June 1st, INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY

To celebrate this day here's a small video you'll certainly enjoy, 'cause whether you're a child or not, we're all children somehow.

British English Versus American English - Quiz

How much do you know about this topic? 

Test your knowledge! 
You can also solve the quiz online in the following site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/quizzes/quiznet/quiz120.shtml

                         Check your answers in the site :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/quizzes/quiznet/quiz120.shtml

May 31st 1859 - BIG BEN struck for the very first time!

Aren't they eccentric?

Yeah! British most eccentric traditions!

British English versus American English

Just have some fun watching this video. British and American English are really, really different.

International Museum Day

Would you like to take a trip around the most famous museums and discover the masters?

 GoogleArtProject can help you with that. Just take a look at the two videos below!

Learn some more idioms with THE TEACHER!

Celebrating Coca Cola 125th birthday

Like it or not Coca Cola is part of our life...
Have a look at Coca Cola's site on the UK and learn something more about this trademark, its history, its environmental policies, health questions and much more.

http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/

Teachers...just a thought!

Friendship

FRIENDSHIP

There are many things that can change our lives, a word, a gesture, a story and even a song, but meeting you was the biggest turning point in my life so far and probably for the rest of my life. Before, I only saw a grey world, a sad world. I could not believe in happiness, all my days were monotonous and I didn’t enjoy them at all. I was just waiting for my life to pass by, back then I was only a corpse with no soul, a robot trained to do the necessary and the necessary only, I didn’t dream, I didn’t want to fly, I didn’t believe, it was like someone had taken the childhood away from me. But one day it all changed. It wasn’t an accident that we met, it was fate. Your bright smile your positive attitude was like the sun finally risen after all those years.

Suddenly the world had bright colors, and I could hear birds singing and what amazed me the most was that I smiled and laughed for the first time, it almost felt like I had reborn into a new human being. A girl who believes, a girl who wishes she could fly, a girl that now dreams excessively, for the first time I don’t think “what if it goes wrong?” anymore but “what if I make it?”!

If there is a person I need to thank to, is you! You gave me a soul, you sheltered me in your arms, you gave me your shoulder and saved a spot for me in your heart!

You could have been anything but still, you chose to be my friend!

By Rita Nanim

A Portuguese in the USA

As you could have noticed sometimes we post reflections of a Portuguese living in the USA. She is a doctoral student at Georgia Southern University and she sent us a small message thanking us for giving her the chance to participate in our blog and informing us that she has already written an assignment on our blog for her Curriculum Studies.

"I was accepted March 21, 2011 in the Curriculum Studies, Ed.D. program at Georgia Southern University. GSU is in Statesboro, one hour driving from Savannah and located in the state of Georgia. I am a doctoral student ;0)
I decided in one of my pre-requisite course to write about your fabulous blog. Here go my reflections, posted on March 23:

http://clubedeinglesesmaia.blogspot.com/
“Vygotsky’s curriculum offered open spaces for spontaneous learning and encouragement for students to use their newly acquired tools for their own purposes, thereby contributing to relevance and generalization” (McNeil, 2006, p.37). This type of Website is a web log, the usual term used is Blog. Maintained by the English Club of Maia Secondary School, Porto- Portugal, this Club exists since 1996 and has more than two hundred members each year. Students, teachers and collaborators (e.g., myself) provide regular entries of commentaries (Thanksgiving Day), descriptions of events (St. Patrick’s Day, St. Patrick’s Symbols, Quizzes, 4th of March School Day of Languages…) or other material such as graphics or videos ("Where there's a will there's a way", Discovery Ireland…). Entries are displayed in reverse-chronological order. This blog is interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments. This interactivity distinguishes them from other static websites.

The reaction of my peers was great. The ones who decided to visit it enjoy it very much. Thanks for helping, without knowing, in this assignment.

Promise to keep in touch,
Elisabete Carvalho"

The British Royals through TIME

The royal wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, took place on April 29, 2011, in London, England. 

Watch the tour of TIME's couverage of all things royal from 1923 to today!

Mother's Day

Mother's day is celebrated all around the globe but not at the same time.
In the Uk they celebrated it on the 3rd April (the fourth Sunday of Lent) and in USA they are going to celebrate it on the 8th May (the second Sunday in May).
In Portugal, we celebrate it on the first Sunday in May. This year it's the 1st of May.
So, don't forget to give your mother a tight hug and a warm kiss!

Easter in the USA by Elisabete Carvalho

American Plastic Easter Eggs

In Savannah the weather was GREAT! We went to the beach twice, Saturday and Sunday.
In USA only the schools stop….. Everyone works…… the shops were closed on Sunday.
The most peculiar thing was seeing the way people dress to go to church on Sunday. White, blue and pink were the predominant colors; children carried vases with white flowers and the priest was out saying hello to everyone.
Saturday was the day for children to find the “plastic” eggs on the gardens. You can buy a big bag of them for $1 on WalMart.

