Saturday 31 January 2015

CAN WE PREDICT THE FUTURE?

Tarot
Yesterday, we reviewed Future Simple and we talked about predictions playing Tarot and trying to guess our own future. We also asked for the cards about Gemma’s future. We finished our second reading’s book and we’re ready to start the third one next Monday: Robinson Crusoe.

Our Robinson, Gemma, is still surviving in an unknown island. Today, the rescue’s team has located her and they’ve sent some drones for exploring the zone. The rescue is imminent. All the family members are excited! They're in Athens waiting good news about Gemma.

More information: Meaning of Tarot Cards


Justice against the hanged man
Knight of Wands against the hour
Swords against the kingdom
Time against the tower

GEMMA & CAMBRIDGE EXAMS

Last Thursday, we reviewed Future Continuous, some connectors and Zero Conditional. We created a new composition about Occitan Poetry and Gipsy’s tarot and we worked with the W- questions. MJ visited us and talked about the next Cambridge Exams (KET and PET) and their date: 16 May. We talked about online education and some methods of knowledge.


The Collins Family has continued Gemma’s searching. She’s missing since the boat, where all the family was sailing, sunk in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. It seems that Gemma is fine because the family has received some tweets located in an unknown spot. 




In the middle of the river
I found your heart.

If you want to give me your life

Give me it, give me it, baby!

Give me it, give me it, baby!

 

Eva C., Karen & Montse Pottery (Cyprus, Ukraine and Germany)

Wednesday 28 January 2015

OCCITAN, CATALAN, GIPSY & CATHAR CULTURES

Gypgy Culture
Today, we’ve reviewed Future Continuous, Enough, Countable and Uncountable and we’ve continued our reading about a robbery in a castle. We’ve created a difficult composition divided in two parts with two tempos and two parallel stories and we’ve talked about Occitan and Catalan Poetry in the XII and XIII Centuries and its affection in political and historical facts. 

In this line, we’ve remembered the importance of Gipsy culture in the Middle Age and its influence over Kingdoms because of Tarot and we’ve looked back on the Cathar’s culture and the importance of the woman as herbalist and quack doctor opposite to the ideas of the catholic clergy.

The Collins Family has suffered a terrible shock when the Love Boat has sunk. Everybody has tried to swim and help other members of the family and, in an intense emergency plan executed perfectly, all the family has reached a life boat and sat in the sixteen free seats. David has had to join to the family’s boat using a thick rope.

While the emergency rescue teams were helping The Collins Family inside the helicopter, there was a strong movement, perhaps because of the rough wind, and Gemma fell down into the water… again.

We haven’t got a lot of news about her. We only know that she’s alive in an island and we’re trying to find her following her GPS signal. Tomorrow, we will wait a happy ending. 

Cross your fingers family and pray… if you’re believers!


Tuesday 27 January 2015

BIC & EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

BIC
Today, we’ve reviewed some grammar doing an exam. All the members of the family have passed the exam successfully. We’ve read a little more and we’ve talked about things and its meanings.

After the breakfast, The Collins Family has helped Karen to create some beautiful songs for participating in the next Eurovision Song Contest in Austria, M. Ángeles hometown. We’ve performed a little contest with France, Ukraine, Portugal, Austria, Belgium and Italy as singers. It has been a great moment plenty of strong, passion and incredible performances. France, represented by Gemma and Montse Paris has won with a full punctuation: 25 of 25 possible.

The Grandma has joined this morning to the family. They’re together again and enjoying of The Mediterranean Sea near Santorini (Greece). 


I need your kisses
to remain your wife.
I need your caress
to be alive.
Are you with me?
Do you feel me?
Do you touch me?

No, no, no. You're bad.
No, no, no. You're bad.

Gemma Collins & Montse Paris-Collins (Monaco & France)

Monday 26 January 2015

CREATING AN ALIBI

Keep Calm
Today, we’ve reviewed Past Continuous and Past Simple and we’ve started a new reading book about the adventures of two friends, Jake and Ros. We’ve talked about communication skills in group interviews and we’ve studied the order of words in the sentences, especially with the additions: Manner-Place-Time.

