Pa Negre, shot enterely in Catalan to represent Spain in the Oscars

After winning nine Goya awards, including best film, best director and best adapted screenplay, the film Pa Negre (Black Bread) was announced today by Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film at next year´s Oscars. 

The film directed by Agustí Villaronga and starred by Francesc Colomer, Marina Comas and Nora  Navas, is an adaptation of the novel by Emili Teixidor.

It´s set in the post-war years´ Catalan countryside.

Andrew, a child that belongs to the losing side, finds the corpses of a man and his son in the forest. The authorities want his father to be made responsible of the deaths, but Andreu tries to help his father by finding out who truly killed them. In his research, Andreu develops a moral consciousness against a world of adults fed by lies. In order to survive, he betrays his own roots and ends up finding out the monster that lives within him.

 Task:

A. Rewite the following sentences about the film, the meaning should be the same as that in the sentence above.

1. The critics say that Pa Negre is created for mainstream audiences.

Pa Negre _________________________________

2. The movie is worth a rental at the very least.

You should________________________________

3. Black Bread is one of SFIFF´s more understated films, despite a few fairly grotesque moments.

Although__________________________________________

4. What does SFIFF stand for?

What´s_________________________________?

5. It´s the first time a film made in Catalan has been chosen to represent Spain at the Oscars.

A film ________________________________________before.

6. Director Agustí Villaronga said:" I feel the responsibility of representing Spain and for doing so in Catalan".

Agustí Villaronga ____________________________________.

21st September, Alzheimer´s World day

Alzheimer's Disease
Also called: AD

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities.

AD begins slowly. It first involves the parts of  the brain that control thought, memory and language. People with AD may have trouble remembering things that happened recently or names of people they know. A related problem, mild cognitive impairment(MCI), causes more memory problems than normal for people of the same age. Many, but not all, people with MCI will develop AD.

In AD, over time, symptoms get worse. People may not  recognize family members or have trouble speaking, reading or writing. They may forget how to brush  their teeth or comb their hair. Later on, they may become anxious or aggressive, or wander away from home. Eventually, they need total care. This can cause great stress for family members who must care for them.

AD usually begins after age 60. The risk goes up as you get older. Your risk is also higher if a family member has had  the disease.

No treatment can stop the disease. However, some drugs may help keep symptoms from getting worse for a limited time.

NIH: National Institute on Aging

Tasks:

1.  Add True or False, quoting the evidence from  the text. No points are given for only True or False.

1.  AD only affects old people´s memory.

2.  People suffering from AD can  take care of themselves and do their  normal   activities.

3.  Thanks to a treatment people with AD recover .

4.  Anxiety and  aggressiveness are the only troubles of  the illness in  the long term.

5.  MCI is always a first step to AD.

 2. Watch the video about Alzheimer´s World day and complete the sentences with information given in it:

1. September 21, 2010 marks the annual world _________________.

2. Alzheimer´s Disease International is a group made up of 73 individual organizations whose aim is to create ___________________.

3. According to the report on the global economic impact of dementia, the estimated     world rise cost of this desease amounts to_______________________.

4. There are currently______________________ living with dementia and the number is expected to rise to ____________________  by 2030.

5. Nearly 70% od Alzheimer´s patients are cared home by___________________.

6.Some  countries including ___________,____________and_____________are creating national ___________________plans.

7. There is currently no  _____________and _____________.

8. Scientist continue to test drugs and treatments that may help with ______________.

Writing letters, the funny way

Style of writing in any letter must be suitable for its purpose. However there are some rules that apply to nearly all letters.

First, a letter should be short, as short as clarity, sufficient information, and courtesy allow.

Clarity implies using simple, natural English, and arranging the points in a logical order, with separate paragraphs for each point. It must be based on thought and planning before we start writing. We must not only include all the necessary details; we must also exclude everthing which is unnecessary or irrelevant.

Finally, there is the matter of courtesy. No general rule is possible, except to be as short as the kind of letter allow.

There is, of course, one kind of letter to which many or most of the rules do not apply. These are intimate, chatty letters to relatives and close friends. For these the only rule is to write more or less as one would speak to the recipient.

L.N.M. Newwell. Instant letter-writing

  Here you can see an animated proposal of a love letter. I hope you enjoy it.

                                Love Letters – An Animated Proposal – v2.0

You can watch the video and at the same time see the script on:

http://lingual.net/category/animation/

Here you´ll find letters for students who want to learn how to write particular types of letters in English:

http://www.parapal-online.co.uk/resources/letters.html

And English exercises:
http://www.parapal-online.co.uk/letters.html

13th Tuesday, a lucky day.

Despite the date for Spanish superstitious people, 13th Tuesday  was a lucky day for all of you facing PAU exams. You weren´t afraid of the date, because this was your opportunity to pass and enrol University or Higher  studies.

From 18:15 to 19:45 you were taking the English exam,The texts:
Option A: Jet Lag
Option B: Computer education for young children: a growing concern
 I hope you, good luck!
http://wzar.unizar.es/servicios/acceso/accespau/exame/11sept/11sept.html

In memory of the Twin Towers´ victims and those involved in rescue

Ten years have passed since the landmark Twin Towers in Manhattan were destroyed in 2011 during the September 11 attacks, resulting in 2.753 deaths.

It incredible to think how clear this tragic event remains  in our mind after a decade, as if time hasn´t passed. 

The site is being rebuilt with five new skyscrapers and a memorial to the casualties of the attacks.

 

Approaching the 10th anniversary, the news reminds us what so many people will never possibly forget.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/09/110907_vwitn_twin_towers.shtml

Your task:
Watch and listen to " 9/ 11: Ten years on", one of these reports from the BBC. And as additional exercise, fill in the gaps with the words from the BBC news report.

The skin I live in

It is set to premiere on 2nd September 2011 in Spain.

Director Pedro Almodovar´s film, The skin I live in, is an adaptation of Thierry Jonquet´s novel Tarantula, stars Antonio Banderas as a plastic surgeon out for revenge on the man who raped his daughter.

Here´s the official synopsis for The skin I live in.

 Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her.

After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig...

According to critic, this is one of Almodovar´s most cleverly plotted films. It is less a film you´ll fall in love with than a film you´ll tell your friends they absolutely must see, and that should be enough to make it a hit around the world.

Now your tasks:

1. Write your own film review.  

The first step in writing a review is to watch the movie and then take into account the following writing tips:

*The review doesn´t have to be about a film you enyoyed.

*It should contain both description and opinion.

*Explain briefly what it is about.

*Detail who is starring and how well you think they acted.

*Give details about how well the movie was shot and directed. If the lighting was good   in the moody scenes.Write about music

*Make a recommendation in the final paragraph.

*Use suitable vocabulary related to the cinema (adjectives for describinng films, genres, and expressions...) learnt in class.

*Finally, read and check your review throughly to correct spelling of key words.

You can find help if you see the following file:     

2. Listen to a movie review at:

http://www.esl-lab.com/review/review.htm