BOMBAY SMILES: JAUME SANLLORENTE'S STORY

Jaume San Llorente Trepat was born in Barcelona on 9th July 1976. He studied journalism at Barcelona's Ramón Llull University, later specializing in finantial journalism. He was delegate for Catalonia of the Comercio Exterior magazine.
After several years devoted to finantial press, he went on holidays to India for the first time in 2003. He was shoked by the existing poverty there, particularly by the vulnerability of small children on the streets of Bombay, where kidnappings and child exploitation were frequent in slums, such as Kamathipura.
After discovering a small orphanage about to close for economic reasons, Jaume Sanllorente decided to give up his job and life in Barcelona, to prevent its closure and to create the Spanish non governmental organization Sonrisas de Bombay ("Bombay smiles").

Fortunately. we've found a video in English with Jaume Sanllorente's story of how he created Bombay Smiles. Take a look...

Video:

WHAT REALLY MATTERS

UPDATE: 1.500 YOUNGSTERS ATTENDED THE 2nd EDITION OF LQDVI-2011 A CORUÑA AT PALEXCO TODAY

Some of our 1ºBAC students will attend the lectures by Jaume Sanllorente (finantial journalist who gave up his job to found the non governmental organization "Mombai Smiles" and save an orphanage from closing down), Irene Villa (journalist and psychologist who suffered an ETA terrorist attack in Madrid when she was 12, losing her two legs and three left-hand fingers but preserved the most important: her life and the will to live) and Toni Nadal (Rafa Nadal's uncle and personal trainer, but not only a trainer in sport, but also in his life as a human being) at the 2nd Edition in A Coruña of the Congress "LO QUE DE VERDAD IMPORTA" (LQDVI) to be held at Palexco today.
The LQDVI Foundation has among its general aims to promote the development of the universal human, ethic and moral values through the promotion of social, cultural, scientific, sport activities in favour of the environment, the development of the information society and the research to approach these universal values to the public in general.
LQDVI Foundation intends to inspire awareness in youngster's consciousness by showing them inspiring examples to open up their minds towards possibilities they have in front of them, to build up their responsibility towards what surrounds them and their attitude to life.

On our etc... page, we've posted videos of Jaume Sanllorente, Irene Villa & Toni Nadal.

ISAAC ASIMOV PREDICTED THE IMPACT OF INTERNET ON LEARNING BACK IN 1988!

Isaac Asimov (born in Petrovici in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 9,000 letters. Isaac Asimov is widely considered a master of science fiction. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, both of which he later tied into the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series to create a unified "future history" for his stories.

Our school's library blog has posted an Asimov's interview, dated back in 1988, for an American TV programme presented by Bill Moyers "The World of Ideas", where Isaac clearly predicts the impact of the Internet on learning 23 years before! As the interview is in English, with Spanish subtitles, we've considered it interesting to post it here, too.

Video interview with Isaac Asimov predicting the impact of the Internet (1988):

23rd APRIL: BOOK DAY

World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) is a yearly event on 23 April, organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. The Day was first celebrated in 1995.

The connection between 23 April and books was first made in 1923 by booksellers in Spain as a way to honour the author Miguel de Cervantes who died on that day. This became a part of the celebrations of the Saint George's Day (also 23 April) in Catalonia, where it has been traditional since the medieval era for men to give roses to their lovers and since 1925 for the woman to give a book in exchange. Half the yearly sales of books in Catalonia are at this time with over 400,000 sold and exchanged for over 4 million roses.
In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on this date because of the Catalonian festival and because the date is also the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, the death of Miguel de Cervantes.

Although 23 April is often stated as the anniversary of the deaths of both Shakespeare and Cervantes, this is not strictly correct. Cervantes died on 23 April according the Gregorian calendar; however, at this time England still used the Julian calendar. Whilst Shakespeare died on 23 April by the Julian calendar in use in his own country at the time, actually he died ten days after Cervantes, because of the discrepancy between the two date systems. The apparent correspondence of the two dates was a fortunate coincidence for UNESCO.

