"An attempt to integrate the teaching of the English language & ICT, using MUSIC as a mere pretext."


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

"We no speak americano" ?!?!

                       "WE  NO  SPEAK  AMERICANO" * ?!?!

Watch the following video of the song "We no speak americano", by Yolanda Be Cool,
and copy down all the signs (6) that appear on it.

(Be careful! It's not English. It's a mixture of South Italian and something of English.)


SIGNS from the video
SIGNS  from the classic silent movies
1.-
2.-
3.-
1.-
2.-
3.-






Do you like the song?
Think of an adjective to define the song, using the next sentence
The song"We no speak americano" is ____________ . 

You can use one of the adjectives from the table.
(Look up these words in the dictionary. Rememeber We are talking about "MUSIC").
  
Sexy            Funny         Catchy             Awful
Lively         Boring          Sticky           Awesome
Lovely          Sad              ……               ……..





You can get the LYRICS of the song at:


Friday, March 18, 2011

ST. PATRICK'S DAY


To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, let's have a look at the following videos:

Video 1:


Video 2:

Video 3:



Video 4:

Now, Complete this chart:

VIDEO
SONG
SINGER/BAND
GENRE
1-



2-



3-



4-





If you need any help, here you are the required information.
Put the different pieces of information into their correct places:


"With or Without You"                    "Old Town"      
             "Only Time"               "Nothing compares to you"     
        The Corrs          U2          Enya          Sinead O’Connor
Rock        Celtic / New Age          Pop            Pop/Folk Rock


LIKES  &  DISLIKES
1.- Did you know any of these songs?
2.- Do you like any of these songs? If so, Which one?
3.- According to your Likes on Music,
put them into the correct order
(LIKES  ------>  DISLIKES:
1st __ / 2nd __ / 3rd __ / 4th __ )

The four of them have something in common...
 What is it?
????

Yes; they all are IRISH.
And today is their national holiday.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
What's St. Patrick's Day?
                                                           (http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Holidays/StPat/)

St. Patrick's Day is an annual feast day celebrating the patron saint of Ireland. It is the national holiday of Ireland and it is usually celebrated on March 17.
                *
                                                                *

St. Patrick's Day has become a popular holiday in the United States, apart from Ireland.  People wear green and eat corned beef and cabbage.
Most people, whether they are Irish or not, wear green on this day. One of the Irish traditions is to pinch anyone who is not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day.
The shamrock and leprechans are also associated with St. Patrick's Day.

The shamrock was worn as a badge on the lapel. Three is Ireland's magic number and the three petals that make up the shamrock are supposed to bring good luck.
The leprechaun is a small Irish fairy. He is dressed like a shoemaker, with pointed shoes and hat. He also wears a leather apron. Leprechauns are little men who lives alone in the forest, spending all of their time making shoes and guarding their treasure.
Nowadays, St. Patrick's Day has become a holiday all around the world and for one day out of the year anyone can be Irish and join in the celebration. In Spain people also celebrate this day with friends in Irish pubs listening to live music and having a great time.


READING COMPREHENSION.-

*How many Irish symbols can you identify on the Calendar (March) above? Name all of them.

1.- TRUE or FALSE?
a) St. Patrick's is the patron saint of Ireland.
b) St. Patrick's is celebrated twice a year.
c) It is celebrated on the fourth month of the year.
d) The shamrock is a symol of bad luck.
e) Nowadays, St. Patrick's Day is only celebrated in Ireland.

2.- COMPLETE THE CHART after reading the text about St. Patrick's Day:
COLOUR

TRADITIONAL FOOD

NUMBER

SYMBOLS


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
¿Qué es St. Patrick’s Day? (Resumen)
Es la fiesta nacional de la República de Irlanda y se celebra cada 17 de Marzo. Es una fiesta de origen religioso que se ha extendido por numerosos países. En algunos lugares como Estados Unidos se ha convertido en algo muy popular, especialmente en ciudades como Boston, Chicago o Nueva York, donde gran parte de sus habitantes provienen de Irlanda.
El símbolo de St. Patrick’s day es el trébol de tres hojas, ya que el número de la suerte en Irlanda es el 3. Es tradicional comer cordero y repollo el día de la fiesta. Y llevar alguna prenda de vestir de color verde, como señal de buena suerte.
El Leprechaun es el personaje estrella de la fiesta. Se trata de un duendecillo con barba pelirroja que viste de verde y lleva un sombrero original.
*   *   *   *   *
Felicidades a todos los que se llamen ...
Patricia, Patricio, Patrick, Pádraig (irlandés), Pádraic (irlandés), Paddy, Patty o Pat.
¿Sabías que todos ellos proceden del latín "Patricius"  
y que su significado original es el de "persona noble"?

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN´S DAY


International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on the 8th of March every year.  
It is a major day of global celebration for women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.
Today, IWD is an official holiday in countries such as Afghanistan, China (for women only), Cuba, Madagascar (for women only), Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their women in their lives -mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc- with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day, where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.
In the new millennium there is a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation.
However, women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts and are still not present in equal numbers in business or politics. In general, women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.
According to the United Nations (UN) this year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The theme for IWD 2011 is “Equal access to education, training and science and technology”.
                                                                *   *   *   *   * 
DID YOU KNOW …?
There is also an International Men's Day (IMD). It is an annual international event celebrated, in some countries, on the 19th November.
International Men's Day is celebrated in countries such as Jamaica, Australia, India, United States, Singapore, Malta, United Kingdom, South Africa, Hungary, Ireland, Canada, Denmark, Austria, England, France, Scotland, …  (but –as you know- it is not celebrated is Spain).
 READING COMPREHENSION.- Answer the following questions about the text:

1.- When is the International Women's Day celebrated?
2.- In which countries is it an official holidays just for women?
3.- What is the tredition in some places on this date?
4.- What is the theme for IWD 2011?
5.- When is the International Men's Day celebrated?

