Friday 29 December 2017
Thursday 28 December 2017
Wednesday 27 December 2017
Tuesday 26 December 2017
Boxing Day 2017
Boxing Day occurs every year on
December 26th. It's a national holiday in the UK and Ireland. If the day after
Christmas falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is designated as
the official public holiday. This year, Boxing Day falls on a Tuesday. December
26th is also the feast day of Saint Stephen, the patron saint of horses, which
is why Boxing Day has come to be associated with horse racing and fox hunting.
According to some Boxing Day can be traced back to the Victorian era when
churches often displayed a box into which their parishioners put donations.
Also in Britain, on the day after Christmas Day, servants of the wealthy were
given time off to visit their families because their services were required for
the Christmas Day celebrations of their employers. They were therefore allowed
the following day for their own observance of the holiday and each servant
would be handed a box to take home, containing gifts, bonuses and sometimes
leftover food. It was also customary for tradespeople to collect 'Christmas
boxes' of presents or money on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for
good service throughout the year.
Samuel Pepys mentions the practice
in a diary entry from December 19th 1663: "Thence by coach to my
shoemaker’s and paid all there, and gave something to the boys’ box against
Christmas." Five years later Pepys was not feeling so generous.
Complaining in a December 28th entry from 1668: "Called up by drums &
trumpets; these things & boxes having cost me much money this
Christmas."
Boxing Day is observed only in the
United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and
some other Commonwealth nations. The holiday was not perpetuated by the English
in the American colonies.
Boxing Day is really 'St Stephen's
Day' in Ireland, dedicated to a saint who was stoned to death for believing in
Jesus. 'Wren Boys' were notorious for blackening their faces stoning wrens to
death. They would then carry their catch around the town knocking on doors and
asking for money. This distasteful act has now stopped, but the Wrens Boys
still dress up and parade around town but collecting money for charity.
Hunts were a Boxing Day tradition
but the 2004 ban on foxhunting put an end to all that. Despite this, 10 years
later 250,000 people still regularly turn out to support hunting. Certain
modified forms of hunting foxes with hounds are still within the law and
hundreds of Boxing Day Meets take place every year.
What was once a day of relaxation
and family time has now become a holy day of consumerism. The sales used to
start in January post-New Year, but the desire to grab a bargain and for shops
to off-load stock means many now start on Boxing Day.
Last year, Christmas Day itself
emerged as one of the most popular days for online shopping, with consumers
buying products in the afternoon - often after not receiving their desired
gifts.
Source:
The Telegraph
Saturday 23 December 2017
Have yourself a very merry Christmas!
"Those Christmas lights
Light up the street
Down where the sea and the city meet
May all your troubles soon be gone
Oh Christmas lights keep shining on"
Light up the street
Down where the sea and the city meet
May all your troubles soon be gone
Oh Christmas lights keep shining on"
To all our readers and visitors, the warmest wishes of a very
MERRY CHRISTMAS, this year, every year!...
Sunday 10 December 2017
Friday 8 December 2017
Thursday 30 November 2017
Wednesday 29 November 2017
Wednesday 22 November 2017
Happy Thanksgiving 2017
credits: CDN4 |
In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an Autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.
THANKSGIVIG AT PLYMOUTH
credits @ mbeinstitute |
credits @ ucls-chicago |
THANKSGIVING BECOMES AN OFFICIAL HOLIDAY
In 1817, New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each celebrated it on a different day, however, and the American South remained largely unfamiliar with the tradition. In 1827, the noted magazine editor and writer Sarah Josepha Hale—author of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”—launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. For 36 years, she published numerous editorials and sent scores of letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians. Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request in 1863, at the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.” He scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November, and it was celebrated on that day every year until 1939, when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s plan, known derisively as Franksgiving, was met with passionate opposition, and in 1941 the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.
THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS
credits @ fashionpill |
In
many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of
its original religious significance; instead, it now centers on cooking
and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends. Turkey, a
Thanksgiving staple so ubiquitous it has become all but synonymous with
the holiday, may or may not have been on offer when the Pilgrims hosted
the inaugural feast in 1621. Today, however, nearly 90 percent of
Americans eat the bird—whether roasted, baked or deep-fried—on
Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Other
traditional foods include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and
pumpkin pie. Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity, and
communities often hold food drives and host free dinners for the less
fortunate.
