bilingualnorba

MATCHMAKERS

2012-02-25T03:59:00.002-08:00

Finding the perfect match can be a really difficult task. 3rd years students did a reseach to find out the best qualities of their classmates. Click here to read their comments.

Norba was in love for a whole week

2012-02-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

We have just celebrated a week of love at Norba school. Students have read poems, sung love songs, written love letters and shared love quotations. Thanks to Mª Jesús, the language and literature teacher who is in charge of the library for all her effort and enthusiasm.

Contador banned for doping

2012-02-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

Is he innocent or guilty? Read 3rd year students' comments in Antonio Salas' blog.

NORBA IN LOVE: in February, all you need is LOVE!

2012-02-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

In February our school library has organized a love letters competition with great prizes. Students are also writing love letter in English and they have left their favourite love quotations in this blog. Don't miss them! Here you have one of the most famous love poems ever written. The author is William Shakespeare. You can also read the Spanish translation. If you like The Beatles, listen to "All you need is love".

And don't forget to leave your comments with your favourite love quotes!

Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Soneto XVIII
¿A un día de verano compararte?
Más hermosura y suavidad posees.
Tiembla el brote de mayo bajo el viento
y el estío no dura casi nada.
A veces demasiado brilla el ojo solar,
y otras su tez de oro se apaga;
toda belleza alguna vez declina,
ajada por la suerte o por el tiempo.
Pero eterno será el verano tuyo.
No perderás la gracia, ni la Muerte
se jactará de ensombrecer tus pasos
cuando crezcas en versos inmortales.
Vivirás mientras alguien vea y sienta
y esto pueda vivir y te dé vida.

Listen to "All you need is love" by The Beatles.

2020 Olympic Games logo

2012-02-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

3rd year students discuss 2020 Madrid Olympic Games bizarre logo. Don't miss their comments in Antonio Salas' blog.

ACHES AND PAINS

2012-01-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

3rd year students are practising vocabulary about aches and pains in P.E. First, they have to listen to a podcast. Then they have to write sentences using the new vocabulary. Go to Antonio Salas' blog to see the results.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

2012-01-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2012!!!

Have you heard about New Year's Resolutions?

A New Year's resolution is a commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. People committing themselves to a New Year's resolution generally plan to do so for the whole following year. This lifestyle change is generally interpreted as advantageous.

Here you have some of the most common resolutions:

-Quit smoking
-Get in shape
-Save more, spend less
-Dedicate more time to family
-Read more
-Learn a musical instrument
-Get in to a relationship
-Learn a new language
-Control temper:
-Keep up with the resolutions

Other lists include:

■Keeping in touch with friends more
■Exercising more
■Eating a more healthy diet
■Relaxing more
■Helping family more
■Learning something new
■Saving more money
■Reducing loans and debts.
■Becoming a volunteer for a local organization or charity
■Making regular contributions to a world wide charity
■Being more environmentally aware
■Recycling more products
■Helping a neighbour or a friend in need

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_resolution
http://www.wishafriend.com/newyear/new-year-resolutions.php
http://www.rachaelwestdesigns.com/new-years-resolution-ideas-for-2011

Two tales by Oscar Wilde

2011-12-18T15:12:00.000-08:00

We have just finished our first term exams and Christmas is here. In coordination with the Spanish Language and Literature teachers, we are going to read two famous short stories by Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince and The Selfish giant.

Merry Christmas!

A poem by Santos Domínguez

2011-11-27T07:21:00.000-08:00

Santos Domínguez is a Spanish and Literature teacher at Norba school. He has recently been awarded the important Villa de Aoíz Prize in its XXXV edition for his poem "Ayer no te vi en Babilonia".

Rick Hite, Professor Emeritus at Virginia Wesleyan College, has kindly translated this beautiful poem for our blog.

We offer the original version in Spanish followed by its English version.

Thank you, Rick. Congratulations, Santos.

AYER NO TE VI EN BABILONIA
(Tabla de arcilla, 3000 a. C)

Cinco mil años pesan sobre esta arcilla viva
en la que un hombre hablaba una lengua de barro.

