Hello everyone and welcome.
We are back to school after difficult times, more than ever. It has been hard, more than ever, but we will get through this and I hope we have a fantastic accademic year together.
I remember NOW the Chinese mother in Amy Tan's novel. The Joy Luck Club who wants to say to her daughter: "This feather may look worthless but it comes from afar and carries with it all my good intentions. And she waited, year after year, for the day she could tell her daughter this in perfect American English".
I have a feather from the most beautiful swan for you all. I'll give it to you during this course but be patient. I'm busy at the moment but I promise to keep on working on this blog with ALL MY GOOD INTENTIONS.
Welcome back everyone.
Hi my dear students. I hope you are all fine and healthy.
Every year in the English department we focus on an English speaking countries. This year we had chosen CANADA. I will show you some videos so that you know more about that wonderful country.
Let's start with a quote by the Canadian writer MARGARET ATWOOD
Today is St Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's is the Saint Patron of Ireland. In Ireland and other countries there are parades and people wear green clothes. Unfortunately this year most people will be at home but we will go back to celebrate life soon.
Watch this video about it:
George Michael wrote this song in 1990. It belongs to the album Listen without Prejudice. Incredible lyrics but the most incredible thing is that it looks as if it was written in 2016. This is a description of our world, unfortunatelly:
St. Patrick's is the Saint Patron of Ireland. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th. There are parades everywhere and people wear green clothes. The shamrock is the symbol of Ireland.
Watch this and enjoy the day:
So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas (War is Over, if you want it, war is over now)repeat with verse
For weak and for strong
The rich and the poor ones
The road is so long
So happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
THANKSGIVING DAY is the 4th Thursday of November. This is the most important CELEBRATION in the US.It's even more important than CHRISTMAS since this is a Christian celebration and not everybody in the country are Christians. On THANKSGIVING DAY, People in the US have a long weekend and travel to meet their families. They eat ROAST TURKEY.
This celebration started a long time ago when the PILGRIMS who had come from England collected the 1st HARVEST and decided to gather together and invite the Indians who had helped them to survive to have a meal together.
Here are a couple of PILGRIM SQUIRRELS, which I bought in Williamstown in 1993. They are SALT & PEPPER SHAKERS. You can buy anything related to THANKSGIVING in all the shops in the country these days.
If you want to have more information about this celebration, check the Wikipedia:
Today is GUY FAWKES NIGHT. It's a festival celebrated in Britain. It's also called BONFIRE NIGHT, CRACKER NIGHT AND FIREWORKS NIGHT. As you can imagine, there are bonfires and fireworks in many places. This festival commemorates the failure of the GUNPOWDER PLOT. In 1605 a group of Catholics tried to blow up Westminster Palace and kill King James I. Guy Fawkes was of of those men. Nowadays people make cloth "Guys" and burn them in the bonfires. Children also carry "Guys" with them and go out asking for "a penny for the Guy". They also say this rhyme:
"Remember remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder Treason &Plot
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot"
Activity for Sergio & his friends: Tomorrow is Halloween. Have you made a Jack O'Lantern this year?. Here are some links you can click to do activities related to Halloween.
Enjoy them: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/
Some Mums at my children' school have done a fantastic blog called "Estudiando con ellos". which is helping me to work with my son at home. Today I've seen a great post with recipes for Halloween written by Marivi. Have a look at it. It's worthwhile:
HALLOWEEN is an important CELEBRATION in English speaking countries. It's celebrated on the night of October the 31st. It has a Celtic origin.The Celts used to celebrate the end of the Summer on a festival called Samhain. The word Halloween comes from the expression All Hallows Eve, which means the day before the dead. Then it was associated to the Christian celebration of All Saints' Day, which is on November the 1st.
The Irish and Scottish immigrants took the celebration to the United States, where it became so popular and now with the globalization it is EVEN celebrated in Spain. People only want to have fun so it is a great excuse for that.
How do people celebrate Halloween? Well, children are the protagonists. They wear HORROR COSTUMES related to the dead and witchcraft: GHOSTS, SKELETONS, WITCHES, VAMPIRES. In the evening they go out in groups and play TRICK OR TREAT. People give them sweets otherwise the children will play a trick on them!
People decorate their houses with a JACK O'LANTERN, which is an empty PUMPKIN with a candle inside. In fact there are Jack O'Lanterns and other decorations everywhere. Not only in homes but in shops & the streets. You can see BLACK CATS, BATS and orange PUMPKINS all around.
Adults also go to parties at night and they wear costumes too.
Children eat CANDY APPLES. People also make PUMPKIN PIES and PUMPKIN BREAD, which are delicious.
Javier Reverte is a Spanish journalist and writer. He loves travelling and his travel books have given him fame and good reviews but he also writes novels, poems, scripts for TV and short essays.
He was born in Madrid in 1944. He studied journalism and philosophy. He has worked as a journalist and newspaper correspondent for over 20 years.
