ANGLICISMS

An Anglicism may refer to a word or construction borrowed from English into another language. Click HERE.

In Spain, the adoption of English words is extremely common in the spheres of business and information technology, although it is usually frowned upon by purists.

Nowadays a growing number of anglicisms are being exported into the Spanish language. Their usage seems to be catching on in Spain, inundating language with new words and expressions, often unnecessary.

This is part of an article about this tendency. The author humorously observes a disappointing reality:

"Desde que las insignias se llaman pins, los homosexuales, gays, las comidas frías lunchs y los repartos de cine castings, este país no es el mismo: ahora es mucho, muchísimo más moderno. Antaño los niños leían tebeos en vez de comics, los estudiantes pegaban posters creyendo que eran carteles, los empresarios hacían negocios en vez de business y los obreros, tan ordinarios ellos, sacaban la fiambrera al mediodía en vez del tupperware. Yo, en el colegio, hice aérobic muchas veces, pero, tonta de mí, creía que hacía gimnasia. Nadie es realmente moderno si no dice cada día cien palabras en inglés."

What do you think about using English words when there is an equivalent in Spanish? (give a few examples)

Do we have words and expressions in Spanish that could have been used in the interview Berto Romero speaks about instead of these ones?

Concept-

Briefing-

Power-point-

Slides-

We are on the same page-

Think out of the box-

User experience-

Partner-

 Know-how-

Background-

Low cost-

Feedback-

Work in progress-

Meetings-

KEY:

Concept- Concepto, idea

Briefing- Sesión informativa

Power-point- Presentación de diapositivas

Slides- Diapositivas

We are on the same page- Estar en sintonía, estar de acuerdo, tener perspectivas / visiones / ideas similares 

Out of the box- original, creativo, no convencional

User experience- Experiencia de usuario

Partner- Socio

Know-how- Conocimientos, saber hacer

Background- Trasfondo, antecedentes

Low cost- Barato

Feedback- Opiniones, comentarios, críticas

Work in progress- Trabajo en elaboración

Meetings- Reuniones

 

Click HERE to go to an excellent post about anglicisms in Spanish in the awarded blog by Teresa Losada Romero (former Spanish Language and Literature teacher at IES Taboada Chivite) DIENTE DE LEÓN.

AROUND THE WORLD WITH WILLY FOG

 A few 2nd year ESO students are going to take part in the project that is being set in motion by the Library at IES Taboada Chivite School: "Around the World in Eighty Days"

They are going to learn the famous song "Around the World with Willy Fog". We will record them as they sing it.

Around the World with Willy Fog (Spanish: La vuelta al mundo de Willy Fog) is a Japanese–Spanish anime adaptation of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. The cartoon was produced by Spanish studio BRB Internacional with animation by Japanese studio Nippon Animation. The characters are anthropomorphisms of various animals. The main protagonists are all felines. Willy Fog (Phileas Fogg in the original book) is a lion, while Rigodon (Passepartout) is a cat, and Romy (Aouda) is a panther

LYRICS

Fog, I’m the one who made the bet
And I know we’ll be exactly right on tiiiime

Fog is my name and I could play with my life in many ways
That’s what they saaayyy

Here I am - a Rigodon
I’m a Tico - d’mascota
It’s my turn - the gentle touch
A Romy they love me so much

Hey! Now they story must go on
’Cause a lot of time has gone
We must be ready
To go awaayyy

80 days around the world
We’ll find a pot of gold
Just sitting where the rainbow’s ending
Time - we’ll fight against the time
And we’ll fly on the white wings of the wind
80 days around the world
No we won’t say a word
Before the ship is really back

Round, round, all around the world
Round, all around the world
Round, all around the world
Round, all around the world!

"Londres, Suez, tal vez Hong-Kong, Bombay, Hawái, Tijuana y Singapur..."

"London, Suez, maybe Hong-Kong, Bombay, Hawaii, Tijuana and Singapore..."

Locate those places in this blank world map  

BBC: Spaghetti Harvest in Ticino

 The spaghetti-tree hoax was a three-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools’ Day 1957 by the BBC current-affairs programme Panorama, showing a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the family "spaghetti tree". At the time spaghetti was relatively little-known in the UK, so many Britons were unaware that spaghetti is made from wheat flour and water; a number of viewers afterwards contacted the BBC for advice on growing their own spaghetti trees. Decades later CNN called this broadcast "the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled".