Parades have also become an integral part of the holiday in cities and towns across the United States. Presented by Macy’s department store since 1924, New York City’s Thanksgiving Day parade is the largest and most famous, attracting some 2 to 3 million spectators along its 2.5-mile route and drawing an enormous television audience. It typically features marching bands, performers, elaborate floats conveying various celebrities and giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.
Beginning in the mid-20th century and perhaps even earlier, the president of the United States has “pardoned” one or two Thanksgiving turkeys each year, sparing the birds from slaughter and sending them to a farm for retirement. A number of U.S. governors also perform the annual turkey pardoning ritual.
Parades have also become an integral part of the holiday in cities and towns across the United States. Presented by Macy’s department store since 1924, New York City’s Thanksgiving Day parade is the largest and most famous, attracting some 2 to 3 million spectators along its 2.5-mile route and drawing an enormous television audience. It typically features marching bands, performers, elaborate floats conveying various celebrities and giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.
Beginning in the mid-20th century and perhaps even earlier, the president of the United States has “pardoned” one or two Thanksgiving turkeys each year, sparing the birds from slaughter and sending them to a farm for retirement. A number of U.S. governors also perform the annual turkey pardoning ritual.
You may also check relevant multimedia resources on this topic @:
You can get ELT resources (further info, lesson plans, printables, posters, slideshows, recipes, graphs, crafts, colouring pictures and greeting cards) on the topic @:
Sunday 19 November 2017
What is Blended Learning?
Blended learning combines face to face classroom methods with computer-mediated activities to form an integrated instructional approach. In the past, digital materials have served in a supplementary role, helping to support face to face instruction. The goal of a blended approach is to join the best aspects of both face to face and online instruction. Classroom time can be used to engage students in advanced interactive experiences. Meanwhile, the online portion of the classes can provide students with multimedia-rich content at any time of day, anywhere the student has Internet access, from school to the coffee shop or the students’ homes. This allows for an increase in scheduling flexibility.
In addition to flexibility and convenience for students, there is evidence that a blended instructional approach can result in learning outcome gains and increased enrollment motivation.
The following scheme, from the blog Free Technology For Teachers, sums up how an educator can take advantage of using tools, such as a blog or a wiki, as a complement of traditional ELT:
Monday 30 October 2017
Halloween 2017 Class Activities
Can you match these frightful, spooky idioms with their meaning?
2. My old car finally gave up the ghost, so I’ll have to buy a new one.
3. When she saw the dark shadow in the in the moonlight, she was scared stiff.
4. What’s the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!
5. Oh, don’t be such a scaredy-cat. Nothing bad is going to happen.
6. That spooky old house gives me the creeps.
7. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It will come back to haunt you.
8. No one lived there anymore. It was a ghost town.
MEANINGS:
be a mistake
very frightened
coward
make (someone) uncomfortable
make (someone) scared
very white, pale
deserted
stopped working
IDIOMS ABOUT FEAR
If you want to get the full text by BBC Learning English, you can click here.
Sunday 29 October 2017
Friday 13 October 2017
Feeling superstitious this Friday 13th?
According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in Henry Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini.
Consequently, several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.
One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.
In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve Gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys, begin new projects or deploy releases in production. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.
Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys, begin new projects or deploy releases in production. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.
If you are spooked by Friday the 13th, you're in for a whammy of a year. This unlucky day is the second of three for 2012. Many superstitions stem from the same human trait that causes us to believe in monsters and ghosts: When our brains can't explain something, we make stuff up. In fact, a 2010 study found that superstitions can sometimes work, because believing in something can improve performance on a task.
If you're not scared of Friday the 13th, you should be scared of the word used to describe those who are: friggatriskaidekaphobics. (An alternative, though just as tongue-twisty, word for the fear is "paraskevidekatriaphobia.")
For a superstition, Friday has long been considered an unlucky day - according to Christian tradition, Jesus died on a Friday.
