Pracownicy, którzy się uśmiechają. Zadowolony personel = zmotywowani uczniowie. W Sparku dbamy o swoich pracowników, a oni dbają o Ciebie.
Troskliwa kadra
Hi Spark followers and congratulations to all who have been spreading the Spark word and are thereby participating in our Spread the Word Competition to win the prize of their choice! Remember that our competition is still open and far from decided yet!
We have had almost 100 people signing up since the start of our competition and at present the top three in terms of number of sign ups is:
1. Sarah Blyth
2. Patrick Alvarez
3. Niall O’Connor
Because of the success of the competition, we have decided to extend the competition deadline to the end of June. Remember, the more people who sign up after your recommendation, the more chance you have to win one of our prizes.
RatoncitoPerez with Spark logo
Here are 10 interesting facts about Spain that will hopefully be of interest and just might make you chuckle a little…
- Spanish nationals are officially the smallest in the European Union. Their Dutch and German counterparts are the tallest.
- Madrid is the second highest (in terms of altitude) capital city in Europe. It is also located exactly in the centre of Spain, with the Puerta de Sol marking the precise spot.
- Apart from the Scandinavian countries, Spain is the least densely population area in the European Union. It also has 8,000kms of beaches, the largest amount in Europe.
- Spain has the second highest number of bars per person in the EU, with 1 bar for every 129 people.
- Spain has the second highest (after France) number of tourist visitors in the world. The tourist trade is by far the country’s biggest industry.
- El Corte Inglés, Spain’s biggest department store, was so named because its original business was importing and reselling fabrics made in England.
- Spanish school students more commonly use squared paper than lined.
- In most Spanish towns the side of the road you can park your car on changes every month. This law (and resulting fine) is vigorously enforced by the local police so don’t be surprised to see locals rushing out the first Monday of the month to re-park their car on the other side of the road!
- Spanish people are incredibly social and it is not unusual to see mixture of ages, ranging from 18 to 60+, dancing away in the same clubs.
- Spanish children don’t believe in the tooth fairy, they believe in a friendly mouse called “Ratoncito Pérez”.
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Wanting to improve your Spanish level? Check out Spark Spanish course options.
RatoncitoPerez avec le logo Spark
Voici 10 anecdotes amusantes à propos de l’Espagne, qui nous l’espérons sont dignes d’intérêts et vous feront sourire…
- Spanish nationals are officially the smallest in the European Union. Their Dutch and German counterparts are the tallest.
- Madrid est la seconde capitale la plus élevée d’Europe (en terme d’altitude). Elle est aussi située exactement au centre de l’Espagne.
- Sans compter les pays scandinaves, l’Espagne est le pays le moins densément peuplé de l’Union européenne. Par contre, elle possède 8000 km de plages, la plus grande surface de toute l’Europe.
- L’Espagne a le second nombre le plus élevé de bars par personne de l’Union européenne, avec un bar pour 129 habitants.
- L’Espagne est le second pays (après la France) le plus visité au monde. Le tourisme est de loin le plus gros pilier économique du pays.
- El Corte Inglés, le plus important grand magasin espagnol, se nomme ainsi parce qu’à l’origine, il importait et revendait des produits fabriqués en Angleterre.
- Les étudiants espagnols utilisent beaucoup plus du papier à carreaux que du papier à lignes pour écrire.
- Dans la plupart des villes espagnoles, le côté où vous pouvez garer votre voiture change tous les mois. Cette réglementation est rigoureusement contrôlé et appliqué par les policiers locaux. Ne vous étonnez donc pas du nombre de personnes qui le premier lundi du mois qui changent leur voiture de côté.
- Les Espagnols sont incroyablement sociables et ce n’est pas inhabituel de trouver dans un même club et sur une même piste de danse des gens dont l’âge peut varier de 18 à plus de 60 ans.
- Les enfants espagnoles croient à la gentille petite souris qui apportent des pièces quand leurs dents de lait sont tombées : “Ratoncito Pérez”.
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Vous souhaitez améliorer votre niveau d’espagnol ? Jetez un coup d’oeil à nos options de cours d’espagnol.