Fill-in-the-gaps and key HERE.

Click HERE, as well.

DAILYDICTATION

An excellent youtube channel to improve your listening skills. Click HERE.

"Electricity" - from Billy Elliot, The Musical

Web Billy Elliot The Musical HERE. (Based on the 2000 British comedy-drama film)

SYNOPSIS:

Billy Elliot comes from a mining family. His mother died two years ago. It’s now 1984, and most of the miners, like Billy’s dad and brother, are on strike. There’s no money coming in and life is difficult. Billy, meanwhile, dreams about dancing, and, by chance, he joins the local ballet class. The teacher sees at once that he’s special. When Billy’s dad finds out, he’s angry. Ballet is for girls! But Billy carries on in secret and his teacher enters him for the Royal Ballet School. Then the police arrest Billy’s brother. Instead of going to the audition, Billy has to watch his brother in court. The future looks bad. But then Billy’s dad sees Billy dance and realises his son is a brilliant dancer. He takes him to another audition in London. It seems to go badly but, against all expectations, Billy gets in. His family are very proud of him.

THE BACK STORY:

Billy Elliot is a story about a young boy trying to express himself in difficult circumstances. There’s a scene in the film where he tries to dance through a wall … and that’s what it is like for him. He wants to get out of his narrow world and fly. Most of the story is told by Billy in the first person. Some of the story is told by Jackie, Billy’s dad, and one part is told by Tony, Billy’s brother.  The writer Lee Hall thinks the miners’ strike of 1984 is a very important time in recent British history. He wanted to explore the different characters and ideas involved in this political struggle. But he also wanted a good story. When Elton John saw the film, it reminded him of his own life as a talented young pianist with a difficult father. He worked on the musical version of the story with Lee Hall and the film’s director, Stephen Daldry. Elton wrote the music for the songs. Thousands of boys aged between 12 and 14 auditioned for the role of Billy. The musical opened in London in 2005.

 

" Billy Elliot the Musical has won the hearts of millions since it opened in London’s West End, ten years ago, becoming one of the most beloved, award-winning shows on stage today.

Set in a northern mining town, against the background of the 1984/’85 miners’ strike, Billy Elliot is the inspirational story of a young boy’s struggle against the odds to make his dreams come true. The story follows Billy’s journey as he stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class where he discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and whole community and changes his life forever."

"... a timeless score by Elton John, sensational dance and a powerful story that has captivated audiences around the world, Billy Elliot the Musical is a funny, uplifting and spectacular theatrical experience that will stay with you forever.

"If Billy Elliot is about one thing, it is that we are all capable of making lives for ourselves which are full of joy and self-expression. Whilst we might not all become ballet dancers, we are capable of finding moments of real profundity and creativity whatever our circumstances. But more than that, we have a duty to ourselves and each other to create a society where this possibility in all of us is nurtured and can flourish. We owe it to the next generation to create a world where it is possible for the Billy Elliots, as yet unborn, to have a chance to succeed and flourish rather than be fed to the machine which grinds us into identical pieces only fit for consumption. If Billy Elliot conveys any message at all, I hope it’s that it is possible to fight back and resist and it is possible to move on without forgetting where you come from."

Exercise HERE. 

Key HERE.

MODULE 9 (ADVANCED 1) THAT'S ENGLISH

UNIT 1 - Click HERE or HERE (Time management speaking questions and answers HERE)

UNIT 2 - Click HERE or HERE

UNIT 3 - Click HERE or HERE

UNIT 4 - Click HERE or HERE

UNIT 5 - Click HERE or HERE

UNIT 6 - Click HERE or HERE

UNIT 7 - Click HERE or HERE

UNIT 8 - Click HERE or HERE

UNIT 9 - Click HERE or HERE

IDIOMS AND PROVERBS

From IKEN EDU.

TYPICAL SPEAKING TASKS

 

CLICK HERE.  You may be asked (to).......

