Tired of all those boring Christmas tv shows ? Why not watch a good detective story based on Agatha Christie's novel Hercule Poirot's Christmas ( subtitles in Spanish) ? An interesting story which will keep you guessing right up until the surprise ending !!!
Summary of the plot
On the night before Christmas, cruel, tyrannical, rich Simeon Lee is found in his locked bedroom with his throat cut (cuello cortado). Now Hercule Poirot must solve the case and prevent a clever killer from spilling (verter) more blood.
About the author
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history.She wrote 79 crime mysteries and collections, and saw her work translated in more languages than Shakespeare. She began writing at the end of the First World War, when she created Hercule Poirot,the little Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head(cabeza con forma de huevo) and the passion for order .Poirot and Miss Marple have appeared in films, radio programmes, tv series and stage plays based on her books.
In 1971, Agatha Christie achieved the highest honor possible to a woman in Britain when she was made Dame of the British Empire.
Dear students, from the Home English blog we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and pay homage to(rendir homenaje) our dear musician and song writer, John Lennon, who composed this beautiful and emotional song. We hope you enjoy it!
Playing for Change is a global movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. Watch this inspiring video of the song "What A Wonderful World" featuring Grandpa Elliott with children's choirs across the globe.
Below are the words of the song . Join in the fun and sing along ! ( Únete a la diversión y canta con ellos)
I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom (florecer) , for me and you. And I think to myself,what a wonderful world.(Y me digo a mi mismo , qué mundo tan maravilloso) I see skies of blue, and clouds of white. The bright blessed day,( el luminoso y bendito día) the dark sacred night ( la oscura y sagrada noche). And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow (arcoiris) , so pretty in the sky. Are also on the faces, of people going by, I see friends shaking hands (veo amigos dándose la mano) . Saying, "How do you do?" They're really saying, "I love you". I hear babies cry, I watch them grow .They'll learn much more ,than I'll ever know.( Oigo a los bebés llorar, los veo crecer, ellos aprenderán mucho más de lo que yo nunca sabré).
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world. ...oh yeah !
There are some traditional dishes that will always be associated with special occasions and cannot be improved: roast turkey(pavo asado)with stuffing (con relleno) at Christmas is one of them. A meal to satisfy the hungriest person!
No Christmas in Britain is complete without a traditional roast turkey, accompanied by mountains of roast potatoes. But be prepared to wake up early on Christmas Day, because you will need all morning to cook it. And the bigger it is, the longer it takes to cook. The secret to a great Christmas meal, apart from a good quality turkey, is delicious stuffing, a large variety of vegetables and lots of tasty (sabroso) gravy.(salsa hecha con el jugo de la misma carne)
Ingredients for 10 people
For the turkey
10 lb turkey
10 rashers(lonchas) of bacon
butter
mixed herbs
salt and pepper
For the fruity stuffing(relleno afrutado)
turkey liver(hígado)
1 medium onion, chopped(cortar en pequeños trozos)
1 clove of garlic(un diente de ajo)
10 slices (rebanada) of bread, without crusts(crosta)soaked(puesta en remojo) with milk
½ c. dried apricots(albaricoques secos) chopped
½ c. dates,(dátiles) chopped
½ c. flaked almonds(almendras en láminas)
1 glass sweet wine
tsp coriander powder(cilantro en polvo)
salt and pepper
Note on British measures:
lb = 1 pound = 453g
tsp = 1 teaspoon(22) = 5ml
c = 1 cup = 240ml
Instructions for the stuffing
Finely chop the onion and garlic and cut the liver into small pieces. Fry the onion, and when it begins to turn golden, add the garlic. After a minute, add the liver, salt, pepper and coriander. When the liver changes colour, pour(vierte) in the wine, simmer(hierve a fuego lento) for a minute and remove (retira) from the heat.(fuego) Mix with the rest of the ingredients and stuffthe turkey.
Instructions for the turkey
Preheat the oven to 375ºF/190ºC. Rub(frota) the turkey with salt, pepper, herbs and butter and place breast(la pechuga) side down(hacia abajo) on a baking tray(bandeja para horno). Cover loosely (sin apretar) with aluminium foil and transfer to the oven – it will need 18 minutes for every pound. Baste(rocia con su jugo durante la cocción) frequently to stop the skin(piel) burning. Remove the foil an hour before the turkey is cooked. Half an hour before it is done, place the bacon over the turkey. You can test if it is cooked with a sharp knife – the juices have to be clear.
