From the land down under ...

Hello everyone! I hope you are all well. I know you're right at the end of the semester and I hope you all did well in your exams, but more importantly, I hope you have LEARNED a lot during the semester because that is what you'll take away with you forever. 

I'm writing to you from Perth, Western Australia, where I grew up; I'm here with my family for two months before coming back to Mexico City, which has been my home for 15 years now. 

So I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed meeting you and working with you. You had a great teacher and great teacher trainees, and you were a great class! Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! See you sometime around the CELE.

Shelley Chapman

Hi this is my homework

Tania Georgina Velarca García

Biography

Sakis Rouvas

Anastasios Rouvas is a Greek singer and gymnast, he was born in 5 at January in 1972, in Corfú, Greece.

When he was a student, he used to improvise some shows in the classes of mathematics, in which he used to sing some Elvis' and The Beatles' songs.
His another passion is the artistic gymnastic, he had won loads of national prizes when he became a part of the national Greek team.

When he was 19 years old, Sakis for the first time appeared professionally in the Athens' Show Centre where he was discovered by Polygram, and he was offered his first contract.

A few months later, he made his debut at The Festival of Thessalonica song, with the song "Parta". He won that festival, therefore he won too a lot of fans.
His first album was called "Sakis Rouvas", which was begun to be sold after the day of the festival. The album got at the top of the lists of popularity.
After he began to sell his third album (October, 1993), called “Min Antistekesai”, the press began to make very good critics of him and he began to appear a lot in magazines' covers.

For four consecutive years, he monopolized The Greek Music Awards “Pop Corn”, winning the prizes of New Better Artist, Better Song, Better Scenic Presence and much more.

He has collaborated with artists how Tolis Voskopoulos, Anna Vissi and Katie Garmpi.

At the 19 of May in 1997, gave a step towards the peace and reconciliation, when he appeared with the Turkish star of pop Burak Kud, in a ‘‘binational concert'' because they were over the green line in Cyprus. Therefore he won the Ipeksi Award because his comprehension and collaboration. Sakis and Burak made a duet for the movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (Walt Disney).

Since 1996, Sakis has the biggest club of fans in Greece, "SRFC" (Sakis Rouvas Fans Club).

With two discs of gold and one of platinum, Sakis left Polygram and entered to Minos-EMI.

In December of 1998, he presented another disc “Kati Apo Mena” in Virgin Megastores, one of the biggest shops of music, where thousands of fans provoked vehicular chaos in Athens' streets.

In 2004, Sakis was offered to appear in the Opening of Olympic Games.

INTERESTING THINGS

In 2002, Sakis was the first man appearing in the cover of VOGUE magazine in the greek version.

He is the unique Greek singer who has made spots for PEPSI (has made three).

His albums in his country always becomes to gold or platinum.
He has been the image of Vodafone (A company like Telcel), since 2003.

In the Olympic Games he appeared two times: once when he was carrying the Olympic torch and the last at the end of the Olympic Games with another singers like Ana Vissi.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijiEYv0cP_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IGCMJMj12g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kypJiy8vEvQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEkys0jfsTk

Some weird "how to" books...

Hi, everybody!!!

I want to share with you the link in Amazon for the "how to" books we used for the lesson, there are some of them I couldn't extract the cover image that are as funny as the others... so, if you want to buy one...

Yes!!! they're real!!!

I also found some videos on how to do things like "be ninja", "be nerd", "be gangster" and "be UFC fighter"... if you want to use them for serious purposes, try to identify the vocabulary used for giving the steps, but the main idea behind this is to have fun!!!

Enjoy!!!

See you tomorrow in class!!

HELLO AGAIN ...
THIS TIME I WANT TO SAY THAT I'M VERY SAD 'CAUSE NOBODY VISITS THIS BLOG!!!! :-(
IF SOMEBODY READS THIS... I WANT TO SHARE THIS PICTURE I FOUND...


By the way of what happened recently! ...

Hello everyone!
I hope all of you are fine!
This time I want to share with you a link of a web page from the British Broadcasting Corporation, that we use to know it as the BBC.
It has a section named LearningEnglish and I found it useful for everyone of us!, those who want to improve your English!
This page has lots of options to work with...
But this time I want you to look at this ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1728_people_places/page11.shtml
Here you will be able to practice your pronunciation ... Join in a lesson to learn how to speak English like someone from the USA or from Yorkshire, in the north of England.
But generally you can visit this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
Also visit the Flatmates section, I do like it, it is my favorite !!!
Well, That's all for today, hope to see you again over here...
Enjoy!
Greetings !! :-)

Do you like the violin?

What do you think of it? Do you like it?
-Javier

Fail-Safe and Rocky IV

We had a LOT of topics last class. I am sorry we had those technical problems. Here you can see the first image I showed (click to enlarge)

You can see two more pics here and here.

