miércoles, 28 de diciembre de 2011

28th December, Holy Innocents´ Day

On December 28th people in the Spanish-speaking world celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a religious festival commemorating  the New Testament story of the massacre of the "Innocents", by playing practical jokes, or inocentadas, on one another.The classical inocentada is to hang paper dolls on someone´s back without their knowing. Spoof news stories also appear in newspapers and the media. 


This feast is the equivalent of April Fool´s Day, celebrated in UK and other countries around the world on April 1st every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fool´s Day, although  April 1st is not a national holiday, it is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kind of jokes and foolishness.The day is marked by the comission of good-humoured or otherwise funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbours,work associates and so on. 

For a powerpoint presentation on April Fool´s Day link at:

                          http://holidays.mrdonn.org/powerpoints/aprilfools.html

martes, 27 de diciembre de 2011

Earthshine or " The Da Vinci Glow"

Have you seen the Da Vinci Glow today?
Astronomers named this visual effect “the Da Vinci glow” after Leonardo Da Vinci, who first figured it out.
It consists of a faint illumination of the dark part of the Moon when it is a thin crescent, caused by sunlight reflected from the Earth, also known as earthlight. Forming a triangle, the planets Jupiter,Venus and the Moon will be the brightest light in the night sky.They can be seen with the naked eye. 



A Christmas Carol

During Christmas holidays, it´s a tradition to read one of the most famous books written by Charles Dickens, in December 1843, but in this occasion, Mr. Duncan, my favourite English teacher, is going to tell it to you.
At the same time you listen to him, you will be able to read the subtitles if you wish.
Enjoy the tale and have a nice time!




Tasks.
1. Answer the following questions:

a. Where did Scrooge live?
b. Who appeared in front of Scrooge?
c. Why did Marley´s ghost come to visit Scrooge?
d. Who will Scrooge be visited by?
e. How did Scrooge fell after the ghost´s visit?

2. Say whether the following statements are true or false:

a. Marley was angry with Scrooge.
b. Scrooge believed in ghosts.
c. Ebenezer was Scrooge´s first name.
d. Four ghosts will pay Scrooge a visit.
e. The second ghost will come at one o´clock, just like the first. 

3. Solve the crossword puzzle.


Exercises by Anna Pyszak




jueves, 22 de diciembre de 2011

Winter is here.....

There is no snow on the ground, it is not cold, but officially winter has arrived and today is the first day of winter. Also known as winter solstice, December 22, when the sun is at its southernmost point.
But why is everybody talking about winter solstice 2012?
It marks the complexion of the 5,125 year Great Cycle of the Ancient Mayan Long Count Calendar.
What do you know about it?





Breaking the Maya Code:

Tasks:
1. The purpose of this activity is to arouse your curiosity about the Mayan calendar and Civilization. So visit the site and do some activity: http://mayas.mrdonn.org/



2. Learn vocabulary related to Solstices and Equinoxes:

miércoles, 21 de diciembre de 2011

Oktapodi, Animated Short Film

As one of your holiday tasks is writing a film review, here you are a different genre of film, but not less important and interesting, a computer  animated short film, called Oktapodi, which won an Oscar  in 2009.
Plot: Two octopuses fight for their lives with a stubborn restaurant cook in a comical escape through the streets of a small Greek village.



Oktapodi  is a 2007 French computer-animated short film that originated as a Graduate Student  Project from Gobelins L´Ecole de L´Image. 
The film is about a pair of love struck octopuses who through a series of comical events are separated and find each other. Oktapodi was directed by Julien Bocabeille, Francois-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, and Emud Mokhberi. Music was composed by Kenny Wood.
Oktapodi was well received, winning a number of awards, as well as Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film (animated) for the 81st Academy Awards. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows.
   (Wikipedia)

By the way, how about having a look at these doble comparative structures in bold?

