A Mexican in London

BBC 1 Learning 2 EnglishLondon LifeA Mexican in LondonYvonne: As we know, London is a very cosmopolitan 3 city –so it’s possible to meetpeople here from countries that we may never visit.
　　And that’s just what we’re doing today on London Lifewith Miguel Molina from Mexico. This isbbclearningenglish.com and I’m Yvonne Archer 4. Hello!
　　Miguel has been living in London for about ten years andworks as an Editor in the BBC’s Latin 5 American Service.
　　So he’s an old friend! But life is not all about work, sowhat do Miguel and other Mexicans in London do for fun? (Isthat a fair question?) Also try to spot two different waysthat Miguel uses the word ‘party’. Now there’s a bigclue for you!
　　Miguel MolinaThere’s not ‘a’ Mexican way of being, but some, they’reyoung, they have nothing else to do, so they like to partyand you can find them, you know, having fun. Others thatare becoming old, like me, just for fun, they could just gosit down in the garden and have a nice chat with friendsand (are) no longer partying.
　　Yvonne: By the way, Miguel really isn’t that old but yes,he does enjoy a nice ‘chat’ - talking with friends in thegarden – that’s if it’s not raining! We’ll look at theword ‘party’ in a moment but first did you catch thatuseful phrase 6 - ‘There’s not A Mexican way of being’?
　　That’s a lovely way to explain that not all Mexicans arethe same.
　　Miguel MolinaThere’s not ‘a’ Mexican way of beingYvonne: Sometimes it’s believed that people who speak thesame language or are from the same continent for example,are the same. So Miguel’s phrase is a good way to answerquestions based on such beliefs without upsetting people.
　　Note the way we say ‘A’ and ‘AN’ - for example, ‘There’s not ‘a’ Chinese way of being’ and ‘There’s not‘an’ Arabic 7 way of being’.
　　Now onto the word ‘party’. Miguel says of youngMexicans in London:
　　Miguel MolinaThey have nothing to do so they like to party…Yvonne: And the older Mexicans in London?
　　Miguel Molina(They’re) no longer partying.
　　Yvonne: So there’s the noun 8 ‘a party’ – an event whenpeople have fun talking, playing music and dancing, forexample. And we heard the word used as a verb 9 - ‘to party’ and ‘partying’. Do you like ‘to party’? Doyou like ‘partying’? So you’ve a few things to discussafter today’s London Life?!
　　Although London has many interesting events to go to andplaces to visit for free, lots of people who were born heredon’t actually go to them! But that’s certainly notthe case for people from other countries who live here.
　　Miguel says that Mexicans living in London generally have‘a very developed taste for cultural things’. Forexample, they enjoy visiting places like art galleries andmuseums.
　　Miguel MolinaMexicans in general, but more so Mexicans who go liveabroad, not as tourists, have a very developed taste forcultural things. That is, you find them in placessuch as the National Gallery or the British Museum or youfind them looking at historical 10 places in London.
　　Yvonne: Are there ‘historical’ places where you live thatyou can easily visit but don’t?
　　Why not?
　　Of course, Miguel now lives in London but where is his‘home’ – the place where his heart really is – or even,his guitar?!
　　Miguel MolinaI live here – this is home for me. Yes, I go back toMexico and it’s home in Mexico as well. But home is, well… an artist would say: ‘home is where your guitar is’.
　　I don’t have a guitar, I don’t play anything, so….
　　But the classics 11 also say: ‘home is wherever you go andthey have to take you in’. So I guess, in that sense,I have a home here in London and in Mexico.
　　Yvonne: Lucky man! Do you think you could be as happyliving in another country?
　　And how would you explain what ‘home’ is? Why nottalk about that after today’s London Life. And for areminder of some of the language we’ve looked at, visit usnow at bbclearningenglish.com!