Blog
Language test 2 Free
Phew! Here are the results of the annual Traumatic Event : Vehicle Inspection (ITV): the car passed (and so it should, given the money I spent on the exhaust) Spanish Language Competence Test (SLCT) :...
Blog
Language test Free
It's the time of year for my Traumatic Experience. My elderly but reliable Opel Astra has to undergo its annual mechanical inspection, the ITV, which means taking the car to an official testing station...
Blog
Santa Julitta Free
To the Museo Nacional de Arte de Catalunya (MNAC to its friends) to see the newly re-opened and re-modelled section on Catalan Romanesque. Most impressive – cool, clear galleries with a reduced number...
Literature
Symbol & Image
We often talk about the symbolism and the imagery used in novels, but these two terms are often used very loosely, even interchangeably – so what do we really mean by them? More specifically, how do we...
Blog
Changes to the site Free
One of the fascinating things about writing a website is that the whole project remains flexible. You can always change everything, from the smallest aspect of phrasing to the entire overall structure....
Blog
Life's a beach 2 Free
The girl selling braids along the beach was absolutely beautiful. High rounded cheek-bones, curving eyelids, full lips turned up at the corners around a smile that was dazzling against her jet black skin....
Blog
Let's pretend Free
One intriguing aspect of the new Subject Guide is that it contains a writing task that doesn't involve students pretending … I'm referring to the Personal Response, the new Section B of HL Paper 2....
Literature
The painting
Here is the origin of the whole novel: This is the best quality image I could find on the internet, but I am sure that the colours, textures and tonalities of the original are much more subtle. This...
Blog
Life's a beach Free
You can find all human life on a beach. And what is more, if you take your lounging seriously, you have the time to watch and think and watch again … It's amazing how flexible small children are. Take...
Literature
Vermeer, painting & Griet
Girl with a Pearl Earring is mainly about relationships, and the central relationship is Griet's with Vermeer. Her fascination – love? passion? - for Vermeer is fired and driven by the fact that he is...