LANGUAGE AWARENESS.-

An ACRONYM is a word formed from the initial letters of other words.
(For example: UFO = Unidentified Flying Object).

a) Name 3 ACRONYMS that appear on the text.
b) Underline ALL the nouns  from the previous text and put them into the correct place in the following table. Then, Complete the table "SINGULAR vs. PLURAL".


SINGULAR  NOUNS

PLURAL  NOUNS






                                                       *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Finally, watch the following video to pay tribute to all the working women.


If you don't understand anything,
 ...
Don't Worry!! ...It is NOT English!!
It is Galician ("gallego").
It is Celtic music from Galicia.
("Centeàs", by LUAR NA LUBRE) 

*  *  *  *
And, just to finish,
to celebrate this day,
I hope you enjoy the next video
"WOMEN IN FILM"


HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY !!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

PLAYING WITH WORDS

     SEXTING  ?!?!

 SEXTING  =  SEX  + TEXTING

¿Has escuchado alguna vez hablar de una nueva moda
conocida con el nombre de "SEXTING"?

Seguro que habrás oído hablar de esta prática común entre los jóvenes de todo el mundo, incluído España, aunque no sepas con qué nombre se le conoce...

"SEXTING" (contracción de "SEX""TEXTING") es un anglicismo de nuevo cuño utilizado para referirnos al envío de contenidos eróticos a través de teléfonos móviles (SMS) o Internet (e-mails).

Comenzó haciendo referencia al envío de SMS de contenido sexual, pero con la extensión de las capacidades multimedia de los dispositivos móviles, han surgido los envíos de fotografías y vídeos, a los que se les sigue aplicando el mismo término, aunque "texting" se refiere originalmente en inglés al envío de mensajes de texto.

No olvides nunca que ...
"Cuando una imagen sale de tu móvil / ordenador
pierdes para siempre su control."

Para que tengas una visión general del tema que nos ocupa, te recomiendo que le eches un vistazo al siguiente video producido en México, que describe el fenómeno del "SEXTING" y sus consecuencias:




*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

DID YOU KNOW...?

1.- "Sexting" consists on sending or receiving sexually expressed messages with text and pictures, with an inappropriate erotic content.

2.- This new phenomenon is very popular among teenagers in the USA and in many other countries like Mexico. In some European countries it has become a very common practice too. 

3.- In Spain, according to a recent study, 4% of the students between 10 and 16 years old confessed to have taken erotic pictures of themselves using their mobile phones.

In conclusion, ... A new fashion all over the world!

Today "Sexting" is an epidemic among teenagers. Here is a very strong message against Sexting on the following 3 short videos selected from SchoolTube (http://www.schooltube.com/):

1.


2.


3.


So, ... Be careful !!
"SEXTING" can ruin your life !!

Final piece of advice:

"Do NOT put anything on a public form
that you don't want everyone to know about it."

Aaron Karrer
"Columbus North High School" (USA)

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
FURTHER INFORMATION.-
Para más información sobre "SEXTING" puedes leer los siguientes artículos, publicados en periódicos españoles:

EL MUNDO:
LA VANGUARDIA:

También puedes ver las siguientes animaciones, realizadas por PantallasAmigas.net para sensibilizar sobre los riesgos del "Sexting". Más información en http://www.Sexting.es .

¡No lo olvides! Cuando una imagen tuya sale de tu teléfono, pierdes el control sobre ella para siempre. ¡Puede acabar en Internet a la vista de todos o en los teléfonos de gente que no querrías!


a) SEXTING: ¡NO LO PRODUZCAS!



b) SEXTING: ¡NO LO PROVOQUES!



c) SEXTING: ¡NO LO TRANSMITAS!



************************************************************************
REFLECTION ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ENGLISH BLENDS:
"PLAYING WITH WORDS"

In Linguistics, a BLEND is a word formed from parts of 2 or more other words.
That is the case of SEXTING (= SEX + TEXTING).

Example:


SPORK = SPOON + FORK

TASK.- Complete the following table about these common English Blends:
ENGLISH  BLENDS
2   WORDS
MEANING

Example :
SEXTING

SEX  + TEXTING

SPORK
                    SPOON  +  FORK

BRUNCH


SMOG


MOTEL


SPANGLISH


MICROSOFT


OXBRIDGE


OBAMANIA


PICTIONARY


WIKIPEDIA




                  *Remember, Playing with words can be -sometimes- a serious matter!!
______________________________________________________________________________
Before finishing this post, let me show you a video-clip to illustrate this topic:



TASKS.-

I) Con la ayuda de la letra de la canción "SEX BOMB", de Tom Jones, copia las 4 líneas que forman el Estribillo

Chorus (4 lines)
                                          Line 1: (5 words)=   __ __ __ __ __
                                          Line 2: (12 words)= __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                          Line 3: (5 words)=  __ __ __ __ __
                                          Line 4: (7 words)=  __ __ __ __ __ __ __

II) Subraya la única palabra diferente en las líneas 1 y 3 del Estribillo de la canción "SEX BOMB", y construye una frase en la que aparezcan ambas palabras.

III) Subraya todos los verbos que aparecen en el Estribillo y escribe una frase con cada uno de ellos.

IV) ¿Cuáles son los dos verbos del Estribillo que van acompañados de una preposición? Cítalos, busca su significado en el diccionario y escribe una frase con cada uno de ellos.