The family is sailing in the Love Boat where has happened a strange case: a robbery. An old passenger said that her jewels had disappeared and some members of our family are between the main suspects: Mari Carmen, Montse Pottery, Eva Cyprus, Adriana, Gemma and Dámaris. The Grandma is flying by helicopter to the Love Boat for avoiding any kind of arrest.

Meanwhile, some members of the family are working very hard: Eva Cyprus is designing new spaces in Downton Abbey for the family pets and Belén is preparing a great tour inside The Louvre Museum.

Tomorrow, The Collins Family will give enough explanations about of all them to seem innocent and continue the trip. The Family has a lot of work: preparing eight different songs for participating in Eurovision Song Contest, a Karen’s dream.

Roll of the dice!


Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure
Your mind on a new romance

Sunday 25 January 2015

LULLABIES & HOBO's

A Hobo
The Grandma has had some introspective days. While she was spending some days in the hotel, her family was in Rhodes traveling around the island. She has been thinking about the possibility of getting married because she felts alone, although she has adopted a large family. After talking to every member of the family, finally, she decided to continue without a new husband.

Next week, The Grandma is going to meet her family in Santorini, where she will be waiting the Love Boat’s arrival with all her family on board.

Now, The Grandma is happy. She’s preparing her suitcases for traveling around Europe during some months. From Santorini, the family is going to travel to Paris for celebrating Belén’s birthday, and from Paris, they’re going to fly to London near where The Grandma has bought a new house for all of them: Downton Abbey.

Next week, the timetable of The Collins Family is plenty of activities: they’re going to create lullabies and songs; buy some furniture for the new English house; write a tale and plan how to rebuild Downton Abbey for giving enough space and facilities to their pets.

From Wednesday to Friday, The Collins Family has continued its English classes, which are now more important than never because of its moving to Downton Abbey. They reviewed the Past Continuous and sentences with when and while. They played with the Story Cubes and described a neighbourhood. They also walked around Rhodes guided by Adriana and they talked about the origin of some lullabies in different cultures: the Hobo in the USA, the satiric ones in England and the pain songs for a child’s death in Catalonia and in the Gipsy culture.

Eva Maltese has continued searching some information about Corto but nobody knows anything about him. Nowadays, she’s following a new clue: a man called Salvador explained last news about him. In fact, Salvador was the last person who saw Corto in the Greek Island. We don’t know but, perhaps, in the next hours there will be an interesting cliff-hanger. In these moments, The Collins Family must be leaving Kos.



Seven out of 10 Americans are 
one paycheck away from being homeless. 

Pras Michel

Wednesday 21 January 2015

RHODES & ADRIANA: A LOVE STORY

Alexander The Great
Dear Family,


I want to talk to you about Rhodes.

Rhodes Island is the largest Greek one in the Dodecanese. The legend says that there was a statue of extraordinary dimensions called The Colossus of Rhodes

It was one of the Seven Wonders of Ancient World and it was destroyed by an earthquake. Rhodes belonged to Alexander the Great. You can find a great diversity of cultures: the Egyptians; the Romans, who managed to conquer the island and built numerous theatres, statues and temples; the Byzantine Empire and the Venetians dominated it in different ages. It has an Arabian influence until the Germans and Italians arrived and occupied the island. Finally, it was delivered to Greece.

Rhodes is an incredible and beautiful place plenty of nice people, where you can smell the Mediterranean essence visiting its Coliseum, its Medieval Wall or walking across the Old City considered a World Heritage Site.

I hope you like it!


Today, we've reviewed the possessive and the object pronouns. We've listened Adriana talking about her island and we’ve walked around it. It has been a wonderful trip with the family. This evening we must get a boat to sail along the Cretan Sea but David is still ill and we’ve decided to postpose our cruise until he will be fine. Meanwhile, we will dedicate our free time to look for a new house for living all together. It will be exciting!

