Friday 27 February 2015

THE COLLINS FAMILY & DOWNTON ABBEY

During two days, The Collins Family has been reviewing some grammar about KET, PET and FCE levels. The family has moving to Downton Abbey and they have been decorating its new home and they’ve replied some letters of the service’s ex members. They're working like Little Hercules.

More information: Vocabulary in English

They have been working during two months for arriving to the exam tests in the best conditions. They know that they must work very hard, as they’ve done it until now and The Grandma is finishing her last manuals for helping them.

Before staying in Downton Abbey, they have gone to French Guiana to get on a shuttle. This has been the last Grandma’s present: sailing into the space.


And if you feel the weight of the world
Put your mind at ease
Little Hercules
'Cause there's so much on your shoulders
But you know it's a breeze


Trisha Yearwood

Tuesday 24 February 2015

CLUE & SYMBOLOGY

Clue
Yesterday, it was a difficult day for The Collins Family. Something strange happened in Downton Abbey, in the library with a candelabrum while the family was enjoying the party.

The Police's report is still opened and they think that there’s a relation between the strange case and the popular family. Although all of them could demonstrate their innocence with solid alibis, this hasn’t convinced the Police who continue the investigation. For other hand, all members of the family continued their English lessons. Once they finished the official summary, they’re dedicating these days to review all knowledge in a higher level.

Montse Paris talked us about synaesthesia and later, the best news arrived from M. Carmen who has passed her B1 exam in the EOI. All the family is plenty of joyful because of this.

Today, the family has continued its consolidation classes reviewing Past Perfect, Comparative, Superlative and Social English and talking about Antoni Gaudí’s works.

Tomorrow, the family is moving to Downton Abbey to choose its furniture and in the evening they’re going to get a plane to travel to French Guiana where they will board in a shuttle space direction. It seems that Eva is very sad after Alf leaving and they want to meet him again. Finally, we’ve talked about Mozilla Firefox and its components: AdBlock and Video Download Helper.

More information: Antoni Gaudí's works


There is always a history.
Richard Castle

MONTSE PARIS COLLINS & SYNAESTHESIA

Synaesthesia
I am the painter of The Collins Family and so I will explain Synaesthesia from the perspective of painting.

Usually, the meaning of Synaesthesia is a mixture of feelings. When someone perceives feeling through colours.

How someone with Synaesthesia may perceive words and colours? Have words got colour? 

Normally, new-borns experience the sensations coming from different senses mixed together, as happens to adults who experience the phenomenon of synesthetic perception. Synaesthesia may involve any of the senses. One of the most common in Synesthetic associations is the coloured letters of numbers, but there are Synesthetic people, who hear sounds in response to odors, and odors are perceived in response to touch or a Beethoven’s violin concert is known by him as chocolate.

Synesthetic people ask some questions:

What colour is the number 2? What colour is the sound of a dog? What colour is this musical note?

Nowadays, there are many people see each letter of a particular colour even if they are written in black, or perceive each number, or days of the week or months of the year, arranged in front of them at a particular point in space.


The colours have different meanings, for example:

Black: mystery and formally.
Grey: stability and authority.
Purple: spirituality and magic.
Yellow: energy and intellect.
White: light and clean.
Pink: beauty and love.
Red: Danger and passion.
Blue: peace and tranquillity.
Green: growth and freshness.

In the century XVIII, there was a painter called Vasilly Kadinsky. He was the best painter of abstract art. He was impressionistic and he saw colours listening songs. Then, he painted symphonies while he was listening to Wagner and he represented it in his work.

And finally, all family will do an exercise that we will help us to understand the meaning of Synaesthesia:

Who is Kiki? Who is Booba?

This exercise helps us to understand the moving of our lips to pronounce the two names.

Kiki is the left figure and Booba is the right figure.

Thank you. 

Montse Paris Collins @MontseFJ77

Sunday 22 February 2015

DOWNTON'S PARTY: ALF, HOBBIT & ETERNAL HEROES

The Hobbit
Last Friday, we finished our pre-intermediate book and we started with our intermediate one. We reviewed Present Perfect vs. Past Simple and Present Simple vs. Present Continuous and we read about restaurants. We ordered some reports and we talked about adjectives that define us. Finally, we created stories with The Smurfs Cards.

