St. GEORGE'S DAY: ALL THINGS ENGLISH

Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George. It is celebrated by various Christian churches and by the several nations, kingdoms, countries, and cities of which Saint George is the patron saint. Saint George's Day is celebrated on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George's death in AD 303.

As Easter often falls close to Saint George's Day, the church celebration of the feast may be moved from 23 April. In England, where it is observed as a solemn feast, for 2011 and 2014 the Anglican and Catholic calendars celebrate Saint George's Day on the first Monday after Easter Week (2 May and 28 April, respectively).

Countries that celebrate St George's Day include England, Canada, Croatia, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia. It is also celebrated in Spain—Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and Majorca.

Saint George is the patron saint of England and as such is celebrated each 23 April.

All the information about St. George's Day in the following links:

- St. GEORGE'S DAY.

- ALL THINGS ENGLISH.

WHERE CAN A BOOK TAKE YOU TO? (BOOK DAY 2013)

WHICH BOOK OPENED YOU EYES ONE DAY, TOOK YOU A BIT FURTHER FROM WHERE YOU WERE?

APRIL 23rd, BOOK DAY.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY 2013, IRELAND!

Torre de Hercules became green on 17th March 2013, too.

LINK TO A St. PATRICK'S e-card.

Everything's GREEN on Saint Patrick's Day, the Patron Saint of Ireland. This year even Coruña's Hercules Tower turned green (see photos above).

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, the saint's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. 

On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

St. Patrick's Day is a holiday known for parades, shamrocks and all things Irish. From leprechauns to the color green, find out how symbols we now associate with St. Patrick's Day came to be, and learn about a few that are purely American invention.

The Shamrock

The shamrock, which was also called the "seamroy" by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring. By the seventeenth century, the shamrock had become a symbol of emerging Irish nationalism. As the English began to seize Irish land and make laws against the use of the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism, many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with English rule.

Irish Music

Music is often associated with St. Patrick's Day—and Irish culture in general. From ancient days of the Celts, music has always been an important part of Irish life. The Celts had an oral culture, where religion, legend and history were passed from one generation to the next by way of stories and songs. Today, traditional Irish bands like The Chieftains, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem are gaining worldwide popularity. Their music is produced with instruments that have been used for centuries, including the fiddle, the uilleann pipes (a sort of elaborate bagpipe), the tin whistle (a sort of flute that is actually made of nickel-silver, brass or aluminum) and the bodhran (an ancient type of framedrum that was traditionally used in warfare rather than music).

The Leprechaun

The original Irish name for these figures of folklore is "lobaircin," meaning "small-bodied fellow."Belief in leprechauns probably stems from Celtic belief in fairies, tiny men and women who could use their magical powers to serve good or evil. In Celtic folktales, leprechauns were cranky souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies. Though only minor figures in Celtic folklore, leprechauns were known for their trickery, which they often used to protect their much-fabled treasure. Leprechauns had nothing to do with St. Patrick or the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, a Catholic holy day. In 1959, Walt Disney released a film called Darby O'Gill, the Little People, which introduced America to a very different sort of leprechaun than the cantankerous little man of Irish folklore. This cheerful, friendly leprechaun is a purely American invention, but has quickly evolved into an easily recognizable symbol of both St. Patrick's Day and Ireland in general.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in the United States on March 17, 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City.

More than 100 St. Patrick's Day parades are held across the United States. New York City and Boston are home to the largest celebrations.

At the annual New York City St. Patrick's Day parade, participants march up 5th Avenue from 44th Street to 86th Street. Each year, between 150,000 and 250,000 marchers take part in the parade, which does not allow automobiles or floats.

Video "10 FACTS ABOUT St. PATRICK'S DAY":

Video traditional Irish music:

GALICIAN HERITAGE: THE QUIZ

Once you've read the descriptions of the selected Galician heritage sites on a previous post in this blog, see here. You can have a try with this quiz to check if you've learnt things. 

QUESTIONS ABOUT GALICIAN HERITAGE

1- Complete the chart with the correct monument name:

Year	Monument	Award
1980		Nature Reserve
1985		World Heritage
1987		European Cultural Route
1993		World Heritage
1993		UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
1997		Natural Park
2000		World Heritage
2002		Natural Park
2007		Best beach in the world, “The Guardian”
2009		World Heritage

2- What's special about the Tower of Hercules?

3- What was the Lugo Roman Wall built for?

4- Why has Santiago de Compostela become one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe?

5- How many different alternatives has the St James' Way got?

