Time bandits

Here is an extract of the movie Andrew mentioned yesterday in class. Don't forget: Time is money!

Childhood Memories

 In this very short interview Sir Tery Pratchett (a famous British writer) talks about a childhood memory. Notice the use of "would"?

Family

It's a bit confusing, but maybe the diagram will help you! A revision on family vocabulary, relationships and so on.

List of Recommended Books for 2nd Advanced

* One Day (David Nicholls)
* Holes (Louis Sachar)
* Small Steps (Louis Sachar)
* Notes from a Big Country (Bill Bryson)
* Notes from a Small ISland (Bill Bryson. Plus anything else by this author)
* How to be an Alien (George Mikes)
* Tales of the Unexpected (Roald Dahl. Plus anything else by this author)
* Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Salman Rushdie)
* Junk (Melvin Burgess)
* The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (Mark Haddon)
* Bookends (Jane Green)
* The Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowlings)
* The Adrian Mole Series (Sue Townsend)
* The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro)
* A Song of Ice and Fire (George R Martin)
* The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith)
* The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
* Bridget Jones's Diary (Helen Fielding)
* Three Men in a Boat (Jerome K. Jerome)
* I Don't Know How She Does It (Allison Pearson)
* The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
* The Boy in the Striped Pijamas (John Boyne)

Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg has been all over the news in Spain these last few days because of what he said when he was interviewed by Conan O'Brien. If you look for the videos on youtube you'll find a lot of angry people writing comments, either because they hate the Spanish show or because they hate the actor. I actually think that both groups are partially right: the host of the show (Pablo Motos) has an ego the size of Jack Nicholson's, and he normally uses his guests to make himself look good. However, Jesse Eisenberg was completely wrong when he thought that Spain carries a grudge towards the USA because of WWII. First: Spain was not involved in World War II (that's not entirely true, Spain was having enough problems after its own civil war, so it was officially neutral, even if it somehow tried to help the Germans) Secondly: because it was a dictatorship, it did not receive any American help, so, my dear friend, no American "ships and planes full of help" arrived in Spain. Get your facts straight before speaking.
And finally, because this blog is for a language class (an English class): don't be so proud about being linguistically incompetent! Learning is always a positive thing, even if it is learning foreign languages!

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries to remember the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. This day, or alternative dates, is also recognised as a special day for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries

Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November (11-11) to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918, as the major hostilities of World War I were formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. (Note that "at the 11th hour", refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am.)

The red poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem “In Flanders Fields”. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilt in the war.

For some more information, I suggest the following pages:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Remembrance.html

http://www.calendar-updates.com/info/holidays/canada/remembrance.aspx

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/remembrance/