Ready, steady... Christmas!! Enjoy!!

Sing along with ROBBIE WILLIAMS:

WHITE CHRISTMAS

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten and children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

With every Christmas card I write

"May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmases be white"

(I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten and children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow)

(I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

With every Christmas card I write

Merry what...??????

Listen to Sergio Ramos and try to understand his English:  

Now you know how teachers feel when you speak Spanglish...

Aaaaand... this is what he was supposed to say:
 “Hi, we hope all of you have a great time playing football at Real Madrid Fundation School. Merry Christmas and happy new year”

QUIZ winners.

ESO QUIZ: María Sobrino Coello - 4º ESO A

WHO WAS SHOT IN THE HEAD IN MAY 2011? Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al_Qaeda was shot in his head on May2nd, 2011


BACH QUIZ:  Julián Lomba - 2º BACH B

WHAT WAS PULLED ALIVE FROM THE RUBBLE OF AN APARTMENT BUILDING IN EASTERN TURKEY? When? What had happened?

A two-week-old baby girl named Azra was pulled alive from the rubble caused by the earthquake that hit Turkey in October 2011. The baby was rescued 46 hours after the earthquake. After the rescuing, she was given back to her mother.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition

AMONGST OUR WEAPONS = ENTRE NUESTRAS ARMAS
FEAR = MIEDO
SURPRISE = SORPRESA
RUTHLESS EFFICIENCY = EFICIENCIA DESPIADADA
READ THE CHARGES = LEER LOS CARGOS
HOW DO YOU PLEAD? = ¿CÓMO SE DECLARA?
RACK = ESTANTE METÁLICO, PARRILLA

Remarkable people

William Kamkwamba, an example to all of us:

William Kamkwamba (born August 5, 1987) is a Malawian inventor and author. He gained fame in his country when, in 2002, he built a windmill to power a few electrical appliances in his family's house in Masitala using blue gum trees, bicycle parts, and materials collected in a local scrapyard. 

From Wikipedia,

WINDMILL = MOLINO DE VIENTO
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES = APARATOS ELÉCTRICOS
SCRAPYARD = DESGUACE

"I tried, and I made it (...)

Trust yourself and believe; whatever happens, don't give up."

Learn languages with Facebook!

We are already more than 18 000, "Facebook Conversation Club" starts in 

about 2 weeks! 

Right here on Facebook! Join us and invite your friends (it will be a lot of fun 

together) 

                        http://www.facebook.com/events/302916076485507/

Teaching is...

50 ways to take a break.

Unfortunately you have to study  a lot for next term exams during this long weekend but... don't forget to take a break once in a while. Here you have some ideas:

Rules...

Learn languages chatting on FACEBOOK!

Evento público · De English is Fun

To speak a new language, you have to SPEAK it. So, English is Fun is launching a "Conversation Club" right here on Facebook, where you will be able to speak a new language (or more), for FREE, anytime you want. It will be a lot of FUN. All you have to do is to JOIN the event, and you will get the ACCESS when it starts.

Invite your friends to practice new languages together. We'll invite as more native speakers (of different languages) as possible. To make great progress, we need to get as more participants as possible.

Are you an early bird?

What happens if you lose self- confidence.

• 
  According to psychologist Martin Seligman, learned helplessness is the state of mind created when an animal or human being learns to behave helplessly, even with the means to escape or avoid an unpleasant situation. 
  
  
  HELP-LESS-NESS = indefensión
  BEHAVE = comportarse
  HELP-LESS-LY = con impotencia, sin fuerzas
  UN-PLEASANT = desagradable
  
  
  Watch this interesting video and see what happens when you lose self-confidence:
  
  
  
  
  Definition of learned helplessness  (Oxford Dictionaries)

  
  
  
  
  

  noun

  [mass noun] Psychiatry

  • a condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed. It is thought to be one of the underlying causes of depression.
    
    
    POWER-LESS-NESS = impotencia
    FAILURE = fallo, fracaso

    
    
    

    ................................NEVER UNDERVALUE YOURSELF!

  
  

Mark Twain, about teaching...

2º BACH's headache: GERUND or INFINITIVE?

Difficult TO understand? TRY practisING  these:
.......

GERUND &INFINITIVE EXERCISES - Ege Academy Blog                     

DIFFERENT MEANINGS - imparareinglese

GERUNDS and INFINITIVES TUTORIAL - English Page

GERUNDS/INFINITIVES - Study Zone

GERUNDS/INFINITIVES Practice - English Quizzes.com

GERUNDS and INFINITIVES TEST - English Page

...............

Useful proverbs

Obama makes history, again.

Americans elected President Barack Obama to a second term. 

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama rode a wave of broad support from moderates, women and minorities to win re-election Tuesday by defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

DEFEAT = derrotar

CHALLENGER = contendiente, aspirante al título

"Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come," Obama said to prolonged cheers.

Remember, remember the fifth of November...

 Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Among them was Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor. 

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.

RULE = mandato
TURN OUT = resultar

(...) The thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. 

BLOW UP = estallar, hacer volar
(...) But Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder.

IGNITE THE POWER = prender fuego a la pólvora

(...) On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night.

FOIL = frustar
BONFIRE = hoguera

...........................................................................From: http://www.bonfirenight.net/gunpowder.php 

This fragment of the movie "V for Vendetta" shows the beginning of a very old traditional rhyme which says (in one of its versions):

Remember, remember the fifth of November        
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot.
A stick or a stake for King James' sake
Will you please to give us a fagot
If you can't give us one, we'll take two;
The better for us and the worse for you!

Happy Halloween!