6- When is Holy Year?

7- Where is the Caaveiro Monastery? When was it founded?

8- What is said about going to St Andrew of Teixido dead or alive?

9- How many ruins of houses are kept at the Baroña Castro?

10- Which sea washes the Cathedrals Beach?

11- On what border is the Serra do Xurés natural park?

12- At the mouth of which “ria” are the Cies Islands?

13- What's a “palloza”?

14- How long is the Carnota horreo?

THE AMISH

[Text & images from New Generation. Student's Book 3ºBUP. Heinemann]

                            happened during the day.

After having heard Paul on a presentation about the Amish and also reading the information here, we'll be watching the film "WITNESS" which is set in an Amish community.

Video trailer of the film "WITNESS":

MORE READING PROMOTION...

IT'S CALLED 'READING'...

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today, we're all starting our Christmas holiday. It's good to have a break. Hope you enjoy it together with your loved ones and come back full of  enthusiasm for the new term. 

Click on the picture to read this Christmas story by Jackie Lawson.

READING IS...

IT'S A BOOK!

 

It's not such a strange thing... It can't text, but it's got text. It can't blog, scroll or tweet... It doesn't need wi-fi, you can use it anywhere... It's (simply) a book... but there's so much inside... just open one...

 

Video 1 (in English without subtitles):

Video 2 (with Spanish subtitles):

Galician version of this post @ ArquivosDoTrasno.



WALLACE & GROMMIT COME TO CLASS

These last days before Easter holidays, we'll be watching an episode of Wallace & Grommit in the 1st year ESO classes (C & D). Here's some information about them:

Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. All the characters are made from moulded plasticine modelling clay on metal armatures, and filmed with stop motion clay animation.

Wallace, an absent-minded inventor living in Wigan, Lancashire, is a cheese enthusiast (especially for Wensleydale). His companion, Gromit, is an anthropomorphic intelligent dog. Wallace is voiced by veteran actor Peter Sallis; Gromit remains silent, communicating only through facial expressions and body language.

Because of their endearing personalities and their wide popularity, the characters have been described as positive international icons of modern British culture in particular and of the British people in general. The short films The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave and the full length feature The Curse of the Were-Rabbit received Academy Awards. The first short film A Grand Day Out, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Links: 
- Follow them in their website clicking on their name above.

- Watch "THE WRONG TROUSERS" episode in Youtube: clicking on its name above.

8th MARCH: CELEBRATING WORKING WOMEN (INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY)

International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements

Video Celebrating Working Women:

IS THERE A NEED TO CHANGE OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM?

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. He lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools' dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. An important, timely talk for parents and teachers. Here is his talk on RSA Animate video.

Video "A Change in Education":

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF Mr. MORRIS LESSMORE

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is an American animated short film by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, created at Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana. After winning over a dozen film festivals, the film was awarded the Best Animated Short Film at the 84th Academy Awards in Los Angeles last night.

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. Morris Lessmore is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

Plot: Following a hurricane which destroys his town Morris is whisked away to a colourful old house full of books which come alive and interact with him spreading happiness in the community. He remains their custodian for years until it is time for him to pass on and another guardian of the books take over from him.

Video "THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF Mr MORRIS LESSMORE":

TIME TO READ: POE'S "THE TELL-TALE HEART"

IES "Rafael Dieste" library has a programme to promote reading called "Time to Read" ("A Hora de Leer") for ESO students. It means to read in the classroom. We have already been reading in English. But now we are going to read a short story by Poe in Spanish and later listen to it in English. Do you like horror stories? Because here's one...

Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe, January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and terror, Poe was one of the earliest American writers of short stories and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He was the beginner of the science fiction genre.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a "vulture eye". The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by cutting it into pieces and hiding it under the floor. Ultimately the narrator's guilt shows in the hallucination that the murdered man's heart is still beating under the floor.
It is unclear what relationship, the old man and his murderer have. It's suggested that the old man is a father figure, or the narrator works for the old man as a servant, perhaps, that his vulture eye represents some sort of secret or power.

Video "THE TELL-TALE HEART", Edgar Alan Poe:

DICKENS 2012: 200th ANNIVERSARY

Dickens 2012 is an international celebration of the life and work of Charles Dickens to mark the bicentenary of his birth, which falls on 7 February 2012. Institutions and organisations from all over the world are partners of Dickens 2012 and work together to deliver a programme of events and activities to commemorate this very special anniversary.
Although a writer from the Victorian era, Dickens’s work transcends his time, language and culture. He remains a massive contemporary influence throughout the world and his writings continue to inspire film, TV, art, literature, artists and academia. Dickens 2012 sees a rich and diverse programme of events taking place in the run up and throughout the whole of 2012.
Find out what Dickens 2012 events are taking place near you by visiting the Events Calendar and follow us on Twitter for updates on the bicentenary plans.

