Monday 19 December 2011

A wonderful story for Christmas time

I'd like to share this beautiful story with everybody and wish you a merry Christmas. More...

Wednesday 23 November 2011

All about thanksgiving


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Before and after Spanish election.

 
Zapatero's ending, Rajoy's beginning....




Spain has turned blue, the color of conservative party Partido Popular, after a crushing victory over the ruling socialist party PSOE in the regional and municipal elections that took place Sunday. The spirits of both political parties’ leaders couldn’t be more different after learning the results. JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO, PSOE: It was reasonable to expect that the socialist ruling party would be punished today by the people. We understand these results and we take them into account. REPORTER: Meanwhile, at the Popular Party headquarters, the mood was understandably more jubilant. MARIANO RAJOY, PARTIDO POPULAR: Today is a beautiful day for our party. We have reported the best result in our history in a regional election; the best. El Mundo reports socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been punished for his handling of Spain’s financial crisis so severely -- that the question in the air is whether he will even be able to finish his term. The 'populars' have erased the socialists from the map. The figures speak for themselves. It was more than a 2,000,000-vote of difference ... The PSOE ... has bled in vote numbers, losing more than a million and a half votes. Motivated by the victory, Partido Popular leader Mariano Rajoy is asking to move up the general elections -- claiming the current government doesn’t have the support of the people. But El Pais thinks Partido Popular is all talk -- and no action. The writer suggests the conservatives present a vote of censure for the socialist party. The idea remains the same: to maintain the pressure and wait for the PSOE to fall under its own weight; sunk by dreadful results, a likely internal crisis and an economic situation that shows no signs of immediate improvement. Yet Iñaki Gabilondo, a well-known journalist in Spain, suggests the Popular Party’s victory in the general elections is imminent. But he points out the ‘populares’ won’t be able to ‘just wait’ much longer. The time to come smells so much of ‘populares time’ that from now until March or October they won’t be able to go on just playing the ‘waiting or PSOE criticism game.’ They now have to start giving hope to this country. Somebody needs to give hope to this country. And it seems it’s the ‘populares’ turn. For some, the elections reflected the people’s voice and the true democracy demanded by last week’s protesters. But Sky News reports the defeat of the ruling Socialist Party wasn’t enough to disperse the young people fed up with the country’s 45% youth unemployment rate. Spain’s problems aren’t going away. 40% of its young people are out of work and fears remain the country will be the next in the Eurozone to need a bailout. The protesters aren’t moving either, they voted to keep their camps in place until next weekend. The challenge now facing Mr. Zapatero is to rebuild confidence both in the economy and in his government. 'Like' Newsy on Facebook for updates in your newsfeed. Get more multisource video news analysis from Newsy Transcirpt by Newsy
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Saturday 22 October 2011

Terrorists announce permanent ceasefire


“Our democracy will be without terrorism but it will not forget.” This was Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s response to the promise by the Basque separatist group ETA to lay down its weapons forever. The prime minister spoke of remembering the more than 850 people killed in 51 years of ETA violence. The first major bomb attack was in 1973, killing Luis Carrero Blanco, the head of the government under the reign of the dictator Franco. Franco died of ill health in 1975, and Spain became a constitutional monarchy. With democracy came an amnesty, but many releasedETA prisoners took up arms again, to fight for Basque Freedom and Homeland. ETA is the acronym. In the 1980s, the shootings and bombings accelerated. The worst was in 1987, when 200 kilos of explosives and petrol in a Barcelona supermarket underground car park killed 21 and wounded 45. The ‘Hipercor’ store management had ignored ETA’s phone warning. The attack marked a change. Till now, the targets had always been police or military. In Madrid in 1995, six civilians were killed. They worked for the army. Eight months earlier, the armour plating of his car saved the leader of the conservative PP party in opposition, José María Aznar, from a bomb, though the blast killed a bystander. Any politician with the Socialist party in power was also a target. Remote detonation of car bombs was common. But there was also execution at point blank range. A former head of the Spanish constitutional court, Francisco Tomás Valiente, was on the phone in his university office in Madrid when a man walked in and shot him. ETA was trying to force the now conservative government to negotiate. In response to Valiente’s assassination, university students united saying ‘Basta ya!’ — enough! In 1997, ETA kidnapped then killed young town councillor Miguel Ángel Blanco. ETA insisted the government move convicted members to prisons in the Basque region within 48 hours. Demanding an end to terror methods, millions of ordinary people held mass demonstrations in large cities, including the Basque city of Bilbao, shouting ‘nunca mas!’ This means ‘no more, ever’. Copyright © 2011 euronews
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President Obama's speech about Gadhafi's death