Computer animation has become more and more prevelant in movies and TV today. And  the more technology evolves, the faster computers become. So the animation will be more and more convincing and realistic.

lunes, 19 de diciembre de 2011

Christmas time for singing and fun

Do you imagine Green Day, the American punk rock band disguised as a group of reindeers for Christmas? At Xmas everything is possible. So  enjoy watching the video and listening to one of the best known  songs, Basketcase,by the band and  fill in the blanks lyrics with the words from the box, some of them are used more than once. 

STONED / NOTHING / PARANOID / CRACKING UP / EVERYTHING /  BETTER  / CONTROL /  SHE  / CREEPS / HE / HER


Basketcase by Green Day
Do you have the time
to listen to me whine
About_______ and _______
all at once
I am one of those
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone
No doubt about it

Sometimes I give myself the ______
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I´m ______  ___
Am I just _______?
Or am I just _______

I went to a shrink
To analyze my dreams
______ says it´s lack of sex
that´s bringing me down
I went to a whore
______ said my life´s a bore
So quit my whining cause
it´s bringing _______ down

Sometimes I give myself the _______
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I´m _______  ___
Am I just ______?
Uh,yuh,yuh,ya

Grasping to ______
So I ______ hold on

Sometimes I give myself the ______
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I´m ______  ___
Am I just ______?

 Or am I just ______





Question and Answer Christmas Jokes
Q: What do elves learn in school?
A: The Elf-abet
Q: Why was Santa's little helper depressed?
A: Because he had low elf esteem.
Q: Where do polar bears vote?
A: The North Poll.
Q: What kind of bird can write?
A: A PENguin
Q: What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmas time?
A: Sandy Claus!
Q: What did Santa shout to his toys on Christmas Eve?
A: Okay everyone, sack time!!
Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
A: Snowflakes.
Q: Why did the elf push his bed into the fireplace?
A: He wanted to sleep like a log.
Q: What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?
A: Claustrophobic.
Q: Why is Christmas just like a day at the office?
A: You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit.
Source: Ahajokes.com

Merry  Christmas!

Cow-based Economics Lesson

English  is fun in many ways. You only should choose the way you prefer, and humour  is one of the most rewarding. As the English idiom says, "Actions speak louder than words", the Spanish equivalent, "Para muestra un botón". 


A Cow based Economics Lesson:

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (VENTURE) CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you
want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called a Cowkimona and market it worldwide.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the ** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

viernes, 16 de diciembre de 2011

A Midsummer Night´s Dream

In this second term, we will have the opportunity to enjoying the play A Midsummer Night´s Dream in our High School,  a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare´s play, performed by The Pocket Oxford Theatre Company.

 As you know, the classical  play was written by William Shakespeare and it is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, who are manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed around the world.

To make easier your understanding of the play, I think it´s a good idea  to watch these BBC Shakespeare  Animated Tales:

A Midsummer Night´s Dream, Part 1




A Midsummer Night´s Dream, Part 2




A Midsummer Night´ s  Dream, Part 3




Another version of Midsummer Night´s Dream:

To know more about Shakespeare´s life, visit:

Everything you need to know about Shakespeare:

ENJOY THE PLAY!







16 December 1877, The First Telephone in Spain

On 16 December 1877, the first telephone trials in the Iberian peninsula took place, between two lecture halls in the College of Industry, Barcelona. And since then this odd gadget has become one of the most useful and more often used inventions ever invented.

It doesn´t matter if it was Graham Bell or not who finally invented it, the fact is that our life wouldn´t be the same if it wouldn´t have existed.
This gadget has suffered many changes through history until the modern and ultimate generation mobile.
The world´s first mobile phone dates back to 1922.

Let´s see some changes:




By the way, why don´t we make the most of this event and work and learn something about the topic?
Tasks:
1. Find out who was Antonio Meucci  and his relation to the telephone.
2. Read  this Selectividad exam on the topic  and answer the questions.


