NEW ZEALAND SEASONS.

Because New Zealand lies in the Southern Hemisphere, the warmest months are December, January and February, and the coldest June, July and August.

In summer days are long and sunny, nights are mild. Summer is an excellent time for walking or doing outdoor activities like water sports during summer.

In autumn, temperatures are a little cooler but it is possible to swim in some places until April. Colourful changing leaves make autumn a romantic time for walking.

In winter, mountains in both islands become snow-covered, providing beautiful views and excellent skiing.

Finally, New Zealand's spring weather can range from cold and frosty to warm and hot.

CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE THE EIFFEL TOWER IS???

The Eiffel Tower is located on the Champ de Mars in Paris and it is a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It is the tallest building in Paris, so do not forget to visit it when you come to France. You will have a great view of the city from the top of the tower, and you can go upstairs on foot or using the elevator.

If you are in Lafayette Galleries and you want to visit the tower you have to follow this street to Opera Square and turn left. Go straight ahead and take the underground at the end of this street. Remember to take lines 6 or 9 in direction to the Tower and jump off in Trocadero stop, so you can go walking to the Eiffel Tower about 15 minutes while you enjoy the gardens and the fountains of the Chaillot Palace.

But if you are by the Senna River, you can also go to the Tower by boat, which in French is known as Bateaubus. And it is a good way to have a different point of view of the city.

However, the best way of knowing Paris is on foot, so buy a good map and turn left or right or go along the streets as you come nearer the tower, you will see it all the time as it is the tallest building.

If you have problems with the map, ask; French people is really nice and they speak a very good English!!!

SAMHAIN, THE EUROPEAN HALLOWEEN.

Samain is a celtic festival with a pagan origin. It celebrated the end of the Harvest and was considerated as the beginning of the Celtic Year.

It disappeared with the Romans but nowadays this festival is again celebrated in areas or countries with a strong celtic heritage or origin. It can be considered the equivalent of the American Halloween.

In Galicia we are recovering that tradition of the Samahin which hasn´t got a negative meaning. It is a time to reaffirm the believing in the unity of all the spirits (alive and non-alive souls) and to think that death is not the end of human existence.

Important symbols for this festival are similar to those for Halloween: apples, pumpkins, black cats, and the colours black, orange, white, gold and silver.

THE SKYSCRAPER, A VERY TALL HOUSE??

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building. There is no minimum height to be one of them and in many big cities you can see a skyscraper. One famous city for its skyscrapers is New York, with a very popular skyline many times seen in the movies.

Maybe the most famous there is The Empire State Building, built in 1931. It has more than 100 floors and was finished in 1932. Another famous skyscrapers in this city were the Twin Towers, which were destroyed in 2001 in a terrorist attack. Everybody remember the planes crashing against the towers. It was a very sad moment for the entire world.

Today, the skyscrapers are more modern as for example in Dubai where those building are made with the newest materials, although they will be used mainly as offices.

ARE YOU FROM CANADA?

Canada is the second country in size in the World. It´s capital is Ottawa. It was a colony of the UK and France and there you can speak French and English.

In its flag you can see the leaf of the maple as a symbol of the country. Canada is famous for its large forests and mountains and the great variety of wild animals that live there (for example: bears, wolves, red linx, reindeers…). It is recognised too by its Royal Mounted Police and products such as the maple syrup.

There are many students from many different countries that come to Canada to study English or French during the summer.

A SPANISH PARTY: LAS FALLAS.

The “Fallas” is a very well-known holiday celebrated in Valencia, in Spain, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth of March. This holiday is in honor to San José, boss of the carpenters.

The name of “fallas” comes from the artistic sculptures made with inflammable materials. They represent famous figures called “ninots”.

There are many different groups of people called “falleros” in Valencia who make those “fallas” or monuments to participate in a quiz. Each year the winner is taken to a museum while the others are burnt in the streets. At night one can watch the fireworks as this holiday is strongly associated with fire.

During the holiday, people dress with the traditional clothes of the valencian autonomous community and participate in parades and there are music and dance concerts. Each year, a young lady is elected as “queen” and she participates in the party in a very special way. Many young girls have the dream to become queen of the “falleras” some day.

