Tamara's blog

Music from Fama (2)

2009-06-21T21:37:00.025+02:00

I'm going to write a second part of "Songs from fama" because thanks to this TV show we are getting to know lots of new singers and amazing songs.

One of them is Lady Gaga, obviously that's not her real name. It is Steffanie Joanne Angelina Germannota. She didn't like it and she changed it by Lady Gaga. She was born in New York in 1986. In 2008, she moved to LA and she recorded her debut album The Fame which includes her hits Just Dance and Poker face.

Kate Perry is another Us singer. She was born in California in 1984. She started singing in the church when she was a child so she grew up listening to gospel music. Her first album One of the boys was released in 2008. It includes Hot n cold and I kissed a girl.

Some other songs consit of the collaboration of two famous singers. It is the case of Broken Strings by Nelly Furtado and James Morrison. Do you like this duet? What is the meaning of "you can't play on broken strings"?

Here you have the videos. Which do you prefer?

Lyrics Lady GaGa lyrics - Poker Face lyrics

Lyrics | Katy Perry lyrics - I Kissed A Girl lyrics

Lyrics | James Morrison lyrics - Broken Strings lyrics

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009-02-19T22:47:00.005+01:00

Cinema brings a classic to scene again. In this case is F. Scott Fitzgerald's The curious case of Benjamin Button. Fitzegarld was an American writer who lived at the begining of the 20th Century. He belonged to "The lost generation": a group of US writers who lived and wrote between the First World War and the Great Depression. He is world-wide famous for novels such as The Great Gatbsy or Tender in the night (Suave es la noche).

The curious case of Benjamin Button tells the story of a boy who is born as a baby but he looks like an old man on the verge of dying. He is abandonded by his father, and he is brought up in a nursery home. There he meets Daisy, a young girl and they become friends. As Daisy gets older, Benjamin gets younger and they fall in love with each other...

Have you seen the movie? Did you like it? Do you think it would be better if we were born as old people and we died as babies?

Twilight

2008-12-17T13:01:00.009+01:00

Eleven days! That's exactly the number of days! It has taken me eleven days to read the four books of the saga Twilight (Crepusculo in Spanish): Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. More than 2,000 pages in just eleven days! Am I weird? A freaky? Maybe, but I have enjoyed them a lot.
I have never read like this, nor even with Harry Potter. Some days, I didn't even eat, I just read and read, in the train, at home, in bed, between lessons, in the breaks and even walking! Yes, maybe I am a freaky after all.

I have always loved stories about vampires, so when I saw the trailer at the cinema I knew that I had to watch the movie. But surprise surprise, I found out it was not just a movie, it was a book and even more a saga with four books!

The incredible story about Edward, the gorgeous vampire, and Bella, the human caught my attention from the very beginning, and after reading all the books, I just can recommend you to read them. Watching the movie is ok, but there are so many details in the book which are not in the movie that I think it is worth reading it!

So if you don't know how to spend the long Christmas holidays.... this is my suggestion!
Enjoy the Christmas holidays and have fun, I will.... in New York ;) !!

So any comment about the movie or the books? Have you seen it ? Have you read it? What do you think about it? Who is your favourite character?

High School Musical: The Ice Tour

2008-11-16T21:14:00.005+01:00

Disney's High School Musical: The Ice Tour is the live fusion of songs, dance and team inspired by the hit Disney Channel Original Movie "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2."

This show is travelling around Spain and it was performed in Valencia on 14th November in the Stadium "Fuente de San Luis". The actors are skilful skaters who sing and dance on the ice using the plot of HSM and HSM2.

The show has been presented at the same time than High School Musical 3: Senior Year where the story of Troy and Gabriella seems to come to an end. Disney said that there will be a High School Musical 4, but it will have different characters and stories.

So, for my lucky students who attended the show, did you like it? Did you understand the songs?

Were the singers good? What do think about the last movie? Have you seen it?

Yes, we can

2008-11-05T18:28:00.005+01:00

Change has come to America.
What do you think about USA's election? Do you think Obama will be able to solve the US economic crisis? The international conflicts? will he improve the foreign relationships? Leave your comments below!

Read the speech here

An incredible race

2008-11-03T15:36:00.004+01:00

Yesterday, we could watch an incredible race. The race was supposed to be boring, but F1 is never boring. Five minutes before the start of the race, it started to rain cats and dogs and the start was postponed.

The race was nice but the last five laps were crazy. Hamilton was fourth and he had the championship in his hands. But it started to rain and everything changed. Drivers got in boxes to change the tyres, Hamilton did it so and also Massa in the next lap but Glock didn't so he was in the fifth position preceding Hamilton who was sixth. With this position Massa was the winner of the Championship and we could hardly believe that Hamilton was going to lose again the title this year, but for two mintues we believed it.

