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:

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

April Fools' Day is celebrated in the Western world on April 1st of every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1st is not a legal holiday, but it's widely recognized and celebrated as a day which tolerates practical jokes and general foolishness. The day is marked by people playing good humoured or funny jokes, of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbours, work associates, etc. and newspapers may also include stories that aren't true. It is the equivalent of the Feast of the Holy Saints (El Día de los Santos Inocentes) in Spain, which is celebrated on December 28th. Traditionally, in some countries such as New Zealand, the UK, Australia, and South Africa, the jokes only last until noon. It is for this reason that newspapers in the U.K. that run a front page April fool only do so on the first (morning) edition. Elsewhere, such as in France, Ireland, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Canada, and the U.S., the jokes last all day. The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392).

Video "APRIL FOOL'S DAY":

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

This Sunday morning, we'll be changing the time one hour ahead. Daylight saving time (DST)—also summer time in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn. Modern DST was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson. Many countries have used it since then.
The practice has been both praised and criticized. Adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but causes problems for farming, evening entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun. Its effect on health and crime is less clear. Although an early goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting, formerly a primary use of electricity, modern heating and cooling usage patterns differ greatly, and research about how DST currently affects energy use is limited or contradictory.
DST clock shifts present other challenges. They complicate timekeeping, and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, recordkeeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Software can often adjust computer clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST protocols are changed.

Video What's Daylight Savings Time?

Video Daylight Saving Time explained:

EARTH HOUR 2011

[Taken from: http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/]
The whole world’s buzzing about Earth Hour! Earth Hour switch-offs start in the mid-Pacific - 8.30 Saturday morning our time - then you can trace the excitement as it spreads east, till it’s our turn at 8.30pm tonight.
Check out the memorable images from across the world as they come in.
Iconic landmarks going dark range from: Niagra Falls in Canada; Times Square in New York; the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio; Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Big Ben and the London Eye in the UK; the Alhambra in Spain; Eiffel Tower in Paris; Brandenburg Gate, Berlin; Tivoli, Copenhagen; Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe; Kuwait Towers; Milad Tower, Tehran; Davis Station, Antarctica; and of course the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Video Earth Hour 2011 official video:

17th MARCH: SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig) is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saint of Ireland.

The day is generally characterised by the attendance of church services,wearing of green attire (especially shamrocks), and the lifting of Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking, which is often proscribed during the rest of the season.
Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland,Newfoundlan and Labrador in Canada. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora, especially in places such as the Great Britain, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand, among others.

Over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew.Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day. In the 1798 rebellion, in hopes of making a political statement, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching public attention. The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from a song of the same name.

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by the Irish and Irish at Heart in big cities and small towns alike with parades, "wearing of the green," music and songs, Irish food and drink, and activities for kids such as crafts, coloring and games. Its a time for fun. Some communities even go so far as to dye rivers or streams green!

Video lesson on St. Patrick's Day:

Video "How to celebrate St. Patrick's Day":

Video St. Patrick's Day parades in Dublin:

Video St. Patrick's Day song:

Lyrics to the song:

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The story of St Patrick's Day began so long ago

The lyrics in this song will tell you all you need to know

the seventeenth of March is when this joyous holiday

is celebrated happily with colorful parades.

Patrick was only sixteen when the pirates captured him

they sold him to slavery and took him to Ireland

He kept the faith and made his escape when he was twenty-two

and made it back to Britain 'twas the only home he knew

Patrick had a vision to return to Ireland and vowed to teach Christianity

until the bitter end legend says that Patrick used the shamrock to explain

that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are all and one the same

On this day the Irish dress in many shades of green and some are feeling lucky

with the leprechauns they've seen it's music and fun for everyone

We'll party and we'll play. Come one, come all.

Come join along on this St. Paddy's Day!

GOING UNDERGROUND: A JOURNEY THROUGH LONDON & ITS HISTORY

On Wednesday, 16th at 12:30h, some of our students will be attending a theatre play at the assembly hall of nearby EOI (Language school) at 12:30h. We'll be watching the play "GOING UNDERGROUND" by Moving On Theatre Company. In their typical own style, we'll be enjoying the British capital, its culture, its history, and, of course, its Underground. The show has been performed 226 times last year with total success and positive feeback.

