END OF YEAR: A SONG
RIHANNA: UMBRELLA
A GOOD SONG TO END THE YEAR WITH. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.
The song:
The lyrics:
ALICE IN WONDERLAND - PLAYSCRIPT - MAY 2010 - ACT 11
13 years ago
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
SESSION 27: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK
SESSION 27: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK
Adapted from “Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life” by Richard Florida.
Cities have always been the natural economic units of the world. But in the past several decades, what we once thought of as separate cities — with central cores surrounded by rural villages, or later by suburbs — have grown into "megaregions" composed of two or more cities, like the Boston-New York-Washington corridor. Megaregions are more than just bigger versions of a city. As a city is composed of separate neighborhoods, and as a metropolitan region is made up of a central city and its suburbs, a megaregion represents the new, natural economic unit that emerges as cities (and their suburbs and exurbs) not only grow upward and become more dense, they grow outward and into one another.
Today, megaregions range in size from 10 to 50 million people — and in some cases, in the developing world, even more. They produce hundreds of billions — and sometimes trillions — of dollars in economic output. They harness human creativity on a massive scale, and they are the source of the lion’s share of the world’s scientific achievement and technological innovations.
The megaregions of today perform functions that are somewhat similar to those of the great cities of the past — massing together talent, productivity, innovation, and markets. But they do so on a far larger scale. Furthermore, while cities in the past were part of national systems, globalization has exposed them to worldwide competition. As the distribution of economic activity has gone global, the city-system has also become global — meaning that cities compete now on a global terrain. This means that bigger and more competitive economic units — megaregions — are required to survive and prosper.
Population is not tantamount to economic growth. Unlike megacities, which are termed as such simply for the size of their populations, megaregions are by definition places with large markets, significant economic capacity, substantial innovation, and highly skilled talent, as well as large overall populations.
A megaregion must meet three key criteria. First, it must be a contiguous, lighted area with more than one major city center. Second, it must have a population of 5 million or more. Finally, it must produce more than $100 billion in goods and services. By that definition, there are some 40 megaregions in the world. If we take the largest megas in terms of population:
The 10 biggest are home to 666 million people, or 10 percent of world population.
The top 20 comprise 1.1 billion people, 17 percent of the world population.
Today, megaregions range in size from 10 to 50 million people — and in some cases, in the developing world, even more. They produce hundreds of billions — and sometimes trillions — of dollars in economic output. They harness human creativity on a massive scale, and they are the source of the lion’s share of the world’s scientific achievement and technological innovations.
The megaregions of today perform functions that are somewhat similar to those of the great cities of the past — massing together talent, productivity, innovation, and markets. But they do so on a far larger scale. Furthermore, while cities in the past were part of national systems, globalization has exposed them to worldwide competition. As the distribution of economic activity has gone global, the city-system has also become global — meaning that cities compete now on a global terrain. This means that bigger and more competitive economic units — megaregions — are required to survive and prosper.
Population is not tantamount to economic growth. Unlike megacities, which are termed as such simply for the size of their populations, megaregions are by definition places with large markets, significant economic capacity, substantial innovation, and highly skilled talent, as well as large overall populations.
A megaregion must meet three key criteria. First, it must be a contiguous, lighted area with more than one major city center. Second, it must have a population of 5 million or more. Finally, it must produce more than $100 billion in goods and services. By that definition, there are some 40 megaregions in the world. If we take the largest megas in terms of population:
The 10 biggest are home to 666 million people, or 10 percent of world population.
The top 20 comprise 1.1 billion people, 17 percent of the world population.
The top 40 are home to 1.5 billion people, 23 percent of global population.
After reading the text and the comments above,
- Do you think megaregions could become a threat?
- How are they going to affect the future of the human being?
- How are they going to affect the environment and our ecosystem?
- Is there a quasi mega-region in Spain? (Within the limits of a small country)
- How are they going to affect agriculture and farming?
- How are they going to affect poor countries where their economy isn´t strong enough to compete?
PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:
THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:
FIRST, you need to learn new vocabulary and expressions that you will have to use for the discussion.
SECOND, you have to prepare the topic by looking up information in the internet, books and encyclopaedias.
This way you will feel much more confident and at the same time you will have much more to talk about.
FINAL TASK
Here is one final task that you may do in order to cover the four skills you should focus on when learning a language: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.
Write a composition on the following topic and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 27:
- Mega-regions will lead to global pandemics, food shortages, wars, etc. Express your opinion.
SESSION 27: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 12TH MAY
SESSION 27: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 12TH MAY
WORLD´S BIGGEST CITIES MERGING INTO 'MEGA-REGIONS'
Text taken and adapted from:
http://www.onestopenglish.com/
http://www.onestopenglish.com/
Just click on:
and you have the text together with some exercises and the key for you to work on.
