HAVE A VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS

People from Great Britain insist no holiday can be merry without mulled wine. But why should the Brits have all the fun?

The European tradition of mulling wine started in ancient Greece where heat and spices were used to salvage old wine once the summer’s harvest went bad. In the Middle Ages, mulled wine was credited with medicinal and aphrodisiac powers and in Victorian England a spot of tea was added to a glass of mulled wine and dubbed “Christmas tea.”

It seems as every country has a tradition for mulled wine and thus their own name for it, most of which translate to a version of “hot wine”.

AND HERE IT IS…

HOW TO MAKE MULLED WINE

INGREDIENTS

4 oz / 115 g sugar

4 cinnamon sticks

5 cm / 2 in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced

small handful cloves, or to taste

1 orange, zest only

1.5 litres / 2 pints port wine or claret

Serves 6-8 people

RECIPE

Step 1:

Add ingredients to a saucepan and bring to the boil

Place two wine glasses of WATER, and the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and orange zest into a saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat to its lowest setting and simmer, stirring regularly, until the mixture has reduced to form a thick syrup, about 15-20 minutes.

Step 2:

Add port or wine

Add the port wine or claret and stir well. Increase the temperature until the mixture is piping hot, but not boiling.

Since it is served warm it is a perfect treat for a cold day.

Mulled wine is a tradition that has always excluded two important groups in the festivities... children and drivers. No more. Here is a non-alcoholic version of this welcoming recipe:

same ingredients
substitute wine with cranberry juice or red grape juice
follow recipe exactly
have fun!

Share and enjoy!

Merry Christmas to everybody from LCTIDIOMAS and Happy New Year 2010.

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS

Just leaving for work, I came across a new sight on the hall in my building. Yeap, you guessed again. It’s the ever-present Christmas Tree. And I thought, why not having a nice little gallery of these seasonal beauties?

They bring us light, colour, emotion and fun.

Let’s have a contest to celebrate how much we like ornaments and lightings. So I propose you this. Take a (digital) camera, snap a photo of your Christmas Tree at home or at a friend’s, and send it to us at LCTIDIOMAS.

The best photo will get a prize!

What’s your Christmas Tree like?

BIG, huge, bear-sized, bulky, massive, enormous
nice, pleasant, pretty, comely, fair, good-looking
colourful, vivid, vibrant, flashy, gaudy, picturesque
ugly, unsightly, displeasing, hideous, evil-looking

Merry Christmas everyone! See you next year.

SUGAR AND SPICE AND ALL THINGS NICE

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful".”

Norman Vincent Peale, author

Hey fellows! It is the time of year to fill the house with enticing aromas and whet your appetite with a little something sweet.

Christmas is just around the corner. So we’d better get ready for the whole array of stuff to be done.

Study for the exams
Do the exams (December 11, 14 and 15)
Pick up the reports (December 18, 21 and 22)
Have fun during our Christmas holidays (Dec 23 to Jan 8)

Our website is already updated. Have a look around.

There are also some links for you to check and chill out with the Christmas spirit, over there on the right of the blog. See them? Good.

LCT SPECIALS

Today we meet again to talk about what’s up in the classrooms. We proudly present to you the new monthly activity designed to develop one skill in particular.

THIS MONTH, LCT SPECIAL on… pronunciation.

This is how we’ll be starting. Lots of ideas and games are going to put your pronunciation skills to the test. Are you up to the challenge? We hope so. If not, there are plenty of opportunities to learn and have fun with your teacher and your classmates alike.

LCTIDIOMAS would like to add some guidelines to tune up your pronunciation skills. Follow our advice and you’ll find yourself in the right path to proficiency in English.

TIPS FOR PRACTICING PRONUNCIATION.

What do I study?

Individual sounds: vowels and consonants
Intonation
Stress
Rhythm
Phrasing and Pausing
Reduction

How do I study?

Listen to native speakers
Identify difficult sounds
Learn to hear and produce the sounds
Practice making the sound
Use in context

Why don’t you step into the mood with a poem by

Donni Bridson? It will surely boggle your mind… and ears!

My brain won't work, it gets worms wrong,
But who can blame it anyway
When check and cheque are said the same,
But written with a different name?
And too, two, to and their, there, they're
And in and inn and pair and pear.
Whether the weather is right or write,
If I see or sea with my site or sight.
How can we expect our students to learn
When we sew or sow and turn and tern?
I would, or wood, change the words if I could
To make more sense, or is it cents?
The bells were tolled, or were they told?
The shoes were soled, or where they sold?
Chips and place, your plaice, or mine?
The English language is divine!
The words we ewes, the hair I died,
Or the hare dyed, I sighed or side?
Even teechers sumthymes get it wrong!
I hope ewe like my little song.

