When I look at you
I can see the sadness in your eyes
In these desperate times
We get pushed and shoved from every side
I can't love you if you won't let me
Can't touch me if you don't try
I can feel you
I know that you're ready to take it to the other side
Love will keep us alive
Let's make the moment right
It's now or never
Love will keep us alive...
Even the darkest night
Will shine forever
Love will keep us alive
Love will keep us alive
Love, love will keep us alive
When you walk away
There's an empty feeling in my mind
As the days go by
We get caught up in our separate lives
If you need me
You know I'll come running
Right to you
Just give me a sign
I won't leave you
We'll make it together
And take it to the end of time
Love will keep us alive
Let's make the moment right
It's now or never
Love will keep us alive
Even the darkest night will shine forever
Love will keep us alive
Love will keep us alive
Love, love will keep us alive
Oh, I've got a lot of loving to show you
You know I'd never want to control you
I only want to be by your side
I can't love you if you won't let me
Can't touch me if you don't try
I can feel you
I know that you're ready to take it to the other side
Love will keep us alive
Let's make the moment right
It's now or never
Love will keep us alive
Even the darkest night will shine forever
Love will keep us alive
Love will keep us alive
Love, love will keep us alive
Love will keep us alive
Love will keep us alive
Alive
Love will keep us alive
Post Question 2°E: READ the song and WATCH the vídeo to understand the lyrics (está legendado). After that, write about the meaning of the modal verb CAN in the lyrics. And remember...love will keep us ALIVE!
Talking about death or mourning may not be a simple task, but definitely it is a topic we should talk about much more often than we usually do. And it's quite amazing that the more we decided to study, read or talk about it, the simpler it become. I confess it has been simpler than I expect. But for sure, "death" is a complex issue and trying to approach it in 50 minutes is, at least, bold! But it's exactly what happened. In the latest "Halloween", we (the high school students - 3ºE and myself), we had a lecture on "Death and How to Deal with it." It was very rewarding! As the author Richard Bach said once: "We teach best what we most need to learn!" - and in this case, it wasn't different. The school is very important in our lives, but sometimes it fails to teach topics more connected to our life and experiences we are going through, no matter what. Nobody knows for sure how to deal with death or any other life matter, but the school would do a lot if it just opens a space to talk about all this topics. Being among friends and with teacher conducting the discussion, it can be a very interesting and supportive experience
And we know that learning is a continuous process, it never stops. So, to continue our studies, I'd like to recommend this movie called Departures (translated to Portuguese as "A Partida"). It is a 2008 Japanese film directed by Yōjirō Takita which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2009.
Departures - The gift of last memories
The Departure is the story of a young man who was a cellist and after losing his job in the orchestra, he returns to his hometown and starts working as "Nokanshi", a sort of mortician in charge of preparing the body of dead people, put it in the coffin and send the deceased to the other world. He works with traditional funeral rites and acts as a gatekeeper between life and death. Unfortunately, due to a lot of prejudice, his work is despised by his wife and people around him. But it is through death that he begins to understand the true meaning of life. It's a very poetic movie, without being melodramatic. You can watch this movie here. Don't miss it! Ah, and the sound tracking is also really very beautiful!
Post Question: Have you ever had the opportunity of talking about death in your school? Funeral rites are different in each society. If you could change, add or delete some acts we do in our funeral rite, what would you like to modify? Have you gone to the Consolação cemetery excursion with the school? If YES, how did you like it? If NO, would you like to go?
Tip: Read also the post written last November and watch the video with Professor Maria Helena Pereira Franco. She gives us information about the clinic at PUC which provides services to the community in caring for people are grieving.Just click here.
It's HALLOWEEN! It's HALLOWEEN!