Two laps to go, I am in my sofa. I am so nervous that I can be sat, I stand up and I can't believe my eyes: Hamilton is sixth, he is going to lose the championship again. My vudú toy with Lewis Hamilton's name is working and Hamilton is going to lose. I am so excited! Massa gets in first, just too curves and Massa will be the winnler. We can see Massa's father celebrating the title, and we do it with him but suddenly........... whaaaaaaaaaaat? Hamilton gets in fifth!! is this a joke??? This is not possible, he was sixth!!! How come?

Glock didn't change his tyres so he couldn't manage his car in the last curve and Hamilton overtook him. Both Hamilton and Massa are crying, but they have different reasons. Massa thought he was the champion during 9 seconds and Hamilton thought he was losing again the championship in the meantime. The experts say that the race is not finished until the last curve, yesterday it was proved.

We can just congratulate Hamilton on being the youngest-ever champion replacing Alonso and I hope next year Alonso has a better car to prevent Hamilton from winning againg the champioship.
For those who missed it, here you have the two last laps from the Interlagos Grand Prix

"The lord of the flies" in the Simpsons

2008-10-20T20:04:00.004+02:00

"The lord of the flies" is a novel by William Goldin published in 1950's. It deals with a group of people that has a plane accident. Only children survive and they arrive at an island but they are alone without adults.
First they start to work together, but as time goes by, they start to fight each other and they become aggresive.
In the novel, there are many symbols; a conch shell, Piggy's glasses and the beast.

The conch shell is used to call a meeting, Piggy's glasses are used to make fire and the beast is a wild boar. Does this story ring a bell to you?
Yes, in season 9 the Chapter called "Das Bus" in the Simpsons is an adaptation of Goldin's "The lord of the flies".
They have a bus accident and they arrive in an island. Bart calls a meeting with the conch shell, Milhouse's glasses are used to make fire and the wild boar eats the children's food, although Nelson thinks that it was Milhouse who ate the food and they try to kill him!

Here you have got a nice summary of the chapter and I strongly recommend you to read the book, in Spanish it is "El señor de las moscas".

By the way, if you like the soundtrack the name is "Requiem for a dream"

Jonas Brothers vs Linkin Park

2008-10-09T15:43:00.016+02:00

Jonas Brothers or Linkin Park, what do you prefer?

Linkin Park in an American rock band from California. They became very famous in 2000 with their first album "Hybrid Theory". One of the most famous songs within this album was "In the end". They won two Grammy Awards as "best rap collection" and "best rap performance".
Their last album "Minutes to Midnight"was released in 2007 and its first single was "What I've done". That year the band won the "Favourite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards.
Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combined the nu metal and rap rock sound with influences and elements from hip-hop, alternative rock, and electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. In their new album, they combine rapping with guitar solos.

Jonas Brothers is a new American boy band from New Jersey. The band consists of three brothers: Kevin, Joe and Nick. They became very famous because of Disney Channel. They have released three albums: "It's about time", "Jonas brothers" and "A Little bit longer". They also filmed the movie "Camp Rock".

The brothers are all Evangelical Christians, their father is a former pastor, and they were homeschooled by their mother. In addition, they all wear purity rings on their left-hand ring finger and have vowed not to have premarital sex, Joe has said that the rings symbolize "a promise to ourselves and to God that we'll stay pure until marriage. They also reportedly abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.

Lyrics | S.O.S. lyrics

So what do you prefer?
What are your favourite songs?
What do you think about Jonas brothers' purity rings? Answer in Comments!

Fisica o Quimica

2008-09-30T17:14:00.003+02:00

Fisica o Quimica is the newest fashionableTV series about teenagers in a highschool. It deals with problems related to teens such as friendship, racism, love, sex, drugs and school. Students like this type of series because they can see themselves reflected on them, but many people say that teenagers like Fisica o Quimica because of characters like Ruth or Cavanno.
In Fisica o Quimica, like in a highschool, we have a bit of everything, Gorka is the rude and bully boy who is always getting in trouble. Ruth, his ex-girlfriend is a beautiful girl who lost her parents in an accident and she has been adopted by her father's first wife and the headmaster of the school.
Cabano is a cute boy who is Gorka's best friend but he is in love with Ruth secretly. Cova is a hippie student who is always figthing for other people's rights. She is Julio's girlfriend. Fer is Julio's best friend, he is gay and he has suffered from some discrimination due to his sexual condition.
Isaac has been dating a teacher but now he wants to recuperate his ex-girlfriend Yoli. Paula is Isaac's sister and she is in a relationship with Jan, a student from China.

