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

Rivers in the Fall in Spanish

Fall by the river is absolutely amazing this year. In Spanish the word for river bank is la orilla

This can also be used for shore, or edge. Go ahead and use what is happening around you to teach yourself Spanish Try to think about each new situation and how you would say it in Spanish.

I remember orila by word association. Orilla reminds me of Rio that almighty river in the Amazon basin. I already know Rio is river and ccan remember that Orillia is River Bank. I think of the actual river bank of the Rio in the Amazon. If I need the word for river bank (not that often), I think of the Rio in the Amazon and get Orilla

Spanish Bull Fights

One of the great things that happens if you teach yourself Spanish is that you can engage with the culture much more than if you are a by-stander. Some states in Spain (e.g. Catalonia) are now banning Bull Fights, which is polarising local opinion.

If you are teaching yourself Spanish to retire

South America is such an exceptionally vibrant continent, inhabited by passionate people who live life to the full.  As Lonely Planet puts it: “It’s as though the continent was built for travel.”  If you’re currently exploring your global options in search of the best place to retire, and you’re looking for a place where you can have a low cost yet high quality living, South America is home to a handful of nations that you might like to closely consider. Where ever you choose you need to teach yourself Spanish of course if you want to integrate into the local community.

Espacio Escultorico is a place of innovative art project in Mexico,

Espacio Escultorico is a place of innovative art project in Mexico, located in the University Cultural Center. The sculpture garden at UNAM, is a popular gathering place for students and locals alike. The concrete wedges of this sculpture form a circle around a volcanic rock formation where visitors come to meditate. 

Learn Spanish DVD

Revolution

Ten Spanish directors provide a wonderfully diverse group of shorts on the legacy of the Revolution that so shaped their country one hundred years on.

Spanish History is missing for many British school children

Clueless British children think Spanish Armada is a national dish and Sir Walter Raleigh invented the bicycle

If you have begun to 

teach yourself Spanish you may be amazed that 

British children know little about their own culture, let alone the Spanish culture. British children reckon the Spanish Armada is a national dish, Walter Raleigh invented the bicycle and 18th Century explorer Captain Cook was the helm of Starship Enterprise, according to research released today. 

Frighteningly, a new survey also reveals that  many also think that the Battle of Waterloo was fought at the London rail terminal, Horatio Nelson captained the French football team in the Nineties... and  that thousands have never set foot in the sea.

Spanish Harlem

Bad stuff is happening in Spanish Harlem. Gang turf wars are turning on gays. Society here has absolutely fallen apart.

Teach Yourself Spanish with the BBC

The BBC offer help if you want to teach yourself Spanish. The BBC has a 

free website with audio, video, tests, games and even crossword puzzles. It’s Spain Spanish which there are a few differences between Latin American and European Spanish, but at this level, I’m not sure that’s a concern right now. Some of the pages go along with their TV series on the BBC, so those aren’t very helpful. But there is a lot there to explore. Don’t miss the Spanish Slang page.

Teach Yourself Spanish here or in a Spanish country?

Sometimes people will say, "the only way to teach yourself Spanish is to go down and live there for a while." Not true. This is great to do after you learn the language well, not before. Please understand that the fastest way to learn anything is to work from your strength, not your weakness. It is very difficult to learn in a vacuum. Your strength is your English, not your Spanish. 

In his classic book, "The Seven Laws of Teaching," John Milton Gregory asserts that "the unknown must be learned from the known." This is accepted in all valid forms of training. It is time we accept it in language training. It is faster, it is easier and it works. You do not, nor should you, learn in a vacuum. You learn best based on tangible, understood principles.

Films to teach youself Spanish

Going to see a Spanish movie is a perfect way to help you along a bit, if you have decided to teach yourself Spanish.

This latest move "El Ambulante" is showing at the London Film Festival. 

In El Ambulante, a self-taught filmmaker arrives in small-town Argentina to embark on a new project with a group of locals in this hugely enjoyable documentary. 

Gay Marches in St Petersburg

Gay News from Russia, Russia's second-largest city, St Petersburg, must allow gay Pride marches to go ahead, the city court has ruled. As in the country's capital, Moscow, St Petersburg authorities have repeatedly banned gay marches and refused to give organisers alternative dates.

Columbus Day in the Spanish World

In the Spanish speaking world, the arrival of Columbus in the Americas in 1492 is being observed today (12 October). The day is usually marked as Día de la Raza or Día de la Hispanidad (or, for those who see him as a symbol of imperialism, as Día de la Resistencia Indígena). In the United States it is observed annually on the second Monday in October.

Chrisopher Columbus or Critobel Colon came fromGenoa in Italy where the native language of Genoa at that time was Ligurian. Columbus spoke several languages by the time he was an adult, including Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, and perhaps Catalan. So it is difficult to tie down his nationality from the languages he spoke in later life.

Columbus had a massive impact on the Americas. After all you if you live in the USA, you probably wouldn't need to teach yourself Spanish if it weren't for him.

Never throw anything to someone in a Spanish country

Never throw anything to someone in Latin America. It is considered a very impolite gesture. Just pass it to them instead.

http://www.dvdlearnspanish.com/learn-spanish-dvd/what-you-need-to-look-for-in-a-learn-spanish-dvd