The moon is full and bright
And we shall see what can't be seen
On any other night.
by Jack Prelutsky
Halloween has roots in ancient Celtic festival which is known as Samhain. The Samhain is a festival which is celebrated at the end of harvest season in the Gaelic culture. The name Halloween is originated from the Old English 'hallowed' which means holy or sanctified and is now usually contracted to the more familiar word Hallowe'en. It derives from All Hallows' Eve which falls on 31st October each year, and it is the day before All Hallows Day, also known as All Saints' Day. In 1846, due to the Ireland's Great Famine, many Irish immigrants went to North America to settle down and took the Halloween traditions with them to the New World. Nowadays, many people adorn their yards and homes to participate in this autumn celebration, which comprises wearing costumes, bonfires, visiting ghostly attractions, trick-or-treating, figuring jack-o'-lanterns, looking horror movies, costume parties, and reading frightening stories. It's one of the most popular and celebrated festival in America. In fact, it has become popular in almost all the world, including Brazil! The first time I heard about Halloween was in the early 80's, reading a text in the book of my English course in a specific language school. It was hard to imagine a group of kids going from house to house, dressing up as supernatural creatures and asking for candies.
Photo by Doug R. Funny
Photo by Verginia Veloso
But today, probably because of the globalization and the speed that information reaches via Internet, it's easy to picture this scenario. Little by little the festival has become popular down here too and even my husband had already participated (and won) a Halloween costume contest, wearing a very ugly mask! Of course we can't compare it to the America way of celebrating Halloween, but the way that things are going on here, we will be like them earlier than we can imagine! Some years ago, it was very difficult to find objects or things related to Halloween to buy here. But it has changed and you can find Halloween stuff around here. The first picture above (with the pumpkin and ghost toys) was taken in a supermarket in our city two weeks ago. Children go to school wearing costumes and although it's very uncommon, I already received the visit of some neighbourhood children asking for candies! It's another festival that traditionally is not ours but we have imported it. But it doesn't matter now! Besides the opposition of some people because the association they usually do between the festival and religion, more and more activities have been spreading around several places here, from regular schools to restaurants, coffee shops and dance clubs. As a teacher, I like to explain all that to my students and make it clear the difference of celebrating a festival that has a traditional bond with our history and the one that doesn't, I confess that I have been celebrating Halloween for many years, since I was an English student. I enjoy making some "spooky" food, like my famous spider-sandwich, which has already been awarded in a Halloween contest food. It's made with the big black olives. I also decorate the house to get into the mood and a jack-o-lantern is usually placed in the garden. But there are three things I really like doing and I consider them the most important ones to enjoy the party: buying chocolate candies, reading books about witches and watching Tim Burton's cartoons: The Nightmare Before Christmas (O Estranho Mundo de Jack) and Corpse Bridge (A Noiva Cadáver) or the movie Practical Magic (Da Magia à Sedução). The cartoons and the movie are so nice that it doesn't matter how many times you have seen them, they are always funny and pleasing!
Post Question: Do you celebrate Halloween? How do you do it? What's your favorite candy? What is your favorite costume? What movie and book would you recommend to be seen and read on Halloween?
Tip: "Yo no creo en brujas, pero que las hay, las hay!" (Eu não acreditoem bruxas, mas que elas existe, existem!) It's true...at least it was true in a city of Massachusetts, known as SALEM. Women (and men) were hanged accused of witchcraft. If you go to Salem, visit the Witch Museum. You can start your virtual tour here.
Sometimes people complain about a lot of things...the weather, the traffic, the office, friends, food, etc. The problem is that some people are so used to complain about everything and everyone that they can't realize the good things or the nice people that are also presented in their lives. In fact, they start suffering from the syndrome of "not being grateful for anything".
Students aren't different - complaints about the homework are expressed during the classes, the coffee break and, of course, on the social networks. And there is no problem at all about complaining, but we must know how to complain and we must do it to the right person. It's a pity that some students of our school decided to write his/her negative opinion about it on the social network.
