Lluc Salvadó in the USA

Two students of IES Manuel de Pedrolo, Lluc Salvador and Clàudia Serrano, are coursing 4ESO in the USA. We get in touch through this page so they can explain to us their everyday experiences at the High School. This is what Lluc tells us about it.

- Can you remember how  your first experience on American English was once you were in the USA?

It was not as hard as I thouhgt it would be because they are pretty used to foreigners. The easier people to understand was actually the teachers, who spoke much slower. And the hardest thing to get was my friends' jokes.

- What do you do every day and how is a normal day in an American family?

We start school at 8.30 and each period lasts 70 minutes. We take five periods every day, so we finish school at 3.15 p.m. We eat lunch at noon and dinner at 5 or 6. Bed time is between 9 and 11.

We eat a pretty large breakfast and a really small lunch. Dinner is pretty large too.

All the houses are the same. There are two kind of houses you can choose in a neighbourhood. The streets are all the same, and there are not really people walking in the street. You need a car for everything: shopping, hang out with friends. You need people to bring you everywhere because you can't walk to go anywhere.

The stores are all chains. There are not many small stores. They are all ten times bigger than a supermarket here. Almost all stores sell everything. From food to cell phones; everything is big here!

- How is your life at the High School?

The schools are pretty different. Many of the teachers don't come directly from college, but they have worked for pretty cool companies or organizations. The I.T. teacher knows Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, German and English.

Three or four of the teachers have worked for the United States Government, and they told us that they cannot say anything about what they saw or heard while they were working for them. The Chemistry teacher has worked in a place where they investigate about Astronomy stuff.

Everything is in the school: basketball team, volleyball team... Everyone is really friendly and curious about other countries.

  

Matthew Tree at Manuel de Pedrolo

The writer Matthew Tree at the Institut Manuel de Pedrolo

The Department of Foreign Languages ​​in our Institut Manuel de Pedrolo organized a lecture in English by the British writer Matthew Tree for students of Batxillerat on February 6. The English writer settled down in Catalonia, opened the conference with a quotation from the novel 'Saturday' by Ian McEwan to illustrate his own experience in the search for a voice in his writing.

In this process, Matthew Tree explained that he found his own voice in Catalan after overcoming the obstacles of the social class framework in English language. After that, he read an extract from his first novel in Catalan. Finally, he finished reading the first chapter of his next novel 'SNUG' which is about to be published in the UK. Then he suggested a question-and-answer session where students put him some questions in English as well. We all enjoyed an anglophone day.

Working in Azerbaijan

Donna, the language assistant at Pedrolo last year, has sent us a short text to let us know how her experience in Baku is like. Here you have her words:

This year I am working in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a country of nine million located in the Caucauses. It borders Armenia, Russia, Iran and Georgia.

I work in Baku, the capital, which has about two million people. I am teaching English at Khazar University and the Dunya School. I like my students here and teaching has been fun.

Azerbaijan has rich history and there are plent of places in Baku to experience some of Azeri culture. The Old City is a walled complex that has a famous tower and palace. Azerbaijan is often said to be "where the east meets the west" and you can see this in the architecture of many of the buildings around town. Baku is located by the Caspian sea and there is a very nice bulvard to walk near the sea.

The langauge spoken is Azeri, a Turkik language. Many people also speak Russian because Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union until the early 1990s.

The food is great! Azerbaijan has really tasty cuisine. Some of my favorites are dolma, a dish made with meat and grape leaves, and marci -- a lentil soup. The local fruits and vegtables are cheap and very fresh. The best thing about the food here is that my favorite fruit--pomegranite--grows abundantly here and is pretty cheap. You could say I've eaten quite a few of them so far!

The people here are warm and hospitable. I've met and made friends with many lovely people and have found Azeris to be very eager to show me their culture and help whenver they can.

In addition to teaching I'm working with an animal rights group and a non-profit that assists Azerbaijani lawyers. I have also started an oral history project that aims to capture stories from the Nagorno-Kharabakh war.

Living here has been rewarding, challening and fun. I have often thought about my experience living abroad last year and look back on it with very fond memories. I miss everyone at Pedrolo very much, and I can't wait to come back to Tarrega one day!
                                                                                                                           Donna Raef

4th ESO videos (2010-2011)

Last year the students from 4 ESO recorded some videos showing some typical traits from Catalonia. Here you have some examples of their own.

Tàrrega Theatre Fair