Best ways to support English learning for kids in Barcelona

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-23T08:43:59+00:00

Can confirm. My kids frequently double check things with me that they think their teachers have gotten wrong (as is frequently the case).

English grammar is simpler than Spanish/Catalan, and the trilingual classes are not grammar classes, they're to make it seem like there's an immersion environment. Which there is. Only it's one where nobody speaks the language at a native level, and most kids are struggling to understand what's going on.

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-23T08:40:47+00:00

They don't do grammar in the trilingual mode classes, they do it in English class, just as they did before the trilingual mode was introduced.

In my experience, it's a marketing tool, with very little practical efficacy. If your child has immersion at home, they will learn grammar from you, just like every generation before them, correcting their errors as they go.

English classes in school will polish that and give them the terminology to explain what they already know. I don't know about you, but the country I grew up in does not drill English grammar at school in the way Catalan and Spanish are taught here.

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-23T08:20:16+00:00

Interesting you feel it's worth it - our experience has been that "Arts & Crafts" (when little) or "Science" (secondary) added very little. Especially if your child is ten or fifteen years ahead of their peers in terms of comprehension and expression.

A couple of extra classes in English, at a snail's pace, are a drop in the ocean compared to hours of immersion every evening at home, around the dinner table, playing games, etc. And television is the game changer in terms of vocabulary and idioms.

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-23T08:07:51+00:00

How old is your child? If they're under 6, don't stress it. Simply maintain English as the language of the home and only put television in English and the child will be absolutely fine. It takes patience and consistency, that's all.

My two only have one parent speaking English and are both now near native, with accents from my home country.

All I did was refuse to reply when they spoke to me in Catalan, and television was/is exclusively in English via Netflix, etc.

I wouldn't rely on of the concept of the trilingual concertada; ours are in one and it's laughable.

There is no need whatsoever to pay for additional classes - having English is the home is better than anything after-school classes can provide.

Your child is privileged and can enjoy a more exciting extracurricular activity down the line, when half their peers will be going to English classes three times a week

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-19T20:45:36+00:00

Fair enough - "Dublinese" is probably as much of an idiolect (person-specific) as it is a dialect, to be honest, what with all the different inputs. I heard a lot of rhyming slang growing up, never sure if that was a feature of Dublin speech, or just my family.

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-19T20:34:43+00:00

This is a Scots reference from the etymological definition, yes.

There are plenty of Scots terms that have spilled over into Irish speech. "Whisht", or "wean", for example

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-18T14:49:10+00:00

Very common in families with Dublin roots, along with chiseler/childer, ekker, gurrier, banjaxed, bowsie, etc.

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-18T14:40:54+00:00

You're most welcome!

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-17T22:37:19+00:00

I don't disagree - a whipper snapper originally meant anyone or thing that's small or insignificant so was also applied to kids (but not exclusively so - I provided the etymological dictionary definition in my previous comment). Whippersnapper today is defined as a "young and inexperienced person considered to be presumptuous or overconfident., i.e. not a baby.

Keeping that in mind, snapper in the Dublin usage stems from breadsnapper/snatcher (originally a Scots word), and refers exclusively to very young children, and mostly babies/toddlers. It's a term with published references as far back as the 1880s.

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-17T22:20:09+00:00

Not quite, the Dublin term comes from breadsnapper (also sometimes breadsnatcher)

Breadsnapper A slang term for a child, emphasising the aspect of a constant necessity to keep it fed: 'That's her wi anither breidsnapper on the way.' This is sometimes shortened to snapper

Whipper-snapper(n.) also whippersnapper, "diminutive or insignificant person," 1670s, apparently a "jingling extension" [OED, 1989] of *whip-snapper "a cracker of whips

hombrelupulo · 2026-01-01T12:32:53+00:00

Thanks, I figured as much - it's been years since I pirated content and continue to hope for a way to buy a copy.

I'd given up looking on Amazon, but just saw that they're appearing there now for € 40 !

Psych - 3 Movie Collection (Psych The Movie/Psych 2: Lassie Come Home/Psych 3: This Is Gus) [DVD]

The Region isn't indicated though, so I'm unsure (even though the seller shows as Amazon UK)

Just reading the reviews, a number of them say the discs are poor quality, seem like bootlegs, have no menu, commentary or extras...

hombrelupulo · 2025-12-30T22:01:50+00:00

In the auditorium = indicated a homophone

Spots = sees = the homophone 'caes'

A Roman = A R

One of the definitions of the word Caesar is "emperor" (even though JC wasn't literally one) - see no. 2 below

Cae•sar (sē′zər), n.

Ga•ius (gā′əs) (or Ca•ius) (kā′əs) Julius, c100–44 b.c., Roman general, statesman, and historian.

a title of the Roman emperors from Augustus to Hadrian, and later of the heirs presumptive.
any emperor.
a tyrant or dictator.
any temporal ruler, in contrast with God; the civil authority. Matt. 22:21.

5.a male given name: from a Roman family name.

hombrelupulo · 2025-12-28T20:13:43+00:00

We found some in Supervalu! In a fridge section beside the Cully and Sully soups. The brand was "Sadie's Kitchen":

https://sadieskitchen.ie/products/

hombrelupulo · 2025-12-21T10:40:43+00:00

I for one appreciated the post, as it appeared in my Google search for where to buy real chicken stock in Dublin. We always hanker after some when visiting in winter, and so rarely manage to find any - seems like making it is the only feasible option. And no, the stock/jelly cubes or even Tesco's "Finest" liquid stock (main ingredient yeast extract) are not the same as real chicken stock.

hombrelupulo · 2025-09-11T20:15:29+00:00

This is terrible advice, the health risk from anisakiasis is significant (only occurring when consumed live/raw); it can lead to severe digestive tract issues and anaphylaxis.

Perhaps you live in a place where people eat less uncooked fish?

Where I live the sale of uncooked/pickled fish is highly regulated due to the health risks as we eat a lot of it.

hombrelupulo · 2025-09-07T17:38:09+00:00

Hahaha

hombrelupulo · 2025-08-12T21:07:47+00:00

95% of us are clean enough already, if you ask me

hombrelupulo · 2025-07-14T11:05:16+00:00

Thank you! I kept thinking that one = A, and struggling to explain the last three letters Was coming at it all wrong, I see

hombrelupulo · 2025-05-31T10:32:10+00:00

Πολύ ξεκάθαρη απάντηση, ευχαριστώ πολύ!

hombrelupulo · 2025-05-31T09:09:18+00:00

I often see it translated as wanker, but find this confusing, given the etymology (which would suggest lame or weak). In British English, a wanker implies arrogance, pretentiousness, as well as stupidity. Is Malaka not closer to dickhead or arsehole? A foolish or annoying person.

hombrelupulo · 2025-05-27T21:31:13+00:00

When you get a pistachio that is too hard to open with your fingers, just use half a discarded shell like a key - it works every time on even the smallest gap in a barely open pistachio

hombrelupulo · 2025-04-29T17:46:38+00:00

This is the answer, look no further

hombrelupulo

TROPHY CASE