DAVID   COPERFIELD

Today I started to read a book in English. I've gone to the library and there I've found a lot of books that are adapted for different levels of knowledge of the English language.

 Since now I will be able to read a little every day.

....and you can see more of my olive trees....

 ESTUDI DE JAVIER MELGAREJO SOBRE 


L'EDUCACIÓ A FINLÀNDIA



http://www.otraescuelaesposible.es/pdf/JAVIERMELGAREJO_FINLANDIA.pdf

Here you can read an extract of a study about why in Finland the educational results are much better than in Spain.

And here you can heard an interesting interview about the same subject.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/91267465/18.08%20a%2018.46h%20%2029-06-10%20VERSIO%20RAC1.mp3

KEEP   IN   TOUCH...

What would you think about this suggestion?  I think that we can use the blog to keep in touch during the year, and to practise english until next july. Do you agree?

We can explain what we are doing, in summer, but also in automn , winter or next spring...

If we have problems with  pupils, the boss, the government... we can share them with other people, specially if they are classmates who have done a summer english course with you.

Lets go!

MARC COMÚ EUROPEU

MCER      A1              A2                       B1                         B2                   C1                   C2
  Starter Movers Key
                     English Test (KET) Flyers
                                       Preliminary English Test (PET)
                                                            First Certificate in English (FCE)
                                                                           Certificate in Advanced English (CAE)
                                                                                      Certif. of Proficiency in English (CPE)

CATALONIA

Today we will explain what Catalonia is, and some of its characteristics. Also I think it's convenient to give us some advices and suggestions which will be useful if you viste it.

    Firstly we have to situate Catalonia in the map: it's situated in the South of Europe, concretely in the Nord-Est of the Iberic Peninsule. But, it's Catalonia a region of a country or a nation?  In fact Catalonia is a part of Spain- it belongs to Spain- and, of course, it's not a independant country, but a lot of people feel bad in these situation, because they think Catalonia is an historical nation which was annexed in the past to become a part of an artifical country. They usually believe that the Spanish government is used to behaving unfairly with Catalan people. For example, they think that the taxes wich they support are much bigger than the investments they receive to solve their needs in infrastructures, education, etc.
  
   If you decide to visit Catalonia, you will find lots of  beautiful places and nice people. One of the most interesting cities to visit is Barcelona. There you should visit a lot of things, but you can't forget anyway to visit all the buildings which were created by Antoni Gaudi.
    Related to Catalan people, they will probably make you feel as at home.

THE EDUCATION OF FINLAND

This adress will allow to heard an interesting interview about the education of Finland.
I recommend you to do it, I'm sure you will enjoy a lot!





https://dl.dropbox.com/u/91267465/18.08%20a%2018.46h%20%2029-06-10%20VERSIO%20RAC1.mp3

 PRACTISE FOREIGN LANGUAGES

You can find some radio and tv stations and listen the news if you click here:


in English


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/audioconsole/?stream=news_bulletin

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_world_service

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/


in  French (you can choose easy French)

http://www.rfi.fr/aef_player_popup/rfi_player#

http://www.medi1.com/feeder/podcast.xml?code=INFOS
 (Radio Mediterranée Internationale, la radio du Grand Magreb) (In French only the "journals" with "FR")

 FORMAL LETTER


Head Office                   

                                                                        13  Greenwich Road, 2nd floor
Hotel Hilton                                                      Liverpool
27  Dowing Street                                             BBB  45A
London                        
AAA 87B                                                         19th of July of 2012


 Dear Sir/ Madam,


I am writing  to express my dissatisfaction with the treatement that we have received in your hotel ... last week end.

My family and I had decided to spend a relaxing week end in London, and we had supposed that the best place to achieve this relax could be your hotel.
We had heard that your hotel was a bit expensive, but his service could be according to this price, and we could have some beautiful and marvelous days.