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Monday 12 September 2011

September 11th. In memoriam

free-september 11th in memoriam More...

Wednesday 22 June 2011

A piece of advice

The school year is almost over. Summer has just set in. The sun is shining, heating and burning? ...Before leaving I would like to give you a piece of advice. This is for my pupils, for my children, for my friends, ...for everybody!


Dear 16-year-old me. Dear 16-year-old me. Dear 16-year-old me. Please, don't get that perm, it's not as awesome as you think it's gonna be. You have to actually practise in order to learn to play guitar. Whisky? Tastes even worse on the way out. Dear 16-year-old me, there's going to be a new set of Star Wars movies. Don't watch them, they ruin everything.

Dear 16-year-old me, this is where they took the cancer out. It was something called melanoma. It's called malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma. Malignant? That's not a very friendly word. You'll be diagnosed when you're 28, 18, 36, 29, 22. It's a tumour that starts in your skin cells, the cells that give your hair and skin colour. It's not just skin cancer. Well, it is. Well, it is, but not just the cut-it-out-and-it-will-be-fine kind, unfortunately. It's the kind that you have to catch before it spreads. Because it spreads so fast, so fast, to places like your liver, your lungs, your brain. Yours will be a very rare kind, in your left eye, and that's when you find out that melanoma can show up on your tongue, the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet. Your doctors will tell you you're lucky that you caught it early. Yours will tell you that you need aggressive treatment. I'll have to tell you it might take a year of chemotherapy and you'll need to do some of the injections yourself.

Dear 16-year-old me, you're doing ok, you're strong, but there are some things I want you to know. I wish I'd known that one bad sunburnt before you turn 18 doubles your chances of developing melanoma, that fair skin and red hair means that you are at higher risk of getting it, as if ginger people didn't have enough problems, that you're at higher risk if you've got more than 50 moles, and if you have a weakened immune system or a family history of skin cancer, I want you to know the outlook is very good if we can catch it early, but you have less than a 10% chance of surviving more than 5 years if we don't.

Dear 16-year-old me, spend more time with family, they mean everything. If I had one piece of advice for you, don't start the tanning xxxx, I know you want a healthy glow, but it's gonna double my chances of getting melanoma. Sunscreen. Yes, I agree, it's a huge pain in the ass, but so worth it. Please. Your skin's like an elephant, it never forgets.

Dear 16-year-old me, helping spread this message is how you honour Glenny's memory. At 16 she's already an incredible lifeguard, she loves the sun, and the beach, and tanning, but she just doesn't know. She'll be diagnosed when she's 22 and we'll lose her xxxx when she's just 26. I want you to know because it's melanoma that's gonna take the strongest man you know, your best friend and the love of your life.

Dear 16-year-old me, don't be afraid. This isn't about being afraid. I want you to be aware that melanoma is a young person's disease. It is the second most common cancer in children and teenagers and one of the most common in young adults, and it can be deadly. I want you to know you're not helpless. This is a cancer that shows itself right there on the outside of you. Start checking your skin. Please, check. Get to know your skin. Get to know your skin. Start checking your skin. If a new mole shows up, or if when you have, starts to change colour or size or shape or feels different. If something seems out of place, get your doctor to have a look as soon as possible. Know what to look for and get help, these are all signs your skin can be developing cancer. You brush your teeth everyday, maybe even floss. Ok, we both know you don't floss, but just once a month I want you to check. It takes 10 minutes. 10 minutes.

Dear 16-year-old me, I do realize you're not actually going to see this, but someone else will, and it'll all make a difference to them.

