ARMED FORCES DAY - MALAGA

Spain's Queen Sofia , King Juan Carlos , Crown Prince Felipe , Princess Letizia, Andalusia regional president Jose Antonio Grinan  and Malaga's Major Francisco de la Torre preside over a military parade to mark the Spanish Armed Forces Day in Malaga May 29, 2011.


MALAGA PREPARES FOR A MILITARY CELEBRATION

More than 1,000 personnel from the three Spanish armed forces will take part in various exhibitions organised in Malaga from Friday 27th May. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía will be attending the event on Sunday as will the Minister of Defence, Carme Chacón, and other dignitaries. There will be various exhibitions and displays, starting today Friday with an exhibition on the Heredia wharf.
On Saturday morning there is a display by all three armed forces simulating a rescue of kidnapped civilians. This will take place on the Malagueta beach. After the simulation will come an aerobatic display by the Patrulla Águila, and the Navy aircraft carrier, Príncipe de Asturias, will be open to visitors.
The main event is scheduled for Sunday, 29th May at around midday in the Plaza del General Torrijos. King Juan Carlos will be presiding over the ‘Homenaje a la Bandera’ (Homage to the Flag) and the ‘Caídos’ (The Fallen) ceremonies.
After the formalities King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will be hosting a reception for the dignitaries at the La Concepción Botanical gardens.
Although hotels in the centre of Malaga have reported that more than ninety per cent of their rooms are booked not everyone is as pleased. Around 200 people attended a demonstration in Malaga on Tuesday against the Dia de las Fuerzas Armadas saying that it was an unnecessary expense in a time of economic crisis.

KING IN MALAGA FOR ARMED FORCES DAY

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia will preside over the Armed Forces Day celebrations, to be held for the first time in Malaga on May 28th and 29th.Activities over the Saturday and Sunday include exhibitions by the army, navy and air force, and ceremonies to honour the national flag and those who have died while serving abroad in Afghanistan and Iraq. The celebration dates back to 1978 and took place in the cities where the Army's general captaincies were based. This changed in 1987, when it was decided to hold the event in different cities throughout Spain to strengthen the relationship between the people and the armed forces. Only the date stays the same – the event is always held on the weekend of the Sunday closest to the Day of St Ferdinand, May 30th – King Ferdinand III during his lifetime.

AZERBAIJAN WINS 2011 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

After an exciting voting in front of tens of thousands of people in a fully packed Düsseldorf Arena and millions of TV viewers all over Europe, it was finally Ell/Nikki from Azerbaijan who received the highest number of points from televoters and juries from the 43 countries participating in this year's edition of Europe's favourite TV-show! Ell/Nikki managed to gather 221 points altogether - followed by Raphael Gualazzi from Italy with 189 points and Sweden's Eric Saade who collected 185 points.



BRITISH VOWEL SOUNDS

Exercise with vowel sounds.



PHONETIC : BRITISH VOWELS

Learn the symbols and pronunciation of the vowels in British English.  Try!

What's are the names of the vowels in English?

Important things to know about the most common of the English vowels: The Schwa

See the different between English and Spanish phonetic.

INTERACTIVE PHONEMIC CHART

Listen and practice with the interactive phonemic chart.
This excellent tool can be played full-screen and gives clear audio examples of the English phoneme set.Note: The chart may take a couple of minutes to appear the first time you visit this page. Please be patient - it's worth the wait!
 
 

PAST SIMPLE - LISTENING

Click on the picture, listen to the story and do the activitites.


A famous explorer

SIMPLE PAST FORM

Here is a Presentation to learn all about the Simple Past Form.

Now let's practise the Simple Past Tense:

          - Regular verbs affirmative forms
          - Irregular verbs: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
          -Form and 8 exercises
          - More practise: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
          -Turn into Negative
          - Try this test if you think you know it well.

SEVILLE'S FAIR

For one week life in Seville revolves around this fiesta. The music, food, dancing and general joy create a very special atmosphere.

The fiesta officially begins at midnight on Monday with the “lighting test”, the illumination of the thousands of multi-coloured light bulbs in the fairground and adorning the main gateway, which is almost 50 metres high and has a different motif every year. Once inside the gate you come to the “casetas”, and it is here where you really experience the fair. These tents belong to groups of friends and associates, and are a family space where acquaintances, relations and guests are welcomed in and plied with delicious food and wine; there is singing, good conversation and of course, "sevillanas", the local version of flamenco dancing. The lively and festive atmosphere spills over into the area outside the tents: people usually dance in the street, and the friendly personality of the Sevillian people will entice passers-by into the celebration. You should bear in mind that most of the stalls are privately owned and can be entered only by invitation from the members or their friends. There are however public tents which are open to all. The information office at the entrance to the fair will tell you which they are.
Throughout the fair, people wear typical Andalusian dress: the men wear the typical outfit of the farmworker, and the women wear flamenco or gypsy dresses. By day the fair is filled with horsewomen, riders and richly festooned carriages. This is what is known as the horse and carriage parade, in which you can take part by renting a buggy with a driver from the regular service. Next to the fairground is the Calle del Infierno (Hell’s Street), a lively recreational area with a host of attractions for children and adults, and stands selling cold drinks and snacks. Another vital component is the bullfight: every afternoon people crowd into the Plaza de la Maestranza bullring to see the day’s bullfight. And after a week of merrymaking there is a spectacular fireworks display at midnight on Sunday to send off the April Fair for another year.

JOHN PAUL II'S BEATIFICATION

The Vatican has hosted its biggest event in years - the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II.
The globe-trotting Pope credited with contributing to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe was blessed in St Peter's Square on Sunday 1 May.

The ceremony attracted more than one million people - the biggest crowd in Rome since John Paul II's death, and the election of Pope Benedict XVI, six years ago. Four million pilgrims came on that occasion.
When Pope John Paul II died in April 2005, there were shouts from the throngs of pilgrims who came to pay him their last respects: "Santo subito!" or "Make him a saint right now!".
Beatification is normally the Catholic Church's official authorisation for the local veneration of a person considered to have led an exemplary holy life. Canonisation means that this person may be venerated anywhere in the world.

J.K ROWLING


Click on the picture to do the activities