Giving your opinion

The weekend

The good side / The bad side

For me the first good thing about the weekend is that I don't have to go to work. I love my job, but I have to spend many hours inside, I work in a Secondary school with special children.


Another good thing is that I don't have to get up early. During the week I have to get up at seven o'clock every day. It's not too bad in the spring but I hate it in the winter when it's dark or it's raining in the morning.


But above all, I like the weekend because I have time to do all the things I really enjoy doing, like listening to music, reading or going out with my friends.


However, there are some things I don't like about the weekend.

Firstly, I have to go shopping on Saturday morning (or Friday afternoon) and the supermarket is always crowded and I have to clean the house, to wash up, to iron...

Secondly, on Sunday morning I have to cook several dishes of food, because I have no time in the week.


But in general I love the weekend because I have a good time with my friends, and I do different activities to the week days activities.

Describing a building

The most beautiful building in my town is the Church of Santa Maria del Collado. It is situated in the top of the town, in the old town.

Nobody knows who it was designed by. Construction began in the 13th century but the building wasn't completed until the 16th century.

It is one of the largest churches in the town and there is the Image of Santa Maria del Collado, Patron Saint from Santisteban del Puerto. It has some statues, one of them is Christ Medinaceli, who is very venerated.

Its plan is Romanesque, although the columns are very thin.

Outside the Church has a portico with arches which is accessed by a staircase. It has two doors by which to enter, the first one is older than the second.

Inside the Church is quite dark, there are two small windows. It has one central nave and two small naves separated by cylindrical columns with Romanesque capitals ( with leaves, fruits, figures of animals like lions, bulls, fish and human figures and angels).

On the High Alter is the Image of Santa Maria del Collado, and to the right of the altar is the Sacristy with a Gothic window.

Outside there is a big balcony from there you can see the town: the Town Hall square, the old streets, the Church of San Esteban... It is a fantastic view of the town.

It is free to go in, if it were closed you should call a woman, who lives next to the church and she will open it.

Writing to a friend

Hi Daniel!

Thanks for your last e-mail. It was great to hear from you again. Your news is fantastic and I'm really happy that you want to visit Spain. My exams went very well, thank you, I hope yours went well, too.

I'm very happy that you're coming to stay here for three weeks, and I'm sure you'll have a good time. I think you should come here in July or August, when I'll be on holiday, and I'll be able to go with you to some interesting places.

I think you should visit some places in Andalucía: Jaén, Granada, Córdoba... Andalucía is an amazing place in Spain. And you'd visit others places in Spain like Madrid, Toledo. In Spain there are many places to visit. I'll send you some information about these cities ( monuments, festivals, hotels...)
If I were you, I'd travel by train to go from one city towards another city and by car when you are in the city.

I'm really happy that you plan to spend a few days in and around my town, we'll meet here. I'd be very happy if you stayed in my house. We'll have a good time.

I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.
Best wishes,
Elvira

A formal e-mail

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to ask for information about your Thai Cookery courses in Chiang Mai. I am especially interested in an intensive course of one week in July, when I am on holiday.

I am 40 and I work in a Secondary School in La Carolina, a city in the South of Spain.
I like cooking very much and I would like to learn to cook Thai food, because I like trying new foods and new tastes.

I have looked at your website, but there is no information about what is necessary to take with us. Could you please send me information about dates and prices? I would also like some information about accommodation. If possible I would like to stay in a hotel, in a double room, because a friend is going to stay with me to visit the city while I stay in Chiang Mai.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Elvira Munuera

DESCRIBING WHERE YOU LIVE

I live in La Carolina, but I am from Santisteban, a small town in the North of Jaen and I am going to describe my town.

Santisteban is a small town in the North of Jaen, it has a population of 5.000 people and it's the most important town of the County.

It's a beautiful town, and it's great for walking around. There are two different areas, the old town with narrow streets around the Square Town Hall, like the spokes of a bicycle; and the young town which has wide, straight streets.
There are three churches, two museums (the most important is Jacinto Higueras' museum), one Primary and one Secondary School, two little hotels, shops, pubs...

The weather there is mediterranean, with hot summers and cold winters. The spring is wonderful, it's sunny but not too hot, and it's great for going to the country, to the river, to see wild animals...

Nowadays Santisteban is famous for 'Arcosaure Tracks' and for the main spring festival 'Pascuamayo', a religious and pagan festival which is celebrated in Pentecostes Sunday.
'Arcosaure Tracks' is a recreational area where there are four big dinosaures, and 24 pair of tracks on the ground, and there is one area for children with some swings, slides.. and one restaurant too, to have a drink or somethig to eat.

But I think the best things about Santisteban are the people, we are very friendly. It's a working country town and a traditional small town of Jaen. It's my town and there I have my roots.
I love my small town.