St Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday July 1st

I've just discovered that we will be among the first people to see a brand new piece of installation art in St Paul's Cathedral! Martyrs by Bill Viola and Kira Perov went on display in May 2014 and is a video installation on four plasma screens. There is more information on this ground-breaking and disturbing work of art on the St Paul's website, click here to go directly to it. I have also posted an interview with the artists.
For information on what to see and do in this stunning building click here
Did you know that Winston Churchill's funeral took place here? And on a happier note, this is where Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles to become Diana, Princess of Wales. Lord Nelson and Sir Christopher Wren are among the great Britons buried here.


See you all on the steps of St Paul's tomorrow morning at 9.30 - I have your entry tickets.

Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) - Interview with Bill Viola and Kira Perov

Materials

Hope you're having a good weekend!
Here are the materials from last week's lesson "What is Art?". I think it would be easy to adapt this to talk about favourite films, music etc as we discussed in class

Click here for lead-in
Click here for text of live listening
Click here for expressions
And click here for the procedure

(Note, Wednesday: I have rebuilt the links, so if you can't access it now, please let me know!)

London Eye and a panoramic view of the city

London Eye! What an amazing view we've got from up there! What a ride!

To tell you the truth, it was the best view of London so far: House of Parliament, the Clock Tower, Westminster Abbey, Saint James Cathedral ..... And even the Buckingham Palace can be seen during the ride. What impressed us the most was seeing the extension of the Thames, specially because some days before we had taken a boat ride along the river where we could see "the big Eye" from another perspective. 

Loving this city. It can't get better.

Eveline, Carol, Paula.

Week 2 Project: Alice, Néia and Teresinha

Have you ever read Brazilian News in Tower of London? ... Actually, we have.

Project Week 2 : Camila, Gilcéia, Ilka, Rosangela

     This picture was taken in The British Museum, in the section about Egyptian Burials, with all due respect to the coffins behind us, we tried to interact a little with the environment, or at least tried to, since some of us couldn’t really stop laughing.

     For historical information, the coffins in the picture belonged to the same woman, the objects were found in the Theban West bank around 1904, and bought by the British Museum around 1910. It can be dated to the year 1279 – 1213 BC. The mummy inside indicates that she was already an old lady when she passed away, but judging by the beauty of all objects found in the tomb, she was a very important person. 

A Beautiful Punting Day

The girls learning and having fun

A Beautiful Punting Day

Last Saturday, June 21st, we went to Cambridge to experience The Punting Tour - a 50-minute boat ride along the River Cam. Besides having fun on the boat, we (Laura, Luciana and Hilda, from Etec and Fabiana, from Fatec) could see one of the best universities in England, made up of 31 colleges, whilst listening to a nice chauffeur guide, who is also handsome, explaining all about the university, its history, academic issues etc.

We were blessed with a sunny day, which added much more delight and fun to our tour.

London Bridge Tour

The London Bridge is one of the most fascinating spots we’ve ever been since we got here.

We took many pictures of this breath-taking bridge, and we realized that the closer we got to it, a better shot could be taken. Also, we were delighted by the lovely sunny day we’ve had.

We really had a great time there, and we couldn’t help stop taking more pictures of the bridge.

We definitely agree that this is a really great picture.

Ana Lucia and Daniela

OMG!

Hi, everyone!

Well, I've just found out I have many pictures, but I'm not actually on them. That is probably because I'm completely ASTOUNDED by the city. You can see that on this "unique" picture I'm in:

From left to right: Ze, Miguel, Valteir, Gil, Rose and Ilka.

This was our first walking tour around the school area. Everyone was excited and amazed at the surroundings every step we took. For one thing, it was good I only had this picture of myself, so I'll keep my mouth shut next time.

Big Ben...

Last Saturday afternoon we (Alciene, Juliana and Daiana) went to the "Big Ben".

We learnt that its name came from the massive bell inside the clock tower. We think that the clock tower looks incredible at night when the four clock faces are illuminated. 

When we arrived, there was a protest against "Racism" a situation out of the blue, on the other hand we could see the population 'fighting' for a cause they believe.

In Brazil, it's very common, but on a different way, in some of them, there are some steals during the protest.

We really enjoyed that afternoon, because we saw a lot of beautiful places.

Juliana, Alciene and Daiana.

