14 Dic 2017

Sticky Post By admin Posted in Culture, Festividades Permalink

A British Christmas Dinner

Sticky Post By admin On 14/12/2017

¿Cómo imaginas una comida de Navidad en el Reino Unido? ¿Cuáles crees que son las diferencias entre los platos que se comen allí y los que se comen en nuestro país?

El artículo que compartimos hoy (especialmente recomendado para estudiantes avanzados) explica con detalle y fina ironía inglesa los platos tradicionales navideños y las tradiciones que los acompañan.

Pero antes de empezar, ¿por qué no ponernos en situación con un listening? Aquí tienes este vídeo de Anglophenia sobre los platos que se cocinan por Navidad en distintas partes del mundo.

¿Qué parecidos y diferencias ves entre las tradiciones de otros países y las del tuyo?

Ahora sí, te dejamos con el artículo de F. McAlpine, Anatomy of a British Christmas Dinner.

04 Dic 2017

Sticky Post By admin Posted in Culture, Festividades Permalink

Christmas is coming!

Sticky Post By admin On 04/12/2017

En el post de hoy te traemos una canción tradicional inglesa acompañada de algunas actividades para hacer con los niños de la casa. Para que aprovechéis la Navidad para aprender algunos conceptos nuevos en inglés.

¡Ya estamos en diciembre!

La Navidad está a la vuelta de la esquina y pronto empezarán a oírse villancicos por todas partes. Este año ¿por qué no sorprender a tu familia cantando en inglés?

Christmas Is Coming is a nursery rhyme and Christmas song with lyrics as follows:

Christmas Goose / Will Bullas

Christmas is coming,

And the goose is getting fat.

Please put a penny in the old man’s hat!

If you haven’t got a penny,

A farthing will do.

If you haven’t got a farthing

A shilling will do.

If you haven’t got a shilling…

GOD BLESSES YOU!

Now it’s your turn

There are different versions of this Christmas carol, so the lyrics may change depending on the version. Can you spot the differences between the written poem and the song these young musicians sing?

Do you know what a shilling, a farthing and a penny means? Look on Google (English currency) and you’ll find out!
Do you celebrate Christmas the same way as they do in Great Britain?
Can you name any differences between your country and Great Britain? And, of course similarities?
Do you hang your stocking next to the chimney on Christmas Eve?
Do you leave food for Rudolph and a glass of milk for Santa?

27 Nov 2017

Sticky Post By admin Posted in Culture Permalink

El Día de Acción de Gracias – Thanksgiving Day

Sticky Post By admin On 27/11/2017

El día de Acción de Gracias es una de las fiestas favoritas de los norteamericanos. Desfiles, espectáculos de música y baile… ¡Es una celebración a lo grande! Hoy queremos compartir con vosotros un número musical del desfile celebrado en Nueva York este año y un breve artículo para que conozcáis mejor este día tan especial.

Thanksgiving Day in the United States

from Time & Date

Thanksgiving Day in the United States is a holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. It precedes Black Friday.

What Do People Do?

Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal. The meal often includes a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, and vegetables. Thanksgiving Day is a time for many people to give thanks for what they have. Thanksgiving Day parades are held in some cities and towns on or around Thanksgiving Day. Some parades or festivities also mark the opening of the Christmas shopping season. Some people have a four-day weekend so it is a popular time for trips and to visit family and friends.

Public Life

Most government offices, businesses, schools and other organizations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Many offices and businesses allow staff to have a four-day weekend so these offices and businesses are also closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. Public transit systems do not usually operate on their regular timetables. Thanksgiving Day it is one of the busiest periods for travel in the USA. This can cause congestion and overcrowding. Seasonal parades and busy football games can cause disruption to local traffic.

Background

Thanksgiving Day has been an annual holiday in the United States since 1863. Not everyone sees Thanksgiving Day as a cause for celebration. Each year since 1970, a group of Native Americans and their supporters have staged a protest for a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day. American Indian Heritage Day is also observed at this time of the year. There are claims that the first Thanksgiving Day was held in the city of El Paso, Texas in 1598. Another early event was held in 1619 in the Virginia Colony. Many people trace the origins of the modern Thanksgiving Day to the harvest celebration that the Pilgrims held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. However, their first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. These early thanksgivings took the form of a special church service, rather than a feast. In the second half of the 1600s, thanksgivings after the harvest became more common and started to become annual events. However, it was celebrated on different days in different communities and in some places there were more than one thanksgiving each year. George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789.

16 Jun 2017

Sticky Post By admin Posted in Culture, Festividades Permalink

Today it’s 16th June! Happy Bloomsday!

Sticky Post By admin On 16/06/2017

Hoy es 16 de junio, día en el que se celebra el Bloomsday. ¿No sabes qué es? Lee el siguiente artículo del James Joyce Centre y practica un poco de inglés 😉

WHAT IS BLOOMSDAY?

