Picking up the accent

Have you ever thought how Spanish sounds to English speakers? How does a French person sound to you ? And German? Have you ever tried to imitate accents?

Picking up the accent is so important ... !!

Watch the video and see what you think ....

Elllo.org - English Language Listening Library

Todd Beuckens has created this site with more than 1000 listening activities with accents from all over the world, including videos, interviews, news, songs, talking points, listening games, etc. with comprehension exercises, quizzes, and lots of different activities.

I learnt about it thanks to the blog "Enjoy Learning English " , which I usually follow. I must say that the site I´m talking about is one of the best I´ve seen on the web.

Everything is ready to use !

CLICK on the link  http://www.elllo.org

DICKENS : bicentenary of his birth

Charles Dickens is one of the most famous British novelists ever. This month the world of literature is celebrating the bicentenary of his birth, which falls on the 7th of February.

Although he was a writer from the Victorian era, Dickens’s work transcends his time, language and culture. He remains a massive contemporary influence throughout the world and his writings continue to inspire film, TV, art, literature, artists and academia.

Do you want to learn a bit about his life? Watch this nice video




If you click on the link you will see the same video BUT this time you have a questionnaire online about it .

http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_beginning.php?id=10451



If you want to get into more serious stuff , here is a nice link where you will learn about the fantastic range of celebrations taking place to celebrate the bicentenary.

http://www.dickens2012.org/

Also , and although it is in Spanish , I leave here another very interesting link , where you have an awful lot of information about his life, his books , his characters ... really worth it !!

http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2012/cultura/dickens/

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 60-year anniversary

In 1952 the woman known today as Queen Elizabeth II was just Elizabeth, a 25-year-old member of England’s royal family visiting a remote village in Kenya.

When word came on Feb. 6 of that year that her father, George VI, had died, Elizabeth cut her trip short and flew home to London. She was greeted at the airport by her country’s then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill and she was crowned Queen Elizabeth II.

Today, 60 years later, the 85-year-old Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee anniversary.

The anniversary makes Queen Elizabeth, already Britain’s oldest serving monarch, the country’s longest-serving monarch after Queen Victoria, who reigned for more than 63 years. The queen, mother to four and grandmother to eight, has now outlasted 11 U.S. presidents.

 

The celebrations will continue throughout the year . The main event, the 2012 Diamond Jubilee weekend, will be held in June and feature a star-studded concert and boat pageant on the Thames river with a 1,000-strong flotilla.

Watch this video taken from ABCnews.com

Skyscrapers 2010 : the tallest buildings in the world

As there is no official definition of what constitutes a skyscraper, a relatively small building may be considered one if it protrudes well above its built environment and changes the overall skyline. The maximum height of structures has progressed historically with building methods and technologies. 'Supertall' has arisen as a contemporary expression for exceptionally tall buildings, although again there is no formal definition.

If you are you a skyscrapers enthusiast, watch this video. Isn´t it amazing what man builds !!!

Chinese New Year

In our school the Chinese community is quite large. These days , our Chinese students  are celebrating the beginning of the new year. Chinese New Year is probably the most important festivity for Chinese people all over the world. The exact date on the Western calendar changes from year to year. We know it takes place between 1 January and 19 February. This year , New Year is celebrated tomorrow,  23 January.

Every year has got an animal´s name. 2012 is the year of the Dragon.  Chinese people believe that a person born in a particular year has some of the characteristics of that animal.

Celebrations in Chinese families last for about a fortnight. Usually , celebrations begin with the cleaning of the house. The Chinese get rid of useless things , to throw away the misfortunes of the past year. Then on New Year´sEve they all enjoy a family meal. Fish is always part of the dinner because it represents abundance. Also , Chinese children wear new clothes, usually of red colour, which brings good luck. Parents give children "Lai see" ( lucky money) in red envelopes.

In places with big Chinese communities , there are also wonderful parades, where the lion dancers are always present. They dance to the rhythm of drums and noisy firecrackers which frighten away evil spirits.

But the dragon is the most important lucky figure in these parades. There are also acrobats and musicians , all dressed up in costumes with bright colours.

Christmas

Just enjoy Mr Bean. Merry Christmas to you all!!


Isn´t he funny ?? Keep on watching !!


One more to finish off.

Thanksgiving

Read the text below to learn a little bit about the Pilgrims and the Fisrt Thanksgiving.

If you prefer , click here to visit a website which will give you a lot of interesting information about these people , their voyage on board of the Mayflower , their daily life in the new world and the celebration of the first Thanksgiving. ( There is AUDIO )

The Pilgrims, who celebrated the first thanksgiving in America, were fleeing religious persecution in their native England. In 1609 a group of Pilgrims left England for the religious freedom in Holland where they lived and prospered. After a few years their children were speaking Dutch and had become attached to the dutch way of life. This worried the Pilgrims. They considered the Dutch frivolous and their ideas a threat to their children's education and morality.

So they decided to leave Holland and travel to the New World. On Sept. 6, 1620 the Pilgrims set sail for the New World on a ship called the Mayflower. They sailed from Plymouth, England and aboard were 44 Pilgrims, who called themselves the "Saints", and 66 others ,whom the Pilgrimscalled the "Strangers."

The long trip was cold and damp and took 65 days. Since there was the danger of fire on the wooden ship, the food had to be eaten cold. Many passengers became sick and one person died by the time land was sighted on November 10th.

The first winter was devastating to the Pilgrims. The cold, snow and sleet was exceptionally heavy, interfering with the workers as they tried to construct their settlement. March brought warmer weather and the health of the Pilgrims improved, but many had died during the long winter. Of the 110 Pilgrims and crew who left England, less that 50 survived the first winter.

In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim's fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.

The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be
shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

125th Anniversary of Miss Liberty

As you will all probably know, it is The Statue of Liberty' s 125th birthday and America is celebrating it.The Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy.

I' ve found this web which offers amazing live views of the statue and Manhattan' s skyline which , I guess , you might enjoy the same as I do. Just click here

If you want to learn a bit more about the Statue of Liberty visit this web. It´s got loads of interesting information .

It´s Halloween

Have a look at this little video I found in youtube. Isn´t it cute !!