About a piece of art

La Torre del Oro

“La Torre del Oro” was painted by David Roberts in 1833. It is an oil painting and it shows a landscape. The interesting scenery shows the Guadalquivir with a lot of boats in and next to the gold tower in the background at the nightfall. In the foreground there is a boat and a group of people.

This type of work is typical of romanticism, an art movement which started in Germany and UK in the XIII-XIX century. The Romantic artist attached importance to feelings, nature, violence, imagination and individualism and the North European mythology.

La Torre del Oro was bought by Museo del Prado in 1943. Before that we don't know where have been this picture.

Àlex

A review of a book or a film

The Physician

I’d like to recommend a book which I read recently, called The Physician, The author of the book is Noah Gordon.

Noah Gordon is an American author from Massachusetts, USA. His books are usually about medical history, medical ethics, the Inquisition and Jewish culture and history. Some of his books are:

• Cole family trilogy: The Physician, Shaman and Matters of Choice
• The Last Jew
• The Death Committee
• The Winemaker

The book is an adeventure novel and the setting is London, the British countryside, Scotland and Persia during the 11th century. The main character is a Christian English boy who is an orphan. This boy wants to learn medicine, so he decides to go to Ispahan (Persia) to learn medicine of Avicena, the best doctor of the world. But in Ispahan they don’t accept Christian, so this boy pretends to be Jewish.

The thing I liked most about the book was that the main cahracter gets what he want. Some of the scenes are memorables because it shows how the people live in the 11th century.

All in all, I really liked the novel, and I thought it has an open ending, I wouldn’t change it. It isn’t a very easy book to read, but it’s got still a strong message.

Àlex

An opinion

Are you in favour of home schooling or against it?

In our area, there aren't much students in home schooling, programme but I think that it is great, so I'm in favour if home schooling.

In my opinion, home schooling is good for several reasons. Firstly, it is more familiar, the teacher knows the students better than in a big school. Secondly, you can get up later because you study in your house, you don't have to move of your place.

But, I think that home schooling isn't good because you can't mix with other people like in a school.

So all in all, I think that is a good thing, I think that it should be more students that study in their house.

Àlex

A biography

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississipi in 1935. But when he was 13 his family and him moved to Memphis. In Memphis he was marginalized until he grew out his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil. He was involved in show business when he signed a contract with Sun Records. In 1955 Evis sacked his manager and he signed a contract with RCA.

His first break came in 1956, when Elvis was recorded Heartbreak Hotel. He appeared in the film Love Me Tender. In 1957 Elvis starred Jailhouse Hotel and signed a lot of songs of the film. That film and the songs topped the charts. In 1958 Elvis was inducted into the U.S. Army, so his career was stopped. In 1960 Elvis finished his military service, so he released some song and he appeared in some films. In the next years he starred a lot of films until 1968. He did some tours and released some albums since 1968.

In 1972 he released Aloha from Hawaii, a benefical show. During this show four men attacked Elvis. In 1973 he was divorced of his wife. Since this year Elvis became unwell frequently and he became to take drugs from his doctor. Simultaneously his tours augmented until 1977 when Ginger Aldem discovered him unresponsive on his bathroom floor: Elvis was dead.

Àlex

An Internet forum

Is Internet and new technologies addiction really a problem?

Post a comment Report to moderator

Marky oo2

Comment posted on 3^rd December at 19.36

A problem? No way! From what I've seen it's something which people do when they're bored. It isn't an “addiction”. The problem is that real life isn't as interesting as the internet!It's more fun online!

Mygirl_Ruby

Comment posted on 3^rd December at 21.48

I agree with Marky. It isn't a problem if it's entertaining. The internet is less addictive than TV. Anyway, in my experience prople can be obsessive about everything.

HeyGazza!

Comment posted on 4^th December at 22.14

Marky's got a point, but I think the internet can be an addiction and some people need help. I've got a friend who's completely disconnected from real life. In most of his free time, he plays games online and when he isn't playing he's in the chats rooms. He's failed a lot of exams and he's less interested in everything. It's like illness. He needs to talk to someone.

Àlex0925674

Comment posted on 7^th December at 16.29

I agree with HeyGazza!. Internet and new technologies can be an addiction. Internet can be a useful tool to do homework for the school and things like that, but It can be an illness. For example, one day I was having dinner with some friends and they were chatting with the mobile phone among themselves. It was very stange because they could do the same without the mobile phones. Now, people can't live without technologies. Nowadays, people don't “read in” a book or a newspaper, people “read in” a mobile phone or a tablet.

Àlex

An environmental problem

We've got a problem: traffic jam!

I'm writing because I was in Barcelona with my family last weekend and we saw a big traffic jam, that was unbelievable. This photo shows the cars, motorbikes and lorries that we saw.

I think there are one or two reasons for this. Firstly, people don't want to sacrifice, therefore, people don't travel by bike because the car is more comfortable and as I said, people don't want to sacrifece for the environment. Secondly, there isn't enough buses and people can't travel by a transpont which don't pollute like a car. Also there is too much traffic because the roads are too narrow.

