Happy New Year! New Year Resolutions

2013 is here, and I wish you a very happy year!

And as every first day of the year happens, most of us are ready to change our life for the better, achieve new goals in the new year or simply make a list of New Year´s Resolutions. But everybody knows that sticking to these new plans, is difficult. So, our plans should be realistic, achievable and meangful if we want them  to become reality for us.

Toast  to the New Year and see what The Flatmates´ New Year´s Resolutions are. 

Then, watch Mr. Duncan explanation and understand how willpower will help you to carry out your plans.

Tasks:

1. Use the expressions below  to make your own New Year´s Resolution list for 2013.
1. quit
2. cut down
3. keep doing
4. try harder in / at
5. start

 (Remember the use of -ing form after these expressions)

2. Match the expressions above to their meaning:
a) continue
b) stop
c) reduce
d) begin
e) give more effort in / at
1 ____ / 2 ____/ 3 ____ / 4 ____ / 5 ____

3. Answer the questions and do the following activities.

Kidnapped

Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Key Facts:

Type of Work: Novel

Genre: Adventure

Language: English (Scots)

Time and Place written: Scotland. UK.

Date of 1st publication: 1886

Narrator: David Balfour (1st person narration)

Climax: the climax occurs when the friendship between David and Alan reaches its greatest point of crisis, and is resolved by David´s near-death fainting spell.

Protagonist(s): David Balfour.

Antagonist: Ebenezer Balfour.

Setting(time) 1751

Setting (place): Scotland

Point of view: First person narration.

Summary: When orphan David Balfour is betrayed by his uncle Ebenezer, he finds himself imprisoned on the Covenant  bound for the Carolinas. But the ship hits some rocks and is wrecked. David is thrown overboard and washed up on the shore of a Scottish island. Together with fellow survivor, the wanted rebel, Alan Breck. David sets off across the treacherous highlands on a quest for justice, and revenge!

Activities:
When David sets out for the House of Shaws in Chapter 1, Mr Campbell gives him a packet containing four things (Gifties) that he believes will be useful, not only for the duration of the journey, but in his life´s journey as well.
1. List  four things you would give someone who was setting out on a journey to seek his/her fortune and write downn a reason for choosing each item.
It can be something practical as well as something which may enrich their life in the long term.
2. If you like painting, you can colour in images from the graphic novel here.
3. You can also complete a puzzle or a word search game.

Enjoy your reading!

The Scarlet Letter

Here you are The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, your second reader for the second term.
Scarlet is the colour of sin, and the letter "A" stands for "Adultery".

In the 1600s, in Boston, Massachusetts, love was allowed only
between a husband and a wife. A child born outside marriage was
a child of sin.

Hester Prynne must wear the scarlet letter on her dress for the rest of her life. How can she ever escape from this public shame? What will happen to her child, growing up in the shadow of the scarlet letter? The future holds no joy for Hester Prynne.

And what will happen to her sinful lover, the father of her child?

Read the book and discover...

New England in the 1600s, the Puritans´customs and their religion, and how anyone who breaks the laws of the church and of God, must be punished.

Here you can listen to an Audio Book Review: The Scarlet Letter (Adaptation): Oxford Bookworms.



Here you are Nathaniel Hawthorne´s Scarlet Letter summary on video.

   

Enjoy your reading!

And  as an additional activity, you can try these tasks:

1. Fill in the gaps with the right word.
Prison door /Pearl / meteor / Black Man / Able
a. The Scarlet letter stands for adultery and ....
b. ....... is an euphemism for Satan.
c. ....... is a symbol for all Hester gave up.
d. ...... has never known a "youthful era".
e. A .......explodes in the form of an A.

2. Watch the trailer of "The Scarlet Letter", directed by Roland Joffé and featuring Demi Moore
as Hester Prynne, Gary Oldman as Dimmesdale and Robert Duvall as Chillingworth. (1995). And meet the characters.

The Unquiet Grave Short Stories

M.R.James (1862-1936) was born in Kent, and became the provost of King´s College, Cambridge and later of Eton School. He is famous for his ghost stories, which have been popular since the day they were first written. "The Unquiet Grave" is one of his books, the one you are going to read this New year.

"Do I believe in ghosts? I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me."This is what the author wrote in the introduction to one of his books?.

And what about you? Do you believe in ghosts?

If so, If you find a locked room in a lonely inn, don´t try to open it, even on a bright sunny day. If you find a strange whistle hidden among the stones of an old church, don´t blow it. If a mysterious man gives you a piece of paper with strange writing on it, give it back to him at once. And if you call a dead man from his grave, don´t expect to sleep peacefully ever again.

