What is Love? By Alexander Milov, and Ayo

Alexander Milov is a Ukrainian sculptor. His art work called "Love" was shown at the Burning Man Festival, 2015, Nevada's Black Rock Desert

Ayo is a Nigerian-German song-writer and singer. Her name means Joy in Yoruba language.

Read the lyrics and fill in the gaps

Being Grateful and Showing It

Human, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Our last post dealt with all kinds of humans living in New York, and their different lives, experiences, ideas, and perspectives. Here I propose a really touching documentary on humans, this time inhabitans of the whole planet, made by the French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Synopsis:

HUMAN is a collection of stories about and images of our world, offering an immersion to the core of what it means to be human. Through these stories full of love and hapiness, as well as hatred and violence, HUMAN brings us face to face with the Other, making us reflect on our lives. From stories of everyday experiences to accounts of the most unbelievable lives, these poignant encounters share a rare sincerity and underline who we are -our darker side, but also what is most noble in us, and what is universal. Our Earth is shown at its most sublime through never-before-seen aerial images accompanied by soaring music, resulting in an ode to the beauty of the world, providing a moment to draw breath and for introspection.

Human Volume 1

Human Volume 2

Human Volume 3

New Year's Resolutions

Everybody's new year's resolutions for 2016 are inside a sealed envelope that will be opened in the last week of class, so that you wil be able to check on your actual progress, alright? Meanwhile, why don't you take a look at this list of 50 new year's resolutions ideas and how to achieve them? You may find yours in the list, and some tips to achieve your goal. Go for it!

50 New Year's Resolution Ideas and How to Achieve Them

Food for Thought: A Model Composition by One of your Classmates

I'd like to post the following composition written by one of your fellow students from NI1. It is a very nice model of an opinion essay, so I really recommend you to read it. Thanks a lot, Luis Miguel, for your generosity.

Kick on the Wall, Slap in the Face

What's going on with our education system today?

Dear all,
As part of your listening practice, I´d like you to hear a brief news story about the students' and teachers' strike today in Spain, broadcasted by euronews channel. Here follows the video, and  you may read the story below. I'll be happy to hold a brief discussion on these matters next day in class; I'll leave this initiative to you, guys.

Click on this link to read the audiotranscript of the news