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in the USA, about 17 million people fear Friday the 13th. Many may fall prey to the human mind's desire to associate thoughts and symbols with events.
"If anything bad happens to you on Friday the 13th, the two will be forever associated in your mind," psychologists say. "All those uneventful days in which the 13th fell on a Friday will be ignored."
Source: Live Science
If you're not scared of Friday the 13th, you should be scared of the word used to describe those who are: friggatriskaidekaphobics. (An alternative, though just as tongue-twisty, word for the fear is "paraskevidekatriaphobia.")
For a superstition, Friday has long been considered an unlucky day - according to Christian tradition, Jesus died on a Friday.
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in the USA, about 17 million people fear Friday the 13th. Many may fall prey to the human mind's desire to associate thoughts and symbols with events.
"If anything bad happens to you on Friday the 13th, the two will be forever associated in your mind," psychologists say. "All those uneventful days in which the 13th fell on a Friday will be ignored."
Source: Live Science
Thursday 5 October 2017
We miss you, Steve...
Credits: Charis Tsevis @ FlickR |
Steve
Jobs left us six years ago, but the world cannot forget his incredible genius. Without you, Steve, it's even more difficult to "Stay hungry. Stay Foolish".
Steven Paul Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, to Joanne
Schieble (later Joanne Simpson) and Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, two
University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave their unnamed son up for
adoption. His father, Abdulfattah Jandali, was a Syrian political science
professor and his mother, Joanne Schieble, worked as a speech therapist.
Shortly after Steve was placed for adoption, his biological parents married and
had another child, Mona Simpson. It was not until Jobs was 27 that he was able
to uncover information on his biological parents. As an infant, Steven was adopted
by Clara and Paul Jobs and named Steven Paul Jobs. Clara worked as an
accountant and Paul was a Coast Guard veteran and machinist. The family lived
in Mountain View within California's Silicon Valley. As a boy, Steve and his
father would work on electronics in the family garage. Paul would show his son
how to take apart and reconstruct electronics, a hobby which instilled
confidence, tenacity and mechanical prowess in Steve. While he has always been
an intelligent and innovative thinker, his youth was riddled with frustrations
over formal schooling. A prankster in elementary school, Jobs's fourth-grade
teacher needed to bribe him to study. Steve tested so well, however, that
administrators wanted to skip him ahead to high school—a proposal that his
parents declined.
Not long after Jobs did enroll at Homestead High School
(1971), he was introduced to his future partner, Steve Wozniak, through a
friend of Wozniak's. Wozniak was attending the University of Michigan at the
time. In a 2007 interview with ABC News, Wozniak spoke about why he and Steve
clicked so well: "We both loved electronics and the way we used to hook up
digital chips," Wozniak said. "Very few people, especially back then
had any idea what chips were, how they worked and what they could do. I had
designed many computers so I was way ahead of him in electronics and computer
design, but we still had common interests. We both had pretty much sort of an
independent attitude about things in the world. ..." Apple Computers After
high school, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
Lacking direction, he dropped out of college after six
months and spent the next 18 months dropping in on creative classes. Jobs later
recounted how one course in calligraphy developed his love of typography. In
1974, Jobs took a position as a video game designer with Atari. Several months
later he left Atari to find spiritual enlightenment in India, traveling the
continent and experimenting with psychedelic drugs. In 1976, when Jobs was just
21, he and Wozniak started Apple Computers. The duo started in the Jobs family
garage, and funded their entrepreneurial venture after Jobs sold his Volkswagen
bus and Wozniak sold his beloved scientific calculator. Jobs and Wozniak are
credited with revolutionizing the computer industry by democratizing the
technology and making the machines smaller, cheaper, intuitive and accessible
to everyday consumers. Wozniak conceived a series of user-friendly personal
computers, and—with Jobs in charge of marketing—Apple initially marketed the
computers for $666.66 each. The Apple I earned the corporation $774,000. Three
years after the release of Apple's second model, the Apple II, sales increased
by 700 percent, to $139 million.
In 1980, Apple Computer became a publically traded
company, with a market value of $1.2 billion on the very first day of trading.
