Wonderwall

Because we all need our personal "wonderwall", something or somebody that gives us strength and makes us feel better.

A great song...

George Harrison composed the soundtrack of a film called "Wonderwall", where a man spied their neighbours next door looking through a hole in the wall and got involved in their lives. This album by Harrison, " Wonderwall Music", is supposed to be the inspiration for the title of this song by Oasis.

Cómo sacar un diez en un examen sin entender absolutamente nada :)

Ahora que el curso va a empezar, ahora que los profes andamos preparando los primeros días de clase, permitidme una muy breve reflexión entre docentes.

Hace unos meses, en un curso de la editorial Edebé, nos propusieron la siguiente actividad. Un pequeño test. Un texto con cuatro preguntas de comprensión. En cinco minutos lo hicimos. 

Resultado? 

a) Todos sacamos un diez,
b) Ninguno entendimos una palabra de lo que decía el texto.

Reflexión: 

Sacar buenas notas no siempre implica asimilación y aprendizaje. Tenemos que preparar para nuestros alumnos actividades que realmente nos demuestren al superarlas que han alcanzado los objetivos que deseamos. No consiste en mantener a los alumnos temerosos, desconcertados de qué o que no caerá en una prueba. Se trata de que sepan qué quieres de ellos, qué es realmente lo que necesitan aprender y darles la hoja de ruta, llena de experiencias y descubrimientos que habrán de hacer por ellos mismos.

Si para conseguir que a un profesor le respeten es necesario tener al alumnado preocupado y perdido entre dudas respecto a qué se está enfrentando o qué va a pasar mañana en clase...creo que nos hemos equivocado de profesión.

Si queréis hacer el texto, aquí está. Es divertido. Os llevará un par de minutos.

TEXTO:

Plot ro yo pedrió en el Catón. Socré un ban cote. El graso estaba cantamente liniendo. No lo drinió. Una Para Jocia y un Pari Jocí estaban plinando en mi endidor. Estaban gribblando atamente. Yo grotí al Pari y a la Para fotnamente, No goffrienron un platión. Na el hini yo no putre licrerlo. Yo lindré vala. Possrí fobanamente.

PREGUNTAS:

¿Dónde pedrió el escritor Plot ro?
¿Quiénes estaban plinando?
¿Cómo gribblaban?
¿Goffrieron un plantión?


Vosotros también tenéis un diez, verdad? :)

British History #4: Medieval England (1066-1485)

A new era began with the Norman Conquest. William and his descendants introduced the feudal system and strengthened the rule of the King and the Church. During this period England conquered Ireland, Scotland an Wales, and held a lot of land in France. The most dramatic events in these years were:

1066: The Battle of Hastings.
1095: The first of the nine Crusades to the Holy Land. The final one was in 1271.
1170: The murder of Archbishop Thomas à Becket in Canterbury Cathedral as a result of a quarrel between the King and the Church.
1215: The Magna Carta: the English nobles forced King John to sign a document that limited his power and extended the rights of his subjects.
1337: Start of the Hundred Years War with France.
1348: Start of the terrible plague known as the Black Death.
1455: Start of the War of the Roses, a struggle for the throne of England between the House of York (white rose) and the House of Lancaster (red rose). It ended in 1485 when Henry Tudor became King Henry VII.

A Royal Castle
Windsor Castle was built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century. Since then it has been much altered and enlarged, but it has always been the main royal residence. It is the largest inhabited castle in the world and the oldest royal residence still in use.



A Heroic Outlaw
Perhaps the most famous British legend is the story of Robin Hood and his merry men. According to the legend, Robin Hood lived during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart at the end of the 12th century. Richard spent the most of his reign fighting abroad, in his lands in France and on the Crusades. While the King was away, England was ruled by his brother, John. Robin Hood was originally a nobleman and a supporter of Richard. But while the King was away John took Robin's lands and made him an outlaw. So Robin Hood went to live in Sherwood Forest where he collected his band of followers: Friar Tuck, Little John, Maid Marian, Will Scarlet, Alan à Dale, and the rest. He fought against John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. He robbed only those people who were rich and gave most of the money to the poor.



(EF Information Sheet)

"Every breath you take". A misinterpreted song

No, "Every Breath You Take" is not a love song, but a song about stalking. Even Sting, who wrote this song for the band The Police in 1983 after his divorce, admitted that it is evil and sinister, a song about jealousy and ownership.

He was really disconcerted by  how many people see this song as a positive one and misinterprete it. He says: "One couple told me 'Oh we love that song; it was the main song played at our wedding!' I thought, 'Well, good luck.'"

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (dumping a bucket of ice water on your head or donating some money to the ALS Association) has recently gone viral through social media. Celebrities do it and nominate other famous people who must do the same or  make a donation in 24 hours. 

Public awareness of this disease,  amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), 
has always been relatively limited, however this  social media campaign was born to raise funds and spread awareness of this disease and , what is more important, HOPE.

I have to say that watching these videos of celebrities dumping buckets of freezing water over their heads is really entertaining, however few of the videos I´ve seen contain any substantive information about the disease, and many of them just try to show altruism or attractiveness in a wet T-shirt. 

"Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed" (from http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html)

As I don´t like cold water very much, I have made my own economical donation to the ALS Association, (ES09 - 2038 - 1923 - 156200003135, Asunto: cubo helado) and encourage you to contribute to a good cause. 

British History #3: The Anglo-Saxon, Danish, and Norman Invasions (400-1066)

Soon after the Romans left, Britain was also attacked by Germanic tribes, mainly Angles and Saxons. At first they only raided but eventually they settled and colonised much of Britain. But the peace did not last. First the warlike vikings attacked from Denmark. They started their raids in the 8th Century and made their first full-scale invasion in 865. Indeed, Britain was even under Danish rule for a while, from 1016 to 1042. Then, the Anglo-Saxons had only just regained the throne when the Normans arrived under the Anglo-Saxons under King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and so he became King William I of England.

A King out of Legend
When the Romans left Britain, the land was unprotected against the invading Angles, Saxons and Jutes. They found conquest easy until a King called Arthur united the British and defeated the invaders in many battles. The result was that the Anglo-Saxon advance was halted for about 50 years. Little more than this is known about Arthur except for a powerful legend of magical powers. This legend later became the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, a legend full of medieval chivalry and Christian symbols but also some of the earlier magic. But the story does not belong only to Britain; medieval French and German poets also wrote about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. 


A Naked Lady

One of the most colourful stories to come out of Saxon England is that of Lady Godiva. She lived in the 11th century and was the wife of Earl Leofric. According to the legend, when her husband demanded high taxes from the people of Coventry, she took their side. Her husband then dared her to ride naked through the streets of Conventry, promising her to lower the taxes if she did so. She agreed. When she rode naked through the town, all the grateful people of Conventry stayed indoors with their windows shut — all, that is, except a certain tailor called Tom who peeped through his window and was struck blind for daring to look. He became known as "Peeping Tom", which is now an expression in the English language.

British History #2: Roman Britain (55 BC - 400 AD)

The recorder history of Britain began in 55 B.C, when the first Romans arrived under Julius Caesar. They made a full invasion about 100 years later and they stayed in Britain for over 350 years. The romans were great builders and Britain has many Roman remains, such as roads, villas, public baths, and fortifications. In about 400 A.D the Romans were forced to leave Britain and return to Rome, to defend it against the attacks of the Germanic tribes.

A Great Wall
The most impressive of the Roman remains is a wall, built right across the north of England. In the second century A.D the Emperor Hadrian built this wall as the most northern frontier of the Roman Empire. It was very heavily fortified with a small fort every mile and larger forts as well. Its purpose was to protect Roman Britain against the warlike tribes that lived north of the wall, in what is now Scotland. 


(EF Information Sheet)

British History #1: Prehistoric Britain

Prehistory is the story of man before written records began. The most impressive prehistoric remains are hill figures, hill forts, and stone circles.

Hill figures: gigantic pictures of people and animals cut into white chalk hillsides.
Hill forts: natural hills, fortified by ditches and banks of earth.
Stone circles: temples consisting of circles of huge stones.

A Magic Circle

The most famous of the prehistoric stone circles is Stonehenge, built between 1800 and 1500 B.C. The biggest stones are seven metres high with a further three metres underground. Some of the stones were brought from South West Wales; imagine how difficult it was to transport these huge blocks of stone in those early days. It is thought that Stonehenge and the other stone circles were built on lines of magnetic power that cross the surface of the earth. Exactly why it was built is not known for certain; it may have been a temple for sun worship or a calendar for showing the movements of the sun and the planets.

During this period various peoples came to settle in Britain, of which the most important were the Celts, who came in the 5th Century B.C. Different forms of their language are still spoken today: Welsh in parts of Wales, and Gaelic in parts of Scotland an Ireland.


(EF Information Sheet)

Days in London and Cardiff

Back home after some great days in London and  a short runaway to Cardiff to see the UEFA Super Cup Final (Real Madrid vs. Sevilla FC). 
Unfortunately we didn´t bring the Cup :(  but I brought very nice photos with me :)

Here you´ll find some of my favourite ones.

                                    

                                          

                                                        

                                                  

Saxon Genitive

According to the Simpsons family tree, who´s Mona? 

Can you answer this question?  Sure you can!

Mona is Homer´s mother, Marge´s mother-in-law and Bart, Lisa and Maggie' s grandmother, among other things. 

In case you need it, let´s review the Saxon Genitive structure today with the help of a site, English Spanish Link, which gives us some very clear instructions to express possession in English, paying special attention to the most frequent mistakes we usually make.

This structure is used as a way to refer to possession (possessive case). The apostrophe + s is added to singular nouns and just the apostrophe to plural nouns. The Saxon genitive is limited to (with some exceptions) people and animals (animate nouns). 

My father´s bicycle     (Refers to the bicycle that my father has.)
John's new job            (Refers to the new job that John has.)
My parents' house      (Refers to the house that my parents have.)
The lions' meat           (Refers to the meat that the lions have.)

Irregular plural nouns take the apostrophe + s:

The Oxford Women's Club.
Children's toys.People's free time.
(Means, my cousin is the son of the brother of my father.)

We can show a chain relationship in this way:

My father's brother's son is my cousin.