LISTENING

SPEAKING

1. Live in Mexico (Live Experience)

Living in Mexico is very different to living in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Although English is spoken in tourist centers, big hotels, and resorts as well as in
professional establishments in bigger cities, it cannot be considered ‘common’ in every
day living. You would therefore need to learn some Spanish to get by day-to-day, unless
you lived in the expensive, gated ‘expatriate’ communities and only socialized within
those circles.
Bigger towns and cities offer all of the amenities you would have access to in most towns
back home: supermarkets, shops, restaurants, entertainment, nightlife, etc. Generally
speaking, Mexico’s pace of life is slower than that of the US, Canada and Europe—
especially when compared to the pace of major cities there.
In Mexico, things may be promised but not always delivered at the promised time
(ranging from the new table you ordered to the gardener showing up) – and this can be
frustrating – but once you understand that it is part of the culture, you begin to relax into
it and adjust to the calmer rhythms which exist here in Mexico.
Mexican people are extremely warm and friendly. In smaller provincial communities,
especially, they will make you feel welcome and help you where they can. Mexican
people love foreign lands, and they love to hear about different people and places. The
more effort you make to integrate yourself into Mexican communities and the Mexican
way of life, the more receptive Mexico and Mexicans will be towards you, and the people
around you who you engage with will appreciate the fact that you have made the effort to
do so.

2. Great Mexican food for a special occasion

Milagros is a fantastic Mexican restaurant in Redwood City. The restaurant is always

booming, and I enjoyed myself while eating there. The menu has different Hispanic
dishes. The Milagros menu has five sections where food is listed: ceviche and guacamole,
small plates, salads and soups, special plates, and taqueria.
The food proportions are decent. Milagros neither gives its customers very large portion
of food nor does it give small portions. The prices at Milagros are fairly high, and it is
very easy to run up one’s bill. Milagros’s prices are definitely too high to be eating there
multiple times a week. I believe Milagros is a great place to eat for special occasions.
Besides the prices, the only thing that I do not like about Milagros is that while eating
there, one must pay for chips. Though I believe that each Mexican restaurant should offer
free chips to its customers, I do not believe having to pay for chips is a good enough
reason to not eat at Milagros.
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 Several: varios

 Nearby: cerca de

 Spread: untado

 Meteor: meteorito

 Government: gobierno

 Eyewitness: testigo presencial

 Hoaxes: engaños

 Stormy: tormentoso

 Reliable: de confianza

 Safely: con seguridad

 Earthquake: terremoto

 Journalist: periodista

 Middle: medio

 Catch: captura

 Apparently: al parecer

 Seems: parece

 Highlighted: destacado

 Survives: sobrevive

 Shark: tiburón

 Attack: ataque

 Wrap: envoltura