Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On March 17th, the Irish celebrate their biggest day, St. Patrick's Day. With this, they're commemorating the death of their patron, St. Patrick. Even though this celebration started in Ireland, because of Irish immigration to other countries, it's now celebrated in many other places, such as the USA, Canada and Australia. In those countries, this day has become a big celebration of Ireland's culture, rather than a Catholic commemoration of St. Patrick, as it originally was. The tradition of wearing green, for example, which is internationally spread nowadays, actually began in the USA, since that colour reminded Irish-Americans of the old Irish flag, despite the fact that green is considered an unlucky colour in Ireland.

St. Patrick's celebrations in the world include, besides wearing green, drinking Irish beer, eating Irish food and dancing Irish folk music. It's the day when people from all over the world who share an Irish origin feel proud to be Irish.

If you'd like to know more about the origins and celebrations of St. Patrick's Day, watch this video:

And since we're talking about Ireland, would you like to know something more of this amazing country? Here's a selection of videos for you to enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htyHUX7Wg9U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iUPb7y0hgE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycNMpT4fwnc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-59cRW8m_ag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLACdPtyX-s

Slán go fóill! (See you in Irish Gaelic)

Love Letter

Hi everyone,

Do you feel romantic this morning? I know Valentine's Day was last week, but who said we can only be romantic once a year? I felt romantic today and I decided to write a love letter to an imaginary love. Can you reply it? Remember written interaction will be one of the parts of your writing exam, so this will be good practice for you!

Try to remember what I always tell you, be imaginative, be actors! Imagine you're in the situation of this person and reply to the things he/she is asking you. Also, include some of the vocabulary of love you learnt on the previous post, as well as some of the narrative tenses and adverbs we've been practising lately.

Happy romantic morning and see you in class!

http://es.scribd.com/doc/82411792/Love-Letter

Valentine's Day

Yesterday was a special day in which couples from all over the world celebrated love. I'm sure you all know about Valentine's Day, but, do you know about its true origins?

Check out this video to find out:

Although this holiday is based on the celebration of love, every country has its different traditions and its own ways to celebrate it:

http://www.novareinna.com/festive/valworld.html

One of the most spread traditions is sending Valentine cards to your loved ones, with messages of love and affection. What would you like to read on a Valentine card? Maybe some of these things?

Are you a romantic person? Do you know the language of love? These are love expressions in English, in case you have an English-speaking important person...or a bilingual one!

You never know what the future is going to bring you, do you?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/teacher/0000008570.shtml

However, to be honest, and despite romanticism, Valentine's Day has become a very commercial holiday, and stores all over the world make lots of money every year thanks to this "celebration of love". Check out this article from BBC and try to do the exercises afterwards. My advice is downloading the audio file and the exercises to your computer and test yourselves, instead of reading the transcription online. Challenge yourselves!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/newsaboutbritain/2009/02/090210_nab_valentine.shtml

And, finally, to end this post with a laugh, as usual, I'd like to show you a few funny videos about Valentine's Day.

Who said romanticism is always corny and sickly-sweet?

In conclusion, whether you are in love or not, whether you are romantic or not, I'm sure you have people around who love you and care about you. Tell them and show them what you feel from time to time, any day of the year.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Air travelling

Hi students!

As you know, we've been talking about air travelling lately. Being English the international language in this type of travelling, it's a good idea to know more about the vocabulary we need to use when we travel by plane, as well as practising listening skills, which is always good!

You know exams are coming soon, and you should take advantages of any chances you have to improve your listening skills. In order to expand your vocabulary, take a look at these websites and practise saying the words out loud, to get the right pronunciation. Sometimes, the written words on the site don't match with the words pronounced by the speaker. I apologize for that, but, in case this happens, always trust what the speaker says, regardless of what words are written.

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/travel/

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/land-travel/

Now, if you want to practise your listening skills, you can do so with these activities:

http://www.esl-lab.com/customs/customrd1.htm

http://esl-lab.com/flight/flightrd1.htm

Finally, I'd like you to watch a few videos about in-flight safety instructions. Do you remember we talked about the importance of listening to those instructions when you're on a plane? Well, I'm sure these airlines took this into account when they decided to explain instructions in "those ways". I don't think any passenger could not pay attention with those instructions!

Aren't you just speechless? I am! These are real in-flight safety instructions, despite looking so unreal. Sometimes, reality certainly beats fiction!

To conclude with this post, I'd like you to have a laugh. As I'm sure most of you have "suffered" Ryanair, I think you'll understand this comedy skecth very well. Enjoy it!

No wonder why their flights are so cheap, right? :)

See you in class!

Clothes and Fashion

Hi students!

First of all, congratulations on your fantastic Fashion Show the other day! Your attitude was excellent and your descriptions, quite accurate, so I couldn't be happier! Just remember to pay attention to adjective order (opinion, size, colour, material...). There are many fashion shows around the world, and those who are interested in fashion never niss them, in order to know the new trends that are coming. In my opinion, they should forget about NY, London, Paris or Milan Fashion Weeks and pay attention to our EOI Fashion Show, don't you agree? :)

Would you like to watch a video from a real Fashion Show? This one belongs to NY Fashion Week, one of the important ones in the world. For a week, designers from all over the world present their new collections, trying to impress the audience and make them want to buy their clothes. In their runway shows, they invite celebrities and people with a big social influence, in order to advertise their collections and make them reach a wider audience. Also, in this video, you'll see someone you might know, someone who proves you don't need to be a native speaker in order to speak good English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbqLZdC_Pn8