The Collins Family went to a party in the afternoon. They invited lots of people to participate in it and Downton Abbey filled with people arrived from all places, including non-terrestrial ones. It was a great party, plenty of music, happiness, food and drink. The Family has rested during all the weekend but they know, they must continue tomorrow because the show never ends, the show must go on.

More information: Present Perfect vs. Past Simple 


Ooh, inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on

My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die
I can fly, my friends
The show must go on

Queen

Thursday 19 February 2015

BLOOD & PARTY

Vlad the Impaler
For two days, we’ve reviewed the present perfect with its important words: already, just, yet, since and for. We’ve talked about determined and undetermined time and we’ve worked more aspects about social English. 

Moreover, we’ve continued creating compositions and we’ve talked about Jack the Ripper, Vlad the Impaler and Enriqueta Martí.

Tomorrow, The Collins Family is going to enjoy a fantastic party in Downton Abbey for celebrating its arrival. Today, the guests' list has continued increasing and we can be sure that it will be an unforgettable party.


I find inspiration in the movies I've loved,
especially all films ever made about Dracula.


Sasha Velour

Tuesday 17 February 2015

VENETIAN CARNIVAL, W. CHURCHILL & LONDON TUBE

Mind the Gap
I believe our countrymen will show themselves capable of standing up to it, like the brave men of Barcelona, and will be able to stand up to it, and carry on in spite of it, at least as well as any other people in the world.

He nothing common did or mean, upon that memorable scene.

Winston Churchill - June 18th 1940


The Collins Family was exhausted after an intensive weekend enjoying the Venetian Carnival, sailing in gondola, singing Venetian songs and drinking and eating local products with the great company of Eva and Corto. It was fantastic. We took lots of photos which, one day, perhaps we can publish.

Yesterday, three of our members, Laura, Miriam and M. Carmen worked very hard for passing some tests while the rest of the family was writing about sharks, preparing an informal invitation and reviewing English grammar: connectors, countable & uncountable, question tags…

More information: Write Express

Today, we’ve reviewed the Perfect Tenses (Present & Past); we’ve written a formal letter addressing to Nestlé Company and we’ve talked about the relation between Winston Churchill, Barcelona’s citizens and London Tube. In fact, it could seem a sad story but it’s a great demonstration of courage, strength, survival, resistance and resilience of our ancestors and how the common work can help to save lives.

Finally, we’ve prepared a journey for visiting the most important places in London City by underground and we’ve talked about bitly.com an interesting tool for Twitter and we’ve seen other material.

More information: Bitly.com

We’re expecting because Montse Paris and Montse Pottery have work interviews and we’re hoping the best news.


 We shall never surrender - Winston Churchill 

Sunday 15 February 2015

EVA & THE PET PROJECT 01/2015

The Pet Project 01/2015
Last Friday, we decided to go to Venice to spend the weekend and joy the Venetian Carnival. Before this, we talked about social movements and its affection in cities like Barcelona and we created tales inspired in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince.

Eva explained us the future accommodation of our pets in Downton Abbey and all The Collins Family was exciting with the proposal.

During this weekend, The Collins Family is enjoying Venetian culture and tomorrow this evening they’re flying to London where they will stay some days in a hotel meanwhile the workers refurbish Downton Abbey and finish the last works.


Who would have thought from the top of the Coliseum,
that the Roman Empire was not eternal.

Urban proverb

KAREN & EUROVISION SONG CONTEST IN VIENNA

Ukraine
The family could reach one of the most important dreams for Karen: sing in the Eurovision Song Contest. This year, Vienna was the city which organizes it and The Collins Family moved from Salzburg to the capital of Austria.

The Song Contest was amazing and after a hard fight between the local artist, Conchita, and Karen, who represented Ukraine, our heroine won playing a beautiful song called “Hou, hou”, a song which talked about peace and love, obviously.