When we  arrived with our car, which is a little old, we had the first bad impression, because nobody wanted to park it. We felt very bad, because we thought we had not the necessary social level to stay in your hotel. Secondly, during the first night, we didn't have a good rest, cause one of the windows did not close correctly and in our room there was no silence. When we called to the reception to complain about this, they did not do anything until we repeated the call three times.
On Saturday we had a really good day and we have no problems, but on Sunday the bad treatment was repeated by the waiters during the lunch, because they were extremely rude with us.

I would like to receive an explanation and apology for the unacceptable treatment we received. Also we want  to claim a ten per cent of discount over the price we have paid which you should pay back in the following account:   2056  22000005   4500078.

Yours faithfully,


Sergi Sebastià Royo

MUSIC IN THE 80'S


  

I used to listen, in the 80's, to some songs, in the pub, that I would like listening again, because I used to enjoy them a lot. Nowadays I would like showing one of them to my children.

MUSIC AND  I

When I was younger I used to enjoy hearing  lots of kinds of music. One example is Jethro Tull, but other one very different is Lluís Llach.








 Nowadays I'm used to no playing too much music. I only listen to the songs which the radio stations put in the radio programs  I usually follow.

But time pass fastly, and new generations replace us. A lot of them usually search one specific radio station: it's Flaix FM, where we can heard rithmic and disco music, which is very cool for them.  I'm get used to enjoying with this kind of music. An example of great group we can enjoy there is Cali y el Dandee.


  








When I was sixteen years old I was get used to listening to classical music. I used to listen a radio program in RNE  called "Clásicos Populares". There classical music was presented in a fun way, and finally I learned to love it.
Here you can see an interview to Fernando Argenta, one of the directors of the program:

 ONE OPINION ABOUT EDUCATION

 I think that educationn is very important to make a better society. I'm worried about the changes that the different gouvernments have introduced in Spanish and Catalan education since 1990. I think that society has been experimenting a lot of technical changes which should improuve its health and solve a lot of its problems. But it's necesary to use this technical progress with care and intelligence, and unfortunatelly it, frequently, hasn't happened. Nowadays society has  a lot of problems which have been increasing because of the technical progress.
   I think education should try to solve some of these problems. I will explain it better: Children usually have got in their home too many technological things, which take all their attention and make impossible many times that they focuses this attention in a constructive way. Adults have the same problem too (too many thinks to do and to spend their free time...), so they don'y pay the necessary attention of their sons.
   School has an important thing to do in the society of nowadays, which I've just tried to describe in the previous paragraph. This important thing, in my opinion, is offer to children the opportunity to learn in a traditional and "less stimulating" environment than they usually know. For example, one of the main aims that the new autorities of the Catalan education try to achieve is learn to read an to enjoy reading too. The necessary environment to do that is a more relaxing school, where there is respect of rules and limits.
   In my opinion teachers have to try to motivate their pupils to learn, but this motivation should be planified in the time and not unlimitated. My point of vue is that if we spend too much time and resources to motivate pupils, finally they will be too excited and stimulated, and their necessary attention to learn or do something will desapear.
   Instead that, autorities tend to introduce modifications step by step in the oposite way. For example, in the high school they introduced two years ago the plan " one per one", which needs a lot of investments in materials and money. All the pupils had to get a labtop,  high schools had to prepare their installations and it was necessary to prepare in less time than reasonable a lot of new learning software.  And why? Was there an eductional investigation which recommends that? I don't know, and I'm not sure, but I supose that autorities did these changes because they wanted motivating more the pupils.
    I thing that in this moment a lot of educators, parents and autorities might doubt of the results of the program "one per one". These results, that I supose are bad, are because the main hypotese of the autorities are wrong: it's true that we have to motivate pupils, but if we introduce too many changes, pupils will be too
less concentrated, and teachers can be too in an unconfortable way, which don't allow to learn properly, to put rules and limits. Definitively there is the danger of reproduce in the school the bad environment which there is in most of the pupil's homes.