Read these five ghost stories by daylight, and make sure your door is locked.

Now, how about listening to a song . Does it have anything to do with the book? Listen to it and decide!

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Christmas holidays, time to enjoy reading. This time the title chosen to have a good time is "The Five People you Meet in Heaven" written by Mitch Albom.

The Five People you Meet in Heaven, debuted at nº 1 on the New York Times bestseller list and sold nearly five  million copies in its first year.

First of all,  you can watch the the Book trailer...understand the plot, and read  some of the critics´opinions.

Next,  you can watch the author, Mitch Albom discussing his book...

Then, read the review by PapaMedia.com

The story of Eddie, an elderly man who dies in an amusement park accident. Unlike most books in which a
death ends a story line, Eddies death begins one. In heaven, Eddie learns that he must encounter five people who will teach him about the meaning of his life. He is a sceptic on the topic. His childhood dreams were never realized, his wife died young, and he was troubled by war injuries and depression throughout his adulthood. Eddies attitude is a bit reminiscent of Ebenezer Scrooge, but he is still open to learning from his spiritual helpers. Each of the five people Eddie meets teaches him something valuable about love, responsibility, and the passage of time. They help him find the meaning in what he did do in life, turning his focus away from the pain of missed opportunities and unlived dreams, and towards the joy of love. Its a touching tribute to anyone who feels that his or her life is unimportant. The book underlines how essential it is to have people who do hard, everyday work, and how important their often unseen contributions are to the happiness and well-being of all of us. Although this book teeters on the sugary-sweet at times, Albom deserves a lot of credit for asking the big questions, Why are we here? and Is life worthwhile? Furthermore, he comes up with some meaningful answers. The Five People You Meet in Heaven offers an enjoyable and heart-touching perspective on why we are here and how we can make the most of it

And finally, you can watch the film trailer. In 2004, Albom wrote the screenplay for the ABC TV movie starring Jon Woight and Ellen Burstyn.



And you can also enjoy the slides presentation below.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven 1 from Fernanda Gonzalez


After reading the book, it would be a good idea to check your understanding with this summary by chapters.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Xesteffan Salapang

Merry Christmas

Holidays are almost upon us and I´d like to wish you Merry Christmas with a beautiful carol by Pentatonic. Beautiful voices singing to one of the most keenly anticipated time of the year.

Ejoy the music and of course your Xmas holidays.

Non-alcohol Day, 15th November

Don´t throw yourself away!

This slogan may be the starting point to convince you that drinking and specially at an early age can destroy yourself and cause irreversible problems to your future life.

This photo taken from a German awareness campaign about youth alcoholism, should serve to  rise awareness among Spanish teenagers today when we celebrate the non-alcohol Day.

                                          

                                                   Great artwork from McCann Erickson     

Bing drinking is on the rise in Spain. According to the Nationsl Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a safe level of drinking for men is two drinks per day and for women is one per day.

However, a recent Ministry of Health survey revealed that 50 % of teenagers are now getting drunk, a noticeable increase from the past.

In fact as the "botellon" phenomenon, young people meeting in outdoors places to drink, continues, college students have the opportunity to booze for hours, an activity that was unheard of with their parents´generation.

Bing drinking is very common among teens, but lots of people aren't aware that their drinking habits qualify as bingeing. Although it is well known that binge drinking can lead to long-term liver damage, brain damage and heart disease.

Source: The Olive Press

Tasks:

Find out what binge drinking means, the risks of bingeing on alcohol, and how to kick the habit.

BRAM STOKER

 Who´s Bram Stoker? If you look at the picture of the character that made him famous,  you´ ll  guess immediately who he was. Today on his 165 birthday, we have the opportunity  to learn something about his life.

                                                    
Abraham (Bram) Stoker was born November 8, 1847 in Dublin, Ireland. His father was a civil servant and his mother was charity worker and writer. Stoker was sickly child and spent a lot of time in bed. Growing up his mother told him a lot of horror stories which may have influenced his later writing.

In 1864 Stoker entered  Trinity College Dublin. While attending college he began working as an Irish civil servant. He also worked part time as a freelance journalist and drama critic. In 1876 he met Henry Irving, a famous actor, and they soon became friends. Not long after that, Stoker met and fell in love with an aspiring actress named Florence Balcombe. In 1878 Stoker accepted a job working in London as Irving´ s personal secretary. Stoker and Balcombe got married on December 4, 1878 and on December 9, they moved to England to join Irving.

