31st December 2021: New Year's Eve

As you all know, in Spain we eat twelve grapes at midnight. The actual countdown is primarily followed from the clock on top of  the Correos building in Puerta del Sol square, Madrid. It is traditional to eat twelve grapes, on on each chime of the clock. This tradition has its origins in 1909, when grape growers in Alicante thought of it as a way to cut down on the large production surplus they had had that year. Nowadays the tradition is followed by almost every Spaniard, and the twelve grapes have become synonimous with the New Year. After the clock has finished striking twelve, people greet each other and toast with sparkling wine (such as champagane or cider).

26th December: Boxing Day 2021

Today is Boxing Day. No, it has nothing to do with the sport of fighting with the fists. This is the reason for the name:

A box, usually of earthenware, in which contributions of money were collected at Christmas, by apprentices, etc.; the box being broken when full, and the contents shared.

So, the name Boxing Day derives from the tradition of giving seasonal gifts, on the day after Christmas, to less wealthy people and social inferiors, which was later extended to various workpeople such as labourers and servants.

7 O´Clock News / Silent Night 2021

Recorded on August 22nd, 1966, "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" is the twelfth and final track on "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme", a 1966 album by Simon and Garfunkel. The track consists of an overdubbing of two contrasting recordings: a simple arrangement of the Christmas carol "Silent Night", and a simulated "7 O'Clock News" bulletin of the actual events of 3 August 1966.

8 Facts about Spain's 'El Gordo' Lottery 2021

The following article was published by PR Newswire on7th December 2010.

Christmas Carols & Songs 2021

A carol is a song of praise or joy, especially for Christmas. But it is also an old round dance often accompanied by singing.  The word was probably from Old French, derived from Latin choraula, which means "choral song".

Enjoy a selection of traditional Christmas carols and songs in English. Lyrics are included, so you can learn how to sing them!

Merry Christmas 2021

Labor English Zone wishes you the 

Season's Greetings

At Labor English Zone we know what present we want for Christmas!

13 Study Tips: The Science of Better Learning

Our brain can potentially memorize 2.5 petabytes of information, which is roughly the equivalent of 3 million hours of YouTube videos. In order to use some of that staggering capacity a little more effectively when you study, here are some tips that are based on widely-accepted research by neuroscientists and learning experts.

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Our brain can potentially memorize 2.5 petabytes of information, which is roughly the equivalent of 3 million hours of YouTube videos. In order to use some of that staggering capacity a little more effectively when you learn, here are some tips that are based on widely-accepted research by neuroscientists and learning experts.

Advent 2021

What is Advent? (Reblogged from here and here)

The word Advent comes from the Latin word for “arrival”: adventus. The celebration of Advent, whether with wreaths in church or calendars at home, marks the beginning of the Christmas period. It’s one of the major seasons celebrated by most Christian churches in the Western tradition: Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and many additional Protestant churches mark the roughly month-long period with special observance.

Most Advent calendars start on December 1st, but the actual first day of the Advent season changes every year. In 2020, that day is November 29th. In 2021, it will be November 28th. The final day is the same every year: December 24th, Christmas Eve — though many calendars run through Christmas Day.

The reason for the shifting start date is somewhat straightforward: as celebrated by Christian churches in the Western tradition (as opposed to Eastern Orthodox churches, which keep a different calendar), the season of Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and is celebrated on each successive Sunday leading up to Christmas.

Once Advent finishes, the 12 days of Christmas start... It is the period that in Christian theology marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins on December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6th (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings' Day).

Make your bed!

It's the little things in life that matter.

If you don't start the day making your bed, you've just started the day with an excuse. You'll then justify reasons to avoid anything after that.

If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack.

It was a simple task — mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.

Click here to see the full video of Admiral William H. McRaven 2014

commencement speech at The University of Texas

And here to read the full transcript

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

The Feynman Technique for learning

Richard Feynman was a physicist who received a Nobel prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics. He was notorious for asking others to explain concepts in simple language to test their understanding.

