It's Christmas... and it's not finished! Building Bristol Home Stay Tuition

New kitchen with view to garden (with ladders)

Well, it's the last few days before the Christmas holidays. I have to report sadly that the building project is NOT FINISHED yet.

The extension has been rendered (that means that the external plaster has been applied) and there is now a gas supply to my kitchen. The party wall, which is the boundary wall with my neighbour which forms the border to my courtyard, has also been finished and is now rendered. And the floor has been laid in the kitchen.

But there are still outstanding problems with many things. The main issue is a BIG LEAK in my new roof. There is a small gap in the seal of the rubber roof which means that the rain can enter. There is now a big damp patch on the new ceiling in the kitchen. The builders will have to return to fix the many problems which still exist.

Damp patch on the ceiling

Bathroom with grey pain

This week, the decorator painted the kitchen, bathroom and the passage way between the bathroom and the kitchen. Everything white, except for one wall in the kitchen, which is a very pale yellow. The colour in the bathroom is a very pale grey, which matches the light grey in the tiles in the bathroom. It looks great, especially when the sun shines in the new kitchen.

Sunny new kitchen and dining room

Kitchen sink with window

However, there is good news too.  I will have a lodger from the beginning of January 2016. He is a young man who works for Lloyds Bank, in the Harbourside. He is also studying for his accountancy exams. I'm very happy to have him because I need the income. But the problem is that I have to move and rearrange everything!

This is the last blog of the year. Next instalment will be in January 2016. I hope I will be fully installed in my extension by then.

December 2015. Almost there - Building Bristol Home Stay Tuition

Well everyone, this extension project was supposed to be finished by Friday 27th October. It is now  Sunday 13th December and is ALMOST FINISHED, apart from very many small things which I hope they will correct soon.

I have learned a lot of new things during this building project and it has been very stressful during this time.

 

New wooden floor

For example, here is the story of the wooden floor. The flooring arrived on Thursday 26th November. On Saturday 28th November, as they were putting the flooring down, I mentioned that it should be nailed using a technique called 'secret nail'. The builder disagreed with me and told me it wasn't necessary. However, we agreed that he would stop and I would check with the flooring supplier on Monday. On Monday, the flooring company confirmed that it was ABSOLUTELY necessary to nail the floors down. Phew! It was very lucky for me that I had mentioned this issue before he finished the job. The wooden floor in the kitchen was finished on Wednesday 2nd December. 

It looks great.

View of new kitchen with floor

Then I discovered that they have not installed the gas supply correctly. So now I am waiting for a report from a gas engineer.

The decorator will start on Monday 14th December. He will prepare and paint all the windows, doors, ceilings and walls. I want him to finish the kitchen and bathroom before Christmas, so that I can move back into my bedroom (which is my kitchen at the moment). I will rent the room to a lodger which will help me financially. I hope to find someone by January 2016. Then I will continue with the work, finishing the extra room (the room which was my dining room before).

Room to rent for lodger soon

I have had a lot of support and advice from my architect, my friend who is a builder, my old boyfriend who is a chartered surveyor and other friends who have experienced this kind of work. Without their help, there would have been many more problems and disasters. So I thank them all SO MUCH!

Here is a link to some more photos: Almost finished

And some other good news came last week. I have another booking! Anna, a Catalan woman, is coming for two weeks at the beginning of March. She is the sister of one of my first students. She works as a psychiatrist for the Catalan government, helping abused children. We have met on Skype and she is lovely. I'm sure we are going to have a lot of fun together!

March 2016 is now fully booked. So, as you can see, next year is starting to get busy. Please pass the message to your friends who want to improve their English rapidly and have fun at the same time. I am accepting bookings from February 2016. I am really looking forward to teaching my students in my beautiful new kitchen and teaching room!

Two weeks later - Building Bristol Home Stay Tuition

New room with windows, seen from the next door garden

It's now Sunday 15th November and suddenly, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. 

My builder fitted the windows last week and so finally the room is weatherproof. This meant that they could put in the kitchen! Now the room looks like a real room, not just a shell. It's an IKEA kitchen and is white and simple. We have had some problems with missing pieces. My builders tell me I am lucky because we had only a few missing items.

I also have lighting in the new extension, with spotlights in the ceiling over the kitchen area and dining area. It looks really lovely. This week, I will buy the wooden flooring for the kitchen. This is an expensive item. I am beginning to feel excited although I been feeling mostly very anxious and stressed.

Kitchen with view of oven and hob

This week they almost finished tiling the shower (why is it that builders never quite finish things?) and it looks good. They have installed the basin and part of the cabinets for the basin and toilet. When they finish putting the floor tiles in the bathroom, they will install the toilet.

Shower cubicle with tiles

This project is supposed to be finished by Friday 27th November, in two weeks. Probably it will be in  early December.

