Religion and History: Spain and England

As you know, the Holy Week or Easter period is celebrated in Spain with hundreds of processions. But...does anybody know where the tradition of processions in catholic Spain comes from? Think about it and try to answer these questions:

a) Where does the procession tradion come from?

b) What does it (i.e. the procession tradition in Spain) have to do with England?

c) What does Carnaval have to do with the Holy Week?

In order to answer those questions you will have to look for some information about the next historical characters and terms:

a) Henry VIII (England)
b) Philip II (Spain)
c) The Spanish Armada

Word formation processes

Yes, I am going to make you work even over the Easter holidays!

Compounding 

 Suffixation1

Suffixation2

Prefixation1

Prefixation2

Prefixation3

Prefixation4

History: The Celts, the Romans, and Boudicca

In light of what we have seen in the section devoted to the history of St. Patrick´s Day, I would like you to have a look at the next links:

The Celts

The Romans


I would have liked to paste the link below on March 8th, but I did not have time. Anyway, I would like you to have a look at it.

Boudicca

Celtic Tribes

A bit of art, poetry and music: The Lady of Shallot

Ok, let´s come back to poetry, with which we dealt some months ago (do you remember?). Could you answer this question?: Who were the pre-raphaelites?

More on Ireland: The Irish pipe

This piece of wonderful music connects us with the next topic: music

History and religion: St. Patrick´s Day

Today is St. Patrick´s Day! Yes, we come back to Ireland again! Do you remember when we talked about the "potatoe famine"? Well, we come back to the same land, but a bit further in time I would say. Do you happen to know about the history of this character? Have a look!

Do also have a look at this link to know more about this character


Have also a look at the way this festivity is celebrated.

Do you happen to notice any nuances in the accent of Irish people? Different melody?

Linkers

I hope it is useful!

16 sentence connectors (129-) by serkan

Mind the gap!

     

      It is the three word instruction that is as much a part of London's identity the world over as black cabs, red buses and Big Ben.

      Yet after 40 years, one of the original "mind the gap" recorded announcements is returning to one station – so the widow of the man behind the polite but firm piece of advice received by millions of passengers can hear it once again.

      Transport for London said that it was approached by the widow of Oswald Laurence to see whether she could get a copy of the announcement that Laurence had recorded in the late 60s.

      Nigel Holness, London Underground's director, said: "We were very touched by her story, so staff tracked down the recording and not only were they able to get a copy of the announcement on CD for her to keep but are also working to restore the announcement at Embankment station."

      The recording of Laurence, an actor, had been phased out as PA systems were upgraded over the years until the northbound platform on the Northern line at Embankment station was the only place it could be heard.

      Several recordings of the phrase, along with another line, "stand clear of the doors please" have been used by London Underground over the years. One of the more recent voices used was Emma Clarke's, who became embroiled in controversy in 2007 after appearing to criticise the Tube in a newspaper interview.

      A spoof announcement on her website (currently offline) said: "We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly."

EOI exams

You can enrol for the free examination papers from the 1st till the 15th of April

Social Issues: 11M

     
 

 Politicians and citizens on Monday commemorated the ninth anniversary of the March 2004 Madrid train bombings, the biggest terrorist attack in Spain since the 1970s transition to democracy.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was one of the first to refer to the Al Qaeda-perpetrated attacks, which claimed the lives of 191 people on various trains outside the capital’s main Atocha station on March 11, 2004.

       At a breakfast meeting, the Popular Party (PP) leader told prominent government figures and party members that he was committed to the “eradication of terrorism,” saying freedom, democracy and life itself have “ferocious enemies.” “They will never defeat us,” he added.

At the same event, PP secretary general María Dolores de Cospedal said that March 11, 2004 was “without any doubt [...] the most difficult moment the PP ever experienced.”

       A short time before, Madrid regional premier Ignacio González and the city’s mayor, Ana Botella, laid a wreath at a plaque commemorating the victims of the attack in Puerta del Sol in the city center.

The brief ceremony was also attended by Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón and Education, Culture and Sport Minister José Ignacio Wert, as well as the presidents of the Association of Terrorism Victims and the Association of 11-M Victims, Ángeles Pedraza and Ángeles Domínguez.

International Day of Women

As you know, today is the International Day of Women. Do you know why it is celebrated on March 8th? You may think that the right to vote or the right to own a property have always been there, but this is not the case. These rights were achived thanks to the fight of both men and women. I paste here some videos related to the topic.

 

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

 

Audio Book

For you to practice!

Here you have a site where you can practice some points related to grammar, vocabulary etc. You can also get them corrected on the spot.  I would go to the grammar section first to practice aspects related to tenses and clause types. Click here

Online activities

Do these exercises at home! Click on the category!




Conditional sentences

Passive voice (1)

Passive voice (2)

Passive voice (3)

Relative Clauses (1)

Relative Clauses (2)