Here his unique technique to learn new materials:

Step 1. Choose a topic you want to understand and start studying it. Once you know what it is about, take a piece of paper and write the topic at the top of the page.

Step 2. Pretend you’re teaching the idea to someone else. Write out an explanation on paper while you describe them out loud. Like this, you get an idea of what you understand and where you still have gaps. Whenever you get stuck, go back and study. Repeat that process until you can explain it.

Step 3. Finally, do it again, but now simplify your language or use an analogy to make the point. If your explanation ends up wordy and confusing, that’s an indication that you do not understand the idea well enough. If that happens, go back until you have mastered it.

It is the process of thinking about an idea while teaching it that makes the method so effective. Once you can explain an idea with simple language and create graphic analogies, you have deeply understood it and will remember it for a long time.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Thanksgiving 2021: Thursday 25th November

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. While it may have been religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday. It is sometimes casually referred to as Turkey Day.

In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is Columbus Day in the United States. In the United States, it falls on the fourth Thursday of November. Since being fixed at the fourth Thursday in November by law in 1941, the holiday in the United States can occur on any date from November 22 to November 28. When it falls on November 22 or 23, it is not the last Thursday, but the penultimate Thursday in November. As it is a Federal holiday, all United States government offices are closed and employees are paid for that day. It is also a holiday for the New York Stock Exchange and most other financial markets and financial services companies.

Nov 19th: International Men's Day 2021

International Men’s Day is recognised on the 19th November, it is marked in around 80 countries worldwide and provides an opportunity to consider some of the issues that may affect men in particular and the ways in which we can support their wellbeing. It also focuses on men’s health, improving gender relations, highlighting male role models, and promoting positive expressions of masculinity. It’s also an opportunity to recognize men who don’t fall into traditional manifestations of masculinity,

It’s generally accepted that men can find it more difficult than women to address issues relating to their physical or mental wellbeing and are less likely to seek help. For example, men are less likely to visit to visit their GP or pharmacy than women (www.menshealthforum.org.uk) and research shows that only 50% of men feel comfortable discussing mental health issues (BITC, Mental Health at Work Report 2017).

International Men’s Day is a great opportunity for you to:

• Highlight some of the social issues than men and boys face
• Make a difference for the men and boys in your community
• Celebrate men and boys in all their diversity
• Have some serious fun

Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night: Remember, Remember, the 5th of November - 2021

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Among them was Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Don't Choose Extinction

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is bringing Frankie, a ferocious, talking dinosaur, to the United Nations’ headquarters to shine a spotlight on the hundreds of billions of dollars governments spend every year propping up the fossil fuel industry.

"Listen up, people. I know a thing or two about extinction," he says. "Going extinct is a bad thing. And driving yourselves extinct in 70 million years? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

“At least we had an asteroid,” the dinosaur warns, referring to the popular theory explaining dinosaurs’ extinction 70 million years ago. “What’s your excuse?”

“Think of all the other things you could do with that money. Around the world people are living in poverty. Don’t you think that helping them would make more sense than… paying for the demise of your entire species?” the dinosaur says.

The Dunning Kruger Effect

The Dunning Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias that makes people believe they are smarter and more capable than they actually are. The effect is related to people’s general inaptitude to recognize their lack of ability. To learn how this comes about and what you can do to avoid it from happening to you, watch this video (you can read the script down below):

SCRIPT

SCENE 1

On April 19, 1995, McArthur Wheeler, robbed a bank with his face glazed with lemon juice, believing the juice would make his face invisible to the surveillance cameras. He thought so because lemon juice works as invisible ink on a piece of paper.

SCENE 2

Police broadcasted the security camera footage on the local eleven o’clock news and just after midnight, Arthur was arrested. Incredulously, he said “But I wore the juice...”.

Daylight Saving Time - Autumn 2021

Daylight saving time (DST)—also summer time in several countries, in British English, and European official terminology—is the practice of advancing clocks so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn.