This week, my dear friends and I went to Harrods, the most expensive department store of the world. There are several floors (gifts, women’s and men’s fashion, café…………..$$$$$$$$$$)  and it is located on 87-135 Brompton Rd, London.

Obviously, we didn´t buy anything, only a few  promotional products . But, we did a great extravagance: went to the café and each one of us drank a cappuccino. A lot of fun!  The real visitors and buyers in the famous shop Harrods are Arabics, Hindus and other nationalities.

Well, my mother  told me: there are people who are angels in our lives.

Sandra and Ligia are my angels here, in London!

Adriana Mamede

What do British teenagers read?

When we were talking about Shakespeare the other day, we started speculating about what novels and plays were on the English Literature syllabus at school. Well, I've found the answer. Click here and it will take you to a website aimed at pupils taking GCSE English Literature, and you'll find not only the list of books, plays, short stories and poetry, but also revision notes, plot summaries, and in some cases short videos to help explain them. Might come in handy in your classes! Unsurprisingly, there are classics such as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Animal Farm, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet etc, but there are more contemporary works too, such as Touching the Void (which is an absolutely brilliant book, not just for teenagers), and The History Boys. Enjoy!

How to block the view

 I've been to the British Museum today. You know the feeling you've lived an extra life? Well, I'd like to fancy if I did I would have been Egyptian or Greek, but ancient ones. Everything I see related to these old cultures strikes me - small or big, having belonged to a pharaoh or a plebeian. A stone, a metal, a piece of wood, they all convey so much meaning and at the same time little do we know about them. I know sometimes I should be walking around the streets of London, but I just can't help being alone with the mummies for they seem so earthy, wise and silent. I'm sure they observe us moving aroung like silly people from display to display wondering who they were. In a museum, it's all about "left overs", as if Chance have filtered what  humankind now should and should not see and undestand. And I like that. There are things we shouldn't know. They're best kept in secret. Like today, we saw some really stupid tourists. There was this lady blocking the view of Buckingham Palace. She wanted to have it all for herself,  I guess. And there was another lady who was so rude trying everything to get her blue-haired son close to the Palace gate that I wondered why some of the most beautiful things should be shared with the ugly and the mediocre ones. I mean I don't want to sound arrogant or anything, but these people block our view of the world. That's why I sometimes prefer the mummies in the museums.

Sandra Silva post: Three girls and a phone booth

My first time in London was in 1996, 3 days as a tourist. Doing everything too fast, I couldn’t realize the huge amount of  things to visit, to know about, to eat, and specially the variety of different  people from almost everywhere  living here! Definitely, getting to know a place requires much more than 3 days. I had never supposed to be here again, and this opportunity of studying and staying  for 4 weeks is really amazing! Sometimes when I’m walking back home, after a very special day, I look at the sky and I can’t believe I’m here, especially because it has been so blue as much as in Brazil. For sure, I would like to share one of my favorite  photos with my  new friends Lígia  and Adriana, taken in the very first day , standing by a phone booth as it is a London symbol . But, will it survive the mobile? What do you think?

Sandra Silva.

Changing the Guard App

If you want to get in the mood for tomorrow's visit to Buckingham Palace, there's an app about the Changing of the Guard in the App Store. I think it's only available for iPhone as I couldn't find it in the Android Play Store. To be honest, I haven't tried it, even though it only costs 69p, but here's some info about it, it might be fun!

Week 2 project

OK, so here we are again, week 2 and a new project. This time, we'd like you to work in small groups, and take a photo of yourselves somewhere special in London, or doing something really British, or just a photo that sums up your London experience so far, with you in it.
These were the winners last year:



Here we are: safe and sound, feeling protected  by Spiderman's net.






If you're a book lover, you'll feel at home at Foyles bookstore in the heart of London ♥ Covent Garden ♥

By: Luciana (model 1), Ulysses (model 2), Taciana (the photographer's feet)

Can you post your photo and comment by Sunday evening, then Emma and I can decide on the winners on Monday!
Happy snapping, people!

Hi, guys!

I'd like to share some feelings and to thank God for the opportunity of this trip abroad for several reasons.
Firstly, because it is a dream that came true suddenly: spending a whole month in London learning English and improving my teaching skills.
Secondly, because the wonderful places I've already visited, famous sightseeing such as the Parliament, The Abbey Road, The London Eye, museums and theatres etc... only in a week...It was amazing being in Cambridge, Bath and Stonehenge, too!
Besides all those things, I could meet on this long journey, that has just started, very friendly and outgoing people... Some of them I already recognize as good friends!!!
It's been very nice and funny having you all around!!!

