Happy New Year

            2014 - Looking Back -  A Year in Pictures

2014 was a really  exciting year for Study English One to One in England. 

Our students came from around the world to stay with us and study English.

Meet some of my students to discover the experience of an Immersion English Homestay 

at 

Study English One to One in England 

My student Charo and I enjoying a curry at the local Indian restaurant.

Charo is an Advanced Level student. She studied with us for 3 weeks, taking an exam revision course for the Cambridge Proficiency Exam, (CPE).

Meet Mari, an Intermediate English student from Japan.
Mari improved her English by a whole level in 2 weeks with us.

        Mari wanted to learn how to cook some English dishes. Here she is making Shepherds Pie.

'Arrive as a guest, leave as a friend'.

All our students fill in the Guest Book before they leave.

Mari and I did a lot of runing together before lessons. We also ate a lot of ice-cream!!

                             

David from Toledo enjoying English Fish and Chips!!

This was David's third course with us. He is sitting the Cambridge Proficiency Exam 
( CPE) and took a  two week exam revision course.

Francisco from Tenerife took a 2 week Business English Course.
He needed to  increase his vocabulary and improve his speaking and listening skills for his work.

     

Outside Sally Lunn's House in  Bath

As part of your English Homestay programme, we visit places of interest to show you many of the delights in the area.

Francisco and I visited Bath and saw The Roman Baths, The Royal Crescent and the Palladian Pulteney Bridge.


Wells is the smallest city in England.

On Wednesdays and Saturdays a Famer's Market is held there in front of the Cathedral.

The Town Crier rings his bell and gives everyone the local news.

Francisco with the Town Crier in Wells

                   

The Bishops Palace, Wells, Somerset.

Francisco in the Stocks

The Stocks - A Medieval punishment whereby you are locked in the stocks and rotten meat and vegetables are thrown at you.

Philippe an Upper-Intermediate student from Switzerland took a 60 hour 2 week Intensive General English  Course

The Fleet Air Arm Museum at RAF Yeovilton.

Phillipe was interested in avaiation so we visited an aircraft museum.

Anna from Malpensa, Italy. She is making Risotto Milanese. It was delicious!!

Anna is an aeronautical engineering student. She came to study for the TOEFL exam to enable her to spend a year on the Erasmus Exchange Programme. 

Anna hadn't studied English since she was at school. She took a 2 week exam preparation course.

               What a fantastic result !!

When the weather is warm we can have lessons and also eat lunch in the beautiful English garden. 

Beatriz from Burgos, Spain, enjoying lessons in the garden.

Daniel wanted to visit Stonehenge during his stay.

Daniel from Spain stayed for three weeks during the school summer holidays.
He took a Young Learners Course.

Laura from Milan outside the facade of Wells Cathedral.

Laura took a 2 week General English course.                        

A 'Selfie'

When you stay with us for your Intensive English course you are welcome as one of the family.

A family walk on the Somerset levels
with
Brian, our student Daniel, Lewis, Millie, me, Sophie, Ellie and Ed.

                                    

Veronica's first week ( 1:1 English Course)

Hi, meet my student,Veronica, from Milan.

             She is staying with me for two weeks to learn English.

             Veronica is an Elementary student.

For and Since

Veronica has been here since Sunday

Veronica has been here for one week

She gets up at eight and has breakfast.

She has four hours of English lessons, from 9 am until 1 am

She has lunch from 1pm until 2pm

She has free time in the afternoon

She eats dinner at 7.30

In the evening she does her homework or watches an English film or TV

On Wednesday we visited Wells

Wells is a medieval city nestling on the southern side of the Mendip Hills with the mystic Somerset Levels stretching away to the south and west.

The City of Wells in Somerset with its historic centre, magnificent cathedral, and unique moated Bishop's Palace  is an excellent place to visit whilst in Somerset.

A view of the side of the Cathedral and Moat from the Bishop's Palace




The Front of Wells Cathedral.

Wells Cathedral welcomes visitors every day of the year and it is really only by coming in person that you can properly experience this wonderful place.

The scissor arches  were constructed from 1338-48 as an engineering solution to a very real problem.


By 1313 a high tower topped by a lead covered wooden spire had been constructed but as the foundations were not stable large cracks began to appear in the tower structure.

In fear of a total collapse, several attempts at internal strengthening and buttressing were made, until the famous ‘scissor arches’ were put in place by master mason William Joy as a final solution.

                                                 



The Jesse Window at Wells Cathedral is one of the most splendid examples of 14th century stained glass in Europe.

It dates from about 1340 and, considering its age, is still remarkably intact.



Wells is the smallest city in England with about 12,000 inhabitants. It can call itself a city because of the famous 13th century Cathedral. It remains remarkably unspoilt and has many other historic buildings including the moated Bishop's Palace, Vicars' Close, St Cuthbert's Church and a good local museum.

The stone carvings on the entrance of the Penniless Porch.

This impressive gateway was created as an act of mercy. Bishop Bekynton (1443-1465) had it built to give shelter to the beggars who clustered at the cathedral gate. There is a stone seat inside. Here they could plead for alms from those on their way to and from church and mindful of their Christian duty of charity

The history of Wells goes right back to Roman times when we know that there was a settlement, probably because of the springs that bubble up here. Wells gets its name from these springs which can today be found in the gardens of the Bishop's Palace.

People playing crocquet outside the Bishop's palace

                                  A funny jester entertaining children at the Bishop's Palace.

