To The Dance Lovers Out There

The video below, shot on the streets and rooftops in LA, is actually a commercial that advertises a brand name of jeans and cut-offs (definition from Urban Dictionary:"Cut offs" or "cut off jeans" are the names that are given to jeans that have been cut, usually D.I.Y, into shorts. They can be loose or they can be tight,and the length of the cut offs generally does not go past the knee. They can be worn by both guys and girls and typically are made from old pairs of jeans or jeans bought from a second hand clothing store.)

Could you describe one or two types of dances? It is not easy! This vocabulary may come in handy: float like, spin like, wobble like, step, walk …

These are the types of dances shown:

A - Arabesque, Morgan Quinn 
B - B-girl, Bgirl Terra 
C - Chicken Noodle Soup, Terence Dickson 
D - Death Drop, Nick Lanzisera 
E - East Coast Swing, Yani Marin, Nathan Kim 
F - Finger Tut, John P-Nut Hunt 
G - Grand Jeté, Julia Cinquemani 
H - Harlem Shake, Amanda Meade-Tatum 
I - Indian Bhangra, Reshma Gajjar 
J - Jump Style, Høps 
K - Krump, Jigsaw 
L - Liquid Dance, Phillip 'Pacman' Chbeeb 
M - Memphis Jookin, Lil Buck 
N - Northern Soul, Levanna McLean 
O - OMG, Anthony 'Lil' Bob' Cabaero 
P - Pole, Nicole 'The Pole' Williams 
Q - Questionable, Reid Shapiro 
R - Rumba, Junior and Emily Alabi 
S - Step, Soul Steps: Dionne Norton, Heather DeLeon, Maxine Lyle
T - Twerk, Twerk Team: Lady Luscious, Mizz Twerksum 
U - Ultimate, Shofu Tha Beatdown 
V - Vogue Hands, Javier Madrid of Legendary House of Ninja 
W - Whine, Colleen Craig 
X - X-press Yourself, Ryan Heffington 
Y - YMCA, Allison Chu at Next Models LA 
Z - TurF FeinZ: Byron Vincent Sanders Jr aka T7, Donald Brooks aka Torch, Eric Bossett aka Kidd Strobe, Gary Morgan aka Noh-justice, Leon M Williams aka Mann, Rayshawn Thompson aka Looney2smooth

In Support of Music at School

Music as a subject gets less and less lessons in the Spanish educational programmes, but I could´t agree more with this poster published in Fail Blog

What is your opinion about this? Write about it in the board below 

Created with Padlet

Song of the Week: Royals, by Lorde

Lorde  (/ˈlɔrd/) is the stage name of Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O´Connor, a 17-year-old New Zealander (she was born on 7th November 1996); she is a singer-songwriter. Click here  to read different pieces of news mentioning her.

This is a video of her song "Royals": read the lyrics and sing along, it´s very good pronunciation and intonation practice

Covers of "Royals", both a cappella: Pentatonix cover, Florida State University AcaBelles.

A Song for Layla

It´s the first time one of my students is called Layla, what a good excuse to listen to Eric Clapton´s "Layla"!

If you want to know the story behind this song, click here

Learning Vocabulary: Silent "E"

Here is a funny way to learn vocabulary while you practise pronunciation: write the names of the items you see in the video; the only change in each pair of words is their spelling and the letter "e" has a lot to do with it.

Write a list of the nouns you hear (based on the images you see) and check your answers by a click here

Tom Lehrer, the writer and singer of this song, is a singer-songwriter, mathematician, satirist…, well-known for his humorous songs

As for the letter "e", can you imagine a song without it? Here is one: read its lyrics and then listen to it in the video

Lyrics:

yo, without a topic i rock it
you just can't knock it or box it
i will not quit or stop and lock lips
this is a rap song in which no lyrics contain that fifth capital
brains and wits magical
i strain to rip madrigals plain to bits
any occasion, i flip scripts
birthdays and kids' trips
violin gigs, absurd paid shindigs and thursdays
i win big with wordplay
i could bring sounds that ring loud
just sing out anything that i think about
how i spray flows
your main bro claims dough from days old
on pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows
but i'm on top of it, always
with or without that non-consonant
i still bring it
fans or not, my mom's fond of it
and you ought to know i just brought this jazz to its limit
that's right, your total abc's without that fifth glyph is in it

i'm not using it
do you kids miss this fifth stiff glyph?
i'm not using it, ooh

so what do you want to do?
look at my lyrics - right in front of you
truthfully, with so much scrutiny
you think I'd goofily put any old symbol in?
mad lunacy, you must not watch my stuff usually
no miscalculations, i rap brutally at any opportunity
wow, actually did it!
post this track to your pals
got a knack for blowing your brains out blaow
dictionary nation, vocab's amazing
difficulty: asian, and i'm just playing
shining bright any night, hit it right, kill a mici'm a mad man with a plan and i spit it tight
vividly spilling a million lilting rhythms and synonyms with a divinity in him
just winning at anything you might go giving him
finishing with only a possibility of pinnacling at infinity

i'm not using it
do you kids miss this fifth stiff glyph?
i'm not using it, ooh

Adrián´s Suggestion

Adrián suggested that I should include the following videos in my blog, so here your are. Both videos are by CDZA

