Celebrate Christmas with us on Wednesday 17th!!

The Staff of the Official Language School in Mairena del Aljarafe is proud to invite you to the party we're organising to celebrate Christmas. We'll have quizzes, we'll sing carols...and other things! Please join us on WEDNESDAY 17, FROM 6:30 p.m. Don't miss it!!!

Now learn about:
THE REAL STORY OF CHRISTMAS

Christmas has had a long and varied history. It was been celebrated for centuries by different people, at different times, in different places, and in many different ways. Here you will find links to information about the different ways that the holiday we know as Christmas has been celebrated, or not celebrated, over the years.

Do you have the Christmas Spirit? Check here.

What's this? WHAT'S THIS? Watch Jack Skellington's discovery of Christmastown:

Some Christmas symbols & traditions:

• Father Christmas (Santa Claus in the U.S.)
• Boxing Day (26th December in the U.K.)
• Christmas Crackers (U.K.)
• Christmas Carols

We'll sing The Twelve Days of Christmas (1º nivel básico - click here for the lyrics) and Let it snow (2º nivel básico - click here for the lyrics) !

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!!!

The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce (A2 - 2º de nivel básico)

"BEAUTY, n. The power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband."

The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce, is a satirical book published in 1911. It offers satirical reinterpretations of terms in the English language.
Click on the name of the author if you want to know more about his life and works.

Or check these websites. The Devil's dictionary online:
http://www.thedevilsdictionary.com/

Or if you are more traditional, as a book:
http://books.google.es/books?id=5izZJ-MDCy8C&printsec=frontcover

Maybe this reminds you somehow to a very interesting, wise and enigmatic man called Murphy. Would you like to choose your favourite Murphy's law? Click on the name!

Have fun!!

November 27 - Thanksgiving Day

Did you know that...

• Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November?
• in Canada, Thanksgiving is in October?
• the turkey, the cornucopia, the corn or the pumpkin are the symbols of this holiday?
• people give thanks for everything good in their lives?
• every year, the President of the United States pardons the life of a turkey, which ends up in Disneyland?
• every year, there's a spectacular parade in many American cities like New York or Chicago?

If you want to learn more, check this weblink:

http://www.thanksgiving-day.org/thanksgiving-day-tradition.html

About the Presidential Turkey Pardoning Ceremony:

Some photos:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/thanksgiving/photoessay/
http://www.elpais.com/fotografia/gente/corazon/Bush/ablanda/par/pavos/elpfot/20081126elpepuage_7/Ies/ (in Spanish)
And the story:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/tgturkey2.html


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

2º de nivel básico (A2) Present Continuous - Contrast between the Present Simple and the Present Continuous

Road Runner grammar (present continuous):

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=MdPOnvRwSZw&feature=related


Watch this video for a comparison between the Present Simple and the Present Continuous:

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=u6yAmgd-5Sg&feature=related

1º and 2º de nivel básico (A1 & A2) Present simple

Watch this video on the Present Simple tense:


Check these links for vocabulary on daily activities:
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=yWccPqg1DbI&feature=related

The Phonetic Files: Practising English phonetics (A1 and A2)

Here you will find some really interesting weblinks you should definitely check regarding English pronunciation and English sounds - Stop being afraid! Phonetics can be fun!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/ (Excellent and thorough website where you can find videos, exercises... DON'T MISS IT!!)

http://www.cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/ (Play games and practise pronunciation! Fun!!)

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/# (American English pronunciation - really useful to see how sounds are pronounced)

Ok, this is enough for now, but...

TO BE CONTINUED

A1- Introducing yourself

Check this video:

A1 - Airport Vocabulary

Check the following links if you want to expand your vocabulary on airports and flying. Think that you might have to use this soon!!!

http://www.saberingles.com.ar/lists/airport.html

Some useful phrases:

http://teacherjoe.us/TravelAirport.html

Pronunciation:

http://www.inglesmundial.com/A11/vocabularypronun.htm (AmE)

Practice - Find here funny games and activities to practise. Click on "things you can you with this list" and select the game you want to play - hangman, guess the word...

http://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/lists/a/words.php?f=airport_departure_and_arrival

A1 (1º nivel básico) - Let's practise the numbers in English!

Hey! Have a look at this website by English teachers from Madrid, where you can listen and repeat numbers from 1 to 30:

http://www.madridteacher.com/Activities/numbers-list.htm

Here you will also find games and listening activities to practise numbers! Matching, listening, practising phone numbers...

