Idioms to take into account!

Hellos dear readers, I hope you are doing well.  

You do not think 'Idiom' means literally 'idioma' in Spanish, it could be a False Friend, (for those who don't know what do 'False Friends' mean, they are words in a language that look/sound similar to others in another language but differ significantly in meaning)*. Returning to the topic, Idioms are own words or phrases from a specific culture or society and have a significance when they are together, but if you try to understand word by word, maybe they would lose its meaning, sometimes you can translate literally, but it does not work always. Idioms are an important way to speak in a social context; they help us to save words and to say something differently. Learn them properly helps you to communicate better, to increase your vocabulary and feel every day almost like a native one. When you use them, be careful and take into account that they can have a different meaning in every place. 

Now I am going to share some common Idioms in English and their respective translation in Spanish. The following translations are made by me:

 -'Be glad to see the back of (someone)'. 

It is about being happy when a person leaves, when someone is gone or something is finished. I know most of you were happy when your Math teacher left the classroom, hahaha (I am just pulling your leg). In Spanish it could be: 'Estar feliz porque alguien por fin se va o algo termina'.

E.g: "María was glad to see the back of his husband, she had a date with her neighbor"

- 'Bite off more than you can chew'. 

When a person tries to do more than he/she really can. Also when that person promises something he/she can not keep. This idiom is not always related to food. In Spanish it could be: 'Comer más de lo que puedas masticar' or 'No comas ansias'. 

E.g: "Pedro was promising free transportation for everyone when he was mayor, he was biting off more than he could chew"

- 'Judge a book by its cover'. 

Most of us are used to do it every time, if you are not, congratulations. It is when a person judges something primarily on appearance. In Spanish it could be: 'Juzgar un libro por su portada' o 'Juzgar a alguien sin conocerlo'.

E.g: "Elena thinks Mario is smart and funny just because he is tall and Caucasian".

- 'Kill two birds with one stone'

Hey, it is not so literally, it is when a person accomplishes two different things at the same time, women are expert doing that! In Spanish it could be: 'Matar dos pájaros de un solo tiro'. 

E.g: "My mother can assist the family and manage a company at the same time, she can kill two birds with one stone". 

-'Piece of cake'

This is one of the most common idioms in English, it is when a job, a task or any activity is easy or simple or does not require too much work. In Spanish it could be: 'Más fácil que la tabla del 1' or 'Eso es pan comido'

E.g: "Jean Paul asked us for a task about idioms, that is just a piece of cake". 

I hope you have enjoyed this post, I would like to know if there is any Idiom you do not understand or you really like and use in your lifetime, please share it, does not matter if it is in Spanish, English, Portuguese or French. 
What do you think about idioms in society? 
Do you think they are useful? Why? Why not?

See you soon!

  *Definition taken from Wikipedia. 

Trainee Teacher

Hello dear readers, I hope you all are doing well. 

This time, we had to interview a classmate and share the experience that we had by doing it. I want to introduce to you to who I chose, you may know her, she is my pal Carolina. She has done a short autobiography for you to know her better, here you have:

“Hello, my name is Carolina Esther Murillo Murillo I am 18 years old, I was born in Apartadó (Antioquia) I used to live with my parents and my oldest sister. Now, I am living with my middle sister, her name is Angie and she is studying Odontology and she is 25.

I love reading books about the Jew Holocaust, listening to Adele's music, singing and talking on the phone, watching videos, and other things.

On the other hand, I finished the school 2 years ago. I have studied English at the Colombo Americano for 2 years and in Universidad de Medellín 1 year more. Everything has change, it was too tough to leave my home, and nonetheless I am delighted living in here”. 
I want to add that she really loves the history of Jew Holocaust, that is her pastime.

Questions time! 

D: Why did you decide to study this career? 

 C: "I decided to study this program because wholeheartedly (honestly) it was my second option, I have loved languages since I was a child but I was in the darkness thinking on other things, so I got lost in the way; nevertheless, I want to help children from my town for giving them the opportunity to have a suitable teacher and a pleasant learning process; hence, I decided it for that reason", she said.

D: What do you think about education in Colombia?

 C: "I would like to say that education in Colombia is neither the worst nor the best, every single day people is looking for someone to blame, when each person can make the difference by letting up gossip and changing from themselves to others. Moreover, sometimes, some teachers begin to blame the State while they do not realize that they have something powerful on their hands, just contemplating their teaching practice and updating themselves they can performance miracles", she said.

D: When did you find out you wanted to be a teacher?

 C: "I discovered that I wanted to be a teacher when I started to ponder on my years in basic education, my first though was my teacher, I do not know exactly why, but I admire her and I want to be like her", she said.

