Barça

My brother, a staunch Barcelona FC supporter, has recommended this glowing review of the game by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13576522.stm

Culés will feel proud.

End of the world rescheduled for October

Ooops, it turns out calculations were a few months off.

Read and/listen:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13517496

Use of English practice for 5th level

Remember there are many online resources to practice Use of English.

Here's a selection, from Intermediate to Advanced (don't despise Intermediate! It's good revision for you.):

B1

http://phobos.xtec.net/eoi/index.php?module=detic_portal&ref=an_el_cg

http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/archivopub.do?ctrl=MCRST117ZI63887&id=63887 (KEY)

B2

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm

http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/index.html

http://phobos.xtec.net/eoi/index.php?module=detic_portal&ref=an_ap_cg

http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/archivopub.do?ctrl=MCRST117ZI63902&id=63902 (KEY)

C1

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/cae/students/tests/pt1index.htm

http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/index.php

http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/archivopub.do?ctrl=MCRST117ZI63918&id=63918 (KEY)

C2 Do this only if you're extremely confident, else you might get demoralised. :)

http://www.examenglish.com/cpe/index.php

The elections

"Spain's governing Socialist party has suffered heavy losses in local and regional elections.

With 91% of municipal votes counted, the centre-right Popular Party (PP) had almost a 10-percentage point lead, the interior ministry said.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero conceded defeat but ruled out early general elections.

Voting took place amid mass protests against high unemployment and the government's handling of the economy.

Young demonstrators holding sit-ins in Madrid and other cities said rallies would continue for another week.

Mr Zapatero said three years of economic crisis had taken their toll."

Read more and watch the video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13496038

Other gadgets: Apture

I got this idea from a colleague's blog and have now incorporated it onto this one.

Apture is a tool which allows you to look up words just by highlighting them. It's easier and quicker if I just post the video for that too.

Apture: Search. Explore. Experience. from Apture Inc on Vimeo.

So, now you can look up any word on this blog just by highlighting it. Cool, eh?

Dropbox

Does anybody want an invitation to Dropbox? I get extra storage for inviting people (if they accept, I suppose) and they do too.

I started using it about 2 days ago, put 4 videos in it and now it's almost full. So if you think it could be useful for you let me invite you.

This is how it works:

http://www.dropbox.com

Youth protests

The Washington Post's account of today's demonstrations:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/tens-of-thousands-march-in-spain

Use sunscreen

This video was recommended to me by Romuald from 5B.

Apparently it was originally an essay written by Mary Schmich and published as a column in the Chicago Tribune. Its original title was "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young". It was then turned into a "song" by Baz Luhrmann and renamed "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)".

There are quite a few videos set to the song on YouTube, but this is the one Romauald recommended, with some captions and subtitles.

I'm sure everyone will find some words of wisdom in it, even if it's just the bit about sunscreen.




Lyrics, here: http://www.lyricscrawler.com/song/3953.html

Tributes to Seve

Apparently Severiano Ballesteros was very popular and well-loved in the UK.

A selection from the British press:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/golf/ballesteros-dies-at-home-in-north-spain-2280507.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/8500074/The-golfing-world-pays-tribute-to-Seve-Ballesteros.html

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,18232_6917680,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/may/07/seve-ballesteros-obituary

The end is nigh

On the subject of TIME and its running out I discover that a California (where else?) preacher has predicted the end of the world (again) for the 21st of May, quite conveniently on a Saturday, at around 6pm, he specifies. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-preacher-warns-end-of-the-world-is-nigh-21-may-around-6pm-to-be-precise-2254139.html

The implications for EOI students are of course enormous as all the exams are AFTER that date, and so now is the time to decide whether to believe it and stop studying, or to shrug it off as just another California weirdo making ludicrous claims.

Maybe a photo of him will help you make your minds up, so here he is:

Preacher man. Does he know something we don't?