HAPPY SUMMER HOLIDAYS 2015!

We're off on holidays, enjoy and relax!

See you again back in September!

BEACH VOCABULARY

It's holiday time, but just in case you go to the beach... here's some vocabulary.

HOW LONDON TUBE EXPANDED: THE TUBE MAP TIMELINE

Just in case any of you have the oppotunity of visiting London this summer, here's a map you will have to be acquainted to, if you go: the London Tube's Map. But here's also a video which shows the history and the expansion of London's Tube network from 1863 (152 years ago). Watch and listen the whole story:

Video:

"WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY"

Now that we're about to start our holidays, remember that a good way to practice your English is watching films in the original English language with subtitles (either in English or Spanish/Galician). And it's always great to watch a film which has a bit of everyday life. Here's a recommendation, which is still on at the local cinemas, but it would be interesting to be able to watch in the original language: "WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY". It's a 2015 British comedy-drama, directed by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkins and starring Rosamund Pike, David Tennant and Billy Connolly, and some three charming kids in between, during their last summer holidays at the Scottish Highlands.  More on its plot HERE. The video trailer below.

Video-trailers "WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY":

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNICATION

IF 'GAME OF THRONE'S' "WESTEROS WERE EUROPE

Are you fan of "Game of Thrones"? The Huffington Post have worked out the equivalent of Westeros map of the Seven Kingdoms with its real European equivalents.

- North Of The Wall = Greenland

- The North = Scotland

- The Iron Islands = Norway

- The Vale = Switzerland

- The Riverlands = Germany

- The Westerlands = England

- King's Landing = London

- The Stormlands = Wales

- The Reach = France

- Dorne = Spain

For more detailed information link here.

"YESTERDAY" IS 50

The Beatles' classic song becomes mature and turns 50, today we pay tribute to it here, listening to it and linking to a page that remembers it below.

Enlace / Link:

50 Years Ago: The Beatles Record ‘Yesterday’

Audio with lyrics "YESTERDAY", The Beatles:

WORKING WITH VERBS IN ENGLISH

Working with English verbs. Here are two links where you can check all the different possibilities of a verb in English.

- ENGLISH VERB CONJUGATOR

- ENGLISH VERB FLOWCHART.

"TO ALL THAT LOVE THE FAR AND BLUE", A POEM BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

A week ago today, during the 2015 2nd BAC Graduation, our Galician teacher Miguel Mato, mentioned a poem by Scotts-man, Robert Louis Stevenson called 
"TO ALL THAT LOVE THE FAR AND BLUE".

We've searched the internet to find it, and here it is for you to read:

To all that love the far and blue:

Whether, from dawn to eve, on foot

The fleeing corners ye pursue,

Nor weary of the vain pursuit;

Or whether down the singing stream,

Paddle in hand, jocund ye shoot,

To splash beside the splashing bream

Or anchor by the willow root:

Or, bolder, from the narrow shore

Put forth, that cedar ark to steer,

Among the seabirds and the roar

Of the great sea, profound and clear;

Or, lastly if in heart ye roam,

Not caring to do else, and hear,

Safe sitting by the fire at home,

Footfalls in Utah or Pamere:

Though long the way, though hard to bear

The sun and rain, the dust and dew;

Though still attainment and despair

Inter the old, despoil the new;

There shall at length, be sure, O friends,

Howe'er ye steer, whate'er ye do -

At length, and at the end of ends,

The golden city come in view.

[You can find a Spanish translation @ our etc page or on the following links: 1 & 2  ]

PREPARING 'ABAU TESTS': 9 HELPFUL TIPS

Here are 9 useful tips to take into account for the ABAU test, they're not only meant for the English exams, but for all of them.

1- PROFIT FROM ALL THE WORK YOU'VE DONE BEFORE DURING THE COURSE.

2- SELECT THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTENT.

3- WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.

4- DON'T CHANGE YOUR ROUTINE.

5- DO WHATEVER YOU WANT THE DAY BEFORE, BUT REST THE PREVIOUS NIGHT.

6- ISOLATE YOURSELF DURING THE EXAM.

7- DON'T PUNISH YOURSELF FOR YOUR MISTAKES.

8- DON'T LEAVE BLANK SPACES.

9- CONTROL YOUR TIME.

You can read these 9 tips for ABAU in more detail and in Spanish: HERE.

