Science Fair Projects

Hello, mates! How is your long weekend going? This post is going to be very short. This week my secondary students presented their science fair projects, and it was amazing. I want to share with you some of their work.

I took some pictures, so I hope you enjoy it. 

Department of Italian 

Brazilian dishes

Geography projects

Art  projects

History 

The true story of the three little pigs

It was really nice how all the students explained their projects to their teachers and parents. You can really notice how much they enjoyed it. 

Have a nice week :) 

Stress Management

Hi there! How are you? Are you enjoying this beautiful hot weather? Summer is just around the corner, and so are the final exams.  I have already talked about how stressful exams can be. Today, I want to share with you some tips on how to cope with stress.

Get More Sleep

We all know that sleeping well is very important. If I don’t sleep well, I’m like a zombie all day. Apart from that, sleep deprivation puts me in a bad mood. Stress makes the things worse. Not being able to sleep because you are thinking of all the problems is quite frustrating. It is scientifically proven that by improving your sleep, you can help your stress levels.

Avoid Caffeine, Alcohol, and Nicotine.

Caffeine is well-known for blocking sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain. According to the national sleep foundation, “Once in the body, caffeine will persist for several hours: it takes about 6 hours for one half of the caffeine to be eliminated.” We all know that caffeine can cause insomnia and sometimes headaches. Now, add alcohol, nicotine and stress to the equation, and we have the formula for disaster. 

Get some fresh air

When we are overwhelmed by our problems, the best way to cope with this is a long walk. Walking can boost your immune system, and this is great for you. Ather Ali, assistant director of Complementary Medicine Research at the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center says: “Exercise leads to an increase in natural killer cells, neutrophils and monocytes, which ultimately increases immune function.” Did you know that stop and smell the roses can actually help? Flowers like lavender and jasmine can low anxiety. So, the next time you are feeling stressed out, go for a walk and get some fresh air.

Try Relaxation Techniques

If you write “relaxation techniques” on your computer, you will probably find different things.  Here I am going to talk about the one I use when I feel stressed. Meditation is the best way to disconnect with our reality. You just have to sit on the floor, close your eyes and repeat a positive mantra. It sounds corny, but it actually helps. Breathing is very important when you meditate.  Psychologist Judith Tutin, PhD, says, “Deep breathing counters the effects of stress by slowing the heart rate and lowering blood pressure.”  Laughing is another way to relax. Laughing lowers cortisol, your body’s stress hormone, and boosts endorphins, which help your mood. So, watch your favourite comedy show and relax a bit.

Talk to Someone

Sometimes by just talking to our best friends or a family member, we can change our mood. Stress is something we all suffer, so talking about what is happening will help to at least let it all out. Probably, the other person can help you by giving a piece of advice or just support. Just by externalising the problem you will feel less isolated. I think that sometimes having someone you can talk, and trust, is a good way to go through this life.

Interacting with animals

I know about this! Animals have a healing power. I think that’s the reason why I love them so much. Just by playing with your pet you can lower your stress. According to the Animal smart organization, in 2001 researchers found that pet-owning patients with high blood pressure could keep their blood pressure lower during times of mental stress than patients without pets. Dogs are especially great at making you feel good. In my life, I had only had one dog. His name was Alexis Denisof Lex Luthor Dean Winchester, and he lived more than fifteen years with us. The funny thing is that when he came to my life, I wasn’t looking for a pet. My brother found Lex and five of his brothers in a box in the street. I found families for all the puppies. Nobody wanted Lex because he was sick all the time. So, I decided to take care of him. Two years ago he was diagnosed with cancer, and at the beginning of this year he passed away. He was the best dog ever, and I missed him so much. So, I know that it’s true the healing power these animals have. I strongly believe that caring for a pet helps not only with stress but also with anxiety and depression.

