First of all, I'd like to thank those who came to our mini-Christmas parties in class. I know it is too strong a temptation to stay at home when Christmas is so close and we have to go to class, but you came, willing to sing and celebrate. THANKS!!!
As for the rest, may you all have a wonderful Christmas season, and a plentiful and eventful New Year 2012. My best wishes for all.
There are between 6000 and 7000 languages in the world - spoken by six billion people divided into 189 independent states.
There are about 225 indigenous languages in Europe - roughly 3% of the world’s total.
Most of the world’s languages are spoken in Asia and Africa.
At least half of the world’s population are bilingual or plurilingual, i.e. they speak two or more languages.
Many languages have 50,000 words or more, but individual speakers normally know and use only a fraction of the total vocabulary: in everyday conversation people use the same few hundred words.
In its first year a baby utters a wide range of vocal sounds; at around one year the first understandable words are uttered; at around three years complex sentences are formed; at five years a child possesses several thousand words.
The mother tongue is usually the language one knows best and uses most. But there can be “perfect bilinguals” who speak two languages equally well. Normally, however, bilinguals display no perfect balance between their two languages.
Bilingualism brings with it many benefits: it makes the learning of additional languages easier, enhances the thinking process and fosters contacts with other people and their cultures.
Languages are related to each other like the members of a family. Most European languages belong to the large Indo-European family.
Most European languages belong to three broad groups: Germanic, Romance and Slavic.
The Germanic family of languages includes Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, German, Dutch, English and Yiddish, among others.
The Romance languages include Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian, among others.
The Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and others.
Most European languages use the Latin alphabet. Some Slavic languages use the Cyrillic alphabet. Greek, Armenian, Georgian and Yiddish have their own alphabet.
Most countries in Europe have a number of regional or minority languages – some of these have obtained official status.
The non-European languages most widely used on European territory are Arabic, Chinese and Hindi, each with its own writing system.
Russia (148 million inhabitants) has by far the highest number of languages spoken on its territory: from 130 to 200 depending on the criteria.
Due to the influx of migrants and refugees, Europe has become largely multilingual. In London alone some 300 languages are spoken (Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Berber, Hindi, Punjabi, etc.)
Last September 26 was the European Day of Languages, which aims to celebrate the rich and diverse culture behind each and every language. Their website offers information about the purpose of the celebration, a calendar of events in different countries, a self-assessment language test, etc. Have a look!
The Advanced level 2 students chose the words of the English language they considered most beautiful. Here they are:
SUNSHINE (noun, uncount, sing.): the light and heat from the sun. (Guadalupe Baquero Maestre) PEACE (noun, uncount, sing): A situation or a period of time in which there is no war or violence in a country or an area. (May González Santana) SWEETIE (noun, informal): A person who is kind and easy to like. (May González Santana) LOVE (noun, uncount): A strong feeling of deep affection for sb/sth, especially a member of your family or a friend. (Pepa Torrado Langa) SERENDIPITY (noun, uncount): the fact of something interesting or pleasant happening by chance. (Marián Paiva Mediavilla) PLAY (verb, trans./ intrans.): To do things for pleasure, as children do; to enjoy yourself, rather than work. (Pedro Piedelobo)
RAINBOW (noun): A curved band of different colours that appears in the sky when the sun shines through rain. (Gema Beorlegui Aristu)
HOPE (verb. Trans/ intrans.): To want something to happen and think it is possible. (Ramón Cano de la Ossa)
CHOCOLATE (noun, uncount): A hard brown sweet food made from cocoa beans, used in cooking to add flavour to cakes, etc, or eaten as sweet/candy. (Teresa Martín Muñoz)
CHEWING-GUM (noun. uncount): A sweet/candy that you chew but do not swallow. (Gema Jiménez Gutiérrez)
A while ago, in class, we spoke about learning and speaking a foreign language. We discussed how a non-native speaker has to deal with the grammar, intonation or pronunciation of a foreign language. Maybe you can relate to the people in the video below:
Check this extremely interesting document: GUIA DEL APRENDIZ DE LENGUAS (in Spanish)
Ric Elias was sitting in seat 1D of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009 headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, when a flock of Canadian geese collided with the jet, sending the engine into a ball of flames.
We of course know that Capt. Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger heroically took the plane down into the Hudson River in what would be lated referred to as "The Miracle on the Hudson".
As Elias recovered from this near-death experience, he realised that some things in his life had to change. (source: http://www.inc.com/)
I have been sent this video by a dear friend of mine. I just wanted to share it with you. Thanks, Enrique!!
