Sweatshirts or Hoodies? By África Sánchez Caballero (2º B ESO)

Do you have to buy a sweatshirt or a hoodie to be cool?

Nowadays, young people, especially those in their early teens, love to wear sweatshirts. Currently sweatshirts are on fire among teenagers. There are lots of types of sweatshirts in different colours and materials, expensive or cheap ones, with or without hoods, with original logos depending on brands.

From my point of view, you should own several to be trendy. Personally, I am very lucky because I have been given lots of them as presents and I can choose a different sweatshirt every day. I think that sweatshirts and hoodies should be worn only on casual occasions, or if you have a crystal-studded hoodie like some celebrities, you could wear it even in a wedding!

But, do you know what the origin of this kind of clothing is?

If we go back in time to Medieval Europe, we can find that monks used to wear a long hood attached to their tunics. And a hooded cape was very commonly worn by any outdoors workers. However, the first hooded sweatshirt was produced in the United States in the 1930s for laborers working under freezing temperatures. But it was in the 1970s with the hip hop culture when high fashion designers contributed to make this garment so glamorous.  

In the 1990s the term hoodie became popular and in the United Kingdom it was trendy to wear it if you were a student from a university or a high school. In fact Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, and other famous designers, have sweatshirts or hoodies in their collections.

I personally feel much cooler when I go out dressed in a trendy sweatshirt with no hood. My favourite one has a logo with an eagle and the word “BOY” on it.

Geography: the USA interactive map (the 50 States)

Are you keen on Geography? Well, in that case, here you've got a not only educating, yet entertaining, interactive map with all the American States that form the USA. There are up to fifty and with this map you will be able to learn, practice and play a challenging game to test your knowledge on the subject. Try first the "Watch" mode and click on the States to learn their names, then try the "Play" mode to test your level. What was your score? Enjoy... and learn some American geography!

Jingle Bells (Lyrics & Karaoke)

Open Letter to the UN, by Grupo Tautianos (ESO)

Learn Phonetics!

I've found this amazing INTERACTIVE Phonemic chart with all the English phonemes on the British Council webpage. The chart includes all the phonetics divided into three groups: vowels, diphthongs and consonants. By clicking the arrow in each square, you get three words as examples, and by clicking on the words given, you get the pronunciation of the word.

* Click on image to view and use the chart

In addition, you can download the chart FOR FREE and use it on your computer. You'll just need to have Adobe Flash Player installed and... that's it. Get ready to improve your pronunciation and learn the English phonetic symbols. This tool will come in really handy when learning how to pronounce words and to understand the phonetics of the new words that you look up in dictionaries.
 Enjoy! :)

Sandwiches, by Lucía Martínez Rodríguez (4º A ESO)

Why are sandwiches called sandwiches? To know the origin of its name, we have to go back in time to the 18th century, to a small southern city in England, called Sandwich.

John Montangu was the Earl of Sandwich, and he had a strong problem with card games and money. Once, he was playing a game for a whole day, and in a couple of hands, he started losing almost all his fortune. Later, his servants told him that the lunch was ready. Although the Earl was feeling pretty hungry, he was so concentrated on the cards game, trying to recover his money, that he refused to stop and have a break to eat. His servants and the cook, worried about the situation, looked for a solution. The Earl shouldn't do without lunch! It was their duty to serve and feed him.

After a long time, they came up with an idea. The cook carved the meat and put it between two slices of bread.
The players and the Earl were astonished when the servants came over with the new meal! They were eating a tasty roast beef with their own hands and with no cutlery. That way, they were able to have a very quick meal without stopping playing cards for lunch.
And that's why sandwiches are called this way, because of the Earl of Sandwich.

Nowadays, sandwiches are one of the most eaten meals, especially in Great Britain, and definitely the first fast food meal ever made.

Saint Andrew's Day (Scotland)

Every November the 30th all Scottish around the world celebrate Saint Andrew's Day, which is Scotland's official national day. This day is considered in Scotland as an official flag day and it's also a bank holiday there. The Scottish Government established that on this date the flag of Scotland, called the Saltire or Saint Andrew's Cross, should fly high on all Scottish buildings and balconies.

Saint Andrew was one of Jesus's original disciples, the brother of Simon Peter and a fisherman by trade, who lived in Israel. After Jesus's crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, Andrew travelled widely in Greece and Asia Minor, preaching and spreading the word of God. He was finally caught by the Roman authorities, who were trying to stamp out the new Christian religion, and he was crucified on a diagonal cross. 300 years later, his bones were taken by ship to Scotland and that's the reason why a white diagonal cross over a blue background became the official national flag. Another widely regarded emblem of Scotland is the thistle, a typical inland and very prickly flower.

In Scotland and in many countries with Scottish connections (the USA or Ireland for example), St Andrew's Day is celebrated with Scottish cultural events in schools and all across the country including traditional Scottish food, parades, bagpipe music and dance. In Edinburgh, the capital city, there is a week of celebrations, concentrating on musical entertainment and traditional ceilidh dancing.