Aranjuez

As a reward for winning the first part of the "Aulas de Oro" contest, some of the 1st and 2nd year ESO students from Torrejón and Loeches are going to Aranjuez next Wednesday.

Before going there, it would be nice to have some information about what we are going to see there. It is difficult to think about Aranjuez without some specific music coming to our minds.

Let's watch this video and listen to the music with our eyes closed, to see what it tells to our heart...

Indeed, it is the "Concierto de Aranjuez", composed by Joaquín Rodrigo, and performed Paco de Lucía.

The part that you have just listened to is called the "Adagio", and it is the second movement.




Many musicians have attempted to perform it, but in my opinion,
nobody can beat Paco de Lucía's version, which has brought many people to tears.




In this video, we learn why Joaquín Rodrigo, a blind musician, decided to compose it.

The music you have just listened to is said to be a dialogue between Rodrigo and God, trying to understand why something so tragic had happened to him.

Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife had just lost a child, and she was very ill.

Now, we are going to focus on what we are going to see:

If you click the following links you will be able to access some guides to the palace:

Guia teatralizada - español

Official guide - Spanish and English





Last, but not least, here is a link to a folder with audios that can serve as a guide to the palace. They are in English, and it would be really advisable to download them and save them onto your mobile phones.

TED talks

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan: "Ideas Worth Spreading". TED events are held throughout North America and in Europe and Asia.

They address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture, often through storytelling. The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can.

TED was founded in 1984 and, since June 2006, the talks have been offered for free viewing online, through www.TED.com. Also, you will always find five recent conferences on the right side of this blog (and do not forget that you can activate the subtitles).

KET and PET - Speaking

The speaking part can be a bit frightening, but knowing how the exam will be, and practising it with our wonderful assistants will help you!

In the previous post you could see general info on the exam.

In this post, I will show you some videos with people your age taking the exam and what the examiners think about their perfomance. This way, you will know exactly what is required.

KET

This is a video of two students taking the exam:

This is a document showing the examiners' opinion.

PET

 This is a video of two students taking the exam:

 In this document examiners tell us their opinion.

There is a very useful website which explains how to pass the different papers (they give explanations in Spanish). Click the photo below.

KET and PET general information

2nd and 4th year ESO students are starting to prepare for their Cambridge exams.

To make things a bit easier I would like to give you some extra information.

KET

First of all I am leaving you the test that we have started to practice with 4th year programa.

You can watch a video explaining the whole examination process:

PET

This is the test (only reading and writing paper) that we have started to practice with 4th year programa.

You can watch a video explaining the whole examination process:

6 Minute English

Learn and practise useful English language for everyday situations with the BBC. Each programme is six minutes long and contains examples and explanations to help you improve your knowledge of the English language across a wide range of topics.

You will always find the five last programmes on the right side of this blog. In addition, if you want to, you can download their scripts from this web page -->  http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english

Human body, Electricity and Electronics

The P.E. and Technology departments have worked together to study how our body can be studied as an electrical machine and how Robotics can interact with the nervous system. 

These two videos are a good summary:

ENDURANCE 2 ESO

ENDURANCE: Training methods

Endurance Circuit
Ropes
Military course