Hail Mary

HAIL MARY

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Letter Rip

Hello again my friends! Did you go to the beach? I am sure that you had nice holidays. During my summer time I looked for new games and I found that one. Have a nice day and enjoy!

The Elves And The Shoemaker

Para tener otra perspectiva de como es la obra que vamos a representar en clase, aquí os dejo este video de los Teleñecos y la obra "The Elves And The Shoemaker". Tomad nota y fijaos bien en todos los detalles. Está un poquito cambiada, pero es bastante divertida.

Don't worry, be happy!

Como prometí en clase aquí os dejo la canción de Bob Marley, un gran artista que revoluciono el mundo de la música hasta el día de su muerte. So, here you are, enjoy and...don't worry, be happy!

Rio

I like birds. Do you like birds? I think you do. So I have decided to post this film. Enjoy!

Father & Daughter

On the surface, it's a story about fame. Not Elvis fame. Not Paul Newman or Eddie Murphy fame. Not the kind of fame that's honed over years of practice and careful minding. No, it's about a different kind of fame. The new kind of fame. The kind of fame that can happen overnight in a world like this - where everyone is connected and everyone has a shot. Used to be fame was earned, the pursuit of it endured until out of the multitude arose the fortunate few. They became something larger, bigger than us mortals stuck schlepping this coil.

And then Andy Warhol happened. His prediction of 15 minutes, a self-fulfilling prophecy born to fruition by YouTube.



This new kind of fame seems plastic, a hollow facsimile of the way fame used to be, the way it was meant to be. A kid freaks out and posts a video telling everyone to leave Britney alone; a chimpanzee cruises through a field on a Segway; an inspirational comedian dances his way from the Charleston to the Dougie. This is the kind of fame that exists only on the surface, because if you were to dig a little deeper, you'd see the surface is all there is. There is no infrastructure. There are no load-bearing walls. This new fame is a balloon, empty and lighter than air on the inside.

But then there comes the outlier. The person riding to fame on this hollow wind, but who does not pop when probed, whose substance makes their instant fame seem worthwhile. Jorge Narvaez is like that. He's one of the new famous. He's a fad, a craze. He's a meme. On the surface anyway. He's the guy you've probably seen. You and eight million or so of your closest friends. He's the guy on YouTube singing a song with his six-year-old daughter. You don't know the song, but you wish you did. You don't know Jorge or his daughter Alexa, but you sort of want to.



In case you haven't seen it, you really should. It's simple. A young, handsome man strumming an acoustic guitar, his daughter sitting beside him, taking her turns on every other verse. The song is by a band you probably have never heard of, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It's got a catchy little hook, a great whistle intro and a chorus - "home is wherever I'm with you" - that wouldn't make you stop and think, unless you knew Jorge and Alexa. Unless you knew that he's a full-time student, 24, and recently split with Alexa and her sister's mom. You wouldn't pay attention unless you knew that he sings the song to his daughter every night as a way of helping her deal with the pain of her mom and dad splitting up, to help her deal with having two homes. You wouldn't think much of it unless you talked to Jorge.

"Every single thing I do is for them," he says. He's on a cell phone, driving to Palm Springs from his San Diego apartment. Going to meet a guy about a thing. There's been a lot of guys and a lot of things, a lot of meetings and opportunities in the last month. He posted the video on December 31, 2010. Three weeks later, millions had seen it. He and Alexa were on the Ellen Show. A German TV station called him for an interview. Univision - Latin America's answer to Al Jazeera - sent a crew to follow him around for a couple of days. He's been on the radio in countries around the world, been offered deals and opportunities. A literary agent has offered him a contract to write a children's book. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros want to meet with him when they get back from a tour in Australia.

A little more than three weeks. A video of a guy singing with his daughter on their couch. No manager. No publicist. No contract. No money. That's how new fame works. Jorge and Alexa have played at her school, where she's become a celebrity of sorts. She's become so well known that he had to pull her out of the Boys and Girls Club where she normally goes after school. She's in private daycare now, just in case. This is all in less than a month. A little girl and her daddy, who spent Christmas unknown to anyone, are a worldwide sensation before President's Day.