His first book "The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland" though written while he was still in Dublin, was published in 1879. On December 30, 1879 Stoker and his wife had their only child, a son Noel. While in England Stoker also wrote several novels and short stories. His first book of fiction. "Under the Sunset", was published in 1881. Although best known for "Dracula", Stoker wrote eighteen books before his death in 1912. He died of exhaustion at the age of 64.

(Source: http://bramstoker.org/)

You also may like: Dracula´s homepage:

http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/index.html

Contrasting Photos

Contrasting photos is part of the activity that involves talking and describing pictures  in speaking lessons this year.
As a result of surfing the Net to look for photos, I found two useful powerpoints  that show you the way  to face this activity.
I hope they help you in your task.

Comparing and Contrasting photos from David Mainwood

Fce speaking part from Ascension Villalba

Channel to the Future

Channel to the Future by Sandra Sherwood. This is the book you have to read for this first term.

The plot tells the story of Jordan Connelly, the teenager who accidentally finds a mysterious channel on the family´s new Tv set. The Channel to the Future allows him to see events the day before they happen and he becomes a "prophet" overnight. He not only sees happy events but also serious and catastrophic disasters.

Will he be able to save people and avoid suffering?.

Read the book and see what happens.                                     

For Audio material and Activities, visit: http://www.burlingtonbooks.com/Spain/Page.aspx?PageID=237

The Ghost of Featherstone Castle

The Ghost of Featherstone Castle, written by Elspeth Rawstron, is the story you have to read for this term.

The main character, Robbie Sumner, a boy of your age  meets Heather on an adventure holiday in  Featherstone Castle and become friends. As it usually happens in castles, strange things happen there, including the appearance of a ghost.Your task is to discover who the ghost is.

Enjoy the reading!

For Audio material and Actvities on the book: http://www.burlingtonbooks.com/Spain/Page.aspx?PageID=235

The  video below  shows you the settings and historical landmarks of the region where the story of the Ghost of Featherstone Castle takes place. It will help you to understand better the influence of the Roman Empire in Great Britain.

 The Roman Empire´s legacy is important in  Great Britain, and as you can see in the reading, The Hadrian´s Wall is one of the most interesting wonders of the Ancient World.

  

"The Angel´s share"

 "The Angel´s share" a film by Ken Loach. Starring Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, William Ruane, Gary Maitland, Jasmin Riggins, and Siobhan Reilly. This is the title that you will be able to watch on 13th  November on the 10th anniversary of " Un día de Cine".

Plot: Narrowly avoiding jail, new dad Robbie vows to turn over a new leaf. A visit to a whisky distillery inspires him and his mates to seek a way out of their hopeless lives.

Tasks:
1. Read the review by the Guardian and answer the questions below.

Ken Loach's new movie arrives in the UK garlanded with the Cannes Jury Prize: a freewheeling social-realist comedy caper. In many ways this is his most relaxed and successful screen offering for some time. The Angels' Share could stand as a companion piece to his Sweet Sixteen (2002) or even his early classic Kes (1969), and of course, it also draws on the Ealing film Whisky Galore! Again, Loach has used non-professionals: his leading man is newcomer Paul Brannigan, playing Robbie, a young Glasgow criminal who finds himself sentenced to repaint a community centre with a bunch of lawbreaking dopes and dorks: Mo (Jasmin Riggins), Rhino (William Ruane) and Albert (Gary Maitland). The supervisor, Harry (John Henshaw), is a kindly soul who has a connoisseur's passion for whisky, and out of the goodness of his heart takes them on an outing to a distillery. Miraculously, Robbie turns out to have a "nose" – an untrained discerning judgment of whisky, perhaps like Billy's bird-training ability in Kes. He is intrigued by the fact that some whisky evaporates in the cask – the so-called "angels' share" – and the unreconstructed criminal in him wonders how he can get his share. How strange to compare the conclusion of The Angels' Share with that of Kes. Robbie and his mates are no angels, but the film finds a way of giving them something that real life can't or won't: a chance.

The Guardian.

Questions:

1. Has Loach won any award in recognition of this work?
2. What´s uncommon in the cast?
3. What´s a cask for?.
4. What do the characters in the film get in the end?

2. After watching the film, write your own review.

If you want to have a look at the best films of this great British film director, visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/KenLoachFilms

Halloween, once again.

Halloween is celebrated the night before All Saints´ Day, on 31st october

Starting from the beginning, Halloween history dates back to the Celts, in Ireland in he 5th century BC.

You like it or dislike this celebration, it´s a good idea to know where it comes from.

