GOOD MEMORY OR BAD MEMORY?

(Picture from thinking.umwblogs.org)

Are you able to retain things that you read or heard easily?  Do you remember what did you eat the day before yesterday?  Do you remember what did you do every day during your last trip?  If you do…..there is good news: you have a good memory!

Let´s go further:  you do not know where you put your keys or glasses, do you?  How about names, dates, addresses, phone numbers or even anniversaries or birthdays? Do you remember them without problems?  Well, if you do not….that means that your memory is not so good!

Of course having a good memory helps to increase your creativity and ability to solve problems, improve your reading comprehension and self-esteem, reducing stress, etc.   It has many benefits for your health.

But don`t worry….it is not all bad news.  Sometimes a bad memory has some advantages too.  “One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory...” states a famous quote.  In some cases it can be a “gift” because you move on through the difficulties easily, not hold grudges and that can help to keep relationships.

But let us come back to the point, there are many tips and exercises to sharpen your mind and boost brain power: give your brain a workout, get enough sleep, do physical exercise, make time for friends, have a laugh, eat a brain boosting diet, do puzzles, follow a schedule, read more, etc.

If you cannot improve your memory, well nobody is perfect….at least you can learn some expressions in English that can help you to show that if you forgot something it was not your intention and that you are doing your best!.  If you add “I am sorry”, that would be much better!! Here we go:

Be on the tip of your tongue: you think you know it and that you will be able to remember it very soon.     The answer is on the tip of my tongue….

Slip your mind: you forget it.   I am so sorry I forgot your birthday, it just slipped my mind.

Your mind goes blank: you cannot remember a particular thing, or you cannot remember anything.   I tried to remember his name, but my mind went completely blank.

Ring a bell: to sound familiar. The name rang a bell, but I could not remember where I had heard before.

Rack your brain:  to think very hard.   I have been racking my brains all day, but I cannot remember her address.

I had more but I forgot them….just kidding!  I think it is enough for today!

Let us go!! Try to remember these expressions and exercise your brain!!  Good luck!

Thanks for reading it!

THE BIRD AND THE FISH

                                          (Picture by Leslie Anneliese)

A majestic bird with golden plumage landed on a rock in front of the ocean.  A tiny fish poked its head drawn by the beauty of the bird.

With haughtiness the bird began to speak:

B:   Have you ever been in the blue sky?

F: No, I haven't, but I have been in the blue and fascinating ocean full of life and mistery.

B: Have you ever touched the stars?

F: No, I haven't, but I have touched the brightest reefs on earth full of light and color.

B: Have you ever danced on the clouds?

F: No, I haven't, but I have danced over foamy waves following with my fins the rhythm of the sea.

B:  Have you ever flown to the most remote heights?

F: No, I haven't, but I have swum through the dizzying currents reaching the deepest of the ocean.

The bird kept silence.  It understood that that humble fish had a "sky" too: blue, vast, full of misteries, challenging , magnificent and  hearthwarming!  The bird smiled and fluttering it rose to the sky again!

P.S:  There is a "PRESENT PERFECT CHALLENGE" on a site where I practice my writing sometimes.  I wrote this one.  It is short and simple.

I think the members of this blog can do the same in English or in Spanish if they want to.  It must be a short dialogue using the present perfect tense: between people, pets, abstract things...... You can write whatever you want to.....using that tense.

After the "conditional challenge.....I need a rest..

I still have a doubt:  when I speak about the bird and the fish I used "it" and "its"......but I could use "he" and "his" too, right?

Thansk in advance!!

The English breakfast

In my opinion, the most pleasant thing to do in this life is to have a relaxed breakfast with your family early in the morning. When I was a child, I used to read adventure novels written by Enid Blyton, in particular a collection called “the famous five” (“los cinco” in Spanish). Was in those lectures where I discovered the authentic English breakfast with eggs, beacon, ham, jam of rhubarb or ginger, bread, biscuits, pastry; and all in a white table mounted with brilliant cutlery, and especially without any hurry. English people have been always intelligent. They have invented almost everything really useful; football, tennis, gin tonic, Jane Austen novels, the phone, the computer, internet, the tube and, above all, the English breakfast.

