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eTwinning magazine of our "The Voice of Europe" project

The Voice of Europe

The final edition of our eTwinning project, our printable magazine is finally out for everyone to have a look. Click here on The Voice of Europe and read or download it.

The Voice of Europe by Ana Arias Castro

Song "It's a beautiful day" by Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé's song It's A Beautiful Day from the album To Be Loved.



QUESTIONS:

1. Is the singer..
1. happy because he's in love?
2. happy because he's going to enjoy his holidays?
3. happy because his girlfriend has left him?
2. What does "relieved" mean?
1. aburrido
2. aliviado
3. desesperado
3. How did the singer feel before, while he had a girlfriend?
1. relieved
2. happy
3. in a dream
4. caged

LANGUAGE:

• tear the seam of someone's dream - destroy one's wishes
• change your mind - get new ideas; change one's ideas
• hold your breath - control yourself
• my whole world shines - everything is positive
• there's no denying - it's certainly true; it is clear that
• might’ve had me caged  - maybe I was once held in prison
• take up - start

.........................................................................................................................................................
LYRICS - It's a beautiful day

I don’t know why

You think that you could hold me
When you couldn’t get by by yourself
And I don’t know who
Would ever want to tear the seam of someone’s dream
Baby, it’s fine, you said that we should just be friends
While I came up with that line and I’m sure
That it’s for the best
If you ever change your mind, don’t hold your breath

‘Cause you may not believe
That baby, I’m relieved
When you said goodbye, my whole world shines

Hey hey hey
It’s a beautiful day and I can’t stop myself from smiling
If we're drinking, then I’m buying
And I know there’s no denying
It’s a beautiful day, the sun is up, the music’s playing
And even if it started raining
You won’t hear this boy complaining
‘Cause I’m glad that you’re the one that got away
It’s a beautiful day

It’s my turn to fly, so girls, get in line
‘Cause I’m easy, no playing this guy like a fool
Now I’m alright
Might’ve had me caged before, but not tonight

‘Cause you may not believe
That baby, I’m relieved
This fire inside, it burns too bright
I don’t want to say “so long”, I just want to say “goodbye”

It’s a beautiful day and I can’t stop myself from smiling
If we're drinking, then I’m buying
And I know there’s no denying
It’s a beautiful day, the sun is up, the music’s playing
And even if it started raining
You won’t hear this boy complaining
‘Cause I’m glad that you’re the one who got away

‘Cause if you ever think I’ll take up
My time with thinking of our break-up
Then, you’ve got another thing coming your way
‘Cause it’s a beautiful day
Beautiful day
Oh, baby, any day that you’re gone away
It’s a beautiful day


More songs and activities for English as a Foreign Language students.

Book day

As today we have been celebrating the International Book Day in our school, in our conversation classes we have been talking about books. Each student and teacher chose their favourite books and those that were worth mentioning for any other reason: the first one that we remember about, the most boring, the longest, the most beautiful, etc.

Our personal histories are full of interesting books.

How to write a recipe

How to write_a_recipe2 from Ana Arias Castro

Heaven and hell - found in Italy

ESL / EFL 1st type conditional sentences

The first conditional is also called the "real" conditional because it is used for real, or possible, situations. These situations take place if a certain condition is met.
In the first conditional we can salso use unless, which means "if... not". In other words, "... unless he hurries up" could also be written, "... if he doesn't hurry up."

• If it rains, we will stay at home.
• He will arrive late unless he hurries up.
• Sophie will buy a new car, if he gets his raise.

The first conditional is formed by the use of the present simple in the if clause followed by a comma and a future simple verb (will + infinitive) in the result clause. You can also put the result clause first without using a comma between the clauses.

• If he finishes on time, we will go to the movies.

OR

• We will go to the movies if he finishes on time.

Next year we are going to study the second conditional structure.

If you want to do some more exercises you might try these ones:

• exercise 1
• exercise 2
• exercise 3
• exercise 4
• exercise 5
• exercise 6

These sheet contains a summary of first, second and third type conditional sentences.

ESL / EFL Reported Speech

GENERAL RULES FOR REPORTED SPEECH

• Tenses change from present to past (if we are talking about what somebody said in the past):
  • “I am 15.” - He said he was 15.
  • “We have a problem.” - They said they had a problem.
  • “I can swim.” - She said that she could swim.
  • “She comes by bus.” - He said that she came by bus.
  • “Your sister doesn’t like pizza.” - She said that my sister didn’t like pizza.
  • “You are looking through the window.” - He said that I was looking through the window.
  • “They will probably fail.” - She said that they would probably fail.
  • “My mother saw a mouse.” - She said that her mother had seen a mouse.
• Personal pronouns change (if somebody is telling
  what somebody else has said before):
  
  • “I am 15.” - He said he was 15.
  • “My mother saw a mouse.” - She said that her mother had seen a mouse.
  • “We saw you at the cinema.” - They said that they had seen me at the cinema.
• Place and time complements have to be adapted to the new context:
• He came here.” - They said that he had gone there. 
• “It’s raining today” - Jake said that it was raining then / yesterday.
• “I saw you last week.” - She said that she had seen me the week before.

STATEMENTS

• Tell and say are common reporting verbs. (Tell is used before an indirect object.):
• She said that she liked pizza.
• My mother told me to go with her.
• Everyone said that the lesson was very difficult.
• He told his friends about my illness.

• Other verbs can be used: know, promise, insist, warn...
• That can be omitted after say:
• She said that she liked pizza. - She said she liked pizza.
• They knew that he liked her. - They knew she liked her.