The school has always done all it can to offer the best to its students - it has excellent teachers, technology is part of the daily routine, there are tutors to whom students can talk about anything (including the school), it offers several sports and cultural activities and many other benefits. It's really curious that, for some people, write about the bad things is much easier than write about the good ones. And unfortunately what they don't understand is that the social network is exactly that - SOCIAL...so, we must take care about what we write. It's even a matter of education! But we'll talk about it later! And while some complain because they have to do their part, (or simply their homework) on the other side of the Atlantic, a girl is shot on her way to school because she wanted to study. It's unthinkable and, as we have the right of going to school, sometimes it's unbelievable that there's a person in the world that cannot have the same right! Unfortunately, it's true.
Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old Pakistan girl who has campaigned for girls' education, was hit in the head by a gunman from Taliban. She used to write a diary for BBC Urdu to let the world know what was going on in her place. She wrote: "At that time some of us would go to school in plain clothes, not in school uniform, just to pretend we are not students, and we hid our books under our shawls.”
Malala Yousafzai couldn't study, she couldn't even wear her uniform to go to school. And some students complain because they must wear their uniform. Some of them got angry when Delcíria or Janete ask them about the uniform. But it's exactly because there still are people like Malala that we (teachers and conscious students) have to keep on doing our job - teach and study! It's a way to show that her efforts are not in vain. What a pity we can't exchange these students who enjoy complaining about their school for Malala. I guess they would appreciate being there, at least they wouldn't have any homework to complain about...
Watch the video below to know a little bit more about her story:
Post Question: 1ºE - Write just one word that could express something you would like to wish to Malala. She used to write about her experiences in a blog. What about you, do you write about your routine too - in a diary, blog or something like that? Of course we know that there are many points we should improve in our school and there are also good points to be thankful. Write, in a simple sentence, to our principal Janice, something you would like to complain or thank about our school.
2ºE - Write a message to Malala using the modal verb that express wishes.
Tip: You can read here some posts that Malala wrote to her blog on BBC online describing how the girl's education ban affected her and her friends.
"BookCrossing" - do you know it? What do you think about the idea of a book of yours being "crossing" the world and, although it's not yours properly, you can check where it has been? It's exactly what you can do when you become a member of this movement which besides being funny and interesting, it's also a great way to stimulate generosity and reading anywhere, anytime!
The BookCrossing.com was created by the Ron Hornbakerin March 2001. He's an American who lives in Missouri. He already knew the popularity of WheresGeorge.com (it is a website which tracks dollars in circulation in the U.S. by serial number) and it he thought: which another physical object people would like to track? A few minutes later, while he was looking at his own bookshelf, he had the idea of tracking books. Ron Hornbakerin realized that nothing like BookCrossing had been done before (on a significant scale). Then he chose the name and checked it on Google - there were no entries for "Bookcrossing", so he registered the domain. His wife Kaori sketched the logo of the book running on a plate transit. And from that moment on this idea has been spreading everywhere, transforming the whole world in a big library. It has become so popular that "BookCrossing" was added to the Concise Oxford English Language Dictionary as a new word. It has been presented in 132 countries, with over 9.3 million books and 1.3 million registered members so far.
Would you like to join in this group? It's very easy! All that you have to do is following some simple steps. First of all, buy a book that you have enjoyed reading. Go to the BookCrossing site, register the book to get its ID, print the label to put it in your book (it will help people who are going to get this book to understand about Book Crossing), and release it in a public place. After that, using the released book ID, you can track it wherever it has been.
Read, register, release and follow - it's all it takes to be part of one of the best ideas ever!
Post Question: Have you ever heard about "BookCrossing"? Have you ever participated on it? Which book (one you have already read) would you like to release on the BookCrossing movement? How many books have you read during this year? Would you recommend one of them? Why?
Tip: BookCrossing Blogueiro - Let's get involved? It will be in November, from 8th to 16th. To know how to do it, check this siteand follow the instructions!
Professora de Inglês que graças a profissão se tornou uma cidadã do mundo que acredita piamente em duas coisas: lar é onde o coração está e que a educação é a chave para um mundo (bem) melhor!
I'm an English teacher that thanks to this profession became a world citizen who strongly believes in two things: home is where the heart is and that education is the key to a (much) better world!
