"Doing the dog"...

Sometimes some expressions in Spanish have nothing to do with those in English, that's why some spanish learners tend to confuse or even invent expressions like "doing the dog" (as last week said my pupils in class...) refering to "doing nothing at all...". Imagine what the American lecturer Ethan was thinking at that moment. It was very funny anyway...
Here you are a song that talks exactly about doing nothing. Enjoy and learn...:)
Have a nice weekend ;)!

Halloween is coming!

Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.

All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Saints Day, which was created by Christians to convert pagans, and is celebrated on November 1st. The Catholic church honored saints on this designated day.

Origin of Halloween

Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead.

Samhain signifies "summers end". Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved in this celebration were fed on superstition.

The Celts believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next years crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or-treating.

Bonfires

In northern Ireland, it was customary for Druids to perform ritualistic ceremonies and make sacrifices to pacify their gods. The Celts would bring wood and start their Samhain bonfire or, fire festival, on the hilltop. Often, they would throw the bones of slaughtered cattle into the flames.
The word "bonfire" is said to be derived from such "bone fires." Bonfires and sacrifices guaranteed that the sun would burn brightly after a long, dreary winter. It's common to witness hundreds of traditional bonfires in Ireland every year on Halloween Night.

Costumes

Halloween costumes originated from the Celts when they lit huge bonfires and celebrated Samhain by dressing up in elaborate animal skins and heads to disguise themselves as spirits and demons so that the real ones couldn't distinguish them as being human. Their ceremonies consisted of dancing, telling stories, and reading fortunes.

Jack 'O Lanterns

The traditions of carving jack 'o lanterns originates with the Celts. A miserable man named Jack, tricked the devil. Unable to enter heaven or hell after his death, he was destined to roam the earth. Jack placed a piece of coal into a carved-out turnip and used it as a lantern to keep the evil spirits away. Today, pumpkins (which are easier to cut) are carved into jack-o-lanterns, lit and placed outside of doorways for the same purpose.

Trick or Treating

The custom of trick or treating evolved in Ireland, centuries ago. In preparation for All Hollow's Eve, the poor would call upon the rich folks and request money, gifts and food. The food was gathered for a huge feast and celebration.

The game is over!:(

"All the fish is sold", jejejeje. Chicos/as, ya está todo dicho y hecho. Aquí y ahora se termina mi "labor" con vosotros :(... Mañana comenzáis la prueba que tanto tiempo llevais esperando y preparando, parecÍa que no iba a llegar...
Hace poco yo tb hice un examen importante (por eso hoy estoy aqui...) y debéis pensar varias cosas:

1. Ya no importa lo que pudiste hacer y no hiciste, no es dia de hacerse reproches ni ponerse histéricos...simplemente maximizar lo que teneis asimilado que no es poco...
2. Tenéis que afrontarlo con serenidad y calma, ni eufóricos ni deprimidos. Pensad que los nervios solo van a entorpeceros...confiad en vuestra capacidad!
3. ...y último, como a todo en la vida, a esto hay que echarle muchas ganas. Cuando la actitud es positiva y se pone la cabeza y el corazón en lo que hacemos las cosas salen bien...;)

NO ESTARÉIS SOLOS, todos los que os queremos (incluida yo...) estaremos con vosotros en esos momentos de una manera u otra....

MUCHISIMA SUERTE SWEETIES!!!!

Selectividad Tips!

Hola chicos/as, nerviosos? espero que no. Ya habéispasado lo más duro, esto ya es seguir rodando, de verdad... Aqui os dejo nos ultimos consejitos para enfrentar el examen el martes. Espero podeir ir a veros en algun momento, es mi intención...

Antes de elegir tu opción, fíjate en la parte de Use of English y en la composición y en el que os veais más cómodos, a por él!

