Four Tips for More Effective Scrum Retrospectives

I have been reading a number of discussions recently about problems in the Scrum Retrospective. Things such as "it's a waste of time", "do we really have to do it" and "no one brings up the problems we have just encountered" to "the Scrum Master solves all the problems in the retrospective". The

via paulthompsonsblog.com

Away in A Manger

Away in A Manger sung on Sesame Street (cool tip, Teach Yourself Spanish with Sesame Street) its a great way to learn using childrens television.

Away in a Manger translated into Spanish:-

Jesús en pesebre, sin cuna, nació; 
Su tierna cabeza en heno durmió. 
Los astros, brillando, prestaban su luz 
al niño dormido, pequeño Jesús.

Los bueyes bramaron y Él despertó, 
mas Cristo fue bueno y nunca lloró. 
Te amo, oh Cristo, y mírame, sí, 
aquí en mi cuna, pensando en ti.

Te pido, Jesús, que me guardes a mí, 
amándome siempre, como te amo a ti. 
A todos los niños da tu bendición, 
y haznos más dignos de tu gran mansión.

Dipthongs

If you have begun to 

teach yourself Spanish you may have come across Dipthongs. A good one for me is Reinas (Queens) - which is the name of a film. 

A “Diphthong” is the name given to the combination of a strong vowel (A/E/O) and a weak vowel (I/U) or two weak vowels together forming a single syllable.  In such instances you should pronounce both vowels clearly, but together in the same breath. An example of a Spanish diphthong is the “AI” combination in “bai-le” (dance) or the “UE” combination in “bue-no” (good). 

Examples

Aire: air
Laura: female name
Serio: serious
Siempre: always
Remedio: remedy
Rubio: blond
Suave: soft
Rueda: wheel
Puerro: leek
Ruido: noise
Abierto: open
Estudio: studio
Fuerte: strong
Puerto: port
Tierra: ground, earth
Siete: seven
Ciudad: city
Labio: lip
Canción: song
Europa: Europ

State of Alarm

Spanish air traffic controllers went on strike this week. The government took a very hard line, created a state of alarm, called in the military and sent them back to work. 

Add spanish flash cards for :-

Government -  el gobierno

state of alarm -  Estado de Alarma

The photo shows the beautiful Madrid Airport terminal 

Leighton Meester practicing Spanish in Madrid

Leighton Meester popped up in Madrid Spain yesterday morning at a photo call for Herbal Essences at the city's Hesperia Hotel. The Gossip Girl star is abroad tending to her promotional duties after a good few weeks in the Big Apple, where she got decked out for fashionable parties like the CFDA Awards and rocked a serious '90s look for a jewelry bash with Halle Berry. She also logged some time on set with Penn Badgley, filming moreWTF moments for this season. Taylor's future on the show is uncertain, but she's still under contract with the CW. I wonder if Leighton has thought about doing a teach yourself Spanish course, if she is rocking up in Madrid for Herbal Essence? 

Warm Scallop Salad

Make it fun to teach yourself Spanish with this Spanish recipe

Ingredients:

8 scallops
100 ml of cream
240 gr of courgette
300 gr of Galician cheese
5 cl of Ribeiro white wine
500 gr of fresh spinach
Salt
Black Pepper
Olive oil

Preparation:

Grate the courgette and then fry slightly in hot oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. Put to one side.
Lightly fry the spinach in the same pan. Season and put to one side.
Melt the cheese with the white wine in a pan and add the cream. Let this reduce, season with salt and pepper and put to one side also.
Fry the scallops in a pan on both sides for 4 minutes.
Put the courgette and the spinach on a plate, then put the scallops on top and pour the cheese sauce over the scallops.
Serve hot.

Teach yourself Spanish at la Puerta Del Sol

Teach yourself Spanish at la Puerta Del Sol