                                             Veronica and I had a great day out.

And what was so amazing, when we got home she cooked dinner!!

A day in Cheddar with Alice from Florence

Meet Alice my Italian student. She is staying with me for 7 weeks to learn English

Last Saturday we had a day out in Cheddar a small village in Somerset.

Cheddar is famous for it's cheese, yes Cheddar Cheese !!

                        It is also famous for Scrumpy.

            Somerset Scrumpy is a delicious cider, made from our local apples.

There are lots of quaint tea shops serving cream teas, (scones with cream and jam and pots of tea) and home made fudge.

                       Cheddar is a picturesque English village

So after you've tasted the cheese and had some Scrumpy, there's nothing better than a walk through it's famouse Gorge

The walk starts at Jacob's Ladder.  360° Views - See For Miles!

Excess energy? You'll soon burn it off climbing the 274 steps up the side of Cheddar Gorge and the 48 more to the top of the Lookout Tower – kids and dogs love it! For those preferring a slower pace, 4 landing stages allow you to catch your breath.

                                           
The view from the top of  Cheddar Gorge

It's well worth the climb!

When you get to the top you look down into the steep sided valley of Cheddar Gorge that cleaves into the beautiful Mendip Hills.





At the top of the cliff there is a lookout Tower

The eccentric Roland Pavey built the original wooden watchtower, calling it his Mystic Tower.

In the distance you can see the Somerset Levels.

The Somerset Levels were reclaimed from the sea by the Abbots of Glastonbury.

A herd of free-range feral goats are used by the National Trust to keep the scrub at bay.

To the south you’ll see the flat lush water meadows of the Somerset Levels.

The windswept hilltop plateau to the north, 900 feet above sea-level, runs for 22 miles east to west and 3 to 5 miles north to south.

                                             Some of the most breathtaking views in Britain.

The Gorge was formed by torrents of water, from the melting glaciers at the end of each Ice Age, cutting through the limestone rock.

A truly stunning 3 mile cliff top walk.

                                        It's circular route takes you back into the village again.

Time to buy a tasty portion of Cheddar Cheese, some chutney and crackers to take home for supper!!

Cooking Paella in an English Teacher's Home. English Immersion Homestay

Many of my students  love to cook their favourite dishes from their country in my English kitchen.

                                             
                      This is Beatriz, cooking her mother's Paella.

The Spanish Recipe

Receta de paella de la mamá de Beatriz                                 

Ingredientes:

    Arroz tipo bomba ( una taza de café por persona)

    1 docena de gambas

    1 docena de almejas

    6  mejillones

    Calamar (1/4 de anillas de calamar)

    Medio pimiento verde

    1 zanahoria

    1 cebolla

    1 diente de ajo

    10 hebras de azafrán (o colorante alimentario)

    Aceite de oliva

    perejil

    Sal

Preparación de la paella:

1. Sofreímos en una sartén con cinco cucharadas de aceite de oliva la cebolla cortada finamante, el pimiento verde y la zanahoria.
2. Cuando esté dorada la cebolla añadimos el calamar, las gambas y los mejillones.
3. Sazonamos y removemos para que se mezcle con las verduras.
4. Añadimos el arroz y las hebras de azafrán. Sofreímos un par de minutos y añadimos un agua (el doble que de arroz) con el perejil y el diente majados. También, añadimos a la mezcla, media pastilla de caldo de pescado.
5. Dejamos cocer a fuego medio unos 15 min.
6. Si ves que tiene mucho caldo, sube el fuego al máximo y déjalo cocer a fuego fuerte un par de minutos para que se evapore un poco el caldo.
7. Retiramos del fuego, y tapamos el arroz con un paño de cocina limpio y un poco humedecido y lo dejamos reposar unos minutos.

The English Recipe

 Beatriz ‘s Mum Paella Recipe

Ingredients

     Arborio rice (one cup  per person)

     12 raw prawns in shells

     12 clams in shells

     6 mussels

     Squid (1/4 of calamari rings)

     1medium green pepper

     1 carrot

     1 onion

     2 cloves garlic

     10 strands of saffron (or saffron dye)

     Olive oil

     parsley, salt

Preparation method

1.     Chop the vegetables (onion, carrot and green pepper) and fry them in a paella or big frying pan with five tablespoons of olive oil.

2.     When onion is lightly browned about 10 minutes, add the squid, prawns and mussels.

3.     Add salt and and stir the seafood with the vegetables.

4.     Add the rice and saffron. Fry a couple of minutes and add water (twice that of rice) mix with parsley and garlic. Also add half a fish stock cube.

5.     Then let it simmer over a medium heat, for 15 minutes.

6.     If it have much broth, turn up the heat to high and let it cook over high heat for a couple of minutes to evaporate some broth.

7.     Remove from heat, cover the rice with a clean slightly damp cloth and let it stand for a few minutes.

           I enjoyed watching Beatriz cooking.

She worked very hard.

Measuring

Chopping

Frying

Stirring

                                                                 

When the paella was ready she took it off the heat and let it rest for a while, under a damp cloth.

All the delicious flavouts from the seafood was absorbed by the rice.

After the paella had rested, Beatriz took it inti the dining room and served it up.

We ate it with a lovely glass of chilled Cava.




CHEERS !!!!









Thank you Beatriz and Beatriz's mum for such a delicious Paella.

On your intensive English immersion course you learn English with an English teacher in her home.