"RAFAEL DIESTE" IV CULTURAL WEEK: GALICIAN HERITAGE, THE SLIDE

"You say: Galicia is really small.

I say to you: Galicia is a world in itself"

(Vicente Risco)

This week, from Monday 29th April till Friday 3rd May, we'll be celebrating our IV Cultural Week at IES "Rafael Dieste". This activity organized by the school's library together with the different departments and the students of our school is devoted this year to Galician artistic and natural heritage.

This year once again, there will be exhibitions of 
- Galician typical costumes, 
- typical Galician pottery,
- student's works on our different monuments, 
- photos of the different school-trips to visit them.
Performances of:
- traditional music,
- choirs, 
- traditional dance, 
- theatre plays 
and the projection of the film "The Way" devoted to St. James' pilgrimage route.

As you already know, the English Department has contributed with an exhibition based on posters from the local newspaper with short descriptions in English and Galician, which has been on display at our school since the German student exchange arrived a month ago. Now it's shown again as part of the Cultural Week. The different places shown in the exhibition have already been posted in this blog, together with a quiz.

Enjoy the week and take care of our heritage!

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.

"THE ORCHESTRA"

We're including today a project work done by 2nd ESO-year students in the subject of MUSIC in English about the composition of an orchestra and all its different instruments.

BRITISH ENGLISH vs AMERICAN ENGLISH

The difference between the British English (BrE) and American English (AmE) can basically be distinguished in:

1) VOCABULARY: a different word or use of a word for a different meaning. Some examples:

There are many more:

British:
HOLIDAY / LIFT / SWEETS   are  in AmE?

American: 
COOKIE / FALL / SOCCER are in BrE?
Do you know any more? 
Check answers to previous questions and other examples in the link below.
Link: BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES.

2) SPELLING: The same word is spelt in a different way. The general idea is that American English has a much more simple and logical spelling from a Spanish point of view.

Link: BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH SPELLING DIFFERENCES. (Wikipèdia)

3) GRAMMAR. Here are some basic grammar differences:

& 4) PRONOUNCIATION. As you can seen what happens in Spanish being spoken by a Spaniard or an Argentinian, or even a person from Galicia, or Madrid and one from Andalucia, all have different accents. Language pronunciation changes from one geographical area to another. 

Here's a video:

For other specific differences, check on this link, which includes all:
Link: GENERAL DIFFERENCES BRITISH ENGLISH vs AMERICAN ENGLISH.

SERENDIPITY

THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH (IN 10 MINUTES)

Here's a 10-minute cartoon video which summarises the history of the English language. Funny to watch.

A compilation of ten videos on the history of the English language. It has been compiled into a film to make it a little easier to watch. The originals are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Licence agreement. The original webpage can be found here

Video "THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH (IN 10 MINUTES)":

THE BIG BANG THEORY: MUMMIES VS. ZOMBIES

Today and tomorrow, the teacher in practice will be giving her practical classes to the 1st BAC groups. She's reinforcing on the conditional sentences, we've just been working on, with a project based on TV series, and concentrating on "The Big Bang Theory" sitcom.

Here's the video you're watching in the class, spot the conditional sentences they say.

Video The Big Bang Theory: Mummies vs. Zombies:

Here are the conditionals, they've said:
- "If a zombie bites you, you turn into a zombie"
- "However if a mummy bites you, all you turn into is a schmo with a mummy bite"
- "If you want to check it out later, it's parked right out front, space 294"
- "Someday, if you get a car, I'm sure they'll give you a new parking space."

On the second class with her, you had another possibility of watching a short scene from the series where they played "Guess who?". Link to: The Big Bang Theory: Guess who?

READ IT ANYWAY

THE EFFECTS OF BILIGUALISM

IF... (Conditional sentences)

Here's basic information on CONDITIONAL SENTENCES. On the chart above you can see the structures of the four types of conditional sentences. Below there's a video with a clear explanation

Video "CONDITIONAL SENTENCES":

Previous posts about conditional sentences in this blog HERE.
Links to exercises on Conditionals:
- @ Englisch-Hilfen.
- @ Englishpage.
- Exercise-practice: answer these questions about yourself:

Summary chart:

A CORUÑA: A PLACE TO LOOK FORWARD TO

Here's a video tourist-guide of our home city, A Coruña, in English to enjoy the spectacular sights we can offer to any tourist who comes around.

