One of the many things that Olga has done in her different jobs in Sydney is the Guides for Skilled Migrants commissioned by the Parramatta Migrant Resource Centre. If you want to find a job in Australia, you should check these guides. See if your trade or profession is listed and read about how to have your qualifications recognised, how to get a licence to work or how to go about finding a job in your field.

Olga talks about a very famous Spanish writer, Garcia Lorca. Do you know anything about him? What did he write? When was he writing? How did he die? Who were some of his very famous friends? Do an internet search and write about him in your blog. To define your search you can write Garcia Lorca inside inverted commas: “Garcia Lorca” . Remember not to copy and paste! It’s plagiarism. Write a summary in your own words and put links to good informative sites. Here is a one page extract from Nadal’s study of Lorca’s El Publico.

To help you with the listening, print this listening worksheet, Olga: listening.
Download this worksheet, Olga: Listening Quiz, answer the questions and do the writing in your blog.

Download the MP3 file (3.26 MB, o:15:25)
Music by my brothers’ group Tresena

Listen to Ana Maria

Download the MP3 file (3.28 MB, o:03:35)music by Coro de La Hermandad de Nuestra Sra del Rocio de Jaen

To help you with the listening, here are some questions:

1. How did she become involved in flamenco?
2. When did her mother migrate to Australia ?
3. How does Ana Maria describe flamenco?
4. Why do people do it?
5. What nationalities are the students?
6. What’s the history of flamenco?
7.Why has she settled in Australia?
8.What’s her identity?
9. What else does Ana Maria do?
10.What does versatile mean?
11. How does Ana describe herself?
12. How many children does Ana Maria have?
13.What did her husband do in order to be able to see her when they were courting?
14. Where is he from? Does it make a difference?

For more information on flamenco and its origins, visit Flamenco-Widipedia

• Search the net: Is there a traditional dance in your country of origin that is very popular? Write a short information text (report) about it. Here is an example of a report about the jota, a traditional dance form Aragon, Spain. You can also search for a video (youtube is a good site) which shows traditional dances from your area and post it on your blog.

The video below shows a jota from my hometown, Huesca, which is in the region of Aragon. I learned how to dance it when I was 4 years old. It’s such a long time ago that I wouldn’t know how to dance it now!

For a general overview of Aragonese dances, check this video, also from Agrupacion Santa Cecilia. All of the places shown are from the Pyrenees, the mountains in the north of my province, Huesca.