Watch this video to see other different ways for stuffing the Christmas turkey.
For the past 25 years, Anthony Griffith has performed throughout the world on stage, television and the big screen . In 2003 he participated in "Moth Stories" ( a nonprofit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling) where Anthony shared a heartbreaking story about the death of his daughter in 1990.
This is how the story starts:
Charles Dickens classic A Tale Of Two Cities starts off with a phrase "It was the best of times and it was the worst of times". In 1990 I moved from Chicago with my family to L.A to seek my fame and fortune and a couple of weeks of being there I got two important calls. One was from the tele-coordinator from "Tonight's Show " , offering me to have a spot as a comedian on "Tonight's show" and the second call was that my daughter's doctor had called to say that her cancer had resurfaced...
Christmas is a jolly (feliz) time of year; it is a time to celebrate and be merry (contentos) especially with family and friends. There are parties and holidays to enjoy, and these days the company or work Christmas party can be a significant event at this time of year. But is the company Christmas party like the other parties you enjoy with friends and/or family during Christmastime? Even though (aunque) there is usually music, decorations, a casual dress code, food and alcohol, work parties are not the best moment to let your hair down (soltarse la melena) and get drunk, because they are still business functions before anything else. In order for the office party experience to be a successful one, you need to moderate your drinking and your behaviour (comportamiento) so that you stay in control. After all, you don’t want to do anything too embarrassing (vergonzoso) that you will regret (arrepientas) the next day at work when you have to face (encontrarte de cara) your boss and all your workmates.
However, it’s not all bad news. While Christmas parties are first and foremost (en primer lugar) business functions, they are also social occasions. You can always use a situation like the annual party to help advance your career by showing that you know how to handle yourself in these situations and by taking the time to talk to bosses and other colleagues, when you might not normally have the opportunity to do so. So, here are some tips to help you make the most (aprovechar al máximo) of company Christmas parties and have a positive, even fruitful (provechosa), experience.
Below are just a few possible conversation starters to help you at this year’s and future Christmas parties.
THE DECORATIONS
So, what do you think of the decorations?
Aren’t the decorations great/pretty?
They did a good job with the decorations this year, didn’t they?
THE FOOD These hors d’ouevres are delicious, aren’t they?
Mmm. The food looks good, doesn’t it?
So, have you tried the pâté//guacamole/cheese snacks yet?
THE MUSIC
The band is good isn’t it?
The DJ is excellent isn’t it she/he?
The music is great. Do you think you’ll dance later?
THE PARTY
Wow, there are a lot of/not many people here this year, aren’t there?
This is a nice/beautiful place to have the party, don’t you think?
Hi. Are you enjoying the party?
CHRISTMAS
Christmas is a crazy/wonderful time of year, isn’t it?
So, how’s your Christmas shopping going? Have you started/finished yet?
So, are you spending Christmas here or away?
So, are you taking some time off over Christmas?
Hopefully some of these tips will help you have an enjoyable and possibly beneficial time at your next work Christmas function. After all, Christmas only comes one a year…
No, you can have turkey (pavo) like everyone else!
- What Christmas carol is a favourite of parents?
“Silent Night” .
- What do you call people who are afraid of Santa?
Claus-trophobic .
- What do monkeys sing at Christmas?
Jungle Bells.
-When you stop believing in Santa Claus is when you start getting clothes for Christmas.
A multi-national company held a reception to celebrate Christmas. The waiter gave each guest a glass of champagne, but on inspection, each guest noticed that their glass contained a fly (mosca) .
The Swede asked for new champagne in the same glass.
The Englishman demanded to have new champagne in a new glass.
The Finn picked out the fly out and drank the champagne.
The Russian drank the champagne, fly and all.
The Chinese ate the fly but left the champagne.
The Israeli caught the fly and sold it to the Chinese.
The Italian drank two thirds of the champagne and then demanded to have a new glass.
The Norwegian took the fly and went off to fish.
The Irishman ground (p.p. de "grind" moler) the fly and mixed it in the champagne, which he then donated to the Englishman
The American sued (demandó) the restaurant and claimed $50 million in compensation.
