Rosa Parks 100th anniversary!

Civil Rights Pioneer

Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955 spurred a city-wide boycott. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award.

"At the time I was arrested, I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in."

– Rosa Parks

Proud to be black!

Men at Work. DOWN UNDER (1981)

   

DOWN UNDER

Men at Work sing about travelling the world and what it means to come 'from a land down under’.

The term Down Under is a colloquialism which is variously construed to refer either to Australia and New Zealand, or to Australia or New Zealand alone. The term comes from the fact that these countries are in the Southern Hemisphere, 'below' many other countries on the globe.

The persistence of the media use of the term has led to its wide embrace and usage. The Men at Work song "Down Under" became an instantly recognisable, patriotic rallying song. 

Songwriters: Strykert, Ronald Graham / Hay, Colin James

Traveling in a fried-out combie
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said,

"Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."
Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six-foot-four and full of muscles
I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich
And he said,

"I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."

Down Under (1981)

Released in 1981, this catchy pop song was written as a light ‘tongue-in-cheek’ dig at Australian values. It became a number one hit in Australia, the UK and US and is still played regularly today as an unofficial Australian national anthem.

Comparison I

Hi everybody!
Do you remember how to make comparative adjectives????
Here I am to help you remember with these rules and examples:

-er is added to the end of a 1-syllable adjective	cold - colder than   small - smaller than   tall - taller than	Winter is usually colder than summer.   The green hat is smaller than the yellow one.
more is used for words that have 2 syllables, if the word doesn't end in -y.     if they end by -y it changes to -i and we add -er	honest more honest than modern more modern than easy easier	Chinese is more difficult than English. Catalan is easier than German
more is used for words that have 3 or more syllables	expensive more expensive than comfortable more comfortable than
adjectives that end in -e, only -r is added to end of the adjective	nice -nicer than   safe -safer than
adjective that end in a consonant, vowel, consonant - the last consonant is doubled	big -bigger than   fat- fatter than   hot -hotter than	My house is bigger than my sister's. Summer in Spain is hotter than winter.

and don't forget the irregular ones:  

good          better than 

bad            worse than

adjective comparison practice on-line

CONNECTORS (addition & contrast)

ADDITION

Type of Connector	Connector(s)	Examples
Coordinating Conjunction	and	High level positions are stressful at times, and can be harmful to your health.
Conjunctive adverbs	in addition,  furthermore, moreover, also, besides, also, too	High level positions are stressful at times; furthermore, they can be harmful to your health
Correlative conjunctions	not only...but also	Not only are high level positions stressful at times, but they also can be harmful to your health.
Prepositional phrases	in addition to, as well as	Als weel as being stressful, high level positions can also be harmful to your health.

CONTRAST

Type of Connector	Connector(s)	Examples
Coordinating conjunction	but, however, nevertheless	High level positions are stressful at times, but the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.
Subordinating conjunctions	whereas, while	While high level positions are stressful at times, the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.
Conjunctive adverbs	in contrast, on the one hand, on the other hand even though, though, although,	High level positions are stressful at times; on the other hand, the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.Even though high level positions are stressful at times, the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.
Prepositions	despite, in spite of	In spite of the stress high level positions may cause, the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.

Phonemic Symbols

Why use phonemic symbols?

The alphabet we use to write English has 26 letters but English has 44 sounds. Inevitably, English spelling is not a reliable guide to pronunciation because:

1. Some letters have more than one sound. "O in Nose, Hot, Ton and For"
2. Sometimes letters are not pronounced at all. "Knife"
3. The same sound may be represented by different letters. "Eye, Tie, and Pine"
4. Sometimes syllables indicated by the spelling are not pronounced at all. "Vegetable, chocolate and clothes"

The letters of the alphabet can be a poor guide to pronunciation. Phonemic symbols, in contrast, are a totally reliable guide. Each symbol represents one sound consistently.

Do I need to have a perfect English accent?

Not at all. It is true that the 44 phonemes in British English are based on Received Pronunciation, an accent which is not frequently heard nowadays (approximately 7% of the current British population speak it and often it is called colloquially 'The Queen's English').