But it is not completely finished by then. There is a second part to this project. I want to make another room, a bedroom/office, from what used to be my dining room and classroom (the room with the big mirror and piano, for those students and friends who are interested). This part of the project will continue after these builders finish. My architect has designed an interesting wall with a big sliding door, so it can be a flexible room. There will be a little courtyard garden, full of ferns and mirrors, to maximise the light. Perhaps I will put in a little fountain or something like that?

Courtyard at the moment

Please look at this link to see more photos of the building project: 

Light at the end of the tunnel

Then finally, when all is finished and clean, the rooms will have to be decorated. I am getting prices for this part of the job now. That will be the most exciting stage of this project. I think I will see my house returning to normal by mid-January 2015. It will be a new and beautiful home.

At the moment, my first student will come in March 2016. I have some enquiries for February 2016 too. 

I will offer anybody who wants an English course a 20% discount for courses between February and March 2016! Come and profit from this great way to rapidly improve your English and have fun at the same time.

Two months later... Building Bristol Home Stay Tuition!

New room with patio doors

Well, it's Sunday 1st of November 2015 today and my extension project started on 7th September 2015. I have a new room with wooden patio doors, now in the correct place, 200mm to the left of where the builder originally placed them. It's just as well that they moved the doors, as it means there is more light in the rest of the house, down the long corridor. It also means that you can see the garden as you walk into the room, instead of the wall on the right of the garden.

Plaster drying

The walls have been plastered and the floor has been built, with the underfloor heating laid on it. The underfloor heating works well, apparently. But we had some problems with the flooring and that is not yet down. But that's probably good, as the plaster needs to dry thoroughly before the engineered flooring is laid. However, the windows are still not in, and last week it rained. This rain was coming into the room, which is not good for the plaster which is supposed to be drying! The builders have now put some waterproof protection over the window spaces.

The bathroom is also plastered and the shower tray is in place. This week they will put in the toilet and basin, They will also tile the bathroom and the passage outside the bathroom.

Bathroom, no toilet or basin yet

They are supposed to put all the light switches and light fixings in this week and lay the kitchen floor too.

When they have done that, it will be time for the kitchen to be fitted.
So I start to see the 'light at the end of the tunnel'... But there are still many things to do and which could go wrong. So I have to be patient.

I will be very, very relieved when it is finished. At least, when it is finished enough to start the decorating. Hopefully, it will be ready for decorating by end of November. Fingers crossed!

Please look at this link to my photo album with the latest photos from the project and PLEASE, leave a comment! I want to hear from you!! November photos of building project

Underfloor heating, no flooring yet

It's been one month! Building Bristol Home Stay Tuition

End of second week. Bathroom is gone. 

Hello everybody

Friday 2nd October was the end of the fourth week of the big building project. The new building is starting to look like a kitchen. But the new bathroom still looks like a building site. I also discovered that the builders had built the bathroom too small. At the moment, it is not possible to fit the basin, toilet and shower  comfortably in this room. The bathroom must be big enough for someone to open the door and use the shower and the toilet without any problem. DISASTER!

New bathroom, too small

The beginning of the walls

I also discovered that the builders, despite receiving instructions from me and their boss, had NOT built the door space for the patio doors where we had agreed! I asked them to build the doors 200mm to the left. But when I looked at them last weekend, I saw that they had not followed the instructions! The builders will have to repair this error which was their mistake.

I now have a roof on the kitchen/dining room area and I can see where the windows will be. It is quite exciting. There is also a new wall with a window into the courtyard, which has been created by building across the side return (the passage along the side of the house, from my former dining/teaching room, into the garden). My sink will be under this window so I will have a view of the courtyard when I do the washing up. Below is a link to a photo album. Please have a look.

View of the new kitchen/dining/teaching room
with the patio doors in the wrong place

Latest photos of the building project

Meanwhile, I am doing a MOOC (a massive, open, online course) with the British Council. It's called 'Professional Practices for English Teachers'. I am also working as a temporary administration assistant for the University of Bristol, in the School of Chemistry. So I am very busy... and quite stressed. But when it is finished, it will be fabulous!

The school is closed during this building work but will open again from February 2016.

Building Bristol Home Stay Tuition - the story of a big project

4 Church Lane, Cliftwood, September 2015

Hello everyone, this is the story of my big extension project. This is an interesting way to inform you about what is happening at my school, which is also my home. It's also a great way to record the progress of this adventure.

This week, I finally started a project which has been my dream for many years. I am building a new kitchen and dining room, which will also be the teaching room for my students. It will be an expensive and disruptive activity and because of this, I have now closed the school for the rest of the year.

So, it started on Monday 7th September. The builders arrived promptly at 08.00 in the morning. By 11.30 they had removed all furniture to other rooms, rolled up all the carpets and dismantled my kitchen carefully and moved it to the storage room (my former student's room, for those of you who have studied with me!). As you can see from the photo below, I had to sell my beautiful piano. It has gone to a family with two young girls who will play it. But look! It nearly didn't get out of the house!