RAFAEL DIESTE'S 25th ANNIVERSARY 2nd BAC SCHOOL CLASS GRADUATION 2015

Yesterday evening, the 2015 Graduation of "RAFAEL DIESTE" 2nd BAC class students was held at the nearby Assembly Hall of the Professional Music Conservatory. It was our 25th anniversary graduation. As usual, dressed up students and their families gathered together with teachers to celebrate the end of their secondary school years.

By the way, thanks a lot for the Prize of Best Blogger and, as I said in my acceptance speech, I wish you all the best for you in your future. 

(P.S. But you owe me a laptop!)

Galician version of this post @ ArquivosDoTrasno.

SPAIN'S LOCAL & REGIONAL ELECTION RESULTS SEEN FROM BRITAIN

This is the map that shows the results of yesterday's local elections held in Spain, and below you've got the links to the reports seen from a British point of view in the nespaper THE GUARDIAN. Link to the reports and read them, you can see how well you understand when the context is known.

Enlace / Links:

Spain's indignados could rule Barcelona and Madrid after local election success

Spanish regional elections will be critical test for broken two-party system

SWEDEN WINS EUROVISION FOR THE 6th TIME WITH "HEROES"

Last night the 60th Eurovision Song Contest was held in Vienna (Austria) and Sweden won once again, the 6th time, after ABBA's "WATERLOO" in 1974 for the first time, and Loreen's "EUPHORIA" being until yesterday the latest. But since last night Mans Zilmerlöw has been added to this winning list with another song "HEROES", as usual with the Swedish entry, in English. And here's the original video of the song with lyrics to sing along and the video of his performance in last night's contest.

Video "HEROES", Mans Zilmerlöw (Eurovision winner 2015 for Sweden):

Video Mans Zelmerlöw @ Eurovision Song Contest Final 2015, Vienna:


And here the possible reasons for this success in this link:

Eurovision 2015: From Abba To This Year's Favourite, 8 Reasons Why Sweden Always Does So Well At The Song Contest

And all the information about the singer in this other one:

Five top facts: Sweden's Eurovision Mans Zelmerlöw

SCHOOL ACTIVITY FOR 17th MAY: GALICIAN TRANSLATION CONTEST.

 "ONE DAY" by David Nicholls

Last Sunday, it was Galician Literature Day and our Normalización Lingüística Team had previously proposed a translation contest from the different languages taught at our school into Galician. 

The English Department proposed a text taken from a bestseller book in Britain named "ONE DAY", which is a novel by David Nicholls, published in 2009. Each chapter covers the lives of two protagonists on the same day: 15th July, St. Swithin's Day, during twenty years. The novel attracted generally positive reviews. Nicholls adapted his book into a screenplay; the feature film, with the same title, was released in August 2011, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess

Video trailer of the film:

Here's the passage from the book chosen to be translated into Galician. It's from the last chapter of the book:

And so Emma Morley walked home in the evening light, trailing her disappointment behind her. The day was cooling off now, and she shivered as she felt something in the air, an unexpected shudder of anxiety that ran the length of her spine, and was so intense as to make her stop walking for a moment. Fear of the future, she thought. She found herself at the imposing junction of George Street and Hanover Street as all around people hurried home from work or out to meet friends or lovers, all with a sense of purpose and direction. And here she was, twenty-two and clueless and sloping back to a dingy flat, defeated once again.

“What are you going to do with your life?” In one way or another it seemed that people had been asking for this forever; teachers, her parents, friends at three in the morning..., but the question had never seemed this pressing and still she was no nearer an answer. The future rose up ahead of her, a succession of empty days, each more daunting and unknowable than the one before her. How would she ever fill them all?

She began walking again, south towards the Mound. “Live each day as if it's your last”, that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Go out there with your passion and your electric typewriter and work hard at... something. Change lives through art maybe. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance.

This would be a possible accurate version into Galician:

