L'hora dels adeus

Tomorrow is the last day of this course. We will meet some of you the next September, but some other students have finished their studies here with us and they will start a new way in a new School. This post is especially dedicated to them.

Here, in Catalonia, we use to say goodbye with a traditional Irish song that we call L'hora dels adeus. The original is called Auld Lang Syne, and it is used to be sung during Christmas season. 

I would wish to sing this song in a day like this to wave goodbye our students of 4th ESO. 


Good luck, boys and girls!

2.011: International Year of Forests

The year has been declared the International Year of Forests by the United Nations to raise awareness and strengthen the sustainable forest management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations.

Take a look at this video to try to understand the logo that is designed to convey the theme of “Forests for People” celebrating the central role of people in the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of our world’s forests. 

Forests provide shelter to people and habitat to biodiversity; are a source of food, medicine and clean water. All of these elements taken together say us that forests are vital to the survival and well being of people everywhere, all 7 billion of us.

Discover all of these elements in this other video:

The song that you are going to listen and see now is called Earth Song, and was written in 1995 by Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, the lyrics show many of the problems that our planet is still suffering nowadays. You can get the lyrics of this song at this link.

What are you sinking about?

A different and funny way to encourage you to learn a foreign language. Take care of the German accent, it could be dangerous...

Happy Easter

Easter

WHAT IS EASTER?

Easter is the celebration of Jesus Christ's rising from the dead after His crucifixion which took place on what we now say Good Friday.

Easter is usually celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the Vernal or Spring Equinox on March 21st. This can be any Sunday between March 22nd and April 25th. It is the most sacred of all the Christian holidays or celebrations.

Christ's return (or rising) from death is called the Resurrection. According to the Scriptures, Christ's tomb was empty three days after His death, which is commemorated on Good Friday. His followers saw Him and talked to Him after this. Christians therefore believe that they have the hope of a new life (an everlasting life in Heaven) after their earthly death.

EASTER IN THE ANCIENT DAYS

Although of course Easter is a Christian festival, it has many pre-Christian. Eastre was the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility. A month was dedicated to her, corresponding to our month of April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox and traditions associated with the festival live on in the modern day Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in coloured Easter eggs. These were originally painted with brilliant colours to represent the warmth and sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.

THE HOLY WEEK

The Holy week is the last week of Lent. Lent is the forty days special season prior to Easter Sunday.

The Holy Week begins with the observance of Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter Sunday. The name, Palm Sunday originated from Jesus’ entry in Jerusalem. The crowd laid carpets of palms on the street for Him. The Last Supper is commemorated on Holy Thursday of special week (often called Maundy Thursday) and Friday is the anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Lenten season and Holy week end with Easter Sunday (the Resurrection of Jesus Christ).

THE NAME EASTER

Easter was called Pesach by early Christians. It is the Hebrew name for Passover. Today, the names for Easter in many cultures in Europe are similar to the word Pesah. The English name Easter is much newer. When the early English Christians wanted others to accept Christianity, they decided to use the name Easter for this holiday so that it would match the name of the old spring celebration in honour of Eastre, goddess of spring and fertility. This made it more comfortable for other people to accept Christianity.

SYMBOLS OF EASTER

• Easter eggs & baby chicks: Eggs and chicks symbolize new life. Eggs have been a symbol of spring since ancient times. An egg also is a symbol of the rock tomb out of which Christ emerged when he arose again. The chick, hatching out of the egg, symbolizes new life or re-birth.

• Easter bunny: The rabbit, or hare, was a symbol of abundant new life in ancient times, and reminds us of spring and new life.

• Easter lilies: Easter lilies symbolize the purity of Jesus. They also symbolize new life and the resurrection of Christ.

Easter Online Games

If you want to enjoy Easter, try these online games from different web pages:

• Kaboose: http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/easter/

• The Kidz Page: http://www.thekidzpage.com/easter_games/index.html

• DLTK’s: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/games.html

• Black dog: http://blackdog4kids.com/holiday/easter/

• Free Easter Games: http://freeeastergames.com/

The Fonix 2.011: Official Photographs

The official photographs for the Fonix 2.011 have already been published. Just click on the link to see the gallery:

As a curiosity, in the last pic you can see Mariyam and I on the left bottom corner:

April Fool's Day

Originally, New Year's Day was April 1. Later, when the Church changed the calendar, they also changed the date for January 1. However, some people continued using April 1 as the date of the New Year. These people were referred to as "April Fools".

In the early Roman calendar, April 1 was the first day of spring, the spring equinox, and before 154 B.C. it was New Years Day. Many celebrations of many cultures observed this day as the coming of the renewal of the earth and life. There would be sacrifices and gifts given to the gods. When the Christians came into power in the Roman Empire, they created a celebration we call Easter that replaced the spring rituals.