By watching the video below, you´ll be able to learn interesting facts about one of the most celebrated traditions by children.

For Jack O´lantern history, visit: http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history 

For the leyend of Stingy Jack :

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24725659/The%20Legend%20of.pdf

For  scary ghosts stories visit:    http://www.americanfolklore.net/spooky-stories.html

For more buzzle, visit:http://www.buzzle.com/articles/halloween-trivia-questions-and-answers.html

For interesting facts  about Halloween chart: http://blog.halloweenexpress.com/2010/10/04/facts-about-halloween/

For Halloween Idioms of fear

SCIENCE and EXPERIMENTS

New ways to learn about Quantum Science, through  video or music will attract your attention to this difficult and interesting topic. At the same time, you will be able to learn suitable vocabulary necessary to talk about Science and experiments.

 Quantum Science: Double Slit Experiment

Symphony of  Science, The Quantum World!

THEATRE: "ALL THAT MUSIC"

Theatre goers are lucky, they will have the opportunity to enjoy a new play, "All that Music" performed by the Company Forum Theatre and Education. 

In order to understand better the play and to know how the story develops, here you can read about the plot and the characters.

I hope you enjoy the performance.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24725659/All%20that%20Music%20%20%20%20Plot%20synopsis.pdf

Tasks: 

 Read the plot synopsis and decide if the following sentences are True or False:

1. Is it a cloudy day?

2. Picadilly Circus is immediately recognizable due to its  bright lighted billboards.

3. There are only a handful of theatres in the West End.

4. There are a variety of plays dealing with topics such as witches, love, ghosts and death.

5. Fred and Liza are two adults who decide to visit London´s West End to become famous.

6. Fred is exciting about seeing Hairspray the Musical.

7. Fred favourite actor is John Travolta.

8. Liza wants to see Hairspray  because she thinks it is very poetical.

9. Fred and Liza flip a coin to decide which play they will see.

10. There are still tickets left for  Xanadu.

11. The actor Danny Zuco will be playing the part of Danny Bayne in the production of  Grease.

12. Fred  knows the choreographer Patricia Birch and she gets them ike for Gease.

Advertising: adverts and Tv commercials

Let´s warm up to introduce the topic of Advertising.

What do you know about Advertising History? Advertising goes back to ancient Greece...

What´s the aim of most adverts nowadays? To persuade you to buy the product, to inform you about a new product or to remind you about a well-known product?.

What´s the difference in meaning between the words "publicity" and "advertising"?
Publicity means "information about anything (celebrities,events, etc...) which attracts public and media attention". And Advertising means "information about products, etc...and influencing people to buy them".

What type of Advertising media do you know? Newspapers, magazines, Radio, TV, Direct Mail, Outdoor signs, Internet...

Do you agree with this statement?
"Having a good product is not as important as having an eye-catching logo and a memorable slogan or catching jingle".

What´s the meaning of "logo", "slogan","catchy"and "jingle" in the quotation above.

Tasks:

1. Watch the videos and decide which advert you liked the best and why.

2. Design your own radio or TV advert.You have to decide what you want to advertise, what´s called, the slogan, etc. You also have to write a short script for the advert.

  The Dog strikes back

  The Joy of Books

  The Bark Side

  Never say no to Panda

For some Advertising exercises:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24725659/advertising%20exercises.docx

In case you want to see funny adverts and give your opinion about them.
Spend some time playing games and revising the use of adjectives in newspapers adverts:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/en25adje-game-read-all-about-it-adjectives

19th October, WORLD INTERNATIONAL BREAST CANCER DAY

            World International Breast Cancer day is celabrated worldwide on 19th October every year.

What´s breast cancer? Cancer is a group of diseases that cause cells in the body to change and grow out of control. Most types of cancer cells eventually form a lump or mass called a tumor, and are named after the part of the body where the tumor originates.

According to American Cancer Society,  excluding cancer of the skin, breast cancer, is the most common cancer among women, accounting for nearly 1 in 3 cancers diagnosed in US women.

Men are generally at low risk for developing breast cancer; however they should report any change in their breasts to a phycician.

What causes breast cancer? We don´t know what causes breast cancer, although we know that certain risk factors may put you at higher risk of developing it. A person´s age, genetic factors, personal health history and diet, all contribute to breast cancer risk.

In recent years, there´s been an explosion of life-saving treatment advances against breast cancer, bringing new hope and excitement. Instead of only one or two  options, today  there´s an overwhelming menu of treatment choices that fight the complex mix of cells in each individual cancer. The decisions, surgery, then perhaps radiation, hormonal (antiestrogen) theraphy, and /or chemotheraphy, can be overwhelming.

