Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Encuesta bilingüismo 2011/12

Estimadas familias:

Nos gustaría saber vuestra opinión sobre la enseñanza bilingüe que han recibido vuestros hijos/as durante este curso. Para ello, os pedimos que rellenéis una encuesta pinchando en este enlace.

Gracias por vuestra colaboración. ¡Que paséis un buen verano!

Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Ayudas Programa de Inmersión Lingüística

Se acaba de publicar la convocatoria 2012 para las Ayudas para participar en el Programa de Inmersión Lingüística en colonias de verano en inglés. Están dirigidas a alumnado de 5º y 6º de Educación Primaria y de 1º de E.S.O. que curse estudios en centros sostenidos con fondos públicos.
El plazo de solicitudes estará abierto hasta el 25 de abril.

Podéis consultarla en el siguiente enlace.

Sunday, 11 March 2012

Severn Suzuki, the Girl who Silenced the World for Five Minutes

This video was recorded on June 3rd 1992, during the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Watch it and analyse the main topics. Then, discuss in class about the main environmental problems that are mentioned.

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

In the mood for Dickens?

Today, 7th February, the literary world will celebrate the 200 anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth.



Charles Dickens is much loved for his great contribution to classic English literature. He was the quintessential Victorian author. His epic stories, vivid characters and exhaustive depiction of contemporary life are unforgettable. BBC


“Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort.” Charles Dickens.

His own story is one of rags to riches. He was born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. The good fortune of being sent to school at the age of nine was short-lived because his father, inspiration for the character of Mr Micawber in 'David Copperfield', was imprisoned for bad debt. The entire family, apart from Charles, were sent to Marshalsea along with their patriarch. Charles was sent to work in Warren's blacking factory and endured appalling conditions as well as loneliness and despair. After three years he was returned to school, but the experience was never forgotten and became fictionalised in two of his better-known novels 'David Copperfield' and 'Great Expectations'.

Like many others, he began his literary career as a journalist. His own father became a reporter and Charles began with the journals 'The Mirror of Parliament' and 'The True Sun'. Then in 1833 he became parliamentary journalist for The Morning Chronicle. With new contacts in the press he was able to publish a series of sketches under the pseudonym 'Boz'. In April 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth, daughter of George Hogarth who edited 'Sketches by Boz'. Within the same month came the publication of the highly successful 'Pickwick Papers', and from that point on there was no looking back for Dickens.

As well as a huge list of novels he published autobiography, edited weekly periodicals including 'Household Words' and 'All Year Round', wrote travel books and administered charitable organisations. He was also a theatre enthusiast, wrote plays and performed before Queen Victoria in 1851. His energy was inexhaustible and he spent much time abroad - for example lecturing against slavery in the United States and touring Italy with companions Augustus Egg and Wilkie Collins, a contemporary writer who inspired Dickens' final unfinished novel 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'.

He was estranged from his wife in 1858 after the birth of their ten children, but maintained relations with his mistress, the actress Ellen Ternan. He died of a stroke in 1870. He is buried at Westminster Abbey.

Surf the web to learn more about Charles Dickens. Link to some interesting sites here.

Monday, 30 January 2012

International Peace Day

Every 30th January, the whole world celebrate the International Peace Day in honor to our greatest pacifist and activist in the world: M. Gandhi. I hope you learn a bit about Gandhi's life by having a look at this presentation.


'Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom of making mistakes', M. Gandhi.

Sunday, 15 January 2012

How to keep fit

Hi again and happy New Year!

Have a look at this short video about tips to keep fit. Then, compare what it says to what you do and write a short comment about it. I hope it makes you reflect a bit on your healthy habits and helps you to improve them.

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

How to Write an Essay

Have a look at this wonderful presentation about useful tips to improve your writing:


Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Convocatoria del MEC para el aprendizaje de idiomas

Hola chic@s:

Aquí tenéis el enlace a la página de la Consejería de Educación donde podéis ver las distintas modalidades de becas que el MEC ha convocado para el aprendizaje de idiomas. Hay varias novedades con respecto a años anteriores, entre ellas la posibilidad de realizar cursos de inmersión lingüística en España y la tramitación de las solicitudes on-line, con o sin DNI electrónico.
Leedlo con atención y, si tenéis alguna duda, contad conmigo para lo que os pueda ayudar.
¡Ánimo, no desaprovechéis esta gran oportunidad!

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

To Buy, to Throw Away, To Buy: Planned Obsolescence.

Last December, Catalan TV3 just aired a new documentary called "comprar, llençar, comprar", meaning "to buy, to throw away, to buy" in Catalan, right on time for the Christmas shopping and the winter sales which started last month. You can now watch the documentary in Spanish on RTVE . It tells the secret history of planned obsolescence, which was designed in the 20’s but with which we still struggle in our current lifestyles. If you are wondering how consumption became our way of life and why we are throwing so much stuff away all the time, this documentary looks behind the scenes of things and shows the shocking truth about why we have become a throw-away culture and where obsolete objects end up at. The film has assembled some interesting stories with unique footage from Spain, France, Germany, the USA and Ghana.






