HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

As I have told you several times. Valentine's Day is celebrated in English speaking countries in a more extended way than here. People send cards to all the people they love and towns and cities are decorated with love so there is a magical atmosphere everywhere.I usually write posts on celebrarions in this blog so I do it again now. This year I have chosen...
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

THE JOY LUCK CLUB BY AMY TAN

We, philologists, are a kind of people who like rereading books over and over again. It also happens to other people and not ony with books but also with films, art shows and so on. This year, when I was teaching my Acceso students in class,  I remembered the beginning of a novel that was an impact for me when I read it for the first time in 1993 in Massachusetts: The Joy Luck Club by the Asian-American writer Amy Tan. So in the next class I gave them the text and we worked it together. The power of her words full of meanings evoking the past and far away lands as well as expressing the inmense love of  mothers to  daughters and the the hope of a better life in the land where the dreams can come true is overwhelming in that text. Here it is if you want to read it:

https://app.box.com/s/twbq4tufm9o8wwemqqkf

 After reading this I decided to read the novel again and I found  it  superb. It is the story of four mothers born in China and for daughters born in the US and we can see the cultural contrasts and the bonds between these women written in a sensitive poetic style.
Amy Tan dedicated her first novel : To my mother and the memory of her mother" and she adds these deep words: "You asked me once what I would remember. This, and much more" and the novel starts like this filling he reader with great expectations.
Amy Tan is an American writer who was born in California in 1952. Her parents were immigrants from China. The Loy Luck Club is her first novel published in 1989 and she has published other well written novels such as: The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, The Opposite of Fate and Saving Fish from Drowning . All of them are translated into Spanish. If you read any of them, you will hook up, I'm sure.
She has beautiful quotations, among them I choose this: "Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone"

THE EARTH

Activity for Sergio and his friends at 3º primaria.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM has a star, the SUN, planets (MERCURY, VENUS, THE EARTH, MARS, JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS & NEPTUNE) and SATELLITES ( THE MOON)
THE EARTH is our planet and it has LAYERS: the ATMOSPHERE (air), the HYDROSPHERE (water), the BIOSPHERE (living organisms) & the GEOSPHERE ( a big ball of rock with layers too: the CRUST, the MANTLE and the CORE)

The Sun, the Earth and the Moon move. That's why the Moon has different shapes: the PHASES OF THE MOON: WAXING CRESCENT, FULL MOON, WANING CRESCENT and NEW MOON. You can make the Moon Phases with Oreo cookies:

As the Earth moves, that's why there are four SEASONS: SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN & WINTER:

What's your favourite season? Sergio's is Winter!! because he loves Christmas :  )

This is a song you have listen to in class, it's taken from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ-qLUIj_A0

10,000 PAGEVIEWS!!!

I can't believe it. This was a real challenge. I started this blog on a course to get my credits for sexenios two years ago and I must confess that I was very suspicious about it. Then little by little I became hooked. I decided to have a unique blog for my students, my friends, my kids, my likes instead of sepatate ones. I am a single person and I am a mixture of all the bits of me. That's why my blog tries to represent myself with all those bits.
I just want to THANK all of you from the ones who have clicked only once to the ones who have followed this blog from the very beginning, those of you who have helped me to create it, those of you who have given advise to me or have made proposals, those of you who have inspired me with your work, your ideas and your love, those of you who have shared experiences with me that are reflected in some posts and those of you who are obligued to enter for homework.
You can see a view of Howth in Ireland in the background of the page.
I feel very happy. THANKS A MILLION!
I feel like dancing this songs which reminds me so many parties in Madrid, Cogolludo, Dublin and Massachusetts: Donna Summer, Last Dance (from Youtube) for U all because "I need you by me, beside me, to guide me, to hold me and even to scold me":

C.V. IN ENGLISH

It's useful to have a C: V: or resume in English nowadays. I have found some interesting tips on the Internet you can check:

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/cvsamples/a/blsamplecv.htm

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/cvsamples/a/cvsample.htm

http://orientacion-laboral.infojobs.net/ejemplo-curriculum-ingles

http://www.modelocurriculum.net/wp-content/eu-cv_en.pdf

THE SILVER BEATS (MÁLAGA)

Well, I'm back & stronger!!
The best thing of my Christmas holidays is going to Fuengirola and see the sun there. It's is always a wonderful experience. This year we have discovered a band from Málaga called The Silver Beats who are a tribute band of the Beatles and also play songs by Elvis and others. They are fantastic. Sergio is a fan of the Beatles now thanks to them. Here is a bit of them from youtube. I hope you like it. Learning English through music is fun and enriching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ir57EMGA6Y&list=PL0B07C12A530200C0&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF9TLSYMKzE&list=PL0B07C12A530200C0