What? No posts since before Christmas?? Sorry! To make up for it, here are a few ideas to keep up your English during the Easter week next week (Setmana Santa = Holy Week).

1. Keep a diary/journal

You are welcome to do this on this website as a blog – don’t be shy! And don’t worry, I’ll correct the mistakes (which, as you know are opportunities to learn! 😉 ), either in the comments, or, if you prefer, in the post itself. If you don’t have an account, just register with lleidasocial.com and you will be able to start blogging by clicking on the “+ New” button at the top of the screen when you log in. Send me a message if you have trouble at @admin (this is a social network, just click on @admin to see my profile and send me a message. Or you can do so through the envelope picture at the top of the screen.

If you prefer an offline, printable diary, to record things you do, see, eat, etc., try one of these:

 

If you have the time and energy and are going away (maybe a project for the summer holidays!) there is an interesting guide for a DIY (Do It Yourself) journal (the American word for diary) here, which helps teach a bit of geography to the kids (and probably ourselves too!)

2. Watch some British (and American) TV

All the free channels available in the UK can also be watched on line at camposat.tv. These include many American TV shows/series, so there’s something for everyone. There’s also Netflix, of course, now available in Spain, if you want no-hassle on-demand tv. And YouTube has a bit of almost everything, so it’s easy to find something of any length to watch no matter* how much or little time you have – so make a little time every day to watch something!

3. Read an article/chapter/page a day

There are plenty of sources of free articles and books on the internet, many of which are short or have short chapters, making it easy to read a little every day. Apart from the BBC, the Independent and the Guardian have good articles in plain English.

Make it your daily ritual!

The important thing in all this is to try and build English into your routine. As you often hear me say, it’s better to do just five minutes every day than 1 hour once a week. To create any new habit, you need preparation and to be pre-motivated – so think about all the benefits of what better understanding and communication in English will do before you start and every day. It takes at least 30 days to build a new habit, but you can start small. Five days is not a lot, is it? So try my 5 x 5 experiment – five minutes every day for five days. If you make it, add another five, and soon ten will turn into twenty and thirty…

If you don’t, well, don’t punish yourself, just try again! Celebrate every day that you do manage to do something in English – no matter* how small.

That’s all for now – have a great Easter!

 

 

* No matter basically means "it makes no difference" (it doesn't matter)