Plot: The London Underground is the oldest and one of the biggest in the world, The history and culture of Britain's capital city are inextricably linked with its famous Underground. A train journey through its stations is a journey through time and the chance to savour all that London has to offer. Apart from 273 Underground stations in use, there are more than 40 "Ghost stations", closed to public and trains. In times of economic crisis, there are plans to convert some of these stations into underground car parks.

Bob is an eccentric teacher with a passion for the history of London. Today she is taking her students to Down Street Station so they can see its original state before the works begin to demolish it. When they arrive at the station, they find Harry, whose great grandfather built the station working there. The attempts to convince the authorities not to go ahead with the demolition will take us all on a comical, musical and educational journey through London and its history. Together, we will try and save the station and Harry's home.

Video "Going Underground" @ EOI-A Coruña, March 2011:

REMEMBERING MIGUEL DELIBES

[A year after he died & his connection with "Rafael Dieste" Secondary School]

Miguel Delibes, the Spanish writer, died a year ago, today, and a few days later, on 23rd March 2010, our school appeared on the local newspaper "La Voz de Galicia" in connection with him. It was remembering when Delibes had written a letter to some students of Rafael Dieste Secondary School in A Coruña.

It was the answer to other 20 letters, which each 14-year-old students had sent to him asking questions about his novel "El camino". They had read it during that course (2001-02). They asked him many questions on the book and its characters and he answered with a carefully handwritten letter. Starting with "A mis queridos amigos galleguiños", he explained about the village where his book's characters lived: Molledo, which is a real village, not in Castille, but in Santander. It was the village where his father was born and where he had spent many summers. He also considered the student's suggestions amusing and interesting and admitted they could have featured in his novel.

Isabel, the Spanish literature teacher, who got her students to write to him, says it was very generous of him to do so.

ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI, NOW IN JAPAN

Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami. Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude quake, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant but officials said there were no radiation leaks.
The death toll is unclear, but police say 200 to 300 bodies have been found in the port city of Sendai. At least 90 other people are reported to have died, and many more are unaccounted for.

Measured at 8.9 by the US Geological Survey, the tremor struck at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) at a depth of about 24km.
The first waves from the tsunami have reached the US mainland at Oregon, and people have been evacuated from coastal areas of that state and in California and Washington.
Some of the biggest waves of between 6-7ft (about 2m) would hit near California's Crescent City, predicted the US National Weather Service.
The waves earlier passed Hawaii, but there were no reports of major damage.
A tsunami warning was extended across the Pacific to North and South America, where many other coastal regions were evacuated, but the alert has since been lifted in most parts, including the Philippines, Australia, China and Indonesia.

Video of the news on TV:

After the earthquake and tsunami now the worries are about the nuclear threat as some of Japanese nuclear plants have been seriously affected, specially at Fukushima, and leaks are feared. Here is a recent video:

8th MARCH: 100th INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

International Women's DaY, originally called International Working Women’s Day is marked on March 8 every year. Nowadays this is a major day of global celebration of women. 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.

Tuesday, 8TH March 2011 will be the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. For the second year running, Women for Women International is organising the ‘Join Me on the Bridge’ campaign. On this day, women, men and children around the world will meet on bridges to show solidarity and support for women who are helping their war torn nations to lay down arms, resolve their conflicts, and move toward a peaceful future. The main campaign is for women around the globe to live in a more secure world, have the chance of earning a sustainable living, and - now more than ever - have an equal voice at the decision-making tables in building the bridges of peace for our future.

Video JOIN US ON THE BRIDGE, 8th March:

SWEDISH POP DUO ROXETTE ARE BACK 10 YEARS AFTER

Roxette is a Swedish pop music duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle. The group enjoyed worldwide success from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s, gaining nineteen UK Top 40 hits and four US #1 singles with, "The Look", "Listen to Your Heart", "It Must Have Been Love" and "Joyride", "Dangerous", "Fading Like a Flower","Dressed for Success".