IT´S TEATIME!!!

My name is Cyril and I am from Ireland. I´m doing my homework in my bedroom, it is raining outside and…. I can hear my mum calling me for tea. It´s 6 o´clock in the evening. It´s teatime!!!! I run downstairs as I hear the teapot boiling in the kitchen. Did you know…????

Ireland is the largest tea consumer in the world. They take their tea VERY seriously! You won't find a convention, work meeting or other event that does not allow for a morning or afternoon tea break on the schedule! Everybody has tea in Ireland.

To have a nice cup of tea you add the milk to the tea cup first and then you pour in the tea.

Irish tea is served generally three times a day; 11:00 in the morning, 3:00-5:00 for afternoon tea and a high tea at 6:00 pm, serving as the evening meal. Afternoon tea is the more "fancy" of the three teas- the one with scones, breads, jam, curds and other dainties.

BONFIRE NIGHT IN LONDON LAST YEAR

Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night is a celebration in the UK on the night of the fifth of November to celebrate that Guy Fawkes and his catholic friends couldn´t set the Westminster Palace, the Parliament, on fire.

So, to celebrate that the King was saved from the fire, people in England burn the image of Guy Fawkes in bonfires and watch fireworks. The day before, the children ask for money for the fireworks as they shout: “penny for the guy”.

There are typical dishes such as candy apples, jacket potatoes, black peas with vinegar or the bonfire toffee among others.

CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRALIA

Christmas in Australia is celebrated during the summer months, so in Australia there isn´t snow for Christmas.

Australia is a multicultural country and Christmas there is a mixture of traditions from other countries.

We can see in Australia Christmas Trees, Father Christmas, Christmas Carols and gifts, but Christmas Dinner may be a barbeque in the backyard or a picnic on a beach.

They drink champagne instead of eggnog or Pavlova instead of Plum Pudding. Christmas also coincides with the Summer Holidays and families often celebrate Christmas away from home.

People gather to sing carols on the beach or they go to outside concerts. They sit on blankets on the floor because it is warm at night and they light candles. These concerts are usually at Christmas Eve.

A TYPICAL ENGLISH BREAKFAST.

The full breakfast is popular throughout the British Isles and other parts of the English-speaking world. Depending on where it is served, it is called bacon and eggs, a fry, a full English breakfast… In Britain and Ireland, this cooked breakfast is often advertised as "Traditional English Breakfast" or "Traditional Irish Breakfast", but there is very little about it that is truly traditional in the historical sense.

For preparing a Full English Breakfast you need: 2 cumberland sausages, 2 rashers of smoked bacon, 2 eggs, mushrooms, 1 tomato, a tin of baked beans, 2 rounds of bread, black pudding, 2 hash browns, cooking oil, salt- to taste and brown sauce- to taste.

Slice the mushrooms thinly. Then slice the black pudding into rounds. Cut the tomatoes into half. Empty the tin of beans into a saucepan.

Grill the sausages, bacon and halved tomato. Add a little oil into a frying pan and fry off the black pudding and mushrooms together. Put everything on a plate.
Add more oil into the pan and place the slices of bread in and fry until golden brown. Next, fry 2 eggs.

Finally, serve everything on the plate together, make a nice cup of English Breakfast Tea, shake a dash of salt over your place, and a squirt of brown sauce.

DIWALI IS CELEBRATED IN INDIA

Diwali is a religious festival known too as the festival of Light. It is celebrated in India once a year and it is used as the beginning of the year for hindu people. During Diwali, people dress new clothes, share sweets and watch fireworks. It is a very happy night.

Diwali is celebrated in October or November and light is very important in this festival. Houses are cleaned in a special manner and they are decorated with candles. The tradition says that God will favour those people who give their enemies another opportunity to be friends again.

At night they light the candles and open the Doors of the house repeating a pray every time.

There is also the tradition of throwing a ship made of paper or little candles to a river, so if they go far, it means that the following year will be very happy.

EAGLES IN AMERICA

We can find Eagles in Europe and Asia, but the eagle with White head is the nacional symbol of the United States. It is a very beautiful animal, usually brown but with a very white head and tail. It is quite big and it eats small animals like snakes, rats, rabbits or fish.