During my childhood, I never had a breakfast in my house. My mother always prepared me a sandwich (but a Spanish sandwich that is very different than an English or American sandwich, with an absolutely different kind of bread) with an orange to eat at the middle of the class. I can remember the special flavour of my class during breakfast, a tremendous melt of orange and “human fragrances”. We used to have our breakfast playing football at the same time in a tiny schoolyard.

Breakfast is the first food of the day, and it deserves all our attention. To start the day with a good breakfast is to start the day well. I’m absolutely convinced that everybody must learn all good things of other countries. In particular, I know we cannot just copy English breakfast, but we can improve it. In Spain we have serious competitors to beacon or jam of ginger. We can prepare a succulent breakfast with jabugo’s jam, omelette with potatoes, all kind of Spanish sausages and, in our case a Catalan invent, the tomato spread breath. And like English people, without any hurry and with all our family. With these ingredients we can become invincible.

Si + condicional => error

Al repetir un error usando el modo condicional en un frase que empieza con "si", voy a castigarme con algunos ejercicios...

1. Si en realidad me interesara aprender a no usar el condicional, tendría que practicar con oraciones como esta.

2. Si me interesase no repetir el error, debería escribir con la forma correcta.

3. Si me interesa aburrir a los otros socios del blog, esta es un excelente método para hacerlo.

¡Gracias por tu paciencia!

(Si te gustara un reto, trataría de traducir las tres oraciones a inglés).

THE BENCH

THAT TOUGH COLD WINTER passed leaving behind those elongated nights and shortened days of light,  melting with a beam of sunshine the last whitish snowflakes over the tight grass.

Over a lonely corner was “the bench”….while dawning she unfolded her ears listening to a tender song of a small sparrow perching on a slight branch.

Lengthening her wooden arms, still yawning she opened her dazzled eyes. With a blurred vision she saw a colorful bouquet of newly budded flowers, two straight trees looking at the horizon and a refreshing water fountain.

She did not know how long she had been sleeping. She only knew her heart was beating full of life and that  her brain had engrave the last yearnings of those who had sat there before  that she fell asleep:

That thin-skinny woman with two little boys who was crying because she lost her job and did not know how she was to feed them…..

A cheerful couple who dreamed  for long hours about their future and swore love forever….

One stubborn young man wearing rounded glasses who  studyed from a thick book dreaming to become a great doctor….

Those lively friends who  gossiped and joked carelessly…

That calm old woman who  knit while recalling with every stitch those lovely moments that would never come back….

The bench realized she was alive, ready to hear once more those ilusions, sorrows, joys, triumphs and hardships that entwine every human life.  With energy and eagerness while grinning ,  the brown bench curled her wide mouth and said: IT IS SPRING AGAIN!

P.S:  In Spanish we say "la banca"....it could be "el banco" too. I know I should place "it" to speak about the bench but I want to give a gender to "the bench".  I don't know what sounds better in this case in English: she or he.  

Thanks in advance!

LIFE BEFORE SOCIAL MEDIA

The world before social media      Yes, there was a “world” without internet and social media….different, but not bad at all!!  I thought that while looking at the picture.

I think that most of us agree that technology has advantages and disadvantages, I do not pretend to argue about this. I rather than want to focus on how life was without it.

I showed the picture to a couple of teenagers who cried out:  Ohhh how did you live without facebook!!?... I would have passed away without “Instagram”…and so on.  Other thought a globe was a sort of old mixed….

Then I shared the picture with friends, I got funny comments!!!

“I was the “remote control” of the house!  -uttered one- There were 6 siblings in my house, I was the youngest. Every afternoon we sat together to watch our favourite T.V programs.  Everyone said to me: go to change the channel!  I stood up and did what they wanted many times…You know, the price to be the “little” at home.

