Dracula

Bram Stoker

1847-1912

Mysterious and tormented. that's what we know about Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula. And, indeed, that is how he must have been to imagine such a bloodthirsty creature. 104 years later, the author is perhaps not so well remembered but Dracula is certainly still as famous as ever. It's a case of a character that has "eliminated" its author!

The forgotten writer

Who could have imagined such a thing?

What feverish, tormented, creepy imagination could the bloodiest novel of all times have come from? Who was the inventor of Count Dracula, the famous vampire that would end up terrifying the whole of England and the rest of the world?

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Mark Twain

1835-1910

The aurhor spent his childhood in a little town next to the river Mississippi, and he left school when he was 12 years old. He was a typographer, a steamboat pilot, and a gold digger, before becoming the most famous American writer of his time.

Going West

In the spring of 1835, in a modest house in a little town next to the river Salt, in the state of Missouri, a little boy was born. His parents, John and Jane Clemens, called him Samuel; it was their fifth child. The Clemens family had emigrated from the state of Tennessee hoping to start a new life in the West. Like many other thousands of Americans at the time, they had traveled to the "frontier", on the border of "civilized" America, and they had entered the great unknown territories.

All those pioneers dreamt of colonizing the plains, the mountains and the woods of the West, where the Indians still lived in freedom.

Toilet food

Would you like to eat from a toilet?

Well, now you can: In a restaurant in Beijing, China. The chairs are toilets and the food is served in mini toilet bowls and bidets. Yuch! It's a popular and cheap restaurant.

But would you go?

Vocabulary

cheap: barat

Crazy races

50,000 people watched this crazy cart race in Bagota, Colombia. 64 teams raced their carts on a series of slopes until the finish line. The carts, or "balineras", weighed less than 100 kg and had no engine.

One of the team members said it was " a spectacular race". But who won? The fish team in the photo, of course!

Vocabulary:

slopes: pendents

Sports day It's fun!

I Love English spoke to Juliette, a 15-year-old French girl who spent a year in an Irish school.

Here are her memories of her best day: sports day!

I love English: What is sports day?

Juliette: Sports day at the King's Hospital is an afternoon in May when the "houses" form teams. For me, it's a special day...you look forward to it all year. Every member of each team takes part in a race or event.
I did the 400 metre race.

Ile: Are there a lot of events?

J: Yes, there are lots. The 100m, the 200m, the 400m, the 1500m, the javelin, the long jump the high jump...There are more than 100 events.

Ile: do all the pupils take part?

J: Yes, everyone participates. You can't try to get out of it, like you do in France sometimes! Unless you're ill, of course.

Vocabulary:

javelin: javelina

Unless: llevat que

David Guetta

David Guetta always wanted to mix music. AT age 13, the French teenager mixed his first albums at home, and at 14 he started organizing parties in his home. He thought: "I want to be a DJ - I don't need to be good at Maths!" 

In 1984, at only age 17, David got a job as a Dj in a club in Paris. He soon got a reputation for being a good DJ with a talent for mixing music.

Early success

For David Guetta, the journey to international fame was slow. 

In 1996, he started to DJ in clubs on the Spanish island of Ibiza. Then he released compilation albums of his club hits and started making his own records. His two albums Just a Little More Love (2002) and Pop Life  (2007) were hits in Europe.

International star

David has difficulty getting fans in the USA, however.  This changed when David produced the hit single " Gotta Feeling", by the Black Eyed Peas in 2009. The same year, his own album, One Love, was an interantional hit tooo. Suddenly, everyone wanted to work with him!

Friends...

Today, David's club night in Ibiza is famous around the world. He goes there on his private jet and stays in his luxury villa: it's the sort of place you see in a James Bond film. That is because David is now a superstar DJ: he plays dane festivals to 80,000 fans, earns more than 3 million euros a year and makes albums featuring stars like Rihanna and Florida.

...and enemies

But David has crics too. Electronic music purists say that he is too comercial, that his music is too simple and that he has no talent. His club nights are criticized for begin too elistist. Hi title "producer" is also ambiguous: it's not clear if he has financed a music project, written the music or just mixed it.

Confidence is everything

David Guetta doesn't agree with the critics: "Our sound is taking over the planet", he says. But he desn't have to defend himself. David knows that he has created a sound that is instantly recognizable. He is the first person to combine the roles of DJ, producer and solo artist so succesfully. Nobdy can "produce" successuf modern pop like David Guetta can. That is why the Frenchman has the title of world's Number One Dj!

Vocabulary:

thought: pensament

own: pròpia

suddenly: de sobte

featuring: les següents característiques

purists: puristes

roles: funcions

Titanic

Titanic, the 1997 film by James Cameron, is out in 3D. The story is about Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet), two passengers from differents social classes who meet on the Titanic's first voyage. Rose is a frist-classs passenger and she shouldn't speak to Jack, who is in third-class passsenger and she shouldn's speak to Jack, who is third-class.

But then they fall in love. It's an emotional film with a tragic ending.

Vocabulary:

ending: fi

Purkura photos, mobile phones and manga

Purikura photos

Teenagers love taking photos of themsellves in "purikurs" photo booths. They personalize their photos by adding different backgrounds and texts, and can print them as strickers. Many grils carry their purikura photo albums at all times to show their friends.

Vocabulary:

booths: cabines

Movile phones

The Japanese do everything with their mobile phones. Only 12% of Japanese 20-year-olds use their home computer to access the internet: they use their mobile phones instead. They also play video games and read books on them. Some Japanese authors have written stories on their mobile phones!