Dear someone else. Dear somebody else, if you're watching this, send it to a 16-year-old you care about. Send it to anyone who was once 16 or soon will be 16. Send this and check yourself. Educate yourself. You can download tools and information about melanoma here: [www.dcmf.ca]. Share this link. Twit this link. Post this to your Facebook.



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Tuesday 31 May 2011

Greatest Marriage Proposal EVER!!!

Transcription here

My girlfriend Ginny gets taken to the movie theater to see "Fast Five". After a preview for the Hangover 2, a trailer for a movie comes on. A trailer I made of her father and I where I ask her father for her hand in marriage. After he gives me permission, I race off to the theater she is at to ask her to marry me.
What she doesn't know is our familiy and friends are in the theater with her watching the whole thing, along with about 100 strangers ;-)
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Monday 16 May 2011

Obama's speech translated by 3rd ESO students

Obama confirms that Bin Laden is dead and this is his speech translated by 3rd ESO students.

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Sunday 15 May 2011

The earthquake in Lorca

Unfortunately Spain is on BBC News. If you want to read what they say about the earthquake in Lorca click here.

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Tuesday 10 May 2011

The 12 years old world map master

I couldn't avoid showing you this video. If you think it can't be true, look at Lilly showing her Geography skills on Operah!

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Wednesday 20 April 2011

Easter

This is what the Deutsche Welle channel says about Spanish Easter

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Monday 11 April 2011

Food for thought

I have just come across this video and I thought it would be a good idea to let you know about it.The title of the song is "Wear Sunscreen" and the lyrics belong to the essay "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" by Mary Shmich. It is worth listening to...
Isn't it?
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Sunday 27 March 2011

Some sports history

Your new task will consist of writing a profile of a sport or craze. Here, you will find information about Football, Basketball, Tennis, Windsurfing, Skating, Pelota, Cycling, Surfing and Chess.You can also read a page devoted to the Martial Arts. If you need information about a different sport or activity just ask me and I will try to help you.
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Monday 21 March 2011

Some News

This blog has been working since February but this could be its “official presentation”. It is intended for those who want to improve their language skills by reading or listening to actual English, although you can also write.
The design of the blog has kept changing and I would like to talk you about some new things you can find here. Firstly, if you go down the “home page”, below the posts, you can see “The Quote of the Day” which shows a new quote every day together with its author’s name. It is also “Today in History” where you can learn things that happened the same day but in different years.
Below this, there is a funny “School Excuse Generator” which can help you find excuses when you are late or fail an exam. On the left you have also a “text to voice” device which reads aloud any text you paste there. Besides, it can translate it into Spanish.
Then, there is an “International News” page, in which you can know the latest news published by BBC, CNN, USA TODAY and TIME. You can also listen to the news broadcast by REUTERS.
As you can see, little by little, this blog is taking shape and, at the moment, I am thinking over some new things to improve it. I hope you will help me to do it with your suggestions.
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Thursday 24 February 2011

Now, let's go on a trip through Michael Jackson's music.

Once got his flavour, I guess some of you would like to listen to his music. There are plenty of videos about Michael Jackson and it is not easy to choose among them. However, this one mentions his most famous songs from the beginning of his career, but besides, everything is explained by a voice over and its transcription. This will make easier for the students to understand and give them the opportunity to listen to a different English accent.
Enjoy the songs!

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Wednesday 23 February 2011

A flavour of Michael Jackson? This is it!

Today, I am going to present some facts about Michael Jackson. I suppose you all know him but, strange as it may appear, I have come across students who have never heard of him. That is why I have decided to give them the opportunity to know his life and also his career. Here, in this video, you can find a brief summary.

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Wednesday 9 February 2011

Welcome to the Blog!

Welcome to this blog, created as a new teaching and learning experience. It will try to include useful resources for teachers and students of English as a foreign language. Although English will be the language used in the blog, you can feel free to add comments in any language. This is just the beginning and we will be very happy to listen to your opinions and suggestions. They will be taken into account and help us improve the blog. Thank you!
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