After a stop in the mid-1990s, their popularity continued in other territories such as Europe and South America, where they earned various Gold and Platinum awards until the beginning of the new millennium. The duo took a break from recording and touring, when in 2002, Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Roxette took to the stage together again for the first time in 8 years, in 2009 and 2010.

Their songs continue to receive radio airplay, with "It Must Have Been Love" and "Listen to Your Heart" both recently receiving awards for achieving four million radio plays. They have sold an estimated 60 million records worldwide.
On 23 October 2009, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Roxette were recording new songs. Per stated that he had been working on new material for an upcoming album since May 2009.
In early November 2010 it was announced that Roxette would undertake a full world tour, expected to start on March 1, 2011 in Russia with the latest concert announced to date being 31 July 2011 in Belgium.
On 3rd December 2010 Per Gessle confirmed that the 8th Roxette album, Charm School, will be released on February 11 2011 and preceded by the first single "She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio)" on January 10 2011. Here's the video with the lyrics below.

Video "SHE'S GOT NOTHING ON (BUT THE RADIO)", Roxette:

What she got she got to give it to somebody
What she got she got to give it to someone
It's not a case of growin' up or lots of money
It's just the fundamental twist of the sun
What she got she got to let somebody find it (- "Really?")
What she got is not for her to keep alone (- "Oh!")
Nobody's got a clue if there is such a reason (- "Yea?")
Why she wanna play it o-on her own
She's got nothing on but the radio
She's a passion play
And like the break of day
She takes my breath away
What she got she got to give to some contender
What she got is just like gold dust on a shelf
And no one's got a clue what's on her brave agenda
Why she wanna keep it keep it to herself
(Repeat chorus)
Who did the painting on my wall?
Who left a poem down the hall?
Oh I don't understand at all, he-he-hey (Repeat chorus)

And here's some of their greatest hits with lyrics & translations included:

Video !IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE"+lyrics:

Video "SPENDING MY TIME"+lyrics:

Video "LISTEN TO YOUR HEART"+lyrics:

Link to "FADING LIKE A FLOWER", Roxette+translation subtitles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yW7axja9lo&feature=BF&list=PLAFA5B89D4C348470&index=36

Video with Roxette's story in English and an interview with Marie & Per in Swedish with English subtitles:

Video chronology of all their greatest hits:

CARNIVAL TIME (2): MARDI GRAS OR FAT TUESDAY

The terms "Mardi Gras", "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season",in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and ending on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" (in ethnic English tradition, Shrove Tuesday), referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which started on Ash Wednesday. Related popular practices were associated with celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. Popular practices included wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc. Similar expressions to Mardi Gras appear in other European languages sharing the Christian tradition. In English, the day is called Shrove Tuesday, associated with the religious requirement for confession before Lent begins.
Carnival is an important celebration in Catholic European nations. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the week before Ash Wednesday is called "shrovetide", ending on Shrove Tuesday. It has its popular celebratory aspects as well. Pancakes are a traditional food. Pancakes and related fried breads or pastries made with sugar, fat and eggs are also traditionally consumed at this time in many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Today, Mardi Gras is colourful street carnivals, marching bands, dancing and all-night partying in the streets. Many people dress up in spectacular costumes and wear beautiful masks. The biggest Mardis Gras carnivals are in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and New Orleans (USA). Thousands of people from all over the world visit these cities to join in the fun. Venice (Italy) is home to one of the oldest carnivals in the world, which dates back to 1268. Thousands of mask-wearing people fill the Venetian streets and attend special masked balls. In Sydney, Australia, Mardis Gras is celebrated by the city’s gay and lesbian community with street parades and costumes.

More on Carnival:
Look for previous entry in this blog on February, 8th, 2010 or under the labels Carnival & Tradition, called IT'S CARNIVAL TIME.

