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Rich

Rich

Rich

My name’s Rich and I’m an English teacher. I live in a small Spanish village near a city called Segovia, which is famous for its Roman aqueduct. I live here with my wife and two young sons, who can speak much better Spanish than I can! I’m not originally from Spain, of course. My hometown is Sheffield, in the UK. Sheffield is in the north of England and is built on seven hills, just like Rome, but I think the Italian capital gets a few more visitors than Sheffield.

Sheffield is famous around the world for steel and metal goods like knives and forks, which have been made in the city since the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. Sheffield is also called the Steel City and one of the city’s football clubs, Sheffield United, is also known as the Blades.

With my youngest son at a Sheffield Utd match last year. They lost 3-2!

This was the team I first supported as a boy and I remember going to the matches with my dad as a kid and then with my friends as a teenager. They’re not doing very well at the moment but I hope they get back into the Premier League soon. If they play Liverpool I won’t know who to support!

Here in Spain, I support Gimnastica Segoviana, which is a little team in Segovia. They get about 1000 fans at home matches. Most people support Real Madrid or Barcelona in Spain and when the two clubs play in 'El Clasico', everything can go a little crazy.

I love to eat...

... seafood. My favourite food is 'pescaditos fritos'. These are little, fried fish, usually sardines or anchovies. You eat the whole fish - the bones, tails, heads and everything! It might not sound great but they are delicious. On a Saturday afternoon in a Spanish square with a cold drink - a plate of little fried fish with freshly squeezed lemon is just the best!

Segovia Castle - you may have seen it in Disney movies!

I live in the centre of Spain, so fish and seafood is not the local speciality. In Segovia, we have something called ‘cochinillo’, which is piglet. Nearly every restaurant in Segovia sells it and it’s delicious. It’s part of a very big meal - usually three courses. To start, you might have a big bean soup with bits of meat, then you have the ‘cochinillo’ and a cake for dessert. It’s not something you can eat every day or even every week but for special occasions on a cold winter’s day it really fills you up!

Now I love Spanish food - paella, tortilla and all different types of seafood, but there are things I miss from the UK. I love fish and chips and different types of pies, which are things I can’t get in Spain. Did you know that it’s a tradition to eat a pie at halftime at football matches in the UK?  But the meal I miss the most is a Sunday dinner - roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, gravy and lots and lots of vegetables. It’s funny that I’ve spoken a lot about meat - my wife is a vegetarian!

I love to go...

This is me looking silly in front of the Roman aqueduct in Segovia!

... to the mountains. I live next to the Guadarrama mountains, which is a high mountain range near Segovia. The highest mountain is nearly 2500 metres high. I’ve never climbed to the top but I enjoy walking in the mountains on a Sunday morning with my family. Most people think that Spain is hot and sunny but while I’m writing this, I can see snow on the mountains and it’s minus four degrees outside! If I get the chance, I'll take my boys sledging. I've lived here for nearly 10 years so I should really learn to ski (lots of people do) but I find it much easier to sit down than stand up on snow and ice!

I would love to be...

John Barnes was my football hero when I was a boy.

... John Barnes! When I was growing up, Liverpool were the biggest and best team in England. My hometown team, Sheffield Utd, were not very good. I couldn’t go to Anfield because my dad said it was too far away. I, like lots of my friends at school, decided to support Liverpool. We used to play football at break times in the playground and every day after school on the school fields. They weren’t organised matches, just friends playing together. We usually used jumpers for goalposts and didn’t play offside. The matches would often finish 25-24, after two or three hours. We would always pretend to be our favourite players from our favourite teams. I was always John Barnes - he was brilliant. If you don’t know who he was, check out the goal he scored for England in 1984 against Brazil in the Maracana Stadium!

What do you think?

Did you learn anything new about life in the UK or life in Spain? Do you do any of the things that Rich wrote about?

Tell us about where you are from and some of the things that are special about where you live.

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Komentar

hsn's picture
hsn
28/04/2023
TR
5525
points

Congratulations Rich, your hometown Sheffield United FC. guaranteed to promote Premier League after Burnley.


hsn's picture
hsn
28/04/2023 16:28
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5525

Congratulations Rich, your hometown Sheffield United FC. guaranteed to promote Premier League after Burnley.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/06/2020
TR
6510
points

The story sounds amazing and I love Spain as well as England. Actually I have a Spanish friend here in Izmir who is originally from Madrid and his wife is from Argentina and they are so nice people but he's not into football much. He supports Atletico Madrid though and he sometimes teaches me Spanish.
I will ask him more about Segovia and I'm sure he will tell me more about the city and the food you've mentioned earlier because he is a history teacher.
Thanks Rich for sharing your lovely times with us and I really hope to be here with the lads as a fan of the week or the year hahaha :)


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/06/2020 13:31
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

The story sounds amazing and I love Spain as well as England. Actually I have a Spanish friend here in Izmir who is originally from Madrid and his wife is from Argentina and they are so nice people but he's not into football much. He supports Atletico Madrid though and he sometimes teaches me Spanish.
I will ask him more about Segovia and I'm sure he will tell me more about the city and the food you've mentioned earlier because he is a history teacher.
Thanks Rich for sharing your lovely times with us and I really hope to be here with the lads as a fan of the week or the year hahaha :)

Rich's picture
Rich
17/06/2020
ES
594
points

Hi MoBeckham,

Thanks! A Spaniard and an Argentinian that is not into football? I didn't think they existed!!

