Stormy Mondays on a rocket

Sunrise number 1, a song by Asturian band Stormy Mondays, has reached the final top ten in NASA's contest Space Rock. The USA space agency has promoted this competition to choose two songs which will be played in space in the course of mission STS-134.

The band from Oviedo is currently number 3 among the top ten candidates. They are the only non-American band in the final stage, and you can vote for them here before 19 April, when the mission will start. You can also visit the band's official website (in Spanish) for more information.

I have posted the video of the song so that you can enjoy it. I hope you like it :-)

If you are interested in space exploration, then you may also visit http://www.nasa.gov, where there are amazing videos, pictures and news.

By the way, do you know any other GOOD songs about space? Post them in your comments and let's all enjoy them!

The Railway Children

Congratulations to all 2ºESO A/C students, who have already finished reading The Railway Children.

I hope you liked the book and that you are ready for the test. You will have some extra material, like a railway quiz and some information about the Orient Express (one of the most famous luxury trains), in the Classroom materials page.

I have also found some videos for you (don't worry if you don't understand too much).

Here is the link to the trailer of the film:

Here the link to the ending scene...

...and here the "petticoat" episode, when the children save the train from a terrible accident:

C^u vi parolas esperanton?

Those of you who find learning languages too difficult maybe should give Esperanto a try. It is an artificial language created by Dr. L. Zamenhof in 1887. The idea was to have a common language that we could use when speaking to people from different countries.

Its rules are very simple, even more than English grammar! In addition, they have no exceptions. Its vocabulary is based on existing words from several languages, mainly European ones.

Although Esperanto did not have the success that Dr. Zamenhof would have liked, there are approximately one million people with some knowledge of it, and it is taught at schools in some countries. I have written an example below. If you think you understand it, write a comment with your English translation and let's see who comes closest to the real meaning :-)

"Simple, fleksebla, belsona, vere internacia en siaj elementoj, la lingvo Esperanto prezentas al la mondo civilizita la sole veran solvon de lingvo internacia; c^ar, tre facila por homoj nemulte instruitaj, Esperanto estas komprenata sen peno de la personoj bone edukitaj. Mil faktoj atestas la meriton praktikan de la nomita lingvo."

You can find information about Esperanto here, and here.

Uncountable quizzes

There is a big number of grammar quizzes at usingEnglish.com. Go there if you need practice; maybe you will find what you need in order to improve your English.

I will be posting links to some of their online quizzes in the near future.

Here's a pair of appetizers for my dear 2ESO students:

Countable and Uncountable

Few and Little

Tito Bustillo Rupestrian Art Centre

It is close to our school (in Ribadesella), and believe it or not, it is a good place to practise your English!

You just have to pay attention to the panels and read the English version.

Here's an example:

"The Tito Bustillo Cave, discovered in 1968, is one of the most important rupestrian sets of Palaeolithic Art. Together with other caves of the Cantabrian, it was declared Heritage of Mankind in June 2008 for its extraordinary representations of Palaeolithic Rupestrian Art." Easy, isn't it?

If you visit the centre before 28th March 2011, you won't have to pay to see it.

Mystery in San Francisco (the day after)

For my 2ESO B students:

We have finished reading Mystery in San Francisco (at last!). While you get ready to start with The Railway Children, by Edith Nesbit, perhaps it is time to have a look at some websites that speak about the San Francisco area and other topics we talked about in the classroom.

You will find the links in the Classroom materials page.

Fruit idioms

Do you know what these English expressions mean?

to go bananas

it's a case of sour grapes

give me the second bite of the cherry

Here's a short video where a funny actor explains them to us. It is dedicated to all our students who have been practising food vocabulary these last days :-)

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After you watch the video, why don't you post a comment with the meaning of these expressions? Show off your English and get credit ;-)