Paddington and how to introduce our children in the English teaching

"I'm not a criminal", said Paddignton, hoslty. "I'm a bear".

Paddington and how to introduce our children in the English teaching

Before Christmas arrives, we suggest us this cartoons.  They will enjoy and improve their English in their holidays.

Read the following text with your children and then try to do the exercises with them

This year, the UK is celebrating the publication of Paddignton's first book, a bear called Paddington, which was released over 50 years ago, in 1958.

His creator, Michael Bond, bought a small bear from Selfridges - a chain of high end department stores in the United Kingdom - on Christmas Eve 1956, as a present for his wife, and named him after the nearest railway station to which they lived.

To mark its anniversary, and in celebration of London’s art, culture and innovation, and the release of Paddington the movie – in UK cinemas from 28 November - there will be 50 Paddington statues all around London from 4 November to 30 December.

Paddington statues will span all of London close to museums, parks, shops and key landmarks in an inspiring trail. Each of the statues has been created by internationally renowned artists, designers and celebrities with the trail following the travelling bear’s favourite places in London. Bears unveiled included David Beckham's 'Golden Paws', Emma Watson's 'Flutterby', Benedict Cumberbatch's 'Sherlock Bear' and Stephen Fry's 'Paddington is GREAT'. Also on display were Nicole Kidman's 'Blush' and Boris Johnson's 'The Bear of London'.

Families are being encouraged to follow in Paddington’s paw-steps throughout the city to famous

landmarks and a few off-the-beaten-path locations. A trail map is available at VisitLondon.com/Paddington along with interactive tools and games to give explorers a place to

share their adventures from the trail.

After December 30, each of the Paddington Trail statues will be auctioned to raise money for charities including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), an organization dedicated to ending child abuse in the U.K.

The Paddington Trail is the perfect excuse to go on a pleasure trip to London and sprinkle in some fun (furry) adventure for the whole family.

Vocabulary

to span: abarcar

to unveil: desvelar

off-the-beaten-path: ruta típica

auctioned: subastada

sprinkle: esparcir

1. Watch “Paddignton the movie’s trailer” and have a sneak peek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7bZFr2IA0Bo

2. Read one of “Paddington’s stories”. Do you dare to read it to your children before going to sleep?

http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/paddington-here.pdf

3. Paddigton first appeared on television in 1975 in a series of 30 five minutos programmes. See one of this episodes to practice some listening

STUDY TIP: Cartoons aren’t just for kids. watching cartoons is very advisable for every student since they have simple storylines with a problem and solution, so they are not hard to follow. Even if you do not understand every single word you will be able to visually see the story play out. Also, language is used is purposefully simple because most cartoons’ target audience is children. Give it a try!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzxJ3mqIFAE

4. Take a took at all the Paddington’s figures. Which one do you like best?

http://www.visitlondon.com/paddington/the-bears

5. Answer this questions:

1. Have you ever visited London? If so, what’s your favourite tourist attraction?
2. Are you planning a trip to London soon?
3. Did you know about Paddignton’s books and character?
4. Will you watch Paddignton the movie?
5. What bear figure do you like best and why? What can you tell us about its designer?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WDQUOIHzf4amTgJsFS77ps82okVAnVJCs13PnUgqmbI/edit

Which is the best way to travel?

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long return"

Leonardo Da Vinci

The best way to travel

Every month the BBC Lonely Planet Magazine runs a photo competition. They ask readers to send in pictures they have taken on their travels and tell the story behind them

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/asia/travel-tips-and-articles

1. Sangkhlaburi, Thailand: Taking the plunge

* I'm sorry, we can't show this photo because we don't have the copy right

"We were in a long-tail bot crossing the Khao Laem reservoir in Sangkhlaburi, close to the Burmese border in Western Thailand, when our driver took us on a detour to Thailand's longest wooden brigde. As he cut the engine and we idled up to the bridge for a closer look, some local boys were enjoying a bombing (diving) competition. When they saw us, they seized the moment to showcase some of their diving and one ofter the other plunged into the water. We were only there for a few minutes but this impromptu performance remains one of the highlights of my time in Thailand. This shot embodies the spontaneity of the country, and its people's vibrancy"

Alistair McDonald was on a two-week holiday in Thailand.

