Monday 29 June 2009

The Tower of Hercules has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage


The Tower of Hercules has served as a lighthouse and landmark at the entrance of La Coruña harbour in north-western Spain since the late 1st century A.D. when the Romans built the Farum Brigantium. The Tower, built on a 57-metre-high rock, rises a further 55 meters. It is divided into three progressively smaller levels, the first of which corresponds to the Roman structure of the lighthouse. Immediately adjacent to the base of the Tower, is a small rectangular Roman building. The site also features a sculpture park, the Monte dos Bicos rock carvings from the Iron Age and a Muslim cemetery. The Roman foundations of the building were revealed in excavations conducted in the 1990s. Many legends from the Middle Ages to the 19th century surround the Tower of Hercules which is unique as it is the only lighthouse of Greco-Roman antiquity to have retained a measure of structural integrity and functional continuity.

Its inscription on the World Heritage List brings an increase in public awareness of the tower and of its outstanding values, thus also increasing the tourist activities at the area.
Thanks to UNESCO.

Friday 26 June 2009

Michael Jackson: Goodbye!



What happened with Michael Jackson's heart? Lastest information in CBS

Thursday 25 June 2009

New English Classes on Video



Some of our students have travelled with EF to learn English at the same time they have fun in an English-speaking country, and now you can learn thanks to their 5-minute videos. You can subscribe to get them all.

And if you want to read the tapescript at the same time you listen:

ANNA: Excuse me, I have to leave early.
COLIN: OK. How come?
ANNA: It's my niece. She's at the airport. She's on her way to Japan. She said the travel agent gave her the wrong itinerary. She said she has to make three connections to get to Japan, and it will take two days to fly there.
COLIN: It's gonna take two days? What's the problem?
ANNA: She has to fly to Rome, then Paris, then Singapore and finally Japan.
COLIN: Really? She's going to Paris, and she needs to change planes in Rome and then Singapore?
ANNA: No, it's Rome first and then Paris second.
COLIN: That doesn't make any sense. That's a bad itinerary. Why do you have to go to the airport?
ANNA: She told me she has to pay a $100 fee to change her ticket. She doesn't have any money.
COLIN: It sounds like she didn't prepare very well, doesn't it?
ANNA: No, she didn't. But she is a teenager, and she hasn't traveled before. But unless she changes her ticket before her departure. . . she'll go to Rome, and she won't be able to get a direct flight to Japan.
COLIN: Why not just call the travel agent?
ANNA: It's 6:15. They close at 6:00.
COLIN: Well, hurry up. You don't want to get there after they've made the boarding announcements.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Mildred and George: Lovely, Aren't They?


George Roper and his wife Mildred have to leave their home in South Kensington when they receive a compulsory purchase order.
They move to an executive housing estate in Hampton Wick, Middlesex, where their new next-door neighbours are estate agent Jeffrey Fourmile, his wife Ann and their son Tristram.

Can you describe the characters? What is your opinion after watching this episode?

Friday 12 June 2009

Anne Frank's Anniversary


It's a long time since I wrote for the last time, I've been too busy, but I'm here again to remember you about Anne Frank. Anne was a Jewish girl who hid from the Nazis with her family in a secret annex above her father's office building. During her two years in hiding, she kept a diary characterized by poignancy, humor, and tart observation. Her family was betrayed to the Germans in 1944, and Anne died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Her diary was later recovered and has become an international bestseller, translated into over 60 languages. To whom did Anne address her diary entries?

Do you want to know more about her diary? Try this webquest and learn.

Friday 5 June 2009

Doubts on English Pronunciation?



Try Tim Bowyer's howjsay, a free online Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation: Enter the word you want in lower case and when it appears in pink, mouse over it to hear it spoken as often as you want. Each word is individually pre-recorded and both American and British spellings are provided.
This dictionary will be a work in progress for many years to come, so please do not condemn it yet for its limited size. Judge it rather on the entries to date of high-frequency words such as "do" or "has". And please feel free to criticise, report errata, and make suggestions.