We must do something about this situation. Maybe the street lights aren't synchronized. I don't know, but we must definitely do something if we want an attractive city for tourism

Àlex

TV highlights

Writing unit 2: Writing about TV highlights

The highlight of this week's TV was the reality show El Foraster. Quim Masferrer went to Tortella, a little village in la Garrotxa. There, Quim met very strange people like Sisco, a person who weighs everything.

TV3's satire programme Polonia was also worth watching. In Thursday's episode, Artur Mas parodied the Jaume Sisa's song Qualsevol Nit Pot Sortir el Sol. There was a funny gag where all the people became very nervous because a tertullian changed his mind and they thought was a illness.

Finally, something which also caught my eye was Monday's episode of El Convidat. Albert Om was staying a weekend in Xavier Sala Martin's house. He interviewed Sala Martin and we saw his collection of jackets.

Àlex

Film review

The last film I saw was Vincent. It is a short horror film written, designed and directed by Tim Burton and it is narrated by Vincent Price

Vincent is the story of a seven-year old boy called Vincent Malloy, who pretends to be like Vincent Price. He thinks that he is a tortured artist and he likes a lot the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. He experiments with his dog Abercrombie because he wants to create a zombie dog.

When he was reading a tale of Poe he thinks that his imaginary woman was buried alive and he digs on his mum's flower bed to discober if his woman is dead.

The film finishes when Vincent falls on the floor and he thinks that he is dead.

Àlex

Oral presentation: my last summer

My last summer

Hi I am Àlex and I’d like to explain my last summer to you.

The first week in the summer I went with my family to Paris. There, I stayed for three days in Disney and the other three days I travelled around Paris. What I liked the most in Paris were Versailles and the Napoleon's tomb. It was giant!

Then I went to Paignton, a small city near Plymouth. There I went to school. The school started at nine o'clock and finished at 12.30. After we had the lunch which was horrible). Then we started some activities, like bowling, going to the zoo, going by steam train to others towns... These days I was really tired because my host home didn't have shutters, the sunshine entered and I woke up very early.

In August I stayed in a neighborhood near l'Estartit. There I was sunbathing all the day, but some days I went to the city of l'Estartit. One day I went with my family and my friends to Tamariu, there we went with kayaks to the caves.

I liked a lot this summer, but I think that it was very short.

Àlex

Video

Powepoint

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NGfmpC7-mRf0SegqMXQ1V96UnM8svrjBuPvPItJDJwg/edit?usp=sharing

 My classmates

Maria: She went to Zaragoza, then she did a rowling and English course. She also went to Granada.

Albert: he stayed in Paris almost all the summer.

Carlota: She stayed in Banyoles. Then se went to Palamós and Estartit

Lídia: She stayed in a summer camp and she went to Tarragona.

Eva: She went to Port Aventura, then se went to a summer camp in Besalu and another in Camprodon

Sergi: he stayed in Banyoles  and Sant Antoni de Calonge.

Enric: He stayed in Banyoles and Barcelona. HE travelled to Greece, Turkey...

Anna: she went to Gloucester. Then she sailed to Ibiza. She also went to Switzerland.

Pere: He went to Gloucester with more classemates and he did a football training in Banyoles.

Laia: She trained to the Spanish Championship of Rowing. Also she went to a lot of catalan cities.

Xènia: She went to the Spanish Championship of horse riding. On July she did a horse-riding training.

Marçal: He went to Gloucester with Anna, Pere... Then he went to Platja d'Aro.

Elsa: She went to a basketball campus. Then she went to Sant Antoni and finally she went to Escambell

My best friend

My best friend

My reflection and I are friends. He lives near me in Banyoles. He lives in all the mirrors of the world. We don't go to the same school because he doesn't go to school.

My reflection is thirteen years old. He's quite tall and he's got short brown hair. The good thing about him is that he has my same hobbies, although he can also be stubborn like me and sometimes we don't agree.

My reflection is happiest when I'm happy because we are the same person. We like reading and relaxing a lot, but we hate shopping.

Àlex

Writing unit 9: Write an email to an internet forum.

Write an email to an internet forum

Hi

My name's Àlex Garcia and I live in Banyoles in Catalonia. I like the area where I live, so I want to improve it.

In my opinion there aren't many youth clubs in the area. As a result, a lot of young people spend all their time hanging around on the street.

I think the council should do something about this. I'm sure they must have some places which people can use for a youth café.

Àlex

Writing unit 8: a dialogue for a story

Marc: Àlex, Àlex! Can you hear me? I need some help!

Àlex: Marc? Where are you? What's happened?

Marc: I'm in the sea. I was sailing near the cliff when it began a storm and I sank.

Àlex: Are you OK? Can you go to the beach?

Marc: No, I've cut my arm and I can't row. It really hurts. What am I doing to do?

Àlex: Don't panic! Let's phone the coastguard.

Marc: OK, but hurry up! I don't know how long I stand here.