If you are interested on Fail-Safe, here's the part we watched:

If you are brave enough (and patient!!), you can see the whole thing here. You can read a more detailed summary of it at Wikipedia or IMDB.

This is the trailer of Rocky IV (from 1985):


This is the music video we watched:

The lyrics can be found at lyricsfreak.

With all this information, do you think movies nowadays show the same stereotypes? Do you think that, as Apollo Creed says in the trailer, "This is not an exhibition fight; this is US against THEM" is something that Hollywood still presents?
As this was the most successful of all Rocky series (collecting more than 127.8 million dollars only in the U.S.), would you go to the movies to watch it if it were released next month? Why? Why not?

Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts!
-Javier

Hello Everybody!
As usual, I hope you're fine ...
This time I want to share with you this quote I found ...
It is from Henry Van Dyke, an American short-story writer, Poet, and Essayist (1852 - 1933)
I hope you enjoy it as I did !

“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” ... Henry Van Dyke...

Be happy !
Greetings ...

Soooo...!

I apologize for the lateness of this entry, my dear m8s from Class 510, but this midterm has been madness!!!

Anyway, here is what I promised, a serious site that will give you some hints on writing formal letters:

http://www.usingenglish.com/resources/letter-writing.html

As well as this section of the site, that I think will be helpful to review some things we have done together... or not... like idioms, or irregular and phrasal verbs... oh, and the downloads section!!

http://www.usingenglish.com/reference.html

I hope you like and use this site...


Ah! by the way, remember that Abel told you about the visit of the Belizean Ambassador? well, after all, the cocktail party we had the other day is somehow coming true; so, as a reminder, he will be in our classroom next November 6th. please tell all you classm8s, and I know that you will prepare good, thoughtful and interesting questions, like the ones you always ask; and try to dig deeper than just surface-level matters... we heard that someone asked what are their point of view on us, mexicans... or what are their most important celebrations... I think they are very good questions to ask him... after all, not everyday we have an opportunity like this one!!!

I hope you'll enjoy it!!!

Well, I bid you goodbye for now, I'll post soon and see you all in class... or around... whatever happens first!

Daniel.

A Site to practice Listening

Hello everybody!
I found a site with listenings and exercises we can answer in the net. I've seen a few and I think they're good so, this is the address:
http://www.elllo.org/english/home.htm

For those of you who want to start right away I suggest we begin with the following exercise and on Monday you can tell me how did it go:
http://www.elllo.org/english/Situations/006S-ToddGym.htm

See you on Monday!

PD. The picture was taken from Old Photos:
http://old-photos.blogspot.com/2007/05/woman-listening-to-old-recording-device.html

My blueberry nights

Looking for something nice and relaxing to watch this weekend? Well, from one of my favourite directors, Wong Kar Wai, you can watch "My blueberry nights" (In Spanish "mis noches púrpura"... Don't you hate that translation?). Yes, it's in English. It's not his best piece, but it's quite nice. Wanna know more? Here's Rotten Tomatoes' synopsis:

With his first English-language film, beloved Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai's touch loses none of the seductive luster and magic that made his Chinese films so popular. MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS follows the fortunes of Elizabeth (Norah Jones), who after having been left by her boyfriend, sets out across America to find herself and recover. She makes a stop in Memphis, where she pulls double-duty at a diner by day and a bar at night, and watches the disintegration of another pair of troubled lovers (David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz). She moves on to Nevada where she befriends a vivacious card player and smalltime hustler (a delightfully saucy Natalie Portman) who challenges her notions of contentment. However, it is New York City and the arms of an English café owner (Jude Law) for which Elizabeth's heart truly longs and ultimately returns. While MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS isn't Wong's best film--as it suffers from some clunky, heavy-handed dialogue and some frustratingly broad performances--it still contains all of the hallmarks of his aesthetic, and is therefore hard not to fall for. The film is undeniably beautiful, and features the director's trademark visual sense: shimmering neons, lush chiaroscuro, and swirling slow-motion images. It makes for a seductive view of America, one populated by swaggering, yet deeply melancholic drifters that listen to Otis Redding and Ruth Brown, drink too much, and love even more. The sadness and tears that emerge from America's taverns in the wee hours are as breathtakingly alluring as its natural landscapes. In Wong's hands, everything is cast in the light of joy-life and death, suffering and happiness-and the same goes for his understanding of America. Whether this America ever existed is wholly irrelevant; for when you watch a Wong movie, you happily enter his country, wherever that may be.

Miau

Hi everybody!
Sorry I haven't posted any comments to your writings, I promise this weekend I'll catch up. Meanwhile, I want to say that I'm very impressed with your participation and that it is a good motivation for me, as a teacher, to keep up with new ideas ;)
So... I also have noticed that you care much about me and I want to thank you by sharing something personal: my comics. I haven't posted any since I came back to México but I still like them a lot. Hope they make you laugh a little. Well, see you soon!
Helen.

Good Luck in this Week of Exams !!!!