Vocabulary

plunge: zambullida

idled up: fuimos de un modo abnegado

to seize: aprovechar

showcase: vitrina, escaparate

shot: disparo

embody: personificar

Answer the questions

1. How did Alistair arrive at the scene?

2. What example (s) of spontaneity does he mention?

2. Havana, Cuba: Seeing the light

In the following link you will allow see the photo

http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/279576/

"The Malecon is a five-mile-long, six lane sea road, laid out by US Marines from 1901 and fronted by nineteenth-century buildings in various states of disrepair. It his where Habaneros hand out and and party at the weekends and its the unique fingerprint of Havana. When I got there, the sun was starting to set. There was a warm breeze blowing and a strong sea swell, with waves crashing against the sea wall. The sun was barely peeping through the clouds when I noticed a 1950s Pontiac approaching in the distance. I waited until it drew closer before pressing the shutter. For me this photo captures the essence of Havana: a uniquely photogenic city frozen in time for fifty years".

Anthony McEvoy was in Cuba for a work a short holiday

Vocabulary

hang out: pasar el rato

swell: aumentar

peeping: mirar con disimulo, de reojo

Answer the questions

1. What is the Malecon and what happens there?

2. Which things in the photo and the text capture the essence of Havana for Anthony?

3. Matera, southern Italy: Time stands still

"Nothing could have prepared me for my sight of the Sassi di Matera. I wasn't sure what to expect from a cave town where the locals live in the same houses as their ancestors did 9.000 years ago. I felt like I'd wandered onto a film set. The jumble of stacked cave houses appeared to tumble down a ravine. Adding to the magic of the place was the fact I was the only person there and it felt a ghost town. I left feeling slightly humbled -maybe it was knowing that my hotel room was once a cave dwelling for a family of ten and their livestock"

Greg Jackson spent his summer holiday last year in Italy

*I'm sorry, we can't show the original photo because we don't have the copy right

Vocabulary

jumble: embrollo, revoltijo

stacked: amontonadas

to tumble: caer

ravine: barranco

humbled: humilde, modesto

dwelling: vivienda

livestock: ganado

Answer the questions

1. What is special about houses in Matera?

2. How did Greg feel when he left the town?

GRAMMAR NOUN PHRASES

Look at the ways in which noun phrases can be modified. Add the underlined sections in the text to the appropriate category below:

Rules: 

A noun phrase is a group of words which function as unit to describe the noun. Information can be added before or after the noun in different ways.

1. Compound nouns

A noun can be used to modify a noun. Sometimes these are written as two words, sometime as one word, and sometimes they are hyphenated.

cave houses, fingerprint, candy-floss, (1) _________________

2. Compound adjectives

Adjectives can be used to modify the noun, using hyphens

long-tail boat (a boat with a long tail)

When the noun part is plural, it becomes singular in a compound.

nine-year-old girl (the girl is nine years old)   (2)_________________

3. Adverb + adjectives combinations

refreshingly cool breeze  (3)________________

4. Adjectives

When several adjectives come before the noun, they need to be in a specific order.

Value adjectives (which give your opinion) come first, followed by size, age, shape, colour, origin and material.

delicious slice of home-made apple pie (4)__________________

5. Prepositional phrases and participle clauses

These occur after the noun.

Prepositional phrases:

a camera for filming short video clips  (5)___________________

Participle clauses:

waves crashing against the sea wall  (6)___________________

If you want, before you finish this post, yo can listening some audios about travels

http://rtve.formaciondigital.com/courses/10225MOD114/document/audio/podcast39.mp3?cidReq=10225MOD114

http://rtve.formaciondigital.com/courses/10225MOD114/document/audio/090604_6min_homeswap_audio_for_web_au_bb.mp3?cidReq=10225MOD114

The new World Trade Center

The World Trade Center is a living symbol of man's dedication to world peace...a representation of Man's belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his beliefs in the cooperation of men, and, through cooperation, his ability to find greatness

Minoru Yawasaki, American Architect

The new World Trade Center

Read the following article and try to understand. Look for the meaning of the words in black.

Welcome to the top of the world

New York is one of the world’s greatest cities. From its founding, it has epitomized enterprise and success.

From the minute the first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center, Luis Torres has had a floor-to-ceiling view of both the destruction and the reconstruction that has defined Lower Manhattan for more than a decade.

When the people of this city set out to rebuild the World Trade Center after Sept. 11, they planned to erect a lasting memorial, remake the skyline and restore Lower Manhattan as a

financial center.

But when the 104-story One World Trade Center officially opened for business yesterday, Monday, Nov. 3, it ushered in a rebirth of lower Manhattan as a vibrant, urban neighborhood where people live, shop and eat, rather than just hustle home from white collar jobs.