Video "A CORUÑA: A PLACE TO LOOK FORWARD TO":

THE CROODS: AN ANIMATED FILM FOR THESE HOLIDAYS

Here's a film for the Easter holidays. It has just been premiered for the holiday season.

The Croods is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film is set in the prehistoric era, when a man's position as a "Leader of the Hunt" is threatened by the arrival of a prehistoric genius who comes up with revolutionary new inventions like fire.

Here's the film's trailer in English with subtitles as a sneek preview.

Video trailer "THE CROODS":

EARTH HOUR 2013

If you love the planet we live on, support the WWF campaign: 

"EARTH HOUR 2013" 

SWITCH OFF ALL OF YOUR LIGHTS FOR AN HOUR TODAY FROM 8:30 TILL 9:30.

More info @ earthhour.org.

Promo video:


UPDATE: THE HERCULES TOWER [23/March/2013 @ 20:30-21:30]

(Photo: Gustavo Rivas, La Voz de Galicia)

HAPPY EASTER, HAVE A NICE HOLIDAY!

HAPPY EASTER HOLIDAYS

FROM 23rd MARCH TILL 1st APRIL

LIVING A CORUÑA, LOVING A CORUÑA

Here's a video by Bridget Sheehan, who after working for 4 years in the greatest city in the world, New York, she decided to pack up everything and live in Spain for 8 months. She joined a program through the Spanish government where she is teaching English as a language assistant to high school students. 

Video "DESTINATION CORUÑA", Bridget Sheehan:

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HAPPINESS & THE BEGINNING OF SPRING

In 2012, the United Nations (UN) declared March 20 to be observed as the International Day of Happiness.

Aim

The day recognizes that happiness is a fundamental human goal, and calls upon countries to approach public policies in ways that improve the well being of all peoples.

By designating a special day for happiness, the UN aims to focus world attention on the idea that economic growth must be inclusive, equitable, and balanced, such that it promotes sustainable development, and alleviates poverty. Additionally the UN acknowledges that in order to attain global happiness, economic development must be accompanied by social and environmental well being.

Background

The initiative to declare a day of happiness came from Bhutan – a country whose citizens are considered to be some of the happiest people in the world. The Himalayan Kingdom has championed an alternative measure of national and societal prosperity, called the Gross National Happiness Index (GNH). The GNH rejects the sole use of economic and material wealth as an indicator of development, and instead adopts a more holistic outlook, where spiritual well being of citizens and communities is given as much importance as their material well being.

Did you know?

The March Equinox, also known as the Spring Equinox, often falls on March 20th as well, Spring starts today so that may bring us happiness.

MORE ON BEING HAPPY @ BEHAPPYDAY.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Father's Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June, but it is also celebrated widely on other days, like here in Spain where it's today March, 19th.

Audio+lyrics "COUNT ON ME", Bruno Mars:

"WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD (DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT...)", SAM COOKE. [Song from the film "WITNESS"]

We've watched the film "WITNESS", now we're going to work on the music from the film. A classic old soul song from 1960, originally by Sam Cooke, on the film a cover by Greg Chapman to which John and Rebecca dance to in the barn...

 Video "WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD" scene from "WITNESS":

Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and influence on the modern world of music. Cooke had 30 U.S. top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964, and a further three after his death. 

"Wonderful World" (sometimes referred to as "(What a) Wonderful World") is a soul song that was written in the late 1950s by soul music pioneer Sam Cooke, along with songwriters Lou Adler and Herb Alpert.  The song was released as a single in the spring of 1960, reaching #12 in the US and #27 in the UK. A bouncy love song, the lyrics have the singer showing his lack of knowledge of academic subjects (the song is often referred to informally by its first line, "Don't know much about history"), but affirming the object of his affection "but I do know that I love you". After a Greg Chapman cover of the song was featured prominently in the 1985 film Witness, "Wonderful World" gained further exposure.

Listening exercise-practice: Complete the lyrics to the song with the help of this chart:

Now check with the audio lyrics on screen video below:

Audio "WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD", Sam Cooke (+lyrics on screen):

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 traditional Irish music: