Search This Blog

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Life, time and proverbs


  1. Some metaphores to think over (= ponder):
  • Tranquil mind
  • Sit like a tortoise
  • Walk sprightly like a pigeon
  • Sleep like a dog


  2.  Wisdom from the east:
. A yarn (= story):
In China where Age means something he was a great man. By his own story Li Ching-Yuen was born in 1736, had lived 197 years. By the time he was ten years old he had traveled all the area gathering herbs and went on for the rest of his first 100 years. He lived on herbs and plenty of rice wine.

To be aware of your time clock during your lifespan, we should consider Li Ching-Yuen's answer to the secret of a long life in the province of Szechwan in China, Li lived until last week as told to TIME magazine in 1932.


 Reading bonus track: 
   If it picks your interest, have a glimpse at some LONGEVITY aspects:


  3.  A couple of ageless classics:

  • "You, yourself, are the time; your senses are your clocks."
                        – Angelus Silesius (German mystic – 17th century)

"There is a right time for everything:

A time to be born; A time to die;
A time to plant; A time to harvest;
A time to kill; A time to heal;
A time to destroy; A time to rebuild;
A time to cry; A time to laugh;
A time to grieve; A time to dance;
A time for scattering stones; A time for gathering stones;
A time to hug; A time not to hug;
A time to find; A time to lose;
A time for keeping; A time for throwing away;
A time to tear; A time to repair;
A time to be quiet; A time to speak up;
A time for loving; A time for hating;
A time for war; A time for peace."

             – Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8


  Navigate at your peril: 

  • When did counting time start?


 4.  An all-time favourite literary English pieces:
Last but not least  my  CODA on life. 

Three writers who delivered on TIME anarchy rules:
4.1. Life is .... a chaos between two silences
                          (S. Beckett) ...  

4.2. They lived und laughed ant loved end left
                            ( J. Joyce)
4.3. “Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow” Soliloquy
Spoken by Macbeth,      at  Macbeth  Act 5 Scene 5 

There would have been a time for such a word. 
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, 
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day 
To the last syllable of recorded time, 
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
The way to dusty death.
Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale 
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing.

                 ( Willm Shakp / William Shaksper / Wm Shakspe /               
           William Shakspere / Willm Shakspere)                      


       “Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow” Soliloquy Translation:
How the days stretched out – each one the same as the one before, and they would continue to do so, tediously, until the end of history. 
And every day we have lived has been the last day of some other fool’s life, each day a dot of candle-light showing him the way to his death-bed. 
Blow the short candle out: life was no more than a walking shadow – a poor actor – who goes through all the emotions in one hour on the stage and then bows out. 
It was a story told by an idiot, full of noise and passion, but meaningless.


FOLLOW UP:


EXTRA :











Willm Shakp - 


William ShakspÄ“r - 



Wm ShakspÄ“ - 

William Shakspere



Willm Shakspere

William Shakspeare

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Proverbs - According to 6 year olds




Mary taught first grade. She had a class of twenty-five adorable 6yr olds. 
 One day Mary gave each child the first half of a well known proverb and asked them to write in the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. 

 While reading the results, keep in mind that these are only first graders, just 6 years olds.


  1. No news is............................ impossible.
  2. Love all, trust....................... me.
  3. An idle mind is....................... the best way to relax.
  4. Strike while the...................... bug is close.
  5. Better late than...................... pregnant.
  6. A penny saved is...................... not much.
  7. Don't change horses................... until they stop running.
  8. A miss is as good as a ............... Mr.
  9. Happy is the bride who................ gets all the presents.
  10. Two's company, three's................ the Musketeers.
  11. Don't bite the hand that.............. looks dirty.
  12. It’s always darkest before............ Daylight Saving Time.
  13. There are none so blind as ........... Stevie Wonder.
  14. Where there's smoke there's .......... pollution.
  15. The pen is mightier than the.......... pigs.
  16. If at first you don't succeed......... get new batteries.
  17. When the blind lead the blind ........ get out of the way!
  18. Children should be seen and not ...... spanked or grounded.
  19. You can't teach an old dog new ....... math.
  20. Don't put off till tomorrow what...... you put on to go to bed.


      Some natural answers:         

1 No news is..............................good news
2 Love all, trust......................... a few, do wrong to none.
3 An idle mind is.........................the devil's workshop.
4 Strike while the ....................... iron is hot.
5 Better late than........................ never.
6 A penny saved is....................... a penny earned.
7 Don't change horses.................... in midstream.
8 A miss is as good as a ................. mile.
9 Happy is the bride who................ the sun shines on.
10 Two's company, three's................ crowd.
11 Don't bite the hand that................ feeds you.
12 It’s always darkest before............. the day dawns.
13 There are none so blind as ............ those, that will not see.
14 Where there's smoke there's .......... fire.
15 The pen is mightier than the.......... sword.
16 If at first you don't succeed............ try, and try again.
17 When the blind lead the blind ......... both fall into the ditch.
18 Children should be seen and not ...... heard.
 