Jobs looked to marketing expert John Scully of Pepsi-Cola to help fill the role
of Apple's president.
However, the next several products from Apple suffered
significant design flaws resulting in recalls and consumer disappointment. IBM
suddenly surpassed Apple sales, and Apple had to compete with an IBM/PC
dominated business world. In 1984, Apple released the Macintosh, marketing the
computer as a piece of a counter culture lifestyle: romantic, youthful,
creative. But despite positive sales and performance superior to IBM's PCs, the
Macintosh was still not IBM compatible. Scully believed Jobs was hurting Apple,
and executives began to phase him out.
In 1985, Jobs resigned as Apple's CEO to begin a new
hardware and software company called NeXT, Inc. The following year Jobs
purchased an animation company from George Lucas, which later became Pixar
Animation Studios. Believing in Pixar's potential, Jobs initially invested $50
million of his own money into the company. Pixar Studios went on to produce
wildly popular animation films such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo and The
Incredibles. Pixar's films have netted $4 billion. The studio merged with Walt
Disney in 2006, making Steve Jobs Disney's largest shareholder.
Despite Pixar's success, NeXT, Inc. floundered in its
attempts to sell its specialized operating system to mainstream America. Apple
eventually bought the company in 1997 for $429 million. That same year, Jobs
returned to his post as Apple's CEO.
Much like Steve Jobs instigated Apple's success in the
1970s, he is credited with revitalizing the company in the 1990s. With a new
management team, altered stock options and a self-imposed annual salary of $1 a
year, Jobs put Apple back on track. His ingenious products such as the iMac,
effective branding campaigns, and stylish designs caught the attention of
consumers once again.
In 2003, Jobs discovered that he had a neuroendocrine
tumor, a rare but operable form of pancreatic cancer. Instead of immediately
opting for surgery, Jobs chose to alter his pescovegetarian diet while weighing
Eastern treatment options. For nine months Jobs postponed surgery, making
Apple's board of directors nervous. Executives feared that shareholders would
pull their stocks if word got out that their CEO was ill. But in the end,
Jobs's confidentiality took precedence over shareholder disclosure. In 2004, he
had a successful surgery to remove the pancreatic tumor. True to form, in
subsequent years, Jobs disclosed little about his health.
Apple introduced such revolutionary products as the
Macbook, iPod, iPhone and iPad, all of
which have dictated the evolution of modern technology. Almost immediately
after Apple releases a new product, competitors scramble to produce comparable
technologies. In 2007, Apple's quarterly reports were the company's most
impressive statistics to date. Stocks were worth a record-breaking $199.99 a
share, and the company boasted a staggering $1.58 billion dollar profit, an $18
billion dollar surplus in the bank, and zero debt.
In 2008, iTunes became the second biggest music retailer
in America-second only to Wal-Mart. Half of Apple's current revenue comes from
iTunes and iPod sales, with 200 million iPods sold and six billion songs
downloaded. For these reasons, Apple has been rated No. 1 in America's Most
Admired Companies, and No. 1 amongst Fortune 500 companies for returns to
shareholders.
Early in 2009, reports circulated about Jobs's weight
loss, some predicting his health issues had returned, which included a liver
transplant. Jobs had responded to these concerns by stating he was dealing with
a hormone imbalance. After nearly a year out of the spotlight, Steve Jobs
delivered a keynote address at an invite-only Apple event September 9, 2009.
In respect to his personal life, Steve Jobs remained a
private man who rarely discloses information about his family. What is known is
Jobs fathered a daughter with girlfriend Chrisann Brennan when he was 23. Jobs
denied paternity of his daughter Lisa in court documents, claiming he was
sterile. Jobs did not initiate a relationship with his daughter until she was 7
but, when she was a teenager, she came to live with her father.
In the early 1990s, Jobs met Laurene Powell at Stanford
business school, where Powell was an MBA student. They married on March 18,
1991, and lived together in Palo Alto, California, with their three children.
On
October 5, 2011, Apple Inc. announced that co-founder Steve Jobs had died. He
was 56 years old at the time of his death.
Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement Address in 2005
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