The Scotsman grabbed the fly by the throat and shouted, 'Now spit out all that you swallowed.' (escupe lo que te has tragado) .
Are you struggling (te cuesta) to express your wishes (deseos) in English for all those Christmas cards you are going to send by email for all your English speaking friends this Christmas? Do you want to make it an extra special Christmas for them? Well, don’t panic, because Home English has come to the rescue (ha venido a rescatarte). In our first December post, we have everything you need to know about expressing wishes, so that you can express your desires when you write your Christmas cards. We have also included a brief (breve) history of the first Christmas card.
I Hope
a. Present Tense after I hope
It is common to use the present tense with a future meaning after I hope. The most typical construction when you use hope is: I hope + subject pronoun + verb. Here are some examples:
I hope + present verb tense
I hope you have a great time in Reykjavik.
I hope she has better luck in 2006.
I hope we can see Björk perform live on New Year’s Day.
I hope I see all my cousins on Christmas Day.
I hope all Iceland’s Father Christmases bring some wonderful presents before Christmas.
2. May
May is also used to express hopes and wishes. It is followed by an infinitive without ‘to’, and this expression is usually found in formal contexts. Pay attention to the following examples:
May + rest of the sentence subject + infinitive without ‘to’
May you enjoy many years of happiness in Iceland.
May the coming days bring you lots of love and peace.
May the New Year be a wonderful one for you and your family.
3. I Wish
Another popular way to express your desires is through the expression I wish. The word order is: wish + object pronoun + second object. We can see this in the examples below:
wish + object pronoun + object
I wish you a Merry Christmas.
We all wish you a quick recovery.
Wishing you all the best in your new job.
The First Christmas Card
The idea for Christmas cards originated in London in 1843, when Sir Henry Cole (founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum) decided to commission (encargar) John Horsley to paint a card showing a family enjoying a Christmas feast, with two scenes on the sides showing the feeding (comida) and clothing of the poor. Sir Henry thought that printing (imprimir) Christmas cards was a good solution to giving a seasonal (estacional) message to all the people he knew. Around 1,000 of these cards were printed with the message “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to You”.
Finally you can watch a very educative video on how to make a decorative Christmas Card
Jamaican cuisine is a reflection of the island’s culture – colourful, varied,
fruity and relaxed. It has been taken techniques and ingredients from West
Africa, England, Spain, India and China to create a distinctive national style.
People like to eat well and leisurely (sin prisas)– and enjoy big portions. You can eat
fried red snapper,(pargo colorado -un pez rojo-)lamb patties, goat (cabra ) curry with mountains of rice, and drink
tropical fruit juice with local rum. Be prepared for an incredible culinary
experience!
Ackee and Saltfish (pescado salado) for Breakfast
Jamaican breakfast
For most Jamaicans there is no better way ( no hay mejor forma de ) to
start the day than a breakfast of saltcod (bacalao salado ) with fried ackee. This unusual
fruit, originally from West Africa, looks and tastes like scrambled eggs ( huevos revueltos )
when it is cooked! And to accompany it there are usually fried dumplings (bola de masa hervida para servir con guisos) and
plantains ( llantén) and a glass of carrot juice or tropical fruit juice. After all
this it must be difficult to start work! Visitors will also want to try a
cup of Blue Mountain coffee, the best coffee in the world according to connoisseurs.
Patties
Patties.
The perfect snack at any time of the day,
the Jamaican patty will give you all the energy you need for sightseeing. Patties are pies filled with minced(picado) lamb, chicken or vegetable and
lots of chillies and other spices. You can find them in stands (puesto) on the
street, and every Jamaican will be happy to recommend his favourite patty stand
if you ask him or her!
Jerk
Pork and Chicken
Jerk
is probably the best known style of Jamaican cooking and definitely one of the
tastiest. It is a dry seasoning (aliño) mixture rubbed (frotado) directly into pork,
chicken or fish. You can also combine it with water to create a marinade. It is
made with a variety of spices, including allspice,(pimienta de jamaica ) which gives it its
distinctive flavour, cloves ,(clavo ) garlic, onion, ginger and thyme.(tomillo) Every
cook uses his or her own combination, which have been in the family for
generations. Ensure ( asegurate ) you have a glass of cold
beer nearby, because it is one of the hottest dishes you will probably
ever try!