Jorge's story is maybe a little familiar. He's young, 24, and has a six-year-old and a two-year-old daughter. It took him a while to find his way. He found love young. Calls the mother of his children an "amazing woman" and part of his "family," but things didn't work out. That happens. It happens a lot, too much to deserve anyone's judgment or criticism. Sometimes things just aren't right. But Jorge doesn't dwell. He's the kind of guy who seems to look forward a lot. It's why he's gotten his life together, gone from a 1.5 to a 3.6 GPA at UCSD. It's why he dreams - of being an influential photographer, of being an academic, of being the best father he can be.



For a guy like Jorge, the first in his family to finish high school let alone dream of becoming a professor, dreams are important. They are landmarks. He may never have dreamed of being on Ellen or getting calls from Germany, but he has dreamed of a better life for he and his daughters. Talk to the guy for more than a minute, have him call you 'bro' and you know there's something about him. But only if you've also seen the video and imagined his life to this point. Because a guy from San Diego calls you 'bro' you think one thing. A guy sings with his daughter, you think another. A guy works hard in school and has plans for the future, you think something else. But when a guy does all these things, you realize even the new fame - the shimmery surface, the undisturbed pond, the taught balloon - isn't necessarily as hollow as you may think.

It's easy to assume superficiality. It's easy to get jaded by the kind of fame that makes American Idol look substantive. The Star Wars kid, the Double Rainbow guy,the Numa Numa kid. It's easy to assume some desperate play for attention, a grab for the new kind of fame. And there's enough of that out there, enough to assume that that's all that's out there. But every once in a while, along comes Jorge and his daughter Alexa and that song, that moment. Pure love. A father's love and his pain. And you get caught thinking that maybe there is something out there, a balloon that won't pop because it's propped up.

Jorge will probably never be the old kind of famous, but I get the sense talking to him that he never wanted to be. He never really wanted to be the new kind of famous. It just sort of happened. And it's nice to see that fame - sudden and fleeting - can happen to someone who wasn't looking for it, some who didn't see it coming. Not even out of the periphery because their focus, his focus, was on the faces of his family and on his future. It's nice to see that even with fame, Jorge's focus remains where it should be. Maybe he's creating something new, a new-new kind of fame.

UP

Sorry because of I could not finish the movie at class, but here I have got the solution. Enjoy this movie!

MODAL VERBS: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

Nowadays the issue of learning English is very important. More and more teachers teach English at school or in private institutions such as academies. Most people who teach English are in fact non native speakers of that language. They are state school teachers in countries around the world. Also, more and more learners of all ages begin to learn this language. But as language, it presents difficulties not so long for non native speakers but for native speakers of English. For instance, there are several problems that ESL speakers have with English verbs. Basically, however, the English verb system is fairly simple (more simple than most western European languages) but a little more complicated than most oriental languages. One of the most difficult aspects of learning English is modality. In this essay we will expose the main problems that students and teachers of EFL have with this kind of verbs and how to deal with them.

To understand better the problems with modal verbs it is better to have a little idea about them. A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb that is used to indicate modality (that is, an auxiliary verb that can be used to change the modality of a sentence). The key way to identify a modal verb is by defectiveness (a defective verb is a verb with an incomplete conjugation). In addition, modal verbs do not take the inflection –s or –es in the third person singular, unlike other verbs.

English modal verbs can be divided into two kinds of auxiliaries: the primary auxiliaries(be,have and do)and the secondary auxiliaries (can, could, must, have to, should, ought to, be able to...)

One of the most common problems with primary auxiliaries is the first position of the auxiliary when we formulate a question (“Does this mean we have to do it again?”) because some languages (such as Spanish) do not need them. As Michael Swan and Bernard Smith said “Spanish and Catalan have only one category of verbs and they all show the normal range of tenses (present, past, future, conditionals). There is no separate category of modal auxiliaries as in English and learners find the concept difficult to grasp”.

As we said before, the three main auxiliaries are BE, HAVE and Do. But sometimes they are auxiliaries and sometimes they are “proper” main verbs. This is another typical mistake of learners of EFL: to confuse auxiliary with verb. For instance:

-He did nothing (verb)

-Why did you do that? (auxiliary)

-I have a dog (verb)

-I have sold it (auxiliary)

Modals are difficult to grasp because as modal and modality are rarely explained to an EFL student, the form of modals does not follow the conventional rules of grammar, and there are so many meanings of modals that students often get confused about which modal to use.