And remember! Always have fun and you’ll learn all that you can.

News to share AT ONCE

Hey!

As the cold, dark nights draw in, November is the month for hunkering down in the kitchen and cooking up comforting stews and rib-sticking roasts.

Some of you may want to seize this opportunity for a day of reading and enjoying your favourite blog. So, here we are. What’s new, folks?

At LCTIDIOMAS, we have a brand new email to polish and boast about. Guess what! It’s all for you. Yes, this email is for you to send your writings. Whenever the teacher tells you to write an essay, story, report… and you feel bored to write it in hand, that’s your chance to send it via email. Type away at your computer and then submit your work to this supercool, superfast address:

lctidiomas.tuclase@gmail.com

Your teachers will be delighted to get them this way. Come on! Give it a dare!

And we’ll be publishing new photos on our website. Don’t forget and log in! See you soon and happy.

What do you do when Halloween is over?

Another great event has shed its last leaf. Sniff.

No regrets, my friends. Although Halloween’s ghastly beauty is underground for another whole year, we still hope for a candle-lit future.

Yes, I know it’s too soon to be talking about the ”X” word. But what do you do when the best day in the year is gone?

Talk about it, of course!

Mention of the contest winners can be found in our website. Also you can enjoy photos of the event as well as gruesome reminders of past Halloween parties.

If you want to have fun right here, oggle these great collages I’ve prepared for you.

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As always, comments are welcome.

GHOUL for it

The BIG DAY is here, dudes!

The wait is over and we made it to Halloween 2009.

And it’s a Saturday no less!

Did a black cat crossed our path? Bad, black luck we should be having.

However you celebrate this supernatural day –in costume, watching scary movies, eating candy, scaring your fellow mates, partying until the sun comes up as if you were the last vampire on Earth- have fun, fun, fun!

remember to take zillions of pictures and come back to share your photos & stories with the rest of us.

Vampire kisses to all. See ya!

HAUNTINGLY HAPPY HALLOWEEN

What is it about this day that turns us all into lollypop-crazed ghosthunters?

Do you believe in ghosts?

There is a good question. And this, my friends, is the only time when that question can be officially asked without too much public embarrassment.

So let me ask you. What would you do if you had a ghost encounter? TELL ME. Moan to LCTIDIOMAS and share your wild ideas.

We can then compare. Create a MOSAIC of the global imagination. Yes, you guessed. I’m hooked on Flashforward. Who isn’t? Who wouldn’t? I know I can’t help it. All that mystery lying around just to be discovered mouthful by mouthful.

How will you be spending the next few days?

What are you doing on Halloween?

Drop an eerie comment and let us know.

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP SCARY MOVIES?

Whether you like’em gory or silly, chances are you have some favourite “scary film”. Just when you need a break from freaky reality, those films are the ones that will chill your blood or make you roar with laughter.

Don’t you believe it? YES! Fear can be fun!

Scary films lovers everywhere! JOIN IN THE FUN!

Here are some ideas to start the (red) juices flowing:

The Exorcist, Arachnophobia, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Saw 1 to 1000, Seven, Nightmare on Elm Street, Quarantine, REC, Mirrors…

Drop us a comment and let us know what the scariest film ever is according to YOUR opinion and wisdom.

MEAN HALLOWEEN

Welcome back, dudes! It was a long, steamy summer in Madrid, but it’s finally over. Now fall-of-the leaf is creeping up and, reluctantly, bringing down the mercurial radar in every household’s thermometer.

Aren’t your thoughts turning to all things SPOOKY by now?

Yeap, my very scary friends. The meaniest, scariest, most truculent season is upon us!

HALLOWEEN

I’ts been as quiet as a grave around here, hasn’t it? NEVER FEAR. The cemetery caretaker is here at all times, for good and for worse… he he he (spine-chilling laugh, you know, movie-kind-of-laugh).

I’m in the mood for a blood-curdling proposal. Now could be a spooktacular time to submit your clever Halloween ideas for inclusion on the website.

Inspire other Halloweenies and show off your terrifying skills by sending in your photos and recipes for disaster / stories / jokes…

LCTIDIOMAS is up to the challenge. We will be holding a big contest this year. So if you feel like making a small effort and have fun at the same time, come and join us. Participate in projects and contests. Log in our website to find out about the rules. Lots of prizes to be won!

How are you getting into the HALLOWEEN SPIRIT? Have you chosen your costumes yet?

it’s the end of the world… as we know it

It's almost summer,

a time when students are more likely to have vacation and the pool on their minds than school.

So we are about to say goodbye to an exciting academic year. Don’t you feel a wee bit sad? We are going to miss the everyday fuss here at LCT.