Links to Carnival sites:

- Notting Hill Carnival (London)

- Mardi Gras (New Orleans)

Video Krewes at New Orleans 2006 Mardi Gras:

TIM BOWLEY & CHARO PITA: STORYTELLING IN ENGLISH & GALICIAN

Tim Bowley e Charo Pita, a British-man and a Galician-girl make up an artistic duo that go around the world telling stories. Tim with his powerful voice starts off the story in English and later Charo starts it in Galician... the same story from two cultures, two ages, two languages that blend in a unqiue and funny show.

They'll be back at our school for the third time, tomorrow, Thursday 3rd March. For 1st & 2nd ESO students at 10:30h & 11:20h, respectively, at our assembly hall.

TONIGHT'S OSCAR NIGHT: YOU'RE INVITED!

Tonight's Oscar night in the United States. We'll be hearing the repeated formula: "Any the Oscar goes to..." We have collected the TV promos for the ceremony featuring Anna Hathaway & James Franco, who will be the hosts of this year's show. We're also including the video where this year's nominations were announced last January, 25th 2011. Any bets for who will be the winners?

[UPDATE: AND THE OSCARS GOES (WENT) TO...

"THE KING'S SPEECH": best film, best director, best original script & best actor: Colin Firth.

"THE BLACK SWAN": best actress: Natalie Portman.

"TOY STORY 3": best animated film & best original song]

Promo video Oscar 2011 (1): Promo video Oscar 2011 (2), "You're invited": Video Oscar Award nominations 2011:

MORE ON PREPOSITIONS

Here's basic information you should know about the use of prepositions in English.
1- Prepositions of movement and place.
2- Prepositions of place: AT, IN
3- Prepositions of time: AT, ON, IN
More information on prepositions HERE.

Information & exercises with prepositions on a previous entry on this blog: PREPOSITIONS: AT / IN / ON. Posted on November 27th, 2009 under blog labels: Grammar, Practice-Exercise.

Link to the ENGLISH PREPOSITION LIST.

"EL CABALLERO DE OLMEDO", CLASSIC SPANISH THEATRE IN OUR CITY

[Photo Luís Laforga. Website: teatrocorsario.com]

"EL CABALLERO DE OLMEDO" by Lope de Vega is being performed this weekend in A Coruña at the Rosalia Castro Theatre. 1st BAC students from our school will be attending the play next Monday, 28th at 11:30h. This version is performed by the Teatro Corsario theatre company, from Castilla-Leon, directed by Fernando Urdiales. It's a comedy, where love and death depend on destiny. It's a good oportunity to watch a classic Spanish theatre play, which has been granted great critic reviews and several awards.

Plot: Lord Alonso, a noble gentleman from Olmedo, falls in love with Lady Inés at Medina's fair and lets her know by means of a go-between. But Lady Inés is also being dated by another gentleman who asks to marry her. As she's in love with Lord Alonso, she tells her father that she wants to become a nun to escape from this engagement. Knowing about what is happening and full of jealousy, Lord Rodrigo, the gentleman who wooes Lady Inés, decides to kill Lord Alonso. So he does it at night on his way back to Olmedo from Medina, unhearing the popular folk song that predicts his death.

NEW ZEALAND'S EARTHQUAKE

Another disaster has hit down under. This time it's not Australia, it's New Zealand.
At least 65 people have died and more than 100 are missing after a powerful earthquake struck the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris and sending rescuers scrambling to help people trapped under rubble.
The 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country's second largest city on a busy weekday afternoon.
The mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, has declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre. "Make no mistake this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city," he said.
Power and water was cut and hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared throughout Christchurch in the aftermath of the quake, which was centred three miles from the city. The US Geological Survey said the tremor occurred at a depth of 2.5 miles.

Video from New Zealand TV news:

21st FEBRUARY: INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY. BECAUSE LANGUAGES MATTER!

International Mother Language Day is an observance held annually on 21 February worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It was first announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999 and has been observed ever since February 2000. Its observance was also formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution establishing 2008 as the International Year of Languages.

The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

2011 International Mother Language Day: The information and communication technologies for the safeguarding and promotion of languages and linguistic diversity.

