18.05.10

This is handout 15. Remember that next week we are meeting at El Granero on Wednesday at 12:00. We will see each other at Cep and then walk down to the pub. For more information on English pubs go here.

11.05.10

04.05.10

Here you have the song we listened to in class:  All the Way from America. And this is anothr song by Joan Armatrading:

And this is handout 14

13.04.10

Superstitions can be defined as, “irrational beliefs, especially with regard to the unknown”

(Collins English Dictionary)

by rachdian

Good Luck

It is lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.
It is lucky to touch wood. We touch; knock on wood, to make something come true.
It is lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves.
White heather is lucky.
A horseshoe over the door brings good luck. But the horseshoe needs to be the right way up. The luck runs out of the horseshoe if it is upside down. Horseshoes are generally a sign of good luck and feature on many good luck cards.
On the first day of the month it is lucky to say “white rabbits, white rabbits white rabbits,” before uttering your first word of the day.
Catch falling leaves in Autumn and you will have good luck. Every leaf means a lucky month next year.
Cut your hair when the moon is waxing and you will have good luck.
Putting money in the pocket of new clothes brings good luck.

by-nc-nd Tom @ P.I.G.

Bad Luck

It is unlucky to walk underneath a ladder.
Seven years bad luck to break a mirror. The superstition is supposed to have originated in ancient times, when mirrors were considered to be tools of the gods.
It is unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc..
It is unlucky to spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.
It is unlucky to open an umbrella in doors.
The number thirteen is unlucky. Friday the thirteenth is a very unlucky day. Friday is considered to be an unlucky day because Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
It is unlucky to put new shoes on the table.
It is unlucky to pass someone on the stairs.

06.04.10

This is the adjectives quiz from last week.

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong

Pretty woman, walking down the street
Pretty woman, the kind I like to meet
Pretty woman
I don’t believe you, you’re not the truth
No one could look as good as you
Mercy

Pretty woman, won’t you pardon me
Pretty woman, I couldn’t help see
Pretty woman
That you look lovely as can be
Are you lonely just like me
Wow

Pretty woman, stop a while
Pretty woman, talk a while
Pretty woman, gave your smile to me
Pretty woman, yeah yeah yeah
Pretty woman, look my way
Pretty woman, say you’ll stay with me
‘Cause I need you, I’ll trear you right
Come with me baby, be mine tonight

Pretty woman, don’t walk on by
Pretty woman, make me cry
Pretty woman, don’t walk away, hey…okay
If that’s the way it must be, okay
I guess I’ll go on home, it’s late
There’ll be tomorrow nigh, but wait
What do I see
Is she walking back to me
Yeah, she’s walking back to me
Oh, oh, Pretty woman

23.03.10

I know I stand in line
Until you think you have the time
To spend an evening with me
And if we go someplace to dance
I know that there’s a chance
You won’t be leaving with me

Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place
And have a drink or two
And then I go and spoil it all
By saying something stupid
Like I love you

I can see it in your eyes
That you despise the same old lines
You heard the night before
And though it’s just a line to you
For me it’s true
And never seemed so right before

I practice every day to find some clever
lines to say
To make the meaning come through
But then I think I’ll wait until the evening
gets late
And I’m alone with you

The time is right
Your perfume fills my head
The stars get red
And oh the night’s so blue
And then I go and spoil it all
By saying something stupid
Like I love you
I love you…

16.03.10

Saint Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17th.

Patrick was born in Britain in the year 387. When he was 16, he was captured by pagan Irish pirates and became a slave in Ireland. He was a shepherd. During this time, he prayed a lot.  After 6 years he escaped and returned to his family and home. Then he became a priest and went back to Ireland as a missionary.

There are many legends about the miracles and magical fights between him and the Druids. St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland. He stood on a hill and used a wooden staff to drive the snakes into the sea and banished them forever from Ireland. It is true that Ireland has no snakes.

St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The word “shamrock” comes from the Gaelic word “seamrog” (In irish, it means “summer plant”). Shamrock is the national flower of Ireland. Many Irish people wear a shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day. It is not the Irish national emblem. The harp is! This explains the color green and shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day. Today, if you do not wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, you will get pinched !!
St. Patrick died on the 17 March, 461 A.D at the age of 76. This is why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on the seventeenth of March. There are parades in many cities in the world, because of Irish immigration. The largest St. Patrick’s Day parade is in New York City.

St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin:

This is handout 13. I already sent it to you by email but now it has all the phonetic symbols.

This is the opening scene of The Quiet Man. We talked about it in class. John Wayne is a retired boxer from America who goes back to Innesfree, the small willage in Ireland  where he was born.

09.03.10

Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is…think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it…do something about it

We make her paint her face and dance
If she won’t be slave, we say that she don’t love us
If she’s real, we say she’s trying to be a man
While putting her down we pretend that she is above us
Woman is the nigger of the world…yes she is
If you don’t believe me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Ah yeah…better scream about it
We make her bear and raise our children
And then we leave her flat for being a fat old mother hen
We tell her home is the only place she would be
Then we complain that she’s too unworldly to be our friend

Woman is the nigger of the world…yes she is
If you don’t believe me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves Yeah (think about it)

We insult her everyday on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she’s young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb

Woman is the nigger of the world…yes she is
If you don’t believe me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yes she is…if you believe me, you better scream about it.

02.02.10

Some more irregular plurals:

tooth tooth

foot feet

goose geese

louse lice

mouse mice

ox oxen

The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1934 crime novel by James M. Cain. It has been adapted into a film four times. The the best known version, starring Lana Turner and John Garfield was made in 1946. In 1981 there was an American remake based on a screenplay by David Mamet, directed by Bob Rafelson, and featuring Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange.

26.01.10

In celebration of the fortcoming wedding of the king and the soon to be queen, Silvia, the internationally famous popgroup ABBA performed the song Dancing Queen on Swedish television the night before the ceremony:

And this is handout 12