We’re hoping for a wonderful summer time for everybody. As a recommendation, try to use English in some way during these long, long holidays. You don’t want to forget all you have strived so much to learn, do you?

In case you miss us, why not drop a thought via email? That would be appreciated indeed, cause we’re gonna be stuck here for another whole month. But nothing is as idle as it seems. July is a month for English. With our summer courses, everyday is a chance to speak up and put into motion all the tricks learned this year.

Send us a picture of your summer holidays! Let us know where you are and if you can speak English there!

----- MONDAY, 22 JUNE ---- PICK UP YOUR REPORTS

SEE U REAL SOON!

A RAINBOW OVER MY HEAD

Last Sunday I peered out of my flat and this is what came into view.

Can you believe the sheer beauty of this rainbow?

It went all the way over the block. I had never imagined how wide a rainbow could be.And the intensity of the colours is just magical.

Have you got any cool photos to share? Come on, send them to the blog mistress and you will become famous. Or at least we’ll enjoy ourselves tremendously with these beauties in picure.

NEXT TO COME: END OF SCHOOL PHOTOS

Is that a BOOT with FANGS?

That’s right, fellows.

Books are so appetizing that even shoes are growing teeth to sink them into a good chunk of words.

Don’t you believe me? If you have eyes, pop them out! ‘Cause I have brought you some pictures of this year’s event at LCTIDIOMAS.

WORLD BOOK DAY at its best:

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Oh, well. Book day is over. Sniff. Hopefully it will come back next year and then we’ll celebrate again. Yeah!

BOOK DAY coming this 23rd April

Hi there! We are proud to announce another wonderful day devoted to one of the most exciting, thrilling, creative, awe-inspiring and plain COOL hobbies in the world,

READING

And we will be providing you with links to interesting sites about books, a poll on your favourite readings and a top 10 ranking by our teachers! Read on…

The World Book and Copyright Day stems from an initiative first taken in Catalonia, Spain.

It has been traditional since the medieval era for men to give roses to their loved ones and since 1925 for the woman to give a book in exchange.

The World Book Day is a yearly event on 23 April, organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. The Day was first celebrated in 1995.

Common knowledge assumes that both Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same day. This is not strictly true.

Actually Shakespeare died ten days after Cervantes. If you want to know why the discrepancy, go to this link.

DID YOU KNOW?

Since 1967, on or around Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday, 2 April, International Children’s Book Day (ICBD) is celebrated to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children’s books.

Here is the TOP TEN RANKING by our beloved teachers:

BOOKS WE LOVE	RECOMMENDED BY
the secret life of bees	ANGIE
twilight	CHRIS
wicked	BELINDA
to kill a mocking bird	RENATO
cinderella	LEAH
if the buddha dated	JOSIE
the pillars of the earth	TERESA
julie & julia	VANESSA
the curious incident of the dog at night time	KATIE
fingers on your nape	MARISA

Wanna contribute with your own choices?

Come on, do so! Send us via email

the titles of the books you love.

lctidiomas@hotmail.com

LET US KNOW. Many people identify some period in their lives by the music they listened to. Does a book do that for you? Tell us of a book that marked a time in your life.

I still remember the first fantasy books I bought. A trilogy I couldn’t leave in the shop, that thrilled I was with the idea of finding the first steps of a long collection I would be doing in many years to come.

Also, it made an unforgettable impression on me when I could finally read a book IN ENGLISH all by myself! Wow, that was a special occassion. It felt like a miracle.

Don’t forget to check the poll on the right column of the blog! And to finish this entry, I’d like to add a quote fitting to the topic.

It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it. ~Oscar Wilde

SOON TO COME: PHOTOS OF THE EVENT and a webpage on books and reading.

A POET IS BORN

Did you know we can celebrate “poetry”?

Yeah, it’s true. There is a day marked in the calendar for this purpose. If there is poetry in your soul and you are about to burst with emotions, go ahead! Pour it all into a poem!

Send your ideas, your small poems, your glorious challenges to the world, to this email address:

lctidiomas@infonegocio.com

and we’ll post them on the blog. Come on, dare immortality with us!

IN THE MEANTIME, why not have a look at the poets who have already become stars in a a universe of words?

Ladies and gentlemen, aliens and residents, animals and Animals, I give you

Miss Marina!

Marina Tsvetayeva, translated by David McDuff

For my poems, written down so soon in life, so early,

I did not know I was a poet yet,

Forced loose from me like droplets from a fountain,

A rocket's sparkling jet,

Poems storming from me, invading, like some tiny demons,

The sanctuary where sleep and incense twine,

Their themes made up of youth and death, my poems,

My always unread lines!