They live near the Rivers or the great lakes where they can find a lot of food for their baby eagles.

You can see the image of the eagle in American coins and it is a protected animal all over the country.

THE GEORGIAN DOORS IN DUBLIN

When you go to Dublin, visit the south of the Liffey River. There you can see the famous Georgian doors in the buildings. The houses are from the seventeenth century and the colours of the buildings are dark and monotonous. That is the reason why people in Dublin painted the doors with bright colours like blue, yellow, green, red and even pink!!!

Today those doors are a symbol of the city. In Merrion Sqare you can find the most beautiful ones.

In Dublin there are many great places to visit, as the Trinity College, Oxford Street, the Ha´Penny Bridge, the sculpture of Oscar Wilde in Saint Stephen´s Green Park, the Guinness Factory, and of course there are a lot of bars where you can meet friends.…

If you go there, don´t take the bus number 45, as it is very famous because it is always late… I have experienced it…once I arrived two hours late to school and the teachers were very angry with me till I told them about the number of the bus I was waiting for!!!

A FAMOUS BUILDING IN LONDON

Buckingham Palace is the Queen's official and main royal London home. It has been the official London residence of Britain's monarchy since 1837. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live there.

Buckingham Palace is the home of the Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of York (Prince Andrew) and the Earl and Countess of Wessex (Prince Edward and his wife) and their daughter.

Buckingham Palace is also an office used also for the administrative work for the monarchy.

When the Queen is at home, you can see her royal flag on top of Buckingham Palace. It never flies at half staff.

Five regiments of Foot Guards guard the Palace. They wear red jackets and tall, furry hats called bearskins.

When the guards come on duty, there is a ceremony called the Changing of the Guard.

THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the Queen regnant of sixteen independent sovereign states known informally as the Commonwealth realms. As a constitutional monarch, she is politically neutral and by convention her role is largely ceremonial.

Elizabeth married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947. The couple has four children and eight grandchildren.

The most famous member of the Royal Family is, maybe, Lady Di who was married to Prince Charles. She performed a lot of social and charity activities and people in England loved her very much. Her life was full of controversy when she decided to divorced the Prince and start a new life. Love affairs of the Prince made that England loved her even more. She died in a car accident and since then she became more famous.

The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Members of the royal family belong to the House of Windsor, since 1917.

Buckingham Palace is where the Queen lives.

RUGBY, A VERY SPECIAL SPORT IN ENGLAND

Rugby is a sport that was born in England. It is very popular there. There exist no rigid clothes authorised that can be used as protection. Rugby players is characterised by the respectful attitude for the rules. The decisions of the referee are hardly discussed by the players. Besides, sociability is encouraged, above all at the end of every match between the players of a team and the opponents in a meeting called third period together with the referees and part of the public to talk about the match.

It consists of two teams of fifteen players that have to score goals with a ball. The opponents have to stop the others in several ways. Sometimes rugby seems a hard game. The objective of the game is to gain more points than the opposing team within the allotted time of play. A tie is called if the scores are equal at the end of play.

THE SPANISH ROYAL FAMILY

Spain is a Parlimentary System with a Constitutional Monarchy. This is similar to the system in Great Britain. The King is the head of the state and as such, represents Spain internationally.

The Spanish Constitution limits the authority of the King (and all future Monarchs) to mostly ceremonial powers.

King Juan Carlos I is the current ruler of Spain. He particularly enjoys skiing and sailing.

Queen Sofía was born in Athens. In addition to her royal duties the Queen spends a lot of time in social and charity activities.

Prince Felipe is the 3rd child of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophía. His royal title is Prince of Asturias. Like his father he spent time at the military academies of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Also like his father he became a military pilot. The Prince has many relatives. You might be one of his relatives.

On May 22, 2004, the Prince married, Letizia Ortiz who used to be a former newscaster. She is not of royal blood, but upon marrying the Prince became the Princess of Asturias.

I LIVE IN A DETACHED HOUSE

A detached house is a free-standing residential building. Most of them are built on lost with a garden surrounding the house. Newer homes in North America have attached garages, often facing the street.

