Christmas Actually

Christmas, Noël, Navidad, Nadal, Natal, Gabonetako, Weihnachten, Nollag, Natale, hope has many names, and many the stories to rationalize a feeling we don't quite understand, we confront the child inside constantly as we can't afford looking backwards when the world seems to be falling apart, being much simpler to admit that it is looking forward what we do when we decide to let go of our fears and prejudices, or maybe I am just too naïve, which is naïve enough...

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house 
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, 
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds, 
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, 
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, 
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash, 
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash,

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow 
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, 
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little, old driver so lively and quick, 
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, 
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen 
On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! 
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, 
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, 
With a sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas, too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof 
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around, 
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, 
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, 
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes, how they twinkled! His dimples how merry! 
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, 
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, 
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly, 
That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, 
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, 
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, 
And filled all the stocking; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose, 
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, 
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

Happy christmas to all and to all a good night

"Twas The Night Before Christmas" - Clement Clarke Moore 

Some things never change,

because Christmas actually... is all around.

MA CHÈRE ESPAGNE

Nous ne serons jamais sûrs si les temps qu'on vive sont bons ou mauvais, mais autant qu'on écoute cette voix nous ne pouvons qu'être bien reconnaissants de vivre là où nous vivons et respirons en écoutant le bruit mélancolique de l'en bien profonde de Cecilia qui réclame liberté à cor et à crit, et l'espoir que chaque fois l'avenir sera meilleur, et cette jeune fille et son drapeau de liberté, ne soient jamais oubliés.

Écoutez "MI QUERIDA ESPAÑA":

MA CHÈRE ESPAGNE

Ma chère Espagne
Cette Espagne vive,

Cette Espagne morte

Maintenant tu te trouves

Éveillée de ta sieste

Par des vers de poète.

Ils sont où tes yeux?

Elles sont où tes mains?

Elle est où ta tête?

Ma chère Espagne
Cette Espagne à moi,

Cette Espagne à nous

Ma chère Espagne
Cette Espagne en doute,

Cette Espagne certaine

Des autels immobiles

Des bandes noires

À glacer le sang

Qui est-ce qui a souffert ta faim?

Qui est-ce qui a bu ton sang

Quand tu avais la pépie?

Ma chère Espagne
Cette Espagne à moi,

Cette Espagne à nous

Ma chère Espagne
Cette Espagne blanche,

Cette Espagne noire

Peuple de parole

Et de peau amère

Mais doux c’est ta promesse

Je veux être ta terre

Je veux être ton herbe

Quand je me meurs

Ma chère Espagne
Cette Espagne à moi,

Cette Espagne à nous.

Original de Evangelina Sobredo Galanes (Cecilia), 1975

Bill Clinton's Back To Work

Are you wondering how well your performance on last exam was?

Are you still stroke by the second listening comprehension test?

Then stop racking your brains and keep reading...

Here's the audio as well as the transcript of the last listening comprehension test we did couple hours ago. It's not from an interview, as I rightly guessed due to its sound and tone, but from his latest book "Back to work" published last November this very same year.

Well here's the excerpt that concerns our work today:

INTRODUCTION

I wrote this book because I love my country and I’m concerned about our future. 

As I often said when I first ran for president in 1992, America at its core is an idea — the idea that no matter who you are or where you’re from, if you work hard and play by the rules, you’ll have the freedom and opportunity to pursue your own dreams and leave your kids a country where they can chase theirs.
 

That belief has a tenuous hold on the more than fifteen million people who are unemployed or who are working part-time when they need full-time jobs to support themselves and their families. And it must seem downright unreal to the growing number of men and women who’ve been out of work for more than six months and can’t even get interviews for job openings, as if they’re somehow to blame for becoming casualties of the worst recession since the Depression.
 

Work is about more than making a living, as vital as that is. It’s fundamental to human dignity, to our sense of self-worth as useful, independent, free people. I earned my first money mowing lawns when I was twelve. At thirteen, I worked in a small grocery store and set up a used-comic-book stand on the side. By the time I finished college, I’d made a little money doing seven other things. By the end of law school, seven more. Over the last four decades, nine more, not counting my foundation and other philanthropic work. Most of my early jobs didn’t last long. I didn’t like them all. But I learned something in every job—about the work, dealing with people, and giving employers and customers their money’s worth.
I came of age believing that no matter what happened, I would always be able to support myself. It became a crucial part of my identity and drove me to spend a good portion of my adult life trying to give other people the chance to do the same thing. It’s heartbreaking to see so many people trapped in a web of enforced idleness, deep debt, and gnawing self-doubt. We have to change that. And we can.
 