EJERCICIO DE COMPREHENSION

• Lee el título y las preguntas de comprensión antes de leer el texto. Te harás una idea de lo que trata.
• Lee el texto de manera rápida, tratando de entenderlo en general. No te detengas en las palabras que no sepas.
• Vuelve a leer las preguntas con mucha atención.
• Lee también las preguntas de léxico por si al volver a leer el texto encuentras alguna respuesta.
• Relee el texto, esta vez trata de localizar dónde se encuentran las respuestas a las preguntas.
• Lee las preguntas atentamente una a una, piensa en lo que te piden exactamente y encuentra las líneas donde se haya la respuesta. Trata de responder con tus palabras preferiblemente. No importa que emplees algunas palabras del texto pero utilizando estructuras distintas. Pero si no te ves capaz, usa las del texto, pero usalas bien! 
• Recuerda que la estructura del inglés es bastante fija:

Subject+Verb+Indirect Object+ Direct Object+ Manner+ Place+Time
Subject-Verb Agreement
Adjective +Noun

USE OF ENGLISH
 
VOCABULARY

• Una vez contestadas las preguntas de comprensión, pasa a las de léxico. Fíjate bien en lo que se te pregunta exactamente. No actúes a la ligera. Recuerda que tienes que dar la palabra en la categoría de palabra que se te pide, verb, noun, etc.
• Si desconoces la palabra de la que te piden un sinónimo o antónimo, intenta comprender su significado por el contexto.
• Recuerda que si te dicen "Find" obviamente es encontrarla en el texto, mientras que "Give" teneis que sacarla de vuestra mente brillante.

GRAMMAR

• No confundas las reglas de un tipo de transformación con las de otra (por ejemplo: la transformación de activa a pasiva con los cambios de estilo indirecto a indirecto)
• Antes de hacer la respuesta recuerda la regla que debes aplicar. Procura no traducir mucho o que la traducción no sea la base de la transformación que hagas
• Si no comprendes alguna palabra es no tan importante para hacer los ejercicios de gramática correctamente.

COMPOSITION

• Recuerda que se puntúa: corrección gramatical, riqueza léxica, distribución adecuada del texto, orden y limpieza y madurez de ideas. Haz un esquema de ideas.
• Observa las mismas reglas estructurales que en las respuestas de comprensión
• Utiliza conjunciones y otros recursos para enlazar frases y párrafos.
• Escribe con BUENA LETRA
• Solo los aspectos formales que siempre os repito de parrafos (intro, parrafos y conclusion, una idea por parrafo...),margenes, claridad y limpieza...os da un punto!
• Guardad un tiempo para repasar el examen, es fundamental!

Animo chicos, mañana más...pero no mejor...jejeje

Selectividad is coming...practice!

Hiii, how are you sweeties? Here you are 4 exams with keys to practice before your exam ion Tuesday. Keep visiting the blog cause I'm going to post some tips and useful resources for the exam.


Good night and good luck;)!

Farewell, my lovely...

Uff, este es el primer post que no sé cómo empezar ni qué poner que sea sincero y que exprese todo lo que pienso y siento estos días. Con este post veis que delante de vosotros, allí en la pizarra hay personas normales, en este caso alguien que quizá pueda tener los mismos miedos, inseguridades y mismos sentimientos que vosotros…

Después de todo un curso, hoy no tengo palabras suficientes para decir todo lo bueno y valioso que me llevo de vosotros. Y la verdad lo tengo que aceptar, os voy a echar de menos. A pesar de todos los malos ratos, ha sido un curso excelente. Yo me he sentido cómoda y apreciada tanto a nivel profesional como a nivel personal que a veces es más importante. Y es que una cosa es cierta, y que no se os suba mucho…pero grupos así como vosotros dan sentido a nuestra profesión.

Me llena de satisfacción haberme sentido cercana a vosotros, incluso que muchos profes me llamen la “co-tutora del BS”… espero que vosotros también lo hayáis sentido así.

Lo dicho muchachos/as… un placer;)!!

(No tiene el mismo contexto, pero me viene a la cabeza esta canción...)

Better late than never...

Sorryyy...I'm so late. I hope you can do the final review with these activities. These includes just the topics and grammar dealt with in topic 5, but remember that you have to study the previous topics as well.
Good night and good luck ;)

Reinforcement 5

Good (film) messages...

Here you are two very good messages taken from two very good films (in my opinion...) What do you think?

Back to work!! :(

Hi guys, holidays almost finished !!!! enjoy these two days to the full because on Monday...we go back to work!!...to very very hard work! Heigh ho!!

Writing strategies: Learn it!!!!!!!!!

A) BASIC WRITING SKILLS

When we write a composition, it is not enough to have good ideas or persuasive arguments.
It is important to express them correctly.