So what do you like the most about Fisica o Quimica? The plot? The characters? What?

Madonna in Spain

2008-09-17T12:32:00.002+02:00

September is not usually a lovely month, mainly because it is the end of the summer holidays and we have to come back to school or our jobs. However, we can say that 2008 will be different. There is something special about this month and it is that Madonna is in Spain!
After seven years, Madonna returns to Spain with two concerts, one in Sevilla and the other one in Spain. Unwilling to miss the chance, her fans have spent their savings to attend the concerts. The prices range from 70 euros to 400, but her fans say that it is worth paying such an amount of money to see the wonderful show that the Queen of Pop has prepared.
Up to two hours of concert, where Maddona sings songs not only from her last album, but also famous songs such as "Into the groove" or "Like a prayer".
Would you pay so much money to attend her concerts? Answer in our poll!

Here you have, "4 minutes". Madonna's videoclip featuring Justin Timberlake

Cristiano Ronaldo

2008-06-15T21:56:00.007+02:00

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in Madeira, Portugal. Many people think that Ronaldo is his surname but it isn't. Actually, Ronaldo is his second name and dos Santos Aveiro his real surname. His father chose this second name in honour to his favourite actor and President of the US, Ronald Reagan.
Ronaldo has been playing football since he was three. He first played for an amateur team, Andorinha. But soon, important Portuguese teams started to be interested in him and he signed for CD Nacional and later for Sporting.
Now, Ronaldo is playing for the Manchester United. He became the first's team Portuguese player. On his arrival, he was handed shirt number 7. This number has belonged to the greatest Manchester's legends: Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckam.
He has just won the UEFA Champions league with his team though he failed a penalty. At the moment, he is playing the Euro with the Portuguese National team.
On June 5, 2008, Ronaldo declared his desire to move to Real Madrid if Madrid still paid the money they offered earlier in the year. He also stated he will speak more of the situation but not until after Euro 2008.
What do you think? Will Cristiano Ronaldo play in the Spanish League next year?

Christiano Ronaldo Video.

Lyrics Linkin Park lyrics

Songs from Fama

2008-04-28T22:19:00.011+02:00

With the new dancing TV programme Fama, we have got to know many nice songs in English. Some of them are from very famous singers such as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Prince, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, JLO, Nelly Furtado and so on. However, we have also listened to new singers and songs. Some of them are Leona Lewis, One Republic or RyanDan. Watch the videos and read the lyrics to find out which one is the most beautiful!

Apologize by One Republic

Lyrics | Apologize lyrics

Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis

Lyrics | Bleeding Love lyrics

Like the Sun by RyanDan

Lyrics | Like The Sun lyrics

High School Musical Phenomenon

2008-04-02T16:36:00.005+02:00

High School Musical is a new phenomenon among kids, teenagers and adults all over the world. The story between Gabriella, the nerd, and Troy, the captain of the basketball team, has fascinated the audience. We must not forget that HSM is a modern adaptation of "Grease" and maybe that is the reason why it has been succesful, not only among children, but also among their parents.
Due to the success of the first movie in 2006, Disney Channel decided to release a sequel High School Musical 2 in 2007 and they are preparing the last part High School Musical: Senior Year, that will be released in 2008.
We can find the High School Musical songs in all the radio stations and even as ringtones. Some of the most famous songs are We are all in this together, Breaking free or Everyday. You can choose your favourite one in our poll!

Everyday HSM 2

Breaking free HSM

Gotta go my own way HSM 2

Robbie Williams

2008-03-04T19:26:00.008+01:00

Robbie Williams was born in 1974 in England. He became very popular with the group Take That.Since he left the group in 1995, he has become even more successful than within the group. Here we have some of his most popular songs. Choose your favourite in our poll.

Angel

Song lyrics | Angel lyrics

Feel

Song lyrics | Feel lyrics

Rock DJ

Song lyrics | Rock Dj lyrics

Music in English

2008-02-17T22:01:00.006+01:00

WOMEN VERSUS WOMEN

Who do you prefer? Rihanna, Alicia Keys or Nelly Furtado?
At the moment they are very popular female singers.
Watch the videos and vote for your favourite in our poll "Which song do you prefer?"