Link: http://www.dickens2012.org/

GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. Christians believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Christmas means "Feast day of Christ".
The day known as Christmas Day is celebrated on the 25th of December (This date is different for Orthodox Christians). Christmas is one of the holiest times of the year, when it is believed by Christians that God sent Jesus to be born and to live among people and to save sinners. The other important Christian Holy Days are at Easter when the death and resurrection of Jesus are celebrated. The season of preparing for Christmas is called Advent and begins on a Sunday about four weeks before Christmas Day. The Christmas Season (called Christmastide) ends on January 6, known as the Epiphany or the Twelfth Day of Christmas.
Christmas is celebrated by Christian people all over the world, and is also kept as a time of celebration by many people who are not Christian but enjoy the traditions. The traditions are different from country to country, but they nearly always include a feast, giving gifts or cards, and enjoying church or public festivities such as singing Christmas songs.
Christmastime, as it is often called, is in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere, at a time when there were already ancient festivals. Some of the traditions that are used for Christmas are older than Christmas, or come from other non-Christian traditions such as Yule. Other festivals at this time of year include Jewish Hanukkah.
Modern traditions of Christmas often focus on the giving of gifts. Shops use this time of year to sell a lot of goods, and so start advertising for "Holiday Season" shopping for at least a month before Christmas, often showing a Santa Claus.

In English speaking countries, where presents are usually given on Christmas Day, Santa Claus, (or Father Christmas) is usually thought of as coming on Christmas Night, when his magic sleigh is pulled across the sky by reindeer, and he comes into houses through the chimney. The English tradition is to hang up stockings (or long socks) in front of the fireplace. Santa Claus would traditionally fill the socks or shoes with nuts, raisins, chocolates and an orange. Nowadays children usually get much more expensive presents, and have the presents in a big pile under the Christmas tree.
Another Christmas tradition is the sending of cards to friends and relatives. These contain warm greetings and may also have a letter telling all the things that have happened to the person or family during the year.

Video of basic Christmas vocabulary:


Video "A BRIEF HISTORY OF SANTA CLAUS":

Play these quizzes about Christmas:
(1) http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/play-with-friends/quiz-christmas
(2) http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-32497.php

IF YESTERDAY WAS THANKSGIVING DAY IN THE U.S.A., TODAY'S BLACK FRIDAY

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000. Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November. According to Reuters, in 2007, 135 million people participated in the Black Friday shopping rush, more than turned out to vote in the 2008 United States presidential election, which recorded the largest voter turn out in history.
Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees have the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday (with the exceptions of those employed in retailing, health care, and banking), which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5AM or even earlier. Some of the larger retailers such as Sears, Best Buy, Macy's, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart have been reported to open as early as midnight on the start of Black Friday in localized areas and remain open for 24 hours throughout the day until midnight the following Saturday. Upon opening, retailers offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s.
The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Video on BLACK FRIDAY:

4th THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER: THANKSGIVING DAY IN THE USA, TODAY

The origin of Thanksgiving Day: the Mayflower Pilgrims
A typical Thanksgiving Dinner
Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. It has a religious origin,but Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.
The date and location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is a topic of modest contention. The traditional "first Thanksgiving" is the celebration that occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621. The Plymouth celebration occurred early in the history of what would become one of the original thirteen colonies that became the United States. The celebration became an important part of the American myth by the 1800s. This Thanksgiving, modeled after celebrations that were commonplace in contemporary Europe, is generally regarded as America's first. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends.

In the United States, certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. Firstly, baked or roasted turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as "Turkey Day"). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, other fall vegetables, and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner. All of these are actually native to the Americas or were introduced as a new food source to the Europeans when they arrived.

During Thanksgiving Day families and friends usually gather for a large meal or dinner. Consequently the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Thanksgiving is a four-day or five-day weekend vacation for schools and colleges. Most business and government workers (78% in 2007) are given Thanksgiving and the day after as paid holidays. Thanksgiving Eve, the night before Thanksgiving, is one of the busiest nights of the year for bars and clubs, as many college students and others return to their hometowns to reunite with friends and family.

