Student of the Month - May

Miss Merle says Well Done to 7Y for their presentations on my town! 
Here are some examples:

(Go through the slideshow with the arrows under the picture!)


7Y lucymorgenellie 7Yjohnodiegarfield

Eurovision Song Contest 2012

It's that time of year again: Not only is spring in the air (despite the British weather of floods AND a serious draught), but we have also started the countdown to the EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2012! Hooray!

Music fans and MFL fanatics relish this opportunity to listen to foreign language songs, to try to sing along to catchy Finnish tunes using the subtitles and to vote for our favourite European neighbour.

Here are some of this year's entries, to get you into the Eurovision mood and give you a chance to predict the unpredictable winning nation (who'd have thought Lena from Germany would make it two years ago?):

Luckily for us, the biggest countries (and mother nations of the languages we teach at Tomlinscote) already have their guaranteed place in the final on the 26th of May:

This is the French entry: The song is called Echo (You and I) and the singer is Anggun, an international star who has sold over 2 million album copies around Europe.

Here is the wonderful Spanish song Quédate Conmigo (Stay With Me) by Pastora Soler, who is very well-known in Spain and famous for combining diverse musical styles like copla, flamenco and "Canción Española" with pop. She is considered one of the best voices of the Spanish music scene, and this truly beautiful power ballad might have a good chance of winning!

 

Representing Germany is Roman Lob with the song Standing Still. He was unknown until he won the German talent show Unser Star Für Baku. Unfortunately the song is all in English. Boring!!! Boooo!

Also Italy is automatically qualified for the final with this song: Nina Zilli sings L'amore è Femmina (Out of Love). The slightly scary Nina has spent most of her life in Ireland and the US, thus singing mainly in English with only a few sentences in Italian. What a shame!

The British entry is, of course, sung by the legend that is Engelbert Humperdinck. The song is called Love Will Set You Free, and is actually quite nice, even though Humperdinck looks about 150 years old (when he's only 101).

Here is a secret tip for you: Will Montenegro make it into the final with this song???
Give it up for Rambo Amadeus with Euro Neuro! "Stay cool like a swimming pool!"

So, who's your favourite? Vote here! Write a comment to let the world know!

For more information on the various songs in the competition and the rest of their videos go to

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/baku-2012

Student of the Month April 2012

Sra Metcalfe would like to nominate two whole classes for Student of the Month this time: 
Her 10 B and 10 C have worked fantastically well on spontaneous conversation and have made huge progress!

Magnifico!

Tanz in den Mai -Walpurgis Night in Germany

Today’s the 1^st of May! One could assume it’s just like any other beginning of the month but I can assure you it’s not. In Germany, Monday night has been a special one! Every year people in Germany gather on the evening of 30^th April and dance into May (“Tanz in den Mai”) -but why?

Actually, in the past the 1^st of May commemorated Saint Walpurga, an English abbess who lived between 710 and 779. The 1^st of May was the day on which Walpurga was canonised and a very popular festival in medieval Europe. The night leading to this feast day was called Walpurgis Night (“Walpurgisnacht”) after Saint Walpurga. Many people argue that Saint Walpurga was not the real reason why this day is still remembered. In fact, it is claimed that “Walpurgisnacht” had already been celebrated as a spring festival by Germanic tribes long before there were any Christians.

People believed that every year on that night witches from all around the continent would fly on brooms, pitchforks and animals to meet on top of a mountain called “Blocksberg”. They would light a big bonfire, dance around it, sing and have a rowdy party. What for? To worship their master, the devil! He would then grant them new magical power in return.

This is a Walpurgisnacht celebration in Heidelberg. Foto copyright Andrea Fink

Some people have appointed the mountain “Brocken” in the region “Harz” to be the setting of this legend.  This is why every year thousands of people come to the „Harz“ region to enjoy these festivities which are accompanied by various events like concerts and fireworks. The first organised Walpurgis Night took place in 1896. Today, people dress up as witches, dance witches’ dances (“Hexentanz”) and there is a big witches’ bonfire (“Hexenfeuer”).

In other towns and cities around Germany there are numerous opportunities to celebrate this occasion- mainly in bars, pubs and clubs. On that night people dance, party and drink May wine (“Maibowle”), an alcoholic cocktail with fresh fruit and flavoured with woodruff. Dance into May is a very popular way to welcome the month May and is loved by all generations, especially younger people. 
And as the 1st of May is 'Labour Day' and a national bank holiday, everyone can sleep in and recover from the celebrations...