In these few pages, I’ll try to explain what has happened to our country over the last thirty years, why our political system hasn’t done a better job of meeting our challenges, and why government still matters and what it should do. I’ll do my best to clarify what our choices are to revive the economy and deal with our long-term debt, and I’ll argue that the looming debt is a big problem that can’t be solved unless the economy starts growing again. And I don’t mean the kind of jobless, statistical growth of the first decade of the twenty-first century, with stagnant wages, rising poverty, crippling household debt, and 90 percent of the income growth going to the top 10 percent. I want American Dream growth—lots of new businesses, well-paying jobs, and American leadership in new industries, like clean energy and biotechnology.

Unless we restore robust economic growth, we’ll be stuck in this economy for years, and nothing we do will solve the longer-term debt problem, regardless of how we try to do it.
 

In short, we’ve got to get America back in the future business.

Reprinted from "Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy" by Bill Clinton © 2011 by William Jefferson Clinton. Used with permission of the publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

Amy W

Do you know whose eyes are these?

"Is this a lasting treasure
Or just a moment's pleasure?
Can I believe the magic of your sighs?
Will you still love me tomorrow?"

Yesterday, her first posthumous album was released, "Hidden Treasures" was the title chosen, a very good one as like many others before, some facts of her life eclipsed her true self behind, and so she remains an unknown celebrity, a hidden treasure, that is what she is.

It is now that you will surely think you want to really know her, and so as to do so you can read a lot of articles, books, and comments about her, and go on the internet which is swarming of video-documentaries pretending they can explain how her personality was, or on the contrary, you can simply listen to her own words in her own voice, beyond their meaning, observe her smiling, look her in the eyes and get through them, to her soul, trying to understand her honestly, without any sort of prejudice. I'd rather go with the latter. I guarantee you, it is absolutely worth it.

So I ask you once again, do you still think you know whose eyes were those?

     "She walks away,
The sun goes down,
She takes the day but I'm grown,
And in this grey, in this blue shade
My tears dry on their own"

Cenicienta: Revisited

I think that it is very interesting to see things from different points of view, and this time Spanish is going to be the foreign language.

 

I'm going to share with you a story that a read some time ago that some American fellow had to write as a part of his Spanish lesson practices. His first attemp was to revise the world-wide known story of Cinderella, and here you are what he came up with.

Maybe we could try to help him correct his mistakes, if there are any at all. What do you think?


Cenicienta vivía en una casa elaborada con dos hermanastras feas y su madrastra. Las hermanastras y la madrastra siempre daban muchas órdenes a Cenicienta, y ella no podía decir nada porque tenía miedo de ser regañada. Aunque las hermanastras y la madrastra siempre exigían que Cenicienta trabajara mucho, ella nunca perdió la esperanza y soñaba con tener una vida diferente. Cuando trabajaba, ella hablaba y cantaba con los animales para divertirse en la casa. Su atuendo sucio no le importaba mucho porque vivía en sus sueños, no en la realidad. 

Un día, el rey invitó a todas las mujeres casaderas de la ciudad a un baile para escoger una esposa para el príncipe. Cuando las hermanastras estaban preparándose para el baile, Cenicienta soñó con el baile, y bailó con un palo de escoba. Ella decidió preguntarle a su madrastra si pudiera ir al baile. La madrastra estuvo lívida. “¡Lava los platos! ¡Quita el polvo! ¡Limpia el baño! También necesitas preparar la cena para cuando volvamos. ¡No tienes tiempo de ir al baile!” Cenicienta estuvo desalentada y empezó a perder la esperanza. 

