Thursday 21st December. Christmas Party.

Dear all,

You also have this info in the virtual classroom. I hope to see you there. There will be music, sweets, a competition, food and prizes.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Cheers,

Maria

Article shared by Esther G. (C2.2). Please DO read it and write your opinions in the comment section.

Romantic novels: Let’s welcome the new Prince Charming.

A romantic novel generally refers to a type of a fiction genre where two people meet, fall in love at first sight, separate because their love is impossible and finally live happily ever after. 

There are many sub-genres, from historical to contemporary romance and more specifically, paranormal, time-travel and science fiction romance. All of them have one main characteristic: love always wins no matter the difficulties. 

Women are the main readers of this genre. Because of that, romantic plots are written from a woman’s perspective and have been adapted through history. Contemporary novels written in the early 70s showed a woman focused on childcare, house-chores and little else. On the contrary, novels written nowadays, show an empowered woman who still believes in love, but can also survive by herself without a strong and handsome Prince Charming next to her. 

According to a recent online survey carried out among 1,234,563 readers, the most important values in a contemporary Prince Charming are intelligence, weakness, and sensibility. Of course, beauty and strength are also part of the equation. The tendency is a sensitive alpha-male hero. 

Love is in the air, love is everywhere….. or not. Whether you prefer romance or another genre, you are free to choose. Go to the library, take your time, enjoy your reading and please, do not stop reading. There are thousands of books waiting to be read.  

Just for fun

Laughter is the best medicine

Explanation of Life On the first day, God created the dog and said: "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years." The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?" So God agreed. On the second day, God created the monkey and said: "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span." The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?" And God agreed. On the third day, God created the cow and said: "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years." The cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give you back the other forty?" And God agreed again. On the fourth day, God created man and said: "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years." But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?" "Okay," said God, "You asked for it." So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren, and for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Your Reality. Award-winning short film on Gaslighting

Can you watch this short film and share your opinion with us? Do you think this happens in real life?

At the optician/eye doctor

Very often, when we study a new language, we learn a lot of big words and can talk about complicated topics, but we lack the vocabulary and skills to face an everyday situation. Below you can see three videos with information about your eyesight and how to speak about it. All of them can be useful for A2, B2.1 and C2.2 (the last one is a bit difficult though), but I have organised them by levels.

Can you think of other situations you'd like to practise?

A2

B2

C2

Blue

 A friend of mine shared this with me and I find it both interesting and intriguing. What do you think it means?