Vocabulary

instead: en lloc

authors: autors

Manga

Manga are popular with all Japaese, not just teenagers (60% of the population read a manga per week). Manga are traditionally black and white. The characters with big, expressive eyes have influenced fashion and Japanese culture. The most popular manga is the Dragon Ball (1984) sereies by Akira Toriyama. Its 42 books have sold more than 250 million copies around the world - that's more than Tintin.

Vocabulary

fashion: moda

Black History Month

Black History Month, in February, teaches Americans about slavery, the Civil War and the African-Americans who fought for civil rights like Martin Luther King. African-Americans helped to make the USA what it is today.

Vocabulary:

slavery: esclavitud

fought: va lluitar

rights: drets

African Cats

 

This nature documentary is the true story of The Lion King. You'll meet a lion cub called Mara and a cheetah named Sita and her five cubs. You'll also meet Fang, a lion who defends his family from another lion. It's an interesting and adorable story.

Vocabulary:

cub: cadells

ONE DIRECTION

One Direction are a British- Irish boy-band who have become starts in the UK. The public discovered One Direction on the British talent show, The X Factor. They didn't win but their songs have been top of the charts. Watch the music videos of songs from their album Up All Night on youtube.com/ OneDirecitonVEVo.

Vocabulary:
charts: gràfics

Sherlock Holmes 2

A game of shadows

The world's most famous detective Sherlck Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is back in a new adventure. Holmes is famous for being clever. But new he has a rival: the evil, intelligent Professor Moriarty. When a prince is found dead, Holmes and Dr. Watson (played by Jude Law ) must dicover the truth. Will they be able to defeat Professor Moriarty?

Jack and Jill

(Jack y su gemela)

This comic film is sure to make you laugh. Adam Sandler plays Jack Sadelstein AND his twin sister, Jill. Jack is a successful executive in Los Angeles with a beautiful wife (Katie Holmes) and kids. His sister Jill visits every year fot Thanksgiving... and always causes stress for Jack!

Vocabulary:

laugh: riure

wife: dona

Thanksgiving: acció de gràcies

stress: l'estrès

Bob Marley forever!

Bob Marley is a legend around the world. But it was a long journey from the poverty of Jamaica to international success. when he was a boy in the 1950s, Jamaica was still a British colony. It became independent in 1962. The culture was a mix of American traditions and British customs, but there were few opportunities for Afro-Jamaicans. One of them was music!


Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Bob's mother was Afro-Jamaican and his father was a white Jamaican of English descent. Bob left school at age 14 and started playing in a group called the Wailers. In their songs, they "wailed" about the condition of Afro-Jamaicans. They were very popular in Jamaica.



Vocabulary:

journey: jornada
poverty: la pobresa
success: èxit 
still: encara

descent: descens
wailed: és va lamentar

Harry Potter

Hary Potter and the Forbidden Journey

Eliott's favourite ride is inside Hogwarts. There they see the talking portraits, Dumbledore's office and friends in the Dark Arts classsroom. Then they fly around the castle and see dragons and dementors. 

Butterbeer or pumpkin juice?

After waking around Hogsmeade, megan Eliott and Emily are thirsty. They look at the pumpkin juice, but decide to try Butterbeer. It is a non-alcoholic drink that tastes of butterscoth. Eliott says it tastes strange.

Flight of the Hippogriff

The three friends end the day with another ride. Before getting on, they learn how to approach a Hippogrff, which has the head of an eagle and the body of a horse. Then they go flying. It's a perfect end to a magical day.










Vocabulary:
portraits: retrats
ride: passeig
eagle: àgila

Hugo Cabret

Hugo Cabret is an orphan boy who repairs clocks in a Paris train station in 1930. He meets a girl and she helps him repair a broken robot. Then Hugo and his friend go an a magical adventure...

Vocabulary:

orpahan: orfa

repairs: reparacions

Pitbull

Pitbull is a Cuan-American rapper and performer who sings in English and Spanish. In his 2011 album Planet Pit, he sang with T-Pain and Ne-Yo. He also sang with Jennifer Lopez on her single "On hte Floof".
It's good to have famous friends.

Ukeleles are cool

Many teenagers would leve to have an electric guitar, bet in Britain another instrument is very popular at the moment: the ukelele. It's a four-stringed mini guitar from Gawaii and is cheap to buy and easy to play. It's the perfect instrument to impress your friends.

Vocabulary:
four-stringed: de cuatre cordes
cheap: barat

impress: impressionar

Mum seeks baby

In the case of mammals, there could be another explantion for "friendships" between animals of different species: the maternat instinct.

"If a female loses her babies, the maternal instinct can make her adopt a baby of any species", says Ms Bouchard. "For example, a lioness can taxe care of a young antelope as if it was her own baby"
This is confirmed by the experience of Dr Daphne Sheldrick, a vet who spedializes in the rehabilitation of orphan animals. One day someone brought her a baby zebra adobted by a lioness... who had devoured its mother the day before.

When a female becomes a mother, her body produces a hormone, exytocin, which helps her to produce milk and become attached to her babies. "If they  die, the mother tries to satisfy ger need to be a mother, " Ms Bouchard explacins. "In this case, the maternal instinct is more important than the hunting instinct."

Vocabulary:
loses: perd
as:com
vet:veterinari
devoured:devorats
instinct:instint

Shake It Up

Shake It Up, Disney's new TV show for teenagers, began in the USA in 2010. The series is about two shoolfriends, CeCe and Rocky (played by Bella Thorne and Zendaya). In the series, the girls are chosen to dance on their favorite TV dance show. With its humour and cool dance scenes, the series is a big success in the USA.

Vocabulary
chosen:triat