Start the Weekend With a Smile

This is said to be a real story: a waitress receives extraordinary tips, which, in fact, are part of a plan to thank her for her previous actions and help her have the "best shift* ever". Click here to read more about it

* shift= a person's scheduled period of work, esp. at a place of employment operating continuously during the day and night.

Do some speaking practice: tell this story aloud; include as many details as possible and remember to answer the 5 wh- questions: who? when? where? what? why?

What do you think about this story? Who do you think feels happier, the person who gives or the person who receives?

One More Lesson for Life

Ric Elias was a passenger in the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the plane went down? At TED, he told his story publicly for the first time - click on the link to choose the subtitles for this video and to read its transcript.

This is how you can do this Listening activity: 

1. Read the following questions
2. Watch the video with no subtitles (don´t take notes, just watch and listen)
3. Write as many answers as you remember
4. Watch the video again with the subtitles in Engl¡sh
5. Go over the answers you wrote: would you like to change anything?
6. Check your answers; to do this, you can either watch the video with the subtitles in Spanish or read the transcript (you can choose its language ) 

Questions: 

• what was Ric´s seat number in the plane?
• What happened to the plane that made everybody aware of a problem?
• What had caused the noise, according to the flight attendants?
• What 3 things happened at the same time after the explosion?
• What adjective does Ric, the narrator, use to describe the pilot´s tone of voice?
• How did the flight attendants feel after they heard the pilot´s message?
• What 3 things did Ric learn from this experience?
• What is Ric´s goal in life right now?

The video below will help you understand what really happened

Have you (or anyone you know) ever lived a dramatic experience like this one? Would you like to share it with us?

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?

Special Teenagers

Some days ago I told you about the Google Science Fair and I encouraged you to have a look at the application form and maybe take part in the contest. I do feel there is a lot of potential hidden in teenagers and sometimes it is just a matter of letting it come out. Some people are lucky enough to have help around them and others need to look for it but there are quite a few opportunities out there if you know where to search for them.

If you think a 15-year-old teenager has nothing to show the world, have a look at this photo; click here, if you want to know more about Jack Andraka and his research on pancreatic cancer

Are you a special teenager as well?

A Prank

Prank: A practical joke or mischievous trick.

It´s Friday again so let´s start the weekend with a smile. This is a prank with a name: "feeding the homeless." Watch the video and do some oral practice. You may either tell the prank to a friend or just to yourself - in this case, do it in front of a mirror, it will be easier to practise if you keep eye contact with someone (even if that someone is you- anyway, can there be a better audience for you than yourself?)

When the video has finished, make sure you can answer the basic questions that will help you to make it a meaningful story: who? when? where? what? why? how?

Vocabulary that you will hear - and that you will, hopefully, learn as you rehearse telling the story aloud: 

undecover agent 
surveillance work
sergeant
blow someone´s cover
deliver pizza
credit card

"I appreciate it"

awesome

And last, but not least, what do you think about this prank? I am looking forward to reading your comments.

A Sibling´s Story

The magazine called "Sports Illustrated Kids"  has given the award Sportskids of the year 2012 to brothers Conner and Cayden Long. 

Cayden has cerebral palsy but that hasn't stopped him from competing in triathlons with his older brother Conner:  Conner pulls his little brother behind him in a raft when he swims, tows him in a trailer behind his bike, and pushes him  when he runs; they have already  done this in 14 triathlons.

You can read their complete story here 

This is what you can do as extra homework: write this story form the point of view of Conner: what you do, how, why, and explain how all that makes you feel.

Bullying: One More Tragedy

I just don´t understand bullying, I don´t understand the lack of respect, the non-appreciation of others... There is a golden rule as far as social relations are concerned: you should treat others as you would like to be treated. Period.

But things do not seem to work like this. Do you remember one post in this blog called "School is not a bed of roses for some students"? Well, here´s a similar story: Canadian Amanda Todd killed herself on October 10th (five days ago) after years of bullying and blackmail. She was 15. Everything started for her after a revealing photo of hers was passed around online. 

She made this video to let her story be known and then killed herself. (Since this is a blog for learners, just for this time, ignore the grammar, vocabulary and spelling mistakes she makes and focus on the content of her message)

Any comments? 

What Things in Your Life Make You Happy? 2

A few days ago I wrote about this topic, What Things in Your Life Make You Happy?, and here I am insisting on it - being happy is important, you know, and sometimes it is difficult to achieve but other times we just don´t know what it takes so let me give you some ideas.

This is a video about 88-year-old Johnny Barnes, a man from Bermuda, who considers himself a happy man and who devotes six hours every day to smile and wish a good day to people driving around in their cars (most of them on their way to work). 

This video, directed by Matt Morris, has won a few awards, the Audience Award for Best Short Film at the AFI/Discovery Silverdocs and the Best Documentary Short Film at the Sidewalk Film Festival, among others, so it may be worth giving it a try. From the point of view of English, it can be used to practise your listening (very rarely do we get the chance of hearing someone with his accent). To check how much you understand, click here to read the transcript.

Mr. Happy Man from Matt Morris Films on Vimeo.

What Type of Learner Are You?

In our first lesson in 1º BAC this year we have been reading about Dr. Howard Gardner´s theory of 8 multiple intelligences; do you remember the intelligences he refers to?: 

• linguistic / verbal : good with words, with spoken and written language; it involves the ability to learn languages.

