I am short of time to prepare a set of activities for the following video in memory of Nelson Mandela but post it anyway, since it is worth watching it.
If you would like to know more about Nelson Mandela you may also go to

http://www.biography.com/people/nelson-mandela-9397017

or Maya Angelou

http://www.biography.com/people/maya-angelou-9185388

 

 

[ENGLISH SUBTITLES] His Day is Done: A Tribute Poem for Nelson Mandela

LOSING IT BY NEVER SHOUTS NEVER

Revising the past. Help me complete the song  LOSING IT  BY NEVER SHOUTS NEVER

Can you guess if the verbs are in the simple  past or simple continuous?

After that you can listen to the song and check if you were right.

All we ever ……………   was move around  (do)
I …………. always the new kid ( to be)
Never the cool kid

All I ever …………… to do  (want)

Was to fall in love
Just to be in love

But, my heart ……………  (race)
My mind ……………    (scream)
"You've got your whole life to do these things"
But my legs ……………  (sake)
My hands …………… (search)
For her in the backseat of my car

I just ……………it    lose)
And i can't believe it

I …………… I was only 16     (know)
But I ……………I loved her    (think)
And it'd last forever

Only if I ……………  (know)
That she wasn't true
How ……………  she do this to me? (can)

[Oohhh....]

 

Adele constantly had to deal with the ''negative attitude'' of her teachers who told her she would never be a success.

Adele was told by her teachers she would never be a success.

The 22-year-old singer - whose first two albums debuted at number one in the UK - constantly had to deal with the "negative attitudes" of those who told her she would be unlikely to achieve her dreams of stardom.

She explained: "I had to bear the brunt of negative attitudes from authority figures, such as teachers, who led me to believe that success was unrealistic.

"So I chose to survive rather than live in a fantasy world."

The 'Rolling in the Deep' hitmaker also admitted while she was never very academic at school, she didn't believe she could have a successful career in the music industry.

Adele added: "I'm not, and never have been, very academic - it was always music for me. I remember when I was 10, I nicked my mum's Lauryn Hill album and listened to it every day after school in my bedroom, sitting on my little sofa bed and hoping to God that one day I'd be a singer.

"But it was never something I purposely pursued. Me and my friends at the time all had dreams and none of theirs were coming true, so I thought, 'Why the hell will mine?' "

 

1. What is the text about?

 

 

2. Look for words or expressions with the same meaning:

A famous person

Instead of

Took without permission

3. Rewrite the following sentences:

Adele was told by her teachers she would never be a success.

Adele’s teachers………………

Adele added: "I'm not, and never have been, very academic - it was always music for me”

Adele added  that  …………………

She would be unlikely to achieve her dreams of   stardom.

She …………………………….

 

Adele Set Fire To The Rain Lyrics Sub Español Video Official

Activities for " SET FIRE TO THE RAIN"

• What do you think of the razor wire installed in Melilla?

Do you think it will stop the people from entering the country?

What would you say if you could talk to the politicians about this matter?

A razor wire has been installed on the Melilla fence. / ANTONIO RUIZ

Spain removed the wire in 2007 after numerous people were injured trying to scale the fence, but replaced it earlier this month after a wave of attempts over the summer, sometimes by hundreds of migrants at a time, to enter Spain.

The Interior Ministry says that it intends to keep the razor wire in place around a third of the 11-kilometer fence and has given Rajoy a report justifying the use of the measure by arguing that razor wire is used in many other locations, such as prisons and nuclear power plants.

The scale of pressure this year from migrants trying to enter Melilla, and to a lesser extent Spain's other territory in Morocco, Ceuta, has been similar to 2005, when former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero ordered the razor wire to be installed. A year later, Zapatero promised to take it down because of the injuries being suffered by would-be immigrants. It was finally removed in 2007 and substituted with a three-dimensional structure, which is sometimes described as the "third wall."
RELATED ARTICLES

• Melilla authorities illegally returning immigrants to Morocco
• Attorney general orders probe into razor wire on Melilla border
• Ceuta and Melilla buckle under mass attempt to enter Spain
• Government makes no move to remove razor wire on Melilla fence

The government has so far refused to supply the media with a copy of the Interior Ministry's report. Sources say that it argues that razor wire produces only superficial wounds, noting that it is used in Spanish jails. The same sources say that there have been 46 escape attempts from jails where razor wire is used during which 16 people were injured, none of them seriously, and that the wire is a major factor in dissuading prisoners from trying to escape.

Human rights groups at home and abroad have protested the reintroduction of the measure, prompting Rajoy to say in a radio interview on Thursday that he was prepared to wait until the ministry had finished its report before making a decision. Government sources say that Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz, who has insisted that the razor wire remain in place, will likely win out.

The Interior Ministry says that the government intends to install "exactly the same" razor wire that was placed atop the fence in 2005 and has "no intention" of "backing down." It also pointed out that razor wire is used in Brussels to prevent access to EU summits.

The wire was removed from the Melilla fence in 2007 after several injuries

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría has evaded journalists' questions on the matter, saying only that the prime minister would study the "very detailed report from all angles." Observers say that the government is hoping that the controversy will die down in the coming days, allowing the Interior Ministry to press ahead with replacing the wire.

Socialist Party leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, who was an interior minister in the Zapatero administration, has called for the wire to be removed, highlighting the threat to safety. "Blades cut people. There is no need for a report on this; the government can learn from the experience of previous ministers. This is an inhumane measure," he said in a radio interview, suggesting that the prime minister save the money for a report on the razor wire by calling him that afternoon: "I can tell him free of charge."
Elena Valencia, the Socialist Party's number two, said she would be calling on the European Commission to make a ruling on the use of razor wire in Melilla and Ceuta.