Video World Book & Copyright Day:

Video "WHY READ?":

22nd APRIL: EARTH DAY

Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.

Video Earth Day:

Video Earth Day by Greenpeace:

25 YEARS OF PIXAR ANIMATION

Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville California, United States. The studio has earned twenty-six Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm before it was acquired by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1986. The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion; the transaction made Jobs the largest shareholder in Disney. Pixar has produced eleven feature films, beginning with Toy Story in 1995. It was followed by A Bug's Life in 1998, Toy Story 2 in 1999, Monsters, Inc. in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003, The Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E in 2008, Up in 2009 and Toy Story 3 (to date, the highest-grossing animated film of all-time, grossing over $1 billion worldwide), in 2010. All eleven films that Pixar has produced have been largely successful, both critically and commercially. The $602 million average gross of their films is by far the highest of any studio in the industry.

All the films produced by Pixar are among the fifty highest grossing animated films of all time. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up and Toy Story 3 make it to the top 50 list of highest-grossing films of all time, with Toy Story 3 at #5, Finding Nemo at #21, Up at #39, and The Incredibles at #50. All eight Pixar films released since the inauguration of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001 have been nominated for that award, commencing with Monsters, Inc.. Six of the eight have won the award: Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. Up and Toy Story 3 are among the only three animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. On September 6, 2009, executives John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich were presented with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Biennale Venice Film Festival. The award was presented by Lucasfilm founder George Lucas.

Pixar will be celebrating 25 years of animation in 2011, the same time its upcoming film, Cars 2, is released. Pixar celebrated its 20th anniversary with the first Cars. The Pixar: 25 Years of Animation exhibition was held at the Oakland Museum of California from July 2010 until January 2011.

Video 25 years of Pixar Animation:

Pixar's first short animation story from 1986 "Luxo", Pixar's logo:

LEARN ABOUT EASTER, BEFORE GOING ON HOLIDAY!

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. Christians celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday), two days after Good Friday. The chronology of his deat and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between AD 26 and 36, traditionally 33. Easter also refers to the season of the church year called Eastertide or the Easter Season. Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter. The week from Palm Sunday to Easter is known as Holy Week. Easter also marks the end of Lent, a season of fasting, prayer, and penance. Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. It occurs during the spring, in and around the month of April. Secular customs, such as the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hunts, have become part of the holiday's modern celebrations and are often observed by Christians and non-Christians alike.

Easter eggs or spring eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. The egg is a pagan symbol of the rebirth of the Earth in celebrations of spring and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus.

The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. These eggs are often hidden, allegedly by the Easter Bunny, for children to find on Easter morning. Otherwise, they are generally put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest.

The Easter Bunny or Easter Hare (sometimes Spring Bunny in the U.S.) is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes. In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and sometimes also toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter. The Easter Bunny will either put the baskets in a designated place or hide them somewhere in the house or garden for the children to find when they wake up in the morning.

HAPPY EASTER HOLIDAY!!

TSUNAMIS IN SPAIN? SOONER OR LATER, YES

This is a report appeared on April, 11th in Spanish newspaper "El País" about the possibility of a tsunami occuring in our country. The risk exists.

