Tuesday, April 27, 2010

FOR ENGLAND AND ST. GEORGE!! 23 Apr - England's National Day and...International Book Day

Saint George (ca. 275/281 – 23 April 303) was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier and priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Eastern Catholic Churches. He is immortalized in the tale of Saint George and the Dragon. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April, and he is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints.


Saint George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Amersfoort, Beirut, Fakiha, Bteghrine, Cáceres (Spain), Ferrara, Freiburg, Ljubljana, Pomorie, Preston, Qormi, Rio de Janeiro, Lod, Barcelona, Moscow, Tamworth and the Maltese island of Gozo, as well as a wide range of professions, organizations, and disease sufferers.
(Source: Wikipedia)


So April 23 is the NATIONAL DAY OF ENGLAND. Click here to read about it, and about the English flag, and the national emblems of England.

As you know, it is also the International Book Day, because it is said that, on such a day as 23 April 1616 two great men of letters died: Spanish novelist, poet & playwright Miguel de Cervantes, author of the Quixote, and English poet & playwright William Shakespeare, author of such famous plays as Romeo & Juliet or Hamlet.



Shakespeare's grave in Stratford-upon-Avon



As our particular homage to these two men and to literature in general, I present you a challenge. Below you will find short extracts from famous works. Who wrote them? What is the name of the novel? Try to identify the author and the book. PLEASE WRITE A COMMENT WITH YOUR ANSWERS!!!


FRAGMENT 1

'May she wake in torment!' he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. 'Why, she's a liar to the end! Where is she? Not THERE - not in heaven - not perished - where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer - I repeat it till my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered DO haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts HAVE wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only DO not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I CANNOT live without my life! I CANNOT live without my soul!'

FRAGMENT 2

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.
"My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?"
(…)
"You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it."
This was invitation enough.
"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; (…)."
"What is his name?"
"Bingley."


FRAGMENT 3

“As he was turning the handle of the door, his eye fell upon the portrait Basil Hallward had painted of him. He started back as if in surprise. (…) In the dim arrested light that struggled through the cream-coloured silk blinds, the face appeared to him to be a little changed. The expression looked different. One would have said that there was a touch of cruelty in the mouth. It was certainly strange.
(…)
He threw himself into a chair and began to think. Suddenly there flashed across his mind what he had said in Basil Hallward's studio the day the picture had been finished. Yes, he remembered it perfectly. He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain young, and the portrait grow old; that his own beauty might be untarnished, and the face on the canvas bear the burden of his passions and his sins; that the painted image might be seared with the lines of suffering and thought, and that he might keep all the delicate bloom and loveliness of his then just conscious boyhood.”



BREAK A LEG!!!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Superstitions

Superstitions can be defined as, "irrational beliefs, especially with regard to the unknown" (Collins English Dictionary)

Not long ago, it was Tuesday 13th in Spain. For us, that is our day of bad luck. So we took advantage of the situation to speak in class about superstitions in Britain. Here you have some interesting links where you can read about superstitions in Britain:

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Top Ten Spanish People of All Time, according to students

In our 1st year class we are now studying the past simple of the verb TO BE, and we are doing it by discussing about famous people's biographies.

1ºC students have voted for who, in their opinion, is the top Spanish person of all time, and we have come up with a list of the Top Ten.
Here it is:





2. Christopher Columbus (who, strictly speaking, was not Spanish, but what the heck!!)


Click on their names to learn a bit more about them.

Monday, April 12, 2010

2º NB (A2) - Comparatives and superlatives

In 2º de NB we are studying the comparatives now. So, as always, a little bit of "cyberhelp" comes in handy:

Click here for some theory.
Click here for some practice.
Now let's play: the Crazy Quiz

For some examples of equality, have a look at these pics:




And now, comparative of inferiority.

For some GAMES!!!!

Check this Comparative and Superlative Adjectives Table



Enjoy!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Speaking, pronunciation and phonetics workshop - 6 Apr 2010

Hello everyone!
I know it's hard to come back to our routines after a holiday period. But here we are again. This time, in our Speaking workshop, we have worked with the pronunciation of "-ed" forms, what have always been a challenge to Spanish speakers. I have found this video in youtube.com that I recommend you to see. It's a bit long, but it will be worth your time, trust me!!





You can also practice the pronunciation of the "-ed" form of regular verbs by clicking here.

Enjoy!!!!