Most native-speaker teachers do not have this accent but still use phonemic symbols. When the symbols are arranged in a chart, each one occupies a box. This indicates that the real sound that you actually hear can vary up to certain limits, depending on the influence of other sounds and on individual ways of speaking. There is not just one perfect way to say each sound - there is an acceptable range of pronunciations. Think of the pieces in a game of chess. They can vary considerably in size, shape and appearance but we can always recognize a knight because it behaves like a knight and not like a king. The point is that such words such as 'ship', 'sheep', 'sip' and 'seep' should sound different from each other, not that each sound is pronounced exactly like the sounds of RP. Learning phonemic symbols will help students to understand the importance of length and voicing. Simply knowing that the symbol : indicates a long sound can be very helpful. There is no end to our study of grammar and vocabulary but phonemic symbols are limited, visual and physical. They may seem challenging at first but it is like learning to swim or ride a bike. Once you do it, it is easy and you never forget.

What students need to learn:

Students need to be understood and to be able to say what they want to say. Their pronunciation should be at least adequate for that purpose. They need to know the various sounds that occur in the language and differentiate between them. They should be able to apply certain rules, eg. past tense endings, t, d or id.

Likewise, a knowledge of correct rhythm and stress and appropriate intonation is essential.

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Well-done!!!!

Good Sunday evening dear you all,
here you are all your writings corrected
according to the Guide for correcting writing errors

(have a look at it in order to understand the abbreviations)

Hi! My nickname is Mike. I'm 16. I live in Barcelona with my family and I study at IES Barri Bèsos.
I spend my free-time reading books, drawing or listening to english C music (I like much RS)
There aren't much WC things which I don't like. But probably making the wash WC is the most I hate.
Finally I want to recommend a song: More than Words from Extreme
Good Weekend for you all!!!
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hello C, I am called manuel, I been WC 15 years old and I fulfill the -A 16 within two weeks. + study in WC the -A IES barri besòs of Barcelona, I am trainer of soccer 5 WC and I like music, the -A sports and to leave WC with the friends
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Hello P My name is Alex
I have WC 17 years I'm fron Equator but +W life WC in Barcelona with my mother end Sp my brother but +W have two brothers in Equator.
I'm studing Sp in WC the -A school IES Barri Besos WO.
I' ve must WC friends end Sp they are very entertainWC. My sport favourity WO Sp is the -A futbol Sp end Sp +W like listening to music end Sp too WO playing futbol in a equipo WC.
I've+W a rabbit. At school my favourity Sp subject are Historia end Economia Sp Sp Sp.
I like read WF bookS/P the WC filosofia Sp well I'm think MNC.
Well this in Sp the end.
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Hi! my C name's Gaby and I'm 16. I live in Barcelona with my parents and my brother (he's 20 and he's studying at University UPC WO).
I've got two pets, a cat (Mishu, I know that it's Sp name is not original) and a parrot (Lola).
I love the -A music, because I play the piano, the guitar (a little), + accordion,... etc. drummer WC and all WC percusion Sp too but, the piano is par exellence the more sublime of the instruments and it's fantastic. In my free-time I play the piano or other WC instrument, I spend a lot of time in WC the instruments but I'm not WC realize SP of - this. I think that this Art is very important :)
Bye!!
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hey C !my C name's Javi. I have WC 17 years IS, Im Sp from equator C but +W lifeWF whith Sp my family in spain C since 2000. this C years S/P i C study Batxiller (trying to :)) in the most betterWF school of barcelona IES Barri Besos,
I love playing the guitar..yeahh, snowboard,playing basketball and reading ( I recommend the Dan Brown book's Sp angels & demons C)
My favourite music is salsa, hip hop , rock, and more:) see C +W later
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Hi!
My name is Natàlia.I'm 17 and I live in Barcelona, i C like my city but there is too much contamination WC.
I study first of Batxillerat in the school; P I.E.S Barri Besos WO.
I live with my parents; P Montse and Ramon, and my older sister; P Raquel, and sometimes +W my grandmother.
I love to -W the -A animals, in my floorWC 6 cats and one dog live WO, all were gathered of WC the street or +W the camping.
I adore to go WF to the camping, there go to the party MNC and I dance, +W is a festival WC of WC Saturday night.Also I like WO the -A theater, I am +A actrees of the group the theater of the school WO.