¿Por qué no ir a EEUU este verano…GRATIS?

Nos complace informarles sobre las Becas Benjamin Franklin ofrecidas por la Embajada de Estados Unidos para una estancia de un mes  en verano en EEUU para conocer la cultura estadounidense junto a jóvenes norteamericanos y de otras nacionalidades.

En una de las convocatorias anteriores una alumna del programa de Young Learners del IIE fue seleccionada para esta beca. Esperamos en esta ocasión tener la misma suerte.

Toda la información sobre la convocatoria la encontrarán  en este enlace o aquí:

Aquí tenéis una canción para felicitar el año nuevo en inglés con los alumnos de infantil y primaria. Here is  a song to say Happy New Year in English with kindergarten and primary kids.

Y esta canción puede gustar a los adolescentes y mayores. No os perdiáis la función “karaoke.” En esta página (inglesdivino) encontraréis un montón de canciones con vídeos, letras y karaoke en inglés. This song is better for teens and adults. Don’t miss the “karaoke” function!  This page (inglesdivino) is a great place to find songs with videos, lyrics and karaoke in English.

Las clases de Young Learners empiezan este miércoles 11/01/2012, y sábado 14/01/2012.  También hay una nueva clase, PROFICIENCY FOR TEENS para los adolescentes de nivel avanzado, los martes y jueves de 17:30 a 19:00h. ¡Nos vemos!

Young Learners classes start this Wednesday, January 11th and Saturday, January 14th. We also have a new class, PROFICIENCY FOR TEENS, for teens with an advanced level of English, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 17:30 to 19:00.  See you there!  Happy New Year!

Ofrecemos un mini-curso para adolescentes, llamado Profiency for Teens, donde los chicos y chicas entre 14 y 17 años con nivel avanzado trabajarán la pronunciación, el vocabulario y la comprensión y expresión oral a través de conversaciones, debates y presentaciones.

También hay cosas interesantes para los adultos (Dynamic Business English) y ¡para los mayores! Sí, por primera vez, vamos a ofrecer clases de conversación para los mayores de 55. Las clases se llaman Speaking from Experience, y podéis ver toda la información aquí:

No dudéis en apuntaros YA para el trimestre de invierno. Los alumnos acutales que se inscriban antes del 22 de diciembre tendrán un descuento.

Right after Thanksgiving, it was time to get ready for Christmas! Alicia’s class made Christmas cards and snowflakes, and are practicing Christmas carols. They are also reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson.

Patti’s group has been reading and learning the story of The Gingerbread Man:

It has been a busy trimester for all of the Young Learners classes. Don’t forget to sign up for next term this month! Classes start January 11th.

By Carmen Del Olmo Rosado

My grandparents have a very big house in the mountains, near a small village.

Everything started one winter evening. It was my grandfather’s birthday, and because of this, all my family was there.

We were having dinner when my grandmother realized that we had drunk all the wine, so she asked my father to go to the garden shed to get one more bottle.

My father went into the garden. It was very dark but he wasn’t afraid, it was his parents house, nothing could happen.

He entered the shed where my grandparents kept the food, and when he took the bottle he heard a noise. He looked around but he couldn’t see anything.

He returned to the house and we finished dinner. Then, everyone had to go back to their houses in Madrid, except my aunt, who was going to spend the night there with her husband.

Everyone had gone and my aunt went to bed, but my uncle wasn’t tired, so he stayed up.

My aunt was in bed when she heard a noise outside. She got up and looked out the window and saw the shed door slam shut.

She was really afraid and called her husband, but his mobile phone started ringing inside the house somewhere.

She didn’t know where her husband was, but she didn’t want to go outside.

Suddenly she heard voices in the garden, she looked outside and saw two shadows.

She was really scared, but she was also worried about her husband, so finally she went out with a flashlight and saw two men in the distance.

She run into the house to call the police, but when she was taking the phone, the door opened and her husband appeared in the doorway.

She explained to her husband how frightened she had been, and he told her that her brother, my father, forgot his bag and he had had to return to get it.

Suddenly the door flew opened and her brother came in.

By Pablo Rojas Castillo

I was on a field trip with my school visiting a forest just outside Madrid. The teachers said we could all go explore the forest but we must always stay with a friend, never alone. I went to the river with a friend and we swam for a while. The water was very cold and it was going very fast and my friend didn’t know swim very well. All of a sudden the water took my friend and he hit his head hard on a stone. He blacked out and floated lifelessly down the river. I was watching all of this and happen so fast right in front of my eyes. I tried to save him, but i couldn’t.

