What a stressful week!

I know we are having a really horrible week because no one wants to have plenty of tests... 

However, in two weeks time, we will be having a really relaxing time on holidays! 

So, the best thing we can do is enjoying every single minute and taking some breaks...
For this reason I have been thinking about you and I found a nice song for all of us (pay attention to the lyric!).  I hope you like it and, above all, I hope you are able to smile and relax for a couple of minutes (even for an hour!)

Click here to listen to the song and sing it out loud. Hope you enjoy it!!

PAEG

Are you looking for more practice? Here you have a web page with many tests (not only English, of course)

http://www.uclm.es/preuniversitario/paeg/modelos0910.asp

LA CHANDELEUR 2013 - FRENCH CANDLEMAS -CRÊPE DAY

Today is 2nd February, a festivity in France: LA CHANDELEUR.

The Catholic holiday of Candlemas, on 2 February, is a feast to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of baby Jesus. In France, this holiday is called la Chandeleur, Fête de la Lumière,* or jour des crêpes.

Not only do the French eat a lot of crêpes on Chandeleur, but they also do a bit of fortune telling while making them. It is traditional to hold a coin in your writing hand and a crêpe pan in the other, and flip the crêpe into the air. If you manage to catch the crêpe in the pan, your family will be prosperous for the rest of the year.

There are all kinds of French proverbs and sayings for Chandeleur; here are just a few. Note the similarities to the Groundhog Day predictions made in the US and Canada:
À la Chandeleur, l'hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur
On Candlemas, winter ends or strengthens

À la Chandeleur, le jour croît de deux heures
On Candlemas, the day grows by two hours

Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte
Candlemas covered (in snow), forty days lost

Rosée à la Chandeleur, hiver à sa dernière heure
Dew on Candlemas, winter at its final hour

Have you ever tasted pancakes? 

According to a dictionary a pancake is: A thin cake made of batter that is poured onto a hot greased surface and cooked on both sides until brown. Also called flannel cake,flapjack, griddlecake, hotcake; also called regionally battercake.

Here is the recipe (source: bbc webpage):

Ingredients

For the pancake mixture

• 110g/4oz plain flour, sifted
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
• 50g/2oz butter

To serve

• caster sugar
• lemon juice
• lemon wedges

Preparation method

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs - any sort of whisk or even a fork will do - incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.
2. Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don't worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl and use it to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round before you make each pancake.
3. Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you're using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm/7in pan. It's also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife - the other side will need a few seconds only - then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.
4. Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest.
5. To serve, sprinkle each pancake with freshly squeezed lemon juice and caster sugar, fold in half, then in half again to form triangles, or else simply roll them up. Serve sprinkled with a little more sugar and lemon juice and extra sections of lemon.

To watch, listen and learn....

I have found a great webpage to those people who want to improve even more their level of English: www.engvid.com

Enjoy it!!

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Hi, everyone!! How are you? Are you having a good time on holidays? 

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope this year will be special for you, your relatives, friends and acquaintances. In fact, I am sure 2013 is a really good year and in this way will be for the following twelve months.

I'm also here to ask you about your New Year's Resolutions... What's that?? I will try to explain.

The last and first days of the year have always been a time for looking back to the past and forward to the coming year.

It's a time to think about ourselves and the changes we need or want to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

This is the TOP 10 New Year's Resolutions:

1. Spend more time with family and friends
2. Fit in fitness ( do regular exercise )
3. Lose some weight ( setting reasonable goals)
4. Quit smoking
5. Enjoy life more (bring balance to your body, mind and soult)
6. Quit drinking
7. Get out of debt
8. Learn something new
9. Help others
10. Get organized (reduce the clutter in your life and find place in your home or life)

Can you tell me about yours? I have a lot: I will continue with numbers 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 and, above all, I will spend more time with my family (and friends, of course).