When DST starts in central Europe, clocks advance from 02:00 CET to 03:00 CEST.  

Though mentioned by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, the modern idea of daylight saving was first proposed in 1895 by and it was first implemented during the First World War. Many countries have used it at various times since then.

The 2 Minute Rule Will Quickly Change Your Life

 No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

"Fear of falling", by Michael Kofuzi

 

There comes a point in adulthood where we develop a fear of falling. It is perhaps related to a fear of failure. But the fear of falling is much more debilitating. We worry about getting hurt. We worry about looking foolish. For fear of developing a blister later maybe, we stay on the high and dry ground. For fear of looking foolish in the water, we relegate ourselves to the sidelines of a pool deck.

But we all have to start somewhere. And how you look when you start something new, that is exactly how it’s supposed to look. It’s not supposed to be pretty. And that is the point. You’re learning. And that’s an incredible thing. The older we get, the less grace we give ourselves to figure things out as we go. We instantly look to find a coach, review film, and regression analyze the heck out of every minute of our new endeavors.

And in the process, we lose sight of the beauty of trying something new. We suck the fun right out of it. We have forgotten how amazing it is to try something we’ve never done before. We have forgotten the intoxicating mystery of new adventure.

So no matter how old you are, I say, try something new. Fall on your face. Look foolish in front of your kids, and in front of your friends, and in front of complete strangers. And have the best summer of your life!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only

Summer 2021 Remedial Task

ESO Students,

Here is your 2021 summer remedial assignment:

• You should solve the activities of the vocabulary, grammar and writing pages in each unit (pages 1, 3, 4, 5 and 8 in every unit)
• You should also complete the three revision sections found at the end of every three units in your student's book: review A (units 1, 2, 3), review B (units 4, 5, 6) and review C (units 7, 8, 9).

Use an A-4 sized notebook to copy the formulation or wording of every activity and underline their key words. Then, translate that wording into Galician/Spanish and solve the activities.

This assignment is NOT COMPULSORY. You do not need to hand in your homework as it will NOT ADD ANY POINTS AT ALL TO YOUR SEPTEMBER MARK. However, we would like to advise you to prepare these activities if you want to be successful in your September remedial exams.

----------- ooo O ooo ----------

This is your English exams schedule for September 2021:

• Wednesday 1st September, 9:00 - 10:15 - ESO 4 Remedial Test.
• Wednesday 1st September, 13:00 - ESO 1, ESO 2 and ESO 3 Previous Years Remedial Tests.
• Thursday 2nd September, 10:15 - 11:30 - ESO 1 and ESO 2 Remedial Test.
• Friday 3rd September, 10:15 - 11:30 - ESO 3 Remedial Test.

Have a very nice summer and... good luck!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Best 2021 Graduation Speeches, by María Aguiño and Alicia Fernández.

This year's best graduation speeches are by 4 ESO A student María Aguiño and 4 ESO B Alicia Fernández, who have not only written brilliant commencement addresses, but they have delivered them with passion, in style and grace, and with fine pronunciation, intonation and stance, and with remarkable composure, serenity and good spirit. Congratulations to both of them!

As usual, these students are the chosen ones to speak on behalf of their classmates at the 4 ESO graduation ceremony to be held at 1 pm on Monday 21st June.

Keep Trying, by María Aguiño Enero (4 ESO A)

Good afternoon everybody, classmates, families and teachers; welcome to our graduation and thanks for being here today.

After 13 long years at this school, the day has finally come. I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling a little bit homesick, but at the same time I’m very excited to see the changes that this new stage will bring.

Well, I really don’t know how to start, 13 years is a looong time, and I have so many memories, it’s very difficult to choose the best ones! Some are funny, some are boring, and some… are best left unsaid.