Luis Torres, 54, was serving breakfast in the third-floor restaurant of The Millenium Hilton on Sept. 11, 2001, in front of picture windows overlooking the Twin Towers, when he saw his city transformed forever.

It would be 19 months until the devastated hotel was back in business, and it would be years more of political squabbling and design changes until Torres would stare down into Ground Zero’s deep pit of misery and see the metre-thick concrete base of One World Trade Center begin reaching for the skies.

One World Trade Center, an iconic skyscraper gracing the New York City skyline, symbolizes all of those attributes – it is now the most recognized and desirable office address in the world. At 1,776 feet tall, One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The site is also home to the National September 11 Memorial Museum.

Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), One World Trade Center provides 71 stories and 3 million square feet of world-class office space -2-featuring some of the most spectacular views in the world. The environmental, structural and life safety enhancements of One World Trade Center incorporate the latest technologies and set new new standards for high-rise design. IT CATCHES THE GLEAM OF THE MORNING’S FIRST BEAM!

An increasingly diverse workforce, including the trendsetters of Vogue and Vanity Fair, will make One World Trade Center the most exciting and vibrant place to work in the city, if not the entire country.

Although its first tenant, the publisher Condé Nast, the real estate firm in charge of leasing the building, moved this Monday, the official opening ceremonies for the Western Hemisphere’s tallest office building — at least for now — will be held later in November.

Condé’s decision to move downtown turned heads and may prompt others to consider same move. Restaurants, salons and major fashion labels have been angling for new homes near the World Trade Center, following the workers whose wages and expense accounts have buoyed their businesses in Midtown Manhattan for years.

In the following link, you will find some videos about this topic

http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/10/31/the_center_of_change.html

In the next link you have the solutions:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pelGO9Cz1qXVN4bGAcdIcaVLeEujzy8g3tlbTWcXNBg/edit

Interview job

A job isn't just a job. It's who you are

How to do your best interview job

Read the following text about recruitment and selection of personnel and then answer the comprehension questions.

Recruitment and job advertisements

Equality legislation doesn’t just protect people from discrimination when they’re in a job. It also applies to the recruitment and selection process, with the aim of making sure that no one is treated less favourably when applying for a job.

Equality legislation covers the entire recruitment process:

-To avoid racial discrimination, overseas qualifications which are comparable with UK qualifications should be acceptable as equivalents and not assumed to be inferior.

- The way application forms are designed shouldn’t discriminate against disabled people.

- It would be unlawful to prefer a younger candidate in the belief that they will be ‘hungry’ and ‘dynamic’, and so perform better.

It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a candidate for a job because of their age, disability, race, belief, sexual orientation or gender in any part of the recruitment process – in job descriptions, person specifications, application forms, during interviews, in tests, or in shortlisting.  

Job advertisements include emails, direct mail and in-company notices, as well as advertising to the general public in newspapers and on the radio, TV or internet.

No job advertisement should discriminate on the basis of any of the protected grounds, unless there is objective evidence that the discrimination is lawful. Here are a few examples:

Stating a preference for a man or woman in a job advertisement is unlawful sex discrimination unless the requirements of the particular job mean that it is lawful to employ only a man or a woman.

Gender-specific job titles, such as ‘handyman’ or ‘salesgirl’, should therefore be avoided. It is also likely to be unlawful to use language that indirectly implies the job is suited to one sex or other.

 Advertisements should not include age limits, unless these can be objectively justified. Avoid using words and phrases such as ‘young and dynamic’ or ‘mature person’. These could result in a complaint of age discrimination since they suggest an employer is looking for applicants from a particular age group.

 It could be discriminatory to restrict the advertisement of a job to a particular religious publication, since potential candidates who belong to other religious or belief groups would be much less likely to have the opportunity to see it. The Commission can take action against employers it believes have placed discriminatory advertisements.

Source:

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/


Anwer the questions saying if they are true or false

1. Equality legislation only protects people from discrimination when they're in a job
2. It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a candidate for a job because of their age, disability, race, belief, sexual orientation or gender
3. Stating a preference for a man or woman in a job advertisement is always unlawful sex discrimination
4. Adevertisements could include age limits if these can be objectivily justified
5. It is never discriminatory to restrict the advertisement of a job to a particular religious publication because this is not relevant for the job

Correct answers:

1F, 2T, 3F, 4T, 5F

Listen the next audio:

http://rtve.formaciondigital.com/courses/10225MOD114/document/video/Successful_Telephone_Interviews.mp3?cidReq=10225MOD114

Hello, today I’m going to teach you everything you need to know about the very secret world of the telephone interview.