He considers himself as a writer who travels. He loves travelling as a passion and he has travelled widely and deeply all over the world. In his books he describes his experiences as a traveller together with a careful analysis of the history of the places he visits. He also gives the readers information about the lives of unforgettable travellers and explorers. His narrative is fresh and vivid. The reader can feel the heat of Africa, the cold of the North Pole, the sound of the sea from a ship. Among his travel books we canhighlight Trilogía de Africa (El sueño de Africa, Vagabundo en Africa and Los caminos perdidos de Africa), El corazón de Ulises ( a trip to Greece, Turkey and Egypt), La Aventura de viajar, El río de la desolación (a trip on the Amazon river), El río de la luz ( a trip in Alaska and Canada rafting the Yukon river), En mares salvajes ( a trip to the Artic Ocean crossing the Northwest Passage). Colinas quearden, lagos de fuego (Africa, again), which I have enjoyed too.
His last travel book that has been published is Canta Irlanda, which is a book that reflects the personality and the poetry of Ireland wonderfully. I think that we both have in common the love for Ireland.
He has also written novels such as the Trilogía de Centroamérica, Muerte a destiempo, La noche detenida, Todos los sueños del mundo, Venga a nosotros tu reino, Barrio Cero (superb!), La canción de Mbama (magical). He has been awarded with several literature prizes.
If I had another life, I'd like to be a travel writer like him with his skill for getting the reader in the place and make us travel with our imagination, which is an interesting way of travelling, too.
Activity for all my students: the use of Simple Past Tense
Enrique Urquijo has always been one of my favourite musicians. I still listen to his songs very often and they bring me good memories. His voice, his lyrics, his deep eyes, his sadness, his shy smile, his life are somewhere in my heart and will always be there.
Enrique Urquijo was born in Madrid on the 15th February 1960. He started loving & playing music at school. He started a band with his brothers Javier and Alvaro as well as his friend Canito, who played the drums. They founded the band Tos in 1978. On the night of New Year's Eve 1979 Canito died in a car accident. Later a concert as a homage to him called: "Concierto Homenaje a Canito" in February 1980 was considered the beginning of La Movida madrileña. Then the band changed their name as well as some members and were calledLos Secretos. They published 15 records. They had a successful career. Enrique was a composer, singer, bass player and guitar player. He wrote songs which are essential in the history the Spanish pop music such as Déjame, Sobre un vidrio mojado, No me imagino, Volver a ser un niño, Quiero beber hasta perder el control, Buena chica, Ojos de gata, Y no amanece, Por la calle del olvido, Adios tristeza, Agárrate fuerte a mí María, A tu lado.
He started an alternative band to experiment with versions of songs of La Movida and include rancheras, fados and other types of music. This band was calledLos Problemas and they published two lovely records in 1993 and 1998.
Enrique was a very sensitive man. He suffered from depression and took drugs. He died dramatically in Madrid on the 17th November 1999. All his fans were absolutely shocked and terribly sad.
I saw him in lots of concerts from the 80s to almost his death. He played in big concerts halls with LosSecretos and in small pubs with Los Problemas. I met him once in a pub in Moncloa. There were very few people in the pub. I was with my cousins and a friend. He was alone. Los Secretos had launched their LP Continuará. We were talking for a while about his new record and music. He was so polite and down to earth. He signed an autograph for me with a drawing that I lost later!!! "It is only a piece of paper" as Santiago Auserón told me in another occasion. I won't ever forget that night where I could talk to my idol as a nornal person. Maybe that's the reason why he wrote "Pero cómo explicar que me vuelvo vulgar al bajarme de cada escenario". He was not vulgar at all. He was a normal guy, not a star, although he was a genius.
Once he was playing in a pub and there was a drunk woman spoiling his concert a little. He was respectful and patient with her. He was a gentleman. I wish he would have lived longer. There were still so many beautiful songs to write. Sixteen years after his death many people still miss him... The Bands Tos Secret & Emision Zero will make a tribute concert on the 21st Nov. in Madrid
Los Secretos: Quiero beber hasta perder el control
Enrique Urquijo y Los Problemas:Desde que no nos vemos
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players" William Shakespeare
I love this quote. It's so true. I know it has been long since the last time I wrote here. The end of the academic year is always hard but last year it was even harder. It was my last year at the CEPA Joaquín Sorolla, where I had been the Head Teacher for four years and where I left almost all my energy. Then I was obliged to be a member of the board in the competitive exams for English teachers and then I tried to enjoy my unforgettable Summer in Ireland with my family and my Irish friends for more than twenty years.
My professional life has changed lately. The destiny has brought me back to the high school where I studied a long time. I am a teacher this time an I take part in the bilingual programme for Secondary education, which sound so exciting. I need aims to give some sense to my life, I need to follow a lighthouse. Teaching Literature and working in this project is an interesting goal that makes me feel alive.
This is a new stage in my life. I am ready for that but the memories of those four years there and in other schools since I started teaching in 1996 will be with me forever giving me strength and wisdom.
This is neither the first nor the second time I write about my friend Elvira in this blog. Her cakes and cupcakes are absolutely perfect. She is the responsible of my lately bakery addition although I'm still far from her mastery.
This is the CHOCOLATE CAKE she makes. I have also made it several times and it is delicious.
Enjoy the video. This lady is a great cook and she explains the whole recipe in a very clear and enthusiastic way:
