SOMETHING MORE ABOUT SPACE...

On January 10th, 2016 David Bowie passed away, but he left an interesting legacy of songs, videos, art, tolerance and a new way to see life. 

One of his best song ever was  "Space Oddity" released in 1969 during a period of great interest in space flight. The United States' Apollo 11 mission would launch five days later and would become the first manned moon landing another five days after that.

In 2013, the song was covered by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who performed the song while aboard the and therefore became the first music video shot in space. 
It has reached popularity in 2016 because it was used by Lady Heroine for the game "Call of Duty Infinity warfare"

Chris Hadfield ( 1959) was the first Canadian to walk in space, he flew two space shuttle missions and served as commander of the International Space Station. 
He was responsible for a crew of five astronauts and helped to run dozens of scientific experiments dealing with the impact of low gravity on human biology. 
During the mission he also gained popularity by chronicling life aboard the space station and taking pictures of the earth and posting them through social networks and by singing and playing the guitar in space for the first time. 

Before listening and watching the video I'd like you to try to define or give a synonym for the following words that you'll see in the video. 

DETACH       HATCH       GROUND CONTROL      MAKE THE GRADE   

  COUNTDOWN         CAPSULE

 

CULTURE SHOCK

Sometimes it's difficult to go and live or study abroad because of the stereotypes we have or the culture shock we suffer on getting there.
We find it hard to adapt to new customs or traditions, so different from the ones we are used to.
The only thing we always have to bear in mind is RESPECT

This is a sentence by William of Wykeham (1324-1404) and is the motto of Winchester College and New College, Oxford. What do think it means?  What do you understand by "manners" ?

Listen to a famous song by Sting that deals with it and do the following tasks. 

1. Write three customs or personal characteristics he mentions that make him different?

2. Write two pieces of advice he gives you.

3. Complete. __________ and __________ can lead to notoriety
                     __________ and __________ are rare in this society.

4. What does "at night a candle's brighter than the sun"  mean?

5. What qualities should a gentleman have?

6. What doesn't make a man?

"An Englishman in New York" (1987) Sting

Now listen to the song with the lyrics and check your answers. 

1. doesn't drink coffee, but tea / toast done on one side/ English accent/ walking cane

2. "be yourself, no matter what they say" / "confront your enemies, avoid them when you can"

3. modesty-propriety / gentleness, sobriety

4. sometimes in the hardest situations you can stand out not being noticed.

5."a gentleman will walk but never run"   

5. a combat gear, a licence for a gun 

MOTIVATION

We've just started a new year in school and we know it's a bit hard at the beginning, so cheer up, follow the tips and enjoy the songs!

1. THINK POSITIVELY. 
Focus on the positive things you do everyday. See the glass half full.

2. PERFECTION DOESN'T EXIST
You can learn from mistakes 

3. BE REALISTIC IN YOUR GOALS
Be patient and improve gradually

4. CELEBRATE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

5. BE CONFIDENT, TRUST YOURSELF

6. RELAX AND DON'T GET STRESSED OUT. 

Hey Jude, by The Beatles

 

 The Eye of the Tiger by Survivor ( Rocky)

Enjoy Reported Speech

After learning all different types of reported sentences, reporting verbs, linkers etc, it's time to have some fun practising a little. 

1. Listen to a famous song by Suzanne Vega "Luka" and do the activities that follow

A) Explain what Luka tells you in the song; write at least five sentences.
B) Write two examples of reported questions she says.
C) Write two examples of conditional sentences.  

This song is about child abuse; How did you feel when you listened to it? Why does Luka act this way? Would you do the same in that situation?

 Now watch the video with the Lyrics and check your activity

2. "Fifty Ways to Leave your Lover" by Paul Simon: this is the ideal song to practise reported speech. A man a woman talk about the best ways to leave a lover and Paul Simon reports their conversation. Watch the video and complete the worksheet, you can also practise rhyming

 worksheet

3. Watch a video by the British Council; The boys will report the boy's speech and the Girls will report the girl's one. 

What would you tell your boyfriend/ girlfriend if he/she is a slob?  

INTERNATIONAL BOOK DAY

Every April 23rd we celebrate Book Day, did you know that this celebration started in 1995 organised by UNESCO?

This year is a special one as we are celebrating Shakespeare and Cervantes' 400th Death Anniversaries. 

Lots of references about them can be watched or read on the media and social netwoks nowadays. A new First Folio has just been discovered in a house on the Island of Bute in Scotland. 