The Collins Family continued its English preparation and during this intensive week, they revised grammar: Must/Mustn’t, Can/Can’t, Could/Couldn’t, Should/Shouldn’t, the Conditional Tense or the Second Conditional and advanced in its reading about Robinson Crusoe’s novel.

 

More information: Must/Should Exercises

Saturday 14 February 2015

EVA & CORTO: GEBEL MA GEBEL MA JILTAQA'...

Corto Maltese
It has been a week plenty of emotions and good news. We started the week knowing that Eva had found Corto, her grandfather. It seems that he had been living in Barcelona during all this time, in an old building in Passeig Sant Joan, in the centre of the city.

Eva has decided to spend some time with him and although she hasn’t left the family, she will join them in punctual moments.

Moreover, the week has had other good news for Eva. After training very hard, she participated in the Gymnastics World Championships where she won a gold medal, the first for a Maltese athlete.

Congratulations Eva! You deserve it!

The rest of the family has continued its English lessons. This week, they're reviewing the Second Conditional.

More information: Second Conditional Exercises


Gebel ma gebel ma jiltaqa', izda wicc ma wicc jiltaqa'.

Mountain does not meet mountain, but a face meets another face.

Maltese Proverb

Tuesday 10 February 2015

M.ÁNGELES: SALZBURG & MOZART

Salzburg, Austria
Salzburg is a city surrounded by the Alps landscape, the fourth most populous in Austria. 

Near the German border, is the native town of Mozart and Patrimony of Humanity (World Heritage Site).

There they shot the film “The Sound of Music”, and other more.

What to see? 

FORT HOHENSALZBURG: The best preserved fortress in Europe.

-Fortress Hohensalzburg is a real eye-catcher peaking out high above the baroque towers of the city. The castle in Salzburg is an unmistakable landmark providing the city’s world famous silhouette. Even from afar the visitor is able to appreciate the might of this edifice. Up close the history contained in these powerful walls is almost tangible.

SALZBURG CATHEDRAL: More emblematic religious building in the city, one of the most important baroque monuments in the Alps.

-Salzburg Cathedral is probably the city's most significant piece of church architecture and its ecclesiastical center. With its magnificent façade and mighty dome it represents the most impressive early Baroque edifice north of the Alps.

PALACE HELLBRUNN: The summer residence of the Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikusis is the oldest stage in Europe.

-Here you can experience the former pleasures of the Prince Archbishops of Salzburg: mysterious gorges, water-operated tabletop games and surprising water fountains in every corner of the Hellbrunn Palace. The water features have inspired visitors for about 400 years. The name says it all: the water features in Hellbrunn are an extraordinary pleasure which you should not miss.

MUSEUM OF SALZBURG: Offers a full version of the city throughout its history.

-Housed in the Neuen Residenz.  The Salzburg Museum is the museum of artistic and cultural history for the city and region of Salzburg, Austria. It originated as the Provincialmuseum and was also previously known as the Museum Carolino-Augusteum.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

BIRTHPLACE OF MOZART: place of pilgrimage for music lovers. The museum preserves rooms in original state.

-Now a museum, Mozart's birthplace introduces visitors to the early life of the composer, his first musical instruments, his friends and his passionate interest in opera. The third floor exhibits Mozart's childhood violin as well as portraits, documents and early editions of his music, and the second floor is devoted to Mozart's interest in opera and includes the clavichord on which he composed The Magic Flute. The structure is owned by the Mozart Foundation.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been considered the most prominent composer of the history of Western music and his influence was profound, both in the Germanic world as in the Latin.

Its extensive production includes almost all kind (lied, German dances, concerts instruments, symphonies and operas). And any of them we can find masterpieces, we remind the passionate opinions of Goethe referring to the composer “How else could not manifest the divinity, but for the evidence of the miracles that occur in some men, which simply amaze and baffle?”


M.Ángeles  @ngelinaJolina

Saturday 7 February 2015

NAVAJO NATION: ÉÍ 'AANÍÍGÓÓ 'ÁHOOT'É

Navajo Nation
Yesterday, we continued the Robinson’s story and we talked about Navajo Nation, its language, and its importance in the Second World War. We reviewed Must (modal verb) and we recycled being as eco-friendly as we could.

