Wednesday 21 December 2011

HURT - Christina Aguilera




LYRICS

Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face
You told me how proud you were but I walked away
If only I knew what I know today

I would hold you in my arms
I would take the pain away
Thank you for all you've done
Forgive all your mistakes
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To hear your voice again
Sometimes I want to call you
but I know you won't be there

I'm sorry for
blaming you
for everything
I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself
by hurting you

Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit
Sometimes I just want to hide 'cause it's you I miss
You know it's so hard to say goodbye
when it comes to this

Would you tell me I was wrong?
Would you help me understand?
Are you looking down upon me?
Are you proud of who I am?
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To have just one more chance
To look into your eyes and see you looking back

I'm sorry for
blaming you
for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself..

If I had just one more day,
I would tell you how much that
I've missed you since you've been away

Oh, it's dangerous
It's so out of line
to try to turn back time

I'm sorry for blaming you for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself
By hurting you

Mariah Carey - All I want for Christmas is you

"You've got to find what you love" Steve Jobs

The other day Carmen was telling me she knew about a very good speech given by Steve Jobs in Stanford and she wanted to share it in the blog, but we already have it here from a previous year. And I thought it would be a great present for you this Xmas.

This speech was given by Steve Jobs to the students who were graduating at the University of Stanford in June 2005. To me, it is one of the most inspiring, moving and great speeches ever given.

"Who's Steve Jobs?" some of you may wonder. He's the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple, Pixar animations, .... You can read all about him in the English Wikipedia.

We'll work on some vocabulary using the text of the speech which was published in the Stanford University website.
Follow-up to the text / video.




Here is the link to the video with English subtitles part 1 and English subtitles part 2.


Follow up to the text



Steve Jobs tells us three stories from his life. Now you can vote for your favourite story:
Which is your favourite story?
Connecting the dots
Love and loss
Death

Thursday 15 December 2011

Famous failures

You've all just finished your end-of-term exams. Congratulations!

Surely most of you will have passed all your exams, but some of you may have failed an exam....

We should always remember that whatever happens, we must never give up!! Check the following video and you'll see why.

What do these celebrities have in common?
Lucille Ball,     The Beatles,     
Ullisses S. Grant,     Michael Jordan,     
Tomas Edison,     Walt Disney,     Abraham Lincoln



Spanish subtitles:




Vocabulary work: 
Did you know all the words that come up written down on the video?

dismissed from drama school
turned down by the record company
failed soldier, farmer, ...
cut from the highschool basketball team
fired from a newpaper because he lacked imagination
had a nervous breakdown
defeated in eight elections

Have a really nice, relaxing and well-deserved break! :-P)
.

Monday 5 December 2011

Awesome!



LYRICS
There’s a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch,
It’s bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see your crystal clear
Go head and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare

See how I leave with every piece of you
Don’t underestimate the things that I will do

There’s a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch,
And it’s bring me out the dark

The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love they leave me breathless
I can’t help feeling
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart and soul
And you played it
To the beat

Baby I have no story to be told
But I’ve heard one of you
And I’m gonna make your head burn
Think of me in the depths of your despair
Making a home down there
It Reminds you of the home we shared

The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love they leave me breathless
I can’t help feeling
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart and soul
And you played it
To the beat

We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart and soul
And you played it
To the beat

Throw your soul through every open door
Count your blessings to find what you look for
Turned my sorrow into treasured gold
You pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow

We could have had it all
We could have had it all
It all, it all it all,
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart and soul
And you played it
To the beat

We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart and soul
And you played it
To the beat

Beatiful...



                                                                     LYRICS

I heard that you're settled down,
That you found a girl and you're married now,
I heard that your dreams came true,
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you,
Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light,

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,
I had hoped you'd see my face,
And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over,

Never mind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you, too,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"
Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead, yeah,

You know how the time flies,
Only yesterday was the time of our lives,
We were born and raised in a summer haze,
Bound by the surprise of our glory days,

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,
I had hoped you'd see my face,
And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over,

Never mind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you, too,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"

Nothing compares,
No worries or cares,
Regrets and mistakes, they're memories made,
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you, too,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"
Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead.

"Without Limitations": Michelle Obama's plea for education

This week's homework asssignment to improve listening skills is longer than usual, but hopefully you will find it's worth listening to. It is 11 minutes long, but very inspiring and motivational. I love every minute of this presentation!

This is a speech that Michelle Obama made at Elizabeth Anderson school, a girls' school in London in 2009. She talks about her past life, family background, her first date with Barack Obama and, above all, she passionatelly encourages students to take education seriously. She says it is your generation which will close the gap between the world as it is now and the world as it should be. We are precisely talking about these social and political issues in our coursebook unit: Can we change the world or make a difference to it? Yes, you can, Michelle says.

It is also a pleasure to listen to Michelle's American English, you will see it is very easy to understand.

Feel free to leave your comments below:
  • What did you find most interesting? Do you agree with her?
  • Was there anything in her talk that really surprised you? 
We'll have some class feedback next week on the content and vocabulary you have selected to learn. Remember it is better to select chunks of language to learn and not only individual words. It'll help later to speak faster.




Sunday 4 December 2011

An anecdote:

Last year, i went on a trip to Madrid. Because i wanted to go to the center of Spain. So my family and i, decided to go there, it was  a very exciting trip because my dad used to go on holidays there when he was young, we went to a beautiful hotel, which had great views of the city.


The first day we arrived after a tour around the town, we met the family... and we got to know a little more this beautiful city, we went to vist monuments, the prado  Museum, Atocha Station, a little bit of everything. I really liked Madrid because people are very kind, and friendly and are very quiet.


When i was in Madrid, i went to an elegant restaurant with educated people, and ambitious and hard-working, so we entered the restaurant and ask for the menu, and then i saw "bread with tomato, and ham" and thought it would be like in the Catalonia, so when the waiter came and put the dish on the table, mt family and i  couldn't stop laughing , the tomato was cut, next to the bread,bread, just had oil and salt, It as a very embarrasing situation for the waiter and for us becouse we couldn't stop laughing. This was a good anecdote for us for a very long time




                                                                                                                                            Naomi.M