To illustrate my lesson this week where we’ll be discussing  what makes a beautiful woman or man, just have a look at this video.

Today’s beauty ideals can create a desire for perfection which leaves women all over the world with feelings of anxiety and inadequacy  about their physical appearance.Living with these ideals can negatively influence the way a woman values her physical self and impact her overall sense of self-worth.

This perfection we sometimes see in billboards and on TV  is often deceiving; just the work of the miraculous Photshop. I’ll help you see my point with some Quotes.

I’ve never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.  ~Author Unknown
Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.  ~Kahlil Gibran

This description has been sent by Irene Miguez Garcia , a student from 2ºNB

In the picture I can see a few children.

They are very young, I think they are between 5 and 10 .

Some of them are naked, without any clothes or shoes, without anything, and the rest are wearing old, small ,ragged clothes, for example, the little child who is in the background  is wearing a dirty white shirt, and the boy who is on the left is wearing black shorts and a dirty  white shirt too. The couple of children who are on the right are wearing something similar to pyjamas.

They both look sad, nervous, scared.. They are in a war, so I think it`s something normal. They are shouting, crying, they are running away from an explosion, and there are 4 soldiers behind them. The girl who is in the middle has  her body burned, I know it because my mother has told me things about this picture, and in her face we can see all the suffering she is feeling.

The picture was made during  the Vietnam war, between 1958 and  1975.It was one of the worst wars in the world.

A famous singer called PINK, from Vietnam has written a song about the Vietnam war, she felt all the fear of the war when she was a child, and this is the  chorus of her song:

“This is my Vietnam

I’m at war

Life keeps on dropping bombs

And I keep score”

She tried to show all the pain that she felt with this song, called ” My Vietnam”.

This picture makes  me feel sad, because when I see pictures like this one I know I`m really lucky to be here, in my country, with a family who can give me food, a place where we can sleep and live well,  a family who give me love, and that`s the most important thing.

It was one of the most brutal wars which put an end to lots of lives, a war where  the weakest people are always the losers.

This description has been sent by Juan Carlos Perez Corsino, student from 2º NB.

In this photo I can see a man, I think he looks about thirty-five. I can’t see his hair because he is wearing a helmet to protect his head. He is wearing a firefighter uniform which is  black and  has long sleeves with yellow stripes. He is also wearing black gloves and has a radio around his waist, perhaps to talk to his  colleagues. He looks worried and tired. He might be  working, because behind him  there is a building  destroyed by the  fire. He is holding a brown cat;  I think he has  rescued it from  the fire.I think this work is very dangerous and hard, but it is very important too, and you must feel a very  important person when you have  rescued  other people.

Do you think you can improve this description in some way? Please, feel free to do so by sending a comment.

Listen to an interview with Fergie talking about Fergalicious, her new album as a solo artist . Level: Preintermediate(Speak Up nº 264)

Click here to listen

After doing the listening you can always try listening to one of her songs…. as always up to you.

Some books are not “food for thought”… and these are clearly not. 

THE WORLDS 15 THINNEST BOOKS

   15.  HOW I SERVED MY COUNTRY - by Jane Fonda

   14.  MY BEAUTY SECRETS  - by Michael Jackson 

   13.  THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BILL - by Hillary Clinton

   12.  MY LITTLE BOOK OF PERSONAL HYGIENE - by Osama Bin Laden

   11.  THINGS I CANNOT AFFORD - by Bill Gates

   10.  THINGS I WOULD NOT DO FOR MONEY - by Dennis Rodman

   9.  MY WILD YEARS  - by Al Gore

   8.  DETROIT: a Travel Guide

    7.  EVERYTHING MEN KNOW ABOUT WOMEN

    6.  EVERYTHING WOMEN KNOW ABOUT MEN

    5.  ALL THE MEN I HAVE LOVED BEFORE - by Ellen de Generes

    4.  MIKE TYSON’S GUIDE TO DATING ETIQUETTE

    3.  THE 2008 AMISH PHONE DIRECTORY

    2.  MY PLAN TO FIND THE REAL KILLERS - by O.  J.  Simpson

AND THE WORLD’S THINNEST BOOK…

   
    1.  MY BOOK OF MORALS - by Bill Clinton/with introduction
            by The Rev. Jessie Jackson

Today we’re going to learn how to bake “scones”.

How is this word pronounced?  It depends on where you’re from.  Some pronounce it like “gone”, some pronounce it like “groan”. In any case, this is one of the most well-known foods served at afternoon tea.    It’s believed that the word and the food originated in Scotland.  Not everybody agrees with that, however. 

Well, watch the video and enjoy this delicious “quick bread”

Feel like doing an easy listening about aqua parks? Level: elementary

http://www.eoilangreo.net/cristina/pre-intermediate/aquapark.htm

A bit of listening practice…. but today for students in the elementary levels. Please listen to it, al least twice before giving up

Click here to listen