Every learner of a Spanish has probably experienced it before: thinking you said something perfectly but when you looked at the red faces of those around you, you realized that you had made another embarrassing mistake…
Here we have collated the 10 funniest ones we could think of but please hesitate to let us know new ones if you can think of them. Make sure you don’t end up in one of these situations and start learning Spanish now 🙂
- Anoche comí pecado – Last night I ate sin.
Anoche comí pescado – Last night I ate fish. - Querría una ensalada con polla. – I would like a salad with the male sexual organ.
Querría una ensalada con pollo. – I would like a chicken salad. - Quiero ser sucio. – I want to be dirty.
Quiero ser socio. – I want to be a member. - Mis hombres están cansados – My men are tired.
Mis hombros están cansados. – My shoulders are tired. - Estoy casado. – I am married.
Estoy cansado. – I am tired. - Estoy muy embarazada – I am very pregnant.
Estoy muy avergonzada. – I’m very embarrassed. - Soy caliente. – I’m hot. (in attractive / good-looking sense).
Tengo calor. – I’m hot. (in a temperature sense). - Este zumo es sin preservativos? – Is this juice without condoms?
Este zumo es sin aditivos? – Is this juice without preservatives? - Eres un verdadero caballo! – You’re a true horse!
Eres un verdadero caballero! – You’re a true gentleman! - Estoy muy exitada! – I am very horny.
Estoy muy emocionada! – I am very excited.
Check your level!
Want to make sure this will never happen to you (again)? Check out our Spanish courses in Spain options for all ages of learners.
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Every learner of a foreign language has probably experienced it before: thinking you said something perfectly but when you looked at the red faces of those around you, you realized that you had made another embarrasing mistake…
Nous avons rassemblé ici 10 erreures communes et amusantes lorsque l’on passe du français à l’espagnol. Faites donc attention de ne pas vous retrouver dans ces situations !
- Tengo los pelos muy largos – J’ai les poils très longs. Tengo el pelo largo – J’ai les cheveux longs.
- Estoy constipado. – J’ai un rhume. Tengo estreñimiento . – Je suis constipé.
- Quiero exprimirme. – Je veux me presser (comme un citron). Quiero expresarme. – Je veux m’exprimer.
- Tengo el pelo peligroso – J’ai les cheveux dangereux. Tengo el pelo pelirrojo. – J’ai les cheveux roux.
- ¿Eres listo?. – Es-tu intelligent ?. ¿Estas listo?. – Es-tu prêt ?.
- Estoy muy embarazada – Je suis très enceinte. Estoy muy avergonzada. – Je suis très embarassée.
- Soy caliente. – Je suis chaud. Tengo calor. – J’ai chaud.
- Un toro ha aparecido en la arena – Un taureau est apparu sur le sable. Un toro ha aparecido en la plaza de toros. Un taureau est apparu dans l’arène.
- No me gusta este chico, es muy debil.- Je n’aime pas ce garçon, il est très faible. No me gusta este chico, es un imbecil – Je n’aime pas ce garçon, c’est un imbécile.
- Estoy atiendote desde hace una hora ! – Je m’occupe de toi depuis une heure. Estoy esperandote desde hace un hora ! – Je t’attends depuis une heure !
Vous voulez être sûr que cela ne vous arrivera jamais ? Jetez un coup d’oeil à nos cours d’espagnol !
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Events taking place in El Puerto
Photo Exh
ibition
This exhibition, diplaying some of Fito Carreto´s (reknowned photographer in southern Spain) most magnificent photos, takes place from March 19th to April 9th in right here in El Puerto. If you are interested in photography, do not miss this!
Blanco y negro – art gallery/pub
This bar is unique in that every few weeks they display different artists and types of art. From now until April 17th, it is the turn of artist Juan Lara´s students. Why not enjoy some art with a beer in this portuense pub/gallery?
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Fancy a trip to the cinema to see a classic?! Check out this “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975) in colour on the big screen at Cine del Puerto.
Live Music – Hector and friends
Check out this punk rock/indie band when they perform in the public theatre “Teatro Municipal Pedro Muñoz Seca”. Entry 6€ or 4€ with a student card.
Jazz band
Looking for something to do this Friday, March 25th? Why not relax and take some time to enjoy the “Javier Gallardo Quartet”, on stage from 23:30 in the Sala Milauwke.