Word order: Subject + Verb + Object + Complements (manner place time)
I found the book easily at the library yesterday

Notes:
1. Time expressions can come at the beginning or at the end of a sentence.
2. Don´t separate the verb from its object.
3. Frequency adverbs (often, always, never) often come before the main verb.
4. If a sentence has a direct object and an indirect object, we often place the indirect
object first: "She wrote him a letter" ( "She wrote a letter to him", is possible).
5. Adjectives come before the noun and they have no plural form.

Subject-verb agreement: The subject and the verb must agree in number. For example, when the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular:
"She sings well"

Some nouns are always followed by a singular verb (everything, news, furniture, information ...)
Some nouns are followed by a plural verb (people, children, police, trousers ...)


B) WRITING A COMPOSITION

A good composition has three elements: an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
It should also flow from sentence to sentence and connect the ideas in a clear and logical
way. There are several ways to achieve this:

· Repeat key nouns throughout the composition.
· Use pronouns to refer back to key nouns
· Arrange the sentences in a logical order and use linking words to indicate the order ( first,
second, then, later, next, since, then, finally)

A good composition should have a strong opening which attracts the readers´ attention and makes them to read more. A few good ways of opening your composition include:

· A question
· A surprising statistic or fact
· A personal address to the reader
· A provocative statement (not too provocative!)

Certain words or expressions are often used to indicate the conclusion of a piece of writing:
In conclusion, lastly, finally, to sum up, in short ...

C) CONNECTORS

Below is a chart of words and expressions commonly used to connect ideas or show
relationships.

1. Contrast or opposing ideas: although, while, in spite of, but, however.

2. Comparison: like, similarly, both, just, as + adjective + as.

3. Reason, cause and effect: because, since, as, so that, in order that.

4. Time and sequence: when, while, first of all, secondly, finally.

5. Result and consequences: therefore, thus, as a result of.

6. Addition and example: moreover, in addition, for instance, such as.

Un argentino en Toronto...buenisisisisimo...

Hi chic@s, despues de la tensión de los examenes y antes de los sustos que estan por venir...;P, unas risas...Es el diario de un argentino que se muda a Toronto, es muy bueno, igual algunos lo habéis oido ya...
Por cierto, sabéis que se ve desde la torre más alta de Toronto?? jejejeje...

Don't let your head rule your heart...what do you think?

Do you think we should let all our emotions run free or think twice? When your head tells you stop! and your heart tells you go!, what do you do?

“The heart has reasons that reason does not understand.” Jacques Benigne B.

“One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter.” James Earl Jones

How do you feel today?

This is good music (in my opinion...)

"Nobody said it was easy..."

What is the "American Dream"?

The term “American Dream” is used in a number of ways, but essentially the American Dream is an idea which suggests that all people can succeed through hard work, and that all people have the potential to live happy, successful lives. Many people have expanded upon or refined the definition of the American Dream, and this concept has also been subject to a fair amount of criticism. Many people believe that the structure of American society belies the idealistic goal of the American Dream, pointing to examples of inequality rooted in class, race, and ethnic origin which suggest that the American Dream is not attainable for all.

The idea of an American Dream is older than the United States, dating back to the 1600s, when people began to come up with all sorts of hopes and aspirations for the new and largely unexplored continent. Many of these dreams focused on owning land and establishing prosperous businesses which would theoretically generate happiness, and some people also incorporated ideals of religious freedom into their American Dreams. During the Great Depression, several people wrote about an American Dream, codifying the concept and entrenching it in American society.


For people who believe in the American dream, anything is attainable through hard work. The concept plays on the idea that American is a classless society, although it is obviously not, as any honest examination of the United States will reveal. The idealistic vision of the American Dream also assumes that people are not discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, gender, and national origin, another thing which is unfortunately not true in the United States.

Critics of the American dream also point out that many versions of the dream equate prosperity with happiness, and that happiness may not always be that simple. These critics suggest that the American Dream may always remain tantalizingly out of reach for some Americans, making it more like a cruel joke than a genuine dream.

People with a more skeptical view of the American Dream sometimes say that the American Dream represents the possibility of living better than your parents did, and a desire among parents for their children to lead happy lives. This is especially true in the immigrant community, as many immigrants have come from extremely difficult circumstances.


Some one who manages to achieve his or her version of the American Dream may be said to be “living the dream,” and everyone has a unique interpretation of what the American Dream might be. Fundamentally, the American Dream is about hope and the potential for change, and one could argue that people who enact change in some way, even a small way, are living the dream.