Bloomsday is a celebration that takes place both in Dublin and around the world. It celebrates Thursday 16 June 1904, which is the day depicted in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses. The novel follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8am on 16 June 1904 through to the early hours of the following morning.

Celebrations often include dressing up like characters from the book and in clothes that would have been the style of the era. One of the hallmark fancy dress items of Bloomsday is the straw boater hat. Celebrations come in many different forms like readings, performances and visiting the places and establishments that are referenced in the book. The Bloomsday Breakfast is another common celebration, which involves eating the same breakfast as Leopold Bloom consumes on the morning of 16 June. This includes liver and kidneys alongside the typical ingredients of an Irish fried breakfast.

HISTORY OF BLOOMSDAY

Joyce started writing Ulysses in March 1914, but put it aside again to finish his play Exiles. On 16 June 1915 he wrote to his brother Stanislaus to say he had finished the first episode of Ulysses. After Ulysses was published in 1922, Joyce’s friends began to mark 16 June as Bloomsday.

In 1924, Joyce was in hospital, his eyes bandaged having had one of many operations on them. Friends sent him a bunch of white and blue flowers (white and blue being the colours of the cover of Ulysses) but Joyce despondently scrawled in his notebook ‘Today 16 June 1924 twenty years after. Will anybody remember this date.’ The first major celebration of Bloomsday came in 1929. Adrienne Monnier, partner of the publisher of Ulysses, Sylvia Beach, published Ulysse, the French translation of Ulysses in February. Then, to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first Bloomsday, she organised a Déjeuner Ulysse which was held at the Hotel Leopold near Versailles. Unfortunately, the event took place a little late, on 29 June not 16 June.

The first Bloomsday celebrated in Ireland was in 1954, the fiftieth anniversary of the first Bloomsday, when the writers Patrick Kavanagh and Flann O’Brien visited the Martello Tower at Sandycove, Davy Byrne’s pub, and 7 Eccles Street, reading parts of Ulysses and drinking a great deal as they went! Today, Bloomsday is celebrated by Joyceans across the globe with readings, performances, re-enactments, and a host of other events. In Dublin, enthusiasts dress in Edwardian costume and gather during the day at many of the locations where episodes of Ulysses take place. The James Joyce Centre hosts Bloomsday Breakfasts and other events in the run up to June 16 as well as on the day.

WHY DID JOYCE CHOOSE 1904?

We believe that on that day Joyce went out with Nora Barnacle, his future wife, for the first time. Joyce and Nora met for the first time on Friday 10 June 1904 on Nassau Street, near Finn’s Hotel where Nora worked. They arranged to meet again on Tuesday 14 June, outside Sir William Wilde’s house on Merrion Square. Joyce turned up for the meeting but Nora didn’t. Joyce wrote to her at the hotel on 15 June asking if she would like to make another arrangement.

According to Joyce’s biographer, they went walking together in Ringsend on 16 June and Joyce later told Nora ‘You made me a man.’ The summer of 1904 was very significant for Joyce. Not only did he meet Nora but he started writing the stories for Dubliners and, after spending six days living with Oliver Gogarty at the Martello Tower in Sandycove in September, Joyce made the decision to leave Ireland. (Though Joyce lived at the Tower in September 1904, he was not living there in June. His letter to Nora on 15 June was written from 60 Shelbourne Road where he was renting a room at the time.)

Some incidents in Joyce’s life during the summer of 1904 became material for Ulysses. On 20 June, a drunken Joyce was thrown out of a National Theatre Society rehearsal in a hall on Camden Street: at the end of episode 9 (of Ulysses) this incident is ascribed to Stephen. On 22 June, Joyce was involved in a drunken altercation which left him with a black eye and other injuries. In Ulysses, Stephen becomes involved in a similar altercation with an English soldier at the end of episode 15.

Surce: The James Joyce Centre

¿Quieres saber más? Pues aquí tienes otros links:

Take a journey through Dublin and the events of Bloomsday

James Joyce, Ulises y Bloomsday: lo que NECESITAS saber

Bloomsday en Barcelona (artículo de El Periódico)

Bloomsday a Barcelona (en català)

31 Mar 2017

Sticky Post By admin Posted in Festividades Permalink

The 1st of April -pranksters and fools!

Sticky Post By admin On 31/03/2017

If you’re ever in the UK on April 1st, you’d better watch out!

En muchos países, como los Estados Unidos, Francia, Brasil o el Reino Unido, el día 1 de abril se celebra el April Fool’s Day, un día dedicado a las bromas (pranks) que gastamos en España el Día de los Santos Inocentes.