QUESTIONS

• Typical reporting verbs are: ask, wonder, want to know.
• He wanted to know the opening times of the museum.
• She wondered how old my mother was.
• If the question is answered with yes or no, if should be introduced before the indirect question:
• My sister asked if you wanted to come with us.
• I wondered if she was watching the programme on TV.
• Subject always comes before the verb:
• She asked me how old I was.

IMPERATIVES

• We use ask / tell + object + (not) + to + infinitive to say what people want(ed) us to do:

• “Please, open the window.” - She asked us to open the window.

• “Tidy your room.” - My father told me to tidy my room.

• “Don’t smoke here.” - My aunt asked me not to smoke in her car.

DOWNLOAD THIS SHEET AND  EXERCISES

ONLINE EXERCISES

ETwinning articles

These are the articles that have been published as part of our collaborative eTwinning online magazine:
MUSIC
-Music is the mirror of our soul (Lithuania)
-Present-day music in Poland and Spain (Spain)
-Traditional music (Spain)
RECYCLING
-How to help our planet to survive (Lithuania)
-Recycling in Lithuania (Lithuania)
-Questions about recycling (Poland)
-Recycling systems (Spain)
SPORT
-Interviews to sportsmen (Poland)
SCHOOL EVENTS
-Teacher's Day (Poland)
-Avant-garde fashion show (Lithuania)
-Our best PE teachers (Poland)
DIFFERENT BUT UNITED
-The influence of the internet (Lithuania)
-Different but United (Poland)
TRADITIONS AND HISTORY
-St. John's day in Lithuania (Lithuania)
FASHION
-Fashion (Lithuania)
-Fashion (These were...) (Spain)
-Shoes (Spain)
SURPRISE!!!
-Surprise (Poland)

Interview with Sarah Adams

Our "auxiliar de conversa", Sarah E. Adams, was interviewed by the students in the ESO-3 bilingual group:

WHAT JOBS DID YOU HAVE IN THE USA?
I've had a lot of jobs and my first one was at a grocery store, I worked there over two years and then, when I got to school I started working in a day care and when I came home for the summers I worked at a store called Bath and Body Works which sells cosmetic products and lotions and perfume and things like that. And I also worked in a movie theater selling concession and then I got a job teaching English as a second language part time at a language institute and then I was a full-time pre-school teacher before I came here and I think that's all.
ARE HOUSES IN THE USA AND SPAIN DIFFERENT?
Yes, very different. I know that houses are different in different parts of each country but at least between Galicia and Florida they're extremely different, All the houses you have made of stone and slate here, we don't have any houses like that, nobody makes houses of stone in Florida because it's so hot. They are all made out of very light materials... I don't know about the size because I actually haven't been in a house here, I have only been in apartments, but they're usually very open in Florida, they have outdoor patios in the back, which I haven't seen here. Yeah.

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT IS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE?
In my opinion, I have always wanted to live somewhere near the beach, somewhere near the coast. Preferable where it is not too cold, where it doesn't rain too much, so probably I will try to live somewhere like Florida or California when I get older and buy a house and stuff like that.

WHAT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN SPAIN IN YOUR OPINION?
Well, unfortunately I haven't been lucky enough to see all of Spain yet and I don't know if I'll have time to, but of the places that I've been to I really like a Coruña as a city and I love the coast, and the lighthouse and the rocks and just the coastline was gorgeous and the color of the water is absolutely beautiful, so that's my favorite place so far.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF PEOPLE IN GALICIA?
I think everybody here is really nice. Everyone I've met I feel like could be my neighbor or something. I think it's because Lugo at least is a small town, but in general when I've travelled in Galicia everyone has sort of that same vibe from being from a small town or a familiar area so I find people to be very sweet and kind and caring, familiar. Very nice.

WHAT PLACE WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT IN THE FUTURE?
I basically would like to see the whole world if I could, oh, it's hard to make a short list. But I would really like to travel in Central and South America. I would like to see more of the US because I've only been to a few parts of it. I'd like to go to Australia, now that I've made friends from Austrailia. I want to see more of Italy, I'd like to see Germany, I wanna go to Portugal, around England. Lots of places in Europe. Yeah. I would go almost anywhere but I think I am least interested in travelling in Asia and Africa.

CLIL Social classes in Britain

The BBC website has published an interesting article about social classes in Britain. You can use the social class calculator in order to know which class you fit into. 

The article also tells us about how social classes have changed these last decades. The categories mentioned are related to economic, social and cultural factors.

These are the classes as mentioned in the article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22000973#gbcs-QuestionsView

• Elite: This is the most privileged class in Great Britain who have high levels of all three capitals. Their high amount of economic capital sets them apart from everyone else.
• Established Middle Class: Members of this class have high levels of all three capitals although not as high as the Elite. They are a gregarious and culturally engaged class.
• Technical Middle Class: This is a new, small class with high economic capital but seem less culturally engaged. They have relatively few social contacts and so are less socially engaged.
• New Affluent Workers: This class has medium levels of economic capital and higher levels of cultural and social capital. They are a young and active group.
• Emergent Service Workers: This new class has low economic capital but has high levels of 'emerging' cultural capital and high social capital. This group are young and often found in urban areas.
• Traditional Working Class: This class scores low on all forms of the three capitals although they are not the poorest group. The average age of this class is older than the others.
• Precariat: This is the most deprived class of all with low levels of economic, cultural and social capital. The everyday lives of members of this class are precarious.