Events taking place in neighbouring towns an
d cities
Motor GP
The grand prix of motorcycling is taking place in Jerez this April from 1st to 3rd, so expect an influx of avid motorcyclists in the southern Spain area.
Cosmopoetic Festival
This annual literary extravaganza is taking place in Cordoba from March 14th to April 10th and draws the hottest poets from all corners of the world. It is an unmissable event for peotry fans, as they get to enjoy writers performing their pieces on balconies, halls and on street corners in the 8th edition of this festival.
Malaga Festival
At the Malaga festival of Spanish film, premieres, homages and conferences are just some of the exciting events associated with the Malaga film festival which takes place from March 26th to April 2nd.
¡Hola a todas!
Today, I have decided to talk about one of my favourite topics, food.
I won´t lie though, I am a picky eater. I know what I like to eat and how, and I am not always willing to try new things, “don´t fix it if it ain´t broke” and all that…
However, since my move here, that has changed radically. Most of this change is not my decision, but rather, due to peer pressure; my friends or colleagues telling me I “have to try it” or a simple “man up and eat it” from Fiona.
If like me, you are a picky eater but are considering becoming more adventurous, I have two pieces of advice.
- Do it! Your taste buds will thank you
- Start small
Tapas. Tapas are a well known type of appetizer/snack associated with Spanish cuisine. They are a great way to experience new foods in a clever way (hey, if you don´t like it, it probably only cost you 2€ anyways..). Eating tapas also means you can try many different varieties of foods, for a small price.
When we first arrived here, Doug and Inge took us out for tapas. We went to “El Asador” in the centre of El Puerto. When we walked in, the first shock we got was the fact that everyone who was eating tapas was doing so at the bar. Some were sitting on bar stools, but the majority of folk were standing, while talking, eating and laughing. This “standing up while eating” concept felt completely bizarre me.
The second, and far more frightening shock I got, was Doug announcing he had ordered bull´s tail (yes, you read that correctly) and pig´s cheek for us to try. At first I thought he was joking, and I looked at Inge and Fiona for a laugh but didn´t get one. When I realized he was serious, I really did need a bar stool to sit down on.
Doug and Inge let us start off gently with the first round of tapas including; a piece of manchego cheese (a well-developed cheese from La Mancha in Spain), “patatas bravas” (small chunks of potatoes served warm with a spicy tomato sauce), a mini peppered steak, (succulent meat served with a large helping of pepper sauce) and some green olives. They were delicious, with the peppered steak being the tastiest, in my opinion.
Too soon, those tapas were demolished and the rest of our food arrived. I was surprised to see both of the bull´s tail and the pig´s cheek looked quite appetizing, if only I didn´t know what they were…
After some serious “you only live once”, “just try it” “it’s not going to kill you”, I relented (I feared I would be sent back to Ireland if I didn´t…joke!).
The bull´s tail was served with crisps in a delicious sauce and the pig´s cheek was tender and moist, quite possibly the most delicious pork I have ever tasted.
In the end, I survived to tell the tale (excuse the pun!), and I would even go as far as to say, I highly recommend you try all of the foods mentioned above!
All this talk about food has made me hungry..that’s all for now…!
Audrey
Hello all,
Last weekend, I had my first experience at a carnival, ever!
Before I came to Spain, a lot of people had mentioned the word “carnaval” most describing it as “some sort of crazy party that lasts for weeks”. I didn´t pay too much attention to that statement, assuming “Carnaval” would be a pretty laid back event with some singing and dancing for anyone interested. How could it possibly span into a 6 week celebration?! Boy, was I wrong.
The first night I arrived to Spain (the 30th of January), my housemate Chris arrived home late as he had been at the beginning of the carnival in Cadiz. He explained that it had been pretty crowded with lots of live music and plenty to see and do. It sounded like fun, but not something I hadn´t seen in Ireland before.
Every weekend since then, I had heard snippets about the carnival in Cadiz, but I didn´t take much heed, as none of my friends seemed that bothered by it.
