Stockholm

This is a video dedicated to all the students at our school who have been to Sweden as exchange students and to those who are leaving for Stockholm soon.

Charlie Caper is a magician who makes a play on these words," the magic of Stockholm" - watch the video  and you will understand why; besides, you will learn a lot of facts and statistics about Stockholm and Sweden.

 

Vocabulary Learning

Learn some vocabulary (things invented in the USA) while you revise some geography (states in the US) to improve your general knowledge 

Humorous Sketch About International Relations

International relations are difficult to understand but things get clearer when you personalize them: have a look at this sketch by Studio C (a sketch comedy television show) and see if you understand the relation between the countries  mentioned in it and the stereotypes depicted here.

Click on the English captions to make sure you follow the conversations

The Commonwealth Explained

Learning a bit about New Zealand in class this week, the word "Commonwealth" came out, so perhaps we should go a little bit deeper into that.

Here is a map which shows the Commonwealth countries

And this is a video where people from those countries explain what the Commonwealth means for them. Pay attention to their accents because they are a good example of the variety of English accents all over the world.

As for New Zealand, watch this video where the All Blacks perform their Maori dance, the haka, before the game.

And, finally, a lovely video called "Full Moon Silhouettes." Read the description of the video made by photographer Mark Gee: it is a real time video of the moon rising over the Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand, during moon rise on the 28th January 2013, People had gathered up there this night to get the best view possible of the moon rising.

Enjoy the music and the images! I bet they will make you wish you had been there!

Full Moon Silhouettes from Mark Gee on Vimeo.

The Best Job in the World

How much do you know about Australia? Click here to find out 

In Australia, they consider the following jobs the best in the world; do you agree?

• an island caretaker on the great barrier reef
• chief funster
• taste master
• wildlife caretaker
• outback adventurer
• lifestyle photographer
• park ranger

Which one would you choose and why? Watch the video below to know what you each job consists of:

People from all over the world have applied and three entries were chosen for each job; Click here to see the finalists - the winners will be announced on June 21st.

A Spanish girl, Julia Matos, nearly made it: she was one of the 25 finalists. Here is the video she made for her application: 

If Julia could get that far, you could get one of those jobs in the future... who knows?

Palestine

Cristina G. F´s oral exam this morning was a description of a photograph taken in Palestine (click here to see it) : she showed us a map of the region and told us about the current war so I thought it would be a good occasion to learn about the conflicts in the area. I hope the following videos will help you to get an idea of what things are like over there.

The first video is called Middle East Peace, The Real Story, by Avaaz. It may be too difficult for you to follow, that´s why I recommend you to watch it in Spanish first (click here to get the link) and then watch the version in English for some listening practice

The second video is called This Land is Mine, it´s an animated story of Palestine. Its creator is animator Nina Paley - you should click here to understand who kills who in the video ( i.e. in the history of the country)

This Land Is Mine from Nina Paley on Vimeo

As for the third video, it is about a project called The Israeli Palestinian Blood Donation Project. Read about it first: 

In June 2010 creative minds from all over the world were invited to present ideas that would bring Israelis and Palestinians closer together. Saatchi & Saatchi Israel launched the ‘Impossible Brief,’ which led to Blood Relations - a joint Israeli-Palestinian blood donation in Tel Aviv. Israeli and Palestinian members of the Parents Circle Families Forum (PCFF), an organisation for parents from both sides of the conflict who had lost family members, came together to give blood as a symbolic act of healing. An Israeli Blood bank and an Islamic hospital agreed to accept both the Israeli and Palestinian blood donations.

The big question behind their project was this: Could you hurt someone with your blood running through their veins? 

Optional comment / opinion essay: What do you think about the project in general and the question above - and the idea behind the question, obviously?

The Top 10 Happiest Cities

Have a look at the infographic below; it shows the top 10 happiest cities in the world. Funnily enough, two Spanish cities are included, Barcelona and Madrid.

I think there is something ironical in the fact that Spain is suffering its biggest crisis ever and, however, its two biggest cities are considered "happy" places. What do you think? 

Optional homework: An opinion essay / comment:

How many of the cities mentioned here do you know? Are they really "happy cities"? Why would you say so? or Why would you disagree? What criteria would you use for determining the characteristics of a "happy city"? According to those criteria, do you think Lugo should be in your list?

Find A Happy Place: The Top 10 Happiest Cities infographic by spacechimpmedia.

Roman Walls of Lugo, Google Wonders Project

The Roman Wall of Lugo is a World Heritage Site, that´s why it has been included in the Google Wonders Project; you can look for it browsing by location (Europe, Spain, Lugo) or browsing by themes (Architecture, Cities and Towns). This is the first description in the page: 

The Roman walls and defensive complex in the city of Lugo in Northwestern Spain exemplify the ancient civilization that once controlled the city.

The Google Wonders Project offers street views, a couple of videos, photos and  information about the Roman Wall.

It certainly makes us feel a little bit proud of the place where we live, doesn´t it?

Our World

Survival International has launched a campaign to persuade the Minister of Justice in Brazil to send away the invaders -loggers mainly- who are killing the very few Awá people who still remain in the Amazon.

The campaign's goal is to persuade Brazil's Justice Minister to send in federal police to clear out the invaders.On the "Survival International" website, visitors can send a pre-coordinated message to the Minister of Justice in Brazil or share the information on their social media pages.

According to National Geographic the Awá are one of only two nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes left in Brazil. This unique tribe has a profoundly warm relationship with their forest, which provides them with food, shelter and spiritual solace.

The Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth supports this campaign; this is his speech in the video below:  

Many Awa remain uncontacted, they are the most threatened tribe in the world. Their forest is being illegally cut for timber. When the loggers see them, they kill them.When the loggers see them, they kill them. Their bows and arrows are no match for guns. And at any other time in history, that's where it would end. Another people wiped off the face of the Earth, forever. But we're going to make sure the world doesn't let that happen.Here´s the plan

One man can stop this: Brazil's Minister of Justice. He can send  in the federal police to catch the loggers and keep them out for good.But But right now it's just not his priority. We have to change that before its too late. We need enough people to message him so that he takes notice: you, me, our friends, our families, everyone counts. But we don´t have much time, when the rains stop, the loggers will be back. This is our chance right now to actually do something. And if enough people show they care, it will work.

Here´s a piece of advice for you to practise your pronunciation: 

• watch the video once (listening exercise)
• play it a second time while reading Colin Firth´s words above; pay attention and make sure you get the message. 
• Then play the video again and read the speech at the same time as Colin Firth: imitate his pronunciation and intonation. You could´t have a better teacher than the one who helped the King of the UK with his speeches. Click here  to watch the trailer of "The King´s Speech" in original version with English subtitles. By the way, you can borrow the film from the school library...