More information: Object pronouns

PIOU PIOU OR HOW LAURA MAKES AN OMELETTE

The Muppets
Yesterday, we reviewed the Past Simple with the regular and irregular verbs, Superlative & Comparative, the article “The” and we reported some news of the day before. We prepared a marketing planning for our candidate to be a TV Star and we learnt how to lie playing Piou Piou.

Tomorrow, we’re talking about some work expressions thanks to Laura who has offered us some information about this theme.

The family is still in Rhodes. Adriana suffered a terrible headache and we decided to stay one more day in this precious island. Tomorrow, we’ll sail in The Love Boat, if the weather is good and Adriana is fine.

Tuesday 20 January 2015

HOLIDAY IN RHODES

Password
Yesterday, we reviewed the superlative, the imperative (affirmative and negative) and the state verbs. We wrote a postcard from Rhodes, where the family is spending some holiday and we talked about difficult questions in interviews. We also practised some social English. Vanesa was our player in the Password and she did it very well.

Today, we’re studying the past simple tense (regular and irregular) and we’re visiting Rhodes with Adriana guiding us.

And…last news! Belén has passed her English exam! Congratulations! All the family is very proud of you.


Sunday 18 January 2015

CONNOR MACLEOD, FROM THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDERS

Connor MacLeod
Connor MacLeod was born in 1518 in Glenfinnan, in the Scottish Highlander near the shores of Loch Shiel, a few years after King Henry VII of England gave his daughter in marriage to James IV of Scotland, leading to the Union of the Crowns in 1503.

MacLeod faced an evil Immortal referred to as The Kurgan during a battle against the Clan Fraser and was dealt what should have been a fatal blow, but he didn’t die and the townspeople (including his family) believed his recovery was the work of devil, and threatened to burn him at the stake. He escaped and tried to begin a new life but he discovered, quickly, he wasn’t a normal man: he was Immortal.

In 1541, he met another Immortal named Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez, who became his mentor and taught him the ways of Immortals. Connor led many different lives: Adrian Montagu, Jacques Lefebert, Alfred Nicholson and Rupert Wallingford, and he, constantly, kept his immortality a secret. During his lifetime, he fought in many wars and encountered many Immortals.

In 1985, MacLeod was living in New York in the guise of Russell Nash, when he had to fight against his ancient enemy, The Kurgan. Finally, he won the battle and confirmed the legend: There can be only one.


Here we are, born to be kings
We're the princes of the universe
Here we belong, fighting to survive.


Queen 

KAREN: HELP UKRAINE!

Keep Calm
Karen, our singer, was born in Kiev, Ukraine, the country of Leo Tolstoy, Milla Jovovich and Mila Kunis, which was occupied by Russians and desolated by the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. 

This situation was very important for Karen because she realized, quickly, how important was freedom for expression and though and how difficult was living under a dictatorship. Perhaps, because of this, she decided to dedicate her whole life to compose songs. It was her manner of expressing her feelings, doubts and hopes.

Nowadays, Karen is living in Sant Boi, where she arrived some years ago looking for sun, beaches and peace. She continues her music career and she competes against Ani Lorak (Ани Лорак) for being the most popular Ukrainian voice meanwhile she thinks, constantly, in her country, devastated again by internal wars.


Everyone thinks of changing the world, 
but no one thinks of changing himself


 Leo Tolstoy

Saturday 17 January 2015

MANOLO BLAHNIK & PASSWORDS

Grandma's
Yesterday, we reviewed plural of nouns and how to write a formal letter and we created new passwords for playing during the course. We played Guess the word and we bought lots of presents to Belén. We also continued The Secret of Oldstone’s reading and we talked about what to do next week. We have a great plan: visiting the Greek Islands by cruise. 

The Grandma had to return to Barcelone to attend some business (she has invested in a new cooking enterprise in Seattle, US) but the rest of the family continues in Adriana’s home in Rhodes. 