Àlex: OK, OK, hang on! I'm sure that someone will come soon.

Marc: Àlex!

Àlex: Now what's happening?

Marc: I'm drowning. Help!

Àlex

Writing 7: a formal letter

Vilanova

&

Correfoc

32 Avinguda del Tibidabo, Barcelona, Catalonia

10^th March

Dear Sir or Madam

I am the owner of a “Correfoc gang” in Barcelona. Catalonia. The name of the gang is Vilanova & Correfoc. I am writing to you because we are planning a competition and we are looking for sponsors.

The competitions of the best “Correfoc” will take place in August. Gangs and fans from two countries,Spain and Andorra are going to be in Barcelona for this event, and I think that it will be good publicity for your company.

Please contact me if you are interested in sponsoring us or if you need any more information. I look forward to hearing from you.

Your faithfully

Josep Vilanova

Owner of Vilanova & Correfoc

Àlex

Writing 6: a survey

A survey about music

The topic of the survey was “Music”. A group of five people did the survey and in general they like listening to music. These are the results:

The first question was:How often do you listen to music? Half of the group answered that they listen to music twice a day, but one or two people answered that they listen to music once a day or more than twice a day. The second question was: How long de you listen to music in a day? Most of people said that they listen to music thirty minutes in a day, but some people of the group said that they listen more than thirty minutes.

Other question was: What kind of music do you listen usually? A lot of people said that they listen to pop-rock music, but some people said that they listen to other tipes of music as such as: reggae music, classical music,electronic music... Last question was: “What do you use to listen to music?” More than half of the group answered that they listen to music with the mobile, but one or two people answered that they listen to music on the computer and some people listen to music on an mp3 player.

Àlex

Writing 5: Biography

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James Fitz-James Stuart

James Fitz-James Stuart was an Anglo-French military leader. He was born in France in 1670. He was an illegitimate son of King James II of England and Arabella Churchill. He was also the 1^st Duke of Berwick, the 1^st Duke of Fitz-James and 1^st Duke of Liria and Jérica. He died in 1734.

He was educated in France. He participated in many wars such as: war of Spanish Succession, war of nine years, the Glourious Revolution, Battle of the Boyne... He was marshal of France (an important military distinction). His great event was the storming and the siege of Barcelona in 1711, because he directed it.

One of his descendants is Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, Duchess of Alba. She is the woman with more nobilary titles of all Europe.

Àlex

Writing 4:A brave rescue

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The rescue happened while we were on holiday in the Pyrenees last February. It was really amazing and I was lucky to get a photo of it.

I was with my family and we were doing mountaineering when we saw a man in a cave moving his arms because an avalanch was coming behind him. We phone the rescuers and they came and rescued the man. He was frozen, and the rescuers took him to the hospital.

The doctors cut him off a foot becouse it was frozen. The rescuers were very brave, because it was windy, and the helicopter didn't have a lot of fueil.

Àlex

Writing 3:A memorable day

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I remember last Christmas day, 11 months ago. It was a very memorable day.

First, we went to my grandparents' house. All my family were on the house. At 9:30 we had dinner, there was soup and lobster, but I didn't eat lobster because I hate it. Then, we used an old disc player to listen to old songs and my grandmother danced it. After that my grandfather sang a “jota”.

There were about thirty people at Christmas day. I remember my grandmother clearly because she wore a beautiful dress. It was a fantastic Christmas day and I felt very happy.

Àlex

Writing 2:My ideal home

My ideal home is a big house near the town. It's very big: there are 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and two living rooms. One living room is for summer and the other is for winter, with fireplace. There is a little but beautiful garden and you can see fields and hills from it.

On an ideal afternoon in my ideal home we're all here. My mum and dad are making dinner in the kitchen. My sister and brother are watching TV in the summer living room. I'm in my bedroom reading a book.

My favourite room is the winter living room. It's got a big sofa an armchair, a fireplace and a TV. I like this room because it's very welcoming and I can relax in it.

Àlex

Writing 1:Internet profile

About me

Hi, I'm Àlex and I'm from Banyoles in Catalonia. I'm quiet and friendly. I've got green eyes and brown short hair.

Likes and dislikes

I'm really into books, especially the books of Laura Gallego, Patrick Rothfuss... I like Britain and its weather.

My time and money

I spend a lot of time on my extra activites. I don't spend a lot of money, I prefer saving it.

Request

I want to meet boys and girls from 13-16 years old. I don't mind their nationality, but I want to practise my English and I want to learn German and Chinese.

Àlex

Writing starter unit:My school

Hi, my name is Àlex and I’m a student at Casa Nostra school in Banyoles. Casa Nostra is a small religious school –there are about 100 students-. It’s a school for boys and girls. There are about 10 teachers and there are a lot of classrooms.

There’s a big playground for PE classes. We have a good PE teacher, Jordi Arteman. There isn’t a swimming pool, but there’s a climbing wall and a BTT track.

There’s a modern language room with computers, books and magazines. Also there’s a science laboratory and an ICT classroom.

Àlex Garcia