Yolanda's blog

The Pilgrims were English Separatists . In the first years of the 17th century, small numbers of English Puritans broke away from the Church of England because they felt that it had not completed the work of the Reformation. They committed themselves to a life based on the Bible. Most of these Separatists were farmers, poorly educated and without social or political standing. One of the Separatist congregations was led by William Brewster and the Rev. Richard Clifton in the village of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire. The Scrooby group emigrated to Amsterdam in 1608 to escape harassment and religious persecution. The next year they moved to Leiden, in Holland where, enjoying full religious freedom, they remained for almost 12 years. In 1617, discouraged by economic difficulties, the pervasive Dutch influence on their children, and their inability to secure civil autonomy, the congregation voted to emigrate to America. Through the Brewster family's friendship with Sir Edwin Sandys, tr...

What is Armistice Day, what time are we silent and why is it for two minutes?  READ MORE...

   

Just saw this and thought I'd share: I'm very ugly  So don't try to convince me that  I am a very beautiful person  Because at the end of the day  I hate myself in every single way  And I'm not going to lie to myself by saying  There is beauty inside of me that matters  So rest assured I will remind myself  That I am a worthless, terrible person  And nothing you say will make me believe  I still deserve love  Because no matter what  I am not good enough to be loved  And I am in no position to believe that  Beauty does exist within me  Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think  Am I as ugly as people say?  (now read bottom up). By Abdullah Shoaib

Reading: Modelo 2 avanzado comprensión de lectura

Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. St Patrick's Day is March 17 . How much do you know about this celebration?. Have a look at some of these websites and find out more... http://edition.cnn.com/EVENTS/1996/st_patrick/history/index.html http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/saint-patrick.htm http://www.infoplease.com/spot/irishflag1.html http://www.irishabroad.com/stpatrick/life/factfantasy.asp http://www.irishabroad.com/StPatrick/IrishQuiz/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5X5IrA0zEs&feature=related (Danny Boy by The Pogues) COMPLETE THESE STATEMENTS:  1.   St. Patrick’s Day is a ___________________ of spring. 2.   It’s a celebration of the ____________________ patron saint. 3.   In the 5th. century, a boy, Marwin Sagat was ________. 4.   He worked as a ________________ for 6 years. 5.   Years later, he had a visión and became _______________ and adopted the name Patrick. 6.   He con...

Watch the video and explain: 1-What do people do on Pancake Day? 2-What is the origin of this celebration? Learn more about pancake day . CLICK HERE

From the zany to the dangerous to the just plain dumb, here is TIME's list (in no particular order) of some of the world's bright ideas that just didn't work out. Click on the invention to learn more about it. Segway New Coke Clippy Agent Orange CueCat Subprime Mortgages Crinoline Nintendo Virtual Boy Farmville Hydrogenated Oils Honegar Hydrogen Blimps Hair in a Can DDT Auto-Tune Red Dye No. 2 Ford Pinto Parachute Jacket Betamax Baby Cage Tanning Beds Crocs Hula Chair Foursquare Pop-Up Ads Phone Fingers CFCs Plastic Grocery Bags Bumpit Electric Facial Mask Sony CD Copy Protection Venetian-Blind Sunglasses Pet Spa Pontiac Aztek Snuggie for Dogs Mizar Flying Car Asbestos Olestra Comfort Wipe Fake Ponytails HeadOn Pay Toilets Tamagotchis Leaded Gasoline Vibrating Ab Belt Spam E-mail Smell-o-Vision Smile Checks Microsoft Bob Vio

Did you know that El País has an edition in English? https://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html One of the many interesting features of this edition is ¿Qué?,  a podcast that tries to explain to an English-speaking audience the curious, the under-reported and sometimes simply bizarre news stories that are often in the headlines in Spain. You can subscribe through this RSS Feed or via your favorite podcast app. ¿Qué? podcast, episode two: What Brexit means for Brits in Spain El País Semanal also has an English edition. This is very interesting because, as you are familiar with the stories published you'll be able to understand the articles easily and learn new vocabulary in context.

A little history lesson Hogmanay is Scottish New Year, a celebration providing a unique combination of both traditional and modern customs. The exact origins of Hogmanay are unknown, but it is thought that it was introduced in the 8 th  or 9 th  century by invading Vikings. The Vikings originated from further north, so it is possible that they paid more attention to celebrating the winter solstice than to Christmas. The shortest day was a good reason for them to have a party. For nearly 400 years, from the 17 th  Century until the 1950’s, Christmas wasn’t celebrated at all in Scotland. Christmas day therefore was just a normal working day and the big celebrations were saved for winter solstice holiday, which became Hogmanay. There is a lot of debate over the origins of the word “Hogmanay”. Some linguists say it comes from the Scandinavian word “Hoggo-nott”, which was the name of the feast before the mid-winter Yule festival. Other people believe it might origin...

