The European Day of Languages

We missed it again! :-(
Last 26 September we should have celebrated the linguistic diversity that exists in our continent. Unfortunately we couldn't prepare things in advance and we did not do any special activity. So WE ARE SORRY!!!

If you want, though, you can check out this link where they give us some basic facts about all European languages (they say). Speakers of Asturian may miss some references to our local llingua; nothing is perfect, as it seems :-)  .

Kubla Khan and Coleridge's handwriting

Welcome to the first post of this course.

Today we have been discussing surrealism in writing with BA1A. Coleridge's Kubla Khan was mentioned as an example of a poem composed while sleeping.  Jorge Luis Borges mentions that Kubla Khan had Xanadu built after dreaming about the palace, so Xanadu appears to be a place that first comes up in dreams for artists to work on. Interesting!

Here are the first lines of the poem:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree :

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.
                                           (lines 1-5)

Now look at a sample of the poet's writings on the left. How would you describe his personality by studying his handwriting? Was he arrogant, outgoing, intelligent, shy... ? Was he pessimistic or optimistic? Use what you learnt in today's class and try to guess.

You can read more about Samuel Taylor Coleridge here.

The Tea Time Hoax

Jerry Lewis, my dear students, is not a well-known teacher, but a famous actor. And we would like to travel to Nepal with you, but the news published by La Jueya last week was not true.

It was just a hoax, and its purpose was to celebrate April Fools' Day.

We use the word to refer to false news written in order to trick people. For example, somebody may send you an email saying that a certain program or webpage contains a virus, even knowing this is false. If you read the message, you will stop using the application or opening the webpage: you will have been hoaxed.

The term is loosely related to urban legends, which people pass on believing they are true, while nobody can find any evidence that they are. Among the most famous urban legends are these:

.-New York's sewage system is full of crocodiles which people bought when they were young and discard through the toilets when they start growing.
.-There's the ghost of a girl who stops your car at a bend of the road and tries to warn you to drive carefully (there are many versions of this particular legend).

Do you know any others? You can post them as a comment for everyone to read.

April Fools' Day

Today is the first of April. On this day, it is traditional for people in English-speaking countries to "fool" others in a funny way (you know you have been fooled when you hear "Gotcha!!!" behind your back).

Our school's English Department is no exception, so we have played a trick on you. Can't you guess what it was? You will know all about it next Monday.

Meanwhile, you can check out these links with information about the history of this peculiar tradition:

Origins

A Fools' Day vocabulary exercise

Some quotes about fools:

• It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and leave no doubt. --Mark Twain
• However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him. -- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux
• [Politicians] never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. -- Thomas Reed
• He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks. -- François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld
• The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer
• Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom. -- Elizabeth Gaskell
• Looking foolish does the spirit good. -- John Updike
• Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed. -- Mark Twain
• A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. -- William Blake
• A fool must now and then be right by chance. -- Cowper
• It is better to be a fool than to be dead. -- Stevenson
• The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. -- Mark Twain

April's Fools' Day is similar to our Día de los inocentes. I'd like to read any joke or trick they played on you -or you played on someone else- that you may want to post as a comment (like when they told me I had won a beauty contest !!!)

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.