Earth Day 2011

And here's the video those 11th form students have made to offer JP Taylor as a Christmas present:

Would you like to listen to JP? Well, here's a video of one of his songs from his latest album- "Living on a peaceful planet". Enjoy it!

23rd April - The National Day of England - St. George's Day

St George's Day is celebrated in England on 23 April, in honour of St. George, the patron saint of England.

This is the flag of St George. It is also the flag of England and part of the British flag. St George's emblem was adopted by Richard The Lion Heart and brought to England in the 12th century. The king's soldiers wore it on their tunics to avoid confusion in battle.

St George was a brave Roman soldier who protested against the Romans' torture of Christians and died for his beliefs. The popularity of St George in England stems from the time of the early Crusades when it is said that the Normans saw him in a vision and were victorious.

One of the best-known stories about Saint George is his fight with a dragon. But it is highly unlikely that he ever fought a dragon, and even more unlikely that he ever actually visited England. Despite this, St George is known throughout the world as the dragon-slaying patron saint of England.

By tradition, 23 April is the day for a red rose in the button hole. The rose is the national emblem of England. The flower has been adopted as England’s emblem since the time of the Wars of the Roses - civil wars (1455-1485) between the royal house of Lancaster (whose emblem was a red rose) and the royal house of York (whose emblem was a white rose).

Happy Easter

Easter in the UK

In the UK Easter is one of the major Christian festivals of the year. It is full of customs, folklore and traditional food. However, Easter in Britain has its beginnings long before the arrival of Christianity. Many theologians believe Easter itself is named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn and spring - Eostre.

Symbols of Easter- Many of the symbols and traditions of Easter are connected with renewal, birth, good luck and fertility.

The Cross- Of course as it is a Christian festival one of the main symbols is a cross, often on a hill. When Jesus was crucified, the cross became a symbol of suffering. Then with the resurrection, Christians saw it as a symbol of victory over death.

Palms- The week of Easter begins on Palm Sunday. Why Palm Sunday? Well, in Roman times it was customary to welcome royalty by waving palm branches, a bit like a ticker-tape parade. So, when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on what is now known as Palm Sunday, people welcomed him with palm branches carpeting the streets and waving them. Today, on Palm Sunday, Christians carry palm branches in parades, and make them into crosses and garlands to decorate the Church.

Easter Eggs- Easter eggs are a very old tradition going to a time before Christianity. Eggs after all are a symbol of spring and new life. Exchanging and eating Easter eggs is a popular custom in many countries. In the UK before they were replaced by chocolate Easter eggs real eggs were used, in most cases, chicken eggs. The eggs were hard-boiled and dyed in various colors and patterns. The traditionally bright colours represented spring and light. An older more traditional game is one in which real eggs are rolled against one another or down a hill. The owner of the egg that stayed uncracked the longest won. Even today in the north of England, for example as at Preston in Lancashire, they still carry out the custom of egg rolling. Hard boiled eggs are rolled down slopes to see whose egg goes furthest. In other places another game is played. You hold an egg in the palm of the hand and bang against your opponent's egg. The loser is the one whose egg breaks first. Nowadays people give each other Easter eggs made of chocolate, usually hollow and filled with sweets. ritain children hunt for (chocolate) Easter eggs hidden about the home or garden by the Easter bunny.

The Easter Bunny- Rabbits, due to their fecund nature, have always been a symbol of fertility.The Easter bunny (rabbit) however may actually be an Easter hare. The hare was allegedly a companion of the ancient Moon goddess and of Eostre. Strangely the bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have its origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 16th Century. The first edible Easter bunnies appeared in Germany during the early 1800s, they were made of pastry and sugar.In the UK children believe that if they are good the "Easter Bunny " will leave (chocolate) eggs for them.

Hot Cross Buns- Hot cross buns, now eaten throughout the Easter season, were first baked in England to be served on Good Friday. These small, lightly sweet yeast buns contain raisins or currants and sometimes chopped candied fruit. Before baking, a cross is slashed in the top of the bun. After baking, a confectioners' sugar icing is used to fill the cross.

2nd Karaoke Casting Results

2nd KARAOKE CASTING

For the 2nd time the English Club organised a karaoke casting and, for the 2nd time, new talents showed up!

Look at them in the photos below:

The singers who got the second and third places in the first karaoke casting also sang for us. Look at them!

And now, you can appreciate Mariana's performance, the winner of the first casting. Listen to her!

And last but not least, the English Club would like to thank  Mr. Lopes, our "audio technician" and  Miguel Caetano, our highly skilled presenter, for their commitment and professionalism.