The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, compiled and published in 1623 by two of Shakespeare's friends (John Heminge and Henry Condell) seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items, they included 36 plays divided in tragedies, comedies and histories even some which hadn't been published before "Macbeth", "The Tempest" and "As You Like It"

There are 234 copies in the world and this manuscript was split  in three for easy reading.

The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-first-folio#sthash.2OJMuUzm.dpuf

We have studied his biography or plays but I think that including some curious facts about "The Bard" could be interesting

• He never attended university but he knew the classics quite well
• Besides being a poet and playwright he was a successful businessman
• He is the second most quoted author after the Bible
• He created more than 1400 characters, 13 of them commited suicide. 
• He introduced more than 3000 words into English, including insults that are used today.

The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-first-folio#sthash.2OJMuUzm.dpuf

The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-first-folio#sthash.2OJMuUzm.dpuf

 If you want to know more about Book Day celebration Click on the UNESCO site and read the Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

"In turbulent times, books embody the human capacity to conjure up worlds of reality and imagination and express them in voices of understanding, dialogue and tolerance. They are symbols of hope and dialogue that we must cherish and defend."  

I can't avoid mentioning here other anniversaries that are important for British Literature this year

• CHARLOTTE'S BRONTË'S 200th birth anniversary(1816)
• ROAL DAHL'S 100th anniversary (1916)

 So I conclude as Shakespeare said: 
 

“Brevity is the soul of wit” (Hamlet)

“Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, 

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

( Romeo and Juliet)

he First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-first-folio#sthash.2OJMuUzm.dpuf so I'd like to include some curious facts

WOMEN'S DAY

Every March 8th we celebrate International Women's Day. As I always do, I've been trying  to include something new this year. 
The UN has organised lots of events, here you have some to know more about it. 

WOMEN FOOTPRINT IN HISTORY 
A timeline where you can meet relevant women in history 

Do you know about other important women in history and their achievents? 

Read this year's UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON'S MESSAGE 

"From The Glass Ceiling To A Carpet Of Shards"

1.      What problems which women suffer in the world are mentioned? 
2.      What do "the glass ceiling" and "a carpet of shards" refer to? 
3.      What actions has the Secretary made in favour of women?
4.      How many Parliaments don’t have women now?
5.       Name two campaigns  who are fighting in favour of women
6.      What do you think of Confucius’ sentence: “ To put the world in order, we must begin in our own circles”.What does it remind you of?  

As you already know, this year's theme is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality” in clear reference to the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 especially 

• No. 5 "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls"
• No. 4 "Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning"

Some of the objectives to achieve for 2030 are:

• By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. 
• By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and preprimary education so that they are ready for primary education.
• End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
• Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
• Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.  

DISCUSS

Do you think these goals could be achieved? 
Which do you think is the most difficult to get? why? 
Do you think girls are discriminated in our society? how? 

* MORE ON GENDER EQUALITY IN MY WEBPAGE: Emma Watson's speech at UN, HeforShe campaign etc.

* TO READ OTHER POSTS WITH ACTIVITIES IN THIS BLOG, CLICK HERE

* WATCH AN OUSTANDING VIDEO BY CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE " We Should all be Feminists" 

 

Counting Stars?

"Counting Stars"  was a hit by OneRepublic in 2013, which was based on a folk song with pop and disco arrangements.
Both the catchy song and the video are extremely popular and lots of parodies have been made about it. 
You can watch the video and complete the following activities

Activities

1.  ACTIVITY ON THE SONG:  Click in the link and complete the blanks in the worksheet

2.  RELATIVE CLAUSES IN THE SONG. 

You have placed two relative sentences in the song in the previous activity, but there are more.  Now you have to change these relatives in red taken from the song and adapt them to your own life. 

Dreaming about the things that we could be.

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive.

Sink in the river the lessons I learned. 

Everything that drowns me makes me want to fly.

I see this life like a swinging vine.( a vine that swings)

As I said before, there are lot of parodies, but one of my favourites is the one featuring Disney Villains. 
You can see the Evil Queen of Snow White, Maleficient from Angelina Jolie's movie, Jafar in Aladdin, Ursula in The Little Mermaid and Captain Hook in Peter Pan, Hades in Hercules, Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmations "said no more counting puppies" while Scar sings he's the one that's "gettin' sleep," because he's the King after all., 

"Lately I been, I been losing sleep dreaming about how evil I could be. But Villains, I been, I been tryin' hard (hey!). It’s tough to climb the ladder when you're counting Scars."