Saint Patrick's Day

On March 17th people all over the world celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. It is the date when he is supposed to have died in Downpatrick, Ireland.
We know he was born English, captured by Irish pirates who made him a slave, later he became a bishop and converted Ireland into Christianity using the shamrock as the symbol of Trinity. 
There are lots of legends attributed to him such as he banned the snakes from Ireland (snakes were a pagan symbol of druids really). 
I don't want to bore you with history, if you are interested in knowing more about it you can click in this link: History of Saint Patrick
The Day started to be celebrated with parades in New York city 10 years after US Independence from the British in 1776.
Today I just want to comment some symbols related to this Festival. 

THE SHAMROCK ( Seamroy for the Celts) 
As I said before, this clover is associated to Saint Patrick and therefore to Ireland, because the Saint used it to explain the mystery of  Trinity to pagan people ( three in one: Father, Son and Holy Spirit) , later it became a symbol of nationalism.

GREEN 

 Green is a colour associated to Saint Patrick's Day. People wear green, dye rivers in green (Chicago)  etc, but at the beginnig the colour for that that day was blue. In the 18th century green became more popular because of different reasons: the clovers which are green, Ireland was called the "Emerald Island" because it's so green, green was the colour representing the catholics in their flag and Leprechauns can't pintch you if you wear green. 

IRISH MUSIC

 Irish music is played in Irish pubs all over the world.  Irish People are very musical, they like singing, dancing and playing music. Music represents their ancient traditions (The Celts had an important oral tradition and used songs and music to tell stories and culture) Celtic music and language were forbidden by the English. 
Nowadays there are important Irish bands (The Chieftains) who try to bring to live the old tunes and instruments such as  the fiddle, the uilleann pipes (a sort of elaborate bagpipe), the tin whistle (a sort of flute that is actually made of nickel-silver, brass or aluminum) and the bodhran (an ancient type of framedrum that was traditionally used in warfare rather than music).
Other famous Irish bands are U2, The Corrs, Sinead O'Connor etc.

THE LEPRECHAUN ( Lobaircin for the Celts) 

It comes from an ancient Celtic belief about tiny men, good or bad, with magical powers. Leprechauns were crazy fellows, whose task was mending the shoes of the fairies. Leprechauns are known to be treacherous and tricky specially when it comes to protect their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

CABBAGE AND CORNED BEEF

Irish main diet was based on potatoes and all kind of stews but there is one which has become famous mainly among Irish inmigrants to USA. It includes potatoes, carrots, beef and cabbage. If you have it with a pint of Guinness, better. 

  More recipes here

ENJOY THE DAY!  

Christmas is coming

Christmas is just around the corner full of good wishes, food, lights, presents etc, but we often forget the real meaning of Christmas and that lots of people can't or just really don't feel like celebrating it. 
I have chosen some quotes and a video by John Lennon to give you some food for thought. 

1. What do you think Churchill meant with "a season of reflection?

2.  Some people don't consider politically correct to wish Merry Christmas to others and they just wish "happy holidays" or "happy season" Do you agree?  

3.  Do you think Christmas is getting "too commercial" nowadays? 

Some people can't celebrate Christmas for different reasons and we shoud dedicate some time to think about them. 
This is what John Lennon and Yoko Ono did when they wrote and sang this special Christmas song in 1971. 
Happy Xmas ( War is Over) was performed with the Harlem Community Choir and it  was also a protest song against the Vietnam War.
As a peace activist, Lennon said when he wrote the song: "I understand what you have to do: Put your political message across with a little honey."
 The video, released in 1990, includes images of their billboard campaign against war all over the world, with their son Sean and the choir. This song has had lots of covers by different artists.

You can see the lyrics here with an activity to complete. Worksheet
Another version of the video was released later with hard images of the war 

 Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone!

Keep calm and use good grammar

Some weeks ago I watched a funny video (thanks Paul Kelly for sharing) by "Weird Al" Yankovic called "Word Crimes" this video is a parody of the song " Blurred lines" by Robin Thicke and was recorded in 2013. 
All Yankovic is really concerned about proper use of grammar and has campaigned against bad use in songs, posters, ads and social media. He considers himself a "grammar nerd"

In this video he mocks on line commenters, misspelling, abuse of numbers instead of letters, language on SMS, punctuation etc. 

 Watch the video and write down as many mistakes which are mentioned as you can.  

A WORTHY AD

I have come across a viral ad that I consider worthy to share and talk about with my students.
It an advertisement from Swedish Railways (SJ) by TBWA\Stockholm which challenges gender roles with Paul's transformative journey.

1. Can you describe what you saw? 
2. What is the main purpose of the ad? 
3. Why do you think this video has gone viral? 
4. How does it make you feel? 


"Whoever you are, wherever you want to go, for the bigger journeys and the small, SJ will be there for you" this is the main message of the campaign. Would you travel with them?

Women for Women

On December 9th, 2016 Madonna was regarded Best Woman of the Year at  Billboard Awards. 
It wasn't something new for her as she is used to getting all kinds of awards all along her 34 years as an entertainer, but this was a special one to be cited. 
When she got on stage to receive her award she stood in a man-like  position and gave a powerful speech.

She talked about misogyny, abuse, sexism and feminism. We found an unusual Madonna who almost broke into tears remembering long ago sufferings. 
I want to highlight some of the things she said about the following and give some food for thought. 

MISOGYNY AND SEXISM

“I stand before you as a doormat… Oh, I mean, as a female entertainer"

What do you think she wanted to say about being " a doormat"?

 “Thank you for acknowledging my ability to continue my career for 34 years in the face of blatant sexism and misogyny and constant bullying and relentless abuse.”

"If you’re a girl, you have to play the game. You’re allowed to be pretty and cute and sexy. But don’t act too smart. Don’t have an opinion that’s out of line with the status quo" 

What happens if you have an out-of-line opinion or you don't play the game? 

 

"To age is a sin"

Why are women rejected in some jobs when they age?

"Women do not have the same freedom as men.” 

"Women have been so oppressed for so long, they believe what men have to say about them,” “They believe they have to back a man to get the job done.”

  Why would you back a man or a woman? In what ways?

WOMEN HATING/HELPING OTHER WOMEN

“Be what men want you to be, but more importantly, be what women feel comfortable with you being around other men"

What do you think she means with this last sentence?

"As women, we have to start appreciating our own worth and each other’s worth. Seek out strong women to befriend, to align yourself with, to learn from, to collaborate with, to be inspired by, to support, and enlightened by.”

Why is this so important? 

This year the International theme is  #BeBoldforChange to help forge a better world- a more inclusive, gender equal world

To celebrate  woman's Day this year I've chosen two videos I hope you like 

A beatiful song by Alicia Keys "Superwoman" (2007) 

and another one as a tribute to George Michael who passed away on December 25th "Freedom" (1990).

They talk about being yourself and don't care about others' opinions on you. It's like Madonna said in her speech: you have to fit a stereotype or an image to be counted. 

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?