LEARN VOCABULARY IN CATALAN AND IN ENGLISH

If you are learning Catalan  you  can add in your vocabulary how do you say " blunt" :

   Blunt   =   esmussar

1 1 v. tr. [LC] Fer menys agut, menys tallant, llevar l’agudesa del tall, de la punta (d’una eina, d’una arma). Si ho talles amb les tisores, les esmussaràs. Havia esmussat el ganivet i ara no podia tallar bé.
1 2 intr. pron. [IMI] Un instrument tallant, perdre el tall. El ganivet es va esmussar. Vés amb compte que les tisores no s’esmussin.
2 tr. [LC] Una substància àcida, un soroll estrident, un carrisqueig, produir una impressió aspra i desagradable (a les dents). Esmussar un àcid les dents.
3 1 tr. [LC] Fer menys viu, menys penetrant. Una mena de lectures que esmussen la sensibilitat literària. Esmussar l’enginy.
3 2 intr. pron. [LC] L’esperit de rebel·lia s’esmussà.

http://dlc.iec.cat/results.asp?txtEntrada=esmussar&operEntrada=0

VISIT THE MOUNTAIN....     WITH SAFETY !!!

Some of us might plan to visit a nice mountain or to do an excursion with other people...  It can be a good idea, but it can be also a dangerous decision.  Why?  Read atentively this writing and make conclusions yourself !

As far as the organisation of the writing goes, firstly we have to know the main tips that you have to do or to get. Secondly we have to remind you what kind of things you don't have to do. So, if you prepare a trip to the forest or the mountain, with other people, mainly if the other people are younger than you, you should take with you a map, a compass, some torches. Maybe it's a good idea take a rope too, and a whistle, in case one person disappears or has an accident, to be able to find and rescue him. I think it's also convenient to remind you have to be well equipped, wear appropiate clothes, use a stick, get a cup or hat and carry o/n a bottle of water.

After that, now we need to know which tips there are about what you don't have to do. The most important might be, perhaps, you don't light a fire anywhere, specially in summer. People shouldn't go alone, climb trees, jump stones, neither eat berries they don't know...

And... That's all, my friends!  Good trip to the mountain!

   EXERCICE WITH  "MUST BE / HAVE,  CAN'T... , MIGHT..."

It's the Sénia river, this concrete place is called "Toll dels Arenals". The photo must have taken in summer, but instead of that, I'm sure that this water must be very could. In the picture we can see two people, but I supose there might be another one, because the splash can't be an spontaneous natural event. So, it might be also possible ( a very little possiblity) it is caused to a extremely big fish.

   People might be children, I think, almost the two ones we can see. I supose that it might be twelve or one of midday, because it's traditional to go swimming before have lunch. They must get a good body's temperature to enjoy a good siesta after have lunch.

What will you find in La Sénia?

                          A lot of things,    for example....

                                                                     OLIVE TREES

                                            Sénia river:   "embassament d'Ulldecona"


 If you visit La Sénia I recomend you to visit lots of beautiful places which are along the Sénia river, for example the "embassament d'Ulldecona", the "Toll dels Arenals", the Saint Peter fountain...
  You might don't resist the temptation to pass some days there. You must enjoy incredible feelings and you can't ever forget its days.

INTRODUCTION

 INTRODUCTION

Hello! I'm Sergi Sebastià and I was born in LaSénia  in1963. I'm a primary school teacher. I'm married and I have got two sons and one daughter. I love good cinema and good books. In holidays, in July, I like relaxing in my village, studying english in the mornings and enjoy the nature in the afternoons. In fact I love working in the field, betwen olive trees. In August; usually I learn my children to work and know our fields of olive trees.
I think it's a good and useful knowledge for them. I learn them also other traditions, like going to the Sénia river to swim. There are some typical places in the river to get a relaxing and freezing bath, one of the more famous of them is the "Toll dels Arenals".