26TH SEPTEMBER: EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

The European Day of Languages is a yearly event held on 26 September. It celebrates the linguistic diversity of a continent with

• over 200 European languages,
• 24 official EU languages,
• about 60 regional/minority languages,
• and many more spoken by people from other parts of the world.

The European Day of Languages was declared by the Council of Europe , which represents 800 million Europeans from 47 countries. Many language and cultural institutes, associations, universities and, in particular, schools take part. Held for the first time in 2001 — European Year of Languages — the Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since then.

It's a chance to:

• raise awareness of the wide variety of languages in Europe,
• promote cultural & linguistic diversity,
• encourage people of all ages to learn languages - knowing more than one makes it easier to find a job and helps businesses grow.

So, how many languages can you speak?  Do you know what a polyglot is? If you don't know it and want to find out, watch the video below. If you know it, you'll be amazed at the video below.

READING...

Hi everyone!

You know how much teachers love reading, don't you? Remember that we are starting with our specific reading lessons on the first week of October. How exciting! Make sure you bring your book!

1º ESO

2º ESO

3º ESO

4º ESO

WELCOME TO A NEW SCHOOL YEAR!

Welcome back to a new school year! We are sure it'll be full of excitement, new opportunities for you, projects...

Starting a new year can be tiring, but if you try, it won't be so hard!

See you aorund!!

World Poetry Day

Today, 21st of March, we are celebrating World Poetry day. We’d like to start this podcast with a quote by Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, "Poetry is a window onto the breath-taking diversity of humanity."

In celebrating World Poetry Day, UNESCO recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.  A decision to proclaim 21 March as World Poetry Day was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999.

One of the main objectives of the Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.

To mark this special date, we’d love you to enjoy two poems by  two well-known poets. One from our country, Rosalía de Castro, and one from the USA, Emily Dickinson.

Enjoy them!

ARE YOU IN LOVE?

Most of us know what St Valentine's Day is, but let's remember it.

It's the day when people show their affection for another person or people by sending cards, flowers or chocolates with messages of love.

But do you know who St Valentine was?

There are a few stories about him, but the most popular belief about St Valentine is that he was a priest from Rome in the third century AD. Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret. When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death.

There, he fell in love with the jailer's daughter and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed "from your Valentine".

Is it celebrated in the same way all over the world?

The answer is NO. If you want to find out how it is celbrated in some countries, listen to the podcast that Lucía and Ana have recorded about the different ways and traditions related to this celebration.