Wildfires rage in Southern Europe

(taken from the BBC)
Thousands of fighters are battling to bring under control summer wildfires that are spreading across parts of Southern Europe .
At least eight people have died in different countries, where the wildfires are taking place. For example in: Spain, France, Greece and the Italian Island of Sardinia.
Spain was the most affected, with at least seven big fires in the south and east. But fortunately, some of them are now rated as stable.
During the hot dry weather, strong winds fanned the flames.
Spain’s interior ministry is preventing people from new starting fires in the following intense heat.
Leastways about 1.5OO people have been evacuated. Many people think that it’s like a horror film where everything is burning down. As a consequence of the big fires, Spain has lost six fire fighters in the last four days. Can we do anything to try to stop this kind of disasters? What is your suggestion?

Anush

MAISIE AND THE DOLPHIN

This is the summary of a short story sent by Anush.

This is a short story, which is really lovely and interesting for children.
Maisie is a thirteen- year old girl. She lives in the Bahamas with her parents and her grandfather.
Her parents are vets and they work at the freeport animal hospital that is next to their house. The hospital is not doing well, so they have to think about selling their house and the hospital too.
On saturdays, Maisie and her grandfather often go out in his boat, which is called “The warm wind”. Once, Maisie sees something underwater, it was a piece of wood that had some letters on it: “m.n.a” when she went to tell her grandfather about that, they saw an expensive American boat and a dolphin. Suddenly they saw that the boat hit the animal, and after that he drove away. As soon as they could they took the dolphin to the freeport animal hospital and to their surprise they saw that the American boat was there at their house. When they got into the house the owner of the boat, Carl Flint, was talking with Maisie`s dad. Carl wanted to buy the house and the hospital in order to build a big hotel. Maisie`s dad was not sure of selling them, but they didn`t have enough money to keep the hospital open. So, he was going to think about selling them and then he would call Flint.
Some weeks later, Ben, the dolphin is taken back to the sea, because it`s better.
One day, while Maisie was swimming underwater she saw a box. She opened it and there she found thousands of gold coins.
The next day, she appeared in the newspaper.
Fortunately, they were not going to sell both buildings. And with the money that Maisie found they built a new hospital and live there happily.

Expectations shape behaviour

Surely you have heard that if you fear for something it is bound to happen. But I have never thought that this could be applied even to economic events. In an article in the Buenos Aires Herald it is argued that psychology matters a lot and that many of the consequences of global recesion, such as inflation, are shaped by what workers, managers and investors expect. In this article it is said that if they fear inflation, they act in ways that bring it about. This argument is based on what happened after the recession in late 1948 and 1949 when inflation stopped because people did not expect it to continue. Economists say that inflation is the result of too much demand chasing too little supply. Is it possible for both arguments to be correct? What do you think? Can psychology influence economy?
To read the article click HERE.

Cheeps

A sweet story for a gloomy afternoon

Do you like stories? Well, this one is somehow connected with the Apollo Landing in 1969. But in fact, it goes beyond that event. It has to do with family relationships, childhood, memories, affection. Though it is written in Spanish, I think it worth reading; but remember, your comments must be in English. The name of the story is "El abuelo en la Apolo". Click HERE to read it.

Anahí

The Moon, 40 years ago.

It is likely you can recognize these famous words:"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" and immediately you associate them with the lunar landing mission in 1969. The astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins became not only the first humans to land on the moon but also the symbol of friendship around the world because we celebrate the friend's day in their honour. I found it difficult not to relate these events with some myths. Maybe you heard about the story that says that mission was a fake. It is said that it was a staging made in the Hollywood studios, but Americans managed to dismiss those versions and there nothing happened. All in all, today we celebrate a new anniversary of the first landing on the moon , an experience to envy!

Sky

Warrior's Song by Catherine Coulter

Warrior's Song is a romantic novel. The novel depicts the eighteen years old princess Chandra de Avenell. Although Chandra looks like a delicate golden princess, she fights like a warrior. Moreover this beautiful blue eyed girl wears a warrior's pride and wants to be free and independent for ever. She does not want to get marry in order to help and protect her father who taught her to fight as a man.
Chandra's father chooses her a husband, Sir Jerval de Vernemon. Her father considers Chandra can not live as a man because she is a beauty. The moment Sir Jerval is introduced to Chandra he gets mad in love with her, however, Chandra likes him as a friend and enjoy riding with him. The
Chandra gets maried to Jerval against her will and threatend by her father. Chandra leaves her kingdom to settle down in her husband's kingdom. Jerval is so deeply heart with her wife's behavior that he even hits her once so that she stops running away early in the mornigs to be in the forest or doing different warrior's activities.
At the end of the novel Chandra is really in love with her husband. She is able to be loyal to her husband after facing really hard situations that make her realize that war and fighting are not something to be proud about since many innocent people die. She is pregnant and they are terrifically happy.
I highly recommend the novel because it depicts the limited possibilites women had many centuries ago. In addition, Warrior's Song also shows that women in some countries were treated just as sexual objects that can be taken for rich men without any kind of consideration.

Angels

Realism and Debate in Entre Les Murs

Hi people, this is a contribution sent by Claudia. Hope you find it useful. Anahí

March 19th, 2009 by Gautam (taken from http://www.brokenprojector.com/wordpress/?p=82)
In France, school education is “gratuit et compulsaire”- meaning it is free and compulsory. Students are sent to various “levels” of schools according to their academic performance and behavior, resulting in a world where smart kids get to learn and grow with smart kids and the not so smart ones share their classrooms with other under-performers and hope that if they study hard and behave themselves, they will probably get to go to a better school the following year.
This is the setting for the film in question “Entre Les Murs” better known to English audiences as simply “The Class”. The title literally translates into English as “Between the Walls”- a clever title indeed as it signifies the long association that exists between the words “walls” and “classroom” and at the same time brings about the restrictive and claustrophobic nature of being “in between” walls. The premise of the story comes from the semi-autobiographical book written by François Bégaudeau, who rather aptly also takes on the lead role of the French teacher François Marin. The film, like the book follows the teacher’s daily routine at the school (named “Dolto”)- in the classroom and the teacher’s lounge through a whole academic year. Indeed, the camera never leaves the school campus resulting in a concentric irony that while the students are trapped “Between the Walls” of the classroom, the teachers are themselves trapped “Between the Walls” of the school.
Day by day we see the teachers struggle to make sense out of their present situation and try to come up with the “one perfect” way that will apply well to all students in unanimous agreement but we see how futile these attempts are when we follow Monsieur Marin in his racially diverse class and his constant attempts to try and cater to each and every student the best he can. Marin slowly realizes that his classroom is somewhat a miniature France itself- racially diverse, religiously tolerant and connected only by the golden yarn of the French language. This is perhaps the very first time in cinema where an accurate depiction of a racially diverse classroom has been done with such little drama (…) all so diverse and all in the need of separate attention and a separate method of teaching.
The film raises a lot of important questions in the form of the teachers making some tough decisions that they think are morally viable but at the same time we see the students’ disillusionment in the system is only further confirmed with their acts. Marin, though at first seems unlike his colleagues in terms of being able to better communicate with his students, slowly gets himself involved in questionable methods to bring order to his class. Perhaps, it is this moral ambiguity and the level of realism used in the film that bring about the third dimension in vast emboss in this film- it’s not a Freedom Writers (2007) or a Dangerous Minds (1994) both semi-autobiographical accounts of teachers dealing with a racially diverse classroom, but unlike a Hillary Swank or a Michelle Pfeiffer, François Bégaudeau doesn’t end up changing a class that can’t sit together in the same room to a group of individuals who are ready to take a bullet for each other.
On the technical side, the film really shines. Set to the rich, warm palettes of the Parisian sun and with the skillful use of the hand-held camera (a rare skill, often put to bad use by inexperienced cinematographers simply aping their role-models), the film rides on at its own pace over a tolerable time frame of just over two hours. One only notices at the end credits, that there is not a single instance of music in the film and perhaps certain unseasoned audiences may even perceive this film as a documentary. And to an extent, it really is documentary. All the actors playing the students in the film are students of the school themselves and playing roles with the same name as themselves- save for Khoumba and Soulaiman- both names and stories manufactured especially for the film to create certain important plot points in the film.
In the end, one can only debate on how deep or how shallow the film is but it is this very fact that people are sitting around their dinner tables and debating the validity of this film is what makes it a significant film.
“Entre Les Murs” won the prestigious Palmd’Or at the 61st Cannes FilmFestival (2008).

TOM SAWYER by Mark Twain

Did you know that Mark Twain's real name was Samuel Clement?And that this pseudonym was taken from the shout that the sounding lines leave during the navigation in the Misissipi River in order to measure two metres deep? Tom Sawyer is his most well known book ,in which he writes not only a boy's startling image but also life ,customs and habits as regards the inhabitants that lived in the second half of the 17 th century.The admirable touches of humour,tenderness and realism make of this novel one of the most lovely ones for all ages ,children and adults.Tom ,the brilliant main character,an adventurous boy, a kind of pseud-hero,cheeky and smart, will do that you were moved to tears.