Rice and
“Peas” on the Side (para acompañar)
And what do the
locals eat with their pork or chicken jerk and most of their other meals? They
usually have a combination of rice and red kidney beans,(frijoles ) which they call
“peas”. These are also cooked with various spices. Lots
of boiled yams ( batata ) and sweet potatoes are also responsible for the large
waistlines (cintura ) of many Jamaican women!
Red Stripe and Rum
The
most popular and famous beer in Jamaica and the brand (marca ) that Jamaicans are
proud of is Red Stripe. It has the nickname(apodo) “the policeman” . Locals also like stout.(cerveza negra ) They drink Guinness and local brands like
Dragon Stout. Because of the island’s history as a producer of sugar, it is no
surprise that it produces excellent rums, including Appleton and Myers. Local
men prefer to drink it neat,(solo) but it is also delicious combined with some of
the tropical fruit juices to make cocktails. After a hard day on the beach, you
will definitely deserve one!
The Tudors is a historical fiction television series set primarily in England, filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series, named after the Tudor dinasty, is loosely based upon the reign of King Henry VIII of England.
Season One chronicles the period of Henry VIII's reign in which his effectiveness (eficacia) as king is tested by international conflicts as well as political intrigue in his own court, while the pressure of fathering (ser padre) a male heir (heredero) compels (le obliga) him to reject (rechazar) his wife, Katherine of Aragon, in favour of Anne Boleyn. He also has a string of affairs and fathers an illegitimate son with his mistress, Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount. The son, Henry FitzRoy, later dies.
Season Two finds Henry as the head of the Church of England, the result of his break (ruptura) with the Catholic Church over its refusal to grant him a divorce from Katherine. During his battle with Rome, he secretly marries a pregnant Anne, who later gives birth to his second daughter Elizabeth I. Anne's own failure to produce a son dooms (condena) her as Henry's attention shifts toward (cambia a favor de) Jane Seymour.
Season Three focuses on Henry's marriages to Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, the birth of his son Edward VI, his ruthless (implacable) suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace, the downfall (caída) of Thomas Cromwell, and the beginnings of Henry's relationship with the free-spirited (espíritu libre) Katherine Howard. Henry reconciles with his daughters Mary and Elizabeth.
Season Four focuses on Henry's ill-fated marriage to Katherine Howard and his final, more congenial, marriage to Katherine Parr. The ageing (envejecido) king seeks military glory by capturing Boulogne, France. In his final hours, he is troubled by the ghosts of his dead wives.
If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? You will have great fun while you learnt about a very important stage of the History of England.
When Greta Garbo began her acting career in the 1920s, films were still silent. Garbo . She was an international star, but her audience had never heard her speak. In fact,( de hecho) movies with sound, or ‘talkies’ as they were known at the time, destroyed the careers of many silent movie actors. American audiences sometimes could not understand actors speaking English with a foreign accent, and sometimes they disliked the sound of an actor’s voice. It was a big risk for Garbo, with her heavy Swedish accent and husky (ronca ) voice, to appear in a talkie. Her first talkie was Anna Christie, released in 1930. The studio had selected the role very carefully, and it was appropriate for Garbo’s character to have an accent. By this time, everyone wanted to hear the sound of her voice, and the movie was publicised with the slogan ‘Garbo Talks!’. Audiences across America loved it. Garbo was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress, although she did not win, and in fact Garbo herself hated her performance in the film.
Greta Garbo's first "talkie"
Hollywood Queen
From 1930 to 1941, Garbo reigned supreme in Hollywood. Audiences loved her glamour and beauty, and the studio publicity system, plus her own natural reticence, combined to create the enigma of the mysterious Swedish beauty. Garbo did not like visitors to come to the set of the film, and in fact when her close-up shots (primeros planos ) were filmed, she even asked the director to leave the set. She said that if people watched her, she felt like ‘a woman making faces for the camera’. To ‘make a face’ means to adopt unnatural or exaggerated expressions. With people watching her act, Garbo felt self-conscious, but with privacy, she could create magical performances.
One of her greatest successes was Queen Christina (1933). Garbo played the eccentric seventeenth century Swedish monarch, and the male lead was her ex-lover John Gilbert. Gilbert’s career had suffered with the arrival of sound. He had a thin, weak voice that did not fit with this image of a strong, manly romantic lead. Garbo made a special request to work with Gilbert in this film, and it contains several memorable scenes. Audiences thought she was charming, and the movie made her more popular than ever.
