Author Archives: johnkwhi

johnkwhi

About johnkwhi

John K. White is an Irish-Canadian physicist, writer, and educator. He is the editor of the energy news service E21NS and author of The Truth About Energy (Cambridge University Press, 2024) on the transition from fossil fuels to renewables, Do The Math! (Sage, 2013) on economics, statistics, and numeracy, and The House of Words (Tuttle House, 2013), a novel about the adventures of New York state Scrabble champ Suzy Quest and the search for her spy father. A former lecturer in the School of Physics, UCD Dublin, he has written for CounterPunch, various other publications, and blogs about his adventures in Spain in Caracolas.

Game shows galore or how I learned to love anuncios

Posted on September 30, 2013 by johnkwhi

So far, my favourite Spanish TV show is ¡Ahora Caigo!, a quiz game with 10 contestants circled around a main player, who duke it out in head-to-head questions, until either the main player misses 3 questions (one life or green … Continue reading →

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Where English meets Spanish: Las tiendas and on the telly

Posted on September 21, 2013 by johnkwhi

For the language learner, I think that the order is eye, mouth, and then ear, that is, we learn first to read a word, say it, and finally hear it (and hopefully understand it), firstly on its own (which is … Continue reading →

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Names that may mean something

Posted on September 14, 2013 by johnkwhi

Spain is full of historic place names and family names, but do they mean anything? Do Madrid and La Coruña or the family names Fernández and Iglesias have any particular meaning? Aside from historical interest, knowing the meanings of names … Continue reading →

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El Mar Cantábrico (Bay of Biscay)

Posted on September 7, 2013 by johnkwhi

There are 17 so-called autonomous communities* in Spain (what we would call states or provinces or counties), which were formally created in 1978 by the Constitution of Spain after Franco’s 40-year regime ended with his death and Spain returned soon … Continue reading →

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¡Hola, mundo!

Posted on September 7, 2013 by johnkwhi

I recently moved to Gijón, Asturias, in northern Spain with my Asturian partner Belén after a few decades living in Ireland and Canada. As a native English speaker with a B1 level* of Spanish from the Instituto Cervantes, there will no … Continue reading →

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