"Information and communication technologies can be especially useful in promoting mother languages. We must harness the power of progress to protect diverse visions of the world and to promote all sources of knowledge and forms of expression. These are the threads that weave the tapestry of humanity’s story. "
Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

Message for International Mother Language Day 2011.

Video "LANGUAGES MATTER!":

GUARDIA CIVIL'S INTERNET SAFETY TALK AT OUR SCHOOL

REMEMBER!

WEDNESDAY 16th FEBRUARY.

GUARDIA CIVIL WILL TALK ABOUT

THE RISKS OF INTERNET

AT OUR SCHOOL'S ASSEMBLY HALL.8:30h - 10:10h for 1st BAC, 4th ESO & 3rd ESO-A & B students.
10:30h - 12:10h for 1st ESO, 2nd ESO & 3rd ESO-C students.

5 GRAMMY AWARDS FOR LADY ANTEBELLUM

Lady Antebellum's country music bursted out to stardom at last night's 53rd Grammy Awards, with 5 awards in the categories: Best Recording-Procution, Best Country Album, Best Song-Writing, Best Country Song, Best Performance for "NEED YOU NOW"."It's the song that has put us upside down. It's changed our lives", said Hillary Scott, the group's vocalist. They were the moral winners as they won 5 out of 6 nominations.
Lady Antebellum is a country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Made up by Charles Kelley (lead & background vocals), Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin) & Hillary Scott (vocals)

Video "NEED YOU NOW", Lady Antebellum (+lyrics & Spanish translation subtitles):

14th FEBRUARY: VALENTINE'S DAY

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions.The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI, but its religious observance is still permitted. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Video of the history behind Valentine's Day:

SHAKESPEARE FROM A GALICIAN POINT OF VIEW

This morning Bac students from our school attended a theatre play by Galician theatre group Mofa e Befa with an English based topic: Shakespeare.

They break into an academic conference on the famous author to bring to surface the most overlooked scenes, maybe out of laziness or lack of opportunities, for contemporary audiences. The most cruel laughter, the most shameful intimacies, the most dishonest acts and the most cunning villainy is shown by the Mofa e Befa's ruthless comic machine. Murderers, judges, clowns, informers, racists, opportunists, pimps, torturers, all the characters who never have the spotlight, now have the sort of front-page display. And all of it in Galician.

Video extract of their Spanish version in Madrid:

8th FEBRUARY: SAFER INTERNET DAY, "IT'S MORE THAN A GAME, IT'S YOUR LIFE"

Safer Internet Day is organized each February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people around the world. The topic for 2011 "our virtual lives" around the slogan "it's more than a game, it's your life". Last year, Safer Internet Day was celebrated through over 500 events in 65 countries all over the world. For more information: http://www.saferinternet.org/

On Wednesday 16th at the assembly hall of IES Rafael Dieste, members who belong to the special branch of telematic crime of the Guardia Civil will be giving a lecture about the risks of internet.

Video Safer Internet Day 2011:

FIRST TUNISIA... NOW EGYPT. MUSLIM COUNTRIES OUT ON THE STREETS DEMANDING DEMOCRACY

It all started in Tunisia until their President fled the country. It has spread quickly throughout several Arab countries: Jordania, Yemen and on a lower extent Siria, Morocco... But where the situation has bursted and is still recurring is in Egypt. Waiting for Mubarak to leave the country and meanwhile people demonstrate in the streets and squares asking him to leave. But will this all lead to a democratic settlement of the region or will it begin an explosion of Islamic fundamentalism?

Video from Guardian News:

AUSTRALIA: AFTER THE FLOODINGS, A CYCLONE ARRIVED TO QUEENSLAND

The State of Queensland, Australia is collecting one disaster after another. After the severe floodings at the end of 2010 and beginning of this year, now it was a killing cyclone named "Yasi", which hit the same coastline. Here are two weather forecasts from New Zealand TV about it, previous to the arrival of the cyclone.

Video from New Zealand's TV weather forecasts:

- The cyclone hits the Australian coast.

- A cyclone approaches Australia: