YOU CAN LEARN: enero 2016

UNIT 4 - 1º ESO

VOCABULARY

Let's listen to walk through the maze!

What's the Weather like? 1, 2, 3

Weather story

What do you wear when it's hot, cold, ...?:

Become a weather man/woman

What's the weather like in Yorkshire?

The next important day is the 6th January or Three Kings Day (Los Reyes). This is the day that the Three Kings arrived in Bethlehem, it is also the most important day for the children as the Three Kings in effect replace Father Christmas for Spanish children (although Santa is becoming popular). They arrive overnight on the 5th January, riding camels and leave presents for the children. Parents encourage children to write to the Three Kings with their gift requests.

Every town and city in Spain will have a procession on the night of 5th January where tons of sweets will be thrown from the passing floats, much to the joy of the children (and adults).

On the morning of the 6th January you can only imagine the excitement of the children as they rip open their gifts.

The three Kings are:

Gaspar has brown hair and a brown beard and wears a green cloak and a gold crown with green jewels on it. He is the King of Sheba. Gaspar represents the Frankincense brought to Jesus.

Melchior has long white hair and a white beard and wears a gold cloak. He is the King of Arabia. Melchior represents the Gold brought to Jesus.

Balthazar has black skin and and wears a purple cloak. He is the King of Tarse and Egypt. Balthazar represents the gift of Myrrh that was brought to Jesus.

THREE WISE MEN IN SPAIN - 5th JANUARY

On 5 January Spain celebrates the end of Christmas with a great party where everybody gives and receives presents. It is to celebrate the arrival of the Three Wise Men - Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar - to the city where Jesus was born. In the same way that the Three Wise Men gave gifts to baby Christ, here they share out presents amongst children around Spain - in fact; they are more popular than Santa Claus.

There are lots of processions of the Three Wise Men in each city, the children go along with there parents to see the kings and receive sweets from them.

Before going to sleep, children put some milk and biscuits next to the Christmas tree for the Three Kings and some water for their camels. They also leave out their best pair of shoes to be filled with presents.

On the next day, 6 January children wake up and see how many presents they have received. If they have behaved properly, they will find a lot of good presents but if they have been naughty they will find coal. These days, the coal is actually made of sugar, but some years ago it was real coal.

During this day, all families enjoy a piece of roscon (a sugar-frosted fruit-filled bread) for breakfast tradition says that the person who finds a novelty such as a coin, in his or her portion will have good luck for the next year.

Both young and old enjoy opening their presents on this day, but sadly it also marks the end of Christmas.

TWELFTH NIGHT - DECORATIONS

Twelfth Night is the night before Twelfth Day.

Twelfth Night (5th January) is when all Christmas Decorations should be removed so as not to bring bad luck upon the home. If decorations are not removed on Twelfth Night, they should stay up all year.

Why is it bad luck to leave the decorations up after Twelfth Night?

Long ago it was thought that leaving the decorations up would cause a disaster. People believed that tree-spirits lived in the greenery (holy, ivy etc) they decorated their houses with. The greenery was brought into the house to provide a safe haven for the tree-spirits during the harsh midwinter days. Once this period was over it was necessary to return the greenery back outside to release the tree-spirits into the countryside once again. Failure to do this would mean that vegetation would not be able to start growing again (spring would not return), leading to an agricultural disaster.

It was also thought that, if you left the greenery in the house, the tree-spirits would cause mischief in the house until they were released.

Today people still feel uneasy about leaving the Christmas decorations up after Twelfth Night. Despite decorations now being made of foil or paper, and even though the tree-spirits are long forgotten, the superstition still survives.

RECIPE FOR THE ROSCÓN DE REYES (THREE KINGS)

• 500 gr. wheat flour
• 200 ml warm milk
• 100 gr sugar
• 30 gr yeast
• 2 eggs (one for brushing the dough)
• salt
• 100 gr margarine
. dried fruit

First of all mix the yeast with a little of warm milk, sugar, and flour. Wait 15 minutes until it doubles it´s size. Now we must mix the rest of flour, milk, salt, margarine and sugar with a wooden spoon. Keep kneading until getting a soft dough. Now add the yeast mixture and continue kneading and try to get off all the air.

Now try to form a "Roscon" this looks like a doughnut and the decorate it with dried fruits. Rub it with the egg and bake it at a 200 ª C preheated oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. This recipes makes two medium Roscones or cakes.

Then decorate it with some sugar and if you want put some whipped cream or even vanilla custard, but don´t forget to hide the little present inside!!!

WE THREE KINGS - SONG

LONDON'S NEW YEAR'S DAY PARADE 2015

London's New Year's Day Parade started in 1987 and has raised or donated nearly a million pounds to a wide range of London based charities.
More than 10,000 performers representing several countries worldwide and more than half a million spectators line the 2 mile route making this the biggest event of its kind in the world. Around 200 million TV viewers watch The London New Year's Day Parade so it's a very popular event.

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