Spanish touching songs...

Extra-pratice exam.

Hii!, Here you are some activities to practice for the test. Best do it once you have studied the grammar rules and vocabulary (It will be more effective...).
See u tomorrow!
extra-p4

extra-p 4Answers

St. Patrick's day (March 17th)

Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. A patron saint takes special care of a country or group. Saint Patrick was a caring person and did many nice things for the people of Ireland. Saint Patrick was born in 385 and died around the year 460. That is over 1,500 years ago. Saint Patrick died on March 17th.
March 17th is the day Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated. People march in parades and marching bands play. Corned beef and cabbage is a favourite meal on Saint Patrick's Day. Many people wear green on this day. Green is an Irish colour because of a few reasons. The first reason is because the green shamrock leaf is a symbol of Saint Patrick and Ireland. The Irish say a shamrock brings good luck. The second reason is because Ireland is called the "Emerald Isle" with lots of green pastures. The third reason is because the people of Ireland would burn green leaves to spread over their land to make their soil richer.
There are legends that go along with Saint Patrick's Day. A popular legend is about the leprechaun. Leprechauns are tiny people dressed in green and they collect pots of gold. The legend says that if you catch a leprechaun, he will lead you, following the rainbow to the end, to his pot of gold.
The first Saint Patrick's Day celebration in the United States was in 1737. This day is now celebrated all over the world. Some people sing songs and dance to celebrate. The Irish dance is called the "jig". A popular song is "The Wearin' of the Green".
The Irish are very thankful on this day because Saint Patrick taught them to read and write. The Irish read and write because generations passed their knowledge on to other generations.

In this day, try to find a Leprechaun and he will lead you to your desired treasure!
You can listen above to one of the most beautiful traditional Irish song ever, it is Celtic music. It is instrumental, listen to, relax and enjoy...Happy St. Patrick's day and good luck ;)!

Wild nature: Ireland!

For those who come with me in this travel...this is Ireland. I'm sure we'll enjoy the experience very much. I'm very excited to share this experience with all of you :).
Have a nice weekend!
P.D. Pleaseee, aquellos que falten por hacer ingreso y entregarme el recibo o darme el dinero, buscadme el lunes a mi o a María Pozo. Yo a segunda hora estaré de guardia en el aula de convivencia.

Everybody has a romantic side, don't you think so?

I have to confess...although I speak and understand English quite a lot, obviously Spanish songs touch the heart much more just because that is our mother tongue. In this sense, somebody told me some time ago that I am the most Mexican Spanish he has ever known. I like the mexican food, people, culture, and music (alejandro fernandez, camila, sin bandera, luis miguel...I love mariachi!)...despite corny, I sometimes listen to and enjoy it ;P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNk2HRe7iaY&feature=related

Cuando llega el Carnaval...

Cuando llega el Carnaval, los poetas de la calle van al falla (teatro Falla) a deleitar al gran público. Y éste año, una vez, lo han conseguido. Coros, comparsas, chirigotas y cuartetos han satisfecho las expectativas de los aficionados. No es que sea una forofa del Carnaval, porque creo que en la calle se ha desvirtuado mucho. Por lo tanto, en la distancia, lo veo por la tele, q se ve "la mar de bien...". La verdad sea dicha, las bromas de Carnaval al completo sólo las entiende/entendemos el gaditano/a, porque aunque cada vez hay más gente que le gusta el Carnaval de Cádiz, el gaditano hace su carnaval para su propio disfrute y no le importa lo que digan los demás. Teniendo en cuenta que la mayoría de veces en las noticias nacionales sólo aparece el de Tenerife y apenas nada del de Cádiz, ésta actitud puede llegar a ser comprensible...
En resumidas cuentas...en mi opinión, éste es el auténtico Carnaval, no se puede tener más arte y más ingenio.

Este primer video es de la chirigota "Los joaquin pamplina, cantauror de la plaza mina", lo del nombre viene por joaquin sabina (usan muchas de sus canciones) y laplaza mina es una plza que hay en Cádiz muy bonita dónde hay muchas palomas, de ahi su vestuario. la última parte del video que hablan sobre Julio Pardo, éste hombre es un famoso compositor de carnaval, sobre todo de coros, y casi siempre recibe premios.Ésta chirigota a pesar de haberse llevado el segundo premio, para mi gusto tiene un humor más fino que el del primer premio que son "Ricas y maduras" que están abajo también.

