Sandra and Colby, our resident radio presenters are now on a different frequency (well, we always knew that but radio program-wise, Pueblo Ingles Radio is on a new station). If you are still in touch with Spaniards you met on the program then tell them to tune in! The program is in the morning from 8am to 10am Spanish time, Monday to Friday at 107 FM and is almost completely in English (with a few translations to keep the listeners following). It's the best fun you can have in the morning and really sets you up for the day! If you know Sandra and Colby from the Teen program and would like to remind yourselves of their dulcet tones, you can hear them on the web at http://www.radiolibertad.com and by clicking on the "escuchar en directo" link.

The adventures of English began with Old English, essentially a West Germanic language brought by settlers into what was Roman Britannia in the 4th century. Of the 100 most frequently used English words that are used today, only a few of them do not originate from Old English. It formed the basic foundations of our language. Surprisingly, whilst the most frequently used words may come from this original tongue, the English we know today has had many other building blocks thrown into the mix and in fact only about a quarter of our modern vocabulary has its origins in the Germanic languages. From the offset, English has faced rivalries, dangers and threats from several foreign tongues but due to its adaptive and absorbent nature, English was not broken by the onslaught. Latin, Old Norse, and Norman French collided with it head on, shaped and sculpted the language making it richer and tougher, and propelled it forward across the oceans to take on yet more exquisite shapes and forms.

“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender”, said Churchill in 1940. The only word in this quote that is not Old English is ‘surrender' and perhaps that in itself is significant. While battles would be lost, the language refused to surrender and this would ultimately win the war. English's greatest attribute, the ability to absorb and evolve, allowed it to grow and flourish to become what it is today.

But where does the other 75% of our vocabulary that isn't Old English actually come from? Daniel Defoe famously wrote of ‘your Roman-Saxon-Danish-Norman-English' to indicate the complexity of the language and its roots. We could add American, Indian, West Indian, Australian, ‘global technical' and many more. In the same way that most of our newest words reflect recent changes in lifestyle (e.g. Wi-Fi, dramedy, chavs or Botox), many additions to English have come in groups due to changes in the geographic, social, political, and technological environments. With English getting closer and closer to the great milestone of one million words (although this depends on which dictionary you refer to!), let's look at how certain words have been absorbed at different stages of its amazing history.

Since you tell us so much about yourselves, it's only fair that we divulge some tidbits about us! Continuing with our regular feature of Ten things you didn't know about......let us introduce Program Coordinator, Shona Holland.

1. 4 out of her family of 5 have been international athletes; her dad a weightlifter for Great Britain, her brother and sister discus and hammer throwers for Scotland and herself a basketball player for Scotland. Her dad still claims to have “the body of a temple” however, she says, "it's a struggle to see it under those spare tyres!"
   
   
2. She has a phobia of Spanish hairdressers. She has had her fair share of hair don'ts but "hairdressers here take the biscuit", she exclaims. The purple tinge was a highlight of the hair disasters and when they tried to fix their mistake she ended up with a raven barnet like Pocahontas - certainly not what she went in for!
   
   
3. Her first and only claim to fame was having part of her head and arm on Scottish television when she stroked an owl on a program about zoo animals.......But hey Shona, you have now been on the Pueblo Ingles Radio! Surely that trumps Scottish TV?!
   
   
4. She's had her fair share of embarrassments during her time in Spain. While playing basketball over here she confused the Spanish word "corto" for "corteza“ and wondered why her team were laughing as she shouted “corteza” several times during the game. They later explained that she'd spent the whole game shouting “bread crust” instead of “cut” (a word used to communicate to team members that an opponent has made a move towards the basket).
   
   
5. She first fell in love with Spain when she spent the 4th year of her degree course at The University of Granada.
   
   
6. Shona loves learning the local lingo. On top of speaking Spanish she has also studied Italian and French and even knows some words in Arabic and Polish – best not ask which select words they are though!
   
   
7. As embarrassing as it is the first cassette tape she bought was the classic “Mr Blobby” sung by a bumbling pink and yellow dotted character from British TV. At the time she believed that learning the whole rap would make her look cool.. ouch.
   
   
8. She confesses that "simply being a straight A student does not mean you would want me on the pub quiz team". Her general knowledge could do with some work but the gaps in her geography trivia give us a laugh!
   
   
9. Despite having spent only 1 day in London she managed to spot the gorgeous Vin Diesel and stumble upon a live James Blunt gig which was happening in a music store. Not bad for 24 hours in the big schmoke!
   
   
10. Like many women, Shona is a complete chocoholic. Her mum refused to buy her an advent calendar as she never made it past the 3rd of December without eating the goodies from all the windows! Good girl, you belong in our team!