Do you like BASKETBALL? Enjoy with Uncle Drew!

 Pepsi MAX went to a pick-up game in Bloomfield, New Jersey  pretending to shoot a documentary on a basketball player named “Kevin.” When his Uncle Drew came into the game, some magical things happened...

PICK-UP GAME = juego espontáneo
PRETEND = fingir
SHOOT = rodar, filmar

NBA Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving  endured hours of make-up to be transformed into an old man — ‘Uncle Drew’ — and then showed up at a street basketball game in New Jersey to school the ‘youngbloods’. 

ROOKIE = novato, principiante
ENDURE = soportar
SHOW UP = aparecer
SCHOOL = instruir

At first Drew performed as an old man — little mobility, atrocious bricks and general incompetence. Then he starts to loosen up,   with awesome jumpers, handling the ball like a yoyo and rising for ferocious slams  while flabbergasted defenders and spectators watch in disbelief.

PERFORM = actuar, comportarse
BRICK = (ladrillo, ladrillazo). Lanzamiento con mucha fuerza que rebota en el tablero o en el aro y se va muy lejos.
AWESOME JUMPER =  saltos increíbles
HANDLE = manejar
SLAM = mate
FLABBERGASTED = atónito

Especially for 1º ESO: Star size comparison

Hi, 1º ESO pupils! I know you are studying galaxies, stars and planets this month . I hope you'll enjoy this interesting video 

AMAZING STARS

What can we do to save our planet?

Just think about it...

2º Bach, please...

October 2nd, International Day of Non-Violence

Established by the United Nations, the International Day of Non-Violence is held on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He became one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900's. GandhiJi helped free the Indian people from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is honored by Indians as the father of the Indian Nation.

The Indian people called Gandhiji  'Mahatma', meaning Great Soul. At the age of 13 Gandhi married Kasturba, a girl the same age. Their parents arranged the marriage. The Gandhis had four children. Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice. In 1893 he took on a one-year contract to do legal work in South Africa (...)

He developed a method of action based upon the principles of courage, nonviolence and truth called Satyagraha (...) Satyagraha promoted nonviolence and civil disobedience as the most appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals. In 1915 Gandhi returned to India. Within 15 years he became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement.

Using the principles of Satyagraha he led the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in South Africa and India. 

He was assassinated in Delhi on January 30, 1948, by a Hindu fanatic 

BRITISH RULE = DOMINIO BRITÁNICO.........DEVELOP = DESARROLLAR

SOUL = ALMA.......................................................UPON = SOBRE
ARRANGE = ARREGLAR, DISPONER..............COURAGE = VALOR
LAW = LEY (DERECHO)

http://www.indianchild.com/mahatma_gandhi.htm

........

Do you think that studying ESO-BACH is hard? Really?

Dashrath Manjhi : Mountain Man
Dashrath Majhi's wife, Falguni Devi, died due to lack of medical treatment because the nearest town with a doctor was 70 km away from their village.

Hence he carved a 360 feet long, 30 feet high and 25 feet wide passage through Gehlour hills with a hammer, chisel and nails working day and night for 22 years from 1960 to 1982. His feat reduced the distance between Atri and Wazirganj blocks of Gaya district from 75 km to just one km, bringing him international acclaim. 

DUE TO = DEBIDO A.......................HAMMER = MARTILLO
LACK OF = FALTA DE.....................CHISEL = CINCEL
HENCE = DE AHÍ............................NAIL =UÑA
CARVE = TALLAR, CINCELAR..........FEAT = HAZAÑA
FOOT = (medida) PIE (30,48 cm) ......ACCLAIM = RECONOCIMIENTO
PASSAGE = CORREDOR, PASILLO

From:  Weird World

English is fun, isn't it?

Some useful help.

25s in Madrid

Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- Thousands of protesters fed up with the country's austerity measures demonstrated here Tuesday outside the congressional building.

Clashes between police and demonstrators in central Madrid's Neptuno Square resulted in 28 people being hurt, two of them police officers, a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said 22 people among the estimated crowd of 6,000 had been arrested.

Demonstrators said police were shooting into the crowd with rubber bullets; the police would not comment.

"We have you surrounded," some demonstrators sang. "We have no fear."

At one point, Spanish police charged demonstrators with batons to prevent them from approaching the parliament, which was in session (...)

FED UP = HARTO

AUSTERITY MEASURES = MEDIDAS DE AUSTERIDAD

DEMOSTRATE =  MANIFESTARSE

CONGRESSIONAL BUILDING = EDIFICIO DEL CONGRESO

CLASH = ENFRENTAMIENTO

SPOKESMAN = PORTAVOZ

CROWD = MULTITUD

RUBBER BULLETS = BALAS DE GOMA

WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED = OS TENEMOS RODEADOS

BATON = PORRA

PREVENT FROM = IMPEDIR

APPROACH = ACERCARSE

Learning may be FUNNY.

SMART:  listo (Am English) - elegante (Br E)

SMART-er : comparative of SMART (=más inteligente)

It is smarter TO TRAVEL in groups : to-infinitive AFTER adjectives

Welcome back to school.

I know it is hard...

... for pupils and... for teachers as well

BUT:

Have a great summer!

Head voice vs. heart voice

Check the NOUN suffixes: 

- From adjectives...

- From verbs...

- From adjectives or verbs...

		NOUNS
ADJECTIVES + …	-ness  -ity
VERBS + …	-tion / -sion
ADJECT/VERBS + …	-ment -ance /-ence
NOUNS + …	-hood -ship

Respect...

Who said English is difficult?

And now, the GOOD one:

Ineptocracy

Good grammar, good meaning.