ENGLISH CORNER

MAY DAY

2007-05-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins and flowers and trees start to blossom. It is said to be a time of love and romance. It is when people celebrate the coming of summer with lots of different customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter.

Although summer does not officially begin until June, May Day really marks its beginning. May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. It was held annually from April 28th to May 3rd.

Nowadays, May Day is celebrated on the first Monday of the month. This Monday is a bank holiday, a day off school and work.

(May Day es el primer día del mes de Mayo. Este es el periodo del año en el que las flores y los árboles florecen. La gente celebra este día con felicidad dado que el invierno ha acabado y el verano se acerca. Aunque el verano no empieza oficialmente hasta Junio, es en el mes de Mayo donde se muestra su comienzo. La celebración del dia 1 de Mayo tiene sus orígenes en Roma con el festival de la diosa Flora, la diosa de la fruta y las flores. Se celebraba cada año entre el 28 de Abril y el 3 de Mayo. Hoy en día se celebra el primer lunes del mes de Mayo y éste es un día festivo)

How was May Day Celebrated? (¿Cómo se celebraba el 1 de Mayo?)

Decorating houses

May Day began early in the morning. People would go out before sunrise in order to gather flowers and greenery to decorate their houses and villages with in the belief that the vegetation spirits would bring good fortune.

(La gente sale temprano de sus casas para recoger flores para decorar sus casas con la creencia de que todo esto les dará buena suerte)

May Day Garlands

Young girls would make May Garlands. They covered two hoops, one at right angles inside the other, with leaves and flowers, and sometimes they put a doll inside to represent the goddess of Spring.

(Las jovenes realizan guirnaldas de flores y hojas que colocan sobre sus cabezas; en ocasiones, colocan una muñeca en el centro de su frente que representa la diosa de la primavera, la diosa Flora)

Maypole Dancing:

Maypole Dancing is the traditional May Dance. People used to cut down young trees and stick them in the ground in the village to mark the arrival of summer. People danced around them in celebration of the end of winter and the start of the fine weather that would allow planting to begin. Schools would practice skipping round the pole for weeks before the final show on the village greens.

(La gente corta el tronco de un árbol y lo colocan verticalmente sujeto al suelo. La gente baila alrededor del tronco. Los niños practican antes durante semanas para mostrar su baile en dicho día)

Rochester Sweeps festival

In Rochester chimney sweeps used to enjoy on 1 May. It was the one time of the year when the sweeps could put away their tools and have some fun.

(En Rochester los deshollinadores difrutaban de este día ya que este era el único día del año en el que no trabajaban)

May Day Tricks

In the North of England, the first of may was a kind of late `April Fooling´ when all sorts of jokes would take place and May Gosling was the shout if you managed to trick someone. The response would be: `May Gosling past and gone. You are the fool for making me one!´

(En el norte de Inglaterra, el día 1 de Mayo se celebraba como `Aprils fool´ lo que nosotros conocemos como el día de los Santos Inocentes)

HOT CROSS BUNS

2007-03-29T02:28:00.000-07:00

Hot Cross Buns!

Hot cross buns ! Hot cross buns!

One 1 a penny, two 2 a penny.

Hot cross buns!

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons.

One 1 a penny , two 2 a penny.

Hot cross buns!

Aprils Fool´s Day

2007-03-29T02:23:00.000-07:00

Aprils Fool´s Day or sometimos called All Fool´s Day begins the tradition in 1582 in France. Before to that year, the New Year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25; the celebration culminated on April1. With the reform of the calendar made by Charles IX, the Gregorian calendar was introduced, and New Year´s Day was moved to January 1. However, communication being what they were in the days when news travelled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. Others, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the New Year´s on April 1.

This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition on the first day of April. Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool´s Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The trickers usually ends it by telling to his victim, ´ April Fool´.