Before I went back to tell the teachers I heard them running toward the river. When they came to the river my best friend was there-swimming! Alive! He had only a cut by his eye and he was bleeding a little. My teachers took him to the hospital. I went home and I decided to go to sleep very early because I was exhausted. When I opened my bedroom door I saw my best friend lying in my bed. He was white and he said to me “You didn´t save me and now I´ll kill you”. I thought I was dreaming and that this wasn´t true. My best friend had a gun and he kept repeating “you didn´t save me I´ll kill you” faster and faster. I closed my eyes and when I open he was right next to me and he said “I told you, I´m going to kill you” and then he fired the gun. At that moment my mother opened my door and said “Good morning my love, remember you have a field trip to the forest today”…

By Guadalupe Díaz Iglesias

There was an old abandoned house in the village where Norah lived. It was at the top of a hill and some people said it was haunted and full of ghosts.

A long time ago it had been a farm but the owner had been killed by his own pigs. They had peeled off all his skin until he died, then they ate what was left of him.

Norah and her friends decided to spend their whole weekend there, just for fun. There were five of them: Norah, her boyfriend and three more friends. They got to the house on Friday night. It was raining outside and the night was cool and foggy. When they got in, they lit a fire and one of them decided to go and see what was on the top floor while Norah was making dinner. After an hour he was still upstairs and the others decided to go look for him. Suddenly someone screamed. Norah ran to see what was going on and saw her friend lying dead on the floor, his blood all over the walls and the ceiling. Someone had put an ax through his stomach. She ran out of there and, just when she had shut the door, she heard a great smashing sound from the floor above. Then the ceiling collapsed, trapping her and her friends. She saw Bill and Jane take their last breaths before dying.

Bill had been hit so hard his face was disfigured and Jane had been badly burned. Norah was terrified and could hardly breathe. She could hear her boyfriend looking for her, going downstairs to find her. When he did, she saw what he was carrying: a saw. He was  slowly coming closer and was smiling. She looked at him and started to cry.

“No, please, don’t! I love you!” she said, begging for mercy.

He looked at her one more time and answered:

“And I’d love to kill you”.

By Juan Lluvia

This story starts with a good man who has a happy family. One night he was sleeping at home. The next morning he appeared dead with a knife in his neck.

Fifty years later, a new family bought the house where the man had misteriously died. One night, one of the children awoke to see a man with a knife in his neck standing over his bed. He told her mother about it, but her mother it had only been a nightmare.

One week later the child was found dead, just like the man fifty years before with a knife in his neck. They realized that it wasn’t a coincidence and anybody returned to that house ever again.

From then on people called that house ” The Haunted House”.

THE END

By Marcos Sánchez Sardaña

Years ago, in the 60´s this school looked very much the same. It was a German school and many children and teenagers came here to learn German. The 31^st October was normal day but not for Luis ‘class. His class came to the school that day and students gave the lesson. There were six students but before the class finished, the teacher went crazy. Suddenly the teacher began to best a boy and finally he ate him. Luis and his classmates went to the exit but it was locked, they were caught, they were alone. Alex, one of the Luis ‘best friends said: “We are going to die!!” .And it was true. When they came around the corner they saw something. They looked up and saw the teacher on the ceiling, like a spider. After this they decided to try and talk to the director. When they arrived at the director’s office, the director was cutting bread with a knife, a great big knife!! They were frightened and just then the door slammed shut behind them. Only Luis and Alex escaped. In the room the people were shouting and blood ran out under the door. They began to run. The blood followed them and caught Alex and he turned into a zombie. He began to follow Luis and When Alex was just about to catch him, the director killed Alex. Luis wondered if the director was helping him or not but he didn’t stop to think about it. Luis ran and ran, He wanted to get out of the building and he went to the exit. The door was open. He went out and he was glad, he had been terrified. He walked out onto the sidewalk happy but just them a piano fell on him and killed him.

The Young Learners classes at the Institute had Halloween parties, which included some traditional games like Pin the Nose on the Jack-o’-Lantern (like Pin the Tail on the Donkey) spoon races (but with eyeballs instead of eggs!). Ghost Bowling was fun, with ghosts instead of bowling pins and pumpkins to roll instead of bowling balls. The kids also made some  crafts like masks, mummies in coffins, and lollipop ghosts. On Saturday, the teachers carved jack-o’-lanterns with their classes, too.

Some of the Young Learners 4, 5 and 6 students led the activities for the younger students, and they were a big help. Even the older kids joined in the  games. Everyone got to try some typical North American Halloween candy.

The Spooky Photo Booth was a big hit with students and teachers. Some students even lost their heads! Have a look:

They learned this song about the seasons:

Autumn into winter,

Winter into spring,

Spring turns into summer,

Everybody sing.

Kids’ Club students also read a library book and listened to a song about the life cycle of a pumpkin:

As we know, fall days get shorter and the nights get longer. But there are lots of things that make fall fun, like playing in the leaves, making pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns and celebrating Halloween!

Saturday mornings (10:15 – 1:15)

Here are some photos from the summer camp:

Working on a project

A walk in the Retiro

Summer fun in the garden