Retirement and Seclusion
After Queen Christina, Garbo appeared in several comedies. Her last film was another comedy, Two-Faced Woman (1941). This was not a success, and afterwards Garbo could not find another film script that she liked. As the years passed, she became reluctant to return to the screen. She bought an apartment in New York, and spent a lot of time travelling the world as part of a glamorous group, including tycoon Aristotle Onassis. She also enjoyed her life at home in New York. She had a garden where she grew fruit and vegetables, and she used to walk in Central Park wearing large sunglasses.
Garbo never forgot her early years living in poverty. She had invested her money very wisely and lived frugally, so she stayed a very rich woman. She never married, although she was rumoured to have had many affairs with both men and women. She died in 1990, at the age of 84. However, in her films, Garbo never grew old. Her image is of a woman who is both sophisticated and vulnerable, aloof (distante) but capable of great passion and profound emotions. She is a true icon of the cinema, unique and unforgettable.(inolvidable)
You probably know several words that are similar in English and in Spanish but whose meanings are completely different in each of these languages. For example, embarazado and ‘embarrassed’ sound similar in Spanish and in English, but for a Spanish speaker it would be funny to hear an English boy say Estoy embarazado, when what he really wants to say is “I’m embarrassed” (that is, Estoy avergonzado). To avoid (evitar) these pitfalls,(dificultades) in this post we are investigating common false friends between English and Spanish.
Have a look at the video below.
The main reason for false friends appearing between English and Spanish is that both languages have many words that derive from Latin. The Spanish language is essentially a Romance language whose words are mainly Latin-based.English is a Germanic language, which means that most of its words have a Germanic origin, but it also has many Latin words that were introduced into the English language during the Renaissance, due to (debido a) direct contact between English and Latin, or though contact with other Latin-based languages, such as French or Italian.When Latin words were introduced into English, sometimes they would keep the original meaning, but in other instances (ejemplos) the original meaning would evolve and the word would take a new connotation or a completely different meaning for English speakers. For example, the cognate pair of the Spanish recordar and English record are both derived from the Latin verb recordari, which has the basic meaning to remember. In Spanish it has maintained this meaning while the English verb record can be translated as either registrar, grabar or inscribir. Another interesting example is the way the Spanish language has modified the meaning of the borrowed English word parking. In the English language, it is the activity of leaving your car somewhere, such as on the side of a road or street, whilst (mientras que) in the Spanish language a parking is a car park.
Other False Friends
In the ten word pairs below, we note the different meanings that occur in the similarly spelt words in English and Spanish. In each of the following sentences. Have a look at them and see how tricky (tramposos) they can be
1. Spanish decepción vs English deception
Decepción means ‘disappointment’, while deception means engaño.
· La exposición resultó una verdadera decepción. [The exhibition was a real disappointment.]
· He obtained everything by deception. [Lo obtuvo todo mediante engaño.]
2. Spanish desgracia vs English disgrace
Desgracia means ‘misfortune’, while disgrace means ‘shame’(vergüenza) or ‘dishonour’.
· En la desgracia se conoce a los amigos. [When things get bad you find out who your real friends are.]
· His conduct brought disgrace on his family. [Su conducta trajo la deshonra a la familia.]
3. Spanish eventualmente vs English eventually
Eventualmente means ‘temporarily’ while eventually means ‘finally’.
Trabajó eventualmente como secretaria. [She worked temporarily as a secretary.]
He looked for his glasses for two hours and, eventually, he realised he was wearing them. [Buscó las gafas durante dos horas y, finalmente, se dio cuenta de que las llevaba puestas.]
4. Spanish molestar vs English molest
Molestar means ‘to bother’ or ‘upset’, while molest means ‘to sexually abuseharass’ or ‘to annoy someone continually’.
· ¿No te molesta este ruido? [Doesn’t that noise bother you?]
· The woman was molested by her boss. [El jefe abusaba acosaba sexualmente de a la mujer.]
5. Spanish simpático vs English sympathetic
Simpático means ‘nice’, while sympathetic translates as compasivo or comprensivo.
· Mario es tan simpático que cae bien a todo el mundo. [Mario is so nice that everybody likes him.]