I remember my first class with Vallejo, and how scared I was; or the day when some girls from my class and I got stuck in the elevator with María Barbosa. And I have to confess that when Celia and I were 9 years old, we cheated in our exams; we felt very cool and a little scared, nobody knew it… until now, I’m sorry mom. Now that I have mentioned her, my mother told me that on the first day of school, when I got to the playground, I said very excited: I’m finally here!! Then we started secondary school, we were the little ones again, and the teachers were more strict. But suddenly, it turned into 4 years full of laughter in class, fear of having the irregular verbs exam, and a pandemic that has changed our life, and, sadly, our last years at Labor. But at the end of the day, I guess it’s part of our history.

Now that our chapter at Labor is finally closed, I would like to thank my friends and classmates for all the happiness we have shared, I wish you all the best for your future; I would also like to thank my family, my amazing parents and my two little brothers; all of the teachers, but especially a few: Ana, Vallejo, Leo, both Pablos, Pilar, and Cándido. I wish he was here today, I’m sure he would have pulled our ears; something I would like to mention is that Cándido was the one who told me to study Science, because he said that he could see that I like it, and well, he was right.

And last but not least, I would like to thank Celia, my partner in crime since we were 3 years old, probably one of the people who knows me best; she has always been there for me; it sounds very typical, but it’s true!

Now, I have to give you one piece of advice, I usually don’t like giving advice because what do I know that you don’t? When I started my way at this school, I was a little girl who wanted to be a Winx. Then, at 10, I wanted to be president. But, at 13, I didn’t know it; I was saying: “I don’t belong to no city, I don’t belong to no one, I’m free and I do what I want”. It looked like I knew who I was, but I was so wrong, because I was going to forget who I was and then I was going to find her again, and forget who I was and find her again… Like this through all my adolescence; if you could see my DinA5, you’ll see that I’m not lying; in fact, our teacher Leo can confirm it. But I think I have learned to stop being so hard on myself, for changing, for growing and for learning. So, if I do give you one piece of advice right now is that if you lose yourself or if you don’t know which way to go, it’s never too late to find yourself again, even if you fail, because that means that you are trying. Oh, in case you were wondering, now I think that if you ask me, I want to be a psychiatrist, but don’t pay too much attention to me, maybe tomorrow I’ll want to be an influencer.

Thanks for your attention, and enjoy the snacks that are waiting for us. And remember: keep trying, even if you fail.

When a door closes, another one opens up, by Alicia Fernández Framiñán (4 ESO B)

Good afternon,

I would like to thank my family, teachers and friends for coming here today to our graduation.

I am very happy today because we finally graduate and we begin a new stage in our lives, in which I will meet new people, discover new things and countries.

“When a door closes, another one opens up”, this is my motto, the end of something is the beginning of something new, a new stage in my life is about to open now.

I remember when my sister Carla and I took part in the dance competitions at school, we loved dancing, and we always finished in a good position, we got an applause from the public, diplomas, medals and recognition; it was great! What beautiful memories!

My role model is my mum because she has helped me and has always been there, and because of her permanent effort, I love you! I would not have got where I am today without my effort, my teachers’ support and specially the help of my family, my mum and my grandmother: thanks for being there!

Thanks to my parents, family, and friends for being here today with me sharing this very exciting moment. Thank you, Jose, for supporting me and for being a good friend, thanks for everything.

My expectations for the future are getting a vocational training degree in Trade and Marketing. I see myself working for a company, making adds, designing campaigns, selling products and services, helping clients and customers, I am very excited to start. “When a door closes another one opens up”, this is my motto.

I would like also to thank my classmates, I wish you a good end of the schoolyear; I hope we could be together again in the future; let's keep in touch. I hope that you will have a nice life, reach your objectives, make your dreams come true and be the same person you are: I love you, guys!

This last year has been affected by Covid19: wearing a mask in class and keeping social distance without touching anything was horrible. I would like to kindly remember our teacher Candido who is no longer with us, I specially remember when he pointed out a finger, shouting at us, during Chemistry class: “First signs, then numbers”.

I feel ready for a new life that is starting today! Thank you all and take care!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.