Hello guys!!
I'm Thais and I'm in London for a month to study and learn about people, culture, stress of living in a big city, etc. I'm really enjoying it!! Learnig about language has been awesome, and I found out that I have a lot to learn and I'm looking forward to it!

Hi everyone!

Hi everyone!

Bath with The Lark Ascending

Hello everyone

Today I visited Bath, the old city that was built by Romans. I already knew Bath by means of Geoffrey Chaucer’s most important book The Canterbury Tales. In this book, there are many characters, but the most interesting is “the wife of Bath”, a widow who was married five times and who told the best tale.

City of Bath has wonderful landscapes, abbeys, squares and the “baths” built by Romans. When my classmates and I were walking along the old streets of Bath, I suddenly remembered Vaughan William’s pastoral The Lark Ascending. I cannot explain what is the specifically connection between the two realities. Maybe there is not real explication for this fact. But I think that The Lark Ascending is the best soundtrack for the bird’s singings, the different kinds of green of landscapes, the environment of abbeys, and the light green of water of baths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWwBh0dzgi4&feature=kp

  

When I first took the tube to go to school, I thought that would be too complicated for me. I even thought I wouldn't enjoy much of the city on my own because I could get lost. Well, the truth is that right after the first class finished I decided to walk around Oxford Street and LEARN how to use a map. In Brazil, when I'm in doubt about where I'm going to, I usually look it up on google maps before leaving my house because I haven't gotten a gps or a powerful cellphone to help me out in case I get lost. So I never have a map with me, but that's not the case here in London. I not only have a map of London, but also the transportation map, which is so valuable. Everything has changed since then. On my first day sightseeing, I could wander around and get back home safe before dinner! To be or not to be? That’s not a question for me anymore. I chose TO BE a real tourist. Every day I decide on a new path to feel and enjoy the city. Chech out what an amazing street performance I saw the other day:

Using the transportation system in London...what a big deal!!

One of the most outstanding things we heard about big cities is about the efficiency of all means of transportation. I believe you can really evaluate the level of development of a big city from this view. The tube in London is far from just an alternative to move around the city, it's an event itself. The only problem is: how complex this system is!! I felt like I was in the primary school learning the first steps about something "fussy", a big deal. But after getting lost with friends for so many times - it was part of a training, hehe - and because these situations made us laugh so much, I think I'm in love with the tube now, and I also love the double deckers and even the boats I saw on River Thames yesterday. Underground, overground, tube, cab, new words to put in practice when you visit this city. And don't forget about this tip: carry a map with you, find everything you need and enjoy whatever you may find.

Rediscovering London

Hi everybody,
I was in England 2 years ago. I spent a month in Manchester and just a weekend in London. When I was here I couldn't have much time to do the things and visit all the places that I wanted in that time in this lovely city. Now I'm enjoying every single day as much as I can. The course that we are attending has given me some nice knowledge about English culture and to improve my classes as well as meeting great people and making new friends. I'm pretty excited about following days..
Cheers my dear colleagues and teachers!

I think I saw The Queen!!!!

Today we went to Windsor to visit the city, see the castle etc… As soon as we arrived we found out that the Queen was actually there for an event, then, we went to see the castle. I don’t know what I expected, but it was not what I saw, it is so big and impressive that I felt like you was in a fairy tale. All the details that each king or queen has left to add his or her mark in their residence was also a surprise, because it shows how it’s not a museum, it’s their house. And the biggest surprise was that I was talking to a guide asking questions about the queen, that and that, and she said that the queen still worked very hard and that she would be leaving the castle at 1:30  pm to go to the event. At 1:30 we were still in the castle and a lot of people started to go to the window, and I remembered that the Queen would be leaving , I tried to look between people’s heads and I saw a glimpse of an old lady in light pink entering a car . So, what the odds, in my first visit to England, I think I saw the Queen.

Gilcéia

…and I'm finally in London!

I’ve lived in America for sometime and I’ve been to some English speaking countries but London! After so many years of English teaching I finally got to visit London. What a beautiful place, plenty of nice people and amazing places to visit.

But I’m not here just to visit places, I’m here especially to learn… and from what I’ve seen so far in classes, I’ve got a lot more to learn.