Rihanna, Please don't stop the music

Song lyrics | Don't Stop The Music lyrics

Alicia Keys, No one

Song lyrics | No One lyrics

Nelly Furtado, Say it right

Song lyrics | Say It Right lyrics

Valentine's Day

2008-02-03T20:52:00.000+01:00

According to the legend, Valentine was a priest who lived in the third century in Rome. The Emperor Claudius realised that single men were better soldiers than married soldiers, so he decided to prohibite marriage for young men.

Valentine realised about the injuste of Claudius and he continued to marry young couples in secret although it was forbidden.

When Claudius discovered the secret marriages, he ordered Valentine's death. Since then, every 14th of Febraury we commmemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death.

Write your Valentine's Day letter

Titanic's song video and Lyrics to sing

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

2008-01-09T21:36:00.000+01:00

Is there anything more touching than the vision of horror through the eyes of innocence? This book is simply amazing and I strongly recommend you to read it.

215 pages of a moment of history through Bruno's eyes, a boy who has to move to his new house in Out-With, as he calls Auschwitz, where he has no one to play until he meets Shmuel, a boy wearing a striped pyjamas who lives beyond the fence.

This book has been used by teachers to work with students of English as Second Language. If you have read it and you want to share your opinions and comments, this is your blog so feel free to do it!

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-23T19:46:00.000+01:00

Christmas is already here! Have you been a good boy/girl this year? Click on Santa and ask him what you want for Christmas, you may find it but you have to ask for it in English!

Marian Keyes

2007-12-22T13:44:00.000+01:00

I want to devote this new entry to one of my favourite writers: Marian Keyes.
Marian Keyes is an Irish international bestselling author. She started writing short stories in 1993 "out of the blue".
Her first novel was "Watermelon" which was an immediate success in Ireland and later in the USA.
To date, she has published seven novels: "Watermelon", "Lucy Sullivan is getting married", "Rachel's holiday", "Last chance saloon", "Sushi for beginners" "Anybody out there?" and "The other side of the story". Her next novel, "The Charming man" will be out in May 2008

Marian's novels are related to women who are in their thirties and face problems such as divorces, loneliness, alcoholism, depression or even all together. But above all, she talks about the inner personality of a generation of women who find themselves between a generation of housewives and a generation of skilled and independent women.

Up to now, I've read Angels, Sushi for beginers, Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan is getting married and at the moment I am reading Last Chance Saloon. My favourite one is Angels, maybe because it was the first novel I read from Marian Keyes.

If you like Marian Keyes's novels and you want to join this blog, you are very welcome to join this discussion and if you haven't read any of them I encourage you to do it!

Tamara

Scottish Jokes

2007-11-19T16:18:00.000+01:00

One day Wee Hughie bought a bottle of fine whiskey and while walking home he fell. Getting up he felt something wet on his pants. He looked up at the sky and said, "Oh lord please, I beg you let it be blood!

A Scottish boy came home from school and told his mother he had been given a part in the school play. "Wonderful," says the mother, "What part is it?"
The boy says "I play the part of the Scottish husband!" The mother scowls and says: "Go back and tell your teacher you want a speaking part."

An Australian entered a bar and stood beside a Scotsman."Where are you from, pal?" asked the Scotsman, after they'd chatted for a while. "I'm from the finest country in the whole wide world," said the Australian. "Are you?" said the other. "You have a damn funny accent for a Scotsman."

How do you get a Scotsman to climb onto the roof of his home?Tell him that the drinks are on the house.

A Scotsman walking through a field, sees a man drinking
water from a pool with his hand. The Scotsman man shouts
' Awa ye feel hoor thatâs full Oâ coos Sharn'
(Don't drink the water, it's full of cow shit.)
The man shouts back 'I'm English, Speak English,
I don't understand you'.The Scotsman man shouts back
'Use both hands, you'll get more in.'

Why do pipers like to march as they play the bagpipes?A moving target is harder to hit.

Mrs Campbell: Has your son finished learning the pipes?
Mrs Macdonald: No, but the neighbours are making threats

Why learning English?

2007-11-16T10:58:00.000+01:00

Nowadays, English is considered a kind of "lingua franca" for business, social relationships among countries and tourism. Therefore, learning English has become essential to attend an international meeting, climb at your job, visit a foreign country, undertand our music groups' songs or buy any item on the Internet.

The phylosophy of learning a language must be "Learn to communicate".

For instance, what is the point of learning the irregular verb list, if we can't say
what we did yesterday? So, let's start to forget a bit about grammar rules and
let's speak English!

Don't worry about making mistakes. We are

allowed to make mistakes, as long as we are understood!

When we were children we made mistakes but,

in the end, we learnt our mother tongue.... so

why can't we do it again?

As Natasha Bedingfield sings, the book of our life is still unwritten and we can do what we want!