Así Emma Morley regresou a casa andando na luz do atardecer, arrastrando con ela a súa decepción. O día empezaba a refrescar agora, e ela tremeu ao sentir algo no aire, un inesperado calafrío de ansiedade que percorreu por completo a súa espiña e foi tan intenso que a fíxo deterse uns intres. Medo ao futuro, pensou. Atopouse no impoñente cruce entre as rúas George e Hanover mentras que ao seu arredor xente con présa regresaban as súas casas ou saían a encontrarse cos seus amigos ou as súas parellas, todos eles cunha razón e dirección claras. E alí estaba ela, vinte e dous anos e indecisa, voltando sen ánimos a un piso deprimente, derrotada unha vez mais.
"Qué vas facer ca túa vida?" Dunha maneira ou doutra, semellaba que a xente sempre facía a mesma pregunta eternamente; os profesores, os seus pais, os amigos ás tres da mañá..., e ainda que a pregunta nunca lle resultara tan apremante coma agora, ela non estaba máis preto da resposta. O futuro alzábase diante dela, unha sucesión de días baleiros, cada un deles máis desalentador e descoñecido que o día que estaba a vivir. Como chegaría a enchelos todos?
Empezou a camiñar de novo, cara ao sur hacia o Mound. "Vive cada día como se fose o último", era o consello habitual, pero realmente, quen tiña forzas dabondo para iso? Qué pasa se chove ou se non te sentes ben? Non era práctico en absoluto. Era moito mellor simplemente intentar ser bo e valente e audaz para ser diferente. Non intentes precisamente cambiar o mundo enteiro, senon o anaco ao teu arredor. Sae aí fóra coa túa paixón e a túa máquina de escribir eléctrica e traballa duro en... algo. Quizáis, cambia vidas a través do arte. Quere aos teus amigos, permanece fiel aos teus principios, vive apaixoadamente, con plenitude e ben. Experimenta cousas novas. Ama e déixate amar, se algunha vez tes a oportunidade.

These have been the different handed in versions by students:

- First, the one we consider the best of all by...

 IAGO MORA [3ºESO-C]

Congratulations!!!

- Following the rest of the translations handed in in alphabetical order

[by Andrea Busto, 1ºBAC-A]

[by Sara Giunta, 3ºESO-A]

[By Lúa Sendon, 1ºESO-B]

[by Miriam Varela, 1ºBAC-B]

LEVELS OF ENGLISH COMPETENCE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

This map (from EF) shows the level of proficiency in the knowledge and command of the English language throughout the world: English is the second most spoken language in the world and more people speak it as a foreign language than as their mother tongue. Below you have the colour code to understand its meaning:

DARK BLUE: HIGHER LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY

DARK GREEN: GOOD LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY

LIGHT GREEN: MODERATE LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY

YELLOW: LOW LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY

RED: VERY LOW LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY

PREPOSITION WITH SOURCES OF INFORMATION

USING HYPHENS

Here's a chart that explains clearly when to use a hypen (-).

UNCOUNTABLE/COUNTABLE QUANTIFIERS

SCHOOL ACTIVITY FOR 17th MAY: GALICIAN LITERATURE DAY

As usual every 17th May, we're about to commemorate the Galician Literature Day.

This year, the Normalización Lingüística Team of our school has proposed an activity for students to take part in.

The different Language Departments of our school will provide texts from different books in each of the languages (Spanish, English, French, Greek...) so that students will have to translate them into Galician.

The given translations will be judged by members of each Department and the best of each language will be rewarded. In English, every participant will be valued.

Here's the text chosen by the English Department:

And so Emma Morley walked home in the evening light, trailing her disappointment behind her. The day was cooling off now, and she shivered as she felt something in the air, an unexpected shudder of anxiety that ran the length of her spine, and was so intense as to make her stop walking for a moment. Fear of the future, she thought. She found herself at the imposing junction of George Street and Hanover Street as all around people hurried home from work or out to meet friends or lovers, all with a sense of purpose and direction. And here she was, twenty-two and clueless and sloping back to a dingy flat, defeated once again.

“What are you going to do with your life?” In one way or another it seemed that people had been asking for this forever; teachers, her parents, friends at three in the morning, but the question had never seemed this pressing and still she was no nearer an answer. The future rose up ahead of her, a succession of empty days, each more daunting and unknowable than the one before her. How would she ever fill them all?

She began walking again, south towards the Mound. “Live each day as if it's your last”, that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Go out there with your passion and your electric typewriter and work hard at... something. Change lives through art maybe. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance.

Ask your English teacher for a printed version of the text if you prefer. The name of the book won't be revealed until the translations are handed in.
The translations must be handed in typed version to your English or Galician teacher.
Complete information about the task on the Normalización Lingüística blog and on our library BLOG

Deadline to hand in your translations: FRIDAY 15th MAY

BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY TREE

The Royal British Family is an important part of British culture and tradition. With a new baby girl just born into the family yesterday, here's the British Royal Family Tree to see who's who in this family. By the way, the new member is called Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. She's fourth in line to the thrown.

Video of the news:
.