In order to expand your knowledge about clothes vocabulary, you can click on the following links:

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/men-clothing/

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/women-clothing/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textiles

And, now, in order to practice all this new vocabulary you've recently learnt, you can do these listening and reading exercises:

http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ii766/esl-test.php

http://www.elllo.org/english/Games/G004-Materials.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/britain/081118_what_to_wear.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/unit4/index.shtml

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/interlex/hotpot/matching/clothes&activities.htm

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vc-clothes-lb.html

Whether you're interested in fashion or not, no one can deny that it's one of the most popular topics in the media at present time. In the news, the movies or magazines, we can learn about the latest fashion trends and which clothes seem to be "in" or "out". The most prestigious and respected magazine, according to fashion experts, is Vogue. If you'd like to know what's in fashion at the moment, Vogue is your magazine. This is Vogue's official website:

http://www.vogue.co.uk/

As for movies and TV, one of the most influential shows in terms of fashion has been Sex and the City. This TV show was firstly based on the love stories of 4 friends living in NYC. However, with the pass of time, the audience started to pay special attention on the clothes the characters were wearing. Designers saw this, and started to advertise themselves in the show, having the characters wear their clothes and shop in their stores. This show contributed, for instance, to the big international success of the Spanish shoemaker Manolo Blahnik, since its protagonist, Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), loved his shoes and wore them all the time. The show was so succesful that, after it ended, they decided to make 2 movies. On the following video, you can watch the importance fashion has in the movies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoKQxkW8LfY

However, whether you follow the lastest fashion trends or not, whether you're "in" or "out", according to fashion experts, what's important, after all, is for you to feel comfortable and satisfied with the clothes you wear, which you certainly showed me in our Fashion Show, so congratulations to you all!

See you in class

Stereotypes

Hi students!

First of all, happy new year and welcome back to class! I know we've already had a few weeks of class after Christmas holidays, but this is my first post in 2012, and I wanted to make it official!

These past classes we've been talking about national stereotypes, remember? About how we all tend to trust our general assumptions and prejudices on certain nationalities, regardless of the actual truth base lying underneath. Who hasn't heard stereotypes such as...?

The Spaniards are lazy and party all the time.

The Americans are patriotic and they all have a national flag at home.

The British drink a lot and wear white socks and flip-flops when they travel abroad.

These are just mere examples of stereotypes we've all heard somewhere and offer an incomplete and, most of the time, inaccurate view of certain nationalities. We need to be really careful with stereotypes, because we can be really offensive to foreigners if we base our behaviour with them on general assumptions everyone says but no one has actually proved to be right, in most cases. Think about the stereotypical image other countries have about the Spaniards, do you agree with it? Don't you feel it's really incomplete? Then, try to think the same way about other nationalities, like the Americans, the French or the English, for instance, three examples of not very positive stereotypical images abroad.

Alright, after reflecting about stereotypes and having clear what they actually mean, how about enjoying their humorous side? Did you take a look at the map at the top of this post? Take a closer look at it:

http://infographicworld.com/america-europe-view/

Agreeing on the fact that it's too general and stereotypical, don't you find it funny? Would you like to see more of these funny maps about stereotypes? Click on the link below and you'll be able to read an article about a series of maps called Mapping Stereoypes, it's not to be missed!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/8013399/Smelly-people-commies-and-dirty-porn-Europe-mapped-by-national-stereotypes.html

Here's a video about the stereotypical American in Europe. A bit exaggerating, but, what are most jokes after all, if not an exaggeration of reality?

And, finally, to finish with stereotypes, I'd like you to read this article about British people, which proves that sometimes generalities can be more accurate if research is done in a more professional way. The article comes with a video which I'd like you to watch, too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7848244.stm

What about Spain, do you consider it to be a happy nation, in general? Why/why not? Think about it and we can talk about this matter in class.

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Merry Christmas

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

'Tis the season to be jolly,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Christmas has just finished, but it's never too late to know some more about what people from the English-speaking countries do to celebrate the joy of this special season. Every Christmas, in New York City, a big Christmas tree is set right in Rockefeller Centre, along with an ice-skating ring (picture above). In London, people can enjoy the special Christmas market in Camden and its traditional hot wine! Families in the English-speaking countries gather to decorate their houses and sing Christmas carols (like the one above), just like families from all over the world do.

Here are some links where you can listen to several Christmas songs in English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiNBuJO6BAU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH2VahaiY5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2yzaJazaUQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeNJmOsBS94

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suogseSe4iQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpgaWm2pnNs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1XdWh1DsAU

On Christmas Day, Santa Claus comes down the fireplace and leaves presents under the Christmas tree and inside the stockings. On New Year's Eve, people get together to celebrate the beginning of a new year, by, for instance, writing their wishes on pieces of confetti and then throwing them on Times Square (New York), or admiring fireworks next to the Big Ben (London). It's the day for New Year Resolutions, which should (but probably won't) be finally taken into consideration.

Next, you can click on these links to check if Christmas traditions in the English-speaking world are very different from ours or not:

UK: http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/spareroom/traditions.htm

USA: http://christmas-day.com/christmas-traditions-usa.html

Australia: http://www.the-north-pole.com/around/australia.html

Now, we're doing a little game. If you click on the next link, you can watch a clip from the popular TV show Desperate Housewives. What Christmas symbols can you find in this video? Write them down and we'll talk about them next day in class. Enjoy this last holiday weekend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jWtHLXPBN4

See you in class and Ho Ho Ho!