Monday 20 April 2015

SHAKESPEARE AND CERVANTES' WEEK


How well he's read, to reason against reading.

William Shakespeare

On April 23rd 1616, two giants of Spanish and English literature died. Spain's Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, one of the world's greatest novels, died in Madrid at 69 years of age. England's William Shakespeare, author of wonderful poetry and many great plays, also died in England at the age of 52(April 23rd was also his birthday).
People throughout the world are celebrating today World Book Day, to honor these two great figures of Universal Literature.



Here's a jewel from the Spanish National Library, the interactive Don Quixote.

And here you have one of Shakespeare's sonnets, get inspired!!

SONNET 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.



Sunday 19 April 2015

"Borrow" or "lend"? That's the question.

Sometimes it’s difficult to remember when we have to use one instead of the other, mainly if you are a Catalan speaker. Let’s see the rule and some exercises. Remember: the more you use them the more confident are you going to be.



1.     We use borrow to say that we take something temporarily with the intention of returning it.
·       Can I borrow your car?
·       She borrowed $100 from her father.
2.     We use lend to say that we give something temporarily with the intention of having it returned.
·       Can you lend me your car?
·       Her father lent her $100.
·       Her father lent $100 to his daughter.


To know more about this, link this website.



Wednesday 8 April 2015

WATER SPORTS


We have only three months left for the summer! Have you thought about what you're going to do? What are your plans? Water sports could be a great idea! Have you ever tried surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding or scuba diving? Learn about these entertaining activities reading or listening to the following text, looking up the related vocabulary and answering the questions.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine-articles/water-sports

By the way, do you know the Beach Boys? They composed a song called Surfin' USA with which I'm sure you're familiar with. Enjoy it!