Car parked outside my door made it almost impossible to move the piano

It is now the end of the first week and the builders have completely demolished the bathroom, which will now form part of the new kitchen/dining room. The builders have to collect everything in bags and then carry them out of the front door, to deposit them in the skip (that is the container to collect all the brick, stones and everything which is rubbish). Because there is no back entrance to my garden, everything has to be done by hand. No machines to help the poor builders.

Demolition of the bathroom

My garden is covered with grey dust and my neighbours have been suffering from the terrible noise of the demolition. Luckily for me, I have got a job and am working at the University of Bristol as a temporary secretarial assistant. This is perfect, as I avoid all the terrible noise and disruption. It is very helpful as I need some income during this period, because obviously I can't have any students or lodgers!

I am living in the rooms upstairs, My bedroom has become my new temporary kitchen. My bathroom is connected to my bedroom and the builders have put a pipe through the wall with a temporary tap. I am sleeping in the room that is usually my lodger's room. I have bought a little electric cooker and a small oven, so I can cook simple meals.

Can you see the temporary tap and my little cooker?

The builder calculates that the project will take about 12 weeks. Everybody tells me that these projects ALWAYS take longer. So I hope to be finished by Christmas, but I expect it to be later. When the builder is finished, it will be ready for me to paint and decorate.

Here is a link to a photo album with more photos:The beginning...

Survey about English

Here is a survey that I have just created, using Survey Monkey. It's a little bit of fun and some practice for me, but it's also true that we have subjective feelings about language and grammar. So I wanted to play around with that.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3ZXCZB5

Please tell me if it works and what you think about it?

Quiz: Saying figures

Saying figures Tell me how you did with this clever little quiz.

Quiz: Saying figures

Saying figures Tell me how you did with this clever little quiz.

AudioPal recording experiment

AudioPal Widget: Come and create your very own AudioPal widget.

Vocaroo Voice Message

Vocaroo Voice Message

Diego's Bristol adventure

This is my first attempt at blogging. I have been thinking about doing it for a while. Now that I am taking the ICT4ELT course, I am forced to do it finally.

I want to tell you about Diego. Diego contacted me last year. He is Italian but had grown up in Argentina. He lived in Milan, with his Argentinian wife. They had decided to relocate to Bristol and as part of the preparation, they decided that Diego should attend a full immersion, one-to-one English course for one month.

He arrived in September 2014, speaking no English. He told me, on his first day in Bristol, that it was like 'walking around in a foreign film, with no subtitles'.

During his course, we studied irregular verbs every day. I taught Diego the phonemic alphabet by asking him to collect 10 words of vocabulary every day. Every morning, he chose five words and wrote them on the board, showing the parts of speech, the stress, the translation (into Italian or Spanish) and an example sentence, with the word of vocabulary in a different colour. We also wrote the word in the phonemic alphabet. I gave Diego a key, showing the symbols and the sounds. By sounding out the word and asking Diego to give me the word which corresponded to the sound, he gradually learned the phonemic alphabet.

He also wrote a daily diary, which we used as a grammar clinic. It is an interesting exercise because you write sentences as you would in your own language, using the foreign words in the order of your own language. So this way, we could look at the grammar problems experienced while trying to express himself; past simple and present simple tenses and when it is appropriate to use the present perfect; the word order in English sentences; irregular verbs and vocabulary. When the diary was completed and corrected, we recorded it and in this way, it becomes a pronunciation activity. I usually send the audio file, so the student can listen again, send it to friends or post it on a social media site.

It's much more interesting for me to hear my students expressing their observations and feelings as most students arrive with similar language problems. Because of this, if I rely on English course books, I am always reading the same units!

I helped Diego with his CV in English and told him about our conventions with CVs. I arranged for him to do some voluntary work at Oxfam, so that he could show work experience in this country on his CV.

I also helped him to a flat. It's very difficult to know where to start, when you move to a new city. I accompanied him on his visits to the estate agents, when he started his search for a home. He was quite shocked at how expensive and how difficult it was to find a flat in Bristol. He arrived in September and wanted to move in October and I guess that since we have two universities in the city, he was competing with many university students.

I took Diego to listen to live jazz in pubs; we went to the Affordable Art Fair where I 'gave' him a budget of £1000 and asked him to choose art for his new flat. We went to meet my friends for coffee and dinner and invited them to join us for dinner. This way, he was able to meet and communicate with different people and make friends.

By the end of the month, he was able to converse comfortably and confidently in English. My friends who met him again at the end of his month with me were amazed at his progress! He left at the end of September and moved into his rented flat in an area near the train station which is quite fashionable and full of artists and musicians. His wife, Veronica, left her job in January 2015 and has now joined Diego. Good luck to both of them!

Here are some photos of his experience: Photos of Diego's experience