El trabajo inexorable volvió loca a Cenicienta. De pronto Cenicienta oyó una voz. “¿Quieres ir al baile, no?” dijo la voz. Apareció su hada madrina. “¡Sí, me importa más que nada! Por todo mi vida he soñado con conocer el príncipe, y siempre he esperado que…” “¡Cállate!” gritó el hada madrina. “El príncipe es un calavera, y tiene la inteligencia de un mico. ¿Por qué piensas que invita a todas las mujeres guapas a su castillo? Y siempre usa el mismo piropo: ‘¡Qué sorpresa! ¡El zapato le queda perfecto!’ Necesitas un verdadero hombre.” Con esto, el hada madrina desapareció. “Qué extraño”, dijo Cenicienta, y ella empezó a trabajar de nuevo. En muy poco tiempo, oyó un clamor desde fuera de la casa. La puerta abrió lentamente y una silueta apareció en la entrada. “My name is Chuck Norris, and I love you Cenicienta.” Cenicienta se confundió. “Lo siento, Señor, pero yo no comprendo el inglés. Por favor déjame en paz.” Pero Chuck Norris no le gustaba el español, y no quería irse. Él comenzó a acercarse más y más a ella. En ese momento, Zorro (CAME CRASHING THROUGH THE WINDOW) y gritó “Yo puedo hablar perfectamente el español.” Cenicienta le enamoró de Zorro inmediatamente. Zorro le dio una patada al estómago de Chuck Norris, levantó a Cenicienta sobre sus hombros, y la sacó de la habitación. “Me llamo Antonio Banderas, y eres la mujer de mis sueños.” Cuando una de las feas hermanastras regresó a la casa de Cenicienta, vio a Chuck Norris, inconsciente, en el suelo. Lo trajo a la iglesia y se casaron en aquella noche. Cenicienta y Antonio Banderas hablaron el español cada día, tuvieron hijos guapos e hispánicos, y vivieron felices para siempre. 

La moraleja del cuento es que si no aprende bien el español, vas a tener niños feos.

 BryGuy; 13/02/2006 - Washington DC

Indignez-Vous!

Le changement est proche, c'est une affirmation que j'ai arrivé a dire sans crainte de trop me tromper en voyant les dernières manifestations populaires au crit d'"Indignez-vous!" écrit par Hessel.

Stéphane Hessel, est un diplomate et militant politique français de 94 ans, combattant de la France libre pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, puis déporté à Buchenwald, il a été secrétaire de la commission ayant élaboré à l'ONU la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme. Il est également écrivain et poète.

C'est précisément ça ce que lui a fait devenir célèbre mondialement à cause d'avoir être l'auteur de'un petit livre d'une trentaine de pages qui a bouleversé l'actualité, especialèment a movilisé la jeunesse du mon entier.

L'Express l'explique très bien dans son article du 30/12/2010.

Stéphane Hessel au plateau des Glières 17 mai 2009 

15-M: Rejoindre le Révolution Espagnole

José Luis Sampedro a fait sa défense avec la societé espagnole.



Je voudrais bien finir par démontrer avec un video américain que les States ont aussi besoin des mêmes reponses que nous tous.

              Bonsoir, et Bonne chance

                  Good night, and Good luck

                       Buenas noches, y buena suerte...

Freddie Mercury Is Still Alive

Today is 24th November 2011, 20 years ago we lost the very unique Farrokh Bulsara, and these days you'll be able to see all sort of articles, tv programmes, interviews, videos, and a huge etcetera related to him, one of those is this I'd like to share with you now, it's not about himself but about the band, but it will help you understand that, Freddie Mercury is still alive. 

British television channel BBC TV will air a brand-new documentary in two different parts as the legendary band will count 40 years since it was founded, the documentary is called "Queen: Days Of Our Lives".

We'll be able to listen to the very Roger Taylor, and Brian May sharing with us their version of the incredible years with Queen, the huge success, their albums, tours and promotions all over the world including Asia, and South America, as well as their current situation and Freddie's passing in a very detailed way for the first time.

In 1971, four university students got together to form a band. Since then, that certain band called Queen have released 26 albums and sold over 300 million records worldwide. The popularity of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon is stronger than ever. Their story is a remarkable one, a narrative that covers early struggles, huge obstacles, success, arguments, breakups, triumph, tragedy and an enduring legacy – all against a backdrop of brilliant music and stunning live performances from every corner of the globe.

In this film, for the first time, it is the band that tells their story. Guiding us through an extensive archive full of hitherto unseen footage, the documentary reveals how four strong-minded individuals, all capable of writing massive hit songs, worked together so successfully for four decades.

Queen never did anything by halves – meaning their highs were massive, but their lows catastrophic. It is a compelling story told with intelligence, wit, plenty of humor and painful honesty.

But the band quickly learned that if reaching the top is tough, staying there is the biggest challenge of all. With a loss of focus in the studio, the decline in popularity in North America, increasing internal tension and a desire to pursue solo projects, it seemed as if the band had had its day.

Then came the performance from Mercury at Live Aid, and their record breaking Magic tour in 1986. Queen were propelled back amongst the very best. Rejuvenated, the world was once again at their feet, but then tragedy struck and threatened to tear the band apart. Featuring musical performances, previously unseen and rare footage, and intimate interviews.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 2 hours)

or with Spanish subtitles if you prefer so

 - Part 1 

 - Part 2

God Save the Queen!

C1 y C2: Ciclo Superior (Especialización)

Hay vida detrás de un Ciclo Avanzado de Idiomas en las Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas españolas?

Esta es la pregunta que muchos de vosotros, estudiantes de idiomas, o gentes interesadas en la certificación del conocimiento en lenguas extranjeras.

Pues bien la respuesta es SÍ, he contactado ciertas fuentes y he conseguido interesante y reciente información al respecto.

Tras completar el Ciclo Avanzado (5º Curso) en una EOI correspondiente en la actualidad al Nivel B2 del Marco Común de Referencia Europea,  existe como muchos de vosotros por no decir todos sabreis, el Nivel C1 y C2, cursos ambos dos de perfeccionamiento lingüístico o Ciclo Superior o de Especialización. Hasta ahora para poder tener acceso a esos cursos había que hacerlo en academias fuera del sistema educativo público.

Sin embargo y según parece la LOE prevee que las Comunidades Autónomas podrán impartir cursos de idiomas de nivel C (C1 y C2 del Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas), sí así lo desean, en función de su autonomía legislativa y reglamentaria.

Existen dos tipos de cursos:

• Cursos reglados: aquellos cuyos contenidos mínimos están desarrollados mediante reglamento autonómico (decreto) u orden ministerial (para Ceuta y Melilla), y que están evaluados mediante un examen de certificación equiparables a la certificación de los niveles básico, intermedio y avanzado.
• Cursos NO reglados: aquellos cuyos contenidos mínimos están desarrollados mediante una programación didáctica del departamento del idioma correspondiente adscrito a una EOI específica (autorizado por la Consejería de Educación), y que no están evaluados mediante un examen de certificación. Sólo conducen a la obtención de un certificado de asistencia, y, en su caso, de aprovechamiento.

CC.AA.	TÍTULO DEL CURSO	NIVEL DEL CURSO	EOI	OBSERVACIONES
Andalucía	-	C2	-	Aprobado el decreto de implantación de ambos niveles, el C1 se implantará este curso.
Euskadi	Nivel Aptitud	C1	Todas	Todos los idiomas. Curso anual reglado.
Comunidad Foral de Navarra	C1	C1	Todas	Euskera, Español, Inglés y Francés. Curso anual reglado.
Illes Balears	C2	C2	Palma	Catalán, Inglés y Alemán. Curso anual reglado.
Castilla y León	C1	C1	Todas	Solo Inglés. Curso anual reglado.
Comunidad de Madrid	Destrezas Integradas	C1	EOI Jesús Maestro	Sólo Inglés. Curso A (1er cuatrimestre) y Curso B (2º Cuatrimestre) de perfeccionamiento no reglados.
Comunidad de Madrid	Destrezas Integradas	C1	EOI Jesús Maestro	Sólo Español. Curso cuatrimestral NO reglado.
Comunidad de Madrid	C1	C1	EOI San Blas	Sólo Inglés. Curso anual NO reglado.
Ceuta	C1	C1	EOI Ceuta	Sólo Inglés y Francés. Curso anual reglado.

* Fuente del cuadro explicativo: eeooiinet.wikispaces.com

De esto mismo se extrae la particularidad andaluza que es la que nos interesa en el caso que nos ocupa, y que desde el pasado 27 de Septiembre, según el artículo publicado en el BOJA, rige nuestra Comunidad Autónoma.

Espero haber resuelto todas las posibles dudas en cuanto a este importante tema, de lo contrario intentaré satisfacerlas dentro de mis humildes posibilidades a la medida que se me hagan saber.