5-minute meditation: Redon's 'Ophelia among the Flowers' | National Gallery

Here's a lovely meditation exercise from the London National Gallery. You can take advantage of it to relax, learn some English and also some art.

I hope you like it!

Visiting Aranjuez

We are also preparing a visit to Aranjuez for next month. I like this video particularly because it is very easy to follow and the vocabulary is not too difficult. The speaker mentions a few dates --what are they related to?

15th century
18th century
19th century

1535
1561
1717



You can  find more videos about Spain on the Spanish Tourist Office Offcial Channel . Enjoy!

A trip to El Escorial

We are preparing a visit to El Escorial next month. It takes a lot of work since the students need to research all the monuments and write texts about it, but all that effort really pays off. Here is one of the videos we have seen in class:



Rick Steves is famous in the US for his travel show on APT (American Public Television). He has taught at the university, worked as a tour guide and written travel books. There are plenty of other travel videos from Rick Steves here: http://www.youtube.com/user/RickSteves?feature=watch

The Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart is one of the most famous short stories by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. In 1953, Columbia Pictures adapted the story into a very scary animated film. There are many versions on Youtube, but I chose this one because it is subtitled in Spanish :-)

I think it is a great way to celebrate Halloween!

Think outside the box

The expression "Think outside the box", in English, means that you have to think differently and be creative to be noticed.

I thought of this expresion today when I saw this article. It is about people who decided to make their resumes (also called curriculum vitae) a bit more interesting than the usual ones.

I know some of you are already thinking of looking for a job, so maybe this will inspire you!

http://resources.savedelete.com/70-most-artistic-and-creative-resumes-of-all-time.html

So, what is English made of?

The video below is a poem by the young poet Dizraeli. It is a bit difficult to follow if you don't have a good level, so concentrate only on the written words and on the rhythm of the poem.



In the poem, Dizraeli talks about how English is a language that is used by many different people around the world, in different media, spoken by a lot of people from different countries, and which borrows terms from many different sources.

(a special thanks to the Macmillan Youtube channel!) Ps. You can see the full text of the poem on pdf here

Class pictures

Dawoud Bey is an American photographer and a professor of photography at Columbia College, Chicago. He was born in Queens (New York City). One of his specialities is making photographies of teenagers. On his site, http://www.dawoudbey.net/, you can find many examples of his work. Today we are going to focus on his most recent work, Class Pictures, which was reviewed by Time Magazine. Each of the picture has a few sentences about what the subjects think that defines them -- their personality, interests, family or everyday life. Follow the link to answer these questions. You can work in groups and use the dictionary:

Teens in America:Class Pictures

GROUP A

1. Why does Simone think she's part of a minority?
2. Why does Kevin think his father's death had a positive side?
3. What does Ziarra want to study when she's older? Why?
4. What is Austin's favourite sport?

GROUP B

1. Is Danny always outgoing and outspoken?
2. What did Marieke do at dinner when she liked a book?
3. What does Omar think people notice first when they look at him?
4. How has Christopher's cancer changed his personality?

GROUP C

1. Does Sarah think being "Normal" is important?
2. What's special about Jordan's family?
3. What attitude does Isabel hate?
4. What motivates Rasec?

GROUP D

1. How many languages does Usha speak?
2. Does Alejandro want to have a brother or a sister?
3. When is Robert getting married?
4. What does Shalanta want to study when she's older? Why?

As an extra work, you can take a picture of yourself and write a text about it.

The Memory Man

Stephen Wiltshire was born in London on 24th April, 1974. When he was three years old, he was diagnosed as autistic. He had no language, could not control his emotions and lived entirely in his own world.

At the age of five, Stephen was sent to Queensmill School in London, a school for children with special needs. Teachers soon saw that he communicated with the world through the language of drawing; first animals, then London buses, and finally buildings. These drawings show a masterful perspective, and a natural capacity for art. When he was eight, Stephen saw in a schoolbook pictures of an earthquake, and started drawing cities after the effects of imaginary earthquakes. He drew most of the major London landmarks.

His teachers at Queensmill School wanted to encourage him to speak, so they temporarily took away his art materials. Stephen then spoke his first word - "paper." He learned to speak fully at the age of nine.
Stephen has appeared in various documantaries since he was a child. In one of them, in 2001, he flew over London by helicopter and drew a detailed and illustration of it from the air in three hours; his drawing included many monuments. He has also drawn Tokyo, Rome, Hong Kong and Frankfurt. (adapted from Wiltshire's site http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/)

He is right now in Madrid. During this week, he has flown by helicopter over the city centre, and is currently working on one of his drawings. You can see him from the 4th to the 8th of February at the Palacio de los Deportes.

You can also visit his website gallery, at http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/gallery.aspx
or see some videos at http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/download_video.aspx?Id=1239&Mode=Mac


(see also the El País article, in Spanish Stephen el Memorioso)