Typically only members of a single family live in this type of house. One advantage of living in a house like this is that the entire space around the building is private to the owner and family. One disadvantage is that having a detached house costs a lot of money.

A single-detached house in Western culture usually has at least a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom (with a bathtub or a shower, a toilet...). They have also a hall, a dining room, a family room (a casual living room with everything we need to relax), a laundry room, astudy (with desks, computers, etc.)

Other types of houses are: cottage, bungalow, villa and mansion.

MY DAILY ROUTINES

My name is Sara. I live in Barcelona. A day in my life is very interesting. I do a lot of things.

At eight o´clock I wake up and I have breakfast. I always drink a cup of milk and eat some biscuits. At a quarter to nine I go to school because my lessons begin at nine o´clock. At half past two I have lunch; my mother cooks very well and I always eat really good food. After lunch I watch TV or play computer games with my brother.

At a quarter past four I study and do my homework. Later, I go to the pavilion to train, I play basketball and I´m very good at it. Then I have a shower and I go home with my father. At nine o´clock I have dinner and at half past nine I read a bit and I go to bed.

I love weekends because I don´t study. On Saturdays mornings I play basketball with my team and on Sundays I go to visit my grandparents. They live in a very big house and I have there a lot of toys and things to do. I enjoy it a lot.

Sometimes, my parents take me to the cinema. I love going to the cinema and eating popcorn.

BASEBALL IN THE USA

Baseball is a sport played between two teams of nine players each. It is a very famous sport in North America. The goal is to score runs by hitting a ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a square, or diamond.

Players on one team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the other team, which tries to stop them from scoring runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. the teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the fielding team records three outs. The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins.

In North America, teams are divided into the National League and the American League. Each league has three divisions. East, West and Central.

HOW CAN I GO TO...?

If you visit a city, a town or a village you should know ask for some directions, such as a supermarket, the bank, the post offce, etc. And for that you must know several words: turn right, turn left, go straight, stop, take the first on the right,...

For example: if you go to Madrid and you want to go to the Royal Palace or the Wax Museum you´d ask: "Could you tell me how to get to the Royal Palace, please?" And depending on where you are they will answer: "you must go straight ahead, trun left and take the second one on the right. The Royal Palace is opposite the Newsagent´s"

To go to the Wax Museum if you are near the stadium you will go straight ahead, turn right and take the second on the left. The Wax Museum is very nice!!!

CHILDREN IN THE WORLD.

There are a lot of countries in the world and there are millions of people living in it. There are children in america, in Asia; in Australia, in Europe; they have different hair, eyes, languages, cultures, etc. But finally all of them are children; and this is the important things.

Nunyat lives in Africa. He is eight years old. He is very handsome. He hasn´t got long hair, he hasnt got green eyes, he hasn´t got moustache but he has got dark and curly hair. He has got black eyes and he has got white teeth. He is very kind and he likes playing with his friends although they haven´t got too many toys.

He is a child, like Ashar, like Anna, like John, like you, like me!!

JAPANESE TRADITIONAL CLOTHES

Each country has got its own culture, traditions, food and, of course, its own traditional clothes. In Japan many people wear clothes like in Europe: t-shirts, skirts, jeans, trousers, jumpers, scarfs, boots, shirts...

But people wear traditional clothes in Special Days such as weddings, parties, festivals, etc. Their traditional clothes are really different from those of Europe.

Women wear kimonos; the kimonos have got a belt. You can find kimonos of many colours, from yellow to green, black, white, orange or blue. They are very attractive and colourful.

They also wear "geta", a kind of sandals made of wood.

Men wear black clothes which are quite interesting but not like women´s. They wear sandals.

We like Japanese clothes.

AN ITALIAN RECIPE

I like cooking; and I like tasting many different dishes from many countries in the world. In Italy there are many different recipes but the most typical are pasta and pizza.

If you want to know how to cook Neapolitan pizza take note:

You will need dough, oil, tomato sauce, oregano, cheese, olives and anchovies.

