Christmas Carol

Beautiful carol. Music by Leonard Cohen.

Xmas rap!

                 Merry Christmas!

Christmas Alphabet.

Rudolph... again!

Fairy Tales (IV). Rapunzel

   Princess                    Wicked Witch                     Prince                                                      (very bad)                           Charming

Fairy Tales (III). The Wizard of Oz.

- Dorothy

- Tin man

- Scarecrow

- Lion


- Wizard

Fairy Tale (II). The Snow Queen.

Remember to click on 'subtitles'.

    Snow Queen.

Fairy Tale (or not). George and the dragon.

This is a popular story. It's a 'British tale'.

   

Saint George is very important in many countries.



Read more in this link.

How do you say...?

Elisa (3rd A) wants to know to say 'Mantis marina' in English.

Do you know this dangerous animal?








This is a mantis shrimp.

It's a very dangerous animal. It kills crabs and clams, with the force of a bullet shot.


Learn more.

A.-  Why the mantis shrimp is my new favourite animal.
B.- Kidzone. Animals.


This is a praying mantis.

Fairy Tales (I). Snow White and the seven Dwarfs.

This is a well known story.



Dwarf is not an easy word.
This is the plural.
dwarfs.
 /ˈdwoɚfs/ 

In stories : a creature that looks like a small man and that often lives underground and has magical powers



- Snow White.



- Stepmother.-

A woman that your father marries after his marriage to or relationship with your mother has ended.

The same is for  stepfather.

Amazing fantasy animals.

Fairy Tales (0).

We start a new label (fairy tales) to review some of these amazing stories.

Let's start with this video. You can watch, listen and read... nine Fairy Tales.

1. Snow White and the seven Dwarfs.       
2. The Snow Queen.                       
3. The Wizard of Oz.
4. Rapunzel.
5. Hansel and Gretel.
6. The frog Prince.
7. Sleeping Beauty.
8. Cinderella.
9. Thumbelina.

How to build an altar for 'Day of the Dead', in Mexico.

An altar /ˈɑːltɚ/ is a combination of traditions with both symbols:
- Prehispanica indigenous cultures
- Christian culture.

They often include multiple levels, the most common are:

- Two levels (representing Heaven and Earth)
- Three levels (representing Heaven, Purgatory and Earth)
- Seven levels (representing the seven steps necessary to reach Heaven):
     1.- The first (1st) step: an image of a Saint to whom the departed loved-one was particularly devoted.
     2.- The second (2nd) step: and image of souls in purgatory.
     3.- The third (3rd) step: salt (for purifiction).
     4.- The fourth (4th) step: bread (dead bread).
     5.- The fith (5th) step: foods and favourite fruits or the loved-one.
     6.- The sixth (6th) step: photographs of the loved-one.
     7.- The seventh (7th) step: a cross, or rosary, made from either seeds or fruits like tecojote and lime.




Among the traditional offerings can also be found:
- water
- candles
- frankincense
- floral arches
- papel picado (rectangular bits of paper with different designs cut into them)
- flowers (especially the traditional orange or yellow cempazuchitl)
- skeletons,
- favourite drinks (tekila, beer, rompope and wine)
- favourite objects of the departed...

or even more.

Halloween?... No, 'Dia de los muertos' (México)

Dulce, Enrique and Gildardo are mexican students in our school.

They want to be teachers and they help us to learn something about 'Día de los muertos' in México.

The 'Day of the Dead' is held on November the 1st (and 2nd) -instead of 31st October- coinciding with Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day.

It's a traditional celebration of Mesoamerican origin that honors the deceased.

===================================================================

El festival que se convirtió en el Día de Muertos se conmemoraba el noveno mes del calendario solar mexica, cerca del inicio de agosto, y se celebraba durante un mes completo. Las festividades eran presididas por la diosa  Mictecacíhuatl, conocida como la "Dama de la Muerte" (actualmente relacionada con "La Catrina", personaje de José Guadalupe Posada) y esposa de Mictlantecuhtli, Señor de la tierra de los muertos. 

El altar de muertos, también conocido como ofrenda del día de muertos, es un elemento fundamental en el conjunto de tradiciones mexicanas del Día de muertos, que consiste en instalar altares domésticos en honor de los muertos de la familia donde se ofrece como ofrenda de alimentos, velas, flores y objetos de uso cotidiano del difunto.

El altar de muertos es una construcción simbólica resultado del sincretismo de las ideologías prehispánicas, la cosmovisión endémica de las culturas mesoamericanas y las creencias religiosas europeas de carácter abrahámico traídas por los conquistadores y misioneros españoles encomendados a la colonización y conversión de los pueblos nativos del actual territorio mexicano.Las creencias mesoamericanas sincréticas, para rendir tributo a los antepasados familiares, a los difuntos cercanos o a personajes importantes.

Estos altares, producto del sincretismo religioso, guardan todavía una enorme similitud en elementos simbolismo y estéticos con los Tlamanalli (del náhuatl - Tlamana: ofrecer, -lli sufijo, "La Ofrenda"), elaborados por los grupos que aún guardan la tradición de los pueblos originarios.

En ceremonia llevada a cabo en París (Francia) el 7 de noviembre de 2003 la Unesco distinguió a la festividad indígena de Día de Muertos como Obra Maestra del Patrimonio Oral e Intangible de la Humanidad. La distinción por considerar la Unesco que esta festividad es:

Una de las representaciones más relevantes del patrimonio vivo de México y del mundo, y como una de las expresiones culturales más antiguas y de mayor fuerza entre los grupos indígenas del país.

Ese encuentro anual entre las personas que la celebran y sus antepasados, desempeña una función social que recuerda el lugar del individuo en el seno del grupo y contribuye a la afirmación de la identidad...

English sounds (Look, listen and repeat)

How do you say...?

David (4th B) wants to say something about a shirt with Real Madrid colour and sign.



You can use the word strip.

Strip: (Noun) A team’s strip is the specially designed shirt with the team’s colors and sign.

Tongue twister

"Music for a bird" by Hans-Martin Linde (1968)

Today, at school. A teacher from the Conservatorio in Cuenca, played with the recorder this work by Hans-Martin Linde (1930).

It's a true flower!

Do you know that GHOST ORCHID is a true flower?



You can see more orchids here...

Animal riddles (and III)

This is the last one of these videos.

Animal riddles (II)

Animal Riddles (I)

New frinds.

Listen and guess the character.

Write in order.

Friends.

Read and listen to this book.

Describing people. Practice

Try this link to practice your description.

Physical description.

This is an interactive book.

Describing people (II).

Describing people.

How to describe a person.

Where do you live?

Places arround town and city

Have a look to the picture, learn and practice.

Shops

Learn more about shops. Ask and answer questions.