Archive for 2014

Christmas traditions around the world

http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/christmas/intermediate/christmas-traditions.html

How do people celebrate Christmas in different parts of the world?

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TV Programmes

Have a look at the activities our teaching assistant, Kerry Wilkin, planned for class.


 


Note:
Many thanks to Kerry for letting me post them :)






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Talking about myself

In order to evaluate speaking, the students made a video with the following information:

- name and age
- where they are from
- their family
- their likes and dislikes
- what they do in their free time
- physical description
- their personality
- what they want to do in the future

Here you are some of them:











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Excalibur, Teresa 's dog

(By Kerry Wilkin)


The pet dog belonging to Spanish nurse Teresa Romero Ramos, who was hospitalized after contracting Ebola earlier this week, was euthanized on Wednesday afternoon as a precaution to prevent the spread of the virus, despite calls from protestors to save the animal. Veterinarians at the the Laboratory for Biological Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid performed the procedure.

In a statement, lead veterinarian Javier Rodríguez explained that Excalibur was sedated during the procedure and did not suffer, El Mundo reports.

While the loss of a loved pet is sad, the risk that Ebola could be carried by household pets isn't zero. A 2005 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests there is a risk that dogs could become infected with Ebola and transmit the virus to humans. "Human infection could occur through licking, biting, or grooming," the report states.

And there was cause for concern: Sick with a fever from the virus, Teresa Romero had spent a week at home with Excalibur before checking into a hospital. Her husband, Javier Limón, was placed in isolation, although he has shown no symptoms of Ebola.

"It seems unfair," Romero wrote. "If you are really worried about this problem, I think you can find another type of alternative solution, such as putting the dog in quarantine and observation, as it has me. Or maybe you will have to sacrifice me, just in case. But of course, with a dog, it's easier, it doesn't matter as much."

The dog's death is sad news for Romero and Limón, as well as the more than 300,000 people who signed an online petition to save him. Protestors also started a trend on Twitter using the hashtag #SalvarAExcalibur, Spanish for 'save Excalibur.'

According to the World Health Organization, more than 3,400 people have died and more than 7,400 been infected since the Ebola outbreak began in March.


(Adapted fromm Business Insider and Yahoo news)

I would like to thank Kerry, our language and culture assistant, for her contribution. 
 

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Hidden cash

Read the following extracts from different newspaper articles and answer the questions below:

 June 21, 2014  

"American millionaire Jason Buzi posted a series of clues on the @HiddenCash Twitter page to lead people to the money.



Crowds descended on Kensington gardens in west London after Jason Buzi, who first started hiding money in San Francisco, posted a series of clues on the @HiddenCash Twitter page.
Those lucky enough to find the envelopes, which contained £50 each, were then asked to post pictures of themselves online.
A total of 20 envelopes were hidden in the social experiment".                                  
                                                                                                                   Adapted from here
                                                      
Sunday, 06 July 2014

 

"An American millionaire hid €1,300 in Madrid for the general public to find.
Real-estate investor Jason Buzi, otherwise known online as the ‘Robin Hood of Twitter’ hid the small fortune in 26 envelopes and provided clues about their location, sending people on a frantic treasure hunt.
Hundreds of Madrid residents flocked to the Parque del Retiro trying to find one of the envelopes containing €50 each. The hopefuls looked under every rock, behind every tree and even among the bushes.
Using the Twitter account @hiddencash, Buzi tweeted clues about where he had hidden the money and encouraged anyone who found one to tweet a picture of the envelope.
Not even the rain that hit Madrid last Thursday (July 3) deterred the treasure hunters. @hiddencash tweeted: “Heavy rain and storm in Madrid. Hope envelopes don’t get wet! Wet money is still good money :)”
Those who were not so lucky still had a good time. “Even if we did not find anything, it was a lot of fun, because you are outdoors and have a blast,” said one of them.
The Palo Alto-born property magnate has been repeatedly accused of having turned charity into a social media competition. Buzin said he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth and that he was simply giving something back to society.
He describes his acts of giving as an experience for good and actually encourages people to “pay it forward” by giving the money to someone in need".
                                                                                                          From Euroweeklynews

16 July 2014


"Malaga City Hall are considering taking legal action against the organisers of Hidden Cash. The social media craze hit the city on Saturday. They claim that the event has cost the city €2,000 in damages.
The  anonymous social experience for good,’ is the baby of millionaire Jason Buzi, in which envelopes are hidden around a city, each containing €50 in cash.Cash hunters receive clues on Twitter on the whereabouts of these envelopes and race to collect the prize.






