European Smash Hit!

It's a shame that in the UK we don't get many foreign language songs on the radio. 
On the continent, on the other hand, you hear this song absolutely everywhere at the moment.

 

It's the current number one in the singles charts in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, and in the top ten in almost every other country in Europe! 

The singer is Michel Teló and the song is called 'Ai Se Eu Te Pego'. 

If you Spanish speakers are wondering, why you understand so little...it's in Portuguese! But people in the rest of Europe don't mind and just swing with the addictive melody and rhythm...

Have a listen to this continental smash hit! 
What do you think? Leave a comment - in any language!
 

For the Portuguese lyrics (to sing along) and a translation go to this site: 

 http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ai-se-eu-te-pego-ah-when-i-get-my-hands-you.html

 If you want to see what else is popular in the rest of Europe, follow this link:

http://allcharts.org/music/europe/singles.htm

Valentine's Day Competition - the Winners

Well done and thank you to everyone who participated in our Valentine's Day competition!

....and the winners are:

in first place:  Sachi Madan from 6 ML in Ravenscote school

in second place: Evie Carter 

in third place: Charlotte Lauder 

For the quickest correct answer
(and in fact the quickest answer overall):

Lucy Morley


Second and third quickest answers came from

Samuel Morley and Jade Bowes.

Congratulatuions to the winners!!


Your prizes will be ready for collection from the MFL office at Tomlinscote from Thursday lunchtime onwards!

das rote Pferd - Karneval Song

You liked Tim Toupet and the Fliegerlied??  Here is another very silly German Karneval song:

Karneval 2012

The crazy days have started again in Germany: Carnival is being celebrated with lots of parties and massive street parades.

Originally, Carnival was a tradition to fend off winter spirits. In some German regions people still wear scary masks and dress up as witches.

Witches scaring off the winter spirits.

Nowadays it is particularly popular in Catholic areas where big feasts and parties happen one last time before the fasting of lent begins with Ash Wednesday. Karneval is also known as Fasching or Fastnacht (the night before fasting).

The week before, on Thursday, 16 February, is ladies' day, or Weiberfastnacht: women cut off the men's ties.

Women cut off men's ties!

The main day of the celebrations is Rosenmontag (Shrove Monday). On Rose Monday, kids in the Rhineland don't have to go to school, and many people go to work in fancy dress, so you might buy your train tickets at counters manned by pigs and pirates....

On the Monday, hour-long parades with marching bands, drummers, dancers and huge floats take place on the streets of many German towns and cities. The biggest and most famous Karnevalsumzug happens in Cologne. Ten thousand people take part in the parade, and up to a million line the streets, most of them dressed up in funny costumes, dancing and singing along to the various silly carnival songs. 

This year, there were hundred different floats, many of them making fun of politicians and current affairs. People riding on the floats throw confetti and sweets and flowers into the crowds!

The party goes on until Tuesday night, but "am Aschermittwoch ist alles vorbei". On Ash Wednesday it's all over.

Have a look at the a video of last year's parade in Cologne:

here are some links for more info and a quiz:

http://www.ukgermanconnection.org/karneval-special

some more info for younger kids with some vocab and a game

http://www.ukgermanconnection.org/kids-karneval

here is some info in English about the Carnival in Cologne:

http://www.koeln.de/cologne_tourist_information/events/cologne_carnival

Valentine's Day Competition - a little Hint!

Well done to those people who have already entered the competition! The prizes for the fastest three and the first correct answer already have their names on!
But there's still a lot to play for, as the biggest prizes will be decided randomly amongst all correct entries!

Need a little hint? Try using Google translate to find out what 'I love you' is in different languages, and click on the speaker icon to hear the foreign language said out loud....

Good luck! 

Valentine's Day Competition!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Take part in our competition and win a fabulous prize!

Watch the video and listen to the different people saying 'I love you!'

Can you figure out which language each one is?

Below are the languages included in the clip. But which is which?

A - Afrikaans                                           

B - Bulgarian                                            

C - Chinese (Cantonese)                            

D - Danish                                                 

E - Douala                                                 

F - English                                                  

G - French                                                  

H - German                                                

I - Hindi

J - Italian

K - Polish

L - Russian 

M - Spanish 

N - Tamil 

O - Turkish   

P - Welsh

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16

Copy this grid and write in the letters of the right languages!

Send your answer via email to mmahler@tomlinscote.surrey.sch.uk

Make sure you include your name and where you live (town & country if outside UK)!

Fantastic prizes to be won!

The first three entries win a chocolaty prize just for taking part!

The first entry with the correct answer wins another bigger prize! 

Finally, out of all the correct entries we randomly draw three more names out of the hat to establish who wins our main massive chocolate prizes (courtesy of the Language College)!

It's worth doing some research and send your answers!! Good luck to everybody!

PS: Prizes are only available for collection at Tomlinscote school. Other students, parents, teachers, alumni, primary pupils, everyone is invited to participate! If you live too far to collect your prize, feel free to participate, but we cannot send heavy boxes of chocolates by mail...

Final deadline for entries is Monday, the 20th of February!

Winners will be announced shortly after.

Thank you to everyone who allowed us to use their voice!!
Tell all your friends to participate!

Silbermond: Das Beste

In preparation for Valentine's Day, we give you a beautiful love song by Frau Mahler's favourite German
band Silbermond. The song is called 'Das Beste' and includes the lyrics "Du bist das Beste, was mir je passiert ist./ Es tut so gut, wie du mich liebst. / Ich sag's dir viel zu selten: / Es ist schön, dass es dich gibt!" ...

...which translates to "You're the best things that's ever happened to me / It feels so good how you love me./ I don't tell you often enough: / It's nice, that you are there!" ...well, if THAT isn't romantic.....

Do you like the song? It is too cheesy for you? Feel free to add your opinion! Just click comment below and write your message!

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR AN UPCOMING VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL!!!

If you have any favourite foreign language love songs, why don't you suggest them here?

We might add them to the blog!

Here are the lyrics to read (and sing) along...

Ich habe einen Schatz gefunden  

und er trägt deinen Namen, 

so wunderschön und wertvoll,  

mit keinem Geld der Welt zu bezahlen.

Student of the Month - January 2012 (2)

We have two more Students of the Month for Chinese:

Katie Leung (8X) and Sonia have produced these intriguing pieces of work! If you have learned Chinese, maybe you can understand it! Apparently, it's about the member of their families!

If you want to find out more about the Chinese language, click on this link for a BBC website with interesting information and fascinating soundbites!