Estas son algunas de las bromas más conocidas:

En los años 90, Burger King publicó un anuncio en la revista USA Today ofreciendo unos nuevos Whoppers para zurdos. ¡Cientos de clientes los pidieron en sus restaurantes!
En Japón se hizo correr la noticia de que en un zoo del país tenían un pingüino gigante que medía 165cm de alto y pesaba 80kg. En realidad, era un hombre disfrazado.
En 1949 un presentador de radio en Nueva Zelanda dijo que millones de avispas habían llegado al país y que la mejor manera de protegerse era llevando los calcetines por encima de los pantalones y poniendo miel en las puertas de las casas. ¡Miles de oyentes le creyeron!
En 1976 un conocido astrónomo británico contó por la radio que a las 9:47 de la mañana, debido a un fenómeno celeste, los habitantes de la Tierra podrían experimentar la sensación de ingravidez que tienen los astronautas. Debido a un cruce de las órbitas de Júpiter y Plutón, si saltaban a aquella hora exacta, los terrestres podrían experimentar la “gravedad cero”. ¡Centenares de oyentes llamaron a la radio para decir que habían saltado y que habían conseguido flotar!

(Fuente: Learn English Teens, British Council)

Aquí tenéis otras bromas muy originales para celebrar el April Fool’s Day.

Y para terminar, os dejamos con un divertido artículo en inglés de la humorista estadounidense Michele Wojciechowski, publicado en Parade.

Just Kidding: The Origins of April Fools’ Day

I admit it—I don’t like April Fools’ Day.

How is it possible for someone who loves humor and comedy so much to not like a day that is supposed to be dedicated to it?

The answer’s simple—I don’t like pranks.

When I had April Fools’ Day jokes played on me, they always had a scary element. Like in high school: “Hey Wojo! Did you know we have a pop quiz today?”

Me: Gasp, sputter, choke…

Classmate: April Fool!

In college: “Hey Wojo! Did you know you have a flat tire?”

Me: Gasp, sputter, choke…

Classmate: April Fool!

As an adult: “Hey Wojo! Did you know that your best friend has been saying horrible things about you?

Me: Gasp, sputter, choke…

Supposed Friend: April Fool!

You get the idea.

Not funny. I don’t find this funny at all.

Considering, though, how many folks continue to celebrate the holiday, I thought I’d find out how it all came about. Like many things started in “olden times,” the beginnings of April Fools’ Day aren’t exactly clear.

The Beginnings?

One source states that April Fools’ Day may have begun as far back as 1582. That’s when France switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. And, no, this isn’t the funny part.

Evidently, some folks didn’t hear about the calendar change, which came about because of the Council of Trent in 1563. So they didn’t know that they were supposed to start the new year on January 1 instead of April 1, as had been done in the past. According to Snopes.com, French peasants would go to their neighbors’ houses to pretend they were paying a New Year’s Day call on them. If the people really thought it was the start of the new year, they were considered April fools.

Yeah, I feel their pain.

Some historians think that April Fools’ Day somehow ties into the vernal equinox, when Mother Nature was said to fool people with the quickly changing weather. (Considering that in Maryland in March, we’ve had days near 80 degrees as well as snow, I could see this being true.)

Did you know that people pulling April Fools’ Day pranks are supposed to do them before noon on April 1 or they are welcoming bad luck into their lives? I guess folks could argue that it’s noon somewhere and continue to play jokes on friends and family throughout the day.

I don’t like these people.

During the 18th century, April Fools’ Day was accepted by Britain. In Scotland, they began holding two-day celebrations of this pranking day and called it “hunting the gowk,” a “gowk” being their name for cuckoo bird or fool. People were sent on ridiculous errands. I’m sure they had a blast.

Keep your eyes and ears open on April Fools’ Day as the media and companies love to get involved. Who can forget the year that Canada said it was coming out with a $2 coin or when Burger King said it was now selling a left-handed Whopper…and folks actually asked for it.

The best prank of all? In 1957, the BBC’s Panorama said that with spring coming early, the Switzerland spaghetti harvest would be early too. They then showed women in the background who looked to be picking spaghetti from trees.

Tons of viewers called the BBC to find out where they could buy spaghetti plants.

How gullible…

Um, and if you’re looking for me, I may be checking my car tires. Not for any specific reason, though. Just to see…

17 Mar 2017

Sticky Post By admin Posted in History Permalink

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Sticky Post By admin On 17/03/2017

El 17 de marzo es el Día de San Patricio (Saint Patrick’s Day), un día de fiesta nacional en Irlanda en el que se conmemora a St. Patrick, santo patrón del país.

Este día no sólo se celebra en Irlanda, sino en muchos otros países como, por ejemplo, los Estados Unidos o Argentina, donde encontramos población de origen irlandés.

¿Quién fue San Patricio?

