Sabbatical: This is how you say it

There are some items of language that people tend to struggle with. And sometimes they don't struggle, but still are unkowingly wrong. Let's shed some light on everyday mistakes in English. What's the proper way to say 1.5 h? (2013). Stupid as it sounds, the answer is not obvious. Is it one hour and a …

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Sabbatical: What’s with Saint George and Catalans?

After 8 years and over 350 posts, it's a pity that my posts collect virtual dust at WordPress's server. So this year I'll be bringing back some of the best stuff, which doesn't disagree with publishing new material. You may have noticed it's April. If you haven't, you'd better go to your doctor because it's …

Correct these mistakes for Christmas

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and there’s nothing jollier than knowing your vocabulary. Therefore, today we’re learning about two Catalan words that foreigners tend to get wrong. Now that the tió tradition has gone properly international thanks to Kate McKinnon (see video below), it’s time to debunk the belief that tió means uncle. ‘If …

Catalonia inspires Poland

During my last trip to Poland and bearing in mind my nationality, I’ve noticed the Catalan presence in Marie Curie’s country. There’s the old classic: people speaking Catalan in every city. We’re a few millions, but we travel a lot. Anyway, after running into a Catalan family in Reykjavik, a couple of Catalans in Polish …

Go compare Christmas

When you celebrate Christmas in a different country go compare! That’s what happens when a Catalan spends his Christmas holiday in England. 24th Dec. In both England and Catalonia the birth of Jesus is celebrated at midnight in churches by fewer people every time. I guess that the most important thing is the expectation for …

Saint George’s Day: books, roses and lies

I happened to post on Saint Valentine’s Day and Saint George’s Day by chance. And it seems we have another episode of the Anglo-Catalan culture. Catalan people have our version of Saint George’s legend by Jacobus de Voragine. We say that the dragon's blood turned into a beautiful rose Saint George gave the princess. On …