The first one is called History of Misheard Lyrics; I think it is quite difficult to get  the mistakes but this link may help: Misheard lyrics

The second video is called The Beatles´Argument (you may click on the captions but they are automatic - which means there are quite a few mistakes):

 

Thanks, Adrián!

Song of the Week: "Hey, Soul Sister"

Train is an American pop rock band from San Francisco

Hey Soul Sister is the first single of their album "Save Me, San Francisco" 

Watch the first video (or go to Multimedia English ) and read the lyrics of the song as you sing along and practise your pronunciation. Once you have read the lyrics a couple of times, try and watch the official video of the song, and check how much you can remember

Song of the Week: "Little Boxes"

"Little Boxes" is a song written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962, which became a hit for her friend Pete Seeger in 1963.

This is the video of "Little Boxes" by Walk Off the Earth

This song is a political satire about the development of suburbia and associated conformist middle-class attitudes. It refers to suburban tract housing as "little boxes" of different colors "all made out of ticky-tacky", and which "all look just the same." "Ticky-tacky" is a reference to the shoddy material used in the construction of housing of that time. Read more about the song in Multimedia- English

Lyrics: 

1. Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

2. And the people in the houses
All go to the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
And there's doctors and there's lawyers
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

3. And they all play on the golf-course,
And drink their Martini dry,
And they all have pretty children,
And the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
And they all get put in boxes
And they all come out the same.

4. And the boys go into business,
And marry, and raise a family,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

Would you like to hear Malvina Reynolds´version of the song? Click here 

Here´s to Adrián - and to All Led Zeppelin´s Fans

Adrián was wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt last Thursday; needless to say, he is a Led Zeppelin fan and his favourite song is "Stairway to Heaven". There are likely to be a few more out there so here´s to you all:

This video was recorded at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington DC on December 2, 2012, when the band received the Kennedy Center Honors in the annual gala tribute (click here to read about it). This is the reason why they were chosen: 

The Kennedy Center Honors provide recognition to living individuals who throughout their lifetimes have made significant contributions to American culture through the performing arts. The primary criterion is excellence, and artistic achievement in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures, and television is considered.

The singer in the video is Ann Wilson and the guitarist is her sister, Nancy Wilson, members of Heart, an American rock band; Jason John Bonham plays the drums honoring his father, Led Zeppelin´s drummer, Jason Bonham.

A great performance and a moving video!

If you want to watch the full segment of the ceremony, click here

Would you like to recommend someonefor the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors? Click here and submit your recommendation 

• 
  

Song of the Week:Passenger´s "Let Her Go"

Michael David Rosenberg is a British singer-songwriter known by his stage name, Passenger. This is the official video for his single 'Let Her Go.'

Watch the video and sing along at the same time clicking here: Multimedia English, there you will find the lyrics of the song, its meaning and explanations of some of the words and expressions used in the song.

 

The version below is much softer and it´s got the lyrics so you can use it for pronunciation practice: sing along and enjoy yourself while you practise!

Miming a Song

Here´s a post to help you start the weekend with a smile.

Do you know Queen´s song, Don´t Stop Me Now? I am sure you will recognise its music as soon as you hear it but you may not know its lyrics.

In the first video here, English comedian David Armand makes a hilarious mime of  Queen´s "Don´t Stop me Now" on the BBC TV programme called  Fast and Loose. Watch the video and try to imagine the message he is miming - the lyrics are below, just in case you need to check whether your interpretation was correct.

 

Don´t Stop Me Now, Lyrics:

Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time 
I feel alive and the world I'll turn it inside out - yeah 
And floating around in ecstasy 
So don't stop me now don't stop me 
'Cause I'm having a good time having a good time 

I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky 
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity 
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva 
I'm gonna go go go 
There's no stopping me 

I'm burnin' through the sky yeah 
Two hundred degrees 
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit 
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light 
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you 

CHORUS: Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time 
              I'm having a ball 
              Don't stop me now 
              If you wanna have a good time just give me a call 
              Don't stop me now ('Cause I'm having a good time) 
              Don't stop me now (Yes I'm havin' a good time) 
              I don't want to stop at all 

Yeah, I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars 
On a collision course 
I am a satellite I'm out of control 
I am a sex machine ready to reload 
Like an atom bomb about to 
Oh oh oh oh oh explode 

I'm burnin' through the sky yeah 
Two hundred degrees 
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit 
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light 
I wanna make a supersonic woman of you 

Don't stop me don't stop me 
Don't stop me hey hey hey 
Don't stop me don't stop me 
Ooh ooh ooh, I like it 
Don't stop me don't stop me 
Have a good time good time 
Don't stop me don't stop me ah 
Oh yeah 
Alright 

Oh, I'm burnin' through the sky yeah 
Two hundred degrees 
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit 
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light 
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you 

CHORUS

And here is a video of Queen playing the song ( and Freddie Mercury singing, of course) 

One More Lesson For Life

Here is one of those stories that may change the way we look at life.