Chic@sss, see u tomorrow!

Subliminal messages...

Being tutor is complicated... When boys and girls are 15, they have a lot of inner problems. I try to help them in a personal and academic way, but it is not always so easy.
Two weeks ago, I discovered that girls have much more problems than boys at this moment. Sometimes, being 15 is more difficult for girls. What is the problem? In my opinion, it is called Oxitocina. Women have more oxitocina than men from the very beginning of their lifes. This substance makes us suffer in every single way (love, pain, sorrow...) in a very harmful manner.
We have much more sufferings than men since we are 4 (approx the age in which we fall in love for the first time, in nursery...;P). That's the critical moment in which we are said the most well-known lie. When a boy insult you and treat you in bad manners and you get home a tell your mother, and your mother says: that's why he likes you... FALSEEEEEEE...
The problem is that we believe that lie almost for the rest of our lifes. So, I think that being 15, as the girls in my tutorial, is a good moment to discover the truth. If someone blames you, he/she doesn't love you!!. I try to tell them but they seem not to get the message.
Tomorrow, I'm going to make them listen to this song... Do you think they'll get the message? (see the lyrics below the video...just if you need it ;P)


Come with me, stay the night
You say the words but boy it don't feel right
What do you expect me to say (You know it's just too little too late)
You take my hand, and you say you've changed
But boy you know your beggin don't fool me
Because to you it's just a game

So let me on down
Cause time has made me strong
I'm starting to move on
I'm gonna say this now
Your chance has come and gone
And you know

It's just too little too late
A little too wrong
And I can't wait
Boy you know all the right things to say (You know it's just too little too late)
You say you dream of my face
But you don't like me
You just like the chase
To be real, it doesn't matter anyway (You know it's just too little too late)

I was young and in love
I gave you everything but it wasn't enough
And now you wanna communicate
Go find someone else
In lettin you go, I'm lovin myself
You gotta problem
But don't come askin me for help
Cause ya know

CHORUS
I can love with all of my heart baby
I know I have so much to give (I have so much to give)
With a player like you, I don't have a prayer
That's the way to live, yeah oh

Decisions...

La vida es una contínua toma de decisiones, para bien o para mal...siempre tenemos que estar decidiendo qué hacer...
Por ejemplo, la carrera que escojáis va a marcar mucho vuestra vida. De ello depende la gente que conozcáis, los nuevos amigos, nuevas situaciones...y así se va formando vuestra vida. Esa simple decisión va a condicionar de una manera u otra vuestro futuro. La vida cambia de un momento a otro de la manera más inesperada que os podéis imaginar, pero es algo que no podemos evitar, no sufráis...en el fondo estamos acostumbrados...
De hecho nos hacen tomar decisones desde pequeños, desde nuestra infancia: nesquik o cola-cao?? coca-cola o pepsi?? Mcdonald o burguer king?? Parece simple, pero a veces son bandos que...ríete tu de la rivalidad barÇa-madrid...otro caso que tienes que decidir desde que eres pequeño...
En fin...yo la verdad no soy especialmente delicada con algunas cosas...jeje, aunque si tengo que elegir, cola-cao (of course) aunq digan los demás el nesquik NO SABE IGUAL..., pepsi light (esta mucho más dulce, y ya q no puede ser una personalizada como os proponia Mª José en economia ;P...esta me gusta). En cuanto a equipos, no me pronuncio...del que gane, que hoy por hoy está claro...y finalmente Mcdonald, porq os aseguro que no sé pedir en un Burguer King, me parece que me hablan en chino... Me viene a la mente un sketch de cruz y raya, tratando el tema, a mi hasta se me saltaron las lágrimas de la risa. Yo creo que está basado en hechos reales..eaa, pa q os riais un poco ...

See u tomorrow, guys!

If I let you go...

Practising conditional sentences... what type of conditional sentence does appear in this song???

Let's learn some idioms!!

An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard for students and learners to understand. Here you are some of the most used idiomatic expressions. Learn and use them!

1. as easy as pie means "very easy" (same as "a piece of cake")
Example: He said it is a difficult problem, but I don't agree. It seems as easy as pie to me!

