ESCUELA DE ARTE KROOM

I am a lucky person. I have many good friends who are also very interesting people. I met Yolanda (Yoli) at school. We were sitting together in Secondary and we were a good team. I liked writing and she liked drawing and painting. Now, I'm probably a frustrated writer and she is a succesful sculptress.She has taken part in important art exhibitions in Spain & The US. She is a businesswoman. She has her own school of art where there are classes of sculpture, painting and some other artistic techniques. Now that my ex conversation students are out of our school, I thought that maybe some of you would be interested in learning something else. You can just have a look at her web-page & blog. Just looking is worthwhile. You'll love her work:

https://estudiodeartekroom.blogspot.com
www.estudiodeartekroom.com

VOCABULARY RELATED TO WEDDINGS

In The British Isles WEDDINGS are a bit different from weddings in Spain. Before that especial day, a couple get ENGAGED so they become FIANCE  (the boy) & FIANCEE (the girl). Before the wedding, boys go out one night called STAG NIGHT  and girls do the same on a HEN NIGHT. On the  WEDDING DAY the protagonists of the celebration are called the BRIDE (The girl) & the GROOM (the boy). The BEST MAN is the equivalent of our "padrino" but he is usually a young man who is the groom's best friend or brother. There is no "madrina" but BRIDE'S MAIDS who dress exactly the same and they are friends or relatives of the Bride. The most important moment after the CEREMONY & at the end of the RECEPTION is THE SPEECHES: The GROOM, THE BEST MAN & other special guests speak funnily or seriously about the BRIDE & the GROOM and their relation. After the wedding, the MARRIED COUPLE make a trip called the HONEY MOON.  I've been to two weddings in Ireland. They were very special. We danced "Macarena" during the BALL "in my honour" (for being Spanish). Well, I would have preferred "La chica de ayer" or "Escuela de calor"... Anyway, I had a fantastic time in both. Irish people & Spanish people love "fiestas" or celebrations in the same way.

There are several links with vocabulary related to weddings. Here are some examples:
http://www.english-at-home.com/vocabulary/marriage-and-wedding-vocabulary/
http://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/images/Vocabulary%20Images/Wedding/Wedding_Vocabulary.html
There are also films which reflect how weddinds are like: Four weddings and a funeral, My best friend's wedding: This scene is unforgetable:  Rupert Everett sings I'll say a little prayer for you:

LA VIDA ES SUEÑO

I have seen some ads in the underground about a new performance of La vida es sueño by Don Pedro Calderón de la Barca, God, what a play!!! I love Segismundo's story since the first time I read the play. I've seen several performances and it's impossible to forget Pedro Mari Sánchez playing one of the most important roles in Literature. I have had a look at the text today and the story is never outdated. That's what makes it universal. We learn that we can change our destiny, that we mustn't judge anybody without knowing the reasons and we learn that education is essential for the development of human beings.

When Segismundo says that life is a dream there is a deep thought behind. Sometimes, when we don't believe what is going on, we  escape from that pain thinking for a short time that it is a dream, a bad dream, a nightmare. La vida es sueño is a perfect story to describe our present society. Now, let me quote those wonderful words:

"Sueña el rico en su riqueza,
que más cuidados le ofrece;
sueña el pobre que padece
su miseria y su pobreza;
sueña el que a medrar empieza,
sueña el que afana y pretende,
sueña el que agravia y ofende,
y en el mundo, en conclusión,
todos sueñan lo que son,
aunque ninguno lo entiende.
Yo sueño que estoy aquí
destas prisiones cargado,
y soñé que en otro estado
más lisonjero, me vi.
¿Qué es la vida?, un frenesí;
¿Qué es la vida?, una ilusión,
una sombra, una ficción.
y el mayor bien es pequeño;
que toda la vida es sueño,
y los sueños, sueños son."

I don't know why but when I think about the famous dialogue of poor Segismundo, I always think about Macbeth's honest definition of life:
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his our upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing"

Perhaps Calderón and Shakespeare are not so far: Is life a dream? Is it fiction? Is it theatre? Is it a tale told by an idiot with no sense? I think that these quotations are very appropiate nowadays, unfortunately. And I think that Literature is a need in every culture. There is much to learn from Literature. Thanks, Don Pedro. Thanks Master Shakerpeare.