According to Longman’s Dictionary of Language “Teaching & Applied linguistics”, one of the main problems with modals is problems with formation. There are few problems that EFL students have with the formation of modals. First, combining a modal auxiliary with a simply present verb, “to” is not necessary. That is, using “to” unnecessarily.

He should to eat his dinner/He should eat his dinner

Second, subject-verb agreement does not apply to modals (that is, you cannot create a third singular person formulation, a past form, etc)

She can jumps/She can jump

Marina cans cook/ Marina can cook

Third, two modals cannot be used together in the same sentence.

Will can fly/Will be able to fly

Fourth, “ought to” only appears in this form. There is no past tense. It is entirely independent (that is, no connected with other verbs).

Firth, to combine lexical verb in past with the modal verb.

John could heard the bell

Also, there are problems in the phonological context although they are not so important than the previous problems. For instance, strong and weak form of “can”:

-Can /kæn/, /kən/

-Could /kʊd/, /kəd/

-Must /mʌst/, /məst/

Students usually use weak forms but it is not allowed to use always the same form. For example, in questions it is usually used the strong form to make the question and the weak form to answer the question.

As we said before, one of the biggest problems (if not the biggest) of EFL students face with modals is their meaning. Each modal can have more than one meaning and each meaning is a member of an inter-related system. When a speaker chooses to use one modal, s/he is deciding not to use any of the other modal verbs. As Cook proposes “The problem lies not in the surface positioning of modals nor in their wide range of meanings, but in associating the right modal with the right meaning” (Cook, 1978). So, that is one of the main problems with modals: each modal verb has many functions and their meaning is difficult for EFL students. Many of them are not aware of the subtle shades of meaning that are found within the meaning of a modal and that’s are found within the meaning of a modal and that’s due to the most common way to teach modals in a list. As Byrd suggests “The difficulties in interpreting an already complex system have often been compounded by teaching methods that present modals as a list” (Byrd, 1995). When they are taught as a list they are presented like regular vocabulary. Let’s see it with an example. The opposite of “you must be here at 8” (obligation) is usually “you don’t have to be here at 8” (lack of obligation –choice), while “must” in “you must not drink the water” (prohibition) has a different meaning from “must” in “you must not be a native speaker” (deduction). This complexity takes considerable work for most English language learners. What we can deduct from this is students memorize the modals with their accompanying meanings but they may have no idea of the subtle social and cultural information each choice conveys. So a better way to teach them is as a system.

“Modals can also appear in the perfect aspect with a have + en construction” (Bowen, 1977). This can also be a difficult area for students: “The problems students experience with the perfect modal construction can be attributed to the fact that they often believe the addition of the perfect construction adds “perfectiveness” to the meaning” (Bowen, 1977).

Generally, the students understand or produce a grammatical utterance but the meaning may be incorrect or misunderstood by the student. If the teacher does not present enough information about the perfect form and its complexities in meaning, then the student may overgeneralize the rules.

Also, the negation of the modals can be complex for students. There are two main reasons for this: Adding “not” after the modal does not always give the opposite meaning (because it can overgeneralize the idea/rule again).

In the scope of intercultural issues, modals require that the characteristics of the social situation can be taken into account. Power distance, for example, can determine which modal to use in a given situation. In some languages where modals do not exist (such as Arabic) students have to confront the English modal system and the dynamics of power relationships are different.

Something to take into account is that, when teaching modals, there are not be an issue of comprehension of the modal system and although not all languages have modal auxiliaries, the concept of modality is universal.

Also, another way that students understand better the idea of modals is to use dialogues showing the different cultural context that are relevant to communicating (using all the different uses of modal verbs).

Explaining how modals are as system through the use of definitions and EFL linguistic theory is a good way to explain modals. We cannot forget about a greater exposure to real life through school, organizations, TV...For communicative learning is much better than any list.

