CONGRATULATIONS, JOAN! YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

Today, The Fosters have celebrated Joan Foster's birthday in Liverpool.

 

Happy birthday, bro! 

 

You'll never walk alone!

They have spent a great and unforgettable day singing, eating and receiving the wonderful visit of Tony Granger, an old friend of The Grandma, who has shared his memories and impressions about Cambridge Exam, life, sport and friendship.

It has been a great visit and The Grandma is very happy with the new path that Tony is going to start. 

Good luck, friend! You'll never walk alone!

Before this, the family has been studying Adverbs of Frequency and Modal Verbs (Should/Shouldn't).

More information: Adverbs of Frequency

More information: Should/Shouldn't

More information: Tony Granger, The Greatest Celtic Love for Rugby

You'll Never Walk Alone is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. 

In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings You'll Never Walk Alone to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the male lead, stabs himself with a knife whilst trying to run away after attempting a robbery with his mate Jigger and dies in her arms. 

The song is reprised in the final scene to encourage a graduation class of which Louise (Billy and Julie's daughter) is a member. The now invisible Billy, who has been granted the chance to return to Earth for one day in order to redeem himself, watches the ceremony and is able to silently motivate Louise and Julie to join in with the song.

The song is also sung at association football clubs around the world, where it is performed by a massed chorus of supporters on match day; this tradition developed at Liverpool F.C. after the chart success of the 1963 single of the song by the local Liverpool group Gerry and the Pacemakers.

In some areas of the United Kingdom and Europe, You'll Never Walk Alone became the anthem of support for medical staff, first responders, and those in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. The composition is sometimes treated by performers as a religious song, such as with the 1967 version by Elvis Presley, which was featured on several of his gospel albums.

Christine Johnson, who created the role of Nettie Fowler, introduced the song in the original Broadway production. Later in the show Jan Clayton, as Julie Jordan, reprised it, with the chorus joining in.

In the film, it is first sung by Claramae Turner as Nettie. The weeping Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones) tries to sing it but cannot; it is later reprised by Julie and those attending the graduation.

In the UK, the song's most successful cover was released in 1963 by the Liverpudlian Merseybeat group Gerry and the Pacemakers, peaking at number one on the UK Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks. The band's version also reached the top of the charts in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.

After becoming a chart hit by the local band, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the song gained popularity on the Anfield terraces, and the song quickly became the football anthem of Liverpool F.C., which adopted You'll Never Walk Alone as its official motto on its coat of arms. The song is sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game at Anfield with the Gerry and the Pacemakers version being played over the public address system.

According to former player Tommy Smith, lead vocalist Gerry Marsden presented Liverpool manager Bill Shankly with a recording of his forthcoming cover single during a pre-season coach trip in the summer of 1963. Shanks was in awe of what he heard. ... Football writers from the local newspapers were travelling with our party and, thirsty for a story of any kind between games, filed copy back to their editors to the effect that we had adopted Gerry Marsden's forthcoming single as the club song. 

The squad were subsequently invited to perform the track with the band on The Ed Sullivan Show with Marsden stating, Bill came up to me. He said, 'Gerry my son, I have given you a football team and you have given us a song'.

More information: Goal

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm

There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain

For your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone

Gerry & The Peacemakers

KAUAI, THE ISLAND ON WAIMEA CANYON STATE PARK

Today, The Stones and The Grandma have flown to Kaua'i, one of the Hawaiian Islands. Before flying, they have done some models of Cambridge Exams to prepare their next objective.

Kauaʻi is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands after Niʻihau.

With an area of 1,456.4 km2, it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the Garden Isle, Kauaʻi lies 169 km across the Kauaʻi Channel, northwest of Oʻahu. This island is the site of Waimea Canyon State Park.

The United States Census Bureau defines Kauaʻi as census tracts 401 through 409 of Kauai County, Hawaiʻi, which comprises all of the county except for the islands of Kaʻula, Lehua and Niʻihau. The 2010 United States Census population of the island was 66,921. The most populous town was Kapaʻa.

In 1778, Captain James Cook arrived at Waimea Bay, the first European known to have reached the Hawaiian islands. He named the archipelago the Sandwich Isles after his patron, the 6th Earl of Sandwich, George Montagu.

During the reign of King Kamehameha, the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau were the last Hawaiian Islands to join his Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Their ruler, Kaumualiʻi, resisted Kamehameha for years. King Kamehameha twice prepared a huge armada of ships and canoes to take the islands by force, and twice failed; once due to a storm, and once due to an epidemic. In the face of the threat of a further invasion, however, Kaumualiʻi decided to join the kingdom without bloodshed, and became Kamehameha's vassal in 1810. He ceded the island to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi upon his death in 1824.

More information: Go Hawaii

In 1815, a ship from the Russian-American Company was wrecked on the island. In 1816, an agreement was signed by Kaumualiʻi to allow the Russians to build Fort Elizabeth. It was an attempt by Kaumualiʻi to gain support from the Russians against Kamehameha I.