The event has gone smoothly in cities such as Madrid, New York and London. However, the Malaga version has been described as chaotic.
It was set to take place on Saturday, however, the clues on the Twitter feed didn’t start until 4pm. Locals had already been looking in a local park for hours after receiving a false tip-off that the 50 envelopes were located there. Frustrated by the confusion and lack of success, locals trampled plants, ripped up manhole covers and emptied rubbish bins as they searched.
 The envelopes were actually located in Gibralfaro Castle, with some locals finding them with sheer luck or word of mouth. Even though the lucky ones were tweeting pictures on their personal pages with their prizes, no news was given on the events official twitter page. Hence, hundreds of Malaga residents continued to hopelessly tear through the city.
This comes just days after $5,000 (€3,693) in damage was inflicted on a Californian park after the hunt. Organisers responded to the ensuing criticism by tweeting “Thank you to our supporters and to our critics - you should know we are only motivated by the best intentions.”

                                                                                                                Taken from Euroweeklynews
Questions:

1. Were you in Málaga when the event of the "hidden money" took place? Did you go round the city so as to try to find the money? Tell us your experience and/or opinion about it.
2. Does money bring happiness?


By the way, welcome to a New School Year! It will be great to learn with you and from you... as usual...

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Literature in the 20th century

Life in Britain in the 20th century.

English and American writers

T. S. Eliot. His life and work.


Auden. Life and poems
Henry James. His life and work.

 Joseph Conrad. His biography

John Buchan. His biography

James Joyce

Evelyn Waugh

Bernard Shaw
 

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Literature in the 19th century

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Literature in the 18th century

Videoconferencia de la profesora María Luisa Venegas Lagüéns sobre la literatura británica del siglo XVIII.


Auld Lang Syne
 
English writers 

All the writers/ Todos los escritores.


The birth of the United States of America


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The thirty nine steps quiz

(By Ariana, Paula, Ángel and Salvador)

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World War I

After reading the thirty nine steps by John Buchan, some students looked for some information about it and created the following exercises using Hot potatoes:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/70574525/World%20War%20One.htm


(By Pablo, Joaquín and Ángel)

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The "extraordinary English learner"

Read this post from RealLife  and tell us which of the following mistakes in the list you make and what you "promise" to do so as to become "an extraordinary English learner" :)


reallifeglobal.com/12-ways-to-be-a-mediocre-and-unsuccessful-english-learner

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Have a laugh!




Hilarious, isn't it? You can hear many more  in Cadena 100 .
Here you have Daniel Acevedo's twitter too, just in case you want to follow him :)

Thanks to our Education Inspector, Estrella, for the information. I had never heard about it before!

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Texting

Have a look at this interesting site about texting and messaging vocabulary. 

Then, click on the image and match the messages with their meanings.

http://www.esolcourses.com/vocabulary/messaging/picture-quiz.html

Now, it's your turn, text messages to each other and reply!



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Weird restaurants

Our second and last contribution





Thanks a bunch to my students from the HVC in Sign Language . They did a great job :)

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Unusual food

Our contribution to a project on healthy eating being carried out by the teachers from the bilingual course.

 

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Book reviews





Many thanks to Alberto and Víctor for letting me post their work.

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Bic pens for women

BIC company has just launched a new line of ball pens just for women. Unbelievable, isn't it?. Watch what this stand up comedian, Ellen DeGeneres, has to say about it.


Your opinion?

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The science of happiness

Watch the video and answer the questions below:




1. What makes you feel good?
2. Do you think we can learn how to be happier?
3. Which good things in your life are you grateful for?

I would like to thank Alberto for the idea and the link!

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Personal profile

I told my students to give me information about themselves: name, age, family, where they are from, likes and dislikes, interesting things they do ...


(By Francisco Javier Montilla)

(Background music : Destiny by Galdson from Jamendo)

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