19 You can't teach an old dog new ....... tricks.
20 Don't put off till tomorrow what....... you can do today.

Monday, October 7, 2019



Learn about the world


It's a classic joke with an element of truth.
An American woman looking to vacation in the U.S. island state of Hawaii asks her travel agent: "Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?"

Whether the story is based on fact or just an urban legend, the message is clear: some Americans just aren't very good at geography.



  • President Trump's idea to buy Greenland
  •  ... is not it a joke??


     ____  TEST   _____

  • Most Young Americans Can’t Pass a Test on Global Affairs—Can You?

A new survey finds that even college-educated Americans have a lot to learn about the world around them. Take our quizzes to see how much you know. 


https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/09/survey-geography-foreign-relations-americans-students/





Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Elvis lives in a Palindrome world




In a  Palindrome world

A man, a plan, a canal--Panama!





Do you recognize these famous names?

 Look at the new phrases created when the letters have been moved around!



 ARTISTS 
     1.    Elvis                                 Lives                           
2.   B _ _ _ _ _ y   S _ _ _ _ s       best PR in years 
3.   A _ _ _ _ d   S _ _ _ _ _ z _ _ _ _ _ _ r 
                                                he’s grown large n’ crazed 
4.   C _ _ _ _  E _ _ _ _ _ _ d         Old West action
                                                     lies down to act

5.   S _ _ _    C _ _ _ _  _ y              on any screen

 AUTHORS  
6.   W _ _ _ _ _ _      S _ _ _ _ _ _ e _ _ _   
                                        I am a weakish speller


POLITICIANS 
 7.   M _ _ _ _ _ _ t   T_ _ _ _ _ _r      
                                        That great charmer

8.   G _ _ _ _ _  B _ _ _              He bugs Gore

9.   S_ _ _ _ _    H_ _ _ _ _ n         UNs said he’s mad


  • *The word ‘palindrome’ comes from the Greek language, meaning ‘running back again.’









Source:







________   Key  ____________

      1 Elvis          2   Britney Spears      3     Arnold Schwarzenegger  

4 Clint Eastwood       5  Sean Connery         


6       William Shakespeare      

7 Margaret Thatcher       8 George Bush        9 Saddam Hussein


Thursday, September 26, 2019

the Best items of All Time -Alphabet



WE use the Alphabet


TASK 1

Write your favourite group on your notebook.
translate into your language
read it aloud to your table companions.


TASK 2
Read this list with 15 (fifteen) groups and some songs

Copy the ones you can say in good English
  

1
BEATLES

SHE LOVES YOU
2
QUEEN

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
3
ABBA

DANCING QUEEN
4
ROLLING STONES

(I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION
5
OASIS

WONDERWALL
6
TAKE THAT

BACK FOR GOOD
7
SPICE GIRLS

WANNABE
8
BEE GEES

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE
9
U2

WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
10
STATUS QUO

ROCKIN' ALL OVER THE WORLD
11
BOYZONE

NO MATTER WHAT
12
BLONDIE

HEART OF GLASS
13
BLACK EYED PEAS

I GOTTA FEELING
14
BONEY M

RIVERS OF BABYLON /
 BROWN GIRL IN THE RING
15
SLADE

MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY


TASK 3

Rolling Stone Readers Pick the Best Ballads of All Time
  • 'Let It Be'
  • 'Purple Rain' ...
  • 'Wish You Were Here' ...
  • 'Let's Get It On' 
  • 'Black' ...
  • 'Freebird' ...
  • 'Hey Jude' ...
  • 'With Or Without U'

TASK 4. Beatlemania


Monday, September 23, 2019

Pow Gasol and OW and AU-AW English spelling frequencies




Can you read the poster on the left?

Who can't deny that Pau Gasol was the POW =  Player of the week in NBA jargon.

The nick name is Pow Gasol, Power Gasol, Pow in short.

The other partner in spelling is OU, as in house, mouse, sound, 
pronounce, announce, 
sound as in profound, ground,  
ADD: 6 others




If the onomatopeic spelling clearly offers the sound of the word, ...how would you pronounce WOW! 
(meaning exclamative surprise: What a wonderful thing!)

ou-ow -1 /au/ ow, town, power
TOWN + down, brown, town, 
HOW, now, cow, cowboy, clown, 
FLOWER +vowel, towel, tower, flower, power, 
crowded, powder,


au-aw /o:/  pause and law, audio and awful  
Very regular indeed. Here is the list.
 draw, drawer, awe, lawyer,  …
August, Laurie, autumn, cause, sauna, author, auxiliar, auto-, saurus, …
(names) Laura, Paula, Claudia, Paul, Paula, .. Austria, Australia,



Obviously, there are some irregularities with stressed syllables. Here you have a challenge:  Can you collect another 4?

With OW: (adjectives) slow, low, (verbs +nouns) show, snow, know, growWith AW:  aunt, laugh, ...... , but not many.