Hope you enjoy it!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
SESSION 27: A SONG
SESSION 27: A SONG
ENRIQUE IGLESIAS: HERO
An English song by a Spanish singer:
The lyrics:
A BIT ABOUT THE SONG:
"Hero" is a single released by Enrique Iglesias from his second English album Escape.
Enrique first released the song to radio in November 2001 to a positive critical and commercial reception. After the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, the song was one of the few songs chosen by Radio DJs in New York to be remixed with audio from police, firefighters, civilians at Ground Zero and Politicians commenting on the attacks.
He was asked to sing the song live at the benefit concert America: A Tribute to Heroes ten days after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Iglesias broadcast his performance from a warehouse in New York alongside Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Sheryl Crow. The location of the warehouse was kept secret in case of further attacks. It was Iglesias' first televised performance of the song. He had performed the song earlier at that year's Miss Venezuela but due to the terrorist attacks the show was not aired on television.
Enrique first released the song to radio in November 2001 to a positive critical and commercial reception. After the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, the song was one of the few songs chosen by Radio DJs in New York to be remixed with audio from police, firefighters, civilians at Ground Zero and Politicians commenting on the attacks.
He was asked to sing the song live at the benefit concert America: A Tribute to Heroes ten days after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Iglesias broadcast his performance from a warehouse in New York alongside Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Sheryl Crow. The location of the warehouse was kept secret in case of further attacks. It was Iglesias' first televised performance of the song. He had performed the song earlier at that year's Miss Venezuela but due to the terrorist attacks the show was not aired on television.
The music video for "Hero" was directed by Joseph Kahn and features Iglesias as an honorable criminal hunted by his enemies. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays his love interest, while Mickey Rourke plays one of the men hunting him. The video follows a Bonnie and Clyde plot with Iglesias and Hewitt running from their enemies in the desert. Finally, Iglesias' enemies track him down and confront him outside a church. The confrontation leads to Iglesias being floored by Rourke, before being struck with a baton. The video skips ahead where we see Iglesias and Hewitt in the rain surrounded by police cars. Iglesias clutches his torso, implying that he'd been shot. The video ends with Iglesias' death. However, it is assumed that the police caught Rourke.
In addition to this video a second video was made for the UK with less violence. The final shot of this video shows Iglesias' legs are moving, suggesting that he lives. While originally made for the UK this video has since replaced the original video on many music video stations throughout the world.
In addition to this video a second video was made for the UK with less violence. The final shot of this video shows Iglesias' legs are moving, suggesting that he lives. While originally made for the UK this video has since replaced the original video on many music video stations throughout the world.
The song topped many charts in the US including the Billboard adult contemporary chart for fifteen weeks. On the latter, the song would re-enter the top ten a year later, the first song ever to do so. The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, though it is actually his most played song on the chart, outdoing prior singles "Bailamos" and "Be With You", both of which went to number one on the chart. A remixed recording also topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in December 2001.
In February 2002 the song was released in the UK, where it went straight to number one for four weeks, becoming one of the biggest hits of the year there. Up to this point Iglesias had already had two hits in the UK but was largely unknown. Hero was seen as a breakthrough for Iglesias in the UK and Escape became one of the best selling albums of that year. With sales to date of 836,5000, "Hero" stands as the 17th best-selling single of the 2000's in the UK.
In Australia, the song reached number one on the ARIA Chart, becoming his first number-one in that country.
In February 2002 the song was released in the UK, where it went straight to number one for four weeks, becoming one of the biggest hits of the year there. Up to this point Iglesias had already had two hits in the UK but was largely unknown. Hero was seen as a breakthrough for Iglesias in the UK and Escape became one of the best selling albums of that year. With sales to date of 836,5000, "Hero" stands as the 17th best-selling single of the 2000's in the UK.
In Australia, the song reached number one on the ARIA Chart, becoming his first number-one in that country.
Monday, May 3, 2010
SESSION 26: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK
SESSION 26: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK
2.2 EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION
IN THE EXERCISES YOU HAD TO LOOK AT OFFICIAL TRAILERS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF FILMS.
- What do you prefer, stand-alone films or sequels?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of sequels?
- Is your favourite film ever a sequel or a stand-alone film?
- How would you explain the concept 'sequelitis'? Do you think we are suffering from sequelitis nowadays?
PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:
THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:
FIRST, you need to learn new vocabulary and expressions that you will have to use for the discussion.
SECOND, you have to prepare the topic by looking up information in the internet, books and encyclopaedias.
This way you will feel much more confident and at the same time you will have much more to talk about.
FINAL TASK
Here is one final task that you may do in order to cover the four skills you should focus on when learning a language: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.
Write a composition on the following topic and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 26:
- Write a film review of a sequel you have followed or are following at the present moment. Comment on:
- caracters throughout the saga or sequel.
- the part you liked best and why.
- if the sequel has already finished or if there is still the possibility of another part.
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