Talk about yourself

Describe a photo or picture

Discussion

Information gap activity

Tell a story or personal anecdote

Oral presentation

MODEL ANSWERS VIDEO ABOVE

PEPE MÚJICA (HUMAN, THE MOVIE)

What is it that makes us human? Is it that we love, that we fight ? That we laugh ? Cry ? Our curiosity ? The quest for discovery ? 
Driven by these questions, filmmaker and artist Yann Arthus-Bertrand spent three years collecting real-life stories from 2,000 women and men in 60 countries. Working with a dedicated team of translators, journalists and cameramen, Yann captures deeply personal and emotional accounts of topics that unite us all; struggles with poverty, war, homophobia, and the future of our planet mixed with moments of love and happiness. 

Click HERE for the whole three movies. (The VOL.1 deals with the themes of love, women, work and poverty) 

(Above you can see one of the interviews in the film - with José Mújica, former president of Uruguay)

Read the subtitles in English. Is the translation from Spanish into English literal, word-for-word?

"Me colé en una fiesta"-"Uninvited Guest" (MECANO)

The musical that is being set in motion this year at IES Taboada Chivite (after Les Miserables, Moulin Rouge and Mamma Mia) is Hoy no me puedo levantar, based on the songs by the famous Spanish group Mecano.

On top you have one of the songs from the musical, Me colé en una fiesta, in Spanish and in English. Notice how the lyrics have to change to adapt to rhythm and rhyme.

Fill-in -the-gaps exercise HERE. Key HERE

Lyrics in Spanish HERE

Do you think you could translate the first two stanzas and the chorus of the song Hawai-Bombay so that it can be sung in English?

Stanza 1:

Hawai-Bombay
son dos paraísos
que a veces yo
me monto en mi piso
Hawai-Bombay
son de lo que no hay .

 Stanza 2:

Hawai-Bombay
me meto en el baño
le pongo sal
y me hago unos largos
para nadar 
lo mejor es el mar.

Chorus:

Y al ponerme el bañador
me pregunto
cuándo podre ir a Hawai
y al untarme el bronceador
me pregunto
cuándo podre ir a Bombay .

(My attempt HERE) (Verses 3 and 4 HERE)

MUSICAL "HOY NO ME PUEDO LEVANTAR" IES XESUS TABOADA CHIVITE 2016:

https://vimeo.com/user6099129/hnmpl-1de5

https://vimeo.com/user6099129/hnmpl-2de5

https://vimeo.com/user6099129/hnmpl-3de5

https://vimeo.com/user6099129/hnmpl-4de5

https://vimeo.com/user6099129/hnmpl-5de5

OUTRA GRAVACIÓN AQUÍ

FULL HD VERSION

TVG:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

THE ELEMENT by KEN ROBINSON

"Some of the most brilliant, creative people I know did not do well at school. Many of them didn’t really discover what they could do—and who they really were—until they’d left school and recovered from their education."

Read The Element, by Sir Ken Robinson (His website HERE).

Book review HERE.

Fragments from chapter 1 with questions  HERE.

Talk by Ken Robinson HERE.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY (ABBA+1 ESO C)

VOCABULARY - 1ST YEAR ESO

A game HERE.

Click HERE as well.

Playing with WAS and WERE

Click HERE for games with the past simple of the verb TO BE on ESL GAMES.

Click HERE  and HERE (there was/ were - was/were).

Be, Can , Have got, Present-Past Simple and.... SUPERMAN!!!

A great activity for 1st year ESO students in the incredible blog El Tinglado.

PAST SIMPLE

Click HERE. (Regular verbs)

Click HERE. (Irregular verbs)

Click HERE. (Verb TO BE)

Click HERE. (Regular and irregular verbs - verb TO BE)

Eduardo Galeano - IN MEMORIAM

A wise man las left us......

Click HERE.

“Utopia lies at the horizon.
When I draw nearer by two steps,
it retreats two steps.
If I proceed ten steps forward, it
swiftly slips ten steps ahead.
No matter how far I go, I can never reach it.
What, then, is the purpose of utopia?
It is to cause us to advance.” 

Other quotes HERE.

Video above (min 10:53)

Tom's Diner (by 1 ESO C)

Click HERE

Video above: 1 ESO C and Suzanne Vega singing Tom’s Diner. Pictures by 1 ESO C students.

Swear Words

For my 2nd year (Group B) Baccalaureate students, who are very interested in learning swear words in English.

Read this post:  Swear words: Do they have a place in the EFL classroom?

How to use swear words in English - Click HERE

A Brief History of Swearing (Podcast) HERE.

Click HERE. (Podcasts on swear words)

Swear Words Dictionary HERE

Video above transcript HERE