The Roman Catholic Church's General Synod of Bishops has also opposed the reintroduction of razor wire to prevent would-be migrants entering Spanish territory from Morocco. José María Gil Tamayo, the body's new secretary general and spokesman, said: "This is no way to combat immigration; we call on the government to avoid this extreme measure. I am the son of Spanish immigrants to Germany; immigrants are not a danger to anybody."
Meanwhile, the State Prosecutor's office has called for an investigation into the matter. Eduardo Torres-Dulce, the Attorney General, said on Wednesday: "I have given instructions to open an investigation because this is not a procedure that has fully taken the law into account and raises questions about human treatment."

The razor wire remains in place on the lower part of the fence ringing Melilla, as well as around the entire perimeter of Ceuta. It will now be installed in the upper part of the Melilla fence, with work expected to be finished by the end of November.

I am pretty sure most of you don't like jazz. Well, I do. So I would like to share with you the lyrics and video of the following song by Madeleine Peyroux, who, by the way, is singing in Santiago de Compostela this week. What a shame we don't live there!

1. How many different verb tenses does she use?
2. Write the infinitive of the irregular verbs given in the past.
3. Write the past of the irregular verbs used in the present.
4. Have you learnt any new word?
5. How does the singer feel?



"I am all right" VIDEO

"I'm All Right"

He made me laugh
He made me cry
He smoked his stogies in bed
But I'm all right
I'm all right
I've been lonely before
I asked the boy for a few kind words
He gave me a novel instead
But I'm all right
I'm all right
I've been lonely before
It's fine, it's OK
It was wrong either way
I just wanted to say
There isn't much fun when you're drinking wine
He got drunk, he fell down
He threw a few of my things around
But I'm all right
I'm all right
I've been lonely before

I'd like to believe that it's easy to leave
But I have to conceive that wherever you are
You're still driving my car
Sticks and stones break my bones
But tears don't leave any scars
So I'm all alright
I'm all alright
I've been lonely before

Mmm...
I'm all alright
I'm all alright
I'm all alright
Yeah
He played solitaire in bed
Used to blow bubbles in bed
He sang Christmas songs in bed

Today I bring you a beautiful song composed by Leonard Cohen.  You will soon recognise it since it was part of the soundtrack of Shreck.
This is not my favourite version, but I would like you to know Emmanuel Kelly. If you want to know more about him. Go to the next post.


 Song

"Hallelujah"

I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well, really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Emmanuel Kelly
INSPIRATIONAL Melbourne teenager Emmanuel Kelly is on his way to Hollywood.
Kelly, 18, whose emotional performance of John Lennon's Imagine on The X Factor has been watched 11 million times on YouTube, has America in his sights after a successful trip to Los Angeles in January.
He will head back to the US later this year to follow up several successful leads, including an appearance on reality show The Glee Project.
If he's successful there, he could score a guest spot on the smash hit musical drama Glee.
Kelly, adopted son of Children First Foundation's Moira Kelly, filmed an audition with Glee casting director Robert J. Ulrich, who also welcomed him into his family home.
Watch Emmanuel sing Imagine on The X Factor

"I am very fortunate where I am right now," Kelly told the Sunday Herald Sun.
"I feel like I'm the luckiest teenager in the world. A lot of teenagers would be wishing for these opportunities to come up, but maybe it's all part of the plan.
"My dream is to change the world in some way and show that anyone can achieve if they put their minds to something."
While in Hollywood, Kelly recorded a song called Dream Big on a movie soundtrack for a film called Crooked Arrows.
Directed by Steve Rash, the story is about a native American lacrosse team.
On top of this, he has just released his own single on iTunes called Song For Edis, which was co-written with Moira and is now available.
But it's a future in the US that could very well happen for the charismatic singer.
Kelly was 17 when he met Ulrich in January when the Glee plans were discussed.
"He (Ulrich) said to me that when the executive producer saw me on X Factor he looked at me and said, 'We'd like to do something with you, whether we go on the show or whether you join The Glee Project itself'," he said.
"I think they are very keen so hopefully we can go somewhere with it."
Producers had wanted Kelly to be on the last season of The Glee Project, but he would have fallen foul of American labour laws because he was only 17 at the time.
Now, at 18, there's no stopping him.
Kelly and his brother, Ahmed, who has made the Australian Paralympics swimming team, were adopted from Iraq.
They had been abandoned as infants, both suffering limb deficiencies as a result of chemical warfare.
He has to have hip and possibly other surgeries this year, which will impact on when he returns to the US.

I know nothing! - Fawlty Towers - BBC

Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television which was very popular in Great Britain in the late seventies and eighties. Twelve episodes were made (two series, each of six episodes). The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of them also starred in the show.The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay, on the "English Riviera".

WATCH THE SEGMENT AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

How can you say "I know nothing" in a different way?

A synonym of improve is.......

Is “nitwit” a horse?

Who is the nitwit? 

Does Manuel understand the word “nitwit”?

 Eventually means......

When you "pretend  you forget " you do as if you...

Manuel's  English is not very good. Can you correct him?

• Your horse is win
• Why you say I know nothing?
• I know that, you tell me that this morning!

A ROOM WITH A VIEW- Fawlty Towers - BBC

SOME OF YOU REALLY ENJOYED SOME SEGMENTS OF FAWLTY TOWERS LAST WEEK. HERE YOU HAVE A NEW ONE. PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.

A ROOM WITH A VIEW . FAWLTY TOWERS

1) Do you understand these words or sentences?

• Would you like me to get it mended?
• Hearing aid
• Expect

2)Complete:

A synonym of too useb by Basil is ……………… and it is placed………………..

I wish you ….

3)How do you say “funciona” in English?

4) Why hasn’t she got her hearing aid turned on?

5) “Yes, I do have a hearing aid” The lady  says. Why is she using “do”?