Merry Christmas!

This is becoming a classic, wishing you Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011 with "Baby, please come home" There are many versions, but I think this one's still my favourite.



Thanks for your messages and e-mails. Hope to see you all in January, completely recovered!
Big hug!

Cristina

It’s Christmas

Baby, please come home

The snow’s coming down

I’m watching it fall

Watching the people around

Baby please come home

The church bells in town

They’re ringing a song

What a happy sound

Baby please come home

They’re singing deck the halls

But it’s not like Christmas at all

I remember when you were here

And all the fun we had last year

Pretty lights on the tree

I’m watching ‘em shine

You should be here with me

Baby please come home

Baby please come home

Baby please come home

They’re singing deck the halls

But it’s not like Christmas at all

I remember when you were here

And all the fun we had last year

If there was a way

I’d hold back these tears

But it’s Christmas day

Baby please come home

Baby please come home

Baby please come home

Baby please come home

Baby please come home

Baby please come home

Sick leave :-(

Dear All,

this is just to let you know that I've been on sick leave since last Thursday. I'm getting better everyday, and I hope to be able to be back in class soon.

Here's the information you need to participate in the short story contest to be celebrated on the "Cultural Day" (21 December) at EOI Embajadores. I hope to encourage you all to display your creativity, originality, and, above all, to have fun while writing and reading the stories.

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Cristina

Bases Concurso Micro-relatos

Teachers TV - On bullying girls

I've just added a new link on the right column, under "Good links to check." It's a link to "Teachers TV", a web page that many of my students this year will like, since so many of you are teachers. To give you an example of how the web page can be used, (and to give you some extra listening comprehension practice) let me pose the following questions to the video you can find here (You can react to the programme by writing a comment):

A. Before you listen:

1. What is "bullying"? If you don't know, look it up in the dictionary. Words related to the topic are: the bully; the bullied boy / girl. Do you understand these terms?

2. Is bullying a problem in the school you teach? Or, if you're not a teacher, was bullying a problem in the school you studied in?

3. What vocabulary do you expect to hear in the programme?

B. While you listen:

4. The Director of Kidscape (an anti-bullying charity), Michelle Elliot, says that now the effects of bullying on girls can be __________.

5. The work that Valerie Besag does involves helping girls __________ that they're being bullied.

6. The expressions "It tears me apart" and "It rips me up" are used when somebody says something __________ to another person.

7. When bullying others, boys simply want to __________ their power.

8. Why is bullying different among boys and among girls?

C. After you listen:

9. Do you agree with the experts that bullying is even worse when it's between girls?

10. What measures can be taken to prevent children / teenagers from bullying others? ("para evitar que los niños / adolescentes acosen a otros")

Practice listening with songs!

Hello!

I've come across a great page where you can do all the gap-filling exercises you want with songs.

Just click on the name of the song or the image of the video and then choose the difficulty (for NB2 students, it's probably good to go to "Beginner"). The song stops if you don't write the correct word, so you'll have to listen carefully! ;-)

Dancing under the Gallows

Here's the promotional video of a documentary on the oldest Holocaust survivor. My colleague Míchel draw my attention on it, and I must say that it's really moving and worth watching.

The importance of consonant sounds

Hello!

Yesterday we dealt with the last consonant sounds of English and I promised to show you why these sounds are very important to make yourself understood. Here's a famous song that the Príncipe Gitano sings unable to pronounce the consonant sounds well. It's sacrilegious but very funny at the same time. When you listen to it the first time, try to understand the words without reading the subtitles. You'll be very imaginative if you can understand something at all. Enjoy!

Next cultural activity - Exhibition

Cartel Asher B Durand

Landscape + The Dumb Waiter

We're making a group to go to the theatre on 5 November at 9pm. We'll see two short plays by the British playwright Harold Pinter: Landscape and The Dumb Waiter.

If you want to join the group, please let me know before 26 October.

Here's the speech Pinter delivered on winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. It's entitled "Art, Truth, and Politics" (It's a bit long but worth watching; this one is with subtitles in Spanish).

Welcome back!

Hi there everybody!

Hope you had a really good summer and that you're ready for the new year
Let's start with a humorous video, how could it be otherwise?
First, you have to watch this piece of news. Here's a talented story teller, no doubt:

And then you can watch the song somebody created based on the story:
Thanks a lot, Míchel!

Ken Loach's Films

Hi there!

The British film-maker Ken Loach has decided to show his films for free on a You Tube channel.

Thanks very much, José, for sharing this with us!