Nowadays, over      (1)      % of graduate interviews will include a telephone interview as part of the preparation by the company as to whether you are actually good enough to have a  to face interview. Now, this is what everybody just does not know. Here are the secret     (2)    to telephone interview success.

First of all, please, please, please, try and be interviewed on a    (3)  , not on a mobile.

B, make sure that when they are talking to you, and they will probably have told you that we are going to call you at “X” time, that you are on a landline and you are in a  place. Don’t take interviews on mobile phones in bars – (4)

3rd thing, make sure that you are prepared for that interview. Make sure that you’ve got some     (5)    in front of you. Make sure you’ve got a    (6)   in fact, so if there is something that they don’t    (7)   that you can’t quite work out what it is they are asking   (8)    you’ve got time to actually write it down.

Next, are you the type of person, I am, I’m the type of guy who wanders around when I’m talking on the phone. If you’re that, make sure you’ve got that. If you’re much     (9)    though when you’re on the phone sitting in a chair, find a nice chair, nice table, get    (10)   out and make sure that you are prepared for that interview.

Correct answers: 

1. 70 %

2. face

3. tips

4. landline

5. quiet

6. disaster

7. notes

8. notebook

9.happier

10.chilled

Tomorrow will be a big day: Rosetta will try to land on comet

Rosetta is a robotic space prbe built and launched by European Space Agency to perform a detailed study of comet67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with both an orbiter and lander module

Tomorrow will be a big day: Rosetta will try to land on comet

Read the following link about Rosetta and then ask the questions: 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/rosetta-spacecraft-to-land-probe-on-comet--and-make-scientific-history-9849302.html

Language work

1. Explain the meaning of the following words or phrases which appear in the article

 is no stranger

 overseen

 yet (according the context)

 ejected

 slingshot

 touchdown

 hazard-free

 boulders

 cushion its impact

crust

2. What do these words/phrases refer to?

one speeding bullet

 60.000 km/ h

 unusual

2004

 the gravity of Earth and Mars

Agilika

Depressions

 Washing machine

 Water

 Ptolemy instrument

3. Which problems are mentioned that might complicate the manoeuvre?

In the following link, if you want you will find the answers:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pjlswBukHse8vj1J7_-hxutvz6hMYWOv5bs332feYGs/edit

The dangers of too many felines at home

"A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one? Snarling people have snarling dogs, changerous people have dangerous one"

Arthur Conan Doyle

The dangers of too many felines at home

Read the folllowing article about pets:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/expert-urges-cat-lovers-to-own-just-one-animal-each-9763540.html

1. Find synonims (in Englih) for the following words which appear in the article.

besotted

wrath

harm

whilst

vermin

readily

sorties

thwarted

roamed

restraint

former

grooming

un-neutered toms

duty

2. Write one sentence for every new word that you had learnt in the previous question

3. Do you think that is it possible that the humans share with the animals the same space?

4. Look for advantages and disadvantages about to have pets at home. In your argument uses some linkers ( if you have in the next webpage you will find some of them)

5 Write a suitable title for the article

Example: "One owner, one pet"

6. Read some article in this web and look for a new vocabulary

http://www.rspca.org.uk/home

In the next link you will find some answers an one example of exercise

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TtHV8Dq4wyqTtXsGMfwuybrZFK3rPxZIqsG3tJW0o9g/edit

Summertime Sadness

"Who are you? Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies? Have you created a life for yourself where you can experience them?

I have. I am fucking crazy.

But I am free.” 

Lana Del Rey

"Summertime Sadness", Lana Del Rey

Today we want that you enjoy listening music. We have made a purpose for working with one of the most famous song of Lana del Rey. Click in the following link and complete the words of this song

http://lyricstraining.com/play/lana_del_rey/summertime_sadness/HBOeCaJHqB#ib

John Travolta advice on Life

I don't believe in regrets: I believe your future is in your tomorrows

John Travolta

John Travolta advice on Life

Watch the following video about John Travolta.  Answer the questions. When you have finished, try to  write a good summary about this topic.

1. What is the interview referring to with the words "self-improved exile"?

2. What other way does he describe it?

3. Do you find John Travolta more sensitive or more cynical? Why?

4. When is negative thinking acceptable to John?

5. How does/did he react to the negativity in his life?

In the following link you will find an exemple of summary

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NxqWpJBL6jQvuqeimBS4nxBjWdxX0_5JX0yQ9qSfB_Y/edit#