Sky

“I have a dream” (by Martin Luther King)

Dreams are dreams... but Dr. King´s one became real. Everything began in the late golden ´50s when Martin Luther King and a group of AfricanAmerican people decided to stop white-supremacy in USA. Since then, they fought hard against racial discrimination and for their civil rights. After many difficulties and achievements he called for a march to Washington and delivered his famous speech “I have a dream” considered as the turning point of the fight.

One summer day in 1963 King´s words of hope and encouragement echoed stronger than ever. They had the aim to support the proposed civil rights legislation through a series of non-violent actions. Therefore, while claiming dignity and discipline, he asked his people to be creative during protests by avoiding the use of physical violence. What is more, he explained that white people were not the enemy –in fact many of them were taking part of the march.

It was very clear for King that the American Dream had left black people appart. The rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the Negro community had been systematically violated throughout two centuries. Thus, since he considered the Nation owed them those rights, King asked for “the cash of their check”. In King´s words both the USA Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were supposed to guarantee such inalienable rights for everyone for human beings are created equal by God. However, the Negroes were not free.

In spite of many frustrations and triumphs King´s speech displayed faithfully the spirit of black people fighting. It was a glorious day, a moment of hope for justice, brotherhood between black and white people, and peace for everyone. And as if he were foreseeing the future, it was “a beginning, not an end”.

Lorna

Smile!

Do you have to smile at clients at work? According to a BBC article, the people working for a rail firm do have to. This firm has recently introduced a computarised system to check on its staff`s faces. In order to improve service to customers, a smile scanner will measure the smile`s curvature, so the staff should smile broadly. The system will be operating in around 15 Tokyo stations, and those employees who don`t smile will be advised to look less serious and more friendly. In this way, rail firm owners will expect a high increase in their passengers` satisfaction with the service.

SPARKLING

An anecdote

Last day, I had to teach my students some characteristics related to reptiles. Of course, I had to read about them just in case. When the class started, they tried to be curious in discovering new information and they shared the material they had brought. Some minutes later, one group started the project about snakes and they wanted to know all sorts of snakes, if they are dangerous, or if they live all over the world. I told them, that snakes are very easy to recognize as they have long and thin bodies, and no arms or legs. They were totally enthutistic with the process of the class and they found it completly different, because they realized that they could work together in a relaxing way. If we think that they are only six years old, we will probably undestand that anger for learning. To sum up, my students showed me the pleasure of learning from others.

Miss Squirrel

Violence at schools! Boy arrested over school stabbing

This piece of news is about violence inside schools. This problem is occurring all over the world. Students` behaviour is getting worse day by day. They are out of control. The reason is that they are more violent, rude and aggressive, due to the games they play and the programs they watch.
This is a serious problem that has to be taken into account and try to find a solution as soon as we can.
Nowadays, there is no difference between boys and girls. If there is any problem with a classmate, they work it out fighting and if there is any problem with a teacher, they also work it out in the same way.
Moreover some students upload their videos` fights on websites.
Lately, on our country, there have been some violent situations in which teachers have been hit by students and also by students` mothers. There is no control at schools, so students sometimes have in their bags dangerous elements such as knives, guns and other objects that can hurt people.
Last year there was a case, in which a student punched his teacher after school. The solution for this was that he was not able to go to school for three days, as a result of his violent behaviour he was the center of attention for all the news and some TV programmes.
I wish this matter of violence could have a solution as soon as possible.
What do you think about? Do you have any solution or proposal that you want to share?

Anush

Unstoppable Rise of English!

I read an article, which refers to the rise of English among other languages. This situation takes place in Africa, where just over half of fifty-two countries speak French. Due to the increase in the use of English, French is spoken only in France, some parts of West Africa, parts of Canada and Switzerland.
Because of globalization and other circumstances English has emerged as a backbone for growth and development, not only in the region but also around the globe.
As France cares more about its language, it has waged a long and expensive campaign to guarantee the survival of a French- speaking zone in central and West Africa.
Knowledge of both English and French is required for University entrance, but statistics say that only three percent of the population can speak English fluently.
Is also reflects that Rwandans speak kinvarwanda and they have no need for a “lingua franca” to communicate among themselves.
And it says that only those going into higher education or working with foreigners need any other language at all, so only eight percent of Rwandans speak fluent French after all this time.

Anush