Social Networks: Tuenti, ¿Entertainment or Addiction?

Tuenti is the preferred social network of Spanish teenager.

You can only join if they send you an invitation. Once your account is created you can choose the privacy of your own. You can write on your wall much like those of your friends. Look for friends by gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo and invite them if they are not Tuenti. You can upload photos Tuenti and add a title, add a group, tag your friends and write comments on them.

You can also see pictures of your friends and comment if they have been uploaded by one of your friends. To add them you need to send a message along with the friend request.

Look people in the search of people, as part of putting the name you specify a range of age, province, or is friends with your friends. You can also add your user videos uploaded to youtube and you can share with friends.

You can send private messages to your friends, but one by one,

and you can create events and pages, and invite your friends to them. You can also play various games.

By connecting reminds you of upcoming birthdays of your friends. And on the home page reminds you of upcoming birthdays and events.

When someone ask you for the friendship, you can accept or ignore it, and if you ignore it also gives you the option to block them will never ask for your friendship.

Although most users are teenagers, there are people of all ages.

Tuenti, increases in record time users, therefore, users spend 100 minutes Average online per day.What time is right for Tuenti not become addicted?

Also the connection is becoming more frequent as the blackberry or iphone are created with the function of the use of social networks.

What do you prefer, use Tuenti in a laptop or in a smartphone?

But the Tuenti also leads to obsession. This obsession is going too far for some boys, Tuenti has become a new form of entertainment and a new vice uncontrollable, but do we ever considered the possible consequences of being a member of Tuenti? Serious problems of identity, as well as numerous failures, poor little privacy and security, among others, are characteristic elements of Tuenti, but especially a serious problem: addiction. Upon arriving home from school, college or university, thousands of young people who are connected to check your comments or events. Tuenti social network has become, inadvertently, an essential tool for many young Spanish and can not be disconnected at any time.

If the Internet is essential in our lives, including study and work, why do you think that when we use Tuenti, old people say it is bad for us?

Interviewing celebrities

Here is just an example of an interview. Listen to it and see how the interviewer and the interviewee interact. Sometimes it's not simply asking and answering questions, but a real conversation between friends. Pay attention to how they make comments to each other's answers, how they use conversation fillers and their body language. Try to use all that in your own interviews.

The Film World

I suppose you have watch some films in your life, don't you?. Well, this entry is about films.

Movies use a sequence of frames to create a moving picture, usually 25 frames every second of film. Edward Muybridge created the first motion picture

(Sorry, it was moving. Try here)

But the first movie was made by the Lumière brothers. It wasn't very interesting but it was the first film so, what did you expect?:

In the last 100 years Film Industry has developed until the film we have nowadays, with excelent graphics such as Avatar. There were also created the Academy Awards, or Oscars, in 1928. The first film to win the oscar was Wings. The three films with more oscars are:

-Ben-Hur

-Titanic

-Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

I like mainly action films. Now I want you to tell me about your likes and dislikes. I want you to write your favorite film, the topic of films you like most and you hate and everything you can.

Please comment

Superstars (from 70s to nowadays)

Look at the sky. You can see the stars… There’re millions of them but only a few are important. With people, it’s the same. Only lucky people with talent can shine. If you want to be a singer, you must sing beautifully but you must have other skills, too. Do you know what I mean? In my entry, I’m going to speak about four talented people which are very known and they became superstars in each decade from 1970 to 2011 (I have selected the singers with more sold CDs and I think they're the best, too)

Lady Gaga, the best singer of the last decade

During the last years, her songs are everywhere. She’s extravagant, original perfectionist and her voice is amazing. In 2009, her first single “Just Dance” reached the top of Music Lists around the world. During that year her songs “Lovegame”, “Poker Face” and “Paparazzi” were very popular, too.

2010 was Lady Gaga’s year. Her video clip “Bad Romance” became the most viewed video in YouTube and she earned a lot of awards in VMA, EMA… From the middle of 2010 to 2011, she made songs like “Alejandro” and in May, her CD “Born this Way” became one of the most successful albums in History with singles like “Judas” and “Yoü and I”. It’s impossible to know where will be Gaga next year and if you will like her songs because her actions are unpredictable.

Britney Spears, the best singer of the nineties

She sings well, she dances well… The perfect artist! She started her career in Mickey Mouse House Club and after that, she became a superstar. At the end of the 20^th century, she made songs like “Toxic” and “Baby one more Time” and became the Princess of Pop. After her boom, she failed because of the drugs. It was a dark period in her life but she could become a Pop Star (one more time) with singles like “Womanizer” and “Circus”. Now, she has made a new CD and is one of the best artists of the moment.

Freddy Mercury, the best singer of the eighties

A God in the Earth, one of the best musicians… Freddy Mercury started his career in Queen and he and his voice became famous around the world. Love songs reached a new level and he sang so beautifully… His songs were amazing: “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Somebody to love”, “We will rock you”… etc
He died because of the AIDS and the world won’t have anybody like him, a voice like his…

John Lennon, the best singer of the seventies

He only wanted the peace on the Earth, a world without armies and his dream didn’t come true. He started in The Beatles and he with his three friends became the group with more sold CDs around the world with songs like “I want to hold your hand” and “Strawberry fields forever”. Alone, he made the song “Imagine” and the magazine Rolling Stones put it like the 3^rd best song ever written. 

He was assassinated 30 years ago in New York, USA.

So, you must speak about a singer that you love, a Superstar and we will meet him/her. Try to be original and don’t repeat the singers. If you want, you can put just the name and a song. I hope you like my entry!  -.Antonio Peña 


Ah, all of the songs are links of YouTube so if you want to listen a song just clik! I didn't put videos because four videos will make the entry too big.