And now, practise the numbers from 40 to... a 1,000,000,000,000!!!

http://www.madridteacher.com/Activities/Files/numbers/high-numbers-list.htm

Enjoy it!!!

Let's go to the cinema!!!

Festival de Cine Europeo de Sevilla

Friday, 14 November 2008 - 20:15 h

Nervión Plaza - Sala 15

Miss Pettigrew lives for a day, directed by Bharat Nalluri, with Frances McDormand and Amy Adams. (Romantic comedy)

SYNOPSIS: In 1939 London, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew (played by Ms. McDormand) is a middle-aged governess who finds herself once again unfairly dismissed from her job. Without so much as severance pay, Miss Pettigrew realizes that she must - for the first time in two decades - seize the day. This she does, by intercepting an employment assignment outside of her comfort level - as "social secretary." Arriving at a penthouse apartment for the interview, Miss Pettigrew is catapulted into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse (Ms. Adams)...

Watch the trailer:

US Election: The Day After

The US race for presidency finally finished. You already know the results. Would you like to hear the candidate's victory and concession speeches?

To watch and read Barack Obama's full victory speech after the election, click on these links:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6185658
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Text-Obamas-victory-speech/story.aspx?guid=%7B904D7489-E1EF-4345-96C0-4D2381EC5125%7D

To watch and read John McCain's full Concession Speech, check these links:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6185658
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hmJfimrZW3jBur_BmaFtqj7mfFgQD948JFJG5

If you cannot understand everything, DON'T WORRY!!! Just get the main ideas!

A2 (2º Nivel básico) Des'ree - You gotta be

Listen to the song 'You gotta be' by Des'ree here:

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=JhpZfltbnAQ

And the lyrics:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/You-Gotta-Be-lyrics-Des

Excellent song to practise comparatives and personality adjectives!

5th November - Bonfire Night in the UK

"Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot..."

November 5, 1605, a solitary figure is arrested in the cellars of Parliament House. Although he first gives his name as John Johnson, a surprising series of events begins to unfold under torture. Guy Fawkes, as he is really called, is one of thirteen who have conspired to blow up the parliament, the King, and his Lords...

This historical event originated one of the most characteristic festivities of the UK, BONFIRE NIGHT. Do you want to know more? First, the history:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/guy/history.htm

http://www.bonfirenight.net/gunpowder.php

Then, the festivity itself. Bonfires, fireworks, 'a penny for the guy...' Find out more:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/guy/england.htm

http://www.bonfirenight.net/bonfire.php

AND NOW, YOU CAN PLAY THE GUNPOWDER PLOT GAME. Discover the barrels of gunpowder and stop the conspiracy. SAVE ENGLAND AND THE KING!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/games/gunpowder/index.shtml

English File - Oxford University Press website

Here you have a website dedicated to the textbooks of the series New English File where you can find activities on grammar, vocabulary, phonetics etc for you to practise, together with useful links. Click on the cover of your textbook and start exploring!:

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/

USA Presidential Election System

If you want to learn how the Presidential Election System works in the US, have a look at these videos:

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=zxg-kJpa9cM&feature=related

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=BkqEdlRDKfo (DON'T PANIC WITH THIS ONE!!!)

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=FaPlIcQw_dg&feature=related

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=ok_VQ8I7g6I&feature=related

...

Funny, huh? Now, let's get serious. Check these weblinks:

http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2008/09/internacional/elecciones_eeuu/cuatro_nov/sistemaelectoral.html (in Spanish)

http://www.govspot.com/election/electionprocess.htm (in English)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6297545.stm (in English)

I hope it's been of use to you!!

Recommendation - Check this!

I recommend you an excellent blog by Nacho Troya, English teacher at the EOI Jáen.
www.betchabottmdolla.blogspot.com
¡Echadle un vistazo! It's all in English!

Hallowe'en is coming!!!

Have a look at this link -

www.historychannel.com/minisites/halloween.

Happy Hallowe'en!!

Recommended readings for 1º and 2º de Nivel Básico

Primero de Nivel Básico

This is London, by Philip Prowse. Ed. Macmillan

Sherlock Holmes Stories, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Ed. Vicens Vives (Serie Black Cat)

Segundo de Nivel Básico:

The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Ed. Vicens Vives (Serie Black Cat)

The £ 1,000,000 Bank Note, by Mark Twain. Ed. Vicens Vives (Serie Black Cat)

It is here at last!!

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog!!!!