Hello everybody!

I hope all of you are well !

In this week I just want to say, Good Luck in all the Exams !!!

I DO NOT like Exams !!! I get very nervous, and suddenly my brain is empty!!

I'm just like this picture !!! hahaha ...

I hope you do not !!!

See all of you at school!!

Greetings!

Project 3

1. Your idea's name:
Self-efficient homes.

2. The category that best describes your idea:
Energy

3. What one sentence best describes your idea?
For the good of all, lets build self-efficient homes

4. Describe your idea in more depth
We need to improve our way to build houses, in this days, a house is a very important place for all the world, but in many cases here is where most of the energy and resourses of this planet are spent indiscriminately, so I plan to start building houses that can produce many of the resourses that it will need. For example, in this days the water of the toilet is pure water, instead of using pure water for the toilet, we can use the water previously used for exmple in washing our hands, or the water used after you take a bath. Also the house must have a system in the roof to recolect the rain, this water can be use for watering the plants, for doing the cleaning of the home, etc.

The house should have a grave where all the waste of the bath arrive, and this grave is going to be use to generate enegy by the descomposicion of organic matter organica, the graves is gping to have some bacteria that are going to produce methane, this methane can be used to cook, to heat the water, etc. The descomposition of organic matter also generates phosphorus, and nitrogene, which can be used as fertilizers.

In the roof, there will be some solar cells, that catch the solar energy, and they transfpormed it into electric energy, so the house will work through solar energy. Also in the roof, there will be plants, that produce oxigen, to reduce the pollution.

5. What problem or issue does your idea address?
My idea talk about energy and resourses, in this days, fosil fuels are being exhausted, therefore we should find new forms to generate energy, therefore I propose to produce electric energy electrica in solar cells by using the solar energy and to produce methane by the descomposition of organic matter, so we are going to stop consuming LP gas or natural gas, which are being exhausted. On the other hand the pure water is finishing and nobody uses the rainwater which is very useful.

6. If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the best and how?
If my idea becomes a reality, it would benefil the planet, and all human beings, because it will make this planet a better planet, with less polution, and because we can have more resourses by generating energy in our homes.

7. What are the initial steps required to get your idea off the ground?
That the governments support the initiative, and that the people believes in my idea and make conscience to modify their homes for the good of all.

Project 2 "National Parks"

· Which park are you visiting?

Appalachian National Scenic Trail

· When can you visit it?

All the year, so it is specially recomendated to do it in spring and summer

· Why did you choose to visit this park?
Because the park is in Massachusetts, one of the most important states in the Uniteds States history. There we can find large and ancient forests and historic villages and towns.

· What can you do there while you are visiting?

It is posible to enjoy short walks, day hikes, and long-distance backpacking journeys. The park offers a variety of opportunities for viewing spectacular scenery, for exploring, for exercise and for nature study.
The visitors can camp, fish and view the wildlife.

Homekork : Project (Module 3)

Helloooooo

1. My idea's name: The knowledge’s garden


2. The category that best describes your idea: Education


3. What one sentence best describes your idea?
A place where you can practise martial arts, you can learn to play a musical instrument but also you can read a good book listening good music.


4. Describe your idea in more depth
It is a place opened 24 hours of the day and the 365 days of the year. The place is supported economically just by donations. And people can learn things without any cost.



5. What problem or issue does your idea address?
The problem of the people who wants to get education but they can’t afford that.


6. If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the best and how?
It would benefit to all the people who wants to get education (or to improve the education that they are receiving) but they can’t afford that. People can come to that place freely, and they can take classes of martial arts, tango (or anything else because it depends of the people who wants to teach something) and music or read a book (without any cost). But they can’t borrow the books out of that place.


7. What are the initial steps required to get your idea off the ground?
To make a big construction of a mansion with a big garden (where you can practice martial arts), to get loads of books (it doesn’t matter if loads of books are for the university, it is better), to get some chairs and tables (and bookcases too), to find people who wants to teach just for the love of teaching (but of course they receive money) and cops for the vigilance.


8. Describe the optimal outcome should your idea be selected and successfully implemented.
I think it should be selected because people would have more knowledge than they have now and would be happier.

Loving Nature!!!

Improving my Listening Skills
§ I watch television programs: watch movies or cartoons.
§ I go to Internet sites to practice listening.
§ I listen to music in English on the radio.

a) Which park are you visiting?
Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming
b) When can you visit it?
I can visit it on autumn during September or October. In this period the park is in transition to winter, you would see as leaves change color. Many animals on October migrate in the Park.
c) How much does it cost to visit it?
Single entry $25- 7 days, on winter day $5 - 1 day
If you like to stay on the night there, Campground fees are $17-$19 per night per site and half price for Golden Age.
d) Why did you choose to visit this park?
I chose to visit it because I like the wildlife, in this park there are mountains, lakes, rivers, abundance plants and animals. I prefer to go to the forest to walk around plants, spend time enjoying the environment and the page mention that Grand Teton is one of the most recognizable mountain landscapes in the world.
e) What can you do there while you are visiting?
I’ll enjoy the abundance of wildlife and plants found there. There are herbivores and carnivores plants that eat animals like bears, coyotes. I’d do a lot of activities like biking, climbing, fishing, horseback riding, boating and floating, mountaineering, etc. Then I’ll go to the trailer villages to have lunch and dinner and on the night I’ll camp in the park.