Como la nieve al lobo, sus palabras delatan
su extrañeza de siglos, sus tiempos estelares
y el espacio incesante y fluvial, el latido
de un corazón ausente.

Miles de años después, otra lengua diría
-y era una voz de sombra-: “Te veré en Babilonia.”
Era una voz de sombra que anunciaba la muerte
y la pira encendida para un héroe sin tiempo.

Pasaron cazadores de serpientes,
se callaron los gallos del arrabal y el viento
fue bajando a los ríos y apagando las velas.

Tiempo, espacio y el nombre de una ciudad sin sueño.

Con música insondable,
cae la sombra del hielo en el desierto y lejos,
en arroyos secretos,
beberán los caballos lentamente en la orilla.

Las cúpulas de cuarzo brillan bajo la luna.
Bajo esa misma luna sigue temblando aún
-no te vi en Babilonia-
la voz de arcilla frágil que escribió su temblor
con un tallo sumerio, con un punzón de ausencia.
Con un punzón de angustia esas palabras lentas
y urgentes; no te vi en Babilonia.

Simples como una herida de escarcha en los planetas,
un pájaro de nieve sigue latiendo en ellas.

I MISSED YOU YESTERDAY IN BABYLON

(Clay Tablet, 3000 B.C.)

Five thousand years weigh heavy on this vibrant piece of clay

whereupon a man was speaking a language made of mud.

Like the wolf’s tracks in the snow, his very words give away

his century’s old strangeness, that so stellar age of his,

and all the space unceasing, ever flowing, the beating

of a heart now so absent.

Thousands of years afterwards, and another tongue would say

-- And it was a shadow’s voice -- : “I’ll meet you in Babylon.”

Yes, it was a shadow’s voice that was foretelling the death

and the pyre already ablaze for some timeless hero.

The hunters of serpents passed by on their way,

and the cocks in the slums of town fell silent, and the wind

went sweeping down to the rivers blowing out the candles.

Time and space and the name of a city always sleepless.

With music unsoundable,

the shadow of ice falls across the desert, and far off,

along hidden arroyos,

the horses will be drinking slowly at every bank side.

The cupolas of quartz are shinning bright beneath the moon.

And beneath that very moon still trembles even today

-- I missed you, in Babylon –

the voice in clay, so fragile which wrote down its own trembling

with some Sumerian reed, with indentions of absence.

With indentions of anguish, those words impressed so slowly,

so urgently: I missed you, in Babylon.

Words as simple as a wounding frostbite on the planets,

some bird with snowy feathers keeps beating deep inside them.

NO MORE VIOLENCE

2011-11-25T00:51:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Read this beautiful poem about the strengh women have. The author is Maya Angelou, an American poet.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou

Thanksgiving day in the United States

2011-11-24T00:55:00.000-08:00

Today is the fourth Thursday of November and American people celebrate Thanksgiving day. The celebration often extends to the weekend that falls closest to the day it is celebrated. In Canada Thanksgiving day is on the second Monday of October, probably due to the earlier onset of winter in the north. Do you fancy cooking a typical Thanksgiving dinner? Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green been casserole, sweet potatoe pie, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie... Why not...

To learn about the history of the first Thanksgiving, watch this video our English teacher Emilia Gutiérrez found for us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFDSobNnfQs

And here you have another one:

http://www.history.com/videos/history-of-the-thanksgiving-holiday#history-of-the-thanksgiving-holiday

Spanish omelettes with special tips

2011-11-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

3rd year students show us how to prepare delicious Spanish omelette. Click here.

Rajoy beats Rubalcaba

2011-11-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Conservative opposition leader Mariano Rajoy beats Socialists' Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. Read more.

Rubalcaba and Rajoy head to head

2011-11-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

"The only head-to-head televised debate of the Spanish general election campaign focused heavily on the crisis-ridden economy, and after a tightly fought contest, Mariano Rajoy remains on course for an overwhelming victory on November 20.