Karoline

This is a picture from 1829 depicting the Walpurgisnacht, as it is mentioned in Johann Wolfgang Goethe's famous play Faust: In the foreground you see Faust and Mephisto walking through the crazy celebrations of the witches.

Open Day at the Goethe Institut London

If you happen to be in London on Sunday, the 20th of May make sure you pop in to the Open Day at the Goethe Institut London. After several months of renovation our friends and PASCH partners celebrate their reopening to the public with a big party and everyone is invited.

Doors open at 12 noon. Adults can enjoy German wine tasting, otherwise it's cakes and coffee, as well as the chance to browse the newly refurbished library. 

One highlight will be Gloria Zein’s new art installation entitled 'I Can't Stop the Dancing Chicken', which was commissioned especially for the 50th anniversary the London Goethe Institut is celebrating this year. 

Finally, from 6 o'clock onwards you have the chance to listen live to Silbermond, one of the most popular bands in Germany today.


Silbermond also play on the 19th of May at the Garage in London before touring the huge arenas in Germany in the autumn with their new album Himmel auf. 

Why not get your parents to take you to one of these events for full immersion in German culture and language!

Premier Mai

Here is a lovely text about May Day in France, written by Laura K. Lawless from the fantastic website 

  french.about.com

Do you understand the French text?


Bonne Fête du Premier Mai
Le premier mai est une journée spéciale en France. C'est la Fête du Travail, ou Fête des Travailleurs, et donc c'est un jour férié, un jour chômé pour tout le monde, avec une grande exception : les fleuristes. Le premier mai est aussi la Fête du Muguet, et il est traditionnel d'offrir à ses proches un brin de muguet, symbole du printemps et du porte-bonheur, surtout si le brin a 13 clochettes. Et les fleuristes sont très chanceux parce que ce jour uniquement ils ont le droit de vendre le muguet sans taxes. Attention : cette belle fleur et même l'eau dans laquelle elle trempe sont très toxiques.
En accord avec la coutume française, je travaille juste le temps de vous envoyer ce muguet et de vous souhaiter une bonne Fête du Premier Mai, où que vous soyez dans le monde. Bonne fête !  :-)

Here is the English translation...
  
Happy May Day
May 1st is a special day in France. It's Labor Day, or "Laborer's Day," and so it's a holiday, a day off from work for everyone, with one major exception: florists. May 1st is also Lily of the Valley Day, and it's traditional to offer one's loved ones a sprig of lily of the valley, symbol of spring and of good luck, especially if the sprig has 13 bellflowers. And florists are very lucky because on this day they have the right to sell lily of the valley tax-free. Be careful: this beautiful flower and even the water it stands in are very toxic.
In accordance with French custom, I'm working just long enough to send you this lily of the valley and to wish you a happy May Day, wherever you may be in the world. Have a happy holiday!  :-)

Follow this link for the website with comments and links for more cultural info on France!

El Dia de San Jorge

Once upon a time.. there was a dragon which used to attack the population of the Kingdom. People didn’t know what to do and they were very scared of the dragon, so they decided to give two sheep to the dragon each day.  After a couple of months they didn’t have enough sheep to offer to the dragon so they offered just one sheep - but one person, as well. This person would be chosen by drawing lots. 

One day the princess was chosen. On the way to the dragon’s cave she found a knight killing the dragon, and from the dragon’s blood grew a red rose which the knight offered to the princess. 
Can you imagine the name of the knight?

San Jorge y el Dragón

In Spanish he is known as San Jorge, while here he is St. George, the patron saint of England.

On the 23rd of April in some regions of Spain (Catalonia and Aragón) men offer women a red rose!

And do you know what women give to men? They give them a book to remember Shakespeare’s and Cervantes’ death, both of them died around the 23rd of April.

‘a rose for love and a book forever’

Muchas gracias to Maria, our Spanish assistant for this text!

Was ist Glück? (Silbermond)

Was ist Glück? What is happiness?

Here are lots of Germans trying to define happiness and saying what makes them happy....
What do you understand? Who do you agree with?

What do you think of how they look? Are they 'typical' Germans? Could they live anywhere?

Und du? Was macht dich glücklich? Was ist Glück für dich?
How about you? What makes you happy? What is happiness for you? 
Write your comments in English or German! Or French or Spanish.....

By the way, the video clip is the latest single by the very popular German band Silbermond, who will be coming to Great Britain ahead of their German tour to play some special gigs in May in London!
Some people at Tomlinscote are over the moon about this news :)

Here is the whole song Himmel Auf with German lyrics and the English translation (click away the ads to see them....)