HI EVERY ONE!!! GO TO THE NEXT VACATION!!!

- a) Which park are you visiting?
I LIKE TO KNOW DELAWARE NATIONAL SCENIC RIVER
- b) When can you visit it?
I LIKE TO VISIT IN SUMMER, BECAUSE MANY PEOPLE VSIT IN THESE DAYS AND IN THIS PARK DOES MANY RECREATIONS ACTIVITIES
- d) Why did you choose to visit this park?
- BECAUSE I LIKE A LOT THE WATER IN THIS PLACE HAS VERY LONG RIVER THAT IS THE MIDDLE DELAWARE PASSES BETWEEN LOW FORESTED MOUNTAINS. I LIKE THE FOREST BECAUSE YOU CAN BREATHE A PURE AIR
- e) What can you do there while you are visiting?
I LIKE TO PRACTICE KAYAK, CLIMB THE APPLACHIAN TRAIL AND KNOW THE STORY ABOUT MILLBROOK VILLAGE IN THIS PLACES YOU CAN RETURN A MEDIEVAL EPOC

RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT LISTENING:

I CHOOSE THIS RECOMENDATONS BECAUSE A I CAN DO IN A NORMAL WEEKEND

- Listen to different kinds of materials.
Listen actively. I try to answer the “wh” questions. And I recognize the main idea
who
what
when
where
why
how
- Rent videos (turn off the captions!) or go to a movie in English.
- Exchange language lessons with an English friend who wants to learn my language.

A good option to visit...

Writing about:

The National Parks

Every National Park in US is unique and interesting; all of them have their own memorable history and their beauty is amazing.

The US has several kinds of parks that one can visit, for example: monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic river and trails and the White House.

In the places previously mentioned people can do many different activities, for instance: biking, boating, camping, climbing, fishing, horseback riding, etc.

Well, this entire variety permits people to choose what kind of park they want to visit according to their interest or what activities they want to do.

The people can learn and enjoy at the same time in their visits to these places.

All Parks are a good option to go vacations, but when the people visit these parks they have to respect the rules and the politics of all of them. They have to put the crash and garbage in the correct place, and show respect to the animals, and the nature that exists there.

The National Parks in US are a treasure that people have to take care of. To contribute to preserve natural wealth is an invaluable heritage to the next generation.

Questions:
a)Which park are you visiting?
I am going to visit a beautiful island called: The Dry National Park, in the state of Florida, which is accessible only by private or charter boat or seaplanes.

b)When can you visit it?
I can visit it whenever because The park is open the whole year.

c)How much does it cost to visit it?
The entrance fee for park is $ 5.00 for visitor 17 and older.

d)Why did you choose to visit this park?
I chose this park because it is an Island, and for me is a different place to visit and I like too much the turtles and to arrive up to there one can do it by boat or seaplane. These activities are very exiting for me and the landscapes of the seashores are beautiful. It is a wonderful place and there we can do funny activities, which I will mention in the next question, jiji.

e)What can you do there while you are visiting?
Like the page says: … “A variety of remarkable experiences await those who arrive.”
In this Park I will do many things, for example: camping, snorkeling, birdwatching, fishing or just enjoying a view from the top of the massive Fort Jefferson. Here the people can realize how magical this place could be.

About the tips of the listening:
- I´m going to listen music cds in English of course that I have.
- I´m going to watch the CBS News on TV and by Internet.
- I´m going to rent videos (turn off the captions).

Homework

Hello:

I'm Tania Georgina

*I’m going to take these tips*

Ø I’m going to go to Internet sites to practice listening, like youtube.com for watch soap –operas and TV’s programs.

Ø I’m going to listen to the radio through the internet.

Ø I’m going to look for people out of the central library for to speak with.

REPORT

a) Which park are you visiting?
Glacier National Park located in the northwest corner of Montana.

b) When can you visit it?
Every day of the year.

c) How much does it cost to visit it?
Free entry, but if you want you can give an economical support.

d) Why did you choose to visit this park?
Because at first when I saw the map, the first state that I pointed was Montana so I decided to visit a park of that state because I couldn’t fight with the curiosity. Then I saw the announcement of the Glacier National Park and there was a photo of an adorable animal in that, so I decided to enter to that park.

e) What can you do there while you are visiting?
I can camp, I can walk through the forests and up mountains, I can take a backpacking for to see the wild side of the park, I can take a boat cruise for learn about geology and the history of the park, I can ride a horse and explore historic and contemporary routes. I can fish, I can skiing, I can bicycle, I can go boating through the lakes. Also I can learn stories of Native Americans. I can take a tour the Going-to-the-Sun Road in a Red Bus or learn all about the Blackfeet Indian culture in motor coaches. I can see high temperatures with sunny skies but later I can see snow showers and falling temperatures in the same day.