 (Breast Cancer Orgnization)

FOOD and COOKING

Food and Cooking are new interests for many people nowadays.

Cooking is fun and you can be creative preparing your meals and dishes. But are eating and cooking habits changing? Are men better cooks than women?

Who does the day-to-day cooking at home?.....All these questions and many others can serve  to introduce the topic, learn and check our knowledge about it.

Tasks: Do the following exercises:

1. A picture exercise on Food Containers:

2.Vocabulary Matching Quiz Two-Food Pairs.
(Answers Two-Food Pairs)

3. Listen to Easy dialogues:

-  "Food"

- "At the Restaurant" 

- Sally, an English girl tells us about what she eats and what´s her favourite dessert:

- Jennifer, a Scottish girl tells us about a typical Sunday breakfast in Great Britain:

- Mary  explains what time the English usually have breakfast, lch and dinner.

4. Play some of these  Cooking Food Games

16th October, WORLD FOOD DAY

World Food Day is celebrated each year on 16th October, the day on which The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was founded in 1945.

According to the World Hunger Map, there are some facts to remember in order to rise awareness of the situation: 

- The cost of hunger to developing nations is an estimated US $450 billion per year.

- It takes only 25 US cents for WFP to give a hungry schoolchild a cup of food with all the nutritions needed for the day.

- The number of undernourished people worldwide is just under 1 billion equivalent to the population of North America and Europe combined.                   

                                                                                                                                                 

Let´s think what we can do to get the ZERO HUNGER CHALLENGE!

If you want to have a look at the winner posters, link to: http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/wfd-poster-contest/en/#ad-image-0  or

http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/getinvolved-home/getinvolved-highlights/detail/en/item/162407/icode/

Watch how World Hunger is seen  by Chi-Eun:

Hunger by Chi-Eun from Michael Krauss

For a worldfood sudoku:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24725659/Sudoku_worldfood.pdf

For a matching exercise on Food Idioms:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24725659/Idiom_Worldfood.pdf

For "Food Force", BBC Game that will get players to complete missions such as dropping food parcels into starving areas and helping town.      

Food Force

PREFIXES and SUFFIXES

Apart from the theory and rules studied  in  class, it´s time to practise.
Here you are a number of exercises that  will help you  understand them  better.

Tasks:  1. Choose the level that fits you best and  do some exercises on Prefixes and Suffixes.

Prefixes

Beginner:
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  
Intermediate:
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  
Advanced:
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  

Suffixes

Beginner:
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  
Intermediate:
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  
Advanced:
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8

2. Watch the videos of the "Question Man" on TV411, and learn in a funny way about Prefixes and Suffixes.



Video: Prefixes

Video: Suffixes

Advertising, Adverts, Ads...

Advertising as a form of communication for marketing, whose purpose is to encourage or persuade an audience, viewers, listeners or readers, the customers to continue or take a new action, has changed a lot since its beginning.

Advertising messages are paid for by sponsors and viewed via traditional mass media, newspapers, magazines, tv commercials, radio advertisements, outdoor advertising and direct mail. But as the Tics have spread and developed, advertising is found via blogs, websites or text messages as well.

Our aim is not to analyse "advertising", but to learn and to revise vocabulary related.

So to start with, you can do the following tasks:

1. Advertising Vocabulary and exercises
2. Adjectives to describe adverts

3. Crossword on Advertising

4. How advertising works

5. Regulations of Advertising

6. Writing Game: Advertising Activity

Advertising Activity

6. Listening:

Melissa talks about what ads influence her.

7.  Vocabulary revision:

Vocabulary Advertising from Miriam

8. Watch a group of animated commercials designed by veteran Mad Magazine illustrator, Jack Davis and try to identify  what products are advertised.

European Union (EU), 2012 Peace Nobel

      The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 was awarded to European Union  (EU) "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation democracy and human rights in Europe".

If you want to know something more about the Nobel  and how the EU has grown, link to :

http://www.nobelprize.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19921072

Let´s ask some questions about the EU?

1. What is the EU?

2. How does the EU work?

3.  What has Europe ever done for us?

The EU Nobel, an excuse to train your brain with geography.

TASKS:  Try these quizes:

 



Countries of Europe

  

Flas of Europe



  



Rivers of Europe

 

Seas of Europe

 


Capitals of Europe

  

Mountains of Europe




 





Monarchies of Europe





Match Languages and Countries: http://www.franglish.fr/Europe/europa08.htm