Thursday, February 14th: today is Valentine’s day. Many people throughout the world celebrate this day to tell the one they love how much they love him/her. They offer flowers or chocolates, they buy special presents, and they write Valentine’s cards.
WATCH THIS PRESENTATION
AND TRY TO GUESS BEFORE THE END WHO MY SUPERHERO IS !!!
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the New Year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honour of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honours the past and present generations.
To find more about CHINESE NEW YEAR, click on each on the following topics :
Taboos_and_Superstitions_of_Chinese_New_Year
Share with us your NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Watch this ad_1, and fill in the grid. Be ready to describe the other ads available on the class session.
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Name of the product/ service/ company
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Slogan/ Catch-phrase
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Purpose of the ad
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Target audience (sex, age, social class, occupation…)
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Story of the ad
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Select your favourite American/ English/ Australian/ Scottish/ Irish... ad and prepare its oral presentation : http://adsoftheworld.com/
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is a United States holiday. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's birthday (January 15). It was first observed in 1986 and it is now officially observed in all 50 states since 2000.
King was the chief spokesman of the nonviolent civil rights movement in the early ‘60s. He fought racial discrimination. In 1964, he was the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but was assassinated in 1968.
Click here to watch his famous “I have a dream” speech which was given in front of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.
The tradition of the season includes the making of New Year's resolutions. So kick bad habits and start anew. Here is the top 10 New Year’s resolutions.
1. Quit smoking (It’s the advice you have probably been hearing for most, if not all, of your life.)
2. Learn something new (English?!! a new software?)
3. Help others (join an association, become a volunteer)
4. Spend more time with family & friends (keep in contact : call, visit, email people you love)
5. Stay active (take care of your body through physical activity)
6. Protect the environment (walking or biking instead of driving…)
7. Be less addictive to new technologies (surf less on the net, use less your mobile phone? )
8. Eat healthy (forget soda and sugar, eat more vegetables and fruit)
9. Get organised
10. ENJOY LIFE MORE (be positive)
PS : Mine is spending less time on the Net! What’s yours?
Click on this link : Christmas
and tell us here what you got under your Christmas tree this year
This year, Santa claus brought me the Twin Peaks DVD and a lovely leather gold bag
I wish you a Happy Christmas
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sleighing song tonight
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
This Holidays Season, let's share our Christmas memories! After all, it is probably our second favourite time of the year, right after the Summer holidays!
My best Christmas :
When I was 7 years old, a friend of my parents offered me a guinea pig. I was overwhelmed. Its name was Titi. I loved taking care and playing with it.
My worst Christmas:
When I was about 5 or 6, I discovered a beautiful doll in my parents' garage, but unfortunately this turned out to be my cousin' present!
