W E L C O M E, NEW YEAR!!!

Hi, Guys!!!,

Here I go again!!!Welcome to my English Corner, where our adventures begin!!!! I love that film, UP!

Can you see the words in the balloons? It's very symbolic, our house is our school, where our adventures begin. Therefore, at School, some words become really significant for us, such as: confidence, friendship, teamwork, willing, opportunities, kindness, motivation, challenge, generosity, culture, respect, ... and one balloon is flying away: DREAMS

English Corner at School

Hi, there!!!, 

PEACE DAY

This is the English Corner at my school. Thanks to our students' work, the English Corner provides them opportunities to learn new vocabulary, to approach the target language in a different way, and also, this board helps them to develop a greater curiosity to the British or American culture.

Coming Back to School

Feria de Abril

Merry Chirstmas!!!

The 2 euros T-SHIRT - A SoCiaL ExpeRiMeNT

Hi, There!, 

Have you ever watched this video? It just takes you 1 min and a half, it's really worthwhile and it makes you reflect on clothes bargains, are workers' salaries  fair? Sometimes, are employees underpaid? See what happens when people are offered to buy a buy a t-shirt for only 2 euros? Will they buy it? or instead, will they donate the money? It's impossible to be indifferent ;)

Saint Patrick's Day or St Paddy's Day

Hi, Guys!!!, 

As you well know, the seventeenth of March, St Patrick's Day is celebrated all over around the world, it is actually a worldwide phenomenon, because there are many different types of celebrations in a lot of countires. For instance, in New York city, the Empire State building is illuminated in green colour; the Chicago river is dyed green for this event; or in Dublin, there is a special parade since St Patrick is the patron of Ireland; but above all, it is a special day to meet friends at an Irish pub and to toast: Cheers!

What about the origins of St Patrick's Day? Who was St Patrick?

 
He was a Christian missionaire who died on 17th March in 465 AD. He was born in a rich family, when he was seven, he was kidnapped by some pirates who took him to some pagan lands. At that time, he became a slave and turned to God. After escaping, he studied in a monastery and he vowed to teach Christianity to Irish people. It was said that St Patrick used the SHAMROCK to explain the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all and one the same.

Here, you are two interesting videos.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Hi, There!,

Easter was originally decided in 325AD at the Council of Nicaea. The great Roman Emperor Constantine I assembled the early Christians to fix dates of important Christian events such as the date of the Easter festival. Since then, Easter has been celebrated on different dates. As a matter of fact, the Easter date is calculated by choosing the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox.

According to the tradition, many children eat chocolate eggs. Do you fancy one?

LONDON 2012 MASCOT Films

HI, Guys!, 

Next coming summer, one of the greatest international events in the world is going to take place in LONDON, obviously I'm referring to the Olympic Games! Do you ever see the British Mascots? Well, I'd like to show these splendid promo videos, I hope you'll enjoy them! :)

AIN'T, what does it mean?

Hi, Guys!,

Have you ever seen "AIN'T"? Where? Maybe in a lyric song? What does it mean? 

Well, according to some linguists, AIN'T comes from the contraction of AM NOT and it seems to have appeared in 1706. One century later, in Cockney dialect in London, AIN'T began to be used as a generic contraction for ARE NOT or IS NOT. Then, it was also used as a contraction of has not and have not. Even more, in some dialects, does not or do not can be replaced by AIN'T.

As you can imagine or see, AIN'T is a colloquialism. So those who use this are regarded as uneducated, informal or improper people. However, I can give some famous examples: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" or  "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone".

Therefore, I think it's interesting to know the origin and uses of this word, we just want to learn English, no matter if it's not always the Standard proper English ;)

Happy Saint Valentine's Day

HI, there!, 

You Are the Sunshine of My Life!!! I hope you'll enjoy this lovely song ... as well, you can learn how to say tender things to your boy/girlfriend....

You are the sunshine of my life,
That's why I'll always be around.
You are the apple of my eye,
Forever you'll stay in my heart...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!!