Put the tomato sauce on the dough and add the cheese and the oregano; then put the anchovies and the olives and bake it for twenty-five minutes.

It will be delicious and as you can see it is really easy to cook.

HALLOWEEN PARTY

Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31st. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating wearing costumes, carving jack-o´-lanterns, apple bobbing, telling scary stories and watching horror films.

Homes are often decorated with symbols around Halloween like ghosts, witches, skeletons, bats and black cats.

The colours black and orange are associated with Halloween perhaps because of the darkness of night and the colour of fire or pumkins.

Halloween costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches and devils...to scare off demons.

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children. They go in costume from house to house asking for treats such as candies or sometimes money, with the question "Trick or treat?"

ANIMALS IN AUSTRALIA

In Australia there are a lot of animals, but the most common ones are koala, kangaroo and the tasmanian devil. Koalas live on trees and they are very quiet, they don´t run. They can climb up trees, walls, pilards, they are very agile. They eat leaves and they sleep twenty hours a day.

The kangaroo is a very strong animal, he uses the tail ti sit down; and they have a bag for babies, like koalas. The babies are there until they are ready to survive out. They eat grass and plants. They spend six hours a day eating. They can´t walk well because their feet are too big; but they are really good at jumping.

The tasmanian devil looks like a teddy bear but it is really like a "devil". They smell very bad and they shout a lot. They only eat meat and and their teeth are very hard. They swim very well.

CHRISTMAS IN FINLAND

Christmas time is very different depending on the country. Each country has got its own traditions. In Finland people put a tree in their houses, but they don´t put balls on it, they put many different flags as symbol of Peace.

At Christmas Eve people go to the sauna. It is a tradition and later they go to the cemeteries to light a candle. They have dinner together and children wait for Joulupukki, that is Santa´s name in Finland. Children wear gnomos that night and they sing. Santa comes and tells them a story about their trip and give them presents. While havig dinner they ask for peace, love and good luck for everybody.

At Christmas day the whole family gives a walk in sled. They enjoy it a lot, they love Christmas time!!!

SEASONS IN SWITZERLAND

There are many children all around the world, you can find children in Russia, England, France, China, Japan, Spain... and each of them does a different activity depending on the season.

She is nicole, she lives in Switzerland and she does a lot of things in the different seasons.

In spring she likes drinking fresh milk and look for different kind of flowers; there are many flowers in Switzerland in spring time.

In summer she likes eating ice-creams with her friends and she likes going for a walk and fly her kite.

In autumn there are many pumkins and they cook soup. She loves the pumpkins soup!!!

And as many other children in the world she comes back to school in autumn.

In winter there is a lot of snow in Switzerland and many times she can´t go outdoors, so she spends many hours at home, reading books and eating chocolate. Chocolate in Switzerland is realy good.

She likes skiing and she does it very well. And... What do you do??

SCOTTISH NATIONAL DRESS.

In Scotland it is quite cold in autumn and winter so people wear scarves, coats, boots, hats, gloves and jumpers.

But traditionally clothes were much more different. They wear traditional clothes in many events, such as weddings, festivals, etc. Traditional clothes for men are a kilt, a white shirt and a waistcoat. They also wear stocking shoes, a bonnet and a sporran.

It is very important, don´t call the kilt skirt, bacuse it isn´t.

On the ather hand, women do not wear kilts, they wear dresses or skirts and a blouse, a bonnet and a waistcoat.

For Scottish people their traditional clothes are very important because they love their culture and traditions, taking care of them seriously.

We should do the same.

I AM FROM CHINA. WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

There are many countries in the world, each country has got its own culture, traditions, music, art, etc.

I am from China; and in China people speak Chinese; we have got six different varieties almost inintelligible because we use a different alphabet. Our language is really different from Spanish, French, English... We love travelling and that´s why many people study other languages in China.

Houses in China are also quite different, they are really beautiful. Although in many towns and cities people live in flats like in America or Europe, we can still find many traditional houses.

China is one of the main countries producing rice in the world, they love rice.

and when you talk about my country everybody knows the Big Wall, that is a symbol in China.

We also like practicing many sports, specially karate.

If you want to know more things about us, come to visit China!!!