Studies have found that:

• Playing with a dog or cat can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine, which calm and relax.
• People with dogs have lower blood pressure in stressful situations than those without pets. One study even found that when people with borderline hypertension adopted dogs from a shelter, their blood pressure declined significantly within five months.
• Pet owners have lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels (indicators of heart disease) than those without pets.

Lex and Peeta

There are many other ways to cope with stress. Stress is part of our life, but we have to remember that we are in control.

Have a great week! See you ;)

Links: 

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/stress-tips.html

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20765943,00.html

One country, many cultures

Hi there, mates! How are you doing? This is my post number 27, whoa! I love writing these posts. I really enjoy it. I think it's nice to have a space to share the things that we love.  I believe that we all have one thing in common: we are all Scottish. Now there are people out there going like, “He thinks we are all Scottish because we are reading this blog?” “Do I look Scottish?” “I knew it! I am not going to understand a word of this." Worry not. That was my obligatory Scottish reference. I have to say something Scottish otherwise some people might say: “He didn’t say anything Scottish. He is not in love with Scotland. What happened to our Scottish fan? Seriously, though, if you are reading this you are probably Scottish. You have “tendencies.” You have thought about it. Now people are going to say: “I have thought about it. Am I Scottish?  Is that how they get us?” No. I think the one thing we have in common is that we all love cultures. That is a beautiful thing.

I want to start this posts by asking something, do you like travelling?

Well, I love travelling. As you know, this year I travelled to Scotland. But this is not the only country that I visited. Apart from Scotland, I have been to Russia, Italy, Bolivia, Spain, Irland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Paraguay, Poland, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, France, China, Chile, Portugal and Lithuania.  I know what you are thinking…

Let me explain it.

Yesterday, I went to a fantastic event in Flores. This event was about the Korean culture in Buenos Aires. It was amazing.

Founded in 2009, Buenos Aires Celebra is a programme to support the celebration of national festivals in Buenos Aires. Communities as diverse as Polish, Austrian, Basque, Syrian, Scottish, Korean and Croatian take part, and the celebrations are usually held on the Avenida de Mayo, the city’s historic and civic centre.

I love these events because they give us the opportunity to share with other cultures. In Buenos Aires celebrates Korea lots of people, from different nationalities, joined together to celebrate this beautiful country. Nazca Avenue and Avellaneda were full of Argentine, Bolivian, Paraguayan, and Brazilian people eating kimchi, Teokboki, Japche and Bibimbab. People danced to the rhythm of  K-pop and played games like Hanbok, Neolttwigi, Jegichagi and Tuho.

Traditional bands like UheeNori (who came from Korea only for this event), Toray, Miss Kim and Nuripae gave their best to entertain the audience. There was a Korean traditional fashion show, too. Even the police officers in the event were Korean.

Hanbok Fashion Show 

Nuripae Samulnori 

It was like walking down the street of Seoul in summer. It was full of people, and when the show started, you couldn’t even move.

Every year I go to BA celebrates Scotland and Ireland, but this year I wanted to know other cultures, too. So, I decided to assist as many events of "BA Celebra" as I could. Let me tell you that every country put a lot of effort to prepare these celebrations. They always say how thankful they are with Argentina and its people.

You will learn a lot about immigration, culture and language. The best thing is that these events are in Buenos Aires. By the way, "BA Celebra" is totally free. 

So, you don’t have any excuse to visit Buenos Aires and learn about these fascinating countries.

Of course, there is a day when all the countries celebrate Argentina. This event is outstanding. 

So, if you really want to know about different countries and their cultures, without taking a plane, come to Buenos Aires and enjoy of its diversity. 

Here you have the next BA Celebra, I hope to see you there :) 

Have a great week :) 

If you want to learn more about BA Celebra you can visit: https://disfrutemosba.buenosaires.gob.ar/

Watch the language

Hello to you! Come on, settle down. You, coming in with your cup of tea, you're late. Obviously I can't see you, but if you WERE coming in with a cup of tea then, spooky/exciting moment!