What's wrong?

- What's wrong?

+ I feel terrible.I have a sore throat.
- You should go to the doctor

Watch the video and learn about some health problems

Now click here and practise.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Jack Sparrow is back! And now he is looking for the Fountain of Youth. An incredible adventure which takes him to new horizons and along the way puts him up against Mermaids, Zombies, new adversaries as well as the infamous Blackbeard.

Would you like to see the film? Have you seen the other three adventures? I don't remember the names of the other films. Can you help me?

Penélope Cruz appears in the fourth film, but who was the main actress in the other three?

Write your comments here about why you like the films.

What would you do if ...?

Have you ever imagined what you would do if you were rich?
Watch the video and click here to answer some questions about it.

"If I were a boy" is a beautiful song that contains some examples of conditional sentences. If you want to see Beyoncé's video, click here.

TV ads

Watch these TV advertisements and analyse them:

1. Who is the source? Who is the target? Name of the product.
2. What is the message?
3. Do you like them? Why?/Why not? Which strategies can you identify?

Ad No. 1: Bunny---Ad No. 2: Hyperactive Child---Ad No. 3: Little Girl's Decision

Walking home at night

Have you ever had a frightening experience walking home at night? Watch the video and click here to answer some questions.

So, be careful walking home at night! You never know!

Gandhi: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

On January 30th we celebrate the School Day of Non-Violence and Peace. Do you know why? Watch this video about Gandhi, a pioneer of resistance to tyranny through non-violence. Then answer the questions below about Gandhi's life.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Be bilingual, my friend

Here is a short article appearing in QUO magazine (January 2011):

"Bilingualism is good for the brain. Numerosas evidencias demuestran que hablar (y leer) asiduamente en two languages produce ciertas mejoras en nuestro desempeño mental, says an article appearing in the Journal Science. The question is: ¿podrían los bilingües desarrollar un sistema más eficiente para realizar tareas múltiples? Los resultados demuestran que sí: bilinguals do better at tests como los que combinan conducir y hablar por teléfono al mismo tiempo."

What do you think about the article?

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want or need to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. People usually write their New Year's resolutions.

What is a New Year's resolution? It is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous.

Here is the list with the 10 most common resolutions:

1. Spend more time with family and friends
2. Get fit
3. Stop eating so much
4. Quit smoking
5. Enjoy life more
6. Quit drinking
7. Get out of bed
8. Learn something new
9. Help others
10. Get organized

What are your New Year's Resolutions? Write 3 or 4 down here.

YELLOW LEMON TREE

a) Learn the lyric by heart.

b) Read this explanation about the song.

Elizabeth, Betty, Lizzy, Beth, ...

Can you identify 5 boys' names and 5 girls' names in the picture above?
Are they common English names? Check here the top 50 girl names in 2009,
and here the top 50 boy names in 2009.

And what about your name?
- Does it have a translation into English?
- If it does, is it in the list?
- Do you know the meaning of your name? Find out here and explain.
- Can you name a famous person with your first name?

In my case, Raphael is the English version of my name, although it is
not very popular in English-speaking countries. It is of Hebrew origin
and it means "God has healed". Perhaps, the most important person with
my name was the 16th century painter Raphael Sanzio, from Italy.

ONE OF THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA.

Using Google Earth, travel to the Haram Mosque and the Ka'ba, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia: (You have to download the software to use Google Earth. It is free.)



• Which direction would you follow?
• Why is it so important for Muslims to know this place?

Click on the cameras and other icons to get images and information.

The Waiter

Three men in a cafe order a meal the total cost of which is $15. They each contribute $5. The waiter takes the money to the chef who recognizes the three as friends and asks the waiter to return $5 to the men.

The waiter is not only poor at mathematics but dishonest and instead of going to the trouble of splitting the $5 between the three he simply gives them $1 each and pockets the remaining $2 for himself.

Now, each of the men effectively paid $4, the total paid is therefore $12. Add the $2 in the waiters pocket and this comes to $14.....

Where has the other $1 gone from the original $15?

Television

How often do you watch television? What are your favourite programmes? Could you live without a TV set? Have a look at this presentation and learn some interesting facts about television in the UK.

Tv programmes

Now, it's time to revise the vocabulary you have learned. Click here to do this quiz. It's good fun!

TRAJAN: A good Roman Emperor

Look at the roman coin. This is the legend:

IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TR P COS V PP. Imperator. Trajan. Augustus. Germanicus. Dacicus. Pontifex Maximus. Tribuniciae Potestate. Consul V. Pater Patriae.

TRAJANO: Emperador Trajano. Augusto. Germánico, Dácico. Pontífice Máximo. Con potestad tribunicia. Cónsul por quinta vez. Padre de la Patria.

Ok! Beautiful coin! Now you have to answer two questions. (wiki or whatever)
1. Where was Trajan born?
2. Was he a good emperor or not? Why?

What did you do yesterday?

Are you a bookworm?

I have tried to work out a solution to Rafa's math problem about the worm that pierces books, and I must confess that I failed. Right, I'm not very good at maths, but I am good at languages so here is a bit of language comparison.

In English, we say that you are a "bookworm" if you like reading very much, you spend your time reading, you talk about books all the time, you are an avid reader, etc. However, in Spanish, we say that you are "un ratón de biblioteca". Why do you think the animal related to books is a worm in English-speaking countries (Anglo-Saxon countries) and a mouse or a rat in Mediterranean countries like Spain?

In other languages:
German: Bücherworm (like in English)
French: rat de bibliothèque
Italian: topo di biblioteca (topo is mouse in Italian)
Portuguese: rato de biblioteca

In any case, are you a bookworm?