In the early 20th century, three men were fighting to be the first one to reach the South Pole: British Royal Navy officer Robert Falcon Scott and Irish & Norwegian explorers Ernest Shackleton and Roald Amundsen. Only one succeeded, on a day like this, Dec 14, 1911. This is their story:
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish polar explorer, one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Expedition, 1901–04. He returned to Antarctica in 1907 as leader of the Nimrod Expedition. In January 1909 he and three companions made a southern march which established a record Farthest South latitude at 88° 23′ S, 97, 190 km from the South Pole, by far the closest convergence in exploration history up to that time. For this achievement, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home.
After the race to the South Pole ended in 1912 with Roald Amundsen's conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to the crossing of the continent from sea to sea, via the pole. To this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–17. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, was trapped in pack ice and slowly crushed, before the shore parties could be landed. There followed a sequence of exploits, and an ultimate escape with no lives lost, that would eventually assure Shackleton's heroic status, although this was not immediately evident. In 1921 he went back to the Antarctic with the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, intending to carry out a programme of scientific and survey activities. Before the expedition could begin this work Shackleton died of a heart attack while his ship, Quest, was moored in South Georgia. At his wife's request he was buried there. (source: wikipedia)
Watch the documentary, narrated by Kevin Spacey, on Shackleton's expedition on the Endurance, the one that gave him fame:
Robert Falcon Scott, CVO (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13. During this second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, only to find that they had been preceded by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. On their return journey, Scott and his four comrades all perished from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold. (source: wikipedia)
Scott of the Antarctic. Profile with Sir Ranulph Fiennes (a bit of gossip. Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes is actors Ralph & Joseph Fiennes's uncle)
Mecano, an extremely popular Spanish pop band of the 80s & 90s, composed a song on the tragic destiny of Sir Robert Scott and his group: Héroes de la Antártida. Click on the title of the song if you want to listen to it (Yes, yes! In Spanish. But just for this one time!!)
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (16 July 1872 – c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to (undisputedly) reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage. He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission. Amundsen, along with Douglas Mawson, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. (source: wikipedia)
Roald Amundsen & the South Pole
What is the true dimension of the heroicism of these three men? Why is Antarctica such a dangerous yet compelling place? Would like to know some facts about Antartica?
Antarctica Factfile 1. It is 1.4 times bigger than the USA, and 58 times bigger than the UK. 2. Only a 0.32 % (44,890 square kilometres) of the total surface of the Antarctica is ice-free. 3. The largest ice self is Ross ice shelf (510,680 square kilometres). 4. The highest mountain in Antarctica is Mt. Vinson (4,892 m) 5. Antarctica has 70% of all the world's freshwater frozen as ice - and 90% of all the world's ice. 6. There are no permanent residents and there has never been native population on the Antarctica. 7. The lowest temperatures ever recorded on the Antarctica (and extensively, on earth) were -89.2º C
Last Halloween I explained to my Basic Level students how to make a Jack-O'-Lantern. Just a few of then actually made one, so I thought that their effort deserved some publicity. Only I have delayed it for too long. Anyhow, as I like honouring my promises, here they are. Thanks, Irene, Yolanda & Eusebio for sending me your photos!!!!
Irene Hernández Gómez (2º NB E)
Eusebio Moreno Vargas (2º NB C) (Hideous indeed!!)
Yolanda Jiménez Delgado (2º NB C)
Thank you all for taking the pains of making it and for sending me the photos!! Sorry for the delay, but...better late than never, don't you think?
In our Basic level class, we have been talking about routines and, to be able to speak about our daily routine properly, we need to use the time and time expressions. Let's make a summary of what we saw.
How can we ask for the time to someone? We have different ways:
- Excuse me, what time is it, please? - Excuse me, what is the time, please?
There are two ways of giving the time:
- Analogue
- Digital
To learn to say the time from an analogue clock, click on the words ANALOGUE TIME
For the Digital time, you just have to read the numbers on the watch, saying the hour first, and then the minutes.
Want to practise? Click on Bang on Time and start playing!!
I'm late! I'm late! I don't have time to say hello or goodbye! I'M LATE!!!!!!
We also saw the dates. First, the months of the year. Here's a video that can help you with the pronunciation:
Please click here for the basics on DAYS AND DATES.
And as a perfect end , a song I really like: TIME IS RUNNING OUT (the lyrics are below)
"Time Is Running Out"
I think I'm drowning
Asphyxiated
I wanna break this spell
That you've created
You're something beautiful
A contradiction
I wanna play the game
I want the friction
You will be the death of me
You will be the death of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
I wanted freedom
Bound and restricted
I tried to give you up
But I'm addicted
Now that you know I'm trapped
sense of elation
You'd never dream of
Breaking this fixation
You will squeeze the life out of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
Oh
You will suck the life out of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
