Tag: advice

Modal Mania: Janette requires some advice: You ought to.

Posted by on in Grammar, SpeakingLeave a comment

Purchase SuggestionsIn my book, gift giving is a pleasure but thinking of an appropriate gift, locating it and then ensuring you are permitted to use plastic to pay for it can sometimes be a pain in the neck.

My mother is only interested in 3 things in life: Bach, hats, and church bells. Stereotypically speaking, women like to have a big wardrobe for all their clothes but my mother needs to have a whole room to store all her hats. In her free time she runs from one village church to another yanking bell ropes and our family home shakes as Bach’s B minor mass blares out most evenings irritating the deer and foxes.

With this in mind, I need your help. What ought I to buy her, the woolly bear hat, the church bell or the wig? Let me know, when you have a moment.

Modal Mania: Janette requires some advice: You should..

Posted by on in Grammar, ReadingLeave a comment

Purchase AdviceSo, I’m about to ‘self-combust’. I’ve been glued to the Internet looking for some inspiration to help me buy a gift for my brother’s partner. I don’t know him very well as I’ve only met him a handful of times, but I do know he’s keen on vintage stuff; he restrings tennis rackets for a hobby, (???? I know, what a nutjob!!) and he drinks bloody marys for breakfast at the weekend.

So, I need your advice. What should I buy him?

  1. If I were in your shoes, I would buy him +option:
  2. You should buy him +option:
  3. I’d suggest purchasing +option:
  4. It might be a good idea to +option:
  5. What you should buy is +option

Modal Mania: Janette’s hosting a dinner party. She had better?

Posted by on in Grammar, Reading, VocabularyLeave a comment

dinner partySo, despite my inability and reluctance to turn on my cooker, I’ve decided to host a festive formal dinner party.

With this in mind, I need to be reminded about the right way of doing things; the things that I am not supposed to do, and the things that I should or ought to do.

I did check on the Internet but, holy smokes, people take this form of entertainment far too seriously! Seriously, it’s mental, there are even books written about it!

So, so far this is my list:
Janette:

  1. You should check to see if any guests have a specific dietary requirement. SHOULD It’s a good thing to do.
  2. You ought not to invite a stripper for the evening’s entertainment. OUGHT NOT TO It’s not the right thing to do.
  3. You had better learn how to cook something because ordering a takeaway isn’t the right thing to do. HAD BETTER: It’s the best thing to do.
  4. You are not supposed to drink like a fish when you are the hostess. BE SUPPOSED TO. It’s not the right thing to do, but you probably will do it anyway.

So in a nutshell:

  1. Disinvite gluten-free people, lactose-free people, people allergic to nuts, meat eaters, fish eaters, teetotallers, people who blog about food.
  2. Cancel or postpone stripper.
  3. Throw away packaging so nobody knows I spent an arm and a leg at El Piano buying homemade vegetarian takeaway food.
  4. Pour vodka into water bottles.

Food glorious food: Restaurant reviews El Tapy

Posted by on in WritingLeave a comment

El TapyI can’t bear cooking, but I am really keen on eating and stuffing my face. I also like sharing information about must-do restaurants in Málaga.

Has anyone tried the top-notch food at El Tapy in the historical centre of Malaga? Well, if not, if I were in your shoes, I would make a plan to go there with your mates; you will definitely not regret it!

The service is second-to-none and the waiters are hot!  As a vegetarian, I have to say I’m bored, bored, bored of Spanish omelettes, honeyed aubergines and a few tomatoes and onions mixed together with enough olive oil to sink a ship.  So I was over the moon to have lots of vegetarian options when I ate at El Tapy the other week.

shoestring budgetMoreover, if you are on a shoestring budget, this is the perfect place as it’s as cheap as chips, especially if you order the ‘daily offer’.  In addition, I had a blast chatting to the owner.

So, how do you write a restaurant review? If you are an Inglés Malaga client, you can check out my sample review in the Downloads section, but it you are not, perhaps you could follow these guidelines: How to Write a Restaurant Review

Finally, in Málaga:

  1. Which restaurants would you recommend to a group of young tourists on a budget?
  2. Which restaurants would you recommend to people who can’t stand children?
  3. Which restaurants are family-friendly?