For those who don't like homework ;)))

It is a funny video I found and I want to share it with you.

Polina

Project 10 to the 100th

Hello everybody, well, this is an introduction to the activity of Module 3 in the wiki. To tell the truth the activity is very easy because you only have to write a few things, but the purpouse and creativity it demands are very important. Are you curious? Well, then watch this video:

Hi teacher

Hello:

I`m Tania, tomorrow I can`t come to class, because academical commitments (I have a project) , I`ll tell you on monday why, because I have to tell you some things about that :) , thank you, take care of yourself. See you later.


Tania

Our Wiki is Alive!

Hello everybody. I hope you had a nice weekend. I'm just writing to let you know that our wiki is alive! I hadn't had (past of the past) a chance to design the activity for Module 2, but this weekend I've been good and I've done my homework. The topic of this Module's activity is "Loving Nature" and it's focused on the listening skill. If you want to do this activity the deadline is next Sunday (Sep. 29) so go on and check it out!

Image from NPS a site we will use in our wiki.

The accidental tourist by Victor Gochi

“THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST”

“The accident tourist” is a novel written by Anne Tyler. She was born in Minneapolis in 1941. She has written nearly twenty novels.
The accidental tourist was published in 1985 and it won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Also this novel was filmed. For this reason, I can say this novel is well-known.

The novel takes place in Baltimore, It’s set in a urban country nearly the 1980’s.
The main character is Macon Leary, a kind man; he’s tall, and a gray-eye man, with a short fair hair and the kind of skin that easily burns. He tries to have a life without complications. He tries to have everything in order. He has a good organization. Another character is Sara, she is Macon’s wife, she’s a thin person, and she has a short hair. Her skin is pale. She has some troubles in her life because of her son’s death, Ethan Leary dead before the story began but he’s an important character in the story.
Edward is a dog, but he’s a central point of the story. He is small with short legs. He barks and jumps a lot. He’s an anxious dog.
Also appear in the story Rose Leary, Macon’s younger sister, and Charles and Porter, Macon’s older brothers. Julian Edge is the Macon’s boss. He is a young and a cheerful man. Muriel Pritchett is a god trainer, she has a long and black hair, her eyes era small, and her face is sharp and colorless. Her legs are like sticks. He is divorced and has a kid. His name is Alexander, hi has health problems. He is nine years old. He is small, white with a short thin hair and blue eyes. He wears glasses.
The novel tells the story about Macon who writes guidebooks for people who have to travel on business but don’t want to feel outside home.
He writes the accidental tourist and he shows in this book what kind of places to visit like restaurants, hotels, and what to wear in order to make them feel in home.
After Ethan died, Macon and his wife Sarah start to have problems and she wants to get a divorce. Macon stars his “single life”. One day he see Edward has behaviour problems. He has to travel and he can’t go with his dog. He take him to an animal hospital where meet Muriel. She starts to train Edward and start a relation with Macon too. A lot of things happen about his family like problems, a wedding between Rose and Julian.
Macon moves Muriel’s home and he begins a good relation with Alexander. He travels because his job. Muriel get jealous about Sarah and Macon is desperate for that reason. He travels to another country, Sarah’s starts to call him up. Macon miss her and when hi returns, he don’t go to Muriel’s house. He backed home with Sarah. Then, he has to travel to Paris. In the airplane, he discovers Muriel is there.
They go out together but he tells her, he wants stay with Sarah. He starts to feel bad, so Sarah arrived to Paris. Muriel saw her and she seemed very surprised.
In the end Sarah takes care of Macon, but he noticed he didn’t do anything by himself. He woke up on the bed. Sarah was surprised because Macon will return to Muriel. He realizes he must be with her and Alexander.

In my opinion I didn’t like me the final of the story because what I don’t learn until the end is why Macon decided to return to Muriel. I don’t understand that part and I was very confused.
What I liked best was the story in general because I think it has an uncommon story, it means I didn’t hear a story like that before. The context it was really nice and I enjoy reading it. The chapters have a god structure.
I would recommend this book to people in love because is a story about love. But I would recommend it to people who have problems with their couple in order to them notice what they have.
I discovered with this noel that it’s important to decide about your life but take care that anybody feels harm. I don’t like the Macon’s attitude because he made feel bad to Muriel and Sarah. The story has a good message: decide by yourself and make the things as you think they’re correct.