To conclude we can say that in the realm of grammar, teaching the modal system of English can be compared to walking a tightrope. The balance normally required in pedagogical grammars when presenting material, that is simplified enough for students to understand is magnified to fold in the modal system. “The teacher is required to present an extremely complex system with enough intricacy to illustrate the relationship of the modal and auxiliaries to teach other and their place in a semantic field” (Jarnis, 1972). The intercultural aspect of teaching the meanings of modals has not been documented extensively to our knowledge and maybe the best is to suggest that this is yet another dimension to consider in teaching the modal system: How modals broke up in English (e.g. probability v social interactions) how other languages express modal auxiliaries... modality is a universal concept but that all no languages have modal auxiliaries.

De Carrico suggests in her article “to take advantage of what is systematic in modality and stress this to students” (De Carrico, 1986). Teaching modals requires a thorough knowledge of the modal system and how it is systematic. Even though the prospect of teaching modal auxiliaries is overwhelming, if you understand the modal system and its systematicity, then teaching modals well is accessible!

Months!

Sorry, I was very busy and I could not post on the blog. Anyway, here you are a new song about the months of the year. Next post, I will talk about the date and the different ways to write it. Regards!



January-Enero.
February-Febrero.
March-Marzo.
April-Abril.
May-Mayo.
June-Junio.
July-Julio.
August-Agosto.
September-Septiembre.
October-October.
November-Noviembre.
December-Diciembre.

Time

En este post vamos a explicar como decir la hora en inglés. La expresión utilizada en inglés para preguntar la hora es la siguiente:

What time is it? o también What's the time? (menos usual) = ¿Qué hora es?

O'clock es una contracción antigua que significa 'of the clock' (del reloj). El empleo actual equivale al español 'en punto' (seven o'clock = siete en punto).

O'clock = 'en punto'
a quarter past... = 'y cuarto'
half past... = 'y media'
a quarter to... = 'menos cuarto'

Cuando a la hora sigue una fracción de minutos, si es inferior a 30 se utiliza el adverbio 'past'. Si es superior, se indican los minutos seguidos de la preposición 'to'.



It's twenty past eleven / son las once y veinte
It's ten to four / son las cuatro menos diez

EJERCICIOS

Rock Around The Clock!

One, two, three o'clock four o'clock rock! Here you are a new song about time. Next post, I will try to tell you how to say the time in English. Meanwhile, listen to this awesome song!

Sweeter Than Candy!

The teacher Carlos Manuel has got a lot of good ideas, and this is one of them! Here you are a great song about...try to guess it!

We Are The Champions!

I love music,and Queen is one of my favourite rock bands. Enjoy this song!

Lyrics:

I've paid my dues
Time after time
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I've come through

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions - of the world

I've taken my bows
And my curtain calls
You brought me fame and fortuen and everything that goes with it

I thank you all

But it's been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
And I ain't gonna lose

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions - of the world

Shops

Here you are a slide of the shops.

Recordad que la traducción de las tiendas podría ser la siguiente:

Baker's: panadería
Butcher's: carnicería
Newsagent's: tienda de prensa
Greengrocer's: frutería o verdulería
Toy shop: juguetería
Pet shop: pajarería
Sweet shop: tienda de caramelos
Supermarket: supermercado

Si también nos fijamos, muchas de las tiendas se pueden formar con la palabra "shop" que significa tienda. En cambio, otras se forman con el genitivo sajón "'s", que indica la propiedad del que trabaja en dicha tienda. Por ejemplo: "baker" es panadero, pero si añadimos el genitivo sajón "baker's", sería la tienda del panadero o mejor dicho, la panadería.

Seasons Song!

Hey! I have got a new song about the four seasons. Be careful about the season "Fall", because you can say "Autumn". The word "Fall" is American, and "Autumn" is British.

Body Parts Game

Hello again! I found a lot of new games! If you want to learn the parts of the body, this is your game!

Click on the next link: BODY PARTS

Alphabetical Order Game!

I have got a new game for you! Put in order the following words.
Click on the next link: ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Nota: Recordad que muchos juegos teneis que hacer click sobre las letras mayúsculas para que lleve al juego.

Megamind

Hi students! I am back again with some new films. Here you are a movie that you know. MEGAMIND! Sorry because of the quality, but don't worry, I will update this movie when it is on DVD.

Word Search Game

Hello again! Did you have a nice time? I have got a new game for you to improve your English.

Click on the next link: WORD SEARCH