• logical / mathematical: good with math and logic; it involves being able to analyze problems logically, to carry out mathematical operations

• musical: good with rhythm; it involves skill in the performance, composition and appreciation of musical patterns

• bodily / kinesthetic: good with activities - using one´s whole body or parts of it to solve problems

• spatial: good with pictures - recognizing and using the patterns of open spaces and confined areas

• interpersonal: good with communication - understanding the desires, motivations and intentions of other people

• intrapersonal: good at analyzing things - understanding oneself, one´s fears, feelings and motivations

• naturalist: they enjoy interacting with nature

Do you know what intelligences are strongest for you? If you don´t, this quiz  or this one may help you. Remember Dr. Gardner thinks people use more than one type of intelligence 

Once you have found out the types of intelligences that work better for you, click here to see (and do) some activities classified according to the different types of intelligences.

Infographic: original source: OnlineCollege.org

What kind of jobs would you associate with the different types of intelligences? Continue the list: 

• linguistic: writers, lawyers, speakers...
• mathematical: scientists, computer programmers, chess players...
• musical: musicians, singers, conductors...
• spatial: artists, designers, architects...
• kinesthetic: athletes, actors, dancers, soldiers...
• intrapersonal: psychologists, counselors, philosophers...
• interpersonal: teachers, politicians, social workers...
• naturalist: farmers, naturalists...

A Moving Story for the Weekend

The internet is a big world where the line that separates the truth from a lie is very thin so I recommend you to take this piece of news very carefully, i.e, let´s presume that what we hear and see in this video is true and then we will have an amazing story.

There is this reality TV show in the USA called "AGT" (="America´s Got Talent"), where all sorts of performers (singers, dancers, magicians, comedians...) of all ages  compete for the prize of one million dollars. The people who take part in the show are selected in auditions in different cities in the USA. I guess there are lots of anecdotes related to the programme and here is one of them. This happened when the judges went to Austin, Texas: a 19-year-old boy with a Goth look and a big fan of Marilyn Manson, who told the jury who had never sang in front of an audience, not even his family, started singing opera, an area by Puccini. What impressed me was the way he talked about himself and his life so far; these are some of the words and expressions he uses: outsider, outcast, alienated, not good at anything, used to being rejected ...

 

Can you think of a moral for this story? What about "never judge anyone by his/her looks?

By the way, the song that you can hear at the end of the video, is Coldplay´s "Fix you." I am a fan so I can´t helping posting it for you to sing along... just for pronunciation practice.

One More Farewell to 2º BAC Students

Dear 2º BAC students,

Once again, it is that time of the year when I have to say goodbye to the senior students in my classes. It is not easy, I would like to tell you so many things, not only about English but about life in general...I feel we could / should have done so much more in our classes...but there just wash´t enough time. Anyway, in this post you´ll find plenty of practice for your university entrance exam: reading, listening, comprehension...

As many of you pointed out in your graduation speeches, finishing your studies at school is a turning point in your lives and, if I had to give you one piece of advice for your future, this would be it:

And if I could extend my advice a little longer, I would mention everything in the next video. Don´t get distracted by the title, "Wear sunscreen", it is not about summer, sunshine, holidays  or leisure time: it is about life.It´s seven minutes long but it is worth every single second. The original version is meant for citizens of the USA but the translation is adapted for citizens of the world - people like you; so click here if you´d rather watch it with the subtitles in Spanish

I guess I feel a little bit philosophical these days, so here is a story to help you keep your priorities straight in life. You get the video and the transcript so that those of you who have problems downloading the video can  read it and learn its lesson. The story is called A Jar of Life. The Secret to Keeping Your Priorities Straight

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and two cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and fills it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “YES”.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things – God, family,

children, health, friends, and favorite passions. Things, that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else — the small stuff.” he said.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are

important to you…” he told them.

“So… pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Worship with your family. Play with your children. Take your partner out to dinner. Spend time with good friends. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap. Take care of the golf balls first — the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

And last, but not least, one more piece of advice: be positive:

Farewell 2011, Farewell 2010

And now some memories of our classes this year - I took many more photos of you but I am afraid they are not very good so I decided not to include them here. I apologize to those of you who are not in any of the photos:

Start the Weekend with a Song, a Smile and a Tear, Maybe

Do you know Kelly Clarkson´s song "Stronger"? If you don´t, here it is. You can find its lyrics in the first video below; in the second video,  the cancer patients of Seattle Children´s Hospital perform the song.


This is my suggestion: play the first video with no sound, and listen to the second one; thus, you´ll get the lyrics from the first and the emotions from the second.

 

The second video was directed by one of the patients, Chris Rumble, and Seattle University film students were the camera crew.

Moving, wasn´t it? When you see what some people are going through, school exams do not seem to be such a great deal, do they?

If you would like to see how the video was made, click here

Emilio Calatayud, the Reforming Judge

Dear 2nd BAC students, this is a post for all of you who didn´t know Emilio Calatayud, the Juvenile Court judge in Granada, before we did the university entrance exam in class last week. 

In the following video you will have a glimpse of the kinds of things he does working as a judge; just about everything that came out in the text is mentioned here: his original way of dealing with juvenile offenders, the kind of punishments he chooses, his emphasis on resocializing young people... a role model for all the other judges

If you are interested in seeing the other side of the coin, click here to read about Juvenile In Justice, a project to document the placement and treatment of American juveniles housed by law in facilities that treat, confine, punish, assist and, occasionally, harm them.

The project includes images of over 1,000 juveniles and administrators over 200 facilities in 31 states in the U.S, plus extensive information collected from interviews. The hope is that by seeing these images, people will have a better understanding of the conditions that exist.