 Rich


Rich's picture
Rich
17/06/2020 08:13
Spain
Liverpool
594

Hi MoBeckham,

Thanks! A Spaniard and an Argentinian that is not into football? I didn't think they existed!!

 Rich

Violinka
09/08/2018
UA
1859
points

Hello, Rich! Your story is very interesting! 'Pescaditos fritos' sounds very tasty and I'd like to find out this in my city and try to cook! I have a personal questions about learning. Could you give me email where I can ask about it. Thank you.


Violinka
09/08/2018 09:52
Ukraine
Chelsea
1859

Hello, Rich! Your story is very interesting! 'Pescaditos fritos' sounds very tasty and I'd like to find out this in my city and try to cook! I have a personal questions about learning. Could you give me email where I can ask about it. Thank you.

admin's picture
admin
09/08/2018
GB
560
points

Hi Violinka

You can write to Rich using the Premier Skills email: premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Thanks

Jack - The Premier Skills English Team


admin's picture
admin
09/08/2018 16:29
United Kingdom
Arsenal
560

Hi Violinka

You can write to Rich using the Premier Skills email: premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Thanks

Jack - The Premier Skills English Team

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
12/07/2017
PS
3705
points

Correct me, I am from Palestine , but I live in the U.A.E because I study here, on the holidays I like going to the beach and watch the sea and the waves, the view is really great.Also I love playing football with my friends at the park, we do not by all the rules in football.I love seafood and meat, my favorite dich is rice with meat and yoghurt.I do not watch the local league here in the UAE because it is boring and there are few fans who watch the match,you can enter the match for free because they want more fans to come,Fortunaley,The winner of the UCL will come here next year and this year,My favorite team is Juventus and after that Liverpool,I wanted them to win the UCL so they can come here, but unfortunately they lost in the final,i hope next season if they can win the trophy that they have not won for more than 20 years,and i will be glad if Buffon can win the title in his last season as a player,but i will be happy if Liverpool win the UCL. I would like to be a coach or a fotballer one day,my idol is Alessandro Del Piero.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
12/07/2017 21:08
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

Correct me, I am from Palestine , but I live in the U.A.E because I study here, on the holidays I like going to the beach and watch the sea and the waves, the view is really great.Also I love playing football with my friends at the park, we do not by all the rules in football.I love seafood and meat, my favorite dich is rice with meat and yoghurt.I do not watch the local league here in the UAE because it is boring and there are few fans who watch the match,you can enter the match for free because they want more fans to come,Fortunaley,The winner of the UCL will come here next year and this year,My favorite team is Juventus and after that Liverpool,I wanted them to win the UCL so they can come here, but unfortunately they lost in the final,i hope next season if they can win the trophy that they have not won for more than 20 years,and i will be glad if Buffon can win the title in his last season as a player,but i will be happy if Liverpool win the UCL. I would like to be a coach or a fotballer one day,my idol is Alessandro Del Piero.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
12/07/2017
PS
3705
points

Actually i liked your life Rich,and i also love seafood,it is delicious.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
12/07/2017 20:56
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

Actually i liked your life Rich,and i also love seafood,it is delicious.

Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
13/06/2017
UA
4408
points

Hi Rich,

Great and interesting story. Congratulations on the Blades’ promotion to the Championship. Hope they will be in the Premier League soon and you will tell us more about Sheffield United.


Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
13/06/2017 14:20
Ukraine
Watford
4408

Hi Rich,

Great and interesting story. Congratulations on the Blades’ promotion to the Championship. Hope they will be in the Premier League soon and you will tell us more about Sheffield United.

Rich's picture
Rich
15/06/2017
ES
594
points

Hi Liubomyr,

Thanks, I'm glad you liked my story. I was very happy that we finally got promoted from the third tier of English football - it had been too long! We actually got 100 points - more than any season in our history so it was a very good season indeed! I'm hopeful for next season but one our main ambitions should be to finish above our city rivals - Sheffield Wednesday!

Rich


Rich's picture
Rich
15/06/2017 08:15
Spain
Liverpool
594

Hi Liubomyr,

Thanks, I'm glad you liked my story. I was very happy that we finally got promoted from the third tier of English football - it had been too long! We actually got 100 points - more than any season in our history so it was a very good season indeed! I'm hopeful for next season but one our main ambitions should be to finish above our city rivals - Sheffield Wednesday!

Rich

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1mobeckham6510
2Alex_from_Ukraine6278
3hsn5525
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4768
6Liubomyr4408
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia71478
2Ukraine33300
3Spain28277
4Serbia27289
5Brazil23896
6Albania20578
7Vietnam19939
8Turkey19810
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United141846
2Liverpool110282
3Chelsea88559
4Arsenal85669
5Manchester City56951
6Tottenham Hotspur19169
7Newcastle United10457
8West Ham United7454
9AFC Bournemouth4454
10Crystal Palace4240

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2
Average: 2 (1 vote)

Goals

To learn more about life in other countries.

To learn about members of the Premier Skills English community.