(`April´s Fool Day´ es para nosotros el día de los santos inocentes que celebramos el 28 de Diciembre. La tradición de este día comienza en 1582 en Francia. Anterior a esta fecha, el año nuevo se celebraba durante ocho días empezando el día 25 de Marzo y terminando el día 1 de Abril. En 1582 aconteció una reforma del calendario llevada a cabo por el rey Carlos IX. El calendario Gregoriano fue introducido y el día de Año Nuevo se movió al día 1 de Enero. Como las comunicaciones en ese tiempo no eran buenas y se realizaba de boca en boca y a pie, muchas regiones no recibieron la noticia hasta pasados varios años; otros sin embargo, se negaron a aceptar el nuevo calendario y siguieron celebrando el Año Nuevo como hasta entonces lo habían hecho. Pasados los años, y dada toda la confusión que el cambio del calendario supuso; se recuerda este día como un día caótico, impredecible pero al mismo tiempo divertido. Ésta es la razón por la que es un día para gastar bromas a amigos y familiares. El que gasta la broma suele acabar la misma diciendo `April´s Fool´)

TONGUE TWISTERS (TRABALENGUAS)

2007-03-29T02:00:00.001-07:00

Let´s try some Tongue Twisters.

Tongue twisters trabalenguas

Peter Piper

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

Betty Botter

Betty Botter bought some butter,

But, she said, the butter's bitter.

If I put it in my batter,

It will make my batter bitter.

But a bit of better butter

Is sure to make my batter better.

So she bought a bit of butter

Better than her bitter butter,

And she put it in her batter

And the batter was not bitter.

So 'twas better Betty Botter

Bought a bit of better butter.

Weather

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather,

Whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not.

2007-03-13T06:39:00.001-07:00

St. Patrick´s Day

17th March

Here, we have the Republic of Ireland (in dark green) and

Ulster

(Northern Ireland-U.K in light green)

La República de Irlanda (en verde oscuro) y el Ulster, (norte de Irlanda-U.K en verde claro)

This is the frag of Ireland (the green symbolizes the catholic population and the orange the protestant. The white colour represents the peace between these population)

(el color verde de la bandera representa la población católica y el color naranja la población protestante. La banda blanca simboliza la paz entre ambas poblaciones)

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17^th . He was born in either Scotland or in Roman Britain. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland as he was the one who brought Christianity to the Irish.

According to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock to explain about God. The shamrock, which looks like clover, has three leaves on each stem. Saint Patrick told the people that the shamrock was like the idea of the Trinity – that in the one God there are three divine beings: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

El día 17 de Marzo se celebra San Patricio, patrón y santo de los irlandeses el cual introdujo el cristianismo en estepaís. San Patricio utiliza la hoja de trébol para explicar la Santísisma Trinidad)

The shamrock is one of Ireland's most famous symbols. It is said that Saint Patrick used the shamrock and it has 3 leaves to explain the concept of the Trinity - the father, son, and the Holy Spirit.

(La hoja de trevol es el símbolo más popular en Irlanda)

The legendary leprechaun is an elf-like creature. In most representations he looks like a small, old man. Leprechauns like to spend their time alone making shoes. They live in the woods and hide from everyone, but maybe this has something to do with their mysterious pots of gold! The leprechauns are said to keep their pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. Some stories say if a leprechaun likes you, he will share his gold. Others stories say you must catch a leprechaun, and then he will take you to his pot of gold.

(Éste es el legendario ´ Leprechaun´, un pequeño duende o elfo que vive y se esconde en los bosques de la verde Irlanda. Éste pequeño ser posee una cazuela de oro con monedas. Se dice que si a este duende le agradas, él compartirá su oro contigo. Otros dicen, que tienes que atraparlo para poder conseguir tu tesoro)

How do Irish celebrate St. Patrick´s Day?

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish people. Celebrations are generally themed around all things green and Irish; both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food, drinking Irish drink, and attending parades.

The St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin, Ireland is part of a five-day festival, over 500,000 people attending the 2006 parade.

(Cristianos y protestantes celebran durante 4 días San Patricio. Las gentes se visten de verde, comen y beben cosas típicas irlandesas. Se realizan desfiles callejeros a los que acude mucha gente; el año pasado participaron 500.000 personas)

WHEELS ON THE BUS

2007-03-02T03:18:00.000-08:00

LETRA DE LA CANCIÓN:
The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round, all day long.

The driver on the bus says move on back, move on back, move on back.
The driver on the bus says move on back, all round the town.

The people on the bus go up and down, up and down, up and down.
The people on the bus go up and down, all round the town.

The horn on the bus goes, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep, all round the town.

The baby on the bus goes wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.
The baby on the bus goes wah, wah, wah, all round the town.

The parents on the bus go shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush.
The parents on the bus go shush, shush, shush, all round the town.

HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES AND TOES

2007-03-02T02:55:00.000-08:00

LETRA DE LA CANCIÓN:

Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.