This is a B2 exam from the Basque Country. You have to do the reading section over the holiday. Click here . There are four readings: SPIDEY RETURNS, HERE'S WHY CLASSROOMS HAVE BECOME WAR ZONES, HONG KONG, THE DAY WAR BROKE OUT. Here's the  KEY

For three decades, the  Butterball Turkey Talk-Line  has answered the desperate pleas of hundreds of thousands of holiday cooks. As you can imagine, in that time the staff of 50-plus experts has heard some pretty outlandish tales of Turkey Day mishaps and fielded some truly bewildering questions. Following are a few favorite conversations from the Butterball hotline operators. And if you need help this holiday season with your bird, don’t forget to call 1-800-BUTTERBALL. Double duty iStock/Jodi Jacobson A father in charge of thawing the turkey and bathing his toddler twins decided to hit two birds with one stone. “We could hear water splashing in the background, and turns out he has his kids and the turkey in the tub all at the same time,” says Nicole Johnson, Talk-Line co-director. The man was calling to find out if the bath water would be an acceptable method for thawing the turkey. READ MORE...

How to be happy? That's the greatest question of all, in the sense that it is what motivates what we do on a daily basis. All the choices we make stem from a consideration, often unconscious, between which choices would make us probably the most happy. TEST YOUR HAPPINESS    Do you have any tips for being happy? Leave your tip as a comment (80 words). Thanks.  

Guy Fawkes was born in April 1570 in York. Although his immediate family were all Protestants, in keeping with the accepted religious practice in England at the time, his maternal grandparents were 'recusant' Catholics, who refused to attend Protestant services. When Guy was eight, his father died and his widowed mother married a Catholic, Dionis Baynbrigge. It was these early influences that were to forge Fawkes' convictions as an adult. Fawkes and Spain By the time he was 21 he had sold the estate his father had left him and gone to Europe to fight for Catholic Spain against the Protestant Dutch republic in the Eighty Years War. His military career went well and by 1603 he had been recommended for a captaincy. He had also adopted the Italian variant of his name, becoming known as 'Guido'. In the same year, he travelled to Spain to petition the king, Philip III, for support in fomenting a rebellion in England against the "heretic" James I. Despi...

Employers are using   unusual questions   in their candidate selection process for new reasons. The job search advice industry is so prolific that any candidate who researches knows he should prepare brief responses in advance to frequent standard questions. These include job interview questions such as: "what are your strengths and weaknesses" and "what makes you the most qualified candidate for this job." Interviewers use unusual job interview questions to assess how well the candidate responds to an unexpected question or scenario. Most unusual job interview questions do not have   right or wrong answers. These job interview questions provide the candidate with the opportunity, according to Sarikas, "to demonstrate quick thinking, creativity, and even a sense of humor." She says, "The interviewers are trying to catch a glimpse of the unrehearsed candidate in an unguarded moment. There is no way to prepare for these off-the-wall job interview...

If you can Raed this, you have a sgtrane mnid too. Can you raed this? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of thehmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the only iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed this fawrord it. Have a nice weekend!!!

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is used to save energy and make better use of daylight. It was first used in 1908 in Thunder Bay, Canada. DST normally adds 1 hour to standard time with the purpose of making better use of daylight and conserving energy. This means that the sunrise and sunset are one hour later, on the clock, than the day before. DST Changes — Dates and Local Times First Used in Canada in 1908 In July, 1908, Port Arthur which today is known as Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada became the first location to use DST. Other locations in Canada were also early to introduce Daylight Saving bylaws. On April 23, 1914 , Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada implemented DST. The cities of Winnipeg and Brandon in Manitoba followed on April 24, 1916 . According to the April 3, 1916, edition of the Manitoba Free Press, Daylight Saving Time in Regina “proved so popular that bylaw now brings it into effect automatically”. DST Statistics — Past and Present Use Germany First Country to Us...

Find ideas to fundraise for CAFOD with our amazing A-Z of fundraising ideas! Fight poverty by taking on a challenge, auctioning your unwanted stuff or using your unique talents. This list of easy fundraising ideas includes some of our favourite ways to raise money for charity and can be adapted to use with schools, teenagers, parishes, individuals or at work. Every penny you raise helps people around the world . CAFOD works with the world's poorest people, so you can be sure that your fundraising efforts are making the biggest possible difference to people in need. This month's fun fundraising idea Give it up for Lent! Cut out chocolate or say no to espresso - whatever you do, you'll make a difference. Save the money you're not spending or get sponsored by friends:  order a CAFOD money box  and  set up your JustGiving page  today. A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N ...