Accident-prone or simply clumsy?

Who are you? Are you accident-prone or a clumsy person? 

I consider myself a clumsy person. If there's something I can trip on, you can bet I'll trip on it. It's always embarrassing if you are in front of other people or even standing in front of pupils (I still remember the day I banged into the desk and hurt my leg) but that's the way I am.

As you know, I don't like taking risks and try to be as careful as I can in order not to have many accidents. But what about you? Who's the most accident-prone person you know?

In case you're missing some listening practice on this entry, click here and you'll be able to listen to a man telling his friend about all his Friday mishaps. Were the guys clumsy? How would you have solved the situation? With a bunch of flowers? (Don't forget to check the script and pay attention to any new expression!!)

Write about your experience with accidents and how you sorted them out, it can be funny??

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hi there!

How are the after-effects of New Year's Day going? Guess a bit better, or maybe with a severe hangover?

My best wishes for this New Year and it doesn't matter that it's thirteen or if you are superstitious or not. I'll bet loads of good things are ahead for you all and you''ll know how to make the most of every single day in 2013.

Celebrations in Times Square (New York 2013)

Do you know the traditional Scottish song "All Lang Syne"? It's sung on New Year's Eve. It starts with a rhetorical question reflecting on whether it is right that old times be forgotten, and it is generally interpreted as a way to remember long-standing friendships. It's supposedly to be written or at least, based on a poem by Robert Burns and the custom of singing it was quickly spread to other parts of the world by the Scots and Irish people, not to mention English and Welsh people, who emigrated around the world taking the song with them.

This is the song with the lyrics.

Obviously, there are innumerable versions of it, including the one by Kenny G, on this link.

In order not to make this first entry of the year too long, just tell you that I'll spend my whole year reading and putting into practice Mr Wonderful's pieces of advice and quotes in the calendar Cristina (my workmate and for some of you, your teacher on Fridays) gave me as a gift to cheer me up last November and I've been looking forward to start using it. Here's an example.

 

Remember this is a very good year to achieve your dreams!

Fancy a song?

Once that music has come back into my life and it's Christmas, I've been reading about Christmas carols and listening to some of them, old ones and new versions of these traditional songs.

By clicking here you can read about the history of Christmas Carols, as well. 

I don't know yet if you are very fond of Christmas Carols. The only thing that I can guess is from our last class when you sang along "Santa Claus is coming to town" - it was an extraordinary performance, ha, ha, ha. But I won't be able to resist the temptation of making you sing again. Needless to say, the song will be easier and who knows? maybe Víctor or Nico can play the guitar, too.

The list of Christmas songs is endless, and many are my favourites. However, I don't want to bore you with all of them, so I've chosen the one which I can't get out of my head, today.

This is the version of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" flawlessly performed live by Jewel . Fancy listening to it? Here it is!!!

Well, guys, do you have a fave Christmas Carol? Perhaps the traditional and popular Spanish song "Campana sobre campana"? Leave your comments and/or links to your favourite ones. It will be entertaining to continue listening and singing along until we meet again in 2013.

All the best for you in the New Year!!!

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY!!!

Are you having a ho-ho-ho happy time? I guess so. Everybody seems to be bright-spirited these days, don't they?

Christmas holidays are full of traditions we all should keep. Do you agree with me or not?

Families gather and have scrumptious Christmas feasts, you meet your lifelong friends and relatives who you don't normally see, people bless you with their best wishes for the future, or maybe you even watch the traditional Christmas message on TV. I don't know whether you are very keen on it or not, but do you want to know what Queen Elizabeth II said this year? If so, click below and get ready for a bit of Received Pronunciation, considered the most accurate way to pronounce English.

Nowadays, monarchies are being modernized -the Queen recorded her message in 3D. If you want to find out more, click here.  

Meanwhile, in Spain, we could also see some slight changes in our King's speech, but that is not the point of this entry.  

The thing is ... I'd like you to comment on how you spend your Christmas, if you enjoy this time of the year, what your wishes and blessings for the future are, or any other aspect you would like to mention, it's up to you ...

Here are my wishes for Christmas and the forthcoming year:

I wish everybody could make their dreams come true, live in peace and have their own peace of mind, and seize every single day of their lives!!! 

C'mon, guys, leave your comments and upbeat wishes! You won't regret it!

 

Is honesty the best policy?

Is honesty the best policy? The answer is yes. Since we are children, we are taught the importance of  honesty and why we should be honest. We try to do our best to be honest to our family, friends, teachers, and almost everybody we meet. However, when we find out how dishonesty has helped some people achieve extraordinary things easily and swiftly, we tend to go the wrong way.

Honesty is essential in everything we do. We are honest to create a good impression when we meet someone and ensure the other person that we are reliable and trustworthy. Sometimes we can feel weak in some situations but we are aware of the fact that honest and sincere people are always given many chances to prove themselves. However, in case of dishonest people, second chance is very rare to come. Once a person has proved to be dishonest, it will be difficult for us to trust again.

Click here and listen to Aiman and Todd talking about the culture of bribes in business.

How honest are you? Have you ever had to face a business situation in which a bribe was involved? Would you accept a bribe for any reasons?
Have you ever done a dishonest thing? What was it? How did you feel?

Christmas came to town

Ho, ho, ho!!!

Yesterday was a great day at the Official School of Languages in Ciudad Rodrigo. We celebrated our particular Christmas party. We started at about three o'clock, lunchtime, and we could taste the scrumptious dishes pupils and teachers had lovingly prepared for this special event.

I'm completely sure all of us can say that we had a great time together, we ate, drank, talked, sang and danced.

The pupils learning Portuguese received their presents from "Their Invisible Friends" and we could realise that the pupils at EOI Ciudad Rodrigo are not only good at cooking but also at handcrafting, since some of the presents had been made by them. The English Department organised a raffle among all the dishes the pupils of English had cooked. The winners were María from 1NI, with her so-called cheesecake and Sergio from 2NI, with his potatoes with mayo and the typical Spanish "jeta". Congratulations to both of them, which we want to extend to all the participants, who enlivened the party until the end.

The only downside was that many pupils could not attend because of the time or other affairs. Who knows, maybe next time?? But don't worry you can find out more if you ...

Click here and thanks to David, you'll be able read about the party in Ciudad Rodrigo al Día.

Well, MANY THANKS FOR JOINING THE CELEBRATION !!! And giving me the opportunity to meet you outside of the routine classes have!!!

Hopes, dreams and ambitions

One day, I'd like to achieve all my hopes, dreams and ambitions. I'm not particularly an ambitious person who only tries to succeed in life without considering what other people want, dream or hope. However, I must admit that I usually get what I want and that makes me feel happy and satisfied with myself.

Here's a video for you to watch. The artist Candy Chang turned an abandoned house in her New Orleans neighbourhood into a huge chalkboard, asking her neighbours to fill in the following sentence "Before I die I want to ..." 

Her neighbours wrote amazing messages. 

Watch the video, reflect on it and ... What's your answer?

Before I die I want to ... make the people around me as happy as I can. At some point, I'd absolutely love to make them have peace of mind, take their worries out and make them aware of the genuinely important things in life.

There are also a lot of other things that I'd like to do before I die. Just to set an example, I can tell you that I've always wanted to run the world's largest marathon, yeah, you're right, I'd like to run the New York City marathon. Wouldn't it be amazing? But if I have to be realistic, I'd try, at least, to take part in it, if not finish it. New York is always an exciting place to visit.

So, now it's your turn. My aim with this entry is to make you all write a little bit, so put on your thinking caps and start blogging.

What are your hopes, dreams and ambitions? Will you be able to achieve them before you die?