The conservative Popular Party (PP) candidate went into the debate with a 15-point poll lead and seeking to make Spain’s 21-percent jobless rate the hub of the debate. His opponent Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba has been a key member of the Socialist government, something Rajoy reminded him of on more than one occasion.

“You’re coming up with all these proposals. Why didn’t you do all these things before?” Rajoy asked, highlighting a glaring weakness in Rubalcaba’s position.

The former Socialist interior minister had little choice but to accept the dire state of the Spanish economy from the start. He gave a frank analysis of the crisis, followed by a volley of proposals that were designed to distance himself from Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

These included encouraging small businesses with cheaper credit, incentivising hiring of workers by offering to pay Social Security contributions, and an appeal for flexibility from the EU on reducing the public deficit. He also advocated boosting research and development and restoring the property sector in a balanced way.

Rubalcaba also reached out to left-wing voters with a promise to protect the kind of social rights that Zapatero has been eroding over the last year. “We mustn’t let the crisis undermine the basic rights that we have,” he said.

Rubalcaba also sought to turn his biggest weakness –employment– into a weapon, accusing Rajoy of plotting to deregulate the labour market and slash jobless benefits.

Rajoy’s strategy was obvious: to underline the Socialists’ mismanagement of the economy, something he managed reasonably effectively. His problems were more related to his image: his stiff demeanour, an obsession with referring to notes while speaking and his slightly weird, glassy glare when listening. The PP leader also had difficulty in getting Rubalcaba’s name right, instead repeatedly calling him “Sr. Rodríguez Zapatero”, betraying both nerves and the fact that these two politicians had never before engaged in debate."

Read more in

http://iberosphere.com/2011/11/spain-news-scrappy-spanish-election-debate-leaves-rajoy-in-pole-position/4146

Congratulations, Paula

2011-11-07T01:04:00.000-08:00

Paula Carrapiso Galán, from 2º Bachillerato A, has just won the regional spelling contest. Now she is waiting for the national competition. Congratulations and good luck.

Letters to baby 7 billion

2011-11-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

"Dear kid, welcome to our mess." Read some of the best letters the Guardian readers wrote to baby 7 billion. Click here. and send your own letter.

COLDPLAY

2011-11-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

We can listen to Coldplay in the Music blog. Don't miss it!

The world population

2011-11-02T17:42:00.001-07:00

Learn about the world population and some other interesting things in the Geography blog

Bodybuilding

2011-11-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Interested in bodybuilding? Read 3rd year students' comments about this controversial activity. Click here.

Novelist Julian Barnes Man Booker Prize 2011

2011-11-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

The novelist Julian Barnes won the Man Booker Prize for “The Sense of an Ending,” a slim and meditative story of mortality, frustration and regret. Read more.

Gaddafi killed in hometown

2011-10-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

We can read the news in Reuters agency.

ETA'S CEASE-FIRE

2011-10-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

ETA announces permanent cease-fire. To read about this important issue, click here.

2012 Olympic Games Logo

2011-10-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

Interesting. 3rd year students comment on 2012 London Olympic Games logo. What's their opinion? Click here.

Almodóvar: The Skin I Live in

2011-10-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Read a review on The Skin I Live in, the last Almodóvar's film, in The New York Times.

ARTISTS COMMENTS ON OTHER ARTISTS

2011-10-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

Do you enjoy painting? Read these interesting comments of British artists about Spanish marterpieces, one of them a still life by the Extremenian Zurbarán.

Amanda Levete, Architect
Francisco de Zurbarán's Still Life

The depth of understanding and observation in this work is extraordinary. The artist creates a kind of hyper-reality: when I see a bumpy, thick-skinned lemon at a stall, I feel I am looking at an image from this painting. Great art stops us in our tracks, gives us an insight into reality, makes us think, helps us understand the structure of things. That a painting can do this with the humble lemon, some oranges, a rose and a cup of water is testament to its power and greatness. How I would love to be able to look at such a work every day, to discover another nuance, to be reminded that there is sublime beauty in the ordinary.