3. Practise  words and expressions that we use for telephoning:

4. Mobile Phones:  Listen to the audio to know about mobile phones, and then do the activities by visiting:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine/mobile-phones

audio/mpeg iconhttp://c0953132.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/magazine-mobile-phones.mp3

When Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it was a revolution. Over the last two decades a new means of spoken communication has emerged: the mobile phone.

 

lunes, 12 de diciembre de 2011

More Strange Tales

  More Strange Tales by Martin Sinclair is the new reading for the 2nd term. If you like facinating, stories, misterious and inexplicable happenings, this is the book for you.
Does the supernatural exist, or is it a dream? Read the book and try to give an answer to this question?
You can find the audio files in the Students´zone  at:

viernes, 9 de diciembre de 2011

"Dinner for One" reminds me Xmas is coming, the year is finishing...

Dinner for One, also known as The 90th Birthday is a comedy  sketch written by British author Lauri Wylie for the theatre in the 1920s. The black-and-white 1963 TV recording featuring British comedians Freddie Frinton and May Warden has become an integral component of the New year´s Eve schedule  of several German tv stations , and a cult Tv classic in many other countries.

The sketch presents the 90th birthday of elderly upper-class Englishwoman Miss Sophie, who hosts a dinner every year for her close friends Mr Pommeroy, Mr Winterbottom, Sir Toby, and Admiral von Schneider to celebrate the occasion.. There is a "Happy new year" toast, but this is purely a reference to Miss Sophie´s anniversary.

The problem is  that given Miss Sophie´s considerable age, she has outlived all of her friends, and so her equally aged manservant James makes his way around the table, impersonating each of the guests in turn. Miss Sophie decides on appropriate drinks to accompany the menu of the evening, consisting of Mulligatawny soup (Miss Sophie orders dry sherry), North Sea haddock (with white wine), chicken (with champagne), and fruit for dessert (with port) served by James, and so he finds himself raising (and empting) his glass four times per course. That takes its toll, increasingly noticeable in James´ growing difficulty in pouring the drinks, telling wine glasses from vases of flowers, and refraining from bursting into song. Even before the alcohol begins to exert  its influence, he has trouble avoiding the head of a tiger skin lying on the floor between the dinner table and the buffet.

The crucial exchange during every course is:

James: The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?
Miss Sophie: The same procedure as every year, James!

After the dinner, Miss Sophie indicates to a very drunk James that she wishes to retire to bed, to which James responds:

James: By the way, the same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?
Miss Sophie (delightedly): The same procedure as every year, James!
James: Well, I´ll do my very best! 

Source: Wikipedia

When Christmas arrives, this funny sketch  comes into my mind, and I usually look for it and enjoy it. On this occasion I´d like to invite you to sit down and watch such an incredible comedy.  
Have a nice watch!

miércoles, 7 de diciembre de 2011

Twelve Xmas Gifts

Songs help adquire vocabulary and improve pronunciation.The Twelve Days of Christmas is a very popular carol about counting presents and it´s usually used for learning English language.
It tells the story of a series of increasingly impressive gifts given by a man to the woman he loves, one on each day, for 12 days.

Why twelve?
The 12 days the song refers to  start with the day after Christmas Day.The 26th is known as "Boxing Day" in the UK, Australia  and Canada, and St. Stephen´s Day in Ireland, and is a public holiday.
The 12 days end on "Twelve Night", the evening of the 5th of January. As English cultures do not celebrate "Kings Day", Twelfth Night is considered to be the very last day of celebration.
Traditionally, all Christmas decorations including the tree have to be taken down that night, or it´s bad luck!

Source: Speak up magazine

Enjoy the carol, and try to learn the basic lyrics by heart. It will be easier and more amusing: 


On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.
2nd Two turtle doves
3rd Three French hens
4th Four calling birds
5th Five golden rings
6th Six geese a-laying
7th Seven swans a-swimming
8th Eight maids a-milking
9th Nine ladies dancing
10th Ten lords a-leaping
11th Eleven pipers piping
12th Twelve drummers drumming



Tasks:
1. Watch the children´s animation  and the video  and  become a carol singer.