Another one stated:   “In my childhood we did not have video games, we spent the day making up games with our neighbors. We were “pirates”, “superheroes” running outside the house, kicked balls, climbed trees, laughed and talked in person, went to places together instead of visiting online..that was fun!”

“My mom -explained Jessica-  loved to collect pictures from the whole family whit her old “polaroid camera”.  She took those pictures for special occasions and she spent many days cutting every photo and putting together a photo album for every member of the family. With her handwriting she described those magical moments, adding thoughtful comments on every image.   On Sunday all the family got together to see the pictures and listen to the stories of those shoots from my mother’s memories”.

“My house was not big -stated Antonio smiling- , we only had one green, antique phone placed on a corner at the entrance of my home.  When that phone rang everyone rushed to take that device, we never knew who was calling, every call had a kind of mystery and surprise…. We had to line up to use it and all knew whom you were talking about!! Nothing to say about the bill…I cannot forget my parents’ face”.

I could follow more and more…Technology is great, otherwise I would not be able to write this blog and sharing it with you, but listening to those experiences was valuable and priceless.   Life was somewhat mysterious and captivating!

La guerra de Vietnam

Un amigo español me dijo que había visto un programa sobre la Guerra de Vietnam, de hecho, una serie de programas que duró 20 horas en total. He visto la misma serie. Es algo muy intrigante e informativo. Me dijo también que el programa había cambiado su opinión sobre los EEUU de aquel entonces. Su impresión de niño en los años de la guerra fue que Vietnam era un país muy pobre (así era) y que los soldados de EEUU estaban allí como conquistadores. La serie le mostró que fue una situación mucho más compleja.

Para los EEUU, la guerra fue una tragedia en el sentido clásico, como el de los dramas griegos. Los EEUU entró Vietnam con buenas intenciones (por lo menos, desde su punto de vista), pero con una falla fatal. Una vez comprometido con la derrota de los comunistas, no podía concebir salir del conflicto sin una "victoria". Cualquier salida que dejara a los vietnamitas del sur amenazados por el Norte habría sido una rendición, y una desastre para los políticos. (Nota que presidentes de ambos partidos continuaron la guerra.) La guerra y los oposición a ella desgarraron al país. Perdimos nuestra fe en el gobierno, que ocultó los hechos reales. Salimos de la guerra derrotados, humiliados (algo bueno) y mucho menos confiados en la buena voluntad de nuestro país.

La despedida

Nos faltan solo dos días para la partida de nuestro hijo a la universidad por primera vez. Ya hemos pasado por esto tres veces con sus hermanos mayores, pero cada despedida es una ocasión de emoción y melancolía. ¿A dónde han ido los 18 años? ¿Qué de él nos extrañaremos más? ¿Cómo estará en un nuevo ambiente sin sus padres y familia? Por supuesto, nosotros sobrevivimos por nuestra propia partida hace unas pocas décadas, y nuestros otros hijos hicieron igual, así que no tenemos mucha causa de la preocupación, ¿pero quién sabe? Cada persona hace su propio sendero.

Me acuerdo de mi primer vuelto a casa después de ir a la universidad. Sólo dos meses había pasado, pero yo había cambiado. Estaba mucho más simpático hacia mis hermanos menores. Supongo que, por haber estado separado de ellos físicamente, no tuve que continuar separándome de ellos emocionalmente.

COZY FROG

COZY FROG

“At that small and enchanting fountain

rests cheerfully a chirpy frog

while smiling, singing, croaking

it says “welcome” to every door

I can feel that refreshing water

with its calm and shiny drops

greeting and reviving that tiny-little frog…”

P.D   I took this picture on Sunday.  While seeing it...these words came to my mind.   Even a small frog can inpire a "writer".  

HELLO EVERYONE!

Hi, I am new here. I want to improve my writing skills.  My native language is Spanish, so I can help in exchange!

Have a great day!