Ramp it up

To ramp it up means to increase your effort, or to make something grow.

Usually, I think it's great to find safe spaces for improving your English, non-threatening ways to practice. In general, these kinds of opportunities, like classes, self-study, and language exchanges are the best way to improve.

But what about taking a risk?

My idea today for how to ramp up your English is to enroll in a Coursera online course. They have an amazing selection of courses to choose from, and a lot of people around the world, with all levels of English, are participating.

Why not you?

P.S. This image is from clarityfortheboss.com

All work and all play

This afternoon I had the pleasure of watching this video with Neus, one of my favorite people. What's interesting here, in my opinion, is the analysis of how different generations have approached their work lives. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts about this; do you agree with the ideas?

By the way, you can also find this video subtitled in Spanish. Hope you find it thought-provoking.

P.S. The title comes from an expression: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Behind your back vs. to your face

If someone talks about you behind your back, it means that they are saying things (usually not positive ones) to other people.

The opposite of this is to say something to your face, meaning directly to you.

In general, it's considered a bad practice to talk about a person behind his or her back, but it happens all the time, doesn't it? Of course, occasionally the comments are positive!

It seems much better to say everything to a person's face, but I suppose that we all feel uncomfortable sometimes, in terms of telling people what we really think. Maybe the best option is, if you can't say something to someone's face, maybe you shouldn't talk behind his or her back either!

Alone vs. lonely

If you're alone, it means there is no one physically with you, or no one is sharing your activity. You could take a trip alone, or do a project alone.

If you're lonely, it means that you feel a little sad to be alone. You wish someone were with you
.
Do you like to be alone?
Do you ever feel lonely?

Some people say that the worst loneliness (this is the noun form of the adjective lonely) is when you feel lonely when you're with other people. The concept here is that even though others are with you, you feel isolated from them, without a strong connection. Have you ever experienced this?

When you look at this image, what is your impression: is he lonely, or just alone?

Teaching at InfoJobs is great

It's true, I'm really lucky. Teaching at InfoJobs is truly great, because the people are curious and smart and interesting. Sometimes the best classes are the ones that go in unexpected directions, away from the plan.
My friend David stopped by the classroom and snapped this picture. Although there are some words about stress and anxiety on the board, you can see that I was ready to enjoy the class. And when Jordi, Alex and Humbert showed up, it was great to see them and have time to talk.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead of you, with a few good plans and maybe some time to be spontaneous...

Close call

A close call is when something bad almost happened.

You were almost hit by lightning... "Wow! That was a close call!"

You were almost in a bad car accident... "That was a really close call."

A tornado missed your house... "That was a close call... We could have been killed!"

Your friend almost finds out about the surprise party you're planning for her, another close call.

Keep practicing and keep noticing new things

This structure, keep + a verb in the -ing form, means to continue doing something. For example: "I keep hearing the same song everywhere!" Or, "Don't stop now, keep going!"

I notice that the longer I live in Barcelona, and the more I read books and newspapers, the more I learn. It's like a spiral, in the sense that I notice new things about Spanish and Catalan all the time. These things were always there, I just couldn't see them or recognize them.

The same is true with learning English. Even if you feel that you aren't moving forward, keep practicing and noticing things. Keep learning new words and asking questions.

When you're starting to learn a language, your progress feels quick, because everything is new. But soon, it seems that you're slowing down. This is right, because the more you know, the more you don't know. You may become frustrated. But don't give up! Keep going, and you'll discover that you're still learning and improving.

Something that can help you is to set some practical goals, like to learn a new verb every week. It might not sound like much, but at the end of the year you will have learned a lot of verbs!