't. She knows I go there. It's not secure. [the call waiting beeps] Hey, I got another call comin' in. I gotta let the machine get it. Bye.
GEORGE [on tape, singing] "Believe it or not, George, isn't at home, please leave a mes-saaage at the beep. I must be out or I'd pick up the pho-one. Where could I be? Believe it or not, I'm not hooome." [beep]
ALLISON George? Are you there? I hate that stupid message. I know you're avoiding me, I'm at the office, please call me, I've gotta talk to you.
GEORGE [to phone] Hi, Allison? Oh, I guess you're not at home... I probably should 've tried you at the office. Anyway, good to hear from ya, really looking forward to the ball.. [hangs up and happily chuckles] Ha ha!