All lessons have been very useful and precious! The morning sessions and the afternoon sessions so far have given me great ideas to adapt and use them back in Brazil with my students: guided discovery, pronunciation, connected speech, blogs, British culture, songs … to name just a few. I hope to finish this 4-week program with loads of information and teaching material so that my students can benefit from them.

Eveline Cavalcante – FATEC Santos

What I didn't expect

Hello everybody,

 I’d like to talk about my experiences in my first visit to London. Everything has been really great, the course, the sightseeing, the hosts, the food, but I want to talk about things that caught my attention and I wasn’t expecting somehow. For example, people are really good at giving you directions, they stop to listen, they try to help as much as possible, even going out of their way to show you the best way go about. This shows how polite people are and how they respect tourists, I really liked it. Something I also didn’t expect is the high number of restaurants that serve natural and healthy food and how there are not so many people overweight as you see in other countries. This is also very positive and surprising as it goes against the tendency of eating junk food, which some countries as Brazil is following. That’s all for now, I’ll write again soon.

Gilcéia 

The Royal  family
 Today I Had the opportunity to see a little more about the royalty as we Walked around Windsor casttle. I was wondering the conspiracy theories surrounding the family And we will  Never know if they are true or not.

We Could see so many beautiful And interesting things And people! I dont think this form Would work in Brazil at All.

The trip by train itself was really interesting as I am into traveling. And the history? Well, history is not my thing, but I Could manage to get to know many important facts which has happened.

Another amazing fact was that we bought the tickets but nobody asked to check them. A negative aspect was the delay. Can You imagine that the train arrived one hour late? In the UK? Wow!

See You át. Stonehenge tomorrow, people. Bye. Have a Nice night.

Kisses.

My first week in London!

I’ve had funny and enjoyable moments since I arrived in my family house.

Brenda, my hostess, who is a very friendly retired woman, welcomed me with a traditional English dish called roast chicken with gravy. I wasn’t expected to have lunch and despite having a delicious food she also opened a bottle of red wine to welcome me.

The first funny thing that happened was that she tried to correct my English pronunciation of the word “own”. Oh my god!!! That was hard…but I finally could manage to pronounce it correctly.

The other funny thing that happened was about the misunderstanding of “pudding”. This word is closely related to a Brazilian sweet called “pudim”. She offered me to have some pudding and I accepted. I was very surprised when came with a piece of chessecake with strawberries as  I had no idea that “pudding” means dessert. We laughed a lot when I told her about my idea of pudding.

I’m really enjoying having the experience of living with an English family. I’m sure I’ll have loads of things to tell about by the end of my trip.

Ana

Pub, Why Not?

Hello, folks!

I'm very happy to share our experiences and thoughts here!

In my opinion, we're having a unique opportunity to live and share this experience in an amazing city. 

I've created this Post about 'Pubs' for three reasons:

1- I'm really surprised how the British people love the pub. We saw in class that almost 95% of the population regularly go to the pub during the week and at the weekend;

2- I love happy hours, hang out with friends, a good environment and also beers, and we can find all of those things in the pub;

3- I've been in amazing pubs here in this short time: Green Man, The Old Monk, The Magpies, Tia Maria, The J D Wetherspoon, The Ice Wharf, and others;

The pub culture here is really interesting, for example, a lot of people also go to the pub for a roast dinner on Sunday with their families, I can't imagine a family in Brazil going to the bar or a pub for a meal. Other interesting thing that I've learned is about the pub etiquette, that is also very important. It is a good idea when you are at the bar not to push front of people as there and jump the queue, in Brazil it's hard this situation happens because usually we don't need to pay at sight to buy your booze (drink).

Finally, if you haven't visited a pub yet, you should go and also invite me. So, late make a 'toast' to celebrate this amazing travel and city. Cheers!

A Brazilian Man in London

A Brazilian man in London

I've been an English practitioner for about 15 years, but honestly I do feel like a student most of the times.

I felt in love with an artist in my adolescence (of course I don't dare to say her name now!) which made translate all her lyrics into Portuguese. And that got me started with English. When I was 17, I was a foreign exchange student in the USA for a year. That was an unforgetable experience to me. Back in Brazil, I majored in arts and Literature. My master's degree was in Semiotics. I studied a Russian movie director whose name is Andrey Tarkovsky. Then I started teaching English and some literature in colleges. I also spent some time in South Africa doing nothing, or better yet, ridding my invisible pink elephant, Nadia.

