MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!

Today, the Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

Besides eating turkey and pumpkin pie and watching the Superbowl on TV, Thanksgiving Day is a day on which people give thanks for all the good things that has happened to them this year.

What about you? What are you thankful for? 

Share your thoughts and gratitude with us!

Do you want to find out more about Thanksgiving?

 Scholastic's THANKSGIVING WEBQUEST might be fun!

http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/

IT HAS BEEN 20 YEARS… SINCE THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL!

“Wir sind das Volk!” - “We are the People”

9 November 1989 

The Berlin Wall (in German, Berliner Mauer) was a concrete barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany) that completely encircled the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The Wall included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses.

The separate and much longer inner German Border (the IGB) demarcated the border between East and West Germany. Both borders came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc.

Prior to the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans had avoided Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and escaped into West Germany, many over the border between East and West Berlin. During its existence from 1961 to 1989, the Wall stopped almost all such emigration and separated the GDR from West Berlin for more than a quarter of a century. After its erection, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between around 100 and 200.

During a revolutionary wave sweeping across the Eastern Bloc, the East German government announced on November 9, 1989, after several weeks of civil unrest, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans climbed onto and crossed the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. 

Over the next few weeks, parts of the wall were chipped away by a euphoric public and by souvenir hunters; industrial equipment was later used to remove almost all of the rest. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.      (www.wikipedia.org)

BBC News: Collapse of the Berlin Wall (November 1989)

Fall of the Berlin Wall Remembered - 20 Year Anniversary

Would you like to know more about the Berlin Wall? 

Take a historical and geographical journey of the Berlin Wall on the Guradian website! There are 5 videos there that will tell you all about it!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/berlin-wall-20-years-on

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Wishing you a  - belated - but Happy Halloween!!!

Cartoon from www.slate.com

Speaking Languages...

Do You Speak English? 

Have you paid attention to language learning at school?

How many languages do YOU speak?  

Leave your comment here!

Once again, on the 26th of September, Europe celebrates its multilingualism.

How can we celebrate the European Day of Languages?

We challenge you all to try to learn a different langauge!

You can visit the Council of Europe's webpage and find out more about this day. There are even online games you can play!

LINK: http://www.ecml.at/edl/

You can play the games here!

--------------------------------------------------------

How many languages do the Portuguese speak?

It is very sad to learn the truth. Check this news article from Público! 

Portugal é o segundo país onde menos adultos falam uma língua estrangeira 

24.09.2009 - 15h39 Lusa

Portugal é o segundo país da União Europeia (UE) onde menos adultos falam uma língua estrangeira, segundo dados hoje divulgados pelo Eurostat, a propósito do Dia Europeu das Línguas.

Em Portugal, 51,3 por cento dos adultos entre os 25 e os 64 anos não falam qualquer língua estrangeira (36,2 por cento é a média da UE), percentagem que coloca o país em segundo lugar a contar do fim, depois da Hungria (78,4 por cento).

No outro extremo está a Lituânia, onde apenas 2,5 por cento dos adultos não falam outra língua, seguida da Suécia, com 5 por cento. Dos portugueses inquiridos, 22,3 por cento responderam que falam um idioma estrangeiro (35,7 por cento na UE) e 26,4 por cento que falam dois ou mais (28,1 por cento na UE). A segunda língua mais falada pelos portugueses é o inglês.

Em relação ao número de alunos do segundo ciclo do ensino secundário que aprende línguas, Portugal não disponibilizou dados ao Eurostat, o gabinete de estatísticas da UE. O Reino Unido é o país onde mais estudantes não aprendem qualquer idioma naquele grau de ensino (51,4 por cento, contra 6,4 na UE), seguido da Irlanda, com 18,8 por cento.

A média da UE para a aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira é de 33,4 por cento e de duas ou mais é de 60,1 por cento. Na Holanda, Luxemburgo e República Checa, todos os alunos do segundo ciclo do secundário aprendem pelo menos duas línguas estrangeiras. O inglês é a segunda língua mais estudada em 24 Estados-membros, com o francês a ocupar essa posição na Irlanda, Luxemburgo e Reino Unido.