In New York City, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held annually every Thanksgiving Day from the Upper West Side of Manhattan to Macy's flagship store in Herald Square, and televised nationally by NBC. The parade features parade floats with specific themes, scenes from Broadway plays, large balloons of cartoon characters and TV personalities, and high school marching bands. The float that traditionally ends the Macy's Parade is the Santa Claus float, the arrival of which is an unofficial sign of the beginning of the Christmas season.

Video the HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING:
To sum up:
What is Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada it is celebrated on the second Monday in October.
The First Thanksgiving
When we think of Thanksgiving today, images of football, pumpkin pie, parades, and turkey dinner complete with cranberry sauce come to mind, as well as plans for a Black Friday shopping spree the following day.
Of course none of these items were present back in 1621, when the Wampanoag people and the Pilgrims sat down together to give thanks to nature. Although the celebrants at this particular meal didn’t even call it “Thanksgiving”, this particular harvest feast is the one after which we model our modern-day Thanksgiving celebrations.
People of both cultures had been giving thanks for the fall harvest and other gifts of nature for many centuries. It is interesting to note that the religious element, giving thanks to God, was not present at this particular celebration in 1621, even though the Pilgrims were devoutly religious.
However, the Native Americans had their own religious customs and beliefs. As a result, during this "first" Thanksgiving, Pilgrims and Native Americans did not focus on what was different between them, but instead concentrated on what they all shared. The two groups of people worked side by side to hunt and prepare food as equals and friends. Their friendship and cooperation was yet another thing for which to be thankful.
When Americans sit down to our Thanksgiving dinner, they honor a piece of early American history. The story of the Pilgrims and Native Americans serve as a good reminder for all to be thankful for what they have.
How Thanksgiving Became a Holiday
After 1621, future Thanksgiving celebrations occurred at various times throughout the year. George Washington declared a feast of Thanksgiving in 1789, and presidents issued similar yearly proclamations after that. During the Civil War, poet Sarah Hale started a campaign to celebrate the holiday on the same day throughout the country.
President Abraham Lincoln saw it as a way to unite the country, and he in 1863 he proclaimed a national Thanksgiving celebration on the last Thursday in November. It was changed from the last Thursday to the third Thursday by Franklin Roosevelt in 1939 as a way to lengthen the Christmas shopping holiday. In 1941, Roosevelt finally changed the date to the fourth Thursday in November, proclaiming it a Federal holiday in 1941.

WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT 11/11/11?

Some on the internet say it's the end of the world; but for others, it looks like the perfect day for a wedding
At 11.11.11 on 11.11.11, the time and date will be a perfect same-numbered palindrome, reading the same backwards as forwards, an event which can only happen on one day every 100 years.
And even the most hardened sceptic will surely pause for a moment to reflect on the unique moment, which will not come around again in the lifetime of most of us.

Among other things, 11.11.11 will be:
- Armistice Day, celebrated around the world.
- A day of spiritual significance for those who believe the number 11 has a mystical power.
- A very special day to get married or have a birthday (especially if it's your 11th).
- Perhaps even the end of the world, according to some 'prophecy' web forums.

The reason the date is so unusual is that 11.11.11 is the only double-figure palindromic date, since there is no 22nd month.
And the last time it happened, on November 11 1911, an almost supernatural event saw temperatures drop by more than 60F in a single day. This was the Great Blue Norther, a cold snap which hit the U.S. causing blizzards and tornadoes as well as record falls in temperature. In Kansas City, it was as as warm as 76F (24C) in the morning - but this had dropped to 11F (-12C) by the end of the day.

A new film being released on Friday, entitled simply 11-11-11, predicts that the day will see the opening of a portal in to Hell, and says: 'On this day, innocent blood will spill.'

However, most of those who have chosen this Friday as a day to get married are more attracted by the pleasing coincidence than by any deeper significance.
The small town of Gretna Green, a traditional wedding venue near the border between Scotland and England, will host at least 50 weddings on 11.11.11, compared to fewer than a dozen on a typical November Friday.

Most famously, the 11th of November is Armistice Day in the UK - Veterans Day in the U.S. - when we celebrate the end of World War I and commemorate the victims of that war and subsequent ones.

Of course, there is no real significance to the date 11.11.11 - not even at the time of 11.11.11 - but it is a classic example of apophenia, the human urge to see patterns in essentially random events.

It remains to be seen whether 11.11.11 will produce any surprises this time around, but people should be sure to keep a careful eye on the weather - and on any local Hellmouths - at 11 seconds past 11 minutes past 11 o'clock. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/