HOW TO BE SPANISH: AN ARTICLE AND A REPLY

You may have heard of the article recently published by The Sunday Times titled How to be Spanish. (To see and download full article, click here) Different media in Spain have echoed the article, incensed by the collection of clichés it features.

A British contributor to El País, Simon Hunter, has replied to the Sunday Times'  chief travel writer  by giving his own view of the matter. READ IT HERE.

What's your stand? Are you outraged, offended, disgusted, or on the contrary, have you been amused by it all? Are the clichés true (or partially true)? Is the tone of the article derisive or simply taunting/frank/amusing/you-name-it?  

I wanna hear your thoughts about the issue!!

PS. Here's Murcia Today's article commenting on the matter.

YOUR OPINION ON SOME SOCIAL ISSUES

I would like you to think about and post a comment bout ONE of the two following social issues: 

A. SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Lately some prominent public figures have been accused of sexual misconduct, eg. movie producer Harvey Weinstein or actor Kevin Spacey as well as university professors and other professionals. Where is the line between sexual harassment and simple freedom to flirt with someone? 

B. NOMOPHOBIA:  Among today's high school and college students, it's on the rise: an increasing number of college students now shower with their cell phone. Most of us are afraid of leaving home without the smart phone. When does this become an addiction?

Keep your comment short and think about the language before you publish it. Remember that you won't be able to see it until I review it so be patient and don't click several times on the button! Thanks for your cooperation.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL CONFLICT IN MURCIA

We've been talking about city life so this news is relevant since it has a direct impact on part of the population of the city of Murcia, and has outraged every citizen.

What do you know about the conflict and the protests? Think about it in English before you read the report! Then click on the link and read it.

High speed rail tunnel protests spread to the center of Murcia

Murcia Today is a good source of news in English about Murcia so check it out. These are the latest regional news

MEDIA COVERAGE OF ORGANIC FOOD

We've been talking about organic food and everyone seems to have a different opinion based on their personal experience, hearsay or , in many cases, what media they get their info from. So let's look at a very interesting analysis of how different media have presented the findings of research by Stanfors University on the subject.

Media coverage of organic food study: Hit or miss?

"HER" THE MOVIE: A BOY-MEETS-OPERATING-SYSTEM ROMANCE

This is the activity we have done in class about technology and relationships. It's based on two scenes from the movie "Her". Click here to download the activity sheet.

MORE ABOUT THE MEDIA: VOCABULARY AND IDEAS FOR DEBATE

Hey guys

here's some more practice with a vocab list and arguments for a debate that will take place in class this week about violence in the media. You will have to defend a point of view which might not be your own and that's great training for the exam!

Click here to download the vocab and debate sheet. Please print it out and bring it to class.