Zach Sobiech turned 18 on May 3rd, 2013. He was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer, osteosarcoma, in 2009. Since then, he has gone through several surgeries and chemo sessions; the cancer has spread to his pelvis and lungs and there seems to be no effective treatment for him right now. Zach turned to music (writing and performing songs) as a way to say goodbye to his friends and family. This is his story, told in a documentary called "My Last Days." You may not understand everything that is said but you will definitely get its message: it is certainly painful, but really positive. I warn you, it will be difficult not to burst into tears.

"Clouds" is one of Zach´s songs, really catchy, so read the lyrics below and sing along!


CLOUDS, Lyrics:

Well I fell down, down, down
Into this dark and lonely hole
There was no one there to care about me anymore
And I needed a way to climb and grab a hold of the edge
You were sitting there holding a rope

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now

When I get back on land
Well I'll never get my chance
Be ready to live and it'll be ripped right out of my hands
Maybe someday we'll take a little ride
We'll go up, up, up and everything will be just fine

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear

It won't be long now, it won't be long now
If only I had a little bit more time
If only I had a little bit more time with you

We could go up, up, up
And take that little ride
And sit there holding hands
And everything would be just right
And maybe someday I'll see you again
We'll float up in the clouds and we'll never see the end

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now

Mother´s Day 2013

Let´s celebrate Mother´s Day with some humor: 

I found the following jokes about lessons taught by mothers in  Laugh It Out blog. What is your favourite? Why? Which one represents your mother best?:

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .

"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.

"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.

"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.

"Because, I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .

"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.

"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

7. My mother taught me IRONY.

"Keep crying and I'll give you something to cry about."

8.. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS .

"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.

"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA

"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.

"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.

"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE..

"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out"

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION .

"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about ENVY.

"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.

"Just wait until we get home."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .

"You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.

"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP (= Extra Sensorial Perception).

"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOUR.

"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .

"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.

"You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.

"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.

"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

And my favorite:

25 My mother taught me about JUSTICE .

"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

Do  you agree with the message in this image? It reminds me of Luis Piedrahita´s monologue about mothers being able to find anything (minute 5:55 in the video below - it is in Spanish but it is worth watching so I will make an exception this time)

And, finally, a song for all mothers, even though it is called Ode to Sleep Deprived Parents, sung by the Sydney Philarmonia Choirs. You will probably recognize the melody, the opening chorus of Carmina Burana

Song of the Year

At the Grammy Awards Ceremony 2013, Fun´s song "We Are Young"  won the song of the year award. 

Singing is probably the easiest way to improve pronunciation in a foreign language so I suggest that you can use the first video below to sing along; it includes the lyrics in English and you may glance at the translation in Spanish if you need to check the meaning of any word.

And  here´s the official video of the song. Enjoy it!

How is your Maths?

Maths as a subject was a real nightmare for me when I was a high school student. Maybe videos like these ones here would have made things easier, who knows? Have a look and let me know if you find them useful...

Click here for more rap maths

Numberphile has lots of  entertaining videos about numbers and stuff; here is one of them where they explain what "vampire numbers" are



And with the following video you will learn what a billion is: 




Do you need extra help? Have a look at S.O.S Mathematics 

Do let me know if your marks improve in your Maths exams in the future...

Flash-mob Exam

With so many tests these days, I wouldn´t like to see this in one of my classes; well, maybe if I could play the violin...

This happened during an engineering exam at the University of Toronto

Meeting Someone: A Conversation

The conversation in this video could be an example of an "informal conversation" that teachers of EFL are so fond of: we sometimes ask a couple of students to imagine they are at a certain place and they must improvise a talk between two strangers.

In this case one of the speakers is American rapper Jay-Z (I guess most of you know he is Beyoncé´s husband); last week he took the subway to go to one of his concerts at Brooklyn´s Barclays Center, he sat down near a sweet old lady and this is the conversation that they had.

By the way, here´s some food for thought; picture the situation: such a rich person taking the subway to "go to work," that certainly speaks up for him, doesn´t it? What do you think?