Hi, there!,

Would you like to see how the New Year's midnight was celebrated in London, New York and Sydney?
LONDON


NEW YORK


SYDNEY


I wish the new coming year will bring you a handful of happiness, smiles and your dreams would come true soon :) Thanks a lot for going on visiting this blog!

The Christmas Story starred by the Children

HI,Guys!, 

Last year, some children of St Paul's Church told the Christmas story, I think it is one of the cutest video that I've ever watched! I hope you'll like it. 

Merry Christmas and I wish your dreams would come true!!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Hi, there!,

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!! 

As you may know the fourth Thursday of November, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day to commemorate the arrival of the first pilgrims to the new world. 

This fact took place in 1620, after a long trip by a ship called Mayflower, a group of religious people arrived to the new lands. Therefore every year, they have a special dinner with some relatives and friends to remember that important event, and also, to feel grateful. 

 

If you are more interested in an accurate description of the origin of Thanksgiving Day, you can watch this interesting video.

Now, would you like to watch the famous Macy's parade in New York city? Since 1924, Macy's, this wellknown department store, organised this colourful parade, there are many important characters transformed into huge balloons. I hope you'll like it!

(Enjoy your meal, enjoy your grilled turkey!)

The Art of Croche and Knit

HI, There!,

London

Have you ever heard about YARN BOMBING? 

Well, this is a new fashionable form of Street Art! Many people who love croching and knitting decorate public places with their colourful works, as you can see in these pictures. What do you think? Do you like this work of Art? 

 

New York city

This recent street art is said to have begun in 2005, when the artist Magda Sayed knitted a cozy for the door handle of her Houston boutique, it has been spread around the world since then. So, many ephemeral works of art decorate and cover subways, metro seats, lamposts, sidewalk cracks, bikes, cars, statues, etc.  However, the yarn bombers usually do this at night, becuase it is illegal. 

 

One of the most famous yarn bombers is an American woman. She worked as a professional textile artist and she is graduated from California College of the Arts. The first time she saw yarn bombing, she was delighted, she thought it was beautiful, funny, surprising ... she loved this anonymous art and she decided to call herself "Streetcolor", then she started decorating her home ....

 By the way, last 4th November, many knitters and crocheters were invited by the mentioned artist Streetcolor to gather on Oak Plaza to mark the occasion of a museum yarn bombing.

I hope you'll find this post interesting and entertaining! I love creativity and art!

To my grandma and my aunt who love croching and knitting, they've made me lots of wonderful works of art!!!;)

The Statue of Liberty 125th Anniversary

HI, GUYS!,

Today is a very special for those of us who are "in love with" the STATUE OF LIBERTY, one of the best symbol of Freedom, Democracy, Hope and international Friendship. 

This famous sculpture celebrates 125th anniversary since it was a French gift for Americans in 1886. Besides, to commemorate this event, 125 immigrants from many different countries have become American citizens in honor to the statue's symbol of Hope. 

 If you are more interested in its story, click STATUE OF LIBERTY, you could read an old worthwhile post :)

Celebrating HaLLoWeeN!!!

Hi, GUYS!, 
I'm pleased to meet you and teach you English!!! We're always having fun all together, it's awesome, guys!

(From left to right: Encarni, Paco, Marisa, Carmen, Ana, Toñi, Lorenzo, Gema, Mª José; at the bottom, José, Enrique, Antonio and me). HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Well, did you enjoy our Halloween party yesterday? If you look at the pictures, YES! and what about M. Jackson's Thiller? It was fantastic, wasn't it?

Ana becomes a WITCH"""" booh!!!!

I hope you'll like the photos, we'll take more when the missing classmates come, ok? Thanks Antonio for coming ;) 

Three frightening witches are making a magic potion...

Halloween Vocabulary

Hi, there!,

Let's start watching this fantastic video, we're going to learn and get familiar with HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY 



Now, why don't you watch these videos with your students? These are really interesting! And your pupils can practise and improve their listening and reading!