David Hockney, Artist
Picasso's Mother and Child (First Steps) (1943)

There's not much art I don't like, although I am indifferent to some (indeed, quite a lot) today. I could say the Fra Angelicos in San Marco in Florence are my favourite works, or Rembrandt's great drawing, in the British Museum, of a family teaching a child to walk. But why not Picasso's treatment of that same subject, which is only dealt with by the greatest artists?

It is a totally universal subject that everybody has experienced and witnessed. Today, thousands of depictions will be made of this all over the world, most with a camera: uncle Charlie teaching little Edna to walk, photographed by mum. But most will not be able to show us what Picasso does: the child, both thrilled and frightened; the anxious mother, whose supple hands clasp the child's still awkward fingers. Cubism allows him to give us that detail. In great works of art, form and content are one. It is a wonderful, touching work. Great stuff. There are not many great paintings on this subject.

EL HIERRO VOLCANO

2011-10-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

Click here to read information about the volcano eruption in El Hierro.
Fox news also offers some details.

Spain 3-1 Scotland

2011-10-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Did you watch the match? "The world champions were immediately in control, with Scotland failing to get a touch of the ball", says the BBC website Have a look.

FIND SOMEONE WHO...

2011-10-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Manolo Vaquera took 3rd year students to the court to do the activity "Find someone who..." It was sunny and it's always a great idea to leave the classroom for a while!

THE TRAVELLER SUITCASE

2011-10-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

In order to encourage family participation, we propose the “traveller suitcase” with different materials from the English Department: fiction and cultural books, comics, magazines, DVDs, etc. Students will keep the traveller suitcase for a week and they and their families will have to write about their experience in a dairy we have included in the suitcase.

ECONOMY DOMINATES POLITICS

2011-10-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Have a look at Chris Riddle's cartoon in The Observer. Yes, the Prime Minister is the pet.

CUTS EVERYWHERE

2011-10-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

National Health Service workers also protest in London. Have a look. Click here.

STEVE JOBS DIES AT 56

2011-10-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs, "Apple" founder, considered one of the greatest innovators of our time, dies at 56. Read about him in BBC website. Read about him in BBC website.

The New York Times offers details about his life.

Watch part of his famous Stanford speech (2005) in The Guardian.

2011-10-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

The Telegraph offers information about the Duchess of Alba Wedding.
You can also read and watch this on the BBC website.

IS GOALKEEPER DAVID DE GEA A SHOPLIFTER?

2011-10-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems he was caught shoplifting at Tesco supermarket. Read more about this embarrasing situation and don't miss 3rd year students comments in the P.E. blog. Click here.

DOES THE IDEAL TEACHER EXIST?

2011-10-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

3rd year students tell us. Click here

3rd YEAR STUDENTS PRACTISE SPORT

2011-10-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

Antonio Salas left an interesting link to a site with information about our body. In the comments, 3rd year students tell us about the sports they practise. Click here

WORLD MUSIC

2011-10-02T08:28:00.001-07:00

1st Year students tell us about their favourite singers and groups. Click here

A REALLY HOT INDIAN SUMMER

2011-10-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

UK is also having a long, really hot Indian summer. While some people are tired of high temperatures,sunseekers enjoy the last sunny days before winter. Click here to read more.

FINAL BULLFIGHT IN LA MONUMENTAL

2011-09-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

The New York Times offers information about the last day of bullfighting in La Monumental in Barcelona.

TEACHERS STRIKE IN SPAIN

2011-09-25T02:33:00.000-07:00

Here you have some links to read about the last teachers' strikes in Spain:
-The Guardian(UK)
-The Huffington Post (Canada)

ARE UNIFORMS A GOOD IDEA?

2011-09-25T02:16:00.000-07:00

The dabate over school uniforms has been an issue for students, parents and teachers for years. Shoud all schools (including state-funded) make students wear uniform? Can uniforms improve schools? What's your opinion? See what our 3rd year students think. Click here

THE STORY BEHIND YOUR NAME

2011-09-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

Do you know the reason why your name is your name? 3rd year students have investigated the stories behind their names. Click here to read them.

OUR TOY STORIES

2011-09-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

1º ESO (C+D) students tell us about their favourite toys. Read their comments... Click here