2. be sick and tired of means "I hate" (also "can't stand")
Example: I'm sick and tired of doing nothing but work. Let's go out tonight and have fun.

3. bend over backwards means "try very hard" (maybe too much!)
Example: He bent over backwards to please his new wife, but she never seemed satisfied.

4. bite off more than one can chew means "take responsibility for more than one can manage"
Example: John is so far behind in his studies. Besides classes, he plays sports and works at a part-time job. It seems he has bitten off more than he can chew.

5. To be broke means "to have no money"
Example: I have to borrow some money from my Dad. Right now, I'm broke.

6. change one's mind means "decide to do something different from what had been decided earlier"
Example: I was planning to work late tonight, but I changed my mind. I'll do extra work on the weekend instead.

7. Cut it out! means "stop doing something bad"
Example: That noise is really annoying. Cut it out!

8. drop someone a line means "send a letter or email to someone"
Example: It was good to meet you and I hope we can see each other again. Drop me a line when you have time.

9. figure something out means "come to understand a problem"
Example: I don't understand how to do this problem. Take a look at it. Maybe you can figure it out.

10. fill in for someone means "do their work while they are away"
Example: While I was away from the store, my brother filled in for me.

11. in ages means "for a very long time"
Example: Have you seen Joe recently? I haven't seen him in ages.

12. give someone a hand means "help"
Example: I want to move this desk to the next room. Can you give me a hand?

Mucho arte...(Maria's mind)

Esta entrada hace honor al nombre del blog...cosas que se me pasan por la mente. En mi tierra (imagino q sabéis que nací en Cádiz...), Febrero es sinónimo de carnaval, la fiesta más conocida y celebrada alli. Es verdad que el carnaval en la calle ha perdido mucho la esencia y si vas y lo ves parece a simple vista un botellón de gente disfrazada. Una pena, el carnaval es mucho más. El verdadero carnaval se vive dentro del gran teatro Manuel de Falla (nacido en Cádiz...), donde muchos grupos de artistas/poetas como los del video presentan año tras año las letras más ingeniosas y entrañables sobre la sociedad y la gente. Si bien muchas de ellas tienen que ver con Cádiz y su provincia, la mayoría afortunadamente las pueden entender y disfrutar todo el mundo.
La agrupación del video es una de las más conocidas y premiadas, esta fué de hace dos años, cuando eran "Los enteraos", y en todo el numero hacen y deshacen afirmaciones, dandoselas de que lo saben todo, parodiando a mucha gente asi que anda suelta...jeje
En esta y muchas otras épocas del año, a pesar de estar contenta donde estoy, echo la vista hacia mi tierra, y me digo: Cuanto arte hay en esa tierra...q orgullo de ser gaditana!
O como dirían alli...(perdon de antemano...)"Lo siento pisha, pero no to er mundo puede ser de Cai"

Happy Valentine's day to all of you!!!

Extra-practice exam.

Here you are the extra practice I promised for the exam.
See u tomorrow ;)
P.D. Valentine videos as soon as possible, ok?


REINFORCEMENT 3

KIDNAPPED (SECUESTRADA)

La cabrita playera está secuestrada, puedo decir que se encuentra en perfecto estado, se porta bien… esto seguirá así a no ser que no se cumpla con los requisitos de su rescate. Si en el próximo tema, es decir, el tema 4, el cachondeo sigue presente de manera constante en la clase…la cabrita playera le hará una grata visita al tutor, es decir, a D. Juan BautistaJ, para que quede constancia de lo que hacen los chic@s del BS en clase…

No aceptaré sobornos…creo…;P

St Valentine's day is coming...Be my Valentine!

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the

third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

Too lost in you...

How do you feel today?

In my opinion, music and feelings are closely connected, and sometimes it is very difficult to find the music which best suits to your emotions. Problem solved!! I have discovered (thanks to some friends....) two websites (English and Spanish version)in which you can choose the music to listen to depending on your feelings...
If I have to choose one today I would say "I'm with you" by Avril Lavigne
What about you??
Listen to and enjoy...
http://www.rockola.fm/
http://www.stereomood.com/

Selectividad test: The Tower of London.

Hi everyone!! I'm going to give you this text tomorrow in class, but anyway here you are the selectividad text we are going to check next week, in case you lose it. In my opinion, the text talks about a very interesting place probably some of you have already visited in London.

See you tomorrow!

The Tower of London