Según la leyenda, San Patricio fue el hijo de dos ciudadanos romanos que vivían en alguna región de Britania, la provincia romana que ocupaba lo que hoy en día es Gran Bretaña. Nació en el siglo IV dC y a los dieciséis años fue secuestrado y llevado a Irlanda, donde pasó los siguientes seis años en cautividad.

Pero tras escuchar la voz de Dios en un sueño, consiguió escapar y regresar a Gran Bretaña. Una vez allí, decidió convertirse en sacerdote y, pasados unos años, volvió a Irlanda para convertir a los paganos al Catolicismo. Para lograrlo, utilizaba un trébol (shamrock) de tres hojas para explicar la Santísima Trinidad, por eso el trébol es uno de los símbolos del santo y, por extensión, de la propia Irlanda.

Se dice que San Patricio murió el 17 de marzo del año 461 y que su sepultura se encuentra en la catedral de Downpatrick.

La catedral de Downpatrick es el lugar donde, según la leyeda, fue enterrado San Patricio.

¿Cómo se celebra?

El día de San Patricio se celebra de muchas maneras. Lo más habitual es organizar desfiles, como en Estados Unidos, o festivales, como en Dublín.

Desfile del Día de San Patricio en Dublín.

La gente suele salir a divertirse vestida de verde o llevando consigo un trébol. Los más atrevidos se disfrazan de leprechaun, un personaje típico del folclore irlandés, o se visten con los colores de la bandera irlandesa.

La bebida típica de este día es la cerveza Guinness, que acompaña platos tan deliciosos como el Corned Beef u otros asados increíbles. ¡Echa un vistazo a estas recetas recogidas por la BBC!

Getty Images

¿Quieres saber más? Pincha aquí y descube una interesante colección de artículos y vídeos del canal Historia sobre St. Patrick’s Day (en inglés).

24 Feb 2017

Sticky Post By admin Posted in Festividades, Travel Permalink

Locura en Notting Hill… ¡es el Carnaval!

Sticky Post By admin On 24/02/2017

Dos participantes de la edición del Notting Hill Carnival de 2015 / The Guardian

En verano el color y la música se apoderan de Notting Hill

Aunque el Carnaval sea una fiesta más propia de países de tradición católica, los habitantes del barrio londinense de Notting Hill también lo celebran ¡y a lo grande!

El carnaval de Notting Hill se lleva celebrando a finales del mes de agosto desde hace más de cincuenta años. Esta tradición fue importada por inmigrantes de origen caribeño, especialmente de Trinidad y Tobago, y hoy en día es la fiesta callejera más grande de Europa.

¿Queréis saber más? Entonces leed este breve artículo del periódico The Guardian que, además, recoge imágenes increíbles de la edición de 2015.

Notting Hill carnival 2015: a visual tour

Guardian photojournalist David Levene donned his rain mac and got down and dirty on the streets of west London to bring us a late summer tour of Europe’s biggest street party.

London’s Notting Hill carnival has taken place on Sunday and Monday of the August bank holiday since 1965. It was originally led by members of the local West Indian community, especially those from Trinidad and Tobago. With its distinctive Caribbean feel, by the mid 1970s the carnival was attracting upwards of 150,000 people. In recent years it has pulled in 50,000 performers, 38 sound systems and 2.5 million people over the weekend, making it the second largest street carnival in the world after Rio de Janeiro

The traditional Trinidad carnival elements of mas, calypso/soca and steelpan are blended with Jamaican-style static sound systems, and hundreds of food and craft stalls

J’ouvert

J’ouvert – the word comes from the french jour ouvert, meaning daybreak – originated in Trinidad and signals the start of the carnival. The early morning parade on Sunday is a messy affair …

… during which paint, mud and oil is smeared over the bodies of participants, known as jab jabs – French patois for diable (devil). Experienced revellers came well prepared in boiler suits

My cameras and lenses took a lot of abuse amid flying paint and powder – they will definitely need to go for a professional deep clean!

David Levene, photographer

A day out with the kids

Sunday is a family day involving a children’s parade. Although generally quieter than Monday, the atmosphere gradually builds throughout the day

Some last-minute adjustments to outfits are made as this troupe gets ready for the parade

Waiting for the parade, foghorns at the ready…

Soca

Dee J D Francis belts out soca aboard one of the floats along the route. A combination of soul and calypso, soca originated from underground culture in Trinidad and Tobago in the late 1970s and has developed to incorporate other musical genres including funk, soul, and zouk

Street food

Jerk chicken, curried goat, and saltfish are the traditional carnival food stall fare, along with sweetcorn, plantain, and lashings of barbecue smoke

Not forgetting the rice and peas … and tins of Red Stripe available on the go

Sounds on the streets

Roots reggae sound system Solution now sits on the legendary corner spot at the junction of Ledbury and Talbot Roads, formerly occupied by Jah Observer. Elsewhere it’s good times in the rain and hands in the air