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!

Hi, sorry for being out of order for some time. I have lots of work organizing the beginning of the academic year. Well, we are back to school. I will publish posts for my ex-students and new students. Many of you won't have English classes at CEPA Joaquín Sorolla but we will be able to open some groups at the end of September. There is even a possibility to have classes for higher levels in a different way so, be in touch, please.

We are all living hard times. Probably  the only good news around is that ALBERTO CONTADOR  won La Vuelta a España and recuperated his deserved throne but we must be positive and keep on trying new experiences. Welcome to course 2012-2013. You know where I am whenever you need anything and I hope to be the teacher of some of you this course again, hopefully. Anyway I will continue publishing posts for my ex-students as well. THANK YOU ALL FOR FOLLOWING ME SO OFTEN. You give me energy and good will to work. : ) Thanks, thanks, thanks......

Let's start now with a funny lesson of phonetics. My children are teaching me a lot of amusing things in English.  This is the song I LIke to Eat Apples & Bananas. Here you can practise the horrible diphthongs in English. I hope you enjoy it. If you try to sing it and your tongue doesn't twist, that means that you English is fluent. Good luck:

BRAVE

I saw the film Brave the other day. Disney is always amazing, really. In the film you can see a nice portrait of the landscape, customs & magic of Scotland, one of the best places in the world. The music is fantastic. Celtic tunes with pipes, fiddles, lutes and other instruments. There is an example here: Learn me Right (Birdy & The Mumford & Sons)

TEACHERS

These are hard times for our profession. I've been a teacher in our public Educative System since 1996. I have worked in almost 20 high schools in the region. I have lived experiences of all kinds & I have learnt a lot of my students & my workmates. I'm very proud of many teachers I've worked with. They have helped me to LOVE this job & believe me, teachers are not only people that "work 20 hours a week" & "have 2 months holidays". Many teachers are psychologists, confessors, clowns, police-officers, judges, parents, detectives, nurses, actors & guides apart from giving lessons about their especiality (which have studied for 5 years & have passed a hard competitive exam among thousands of candidates).

I can't mention here all the people who have tought me to teach & live teaching but here are some of them: The 1st time I worked in El Sorolla in 2000 I met excellent professionals: Dori, Delicia, Carmen. This year I had the honour to work with Marian, Lucía, Lola, Rocío, Mar & Patxi. In El Jovellanos Olivia & Gema de Jaén made me forget my worst students ever. I worked in El Palomeras for 4 years where I shared good & bad moments with Amalia, David, Pierre, Esther, Susana M. & José Alberto, my twin soul in teaching (& travelling!). Last year I suffered Chinchón with Mª José putting together her sense of humour & my experience to survive. I had very interesting talks about education & life with Fabián (who risked to travel in my car!!), Enrique & Raúl (who risked to take me in theirs!). I also have neighbour teachers, Gema & Óscar, with whom I have spent several evenings solving the problems of our educative system in our pool.

We are TEACHERS. We wear a green T-shirt sometimes because we believe in our work & we WORK FOR OUR STUDENTS & we want to get the best of them. That's our only fault.

Whenever I feel down about the sense of my work, I think about this poem by Celaya, which is more than a therapy for me: Educar... This is for all of you & others. "May the Force be with you".

EDUCAR
Educar es lo mismo
que poner motor a una barca…
hay que medir, pesar, equilibrar…
… y poner todo en marcha.
Para eso,
uno tiene que llevar en el alma
un poco de marino…
un poco de pirata…
un poco de poeta…
y un kilo y medio de paciencia
concentrada.
Pero es consolador soñar
mientras uno trabaja,
que ese barco, ese niño
irá muy lejos por el agua.
Soñar que ese navío
llevará nuestra carga de palabras
hacia puertos distantes,
hacia islas lejanas.
Soñar que cuando un día
esté durmiendo nuestra propia barca,
en barcos nuevos seguirá
nuestra bandera
enarbolada.
Gabriel Celaya