D: Is there something do you want to change in the educational system?

 C: "I just want to find something that helps me to change the thoughts of the educational subjects", she said.

D: How do you feel studying this degree? 

 C: "As I said before, I am happy living here in Medellín, it is a little bit challenging because I must be aware of the future that awaits me, but I feel I am doing this more for charity than myself", she said.

I want to say that this interview showed me a different new point of view, despite I talk to her (Carolina) everyday, it is not enough to get closer to her beliefs. I enjoy talking to her because it seems that we speak the same language (it sounds weird, I know), and we understand each other well, (maybe because we are from the same place). I do not know why but it is not the same that if I talk to a person from Medellín, that's the reason why I decided to interview her. 

It would be a pleasure for me that you can answer the same questions I asked to Caro. Remember, do it honestly, "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of", see you soon! 

Movie Report

Hello dear readers, I hope you are doing well! 

This time I had to talk about an educational movie and its effects on me, I chose 'Freedom Writers' or 'The Freedom Writers Diary', as you prefer. This movie was filmed in 2007 and is based on a book called ‘The Freedom Writers Diary’ by Erin Gruwell, an American teacher, who was inspired in real life stories. This movie tells the life of the students of classroom 203 in a juvenile correction facility, located in Long Beach, California, and a new teacher that has come into their lives to change their wrong concepts about life. The life of most of these students is surrounded by violence, drugs and delinquents; they do not even know why they go to school every day; somehow, this teacher (Erin Gruwell) recognized their similarities and used them to unite them and gave them some notebooks where they can express themselves and tell what happen in their lives.  

I really like this movie and enjoy it every time I watch it because it shows me a not-so-far reality from my country (Colombia), shows me there are still committed people in society (not only teachers) and maybe this does not happen in the largest cities, but it do happen in some contexts of the country, in forsaken towns by government. If you have not watched this movie, please do it, you will not regret. I brought you some pictures because I could not upload the trailer of the movie; anyway I share you the link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhXMJlm852A  

These are the real students and their teacher. 

These are the actors.

This is the cover of the book. 

Now, it would a pleasure for me if you answer these questions:

1. Would you like to work in a juvenile correction facility (juvenile detention center), why or why not?

2. What do you think government should do to improve this situation? (Does not matter where it is)

3. Do you know any juvenile correction facility in Colombia? Where is it located? 

Post data: You can say juvenile correction facility or juvenile correctional facility, they are both correct. Thanks for reading, see you soon! 

Little interview

Hello dear readers, I hope you are doing well! 

This week we had to interview a language teacher, does not matter if he/she speaks Chinese, French or whatever, the important thing was that it should be brief and written in English. First of all, I want to introduce you to the professor I interviewed. His name is Daniel Restrepo Fernández. He teaches the subject of 'Communicative Competence in English language' in the bachelor program at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. I decided to ask him two questions, both related to his role as a teacher, the first one was: "why did you decided to be a teacher?" and he answered that he made that decision because he was an exchange student. He finished his High School in Iowa, one of the fifty states of the United States and then he returned to Colombia to continue his studies at UPB. He graduated from the Spanish and English language education program. 

The second one was: "what were your expectations about this profession?" and his answer was new for me, because when he realized he wanted to study this career, he did not have any expectation of the same in that moment, he just decided to study it because he liked it and he thought it was "cool" and now he is satisfied and pleased with his profession. 

Describing education through a song

Hello dear readers, I hope you are doing well! 

This time we had to choose a song related to educational topics, teachers, students, school or life at high school. I never imagined there were a lot of songs about realities in school; I figured it out doing this homework. Despite there are many of this songs on Internet, it was difficult for me to find the right one and finally I got it. Its name is ‘ABC’ by the famous band The Jackson 5, where Michael Jackson started his musical career. The hit was released on February 24, 1970 and immediately started to sound on every radio station. It is about the time at school, specially elementary education, it tells how good it can be and how you can enjoy it learning to add, to read and at the same time having fun with your classmates. That is the most important aspect of high school, because I think we are going to school to socialize. This song reflects how important it is to be patient and do things with love and the best part: It recognizes as good the teachers' job, but also shows me/us our culture of repeating everything and multiplying what we all already know. It reminds me to the current situation of many schools in this country and that they sometimes care more about repeating that having a significant learning (for those who do not know what does this mean, it is when a student can relate/connect new knowledge with the previous one.)  

I going to ask you some questions and I want you to answer honestly, please. 

1. Do you think is important to change the traditional model of schools today? Why or why not? 

2. Do you think school (in general) is carrying out its main objective? Why or why not?

3. How would be your dream (ideal) school? 

Thank you so much for reading this, see you soon!