In 1755 a tidal wave swept through Cádiz and Huelva, killing 1,240 people; Spain has no early warning system to alert of great waves, experts warn Tsunami is a Japanese word, but that does not mean to say that destructive tidal waves only happen in the Pacific. On All Saints' Day in 1755, Cádiz and Huelva were hit by a devastating wave after an earthquake on an Atlantic fault line some 400 kilometers off the coast. Although far fewer people lived on the coast then than today, the wave claimed 1,240 lives. Scientists don't know whether history will repeat itself next year or in 500 years, but given the destructive power of this phenomenon, they are calling for an early warning system. The tremor is remembered as the Lisbon earthquake because it destroyed the city and killed 12,000 people in Portugal. It measured around 8.4 on the Richter scale, according to reconstructions by scientists, explains Emilio Carreño, head of the Seismic Network of the National Geographic Institute (IGN). "The quake was felt in Germany and nearly all the cathedrals with towers in the peninsula were damaged," adds Carreño. The quake generated a tsunami. The cliffs of the Algarve were barely damaged but in the zone between Cádiz and Huelva, home to marshes below sea level, it made a huge impact. In Ayamonte (Huelva) alone, 400 drowned. In Cádiz, where waves measured up to 6.5 meters, the governor ordered the closure of the sea wall gate, which helped save lives. The event generated so much alarm and surprise that it is well documented. Mauricio González, a researcher with Cantabria University's Oceanographic and Coastal Engineering Group and a tsunami expert, says the 1755 quake was not an isolated case. "Over 18 tsunami-generating quakes were registered between 300BC and 1900," in the Gulf of Cádiz. In the Mediterranean, tsunamis are less destructive but they can be dangerous for bathers, and low-lying zones in summer. Since the devastating tsunami in Indonesia in 2004, scientists began to study the phenomenon and how to predict it. A European project has now identified the possible sources of tsunamis and their effect. Since the Japan nuclear disaster, atomic power plants' resistance to quakes is also under review across Europe. In Spain, nuclear plants are situated outside the zone with the highest seismicity, and Lisbon 1755 was one of those taken into account. However, González explains, "there is still no early warning system. [...] In Japan, the warnings meant only a fraction of the deaths seen in Indonesia." Paradoxically, "Unesco's detection system would enable Spain to find out about tsunamis, but it wouldn't know how to respond to an alert," he adds. González has modeled the alarming impact of a tsunami on Cádiz, now home to 125,000. "A great tsunami will hit the Spanish coast tomorrow or in 100 years." It's just a question of time. RAFAEL MÉNDEZ - Madrid - 11/04/2011

WHAT'S A POEM?

Here's a poem by Charles Ghigna called "What's a poem?" in a slide based on Silvia Vardell's PowerPoint posted on her blog poetryforchildren.blogspot.com.

ADELE: BREAKING RECORDS IN THE UK. 10 WEEKS IN THE Nº1 WITH "21"/"SOMEONE LIKE YOU"

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in Tottenham, North London, on 21 May 1988. She began singing at age four and asserts that she became obsessed with voices. Adele claimed she was then influenced by the music of the Spice Girls, The Cure, Etta James and Peggy Lee in her teens. Now with her second album "21" she has topped the British charts for 10 weeks, at the same time, her first album "19" has been at nº2, and her single "SOMEONE LIKE YOU" nº1 at the chart singles, too. So Adele is breaking records in the UK, and here is the video of her latest hit with English & Spanish subtitled lyrics.

Video "SOMEONE LIKE YOU", Adele [English & Spanish subtitles]:

Mistakes: you're instead of your at: you're settled/married

Lyrics | Adele lyrics - Someone Like You lyrics

"FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE", THE CURE: PRACTICE THE DAYS OF THE WEEK IN ENGLISH WITH THEM

Today's Friday, the weekend begins and we're in the mood for a song, with which we can practice the days of the week: "Friday, I'm in love" by The Cure.

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member, as part of the post-punk and new wave music that had sprung up in the wake of the punk revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s, the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre. By the start of the 1990s, The Cure were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world. The band is estimated to have sold 27 million albums as of 2004. The Cure have released thirteen studio albums and over thirty singles during the course of their career. As of February 2011, the band are in the studio recording a fourteenth album

"Friday I'm in Love" written and performed by The Cure is the second single taken from the album "Wish" (1992). It is among the band's most well-known songs. It was nominated for a Grammy Award and won the award for European Viewer's Choice for Best Music Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. And it's a good way to check on the days of the week in English.

Video "FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE", The Cure:

Video "FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE", The Cure +lyrics on screen:

VIDEO-LESSONS ON CONDITIONALS (+Exercise practice)

Here are six video lessons on Conditionals with practical exercises included. Have a look to check on what we've said in class and understand better.

Video CONDITIONAL 1st type-1:

Video CONDITIONAL 1st type-2:

Video CONDITIONAL - unless:

Video CONDTIIONAL 2nd type:

Video CONDITIONAL 3rd type-1:

Video CONDITIONAL 3rd type-2: