HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!

happy thanksgiving+day+animated pics on Sodahead

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.


Watch the video below in order to learn more about this great American holiday!

Have some Thanksgiving fun!

Gloria Gobbler, You Can't Gobble Me

Gloria Gobbler, I Will Survive

M.C. Turkey Hammer, U Can't Stuff This

It's official! We are now 7,000,000,000!

The Cagle Post has a great collection of cartoons about the world's population having reached the impressive number of 7 billion people.  


Check out these numbers about the World population and its growth:

• 1 billion- 1804
• 2 billion- 1927
• 3 billion- 1959
• 4 billion- 1974
• 5 billion- 1987
• 6 billion- 1999
• 7 billion- 2011

Source: UN

Luojie, China Dailyhttp://cagle.com/news/7billion/2.asp

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Today is the European Day of Languages!

EDL logo

Do you know what day is today?


European Union countries celebrate, on the 26th September, the European Day of Languages.  But why?


Throughout Europe, 800 million Europeans represented in the Council of Europe's 47 member states are encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in and out of school. Being convinced that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent, the Council of Europe promotes plurilingualism in the whole of Europe.

Are you an eager language learner? How many foreign languages can you speak?


Go online and check out the Council of Europe's website dedicated to the European Day of Languages: http://edl.ecml.at/


You will find there a lot of information about this day and some games and quizzes about languages.

Test your knowledge of English and see if you can recognise the following accents:

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!

Summer holidays are definitely over! Are you ready for school? We certainly hope so!

Participate by posting on our blog and you can send blog posting material (music, videos, photos, texts, etc) to this email: alunos.barcelinhos@gmail.com

Welcome back to school! Welcome to our English Spot Blog!

WE ARE NOT IN THE MOODY'S - The Economic Crisis, Portugal and "Junk"

A lot has been said and written about Moody's rating our country as being "junk". 
This video below has depicted our "mood" following the disgraceful rating. It is quite an interesting portrayal of Portugal.
Enjoy it and RATE it!

HAPPY SUMMER DAYS!!!!

Summer Holidays are here!

Are you enjoying your summer holidays?
If you are travelling somewhere, have a safe trip!
This is a short animation film about a couple on their vacation travelling to California. It is based on a true story. Enjoy it!

Something Left, Something Taken- Full Version from Tiny Inventions on Vimeo.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! (a bit delayed... )

The LingQ Project - Learning languages online

What is LingQ?
LingQ.com is a website where you can learn English and 10 other languages online.
On this site you will find hundreds of lessons to read and listen to free of charge. The podcasts cover beginner, intermediate, and advanced level lessons and topics include basic greetings, social issues, language learning and more all in natural English or other langauges. You can sign up for a FREE account and start learning a new language today!


In order to stress the importance of language learning, I asked my students from class 10D, from Escola Secundária/3 de Barcelinhos, to participate in the LingQ Project. 
Each student had to create some content to upload on the website as native speakers of the Portuguese language in order to help foreign students to learn our mother tongue.


If you want to learn European Portuguese, then join Class 10D from Escola Secundária/3 de Barcelinhos, Barcelos, Portugal as they talk about their lives and their country. 


These are the links to the lessons/podcasts:

• LESSON "Barcelos, a nossa cidade" - This is a simple text, a description of Barcelos, the hometown of my students. Text and audio were created by Eliana, Márcia, Sara and Sofia from Class 10D from Escola Secundária/3 de Barcelinhos.
• LESSON "Como chegar ao teatro? - Direcções" - This is a simple dialogue in which two teenagers ask for and give directions. Text and audio created by Débora, Carolina and Francisca from Class 10D.
• LESSON "Diálogo entre a Maria e a Íris" - This is a simple dialogue based on personal information between two teenagers. Text and audio created by Ana Sofia and Marisa from Class 10D. 
• LESSON "Mourinho em Publicidade do BCP Millenium" - This is an extract of a recording of a commercial. The commercial is about the bank Millennium and the speaker is José Mourinho, the famous football coach. The translation of the transcript was created by Pedro and Mateus from Class 10D.
• LESSON "Luís Vaz de Camões & o poema "Mudam-se os tempos, mudam-se as vontades" - This is a recording of the poem "Mudam-se os tempos, mudam-se as vontades" by Camões, followed by a short description about the poet. The glossary and audio were created by Ana Catarina Miranda, Ana Catarina Vilas Boas and Carina from Class 10D.
• LESSON "Poema "Frutos" de Eugénio de Andrade" - This is a recording of the poem "Frutos" by Eugénio de Andrade, followed by a short description about the poet. The glossary and audio were created by Joel and Miguel from Class 10D.
• LESSON "Mar Português" de Fernando Pessoa" - This is a recording of the poem "Mar Português" by Fernando Pessoa, followed by a short description about the poet. The glossary and audio were created by Regina and Cristiana from Class 10D. 

Sign up a for a free account and check out Class D's Portuguese lessons. 

SUMMER HOLIDAYS: Perfect time to practise your English!

Are you worried about forgetting your English during the summer holidays?
Don't worry! Here are some tips to practise your English!

HAVE YOU HEARD? CELL PHONES MAY CAUSE CANCER!

Are you permanently attached to your cell phone? If you are addicted to your cell phone, it seems you may be at risk!


Comment on these great cartoons!

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"BROADCAST YOURSELF": Cover songs & YouTube

If there’s one thing YouTube has always been good for, it is as a platform for any ordinary person to express himself or herself. That is the very basis of its “broadcast yourself” roots.

If you have the time - and patience! - to browse thousands of music videos on YouTube, you will quickly find out that most of them are actually cover songs!  Do you know what a cover song is?
A cover version (or simply "cover") is a song which is re-recorded by a singer or band, after another artist has released a recording of it. Sometimes the versions are similar, but sometimes they are very different. Many songs become more popular as cover versions than in their original recordings. (wikipedia.org)

Of course, there are also issues regarding copyright violations. If you are planning on taping a cover of your favourite song and uploading it on YouTube, perhaps you should read some information on this issue before... Otherwsie you could get into trouble! Here are the links to two articles that discuss this problem and give you some advice:
           "Recording, Releasing, and Performing Cover Songs" by Cameron Mizell
           "Music, Copyright, and YouTube" by  Suzanne Lainson
A great deal of musicians make videos of themselves performing cover songs at home and upload them to sites like YouTube. This has become a great way to capture people’s attention with the covered songs as a gateway to their original music. Usually, videos of cover songs get more views than videos of original music.
A good example of this is the band Karmin, a duo of singers from Boston, USA. Have you ever listened to their songs? Give them a try, I'm sure you'll love them!

What the Finns need to know about Portugal [video]

The following video is a compilation of great accomplishments of the Portuguese people. It also reveals how Portugal has been generous towards other countries in the world.
Portugal has been greatly affected by the economic crisis and international financial markets are "punishing" our national economy. 
Finland's support is necessary for the EU's bailout but a large number of Finns are against it. 
This video was presented yesterday, in Estoril, at the end of the ESTORIL CONFERENCES - Global Challenges, Local Answers. Its aim is to make the Finnish people aware of the Portuguese history and generosity.

What do you think of this?