Victor Gochi

Hi: This is my homework

Hello:

My name is Tania Georgina V. G. and I`m reading "Celtic Fairy Tales" collected by Joseph Jacobs. So the fairy tale that I`m going to talk about is "Connla and the Fairy Maiden".

Connla of the Fiery Hair was son of Conn of the Hundred Fights. One day Connla was with his father and he saw a maiden with strange clothes, he asked "Where are you from", so she responded that she came from a land without conflicts, where there is not death, there isn`t offenses to god, and the land is always in holidays, where the people doesn`t grows old; they live round green hills, so people call them the "Hill Folk" . But Conn couldn`t see her, but he could hear her voice, he was so terrified because the maiden said to him that she loved Connla and she wanted to take Connla away from him, and because she offered to Connla the crown of her land.

As a consecuence Connla`s father called to his druid Coran. Conn told him the facts, so, Coran chanted his spells towards the voice, then she disappeared (and the voice too) in front of Connla`s eyes, but she had already thrown an apple to Connla.

They didn`t see her in a whole month. He was so sad, he couldn`t eat or drink anything except the apple, but when he had already eaten the apple had grown again. He had a longing, he wanted to see her again.

The last day of the month, Connla was with his father when the maiden appeared again and she began to speak to Connla. When the king heard that voice he called again to Coran. But the maiden said that Law would come so the Druid`s Magic Spells would do away.

Without remedy, Connla`s father realized that Connla since the first day when the maiden appeared, Connla didn`t speak with anybody else, it doesn`t matter if people had spoken to him. So, the king asked to him if he loved her and if he wanted to go with her and he responded yes.

So, Connla rushed away from them and jumped into the curragh, the gleaming, straight-gliding crystal canoe. Then, the king and the court, saw it glide away over the sea towards the sun, and they never saw them again and they never had news from them again.

End

Thank you for reading, good bye and see you later.

Research project

Hi, everybody!
For those who will help me with my project, here you can find the first step. When I get your result, I'll write back telling you in more detail some other little insignificant things I need help with :p
What is important is that people willing to do those insignificant things also try the tests (so I can have somethng like a correlation between the results and the rest of the info I need).

THANKS!

-Javier

Who was Eddie Mabo?

Hi everyone! Viva México!!

I wanted to write about a man who made a big difference in Australia a few years ago. Eddie Mabo was born in 1936, on a small island in Torres Strait, in the very north-east of Australia. In that time these islands were strictly controlled by the government, and as a teenager Eddie was forced to leave the island for doing something silly. He worked in many places, including as a gardener in a university, where he also read a lot of books and listened to people lecturing. Here he had a conversation with some university professors, where he talked about his island and his people. The professors realized that Eddie thought the land belonged to him. Gently they told him that no, the land was Australia's, because nobody owned that land.

This is to say that the Aboriginal people, who had lived in Australia (and on the Torres Strait Islands) for thousands of years, were considered to be "nobody" and had no right to own any of the land they had lived on. It was known as "terra nullius".

Well, Eddie Mabo was completely shocked by this, and decided to take it to the High Court to challenge this law and win back the land for his people. It took over ten years of legal discussions, and in fact Eddie Mabo died (aged 55) before the High Court finally announced the verdict in 1992: that the Aboriginal people did have "native title" (ownership) and had the right to claim their land. 

This legal decision became known simply as "Mabo" and was a historic decision that has opened up new laws which make it possible for Aboriginal people to claim native title in Australia.

Although I never knew him, I admire Eddie Mabo greatly and I think he is worth remembering.

You can find out more about him at these sites:

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Mabo_Eddie.html

http://www.adcq.qld.gov.au/newsletter/no21(May05)/Mabo.htm

Bye for now ... enjoy your break!

Shelley

Crossword puzzle

Hi everybody!
If you like to solve crossword puzzles I've got one for you. It is related to the vocabulary we saw when we talked about the problems in Mexico city and you put on trail some famous characters.
Unfortunately I couldn't insert it here in this blog, but you can enjoy it on my blog:

http://wwwpolinka.blogspot.com/

It is at the very bottom of the page ))))))
Any critical comments are welcome!
Polina

House of Fools

Hello everybody. I'm sorry I'm taking so long to post a new activity in the wiki, I hope to be able to post there tomorrow. Today, just after class, I had the chance to watch a film I had watched long ago and that made a huge impression on me. It's not in English, I think it's in Czech and Russian, but you can always watch it with subtitles in English. It's a hard movie, for it tells the story of a nuthouse in the middle of the war and what happens when the soldiers of one and other side arrive there. It's, at the same time, a sad and happy story: it shows us what's best and worst in our humanity. It's a story of hope. In one of the scenes Janna, the principal character, pleads: "Ahmed, I love you, don't kill me" then she turns around and sees the fire "Fire, I love you, don't kill me", and then she sees one of her friends lying on the mud "Mud, I love you, don't kill me" and she stands up and helps his friend. I believe it's both this madness and inocence of love towards the simple things what makes this life worth living. I hope you have the chance of watching this movie sometime, if you do, let me know your opinion. Helen.
P.D. The name of the movie in Spanish is "La casa de los Engaños"
P.D. II Hmmm.... don't watch it if you're sad, in that case I recommend "Stranger than fiction" (we might watch this one later in the lab)

What the hell is a googolplex??