2. Find out:
Why is  Boxing Day called "Boxing Day"?
Does  the tradition still continue today?



                         

martes, 6 de diciembre de 2011

Improving your listening skills

Listening, listening, and listening.....this is the best way to improve your understanding. And here you are some tips to take into account that can help you: 
1. You should accept the fact that you are not going to understand everything, at least at first.
2. You should keep relaxed  when you don´t understand.
3. You shouldn´t translate into your language.
4. You should listen for the general idea. You shouldn´t concentrate on detail until you have understood the main ideas.
At present  there are many ways of hearing English everywhere:
Films in English with subtitles.
Listening while reading, taking advantage of the readers for the the present school year is a good idea too.
Thanks to the Internet it´s easier to listen to current events, the news, Eurosport, digital TV, Songs, Tales, Podcasts, Videos, and all that jazz... 
You have no excuse to improve your listening skills. So do your very best using any of these useful links:

http://edition.englishclub.com/category/listening-news/

http://www.englishmedialab.com/pronunciation/vowelvideo.html  Single Vowel Sounds Video Lessons


http://www.esl-lab.com         Randall´s  ESL Cyber  Listening lab (for all levels)
http://www.mansioningles.com/listening00.htm    La mansión del Inglés
http://www.carolinebrownlisteninglessons.com/  English listening exercises

Fifth Davis Cup, the excuse to practise English apart from tennis

Rafael Nadal defeated Juan Carlos del Potro at Seville´s Olympic Stadium on Sunday to hand Spain their fifth Davis Cup.
What´s the importance of this exploit for Spanish sport? Everybody knows that tennis is one of the world´s most widely-played sports, and  also a popular 
spectator sport, with  star players in tournaments watched on tv by millions of fans all over the world.This means fame and  respect.


It´s important to know some facts about Davis Cup , a competition that started in 1900 between USA and Great Britain, then playing under the name of the British Isles. It was held at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston and the Americans surprised their opponents by racing into an unassailable 3-0 lead.
 of the world´s most widely-played sports, enjoyed by players of all ages, and it´s also a popular spectator sport, with star players, Nadal is one of them, watched on tv by millions of fans all over the world.

The idea of Davis Cup was conceived a year earlier by four members of the Harvard University tennis team, who wished to set up a match between USA and Great Britain. Once the two respective national associations had agreed, one of the four players, Dwight Davis, designed a tournament format and ordered a trophy, buying it with his own money.
The tournament was originally known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, but soon became known as Davis Cup after Dwight Davis’s trophy, which was designed by William Durgin and crafted by Rowland Rhodes.

Source of facts: daviscup.com 

If you want to practise English by listening to and watching all the protagonists of such an event, you can do it at:

http://www.daviscup.com/en/audio/index.aspx  and
http://www.daviscup.com/en/video/index.aspx

Tasks:
Due to its wide-world spread, tennis is close to  English as the habitual language tennis stars use to communicate in their tournaments and with the press.


1. Learn and revise tennis terms and expressions:

2. If you are not sure what strokes these are: backhand, forehand volley, forehand and serve, visit:

3. Complete the Wimbledom tennis tournament on line crossword:

4. Fill in the gaps  with words from the box below:
 deuce, four,  net, serving,  yellow,  Tournament, Opens

1. A tennis court is divided into two halves by a ________
2. A game begins with a player ______________
3. In a doubles match, there are __________ players on the court.
4. A match is usually the best of three or five__________.
5. When the score gets 40-40, the umpire says___________.
6. The famous Wimbledom_______________ is held in England.
7. The four major tournaments are: Wimbledom and the French, U.S. and Australian_____________.
8. _______________ tennis balls were used at Wimbledom for the first time in 1986.

domingo, 4 de diciembre de 2011

How to memorize new words and vocabulary easily

How to memorize new words and vocabulary easily in a foreign language seems to be as if theory was always boring. But it isn´t. The proof is in the pudding.



