'World's Toughest Job'

World book day

Reading for pleasure is one of the most important things one can do. Neil Gaiman

World Book and Copyright Day 2014

The history of the written word is the history of humanity.

The power of books to advance individual fulfilment and to create social change is unequalled. Intimate and yet deeply social, books provide far-reaching forms of dialogue between individuals, within communities and across time.

As Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for attending classes, said in her speech at the United Nations:

Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons.

Reading is food for the soul

On 23 April, World Book Day is celebrated all over the world. In Spain this is a day to encourage reading and the enjoyment of literature in a different way. It is also a day on which the great universal writer Miguel de Cervantes is particularly remembered with the presentation of the prize which bears his name, the most important distinction in Spanish letters.

Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare died on the 23rd April 1616.

Writing an email

The introduction

In this section we use opening expressions and the reason of our email. We can also thank or answer a previous email which we received.

A veces nos cuesta empezar una carta o email. Una buena forma es mencionar la razón por la que escribimos después de un “opening expression”. Esto ayuda a que el compositor y el lector entiendan el propósito principal de la carta o email. El párrafo de introducción solo consta de algunas líneas. 

§   Opening Expressions: How to start an email / letter

How are you?
How have you been?
How’s everything going?
I was glad to hear from you.
I hope things are going well with you these days.
I hope you are doing fine.
Hope you are well.
What’s new?

§  Reason one is writing:

I am writing because …
The reason I am writing is because …
I wanted to …
I would like to …

§  Opening Expressions when we answer an email / letter

Thanks for you email / letter
It was great to hear from you
It was so nice to hear from you.
Sorry for not writing earlier
I hope you and your family are well
 

§  Responding to news

Sorry to hear about…
Glad to hear that you’re all well
Good luck with …
Hope you feel better soon.

Body

This is the most important part. Here we talk about the main subject and expand with details about the reason of writing the email. If we talk about two different things it is best to write another paragraph.

Intenten ordenar sus ideas en el cuerpo principal para que puedan desarrollar un patron lógico para ordenar sus ideas.  Cuando tienen mas de una idea podrían empezar con:  “First, I wanted to let you know…”  Esto ayuda a que el lector pueda entenderlo mejor.

Then if you need to ask for something I suggest the following expressions:

§  Asking for something

Can you please…?
Is it ok if you …?
I want to …
Would you mind …?
I was wondering if…

Conclusion

§  Closing expressions

 
Anyway, / Well that’s all for now
Hope to hear from you soon / Looking forward to hearing from you soon
Send my regards (love) to…
Take care / Best wishes / Regards / (Lots of) love from…
Sincerely,
Stay in touch / Keep in touch
Bye for now
See you

PS Please send me the photos of our last trip

Antes de mandar el email o carta asegúrense de leerlo completamente para ver si hay algún error ortográfico. También analicen si cumplieron con el objetivo de mandar el mensaje que querían y que tenga un patrón lógico.

From http://www.inglestotal.com/como-redactar-escribir-emails-cartas-informales-ingles/
Examples: (images from carmenlu.com)

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Descripciones: otros ejemplos

Santiago Fernández. 

 DESCRIPTION.

My name is Santiago Fernández but my friends call me “Santi”. Santi is short for Santiago. I am 26 years old and I come from Spain. I was born in “El Borge” a small town near Málaga. I came to Britain in 2005 and I have lived in Bristol since then. I love cycling and swimming. I am an ordinary person, nice and polite and reliable. I am quite tall and my mother says that I am handsome. My hair is neither short nor long , it is fair and wavy. My eyes are light brown (chestnut) and I like wearing a jacket and tie. I work in a Estate Agency. In the photograph I am wearing a red tie, a dark blue jacket and a blue shirt and a pair of camel trousers.

Margaret Woodat. 

DESCRIPTION.

My name is Margaret and my surname is Woodat. My friends call me Maggie, Maggie is short for Margaret. I am 45 years old and I come from Britain. I was born in Chichester, a historical village in the South of England. I came to Spain in 2002. I love playing golf and tennis. I am very friendly and hardworking. I am quite tall and slim. My hair is long, light brown and very straight. My eyes are dark brown and my mouth is big. Some people say I am very polite but I just try to be kind to everyone. I work in a Bank in Algeciras. In the photograph I am wearing a brown and yellow dress. I love casual wear, I do not usually wear formal dresses or suits.

My life is very easy here in Spain; I love the Spanish way of life and the Spanish weather. 

The date

How to write the date - Fill-in Exercise

How to say the date - Fill-in Exercise

The months - Crossword

Days of the week - Crossword

Days of the week, months

The clock

Real conversation

Future tense: will

Future tense

Simple future

Future exercises

Future exercises II

Let it be by The Beatles

April fool's day

April fools' day or All fools' day is celebrated today in many Anglo Saxon countries, it is similar to our "Día de los inocentes". People usually pull pranks and jokes on each other.