Construction was begun in 1817, but in July of that year under mounting resistance of Native Hawaiians and American traders the Russians were expelled. The settlement on Kauaʻi has been considered an abrupt instance of a Pacific outpost of the Russian Empire per se.

Hawaiian narrative locates the name's origin in the legend of Hawaiʻiloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiʻian Islands.

The story relates how he named the island of Kauaʻi after a favorite son; a possible translation of Kauaʻi is place around the neck, describing how a father would carry a favorite child. Another possible translation is food season.

Kauaʻi was known for its distinct dialect of the Hawaiian language; this survives on Niʻihau. While the standard language today adopts the dialect of Hawaiʻi island, which has the sound [k], the Kauaʻi dialect was known for pronouncing this as [t]. In effect, Kauaʻi dialect retained the old pan-Polynesian /t/, while standard Hawaiʻi dialect has changed it to the [k].

Therefore, the native name for Kauaʻi was said as Tauaʻi, and the major settlement of Kapaʻa would have been pro Kauaʻi's origins are volcanic, the island having been formed by the passage of the Pacific Plate over the Hawaii hotspot. At approximately five million years old, it is the oldest of the main islands. The highest peak on this mountainous island is Kawaikini at 1,598 m.

The second highest peak is Mount Waiʻaleʻale near the center of the island, 1,569 m above sea level. One of the wettest spots on earth, with an annual average rainfall of 11.7 m, is located on the east side of Mount Waiʻaleʻale. The high annual rainfall has eroded deep valleys in the central mountains, carving out canyons with many scenic waterfalls.

On the west side of the island, Waimea town is located at the mouth of the Waimea River, whose flow formed Waimea Canyon, one of the world's most scenic canyons, which is part of Waimea Canyon State Park. At three thousand feet 910 m deep, Waimea Canyon is often referred to as The Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Kokeo Point lies on the south side of the island. The Na Pali Coast is a center for recreation in a wild setting, including kayaking past the beaches, or hiking on the trail along the coastal cliffs. The headland, Kuahonu Point, is on the south-east of the island.

More information: Planet Ware

Ua ola no i ka pane a ke aloha.

There is life in a kindly reply.

Hawaiian Proverb

'AS WE WERE SAYING YESTERDAY...", THE STONES RETURN

Fray Luis de León

Today, The Grandma has meet The Stones again in Sant Boi. It has been a wonderful reencounter after six months of being separated. The family stayed in Hogwarts when The Grandma travelled to Barcelona to continue her work with The Watsons.

First, MJ has been talking about the new health rules about COVID19 and later, The Grandma has been talking about how to create and construct little compositions.

The family want to restart the classes again as soon as possible to continue studying English and working in the possibility of do a Cambridge Exam. It is difficult and nowadays we do not know anything about it but they are going to work with this objective on the horizon because they are The Stones and they do not give up.

Finally, The Grandma has explained two stories, one about the Capuchins in Sant Boi de Llobregat and another about Fray Luis de León, one of the most incredible Castilian writers of the 16C.

More information: Writing

Luis de León (Belmonte, Cuenca, 1527-Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Castile, 23 August 1591), was a Castillan lyric poet, Augustinian friar, theologian and academic, active during the Spanish Golden Age.

Luis de León was born in Belmonte, in the Province of Cuenca, in 1527 or 1528. His parents were Lope de León and Inés de Varela, and they had five children. His father practiced law, and it was due to his profession that the family moved to Madrid in 1534, and later to Valladolid.

Luis obtained a very thorough and extensive education, and was devoted to the interpretation and translation of religious texts and ideas. He was proficient in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.

He entered the University of Salamanca at the age of fourteen, in 1541, to study Canon Law under the care of his uncle Francisco. At some point between 1541 and 1543, Thompson states that it was about 5-6 months after beginning his studies, while other authors often claim it was 1543, Luis abandoned his studies and instead entered the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine.

Fray Luis de León's Writings

After a novitiate of uncertain duration he joined the Priory of San Pedro on 29 January 1544. The first record of León as a student of theology is in the matriculation book at the University of Salamanca for 1546-7.

In 1552, Fray Luis graduated with a bachelor's degree in theology from the University of Toledo and continued his education as a student of Hebrew and Biblical interpretation at the University of Alcalá de Henares.

In 1561, he began translating the Song of Songs (Cantar de los Cantares) into Spanish for his cousin, Isabel Osorio, a nun in Salamanca who could not read the Latin text, and wrote an accompanying commentary. This was León's first major translation of a biblical text, and was probably inspired by a commentary his contemporary Arias Montano had lent to him when he passed through Salamanca in 1561.