· When Mrs. Peterson lost her house, the Johnsons offered her their house. That was very sympathetic of them. [Cuando la mujer perdió su casa, los Johnson le ofrecieron su casa. Fue muy compasivo de su parte.]
6. Spanish regular vs English regular
· Regular means ‘not very good’, while regular is equivalent to frecuente or normal.
¿Qué tal la película? Regular. [How was the movie? Nothing special.]
· Don’t be surprised, that’s a regular occurrence. [No te sorprendas, eso es muy frecuente.]
7. Spanish largo vs English large
Largo means ‘long’, while large translates as grande or importante.
· Es un río muy largo. [The river is very long.]
· Jack and Jill have a large garden. [Jack y Jill tienen un jardín grande.]
8. Spanish quieto vs English quiet
Quieto means ‘still’, while quiet translates as callado.
· El soldado permaneció quieto, esperando las órdenes del.sargento. [The soldier stood still, waiting for his sergeant’s instructions.]
· The teacher asked the students to be quiet and listen to him. [El profesor pidió a los alumnos que se callaran y le escucharan.]
9. Spanish pretender vs English pretend
Pretender means ‘to intend’ or ‘to aspire to’, while pretend translates as fingir.
· ¿Qué pretendes hacer? [What do you intend doing?]
· He pretended he hadn’t seen us. [Fingió que no nos había visto.]
10. Spanish aviso vs English advice
Aviso means ‘warning’, while advice translates as consejo.
· En la botella había un aviso para que se manipulara el producto con cuidado. [On the bottle there was a warning to handle the product with care.]
· I followed your advice and everything worked out perfectly. [Seguí tu consejo y todo salió perfecto.]
In 1923, Greta met a famous Swedish director, Mauritz Stiller. Stiller gave her a lead role ( papel protagonista) in his latest film. The film was four hours long, and was called The Saga of Gosta Berling. Stiller became a mentor and teacher to Greta, and they began a romantic relationship too. He taught Greta how to act on screen, and when the film was released(estrenada ) in 1924 it was a success. Stiller persuaded Greta to change her name from Greta Lovisa Gustafsson to Greta Garbo.
Greta Garbo in Torrent.
Stiller went to the United States to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a director. He asked the studio to offer Garbo a contract too. Louis B. Meyer, the head of the studio, thought Garbo was fat and unattractive. However, he wanted to make Stiller happy, so Garbo got a contract too.
Her first US film was Torrent (1926). Garbo played the role of a Spanish peasant who becomes an opera star. Meyer discovered that although Garbo looked unattractive in real life, on the screen she looked very beautiful and had real talent as an actress. She also had a very professional attitude to her work, working very hard. The film was a great success.
But Mauritz Stiller did not have such good luck. He began work directing Garbo’s next film, The Temptress (1926), but he had a lot of arguments( discusiones) with the studio and was replaced by another director. Stiller returned to Sweden in 1928, and he died soon afterwards. His death was devastating for Garbo.
The Romantic Lead
In her next film, Garbo met an actor who was one of the great loves of her life, and of her career. John Gilbert was the most popular male film star at the time. Garbo and Gilbert starred in Flesh and the Devil (1926), and the rumours of their off-screen romance helped to create interest in the film. When it was released, the film broke box-office records ( rompió récord de taquilla) .
The couple also starred in Love (1927), with Garbo playing the part of Anna Karenina. Once again, the film was a great success, and Garbo was a superstar. She renegotiated her contract with MGM, and was paid a lot of money for her work. Sadly, her relationship with John Gilbert was not so successful. The couple planned to get married, but Garbo changed her mind at the last minute and left Gilbert standing at the altar.( le dejó plantado en el altar)
Watch this documentary (Subtitles in Spanish) about Greta Garbo's life narrated by actress Glenn Close. Excellent listening practice !
‘I want
to be alone’.(sola )
Hollywood legend Greta Garbo is famous for saying these words. The idea of a
woman who preferred solitude rather than company fitted (encajaba ) perfectly with her image as a
glamorous, beautiful and unattainable(inalcanzable) film star. But in fact, she never said those words. What
she actually said was ‘I want to be left alone’. That sentence means that she
disliked the publicity and the attention that is part of the life of a movie
star. So, unlike( a diferencia de ) most film stars, Garbo was ‘left
alone’. She did not give interviews, or
attend premieres of her films. She did not sign autographs, or reply to letters from
fans. She made her last film in 1941,
then lived almost as a recluse for the next 49 years of her life. However,(sin embargo )
in spite of ( pese a )
her desire to be left alone, Greta Garbo is still one of the most famous movie
stars of all time.
