Merry Christmas! Some songs for the Winter Season

MERY XMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR! LET'S LISTEN TO SOME POP CHRISTMAS SONGS! :)

    Season's greetings to all of you! Winter is here and Christmas time, too!
As some of you have told me,  I have not been publishing many posts in this blog lately.
Well, today this post is just to say thank you to all of you who are supporting me in my life and with my blogs and social networks AND, of course, to wish you a happy Christmas season to you all!

Here you have some good pop Christmas songs - old and new, with and without subtitles -
but... no classical carols this time, promised!
We have already sung many traditional carols in our English lessons, for sure! :)

Let's start with a the great Whitney Houston which also recorded a Christmas album.
Her voice was not at her best here, but this is a very nice Christmas song though:




Now we are going to see a different vision of Christmas; let's sing this song of Coldplay all together:

The last one is a current song (2013) but with some traditional arrangements.
I hope you enjoy it, no subtitles this time!
Can you understand any words and sentences here? Let's try!





And that is all for now! Which was your favourite song and why?

Feel free to tell us and to suggest me any other Christmas songs you like, as always.

Merry Christmas to you all!  Enjoy the winter holiday season!
o<|:-)

Hello everybody!
A new academic course begins and here I am again with this blog!
Did you have a nice summer?

What are your plans for September? A new job? Any new studies?
And also going on learning English, of course! ;)
Here you have a calendar of September 2013 to help you organise your ideas and plans.

 

As you can see , British calendars usually start on Sunday and finish on Saturday.
How are the calendars organised in your country?
Tell us about it, please!

Well, my friends. I will post again soon.
As always, I welcome your suggestions -in English or Spanish - for publishing new posts in this blog.
See you soon! Roll on September!
:)

Christmas around the world

Merry Christmas to everybody!

1- CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD

Let's watch a video about "Christmas around the world" first:

1.1- WRITING

- What Christmas customs can you see in this video? ..............................................

- What Christmas decorations are used in your town? ..............................................

- How do you decorate your own home at Christmas? ..............................................


2- CHRISTMAS CAROLS

A Christmas carol (also called a nöel) is a song or hymn whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.

2.1- LISTENING & READING:

Now we are going to listen to a typical Christmas carol:

2.2 - READING

The author and composer is unknown. However, this song may date back to the 16th century.
Now read the lyrics of this traditional carol:

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

We wish you a Merry Christmas.
We wish you a Merry Christmas.
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.

Glad tidings we bring
To you and your kin.
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.

Now bring us a figgy pudding.
Now bring us a figgy pudding.
Now bring us a figgy pudding
And a cup of good cheer.

We won't go until we get some.
We won't go until we get some.
We won't go until we get some,
So bring some out here. 

Glad tidings we bring
To you and your kin.
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.

2.3- VOCABULARY

What's the meaning of the following words? You can look them up in a dictionary!
1) tidings
2) kin
3) a fig
4) a figgy pudding
5) a cheer
 
2.4- SPEAKING - KARAOKE TIME

Watch the video again once or twice and then sing the song aloud!

That's all my friends!
I wish you a Merry Christmas to you and your kin!
:-)

Storytelling (I)

 Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and to instill moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view.


1. SPEAKING ACTIVITY

Here you can see the titles of different traditional tales.

Which one is your favourite? ......................................................................................
Why? ...........................................................................................................................
Can you think of any other traditional fairy tales? .....................................................

2- READING ACTIVITY.

We are going to watch a gothic fairy tale now.
It is a short animation film called "Comedy" (Kigeki) and it was directed by the Japanese Kazuto Nazakawa in 2002.

3.1 - WRITING ACTIVITY 1

Answer these questions:

- Did you enjoy this tale? Why or why not? ...........................................................
- What do you think about it? .....................................................
- Can you think of any similar tales?...........................................

3.2 - WRITING ACTIVITY 2

Write a short composition answering this question:
"Do you like telling stories? Or do you prefer listening to them? Why?"
......................................................

I hope you enjoyed this storytelling post. Please comment here if you want me to publish more posts about storytelling!

- THE END -

See you all soon!  :-)

Four Seasons in One Day

Autumn is beginning in Southern Spain.
This is a season with changing weather: hot or cold; sunny, cloudy or rainy...
Have you ever experienced "four seasons in one day" in your hometown?

ACTIVITY 1 - LISTENING:

Let's watch the video of a song talking about "4 seasons in 1 day" first!

 

 

Well, it's clear that it talks about weather, but does the song talk about any other topics?

 

ACTIVITY 2- LISTENING AND READING

Let's watch the song again in this subtitled video and read the lyrics carefully:

ACTIVITY 3 - WRITING or SPEAKING

What do you think now? Does it talk about anything else?
Is weather the most important topic of the song? Why or why not?

By the way, "4 Seasons in 1 day" is a 1992 song by an Australian group called Crowded House.
I hope you enjoyed the song! See you soon!
:)

Easter in Spain, the UK and the USA - Semana Santa (Pascua) en España, Reino Unido y USA

We are going to watch some short videos about Easter in Spain and the UK.
Vamos a ver algunos vídeos cortos sobre la Semana Santa / Pascua en España y en el Reino Unido.

Easter Week in Spain / Semana Santa en España:

 

Easter in the UK / Pascua en el Reino Unido:

And to end with, a Happy Easter children's song with the US Walt Disney characters.

Y para terminar, una canción infantil de Feliz Pascua con los personajes americanos de Walt Disney.

Enjoy it! Happy Easter to everyone! :) 
¡Que la disfrutéis! ¡Feliz Pascua / Semana Santa a todos! :)