Happy Halloween!

Tips to celebrate Halloween

Hi, Teachers!,

We are celebrating Halloween next week! Because of that, I recommend you to click on LANTERNFISH, there are many amazing worksheets, with different levels, reading and writing exercises, vocabulary wsheets, crosswords, flashcards (which you can use as posters too), and  so on.

Not only it is important to give some worksheets to your students, but also to create a Halloween atmosphere. Do you agree with me? Do you dare to bring some Jack O´lanterns to class and then, turn off lights? What would happen? ;)

I hope you'll find this link useful!

UseFuL ExpreSSionS to TRAVEL

Hi, Guys!,

Are you going abroad this summer? If you are travelling to a foreign country soon, you'll need to refresh your English!!! Don't forget this language is everywhere!, at the airports, at the restaurants, hotels, ...

So, why don't you look at the following expressions and dialogues?

Thanks to David Peña and Juan Carlos Gacio, two of my pupils, we can find a great list of useful expressions. BON VOYAGE!!!

At hotel

* I'd like a single / double room for a night / a couple of days, please.

* How much is this room?

* Yes, I have a reservation. / No, I don't have a reservation.

* Can I have a room with TV?

* Here is my passport / my documents.

* I'll be staying here for three days.

* How much do I owe you?

* Thanks.

At the airport

* Here is your passport, your boarding pass.
* Where is the boarding gate?
* Where is the baggage claim?
* Where is the check-in point?
* Do you have anything to declare?
* How long are you going to stay here?
* Can you put your bags on these scales, please?
* Thanks for your help.
Transports

* Could you tell me where I can buy the subway / bus tickets, please?

* Where is the nearest station?

* Could you give a map showing the stops?

* I'd like to buy a single / round ticket, please.

* Can you tell me what line bus / metro I should get to go to the museum, please?
* Which line goes to ...?

* Do I need exact change for the ticket?

* How much is the ticket / fare / token?

* Thanks a lot.

Food and Drink

* I'd like to have (a) coke / juice / water / coffee / soft drink.

* Do you have a menu?

* Can I have a sandwich, please?

* Can you show me the ingridients? I can't understand you.

* How much is this? How much are these?

* Can I pay with my credit card? only cash?

* Thank you.

Bank and Money

* Where is the currency exchange?

* I'd like to change some money.

* What comission do they charge?

* In bills or in small change.

* Where do I sign?

Shopping

* Hi, I'm looking for a grocery shop, can you help me, please?

*Can I try on this t-shirt?
* How much is it? How much does it cost?
* Cash or credit?
* These jeans suit me well, they are the right size.

Ascot Racecourse 2011

Hi, there!,


Last year, we already mentioned and wrote about the origins of this wellknown racecourse in UK. So, you can click here if you want to reread the post. (http://valmeenglishcorner.blogspot.com/2010/06/ascot-racecourse-typical-british.html)



For this reason, this time, I just want you to look at the following video and pay attention to the originality and freshness of women's hats in Ascot this year. Let's see...


Click here to watch the video: http://youtu.be/qe68V2bQtTg

EuRoViSioN CoNtEsT

Hi, Guys!,

Last weekend, the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Dusseldorf (Germany). The first contest was on 24th May in 1956. It all began in 1955, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) came up with the idea of an international song contest, where all the European countries would participate representing their nations. The competition was based upon the Festival di Sanremo, held for the first time in 1951. Through the years, many countries could incorporate to the festival, such as San Marino or Azerbaijan, the winning country this year.

Now, it is one of the most typical European tradition as well as a well-known TV show. Did you know that ABBA, Celine Dion, among other great singers, take part in this contest?

So, would you like to listen to some of these songs?

From Spain, Lucía Pérez sings "Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao".


From Switzerland, Anna Rosinelli sings "In Love For a While". In my humble opinion, this is one the best song in the contest, I can't believe it was the last coming. She's a great singer.


From Azerbaijan, the winnning song.
(I think it's a nice song, but the singers made some vocal mistakes).