Saturday 16 April 2011

Improve your PRONUNCIATION

Visit this site  to improve your Basic PRONUNCIATION





NOW
 CLICK HERE and repeat the following:

1
I am busy
I am tired
I am hungry
I am thirsty
5
He isn’t handsome
 He isn’t popular
He isn’t  hard-working
He isn’t clever
2
He is very young
He is very rich
Heis very strong
He is very fat
6
I was busy yesterday
I was sick yesterday
I was sleepy  yesterday
I was absent yesterday
3
They are usually shy
They are usually friendly
They are usually happy
They are usually quiet

7
Are you hungry?
Are you busy?
Are you crazy’
Are you brave?
4
I’m not crazy
I’m not famous
I’m not busy
I`m not lonely



Sunday 10 April 2011

Atlantic Landscapes (2)


This is a photo of a shepherd, Juan Alonso.

Juan is fifty-three years old. He was born in Juncalillo but now he lives with his wife in Artenara.

He gets up very early every day from Monday until Sunday. He gets dressed and doesn’t forget his hat. Then he has a cup of milk with gofio and cheese for breakfast. He has a hundred and twenty sheep and he goes to the fields with them every day. He sits down and takes care of his sheep. In the evening, he milks all the sheep with his wife and she makes cheese to sell.

He likes walking and practising “the jump of the shepherd” with his friends. He doesn’t like cutting the wool of the sheep.

Juan is a special person because he keeps the Canary tradition.
Yolanda García de la Fe  NB1


If I were a mother, I would look after my children
If I were a clown, I would make them laugh
But I am a tree, I can only wait and stare

If I were water, I would be rain
If I were the sun, I would warm up the world
But I am a tree, I can only wait

If I were a king, I would stop wars
If I were a rich man, I would give poor people a hand
But I am a tree, I can only cry

Carmen Rodríguez Díaz  NA1




In my opinion, the piece of music that could accompany the photographs is the music of Gladiator BSO. The song is "Now we are free" because it is very relaxing and strong too . . . and this music stimulates the senses. This piece has many musical instruments  a symphony orchestra), some strong instruments (horns, trumpets, percussion...).  I like the brass instruments for this. The composer of the soundtrack of gladiator is Hans Zimmer. He was nominated for an Oscar for his music in this film. The singer of Gladiator is Lisa Gerrard. She is Australian.

The music makes you think and reconsider many things. You can feel the immensity and power of nature, your life and the lives of others.

Natalia Ónega Hernández  NB1



Dear Roberto,

Thank you for your letter. I’m very happy that you’re coming to stay with me in March. I’m sure you ´ll have a good time.

I’m sending you these photos so that you know better where I live. I know you like agriculture and these photos speak a lot of the hard work the farmers here do.

The island territory is very mountainous and difficult to create land for agriculture. The farmers have to imagine how to exploit the natural resources.

I like the photo in the top left-hand corner because it is of a very mountainous area which has been used to grow vegetables and fruit. They use rainwater for irrigation. They have broken the rock and incorporated the land. This work has been done with their hands and animals for generations.

Agriculture is integrated with the landscape. I think it is possible to operate in the territory to good use.  

I also like the photo in the top left-hand corner because it is also a rural area and has been used by farmers for several generations for the cultivation of cereals. These cereals are not irrigated because water is not available in this place. The green dots you see in the picture are almond trees that grow on the edges of the land. The house you see in the picture makes the landscape bigger.

The two photographs were taken from a plane, from an overhead view. There are other interesting things you can see too when you come.

I hope you like them because I live here!

Warm greetings

Javier

Javier Gil León, NB2

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Going HERE and THERE....



 Here are some phrases and expressions to help you give directions in English.

1. Excuse me. Is there a post office near here?
2. Can you tell me how to get to Picadilly?
3. Where's the bus station?
4. How do you get to the nearest museum? 

  • Yes. There's one right across the street.
  • Sorry. I don't live around here.
  • It's on the corner of 1st Avenue and Pine Street. Next to the bookshop. 
  •  
  • Go straight down this street for two blocks. Turn left when you get to South Street. Stay on South street for half a block. You’ll see it on the left.