On Monday, Adriana is going to guide her family by this fantastic island, mixed of cultures: Latin, Greek and Turkish.


More information: Manolo Blahnik

VANESA, SAN MARINO & NASA

Vanesa, our astronaut, was born in Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, the oldest European state and a microstate as Andorra, Monaco or Vatican City. Although San Marino is an unknown country for the most part of European citizens, it is a great economical centre and a loyal Switzerland’s partner. Its population doesn’t pass over 33,000 habitants, has a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus.

Vanesa loves her country but she believes that it’s very small. This idea followed her during her childhood and one day she decided to become an astronaut. She got it and now she’s one of the members of the NASA’s regular staff. She loves watching the Earth from the sky and feeling herself as a small part of the Universe.


More information: NASA


Some, may say
I'm wishin' my days away
No way
And if it's the price I pay
Some say
Tomorrow's another day

Friday 16 January 2015

GO SHOPPING!

Food
Yesterday, we reviewed countable and uncountable; there is and there are and the undefined some and any. We wrote our own shopping list for celebrating an enormous banquet and we started to prepare a Password game for the next week. 



The family is still resting in Rhodes. We are here two or three more days and then we’ll start our cruise around the Greek Islands. Eva Maltese is searching some clues about Corto with a little help from the family. We haven’t found anything but we don’t lose our faith. We trust on us. 

We are a great family and we can do whatever we propose. Also, we have regularized our surname: 


We are The Collins




With my shopping cart I move through the heart
Of a sea of fools so blissfully unaware
That they're in the presence of something wonderful and rare

As I lift my groceries in to my car
I turn back for a moment and catch a smile
That blows this whole fucking place apart

Wednesday 14 January 2015

EVA'S RETURN

The Pink British Sofa
Today, we've reviewed the comparatives and written about our last day in Nicosia. We've played Simon, domino and password. Finally, we've described things. Eva has returned and all the family is plenty of joy, again. We've arrived to Rhodes for spending some days in Adriana's house but we've had some little problems because Adriana has returned to her University classes so quickly that she has forgotten to give us her key and we have been waiting patiently in the street accompanied by some Scottish herbs for fighting against cold.

Tomorrow, we're buying some food and drinks to celebrate Eva's return and Belén's birthday. It will be a great Greek banquet with music and dance. 


Come on and rescue me
Come on baby and rescue me
Come on baby and rescue me

THE D DAY

Rescue Helicopter
The Eva's rescue operation was a success. Eva is fine and she has joined to the family again. It was a difficult operation with some scared moments but we’ve survived. Finally, all the family participated in the rescue except Gemma and Montse Paris, who were afraid to fly and stayed in Sant Boi.

After the rescue, we took some hours for resting and sleeping and we continued with our English classes. We reviewed the ordinal numbers, the prepositions of place and the parts of the city; described people and drove around the city by David and Mari Carmen's car. We continued our reading about Pete and Nicky.

The next objective of the Grandma’s Family: be together in Rhodes Island (Greece), in Adriana's home and try to get some information about Corto's whereabouts.


Με τι καρδιά, με τι πνοή,
τι πόθους και τι πάθος
πήραμε τη ζωή μας. Λάθος!
κι αλλάξαμε ζωή.

With what heart, what spirit,
what desires and passion
we took on our life. Wrong!
and we changed it.

Tuesday 13 January 2015

THE GRANDMA'S FAMILY TRAVELS TO CYPRUS

Cyprus
Yesterday, we reviewed Present Continuous and we talked about Imperatives (Affirmative and Negative form) and State Verbs.

It has been a hard day because we have had to prepare a rescue plan for helping Eva who is trapped in Cyprus without passport, visa and money. It’s a great logistic operation with a lot of transports and all the family working very hard for doing their works correctly.

More information: Present Continuous & Imperatives

Trust on us! We’re going to rescue her!

Sorry for posting this so late but we’ve just arrived to Nicosia and we’re exhausted after a terrible flying in and old plane. 


To be continued…