The school

I find the IH a wonderful place. Both our teachers are excellent, very patient with the group and their approaches and activities have been extremelly engaging. I am already full of new ideas.

The city

London is reviting, full of energy and I think it comes from the diversity of people and its multi ethnics. I see different and unfamiliar faces all over the city and I just love being hidden in this sort of anonymity, being among totally strangers. Even though London seems to me oddly compact, as if we are all going to the same place, to the same direction, to the same spot - centerwise, spinning, like a screw that's turning each time you take your next step, we never end up seeing the same face ever again. I blame the tube for that.

Each turn of the screw could be a "time swap".

When I was a young boy, I used to read Virginia Woolf and her London somewhat became mine and it trigged my imagination. In 1993, when I came to England for the first time, I was really disappointed with the city. Where did it all go? Years later, here I am. I'm older now. I was so naive back then. Three days ago, walking down a street, I grasped Virginia's saddness, Virginia's London, her profund silent in the middle of the busiest part of London: the perseverance of the old buildings. They were still there, patient and beautiful. I heard them saying their prayers, them singing their desperate songs nobody wants to listen to anymore. Like old men sitting on park benches alone waiting for your time.

Slow food, healthy food

Well, let me share with you somre of my impressions about this big, peculiar and amazing city. I don´t know if what I am going to say is relevant, but at least it can be food for thought in a certain way. Has London turned into a greener city in terms of food?

The first time I came here backpacking with my boyfriend (actually my husband today),  my daily diet was based on sandwiches, burgers and fries, some fruit bought in markets, not going much further than McDonalds and Burger King ans some of their oily options. It was a hard winter and on top of that it was a good way to save money or at least not expending so much.

It´s been more than 10 years since then and now when I´m back for this one-month teacher training, I found the city with many options of healthy food stores, including some vegetarian dishes, which can be easily found in chains of modern restaurants exploring the “slow food” movement, such as PretaManger (with shops spread all over the city) and Leon (a vintage-style  place near Trafalgar Square). This has been a positive point in my view, that´s why I thought it was worth commenting. If someone has any ideas or impressions on this, just let me know. Any suggestions of good places to eat at good prices for Latin American visitors are welcome too.

Ilka Santi

Hi friends!

I’m having a really great time in England. Everything is fascinating me: London, the people, who are so polite, the course at International House and teachers. Well, considering these comments you can probably figure out this is my first time in Europe. And I’m very glad we are having this experience.

There’s a lot to learn, and there’s even more to tell people later in Brazil. That’s why I’m planning to prepare a power point presentation about the trip to my students. Don’t you think it’s a good idea?

Do you have any suggestions or anything to share to improve my idea?

Thank you all, particularly, my classmates, for the nice time we’ve been spending together!

Wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Hi everyone. It's been a pleasure to get to know everyone And All the culture.

I'm really enjoying everything

Hi guys,

I'm enjoying everything in London, the contact with the British culture has been very interesting. I've learned a lot about pronunciation and vocabulary. I'm trying to register some teaching techniques in order to try to put some of them in practice in my classes in Brazil. Finally, I could understand how to work with task-based activities, I was studying that in Brazil, however, it was difficult for me to have ideas in order to approach it, and Emma helped a lot, I really enjoyed. Fiona is helping me to understand British educational system and the royal family. When I arrive at 7pm at my host family, I can have dinner with them and this is nice, because we can talk a lot and I can learn different things. I've realized that my listening has improved and after a few days, I can understand almost everything, since the British accent was hard for me. Yesterday was amazing because I went to a musical for the first time and I loved it, it touched me a lot!  Finally, I'm happy because I've understood how to go walking in London.

The Royal Family

I really enjoyed our sessions today about the Royal Family and to be honest I was pleasantly surprised how much you already know about them!
Here are my slides from today.

Hello!

Hello everybody! Finally I'm on the blog...

Wednesday

Aren't we lucky with the weather this week?? :)

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to our blog! Over the course of the next four weeks this will be a place for reflection and discussion following our classroom sessions.
To get everyone involved, I'd like to add you all as authors, and for that you need to have a gmail account (it's really easy to set up if you don't already have one!) then I can send you an invitation. Anyone in the FATEC/ETEC group can read it and comment, but I'd like you all to contribute. This week's project will involve the blog, so the sooner I can get everyone up and running, the better.
We hope you will enjoy using it, and look forward to reading your comments and posts.