We gave our best wishes to Mari Carmen, who had an important exam and we stayed the last hours in Paris. 


More information: Indians.org

Today, The Collins Family is packing their suitcases again. They’re going to Salzburg to spend some days and visit some places guided by M. Ángeles



Navajo Indians live in the Four Corners area of northern Arizona, north-western New Mexico, and south-eastern Utah. As members of the largest Indian nation in both population and land area (160,000 people by Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates, and 25,000 square miles of reservation land, roughly the size of West Virginia), many Navajos still speak only their native language, and most others, although they may be bilingual and bicultural, still cherish their songs, dances, and rituals. Woven into the fabric of everyday life, Navajo songs not only reinforce ancient beliefs but also serve as entertainment. 


Nizhónígo jooba' diits'a'
Yisdáshí
ínígíí
Yóó'ííyáá nít'éé,' k'ad shénáhoosdzin
Doo eesh'íi da nít'éé.' 

Jooba' shijéí shá neineeztáá'
T'áá bí shá ak'eh deesdlíí'
Ílíigo bijooba' yii
tsá
T'óó yisisdlaad yéedáá'

T'óó ahayóí atí'é
Bitahdéé' shééhozin
Bijooba'ii éí shilááh neel'á
Éí bee baa nídeeshdáá

Neeznáadi mííl nááhai nidi
Bits'ádi'nílíid doo
Yoo
káa
éí doo bee bi'oh da,
Bee hahoolzhiizh yéedóó 


  Jooba' T'óó Nizhóní (Amazing Grace) - Navajo Version 


More information: Navajo music

Thursday 5 February 2015

THE SONG OF THE SYBIL, EURO DISNEY & VOODOO

Today, we’ve reviewed the First Conditional and May (modal verb). We’ve written a composition about our experience in Euro Disney. We’ve talked about the Song of the Sybil (El Cant de la Sibil·la), an important liturgical drama sung every 24 December in some Mediterranean cities and recognized as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

The sun will lose its lightness showing itself dark and veiled, the moon will give no light and the whole world will be sorrow.

   More information: The Song of the Sybil

After the breakfast, we’ve talked about Voodoo and its influence in places like Haiti and we’ve practised a little of it. We've predicted the weather with Vanesa and we’ve reflected about The European Union and its future.

We don't know anything about our future, but if we had to ask for a wish, we would like to be forever young. 


May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.


Joan Baez 

VANESA: WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE?

The United Kingdom
The weather will be very instable in The UK. Predictions talk about a very strong temporal this week with a dangerous tornado.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, there will be moderate breeze and calm sea. Perhaps, they can change throughout the week.

In North East and North West, the sky will be cloudy and it will be able to rain in the midweek.

In Yorkshire Humberside, there will be strong breeze with sunshine.

In East and west midlands will rain and there will be strong wind from the north.

In Wales, it will snow a little but without curdling.

In East Anglia, there will be gentle breeze and low temperatures.

In South East, there will be very stable with sunshine.

In South West, it will be very stable with strong winds that could cause a small tornado.

For more information: Weather UK


Vanesa Collins (Astronaut)

SERRA DE TRAMUNTANA, ANTONI GAUDÍ & DELILAH

El Salt de la Bella Dona
Yesterday, we reviewed the First Conditional and continued the Robinson’s story. We talked about El salt de la bella dona (The jumping of the beautiful woman) an interesting and mysterious legend from Majorca Island

We recited Tom Jones’ Delilah and we discussed about the meaning of its lyrics.

More information: Candlemas' Report

Antoni Gaudí and his jobs in Ciutat de Palma's Cathedral, Santa Coloma de Cervelló and non-recognized ones in Sant Boi de Llobregat were other interesting themes.


The family visited Euro Disney. We hadn't got new news and then we suppose all the members are fine and nothing happened in the park. We’re sure all the whole family enjoyed every moment with their favourite characters.

We received some MJ presents: two fantastic books which were given by Mercè. Thanks a lot, girls!

Finally, we spoke about the importance of the 2.0 Tools in job’s searching nowadays.