Although the most common belief is that the observance of April Fool's Day began in France,there really wasn't a "first April Fool's Day" that can be pinpointed on the calendar. Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.

French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs. When the "young fool" discovers this trick, the prankster yells "Poisson d’Avril!" In England, tricks can be played only in the morning. If a trick is played on you, you are a "noodle". In Scotland you are called an "April Gowk" or cuckoo bird. It lasts for two days there. The second day in Scotland is called Taily Day and is dedicated to pranks involving the buttocks. The Scotts can be given credit for the "Kick Me." Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April. One common trick on April Fool's Day is pointing down to a friend's shoe and saying, "Your shoelace is untied." If victim falls for the joke the prankster yells, "April Fool!"

Some popular pranks

• Replacing salt in the sugar bowl at breakfast.
• Attaching a small piece of tape to the mouseball so it does not work.
• Setting the alarm clock ahead one hour and allowing the victim to think they have slept in.

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

BBC Penguins Prank

An awesome BBC prank: film maker and writer Terry Jones discovers a colony of penguins, which are unlike any other penguins in the world: they can fly!!!

And if you wish more, here you have a behind the scenes look at how the BBC created the BBC iPlayer trail for April Fools' Day, featuring a colony of flying penguins:

April Fool's Jokes

The Fonix 2.011: The Die is Cast

That is! What is done is done; and the Fonix exam has already been done. We can only wait for the results next April the 26th.

In the meantime, you can see some pics taken before and after the exam:

The Past Simple

The Past Simple expresses an action in the past taking place once, never, several times. It can also be used for actions taking place one after another or in the middle of another action.

Most Verbs

Most verbs conjugate by adding -ed like the verb "wait" below.

Positive	Negative	Question
I waited. You waited. He waited. She waited. It waited. We waited. They waited.	I did not wait. You did not wait. He did not wait. She did not wait. It did not wait. We did not wait. They did not wait.	Did I wait? Did you wait? Did he wait? Did she wait? Did it wait? Did we wait? Did they wait?

Exceptions in spelling when adding -ed
after a final -e only add -d	love – loved
final consonant after a -l or short, stressed vowel as final consonant after a vowel is doubled	admit – admitted travel – travelled
final -y after a consonant becomes -i	hurry – hurried

Irregular Verbs

Many verbs, such as "have," take irregular forms in the Past Simple. Notice that you only use the irregular verbs in statements. In negative forms and questions, did indicates Past Simple.

Positive	Negative	Question
I had. You had. We had. They had. He had. She had. It had.	I did not have. You did not have. He did not have. She did not have. It did not have. We did not have. They did not have.	Did I have? Did you have? Did he have? Did she have? Did it have? Did we have? Did they have?

To Be

The verb "be" is also irregular in the Past Simple. Unlike other irregular verbs, there are two Past Simple forms: "was" and "were." It also has different question forms and negative forms. Always remember that you DO NOT use did with the verb to be in the Past Simple .

Positive	Negative	Question
I was. You were. We were. They were. He was. She was. It was.	I was not. You were not. We were not. They were not. He was not. She was not. It was not.	Was I? Were you? Were we? Were they? Was he? Was she? Was it?

Extreme Sports

Originally, adult sports involving a high level of danger and adrenaline that would not appeal to most people but attract a daring few: things like skydiving, bungee jumping, rock climbing, ice climbing, technical mountaineering, hang gliding. It generally did not include sports which were "extreme" in their early years but since became mainstream (e.g., downhill skiing or scuba diving), nor did it include children's and teenager's activities like BMX or skateboarding. Extreme sports originally meant adult and non-mainstream. Later (from the late 1990s on) the meaning changed to become synonymous with non-dangerous kiddie sports and the definition has more to do with age (and with marketing energy drinks, Mountain Dew, baggy pants, and punk and thrash music), much to the chagrin of older folks involved in dangerous sports who now would rather the term would go away.

Here you have links to different extreme sports:

extreme skateboarding fun skateboard tube inline rollerblading dude bmx snowboarding paintball extreme sports crazy sportchair riding skating skate water sking muskoka water sports brutal radicaltubing surfing wake motocross skiing water-skiing water danger inner tube pringles boat sea biscuit sking ultimate pringles up water playadrenaline water skiing

For more information see the Wikipedia.

Sports Vocabulary

This lesson is all about sports. Here you will learn the words basketball, baseball, volleyball, ski, swimming, marathon, tennis, golf, cycling, and badminton in English, so you can meet up with your English friends for a game in their language.: