Thursday, November 8, 2012

Pop thief! Classical music inspired by pop songs

Classical composers are well-known for being inspired by each other's tunes, but there are countless examples of pop songs being inspired by them too - here are 25 of the best. Click here to explore.

A Video for NA2

We've been talking about breaking up and reconciliation. Check out this video, if you've time.

This Week's Listening

Do you have good listening skills?

For many students, LISTENING is the most difficult skill to acquire. No-one can teach you how to listen, so endeavour on your part is essential; nevertheless, if you persevere, you will start to enjoy listening because you will understand what is being said. Here is some advice:

1.    Most importantly, don't start off with a negative attitude; try saying, "I can do this and I will do this!"

2.    Listen to songs as much as possible because the lyrics are repeated and will eventually become easier. It's also very enjoyable!

3.    Download radio programmes and other audio material from the Internet and listen again and again until you can recognise most of the words and understand the meaning of what they are saying.

4.    Borrow, read and listen to audio books from our library.

5.    Borrow and watch a video from our library and read the subtitles.

6.    Check out this link. There are 100s of conversations with people from different parts of the world talking about different things. You can choose to listen to or hide the transcript.

7.    Check out other listening tips on this blog. See the tag, "listening" on the left.

This Week's Speech

You can listen to and read Obama's victory speech here.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Nowadays, health has become a very important matter, not only for people who want to have a perfect body by doing exercise or being on a diet in order to look younger but for scientists as well who are doing research on new medicines to treat diseases. But, are they only looking for new treatments? Absolutely not. They are trying to find out the way to fight against death, to find immortality.

Living forever is an unattainable dream but let´s imagine that it was real. Would you want it? There are many reasons to live for a long, long time, even as long as centuries. On the one hand, you could do anything you want, no matter how long it takes because time is not a problem. If you want to be a doctor, you can do it. If you want to be an architect now, you can. Moreover, you could learn and speak several languages and travel all over the world. Think about it: anything you are thinking will be true sooner or later.

However, there is a dark side, a side effect. The main disadvantage of living forever is that you will see all your family dying: children, wife, parents, all of them. As a result of that, there will be a moment in your life when you will be completely alone. You will only have friends instead of family. Besides, if you are a healthy person, it is perfect, but if you are not, if you have a disease or tend to fall ill, you will always have headaches, sneezes and other such symptoms, and you will spend most of your life sick. In that way, you could not enjoy life. You will be in hospital, making appointments with your family doctor, or going to a pharmacy to buy some pills every day. What is more, you will have to have a medical check-up twice a year at least.

To sum up, I think life is long enough if you know how to take everything it can give you. Why live more than one life when everything you like to do and everybody you want are in it?

Omar NI2

This Week's Poetry

If love were a common cold,

It would infect everybody!

If love were a star,

It would be very luminous!

If love were a flower,

It would smell marvellous!

If love were a cloud,

It would seem fluffy!

If love were a tree,

It would be pretty lush!

If love were a needle,

It would prick everybody!!

María NI2

Answer Key NI2 Listening CD 1

Listening Flower by Susan Wester Perez

CD Track 5:

1.      B
2.      C
3.      C
4.      C
5.      B
6.      Evening after work
7.      Saturday evening
8.      Three hours.

CD Track 6:

1-4. H, F, E, B (in any order)
5.      A
6.      A
7.      B
8.      B
9.      A
10. B

CD Track 7

1.      Five
2.      50%
3.      18
4.      14
5.      In the first tutorial
6.      Relevant
7.      (very) elegant
8.      Not possible/impossible
9.      Excellent
10. Much better

CD Track 8

1.      B
2.      B
3.      B
4.      C
5.      B
6.      Beyond their limits
7.      Areas of industry
8.      100
9.      Collapsing
10. B

Sunday, November 4, 2012

This Week's Music

The New York jazz singer, Patti Austin, was in town this weekend doing a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald (and herself!) Here's one of my favourite Fitgerald songs: A-Tisket, A-Tasket. Find out more about Ella Fitzgerald's music here. Explore Patti Austin's music here.

Do you have a favourite singer? What do you like about him / her? Why not send us a video link and we can post it on our blog!

Week Beginning Monday 29th October

Thursday, November 1, 2012

This Week's Poem (2)

A BEAUTIFUL POEM

If kindness were a needle

It would be very painful.

If kindness were a cloud

It would travel around the world.

If kindness were a cold

It would be the best illness.

If kindness were a star

It would be a wish.

If kindness was a flower

It would be the most beautiful.

If kindness was a tree

It would be a good observer.

Maria and Telmo NI2

This Week's Diary Date

Estimad@s Alumn@s de la EOI de Santa Brígida:

Les escribo para invitarles a la charla "Unos meses con Médicos Sin Fronteras".

Fecha: Miércoles 7 de Noviembre a las 19.30h.

Lugar: Aula Diego Falcón, 1ª planta desde el Hall principal del Hospital Universitario Dr. Negrín.

Daniel Redondo, médico y colaborador de Médicos Sin Fronteras, viene a contarnos su trabajo como médico en el contexto africano de la República Centroafricana y su experiencia con esta organización.

Entrada libre hasta completar aforo. Les esperamos!

Evelyn Fernández

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