** Click here to watch and listen about the history of Saint Valentine's... ( Click on subtitles if you find it hard to understand) **Click here to see what you should alwaysask your lover... XXX Dulce
Once again it's Halloween and pumpkins and horrifying costumes invade our streets!
What do you know about it, anyway? Please watch this video to find out more about the history of this festival and this one to discover the origins of "trick-or-treating". For some idioms and proverbs go here.
You can also visit some old posts of ours, just click on "Halloween" in the cloud tag on the left. Enjoy!
There are a couple of common celebrations in Britain which you may not be so familiar with: Guy Fawkes Night and Remembrance Day, a.k.a.* Poppy Day. The former is celebrated on November 5th, the latter is on November 11th. To find out why, just follow the links from Wikipedia above. This is a video of the Guy Fawkes celebration in Victoria Park in London. Enjoy! You can also visit our post last year here. * also known as
Hi!
This is the video we saw in class, just in case you want to watch it again.
By the way, if you want to gossip a bit about the latest "wedding of the century), i.e. William and Kate's last Friday, go here. What do you think about it? Did you like the outfits of the bride, groom, guests, etc? Have you heard anything interesting about this event?
In File 4A we're discussing fashion, shopping, etc. Then you may be interested in browsing the British version of Vogue magazine. For the latest trends, go here.
This post by Teacher Melanie talks of last year's Fashion Week in New York City. It includes some interesting vocabulary.
You can also watch this video from Learn English, a great and easy way to learn some new expressions:
Now you can listen to these activities from the BBC page: - "Buying a pair of trainers" and "Buying some jeans" are easy conversations, and you can complete the conversations - "Where to shop in London" and "Oxford Street crime" are readings with comprehension questions for you to practise Then you can listen to this podcast from ESL Pod, but don't read the transcript until you've heard it at least twice! After the dialogue they explainall the vocabulary, nice!
Do you know what is the in thing right now? What would you NEVER wear, no matter how trendy? Please leave a comment...
- Australia: the "Swag Man". He spends all winter under Uluru with his merry dingoes (wild dogs) and then at Christmas time, he gets in his huge four-wheel drive and sets off through the red dust to deliver his presents
- Canada: maple syrup MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Do not forget to watch this video before you have your office Christmas party and have a look this one to survive a family Christmas. .... ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY!!!!!
On November 5th, we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night in Britain.
Watch this video where historians discuss how terrifyingly simple the gunpowder plot was and what a narrow escape the government of 1605 had.
This is the rest of the story. Notice the use of third conditionals to talk about the hypotheses about what would have happened if the plot had succeeded.
This is the poem that commemorates such a feat:
Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God's providence he was catch'd,
With a dark lantern and burning match
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip Hoorah !
Hip hip Hoorah !
A penny loaf to feed ol'Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar,'
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we'll say: ol'Pope is dead.
Once again, it's Halloween... if you would like to know a bit more about it, watch this video on Halloween history from esol courses and do the questions below the video, you can do them as you listen.
If you are thinking of throwing a Halloween party this weekend, here are some ideas (mostly for children, but anyway...the video is OK) and, remember, beware trick-or-treating and of pranks! Have fun!!!
I know, I know - the jornadas culturales are over and we've had our cake and eaten it! But I just couldn't resist sending you this link to a very traditional cake - carrot cake. Look at it and I'm sure you'll agree it looks completely irresistible.
Click here to find out how to make it. By the way, 'to have your cake and eat it' means to have two things which would normally be contradictory e.g. you want to save money and go on a cruise around the world so you want to have your cake and eat it! The idea behind this idiom is that if you have eaten your cake, you don't have it any more, but if you are greedy (or just plain lucky) you can still eat it again even after you've eaten it!!!
An Irish cook shows you how to make perfect Irish scones in less than three minutes CLICK HERE to see an example of the recipes you can prepare to participate in the Cake Competition. Remember to send your cake recipe (as soon as possible) to arucaseoi@gmail.com and bring your cake on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. Yummy!
5th November is a national celebration of a Catholic man called Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the British Parliament in the 17th Century. He was caught, tortured and hanged. As a 'celebration', the British build bonfires and let off fireworks. I'm sure it's not a celebration of the death penalty or religious warfare, but is just an excuse for a firework display. In Britain, people aren't as used to fireworks as in Spain so there is always a lot of publicity to prevent accidents. Here is the official video telling people how to be safe. Click here to watch.
Here's the link to the website about places to visit in Britain: www.visitbritain.com. Click here to see the page about Cambridge and click on the video to watch it. There is a slightly larger version of the video at the bottom of the page. Don't forget to do the exercise on your photocopy. Why not go to the homepage of the website and find out more about different parts of Britain? It's not a bad place to visit really!
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& crackers
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