From the northern mountains of Madrid...

Hi everybody! "English in Getafe" is coming back this academic year with more activities from IES Alto Jarama,Torrelaguna, a small village located in the northern mountains of Madrid. As usual, everybody's welcome.

Terry Conroy, a Potters legend

With his flaming ginger hair, Irishman Terry Conroy is one of the most iconic Stoke City players ever. Known affectionately by fans as "White Legs" he was the scorer and supplier of 2 of the most important goals in Potters history.

When Terry Conroy headed Stoke City's first goal in the 1972 league cup final against Chelsea - he achieved a dream he'd had as a young boy. "My aspiration as a kid was to become a professional footballer, play in England, play for my country and score the winning goal at Wembley", he said. "I got the last part wrong because I scored the first goal at Wembley but I made the winner though!"

Conroy joined the Potters from the Irish club, Glentoran F.C. for 10 thousand pounds in March 1967, but if it hadn't been for a spell of bad weather he could've been heading to London. "Fulham had made an offer but had to get parental permission for me to sign because I was under 21. I said to my dad I wanted to get the cup replay (for Glentoran) out of the way before signing, but when I got to Belfast for the match it was snowed off. I then had to catch the train home to Dublin, and told Fulham I would decide in the next 24 hours, but I was still undecided." That was when Stoke made their move - Manager Tony Waddington shared that train ride back to Dublin with him. Waddo convinced me Stoke was the place for me, and I've never regretted the decision."

He went on to make 333 Cup and League appearances for Stoke, scoring 66 goals. He was also capped by the Republic of Ireland 26 times.

He now works in the commercial department at Stoke City, and is the UK welfare officer for all Irish players who play in England and Scotland. His role is to look after youngsters who come over and take academy scholarships. "I know what it's like. I came to Stoke at 20 - I was in digs for 2 years and was very homesick. If I wanted to ring home I had to go out and find a phone box, make sure I had the right change. Youngsters don't have those problems now because of mobile phones and the internet but it can still be difficult. I'm there to help them and make sure they settle in and enjoy their football."

                                                                                Adapted and abridged from BBC

Say whether the following sentences are True or False. Give evidence from the text.

a. Terry Conroy decided to sign with Stoke City when he was travelling on a train to Dublin.

b. The first two years in Stoke were comfortable and easy for Terry Conroy.

Answer these questions using your own words. Do not copy from the text.

a. Why hadn't Conroy signed for Fulham yet when Stoke City made their move?

b. Explain in your own words the job Terry Conroy has nowadays.

Find a synonym in the text for the following words:

a. representative (paragraph 1):
b. dearly (paragraph 1):
c. duty (paragraph 5):
d. grants (paragraph 5): 

Turn into Reported Speech:


-"I got the last part wrong because I only scored the first goal at Wembley", Terry Conroy said.

Turn into Active:

-He was capped by the Republic of Ireland 26 times.

Fill in the blank spaces:

-When Conroy played for Glentoran, he used to travel _________ Dublin ________ Belfast ______train.

-Conroy played finally for Stoke City, although he _____________ (receive) an offer from Fulham before.

-Terry Conroy was ____________ (famous) ____________ other football players.

Reported Speech Review

Click on the links and do the activities:

STATEMENTS

QUESTIONS

COMMANDS & REQUESTS

MIXED

Are you in love? Celebrate St. Valentine's Day with Roxette!

In 1991, the Swedish duo Roxette (Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle) released the album Joyride, in which they included the song "Church of your heart".
More information:
Roxette in Wikipedia

Roxette Official Site

Complete the lyrics, enjoy the song and dedicate it to those you love!!!

Roxette - Church of your heart

Can't we 1._________ the world outside
Just for a while? Just for a while?
2._________some time, you and I
Under this bright glorious 3.__________

It's been so long 4.__________ I first saw you
But I still love that 5.____________ in your eyes

Yes it's true, right from the start
I believed in the church of your heart
Yes it's you, that make me part of
And I believe in the church of your heart

Step inside, lay 6.___________ down
Just for a while, rest for a while
I can hear a thundering 7.__________
Beating inside when you're around

It's been so long 8._________ I first met you
Since we made love, you know 9.________ time flies

Yes it's true, right from the start
I believed in the church of your heart
Yes it's you that make me be part of
And I believe in the church of your heart
In the church of your heart

Yes it's true, right from the start
I believed in the church of your heart
Yes it's you that make me be part of
And I believe in the church of your heart

10._______ baby it's true, right from the start
I believed in the church of your heart
Yes it's you that make me be part of
And I believe in the church of your heart
In the church of your heart

Charles Dickens's 199th anniversary

English people in the 19th century loved novels. Some educated people, especially women, had lots of time to read. There were private libraries, public and lots of  bookshops. Long novels came out in cheap episodes, once a month. They were very popular.

The most popular novelist was Charles Dickens. If he were alive, he would be 199 years old today, February 7th. This post just intends to be a small tribute to the greatest novelist in the history of English literature.
His books were funny and exciting, but with a serious message. He described the hard lives of poor people. The rich read his books and began to understand the terrible social problems which existed at that time.

In Oliver Twist we meet a little boy in an orphanage. He is hungry and asks for more food. He gets into serious trouble and that is when his adventures begin.

One of his most famous stories is A Christmas Carol. In it we see the mean employer, Scrooge. Even at Christmas he gives nothing extra to his poor employees. One of them, Bob Cratchitt, has a son who can´t walk, and they have a very hard life. But this is a happy story. In the novel Scrooge meets some ghosts who make him change his ideas. He becomes loving and generous, and gives wonderful Christmas presents to everyone. Today, his name is part of the English language: we often call a mean person a "scrooge".

 Source: The World of English  by Mark Farrell with Regina Ceriani and Franca Rossi. Longman 1995

Now, say whether the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE. Give evidence from the text:

1. Life was easy for most English people in the 19th century.

2. Scrooge had always been a generous man.

3. Everybody in England used to read Dickens´s novels.

4. Bob Cratchitt and his family used to have difficulties.

Find words in the text that mean:

1. Low in price

2. Chapters

3. Difficult

4. Starving

5. Spirits

6. Gifts 

The Black Donnellys - Episode 2 Questions

QUESTIONS

 1. What did Tommy mean when he told Kevin that they both were going "shopping"?

2. What methods did Dokey Farrell use to interrogate people?

3. What had Jimmy done with the corpse of Louie Downtown? 

4. What plan did Kevin Donnelly have to make the corpse disappear? Did the plan work?

5. What did Tommy have to do to the corpse in the end? Did Kevin help him? 

6. What did Kevin want to do with the ransom money? What did finally Tommy do with it?

7. What did Jenny Reilly see at the cellar of Jimmy's bar? What did she do then?

8. Why was Tommy surprised when he entered Nicky Cottero's bar?

9. What did Nicky Cottero tell Tommy?

10. What happened between Jenny and Tommy that night? 

The Black Donnellys - Pilot Episode Questions

QUESTIONS

1. How many are the Donnelly brothers? Can you name them?

2. What had happened to Jimmy when he was a child? How did it affect him later?

3. How did Joey "Ice Cream" get his nickname?

4. Did the Donnellys have a father? What had happened to him?

5. What things was Tommy good at? What kind of relationship did he maintain with Jenny Reilly?

6. What had Jimmy, Kevin and Séan stolen? What happened then?

7. Why did Jimmy and Kevin kidnap Sal Minetta's nephew?

8. What happened to Séan Donnelly then? Who did it?

9. Did Huey Farrell solve the problem the Donnellys had with Sal Minetta?

10. What things did Tommy do to save Jimmy from death? Who helped him?

Are you interested in watching the whole episode again? You can do it here:

PART 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpE4uJAHnNo

PART 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0rgUc8eeo4

PART 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHrGe1pfkPo

PART 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2rbiuKG2aQ

PART 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ1PArAfX1M