So today’s post is going to be about something I wanted to write a long time ago: Tv shows.

I love watching different tv shows, when I can. Currently, I’m watching Once Upon A Time, TWD, FTWD, Grey’s Anatomy, Riverdale, Zoo, Z nation, I Zombie, GOT, The 100 and American Horror Story. So, I know what I’m talking about. But, If I have to choose a tv show that helped a lot to learn English was Buffy, The Vampire Slayer.  I wanted to read everything related to Buffy. I had the books of the show but they were all in English. So, this encouraged me to learn the language.

Right, onwards with the post, my friends.

If you want to improve your pronunciation, speak fluently and learn new vocabulary, you have to watch tv shows. Journalist Zak Hall gives us some tips for watching tv and learn English.

1.     Use this opportunity to improve your English speaking and pronunciation!

2.     If you are not confident enough in your English language skills, watch with the subtitles in English. Note: If you watch with subtitles in your own language you will not learn as much!

3.     Don’t be scared to rewind and pause the shows. This can be annoying at first, but once you get used to the language you will be able to follow the show much more easily.

4.     Keep a notebook next to you for any new expressions you hear.

So, what Tv shows should we be watching to improve our English?

Once Upon a Time

I love this show because we have all the characters we know in different situations. Snow White and Charming have a daughter that is a hero. Cricket, from Pinocchio, is a psychologist. Little red riding Hood works  in a dinner called “Granny.” 
Rumpelstiltskin is married to Belle. Captain Hook is in love with Snow’s daughter, Emma. Peter Pan is Rumpelstiltskin’s father. They all live together in a village called “Storybrooke.” If you love fairy tales and action, this is the show for you. The language is quite simple. So, you only have to enjoy and feel bewitched by this show.

Grey’s Anatomy

Patients shooting doctors, explosions, a plane crash, doctors getting stabbed by an icicle, people attacked by a lion, everything could happen in this tv show. If you think your favourite character is safe, he will probably die. The language is natural and easy to understand. This show is also good for learning idioms. If you like medicine and health, this show is for you.

Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives is a "You can't judge a book by its cover" kind of show. This show is full of drama, crimes and affairs. The show mixes mystery and comedy at the same time. These housewives go through different situations like a plane crash in a Christma party, tornado, shooting in a supermarket, cancer, and a housewife electrocuting herself. According to FluentU.com, “Desperate Housewives” may be one of the best American sitcoms to learn English because of its natural and unforced use of colloquial (every day) and idiomatic language. The show switches between formal and informal contexts and therefore, you’ll be able to improve your listening skills in a number of different situations. The language used is colorful and it can improve all levels of English and you’ll be able to hear popular sayings such as “it serves him right” and “I want to take a rain check.” (I want to miss this time because I have something to do).

Friends

I know Miss Racker is a huge fan of this show so I must add it to the list. “Friends” is one of the most famous sitcoms of all times. The tv show shows some real situations, so the language in it is simple and rich. Friends has10 seasons, 236 episodes that are around 25 minutes each. If you think about it, that is 86 hours of authentic, real-life learning experience. Watching sitcoms would improve your listening comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar skills. These kinds of shows would help to improve your cultural fluency.

 “Cultural Fluency is the correct use and exchange of the subtle cultural interpersonal currents of native communication, including both spoken and non-verbal forms.”

Bear in mind that passive watching won’t help you improve your English. You have to watch tv in an active way.  You can take notes, try to use the expressions in real life, copy the intonation, and try to analyse the sentences you would like to use. In this way, you can gain useful vocabulary, common expressions, and even grammar structures. 

Of course, you have tons of shows from what you can choose to learn English. The important thing is that you enjoy it. The process of learning a language is long, but if you are motivated, you can do it.

So, what is your favourite tv show to learn English? 

Have a nice week :) 

Links:

 https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/learn-english-american-sitcoms/

 https://reallifeglobal.com/why-you-should-learn-english-with-tv-series/