Thrown here and there, amid the dust of various bookshops,

Untouched then, now, by any reader's thumb,

For my poems, stored deep like wines of precious vintage,

I know a time will come.

Oh, my, there goes my last tear…

Anyway, I think it proper to add some background to the artist, so that we can understand her art better.

--------Marina Tsvetayeva had a difficult life. She was born in Moscow, Russia. Her father was a professor of art history and her mother a pianist who never fulfilled her ambition of playing at concert level. By her own account, Tsvetayeva had a bittersweet childhood.
Her mother had wanted a musical son. Instead, she got a poetic daughter! Apparently, her mother sometimes destroyed her daughter.s early poems.
After her mother’s death in 1906, Tsvetayeva could finally give up her music lessons and concentrate on her writing. She married in 1912 and had two daughters. When her husband joined the Tsar’s White Army, they were separated by events for five years. During this time, she suffered badly in the Moscow famine. She had no money to look after herself and her children.
Therefore, she took the drastic step of putting one of her daughters in a state orphanage, hoping she would be better fed. However, tragically, her daughter died of starvation in 1920.-------

I’m a WICKED kind of girl

Once upon a time, a friend of mine told me about a book. She said I was the main character. In awe, she insisted I was wicked. As time went by, I decided I had to see for myself. That’s how I ended up reading a book called “Wicked”.

Are you wicked?

Let me know!

In the meantime, I’ll post some quotes from the book that I’ve found quite quizzical. Food for thought. Or should I say book for thought?

quote 1: Will I ever find my way without probing around in the darkness?

quote 2:

One never learns how the witch became wicked, or whether that was the right choice for her - is it ever the right choice? Does the devil ever struggle to be good again, or if so is he not a devil?"

quote 3:

"Every day is a great crisis for our society" -Melena Pg9

That’s all for now folks! See you real soon.

A DAY TO BROOD

I switch on the TV. I open a newspaper. I eavesdrop conversations in the street. Every time, there is talk of the same disease. People against people. People against Nature. Sometimes it’s a man against a woman. Sometimes it’s a woman against a child. Other times, it’s teenagers who prey on other teenagers. As if for these predators other people were guinea pigs to probe and zap and bury.

Sometimes I wonder why there are so many people who enjoy hurting life. Nowadays when so much knowledge is available. When schools and the media and the goverments lay cultural resources at our feet. When we have so many opportunities to learn and become more than what we start with.

I wonder. We can teach geography, maths, politics, biology. We can learn about the deep ocean, the far away space.

But can we teach how to have a soul? And can we learn how to see it in others?

This is how we have fun at LCTIDIOMAS

Can you imagine a better way to celebrate Carnival’09?

This is it. Cute faces, friendly smiles, loads of fun and no shyness in sight. These children were eager to show their teacher how proficient they are both at English and fun.

If you recognise these beauties, good for you! One is right out from space.

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What’s more, we have gathered works of art from Gloria’s class, from our Valdelasierra centre. Down below is the whole wall of assignments.

From swords of valour to modern kings of politics, you can see a range of interests with one thing in common. English as good as gold.

And now delight your imagination with each piece:

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This is it for now. But keep an eye on this blog and tune in again soon. For surely there will be more fantastic examples of our students’ ENGLISH PRIDE.

BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!

Hi, everyone!

Yes, you're in the right place... to talk, gossip, find out things you didn't know about your classmates. Who said anything about learning English? Forget it. What we want is here.

LET'S TALK!

It's February, it'

s still cold, and we need something to warm us up. Why don't we have a look at some brand new photos?

These were taken in a far away land. A fairy-tale land called Ireland. In ancient times it was called Hibernia. Imagine the cold there! Brrrrr.

Well, the thing is that some of LCTIDIOMAS students went there on holidays.

Drogheda, (pronounced /ˈdrɒhədə), is a port town on the east coast of Ireland where these brave girls stayed for a few weeks. And I say brave because of many reasons. For one, the shrunken head of Saint Oliver Plunkett, who was executed in London in 1681, was put on display in the cathedral. In 1921!

As you can see, these girls were brave too because they dared the famous Irish dances. Oggle at will!

Here, we were dancing to an Irish tune. The music was fast. We were panting afterwards. It was fun though. The teacher was a bit of a nuisance, but the Irish girls taught us to dance. It was all about hopping and jumping and taking each other's hands.

We took food from our Irish home to this canteen. Every day three or four of us were chosen to tidy up the area. Sometimes we would share our food. It was a lot of fun.

Here some of us are just waiting to be picked up for a day trip. We would talk and gossip until our tongues dropped off! :-D Look at our faces! Travelling in English is a knockout!

SEE YOU SOON FELLOWS!