CHRISTMAS IS OVER

The Christmas tree has been taken down, you have opened lots of presents and you have eaten a bit beyond your capacity. All that means it's time to go back to work. I hope you have had a good time and  recharged the batteries as you have to stick to the New Year's resolutions you have made. By the way, is one of them to improve your English? If the answer is yes, you are lucky because it will be a piece of cake. All you have to do to learn English is to keep in touch with the language. One way to fulfill that task succesfully is to listen to music in English. So, here's a pop song of the 90's that seems to have been written to revise the days of the week.

WHAT A FEAT!

In the mid-80's two young English climbers attempted to reach the summit of Siula Grande in Peru; a feat that had previously been attempted but never achieved. With an extra man looking after base camp, Simon and Joe set off to scale the mount in one long push over several days. The peak is reached, however on the descent Joe falls and breaks his leg.  Joe however survives the fall and was lucky to hit a ledge in the crevasse. This is the story of how he got back down: Touching the void (2003)

CLIMATE CHANGE

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. Nearly 200 countries got to a historic agreeement on climate change: humanity has to start transforming  the era of high dependency on fossil fuels into a new era based on renewable energy.

Is there anything I can do about it? Yes, you can reduce your carbon footprint.
How?  Watch the video

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

I am a bit delayed in wishing you Merry Christmas and a Happy New year,  but as they say, "better late than never.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.  (Neil Gaiman)

CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS by Rudyard kipling

About the Author

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a well-known English author and poet. He was born in Bombay, British India, in 1865, but was educated in England. In 1882, Kipling returned to India, where he worked for Anglo-Indian newspapers. He also wrote many short stories and poems, which became popular in England in the 1880s. Kipling returned to England in 1889 and lived there for the next three years. In 1892, he married and the couple moved to Vermont, USA. Kipling wasn’t very happy there and returned to England in 1896, after the death of his daughter, Josephine. The Jungle Book (1894) became a children’s classic all over the world.  Kim (1901) is another of Kipling’s famous works. Others include The Second Jungle Book (1895), Captains Courageous (1897) and Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906).  Kipling received many awards and was the first English writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. He died in London in 1936, and was buried in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey.

Plot Summary

Harvey is an arrogant young man travelling on a passenger ship in the North Atlantic Ocean. One evening, he begins to feel seasick. While the ship is rolling between two huge waves, Harvey leans over the railing to be sick. He falls into the water and faints. When he becomes conscious, he’s on the We’re Here. He learns that Manuel found him in the water and brought him to the fishing boat. Harvey tells Disko that he’s the son of a rich man and that his father will pay the captain a lot of money to take Harvey to New York, but Disko doesn’t believe him. He’s got other plans ...

Here is the audio material of the reading book:  Captains courageous


Worksheets:       1   26th November
                            2    3rd  December


Test: 9th December

THE THREE MUSKETEERS by Alexandre Dumas

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexandre Dumas was born in France in 1802. In 1823, with little education, he went to Paris and started to write. During the next 40 years, he wrote many books based on French history. The Three Musketeers (1845) is one of his best-known historical novels. Other books include The Count of Monte Cristo (1845) and The Black Tulip (1850). Dumas travelled a lot, and also wrote many travel books. He died in Dieppe in 1870.

THE PLOT

In 1625, D’Artagnan arrives in Paris. He wants to be a Musketeer. Three Musketeers laugh at D’Artagnan’s old, thin horse. D’Artagnan is angry and they go to a park to fight. Five of the Cardinal’s guards are in the park. They hate Musketeers so they fight them. D’Artagnan helps the Musketeers win. The Musketeers are called Athos, Aramis and Porthos and the four men soon become friends...

Here is the audio material of the reading book:  The three musketeers


Worksheets:  1  19th November
                        2   26th November
                        3    3rd  December

Test: 4th December

WE STAND WITH PARIS

The whole world mourns for victims of Paris terror attacks.