  • First, go down/up/along this street for three blocks…
  •  
  • Then, turn left/right at the traffic lights.
  •  
  • After that, go straight on Simon Street until you get to the supermarket.
  •  
  • When you get there, turn left/right again.
  •  
  • Then, take the first turning on the left. Walk straight on for about five minutes.
  •  
  • It's on your left, next to the coffee shop/ between the bank and the library.
  • You can't miss it!


Click HERE and practice further!!!

Now Watch this video to revise the prepositions of movement



Solidarity Campaign Against Poverty



Don't forget that the French Department at EOI Arucas has organised a solidarity campaign against poverty. Take any clothes and non-perishable food that you'd like to give to the poor in our own society to our school before 14th April. Also, you might like to take a look at this Animated Map by Christian Aid which shows where poverty and prosperity have been most present over the past 200 years.

Source: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2011/03/16/a-history-of-poverty/

Saturday 2 April 2011

Atlantic Landscapes

A Piece of Music for the Acusa Plateau by Alicia Rodríguez Barrio (NB1).


The dance of El Vivo is a very ancient piece of music. It is an ancient piece of traditional music from El Hierro. They played it with a drum and castanets. The author is unknown, but Benito Cabrera took the score and made a version for the timple. Later, he sent it to the British composer, Peter Hope, who finished the work. It appears on the recording, “Ethnic”.
Benito Cabrera is a composer who was born in Lanzarote. He is a Canarian timple player, and he lives in Tenerife. He studies classical music and traditional Canarian music. Benito Cabrera makes a renewal of the Canarian music for the timple. He mixes musical elements from Celtic folklore and pop.
This piece of music reminds me of the ancient past when people lived more in accord with nature. It was a time when the landscape was not destroyed and people lived from the land. But at the same time they were difficult times to survive.
The echo of the music seems to repeat itself in the high mountains and it takes me to a distant time: the fight between the aborigines and the European conquerors of the island.


I don't know how to dance El Baile del Vivo, but if I knew . . .




The Goatherd by Guillermina Afonso Perez. NI1

My name is Juan Alonso. I'm not sure about my age. My parents were illiterate and lived very far away, in Artenara. Still today, I live in Artenara with my wife and my two children. I am a goatherd in the highest village in Gran Canaria. I've got about four hundred sheep and goats, and two dogs that help me take care of them. My favourite one is Negro; its mother is very old. It's obedient, lovely and very hard-working. The other day a tourist was here and he took a photo of me with my dog. It was cold but the sun was shining, and I was thinking about my wife and children.

My wife is able to write and read a little bit (I have no idea) but I would like my children to go to a high school and, why not? to a university. They will be the new Miguel Hernández.


Goatherds on Los Cuchillos Road, Gran Canaria, in 1928.






 
SAM´S TREE

This has been my life since I was born until the day of my death.

I was only a seed when a boy called Sam planted me behind his house in Artenara in a great meadow. He took good care of me and every day, he visited me after arriving from school. Then, he used to tell me about his day, if he had had a good or a bad time and sometimes he sang to me his favourite song “Islas Canarias”. I was very happy every time I saw him. He watered me and saw how I grew more and more every day.

I couldn´t see anything yet because I was a little tree, but Sam used to tell me all the things he could see from that place (Roque Nublo, the Fraile Rock and even the Teide when the day was sunny) and used to repeat: “when you become a tall tree you will see the same things as me”.

A couple of months later, Sam started to lose hope because I didn´t grow as fast as he wanted. One day, he asked his father: “Daddy, how long does a seed need to become a tree?” His father smiled and answered: “Oh Sam, a seed needs a long time to be a tree, but don´t worry, we can go to the bookshop and  buy a book about trees in Gran Canaria, so you can know more about them”.

Ten years later...

During all this time, Sam came every afternoon to read a book sitting on my shadow. From there, we looked at the beautiful landscape that was in front of us. Moreover, we felt the different smells and how the breeze touched us. Everything was fantastic. However, one day Sam found out that  a housing estate was going to be built where I was. I knew it but Sam never told me so as not to hurt me. That was the last day Sam saw me.

Two days later, when Sam wanted to visit me, I wasn´t there. Instead of me, he found a truck, a crane and a big hole in the place where I used to be. The lanscape was never the same.

                                                           Carmen Rosa Torres García NA1

Elizabeth Taylor


The English-born American actress and activist, Elizabeth Taylor, died last week. Read and listen to her story here.

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