Would you like to read more about this encounter? Click here or here

This viral video became part of a documentary about Jay-Z, with behind-the-scene moments before his concerts, would you like to see it? Click here

A Nice Video for the Weekend

These are some of the adjectives some people have used to describe this video, which one/ones would you choose?: cool, inspiring, uplifting, genuine, moving, simplistically beautiful, awesome, lovely, amazing, nice

This is a song of the American band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros; the title of the song is Man on Fire.


Lyrics:

I’m a man on fire
Walking through your street
With one guitar
And two dancing feet
Only one desire
That’s left in me
I want the whole damn world
To come dance with me

(ohhhhhhhh. Come dance with me)

I’m a hunter at bay
Come and set you free
Over heartache and shame

I wanna see our bodies burning like the old big sun
I wanna know what we’ve been learning and learning from

Everybody want safety (safety love)
Everybody want comfort (comfort love)
Everybody want certain (certain love)
Everybody but me

I’m a man on fire
Walking down your street
With one guitar
And two dancing feet
Only one desire
That’s left in me
I want the whole damn world
To come and dance with me

(bah bah bah bah bah…)

Yay, yay. Come dance with me
Over heartache and rage
Come set us free
Over panic and strange

I wanna see our bodies burning like the old big sun
I wanna know what we’ve been learning and learning from

Everybody want romance (romance love)
Everybody want safety (safety love)
Everybody want comfort (comfort love)
Everybody but me

I’m a man on fire (he’s a man on fire)
Walking down your street (walking down your street)
With one guitar (With one guitar)
And two dancing feet (two dancing feet)
Only one desire (one desire)
That’s still in me (that’s left in me)
I want the whole damn world (I want the whole damn world)
To come and dance with me (come and dance with me yeahhhhh…)

The Orange Wave Against School Cuts

Every Friday for the last few weeks we (teachers, students, parents and staff of our school) have been protesting against the school cuts in Spain. How? with songs.

Friday 22nd will be the last protest day of the current school year - I am sure we´ll retake action next September, though, since things look pretty bad ahead.

If anyone wants to join us, you are warmly welcome. Wear an orange top, blouse or T-shirt; we want to look like a big orange wave to attract people´s attention.

These are the songs we will be singing, in case you want to do some practice at home: 

1. Bob Dylan´s Blowing in the Wind

2. Victor Jara´s Ni chicha ni limona




Lyrics:
Arrimese mas pa’ca aqui donde el sol calienta, si uste’ ya esta acostumbrado a andar dando voltereta, ningun daño le hara estar donde la papa quema. Usted no es na’ ni chicha ni limona se la pasa manoseando caramba zamba su dignidad. La fiesta ya ha comenzado y la cosa esta que arde uste’ quera el mas quedao se quiere adueñar del baile total a los golfatillos no hay olor que se les escape. Usted mire, no es na’ ni chicha ni limona se la pasa manoseando caramba zamba su dignidad. Si queremos ma’que toca primero hay que trabajar y tendremos pa’ toitos abrigo, pan y amistad y si usted no esta de acuerdo es cuestion de uste’ noma’ la cosa va pa’elante y no piensa recular. Usted oiga, no es na’ ni chicha ni limona se la pasa manoseando caramba zamba su dignidad. Ya dejese de patilla’ venga a remediar su mal si aqui debajito’el poncho no tengo ningun puñal y si sique hociconeando le vamos a expropiar la pistolas y la lengua y toito lo demas. Usted mire, oiga, no es na’ ni chicha ni limona se la pasa manoseando caramba zamba su dignidad.


3. Zeca Afonso´s O que faz falta!


   
Here are the lyrics:


Quando a corja topa da janela
O que faz falta
Quando o pão que comes sabe a merda
O que faz falta

CHORUS:   O que faz falta é avisar a malta
                  O que faz falta
                  O que faz falta é avisar a malta
                  O que faz falta

Quando nunca a noite foi dormida
O que faz falta
Quando a raiva nunca foi vencida
O que faz falta

CHORUS

Quando nunca a infância teve infância
O que faz falta
Quando sabes que vai haver dança
O que faz falta

CHORUS

Quando um cão te morde a canela
O que faz falta
Quando a esquina há sempre uma cabeça
O que faz falta

CHORUS

Quando um homem dorme na valeta
O que faz falta
Quando dizem que isto é tudo treta
O que faz falta

CHORUS

Se o patrão não vai com duas loas
O que faz falta
Se o fascista conspira na sombra
O que faz falta

CHORUS


4. Fuxan os Ventos, Lobo (poem written by Darío Xohán Cabana)






5. Patti Smith´s People Have the Power 

English, Spanish, Portuguese, Galician... never mind the language of the songs; we are interested in their messages because they include the ideas we want to convey.

"Bailout Education" Katt O'Neil