The documentary starts with Marcus from Barcelona, who has a printer that suddenly stopped working and tries to get it fixed. Technical support however recommends him to better get a new one since it's not worth fixing. It seems he's another victim of planned obsolescence, but all I can say is watch till the end (I don't want to spoil the movie for you). The film tackles the question why we have " the desire to own something a little newer, sooner and better than necessary all the time". It takes us to Livermore in California where the longest burning lightbulb shines on and on. It has been doing so for 109 years and has already outlasted 3 web cams they have set up so you can see the bulb online during 24h.

A shocking story is that of the Phoebus cartel and how the industry in the 20’s started to control the consumption and manufacturing of lightbulbs by making it shorter-lived on purpose to sell more. Engineers at the time were given instructions to make Edison's lightbulb design more fragile to not outlast 1000 hours.

American writer Nicols Fox believes that "it is the duty of everyone to complain about products that don't work properly". She even wrote a sonnet of complaint about some flashlights that don't last long. Lawyer Elizabeth Pritzker simply sewed Apple for selling iPods that only lasted 8 months due to irreparable battery failure.

The documentary also takes us to Ghana showing the nightmare of e-waste that is simply dumped there by the rich countries.

In the end, the film seems to offer two ways out. The first one is an industry based on the concept of Cradle to Cradle, following the principles of nature and abundance. Here we can keep on consuming as we do as long as we change the way we make things. It is about clean energy and recyclability or rather upcycling. The other approach, presented by Serge Latouche from the University of Paris, would be to rethink our values and our habits of consumption. It is about more free time to do better things (family, friends, health,...) instead of shopping.

I definitely recommend seeing "comprar, tirar, comprar". We can all learn from it and try to do our bit to get a better world.



Tuesday, 11 January 2011

Becas Programa Idiomas y Juventud

La Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Andalucía ha publicado la convocatoria para las becas de estancias en el extranjero dentro del programa Idiomas y Juventud. Existen dos modalidades:

a) Intercambios escolares, que vamos a solicitar para el alumnado de 3º y 4º de la ESO.
b) Cursos de inmersión linguística, que podrán solicitar los alumnos de bachillerato y ciclo formativo de grado medio menor de 20 años.

El plazo de solicitudes finaliza el próximo 2 de febrero, así que, si estás interesad@, no pierdas esta gran oportunidad para conocer otras culturas y mejorar tus idiomas. En este enlace tienes toda la información necesaria.
¡Ánimo y suerte!

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Project on Human Rights: Nobel Peace Prizes

Hello! Today we're going to work on this project. Follow these instructions:

1. Choose a prize awarder for the Nobel Peace Prize here.

2. Read some information about the person you've chosen and fill in this template:

3. If you need some extra information, click here.

4. Finally, save your document in your computer, send your teacher a copy (carmenenglishteacher@hotmail.com) and print another copy for the school exhibition on 10th December.

I hope you enjoy and learn a lot!

Tuesday, 2 November 2010

Do you know the secret of a healthy life? Be Happy!

Easy to say, hard to achieve...A few suggestions to remind us of the important things in our lives. The illustrations and the captions are from the book Be happy – A little book to help you live a happy life, by Monica Sheehan. The link was sent to me by a very good colleague of mine. Thanks, Agus. Enjoy it!

Friday, 29 October 2010

A healthy lifestyle

To learn more about carrying out a healthy lifestyle, click here.

Slow Food

The slow food movement was born in response to fast food lifestyle. Watch the video and find out what it is about:

To Be

This presentation will help you learn the verb 'To Be':

Thursday, 28 October 2010

Countries and Nationalities

Have a look at these flags and try to guess the countries they represent. Then, check your answers and learn the countries and the nationalities:

Sunday, 24 October 2010

Summary Writing

Do you know how to write a good summary? Have a look at this presentation to find out:

Wednesday, 13 October 2010

How to Develop Healthy Eating Habits

Have a look at this interesting video about healthy eating habits.



Now, listen again and answer the following questions:

Healthy Food Habits Quiz

Finally, check your answers by reading the script:

Healhy Eating Habits Script

Monday, 5 April 2010

Becas Idiomas y Juventud

Han salido los listados provisionales de admitidos y excluidos del programa Idiomas y Juventud. Aquí tenéis el enlace. Tenéis 10 días para reclamar desde el día de su publicación.

Thursday, 4 March 2010

Cursos de idiomas del MEC

Ya ha salido la convocatoria para los Cursos de Idiomas del MEC para el verano 2010.
Hay dos opciones:

1.  Para 5º, 6º de Educación Primaria y 1º ESO: colonias de vacaciones en inglés

2. Para jóvenes de 16 a 30 años: ayudas para cursos de  lengua inglesa y francesa en verano.



Si estáis interesados, aquí tenéis el enlace.

Para la segunda opción, podéis organizarlo todo por vuestra cuenta (curso, alojamiento, viaje, fechas, etc.) o bien contactar con alguna empresa especializada. Para facilitaros el trabajo os incluyo el catálogo de empresas que ha elaborado José A. Alcalde, coordinador bilingüe del IES La Arboleda, Lepe. Espero que os sea útil.



Animaos a vivir esta gran aventura que os brindará  una oportunidad única, no sólo de practicar el idioma, sino también de conocer gente de todo el mundo y de conocer otra realidad sociocultural. Será una experiencia inolvidable.