Born in Poverty
Greta Lovisa Gustafsson was born in
Stockholm in Sweden on September 18th, 1905 into a poor family. She
was the youngest of three children. She had one older brother, Sven, and an
older sister, Alva. The family were Lutherans, the traditional religion in
Sweden. Greta was very close to her father, an unskilled labourer (obrero no cualificado) who was often unemployed. When Greta was 13, her father
became seriously ill. Every week she used to take him to the charity clinic, and they had to wait for hours for treatment. Sadly, when Greta was 14 years old, her father died. He was only 48 years old.
Greta had to leave school and get a job in
order to earn money to help the family. Her first job was in a barber’s. Then,
she got a job in a large department store ( grandes almacenes) in Stockholm, where she worked
selling hats.
In 1920, Greta was asked to appear as a model
in some newspaper advertisements (anuncio) for the department store where she
was working. She also got her first film role, in a promotional film for the store, called Mr and Mrs Stockholm Go Shopping.
Greta began to think that modelling and acting might be a good way to earn some money. In 1922, she left her job in the department
store to concentrate on acting. She met a film director, who offered her a part
in a feature film called Peter the Tramp. In
the same year, she began to study at drama school in Stockholm. Her career as
an actress had begun.
Skyfall is the twenty-third spy film in the James Bond series, it features Daniel Craig's third performance (actuación) as James Bond, and Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the film's villain. The film was directed by Sam Mendes and written by John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.
In the film Bond investigates an attack on MI6; it transpires (resulta) that it is part of an attack on M by former MI6 operative, Raoul Silva. The film sees the return of two recurring (recurrentes) characters after an absence of two films: Q, played by Ben Whishaw, and Miss Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris. Skyfall was the last film of the series for Judi Dench who played M; a role which she had played in the previous six films. The position is subsequently filled by Ralph Fiennes' character, Gareth Mallory.
Mendes was approached to direct the film after the release of Quantum of Solace in 2008. Production was suspended when MGM encountered financial troubles, and did not resume until December 2010; during this time, Mendes remained (permaneció) attached (ligado) to the project as a consultant. The original screenwriter, Peter Morgan, left the project during the suspension. When production resumed (reanudó), Logan, Purvis and Wade continued writing what became the final version of the script, whilst (mientras) incorporating Morgan's ideas. Filming (el rodaje) began in November 2011, and primarily took place in the United Kingdom, China and Turkey
Here you have the trailer and don't miss the great role of Javier Bardem in the film.
It's time to play the game show What's that word ? !! The host will say a word and the contestants have to press their buzzer and say the opposite. The contestant who says the most opposite words correctly wins the game. But first you need to learn some adjectives !! Watch the first part of the video and fill in the gaps with the correct opposite adjective.
It's Halloween time and the first thing that comes to my mind is HORROR, but not necessarily the horror has to be scary, in this post we would like to remember one of the most thrilling movies and musicals ever. If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for?
A story of creation, love, hate, adventure, and, most of all, sex; the story begins in Denton, Ohio as Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, after getting engaged, they travel to see "the man who began it," but wind up (terminan) at the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite alien from the planet of Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. And they meet Riff Raff, Magenta, and Columbia which leads (lleva) to "doing the Time Warp again!" They discover they have been there on a "special night." Frank's creation is to be born! As Rocky has been revealed (desvelado), rebel Eddie, Frank's last-recent creation, ponders in on his motorcycle whom Frank kills. In comes Dr. Everett Von Scott, he's come for Eddie which results in the discovery of Eddie's deceased (muerto) body. Frank chases Janet and Brad and Dr. Scott chase Frank which results in everybody (but Frank) getting frozen (congelado). Enter the floor show which then turns into the horrifying death of both Frank and Columbia die and the castle's blasting off (despega) Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott survive and leave (se marchan) with torn clothes (ropas rasgadas) and battered (maltrecho/herido) bodies
Here you can sing one of the most famous songs of the movie.
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