In mathematics, a googolplex is a number starting with 1 and followed by a googol zeroes. Does that definition help? At least it narrows it down to "a number". Now the question is "what the hell is a googol?"
A googol is a number starting with 1 and followed by 100 zeroes. People like me would simply call it "a zillion" or "a gazillion" :p But the question would be from what number I call something a gazillion. Anyways, googolplex and googol are real words.

And by now, maybe you are wondering if a googol and the famous search engine Google are related. Actually, the name Google is a misspelling of the word googol. But now, the verb "to google" has even been included in the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and in the Oxford English Dictionary:

to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web

Today, Google is 10 years old.

-Javier

Gerooooooooooooonimooooo

I guess most of you have heard somebody shouting "Gerooooonimooooooo" when doing somehting brave or crazy (and maybe it generates a mental image of somebody jumping from a high place).
Do you know why people use that name?
His real name was Goyaalé (which in Chiricahua, an Athabaskan language spoken in what today is Oklahoma and New Mexico, means "one who yawns") and was an Apache leader who founght the U. S. government for more than 25 years. The name Gerónimo was actually given by the Mexican army. Wikipedia says:

This appellation stemmed from a battle in which he repeatedly attacked Mexican soldiers with a knife, ignoring a deadly hail of bullets, in reference to the Mexicans' plea to Saint Jerome. The name stuck.

But what does all this have to do with the initial thing? Well, there is a 1939 film which title is Geronimo, in which the actor playing Geronimo yells his name as he leaps from a high cliff into a river, depicting a real-life escape Geronimo successfully attempted in which with his Cadillac horse, he jumped off Medicine Bluff at Fort Sill, Oklahoma into the Medicine Creek. One man from the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, named Aubrey Eberhardt, said he was going to shout that name when his moment for jumping came just to show he was not afraid.
Since then, the motto for that regiment is "Geronimo".

Exactly 122 years ago, on September 4th, 1886, the Apache chief Geronimo surrendered to the U. S. troops.

You can read more about his life and watch a video here.

-Javier

My Biography (Victor Gochi)

My name is Victor Manuel Gochi Ramos; I was born in Mexico City in 1989. Obviously I am 19 years old. My parents called me Victor because my grandfather and my father have the same name so I can say that I’m Victor III. I have two sisters: Patsy and Jazmin. The first one is 18 years old and the second is only 9 years old.

I started to study when I was 3 years in the kinder garden. First I studied in a school near Azcapotzalco but my parents decided to move to Coyoacan and for that reason I went to a school near my new house.

Then I passed to the elementary school, there I made a lot of friends. Really I have been an excellent student, I had excellent grades because I like so much to study. In that school I was 6 years and then I went to the secondary School, where I made more friends. I have seen some of them in this time.

I made an exam when I finished studying the secondary and I pass to the high school. I stayed in “Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades” that has a link to UNAM. I was there during 3 years. I decided to study Sciences of the Communication and I am in “Facultad de Ciencias Politicas y Sociales”.

I’m so happy in that place. Really I loved my career. I have some friends that seem my brothers and sisters. I really love them. Their names are Cesar, Ameyalli and Luz and we spent our free time doing a lot of things.

I like to go to the movies (I like the scary movies); also I enjoy swimming, to act, to sing. I love the music. I always say that I can’t leave without my “Ipod”. I’m taking. Theater classes and I love them because there I do the things that I like to do it: act and sing.
I like blue color, to read novels. I like so much “Harry Potter”, but Of course I enjoy reading other kind of books.

Physically I’m tall, my hair is black, I have brown eyes, and I’m thin. I’m so honestly, I hate the lies. I’m so romantic. I like to be in love because I feel so well. ”I feel butterflies in my stomach.” I feel sometimes sad because I have had some bad experiences about the loved but then I feel strong because I learn of the bad things.

I’m a “bipolar” person because sometimes I feel so happy and I arrive to the school with a big happiness but other times I feel sad or angry and I don’t want to talk with my friends. Even thought I love them I and don’t like to see them crying or something like that. I have a huge heart.

Victor Gochi

Princes Diana

Hello everybody!!!
I hope all of you are well. I want to share you a little bit of the biography I wrote.
As surely you realized it's about Lady Diana Spencer. I guess most of you have heard about her.

