THE ENGLISH HOLLY

Photo by Davideño, taken from panoramio.com

“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”


Welcome to the English Holly (el acebo), the English department blog in Siles, welcome to your blog.


martes, 4 de noviembre de 2014

Our new cultural assistant, Aimee, introduces herself

Hey!!! I’m Aimee, your local Canadian for the year! :)
A bit about me in case you’re curious: I’m from a small town in the North Peace Region of British Columbia, Canada. It’s usually cold and snowy here, for about eight months out of the year because we are so far north, but we still go outside and enjoy winter sports such as sledding, skating, floor hockey (hockey in a gym), and snowboarding. I love all of these sports, but my favorite is snowboarding. Also, we don’t live in igloos, but we make them for fun! It’s a beautiful region with a lot of farmland and the economy is maintained by a massive oil and gas industry.  
Currently, I live in the next province over, Alberta, where I’m pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences and Education. This province is known for its farming and Alberta Beef. My city, Lethbridge, is a bit smaller than Jaén and has a train bridge with a unique structure that makes it the largest of its kind in the world. (You can see in the picture below ↓.)



During the school year, I’m involved in campus activities including managing a club, organizing and hosting events, playing sports, and engaging in cultural events throughout the season. Conveniently, I also live about two hours away from two of the most beautiful national parks in Canada. When I have time, I love to go to the mountains to hike. I also join friends and go bridge jumping or tubing in our local canals and rivers during the summer. In both places I’ve lived, there is a lot of wildlife and in the national parks you can easily run into moose, bears, and occasionally a cougar.
I love learning about cultures, playing sports, and exploring nature. I’m excited to learn life Spanish, well Siles, style. As this is my first time in Spain (and in Europe) I have a lot to learn. I speak a little Spanish, but I’m still learning, so I may not understand when you speak to me...yet! By the end of the year, hopefully I can speak as fast as you. :)
Everyone in Siles has been warm and friendly; thank-you for welcoming me into your community! I look forward spending this year sharing with you and meeting more of you soon! :) See you around!

lunes, 13 de octubre de 2014

Fall is here...

Hi and welcome to the academic year 2014/15!! 
 Are you ready to feed new challenges and enjoy with English around the world?
Follow us and share our last news!!!!
This week  a very special person has arrived to  School our new Language Assitant, "Aimee". We are very excited and our students full of curiosity...Fall is here and there's nothing so delicate as music to open a new season in this entry...



(Beautiful images. Directed by Lucinda Schreiber and Yami Kronenberg.)



jueves, 12 de junio de 2014

Mario's lecture in First Bachillerato B (11th grade)

Mario Martínez talking to the class

By Maria del Carmen Rodríguez, Paula Castillo and Matías Arroyo.


On Wednesday, 4th of June, we had a great experience in class: Mario Conde, a former student from our high school, came to our class in order to tell us his experience in the USA. This is because he has been there for 2 years improving his English.


As you can imagine, going to a foreign country in your own when you are only sixteen is really difficult at first, moreover when you can understand nothing. This boy stayed in a host family during the course and he had to get used to the American life as soon as possible. He explained us how the States are: the things that Americans like to do in proms for example, how they celebrate their fests; the most popular sports there, like basketball, soccer… and he showed us the famous yearbook, which is made by the American students to remember their school’s memories in the future. Besides, he told us that his first time driving a car was there and at the age of 17! Advantages of living in the USA ;) Is it not amazing?

But everything wasn’t fantastic, Mario had to do a big effort to achieve his goals. He encouraged us to follow the hard way because the victory tastes better after the effort, then you will feel proud of yourself and it worths it.

Mario’s story teaches us not to give up, always do your best, be hopeful and try to see the “brightside” in things. By this way, you will get everything you want!

In addition, he showed us his spirit of sacrifice, telling us his experiences trying to learn English and he suggested new ways of improving a language (for example copying useful sentences in a notebook or making list of vocabulary, watching tv in English…)

That´s all folks, from now on we have a model of student, worker, full of curiosity and, the best of all, he is from “Segura´s Mountain  Range”.

If you want, and you work hard, you´ll get your goals!



jueves, 15 de mayo de 2014

Our songs

Our latest project in English is about our favourite songs. Every student has chosen a song and has prepared some exercises to practice in class. We took the idea of this project from english@edrissis in Ceuta. Thanks to them.
Here are the first examples, I hope you like them.



Arabella, Artic Monkeys, by Maria del Carmen Rodríguez.

Shot me down, David Guetta, by Matías Arroyo.

Chasing cars, Snow Patrol, by Carmen Gutierrez.

Let it go, Demi Lovato, by Cristian García.

Viva la vida. Coldplay, by María Jesús Morcillo.

One love. Bob Marley, by Jorge Sánchez.

Happy. Pharrel Williams, by Elena G. Salas.

Save you. Simple Plan, by Bea Segura.

Imagine. John Lennon, by Ángel Fiteni.

Counting stars. One Republic, by Paula Castillo.

Let her go. Passanger, by Ángel Suárez.

Waka Waka. Shakira, by Juan Manuel Gil.

It's time. Imagine Dragons, by Jesús Luna (Mr. Moon)

Young and beautiful. Lana del Rey, by Antonio López

The monster. Eminem ft. Rihanna, by Javi Piña.

To vote for your projects you have to complete this spreadsheet. (You have to log in when your e-mail address) Use this link.

And the winner is......... HAPPY!!!!




miércoles, 7 de mayo de 2014

Passport to the European Union

Europe Day is an annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe.There are two separate designations of Europe Day: 5th May for the Council of Europe, and 9th of May for the European Union. For the EU, the day is also known as Schuman Day, commemmorating the historical declaration by French foreign minister Robert Schuman.
In order to enjoy and share our European spirit we propose you to travel around the EU.   
 Click on this link and create your own Passport to the European Union.
Learn about all our European neighbours and have fun!!!
http://ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/passport_2010/HTML/index.html

Thanks to "ICT Torps"

martes, 1 de abril de 2014

Becas curso intensivo de inmersión lingüística en España

Si estudias Bachillerato o un Ciclo de Grado Medio puedes optar a una beca para un curso intensivo en España.
El plazo finaliza mañana, 2 de abril.
Más información en este enlace