And following the example, let´s see how many expressions you are able to memorize.
You can help yourself of the chart below, by matching idioms with pictures.

1. To be high and dry: Without any help, or without things that you need
2. To be as old as hills: Extremely old
3. Once in a blue moon: Very rarely
4. To cut to the chase:  To get to the point. To leaves details out
5. To take something with a grain / pinch of salt: to accept something, but not to completely believe it
6. As easy as pie: Very easy
7. As mad as March hare: Completely mad
8. To be on cloud nine: To be on a state of euphoria, or extremely happy 
9. To have seen the elephant / the lions: To have experience, to have seen the world
10. At sixes and sevens: In disorder and in confusion
11.   Like a red rag to a bull: A deliberate provocation, something that makes somebody angry
12. Top drawer: Of the highest quality, category or importance
13. Baker´s dozen: Thirteen of something
14. To be on the pig´s back: To be happy or to be rich
15. Bag and baggage: With all one´s possessions



sábado, 3 de diciembre de 2011

Comparatives and Superlatives

Revise basic comparative and superlative explanation  and exercises through videos.





Which country is bigger?



Comparative and Superlative Video lesson



Check your understanding



Watch the video Star comparison



Practise comparatives and superlatives in this fill-up exercise about The Solar System facts.

1. Earth is the third_________ (close) planet to the Sun. Mercury is ________(close) of all.
2. During the day, the temperature on Mercury averages 350º C, which is seven times
__________ (hot) than the ___________(high) temperature ever recorded on Earth.
3. Mercury is named after the swift-footed messenger of the gods in Roman mythology, because it travels _________ (fast) around the Sun (172.248 Km/h) than any other planet.
4. Pluto, usually the___________(far) planet, takes no ___________(few) than 248 years for each orbit.
5. Venus is ____________ (bright) planet visible to the naked eye, and is sometimes visible in daylight. It is brilliant white and appears ___________(bright) than Sirius.
6. Jupiter is _________ (large) of all the planets, it is made up of a rocky core, surrounded by a vast ocean of liquid gas.
7. Saturn is the second___________(big) planet and is perhaps________(beautiful) because it is surrounded by particles of dust and ice that look like rings.
8.Uranus and Neptune are cold balls of gas and liquid gas which are similar in size, but not in appearance.The ___________ (recently) discovered planet in the Solar System, in 1930, was Pluto.
9. Every year space probes journey __________(deep) and __________ (deep) into unknown space and send back information that constantly changes our knowledge of the Solar System.

Source of facts: Skywatch. A guide to stars and planets. Sainbury-Collins

L.A.Movie by Philip Prowse

L.A. Movie is the new title you have to read for the new term.


Private detective, Lenny Samuel, is hired by a Hollywood film studio. Someone has been making death threats against Gail Lane, a beautiful young film actress, and the studio boss asks Lenny to protect her.
Lenny joins the film crew on location in Hollywood, Buenos Aires and Istambul as he tries to stay out of trouble and solve the case.


Enjoy your reading and learn terms to do with movies and movie-making!

viernes, 2 de diciembre de 2011

Let´s go to the movies!


Once again cinema is the topic to talk about, and why don´t we start enjoying TinTin adventures?
TinTin the worldwide famous cartoon made into a trilogy of movies by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson is on the big screen.
Before going to watch it, let´s see what you understand in this audio, the passage "The adventures of TinTin to be made into a movie". 




Tasks: Listen to the audio and then answer the multiple choice questions.


 


2. Watch the cartoon Secret of the Unicorn and trailer of the film and have a nice time!




4. For Movie Trailer listening exercises:

5. For English audio and Spanish Subtitles:
a. The Adventures of Tintin. Unicorm quest.
b. The Adventures of Tintin. Online movie game. Choose your adventure.