Diana Spencer was the beautiful English princess who changed the picture of the British Royal Family. She did not become the Queen of Britain, but to the people of Britain she became a ‘Queen of Hearts’.
Diana grew up almost next door to the Royal Family. Prince Charles was already a young man when she was only a little girl. This story tells how they met and married. It tells how she brought colour to the Royal Family, and also of the more serous side of her life. Diana wanted to change things in the world, and she helped many people trough her work for charity.
Sadly her fairy-tale marriage went wrong and she learnt to live and work alone. But she was still so popular that reporters and photographers followed her everywhere. They were following her car when it crashed in Paris in August 1997. The Accident killed Diana and her new boyfriend Dodi.
Her life ended when she was 36, but people will remember her for ever.

If you would like to know more about her story, mail me and I’ll be glad to send you her biography.

I have a dream

First of all, thanks to everyone for today's class. We will try our best to prepare useful classes!


Who hasn't heard the phrase "I have a dream"? That famous speech was delivered exactly 45 years ago. Have you heard it? Before the first time I did, I didn't really know what it was about. I think it is interesting:

You can find the full text here. You can read about it in its Wikipedia article.

-Javier

Do you want to read An E-Book ?

Hello everybody!




As all of we know, we must read a book and it is so hard to find one, isn't it ?





For those who do not know what to read, I want you to know that I've an E-Book titled "The Godfather" of Mario Puzo.





So If any of you are interested to read it, instead of buying it, send me an e-mail and I'll re-send you the E-Book ! It is in "PDF" format.

I hope this information could be useful for all of you!

Wishing you a great time !!


Greetings from Sergio ...

About "The Mission"

Hello everybody!!



In relation to Adi's recommendation about the film "The Mission", if somebody wants to see this film, it will be presented tomorrow (August 28th) at 13:00 hrs in Pablo Zierold Auditorium from Veterinary School.


I hope this information doesn't arrive very late....

Reading

Hello everybody.
Do you remember next Monday you should tell me what are you reading for my class? Well, as I know that some of you don't like reading whole books too much, I added a reading section called "Let's Read" in our wiki. In that section you will find links to pages with different reading options. I propose that, instead of reading two books, you can read just one book and 10 of the readings in the links. For more information go to the wiki. And if you find other cool reading sites for our wiki, please let me know!
P.D. If you're a bookworm like me and prefer reading two books, that is also OK.

HI!!!

HELLO!!

NICE TO MEET YOU TEACHER, YOU ARE A COOL PERSON I LIKE TO HAVE LIKE A TEACHER BECAUSE YOU PROPUSE A NEW TECHNICALS IN OUR LEARNING THAT IS ENJOYABLE AND HELP TO STUDY MORE.

I WILL TRY TO HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO WRITE IN THIS SECTION BECAUSE I NEED TO PRACTICE I'M NOT A GOOD WRITER YOU SHOULD CORRECT ME PLEASE!!!

I HOPE THIS COURSE WOULD BE PRODUCTIVE IN OUR LEARNING AND HAVE A GOOD ENVIRONMENT IN THE CLASSROOM

TAKE CARE!

Just a little writing

Hi there!
I've been reading your e-mails and I see that you're a little bit concerned about the first task. Please, don't worry. I don't expect you to write a 20 page biography. One or two pages well written will be enough. So, take it easy and enjoy your writing experience!
Helen.
PD. I also invite you to add some information to your profile section: post your picture and tell us about stuff you like!

The Olympics Finish !

Hi everybody!

I'm so happy to write in this Blog!

Well, as first I want you to know that I am not a good english writer but ... Never mind. I hope you understand.Did everybody see the Olympics Closure Ceremony ?

I Did! And I loved it ! It was so Gorgeous!! and I'm so excited about the next Olympics of London 2012!! I guess they will be better than Beijing ones!

I'm so worried because many people says that the Chinese will be the future's language and I do not like Chinese, first because I want to be an English teacher, so that's why I'm studying, and secondly because it is absolutely different than our language and letters! ( I'm not sure if I wrote correct it)

But ... what do you think about this topic? Do you think this will become true ?

I hope somebody can give me an opinion about this ...

Well, that's all for today.

I hope all of you are Ok! See you at school !

The funny hedgehog wants to get your mouse!

Hey there! Thanks Adi for your first post and suggestion! I'll try to get that movie. I'm also writing because I found something very funny, our pet follows the mouse, jiji, try playing around with it and post! Helen

The Mission n_n

Hi every body!, How was your weekend? I hope good.

Well I only wanted to recomend you a film I saw last thursday: The Mission, with Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons. It´s a exciting film about a Jesuit order in Chile during the colony. I know it sounds boring, but believe me it isn't.



Have a nice sunday, see you tomorrow.

P.S: Our pet is so cut I like it.

Welcome to Class 510

Hello everybody! This is the blog of our English Class 510. In this space we will publish some assignments, news and invitations from our class. Eventhough, remember this is our space: if you feel like sharing your Journal Writing, an interesting link or news, go ahead and publish! Just remember, it must be in English.

Your next assignment is writing a short biography or autobiography following the instructions of our Wiki Class 510. If you would like to publish it here, go ahead and make this space yours.