Translation of biblical texts into Spanish had been banned by the Council of Trent, so there was a certain risk in this undertaking. The manuscript, however, was popular amongst his friends, who copied it and circulated it privately. However, the translations formed part of the accusations levelled against León when he was denounced to the Inquisition in 1572.

Because of the controversial nature of the text, it was not published until 1798.

Having returned to Salamanca the previous year, in 1560 he graduated from the University of Salamanca as a licentiate (7 May) and Master of Theology (30 June), and in the following year he won the election to the Chair of St Thomas, a chair in Theology, at the same university, Salamanca was unusual in that all Chairs were subject to an election for the position. This was a minor Chair, with a limited four-year tenure.

More information: Multimedia English I & II

In 1565, he won the Chair of St Durandus, to which he was re-elected in 1569, he lost it in 1573 because he was in prison while the elections took place. In 1566 he was named administrator of the Augustinian College of San Guillermo in Salamanca, and in 1567 he took on the position of vice rector of the University. In 1571 he attained the Chair of Sacred Letters as well.

While at the university, he translated classical and biblical literature and wrote on religious themes. He was widely known for his works.

In 1571 Dominican professors Bartolomé de Medina and Castro put forth seventeen propositions to the Inquisition documenting Fray Luis' allegedly heretical opinions. His translation into Spanish and commentary of the Song of Solomon (Canto de Salomón) was the biggest evidence presented for their case against him. Another charge touched on his criticizing the text of the Vulgate.

As a result, he was imprisoned at Valladolid from 27 March 1572 until December 1576, fell ill and remained in bad health throughout his imprisonment. Though he suffered greatly from his isolation and less than desirable conditions, Fray Luis continued to actively write and study during his confinement.

At the end of 1576, the tables turned, and on 11 December Fray Luis was cleared of all charges and released from prison with an admonishment to be more careful and reserved in his publications and speech. He returned to Salamanca on 30 December in triumph.

Tradition has it that he began his university lecture on 29 January 1577, his first after returning from four years' imprisonment, with the words Dicebamus hesterna die (As we were saying yesterday...).

He died at the age of 64 on 23 August 1591, in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, and is buried in Salamanca in the Priory of San Agustín. Ten days before his death he was elected Vicar General of the Augustinian Order.

More information: The Order of Friar Minor Capuchin in Sant Ramon

There is a lack of words in the language

for the feelings of the soul.

Fray Luis de León

THE BONDS: THE END OF THE BEGINNING

The Bonds in their first travel together in Berlin

Today, The Bonds have closed a circle that they started in December 2016. After all these months, the family has been working together and very hard to reach their goal: be ready to  live the experience of participating in a Cambridge Exam and try to get an accreditation in A2 or B1 levels.

The family has just received the good news and they are joyful and happy with their effort because they have got the objective.

The cercle has been closed and The Grandma is going to follow another way and the family is going to take different paths. The last day of the common work has arrived and today is the result of lots of hours of effort and illusion of an unforgettable family.

Now, everyone of them is going to choose her/his own future and being a Bond will have been a beautiful experience to remember and a starting point to take enough force to continue forward the next goal.

The Grandma is going to follow her own path, too. An unexpected future with lots of mysteries and questions and no answers but she is completely sure that it doesn't matter what will happen tomorrow meanwhile you are the owner of your future and the main responsible of your actions. The most important is growing and learning new things everyday and create new photos to keep in the album of unforgettable memories.

Thanks to all The Bonds because you have written another fantastic page in The Grandma's life. This is the end of the beginning because The Bonds will continue studying English and improving other languages.

Come on Bonds, the future is ours!

It's all about quality of life and finding a happy balance 

between work and friends and family. 

Philip Green

BELGIUM: TINTIN & NÚRIA'S HOMETOWN

Tintin & Milou

Yesterday was a hard day for The Holmes. They reviewed some modal verbs (Need and Can) and they wrote two Florence’s postcards to MJ. They also practised some Social English and other themes of English grammar while The Grandma was explaining a story about an old friend who she loves a lot and once had to take another path in her life far away from her.

More information: Need & Can

Today, the family has continued its preparation learning some new things about Adverbs of Frequency in comparative and superlative forms; Relative Pronouns and Conditional Tense. After MJ visit, the family has been talking about the convenience of doing the Cambridge Exam with advantages and disadvantages.

More information: Relative Pronouns

The Grandma appreciates the huge effort of her family day after day and trust on them because she knows that they have nothing to lose and the only possible final is success

Tomorrow, The Holmes will recycle with modal verbs, count with their little calculators and play bingo with Luisa Holmes, the croupier, like party’s soul. After this, the family, who is now in Lîdje, are going to travel to London where they’re going to stay some days and where The Queen, an old Grandma’s friend, is waiting for them, in the same way, that The Collins who are going to receive them in Downton Abbey.

More information: Conditional Tense 

By believing in his dreams,

man turns them into reality.

Georges Prosper Remi, Hergé