Finally, last weekend, a mate mentioned it to me, and said we should check it out. He also mentioned it was the third biggest carnival in the world. Wow. We then decided to dress up for the festivities on Saturday night in Cadiz. We had heard that this was the tradition, but we were skeptical as to how many others would actually dress up.It turns outs, EVERYONE dresses up for the event and they all wear fantastic costumes..
After a trip to one of the inexpensive Chinese stores in El Puerto, we all had new identities. Personally, I went as a “gitana”, a gypsy, while Fiona went as a ladybird, Josh went as a cowboy and Matt went as a patriot to South Africa. A lot of our other friends dressed up as pirates. We then took the ferry to Cadiz, where we found out being on a boat with 100 other people dressed up in unusual outfits is actually lot of fun, if a little strange. When we arrived to Cadiz, it was manic! The streets were crowded with people and there was live music blaring through the city. The atmosphere was electric and the party was jumping. The city was alive with colour, celebration and fun.
After some hardcore celebrating, I caught the train home at 6am on Sunday morning, although some of my friends managed to make it through to 11pm Sunday night!
All in all, it was a fantastic event. It was so different to anything I have ever experienced in any other country. It was such a cultural experience and I would 100% recommend it.
I am even returning this weekend, but only to watch the less intense, day time parts of “carnaval”.
We at Spark Spanish are delighted to announce that our sister company, El Centro Ingles, has been voted the best private school in all of Andalucia! What an achievement. El Centro Ingles, which was founded by Linda Randell in 1969, received this honour in the 2nd of March 2011, when Spanish newspaper “El Mundo” voted them the best in Andalucia. The English centre is a bilingual private day school of primary, secondary and ‘bachillerato’ education in El Puerto de Santa Maria. If was founded over 40 years ago and has been providing excellence in English language school. El Centro is also currently ranked 41st best school in the country of Spain! Congratulations El Centro Ingles, you really deserved this!
Good news! Our Spread the Word competition is all ready to go which means that our competition can now start! If you would like to participate, please register in our Spread the Word and Affiliate area in order to send out emails and links to others who might be interested in signing up to our newsletter, thereby competing for one of our amazing prizes! We have also created a video / screen cast to help you a little bit and guide you through the process of signing up and sending on information. This is a very useful introduction to this programme, so please have a look at it! Read More
home cinema
Ever wanted to have your own cinema at home or play your favourite console on a gigantic size screen?
Or jealous that all your friends have a Wii and you don’t have one yet?
Ever wanted to have unlimited access to any book at any moment?
Or perhaps feeling behind the times, because you don’t have a blu-ray player yet?
Well Spark will help you out! We will be rewarding the Spark supporter who most successfully spreads the Spark word with the prize of their choice.
Wii console
How to participate
To participate in this competition all Spark supporters need do is the following:
- Sign up to our “spread the wor(l)d programme”.
- From there you will have access to your own spread the word area and affiliate code, which will allow you to do the following things:
- Forward on Spark information to friends or interested parties.
- Personalize your own email with targeted Spark information (specific programmes, offers etc.) that might interest your contacts;
- Place spark banners on your own website, blog or even social network pages like facebook.
Sign up scores
Anyone who went to http://www.sparkspanish.com via one of your links (email or banner) and then later signed up to our newsletter would be recorded in your affiliate programme as a “sign up” for you and count towards your total. Also anyone who registered and recorded your unique code would also be included.
We will inform you of the sign up totals on a regular basis via a blog post, so you could keep track of how you were doing and see if you are in contention for the exciting prize. We would also have special Spark runner up prizes for those who pass a certain number of sign ups. This competition closes the end of June providing the leading “spark follower” has generated at least 20 newsletter sign ups, if at that point, no one has reached that target, the competition will close when the first affiliate reaches the 20 signs ups.
More rewards
Believe it or not but there is MORE! Your affiliate account would also record who of your contacts later bought a Spark programme (even if that is a year later) and for this sale you would be rewarded a 5% commission on the course price (excluding accommodation nor add ons). And for especially active Spark recommenders, this commission can be raised after a certain number of sign ups and purchases.
Don’t forget to vote for your prize you would like to win and to sign up to our Spread to Word Programme to get started!
We thank you for sparking the world and for believing in us…..now let’s get sparking!
