Dubbing Project

Students of Bachillerato, here is an engaging, collaborative project that will give you up to 1.5 points in your third term English evaluation. Make sure that you follow the instructions carefully and that you make your work public in the way specified. Let's get dubbing!

Instructions (2nd BACH)

Instructions (1st BACH)

Seeds Of Peace / Peace poem

­­PEACE                                                                             Paz

If we must celebrate the Day of Peace,                       Se imos celebrar o día da paz

We first should define what peace is.                       Definindo tal palabra teremos que comezar.

‘Is peace the absence of wars, dad?’                     “¿É a paz a ausencia de guerras, papa?”

The innocent child to his father asks.                       O neno inocente pregunta ó seu pai.

‘You are not far from right’, says the man;             “non estás lonxe da verdade”, dí o home;

‘But many more things come to my mind.             “Pero moitas outras cousas me fas pensar.

Peace is, my darling, the absence of fights;            Paz é, meu neno, a ausencia de violencia;

But battles there are of many kinds,                       pero moitos otros tipos de batallas hai,

Which are not often named like that.                     Ás que non lles damos nome tal.

Or isn't it brutality that many children die                 ou non é brutalidade que moitos nenos morran

For war, disease or often  they starve,                    por guerras, enfermidade ou mesmo de fame,

While a few people in the world                               mentres unha pouca xente no mundo,

Feel only happy when they have vast amounts?       só sente felicidade acumulando fortunas grandes?                                                                                                                                                                                                              

And the more they have, more they want               e canto máis teñen, máis parecen necesitar

Because whatever the total, it’s never enough.       Pois nunca lles parece suficiente

                                                                             Por moito que cheguen a xuntar.

Or isn't it violence that the power we bestow        ¿E non é violencia que o poder que outorgamos                                                                                                                     

Our representatives in the polls                                os nosos representantes nas urnas

Comes against us in the form of a law,                     se vólva contra nos en forma de lei,

Which, instead of protecting us from the powerful,   que, en vez de nos protexer fronte ós Poderosos,

                                                                                           

Grants them absolute power upon us,                      concédelles a estes poder absoluto sobre nos;

Protecting their property and investments             protexendo as súas propiedades e inversións,

Even if the humble are left with none,                  ainda que os humildes se queden sen nada,

Paying with sheer treason the confidence            pagándonos con pura traición a confianza

On them laid by their employers and voters?’     que neles puxemos os votantes nas eleccións?”

Or isn't it injustice, a small thief for a piece of bread,   ¿Ou non é inxustiza que un pobre que roube pan,

                                                                                        

Going to prison for years long                                    vaia ó cárcere por longos anos

While authorities stealing from us millions,           mentres as autoridades que nos rouban millóns

Hardly ever pay their wrong?’                                    case nunca pagan pola súa infracción?”

‘So, father, are we at war?’                                       “Entón, meu pai ¿estamos en guerra ou non?

‘Not at war, my child,                                                   “Non en guerra, fillo, non,

But for many things we must peacefully fight.   Pero por moitas cousas temos que loitar.

Peace won’t be complete until we have                A paz non sera completa ata que teñamos

Justice, freedom and equality                                    xustiza, liberdade e igualdade

Which we must get                                                         que debemos conseguir

Through solidarity and respect                                   mediante a solidariedade e o respecto

Among all the members of a society                       entre todos os membros de cada sociedade

Among all the societies in the world.                       Entre todas as sociedades do mundo.

Arturo Neira (English Teacher)  Written last year for Day of Peace.

Discurso Final El Gran Dictador con vídeo

Here you are The Great Dictator's Speech.  You will see it is very up-to-date.  Actually, we would like it to be very old-fashined.

Aquí tedes o discurso final do filme O Gran Dictador, de Charles Chaplin.  En realidade, gustaríanos que non fose tan actual.

Video Youtube do discurso

The Great Dictator's Speech

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery, that gives abundance, has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost....
 The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. .....
Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!
In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Lo siento.
Pero yo no quiero ser emperador. Ese no es mi oficio, sino ayudar a todos si fuera posible. Blancos o negros. Judíos o gentiles. Tenemos que ayudarnos los unos a los otros; los seres humanos somos así. Queremos hacer felices a los demás, no hacernos desgraciados. No queremos odiar ni ayudar a nadie. En este mundo hay sitio para todos y la buena tierra es rica y puede alimentar a todos los seres. El camino de la vida puede ser libre y hermoso, pero lo hemos perdido. La codicia ha envenenado las armas, ha levantado barreras de odio, nos ha empujado hacia las miserias y las matanzas.
Hemos progresado muy deprisa, pero nos hemos encarcelado a nosotros mismos. El maquinismo, que crea abundancia, nos deja en la necesidad. Nuestro conocimiento nos ha hecho cínicos. Nuestra inteligencia, duros y secos. Pensamos demasiado, sentimos muy poco.
Más que máquinas necesitamos más humanidad. Más que inteligencia, tener bondad y dulzura.
Sin estas cualidades la vida será violenta, se perderá todo. Los aviones y la radio nos hacen sentirnos más cercanos. La verdadera naturaleza de estos inventos exige bondad humana, exige la hermandad universal que nos una a todos nosotros.
Ahora mismo, mi voz llega a millones de seres en todo el mundo, millones de hombres desesperados, mujeres y niños, víctimas de un sistema que hace torturar a los hombres y encarcelar a gentes inocentes. A los que puedan oirme, les digo: no deseperéis. La desdicha que padecemos no es más que la pasajera codicia y la amargura de homres que temen seguir el camino del progreso humano.
El odio pasará y caerán los dictadores, y el poder que se le quitó al pueblo se le reintegrará al pueblo, y, así, mientras el Hombre exista, la libertad no perecerá.
Soldados.
No os entreguéis a eso que en realidad os desprecian, os esclavizan, reglamentan vuestras vidas y os dicen qué tenéis que hacer, qué decir y qué sentir.
Os barren el cerebro, os ceban, os tratan como a ganado y como carne de cañón. No os entreguéis a estos individuos inhumanos, hombres máquina, con cerebros y corazones de máquina.
Vosotros no sois ganado, no sois máquinas, sois Hombres. Lleváis el amor de la Humanidad en vuestros corazones, no el odio. Sólo lo que no aman odian, los que nos aman y los inhumanos.
Soldados.
No luchéis por la esclavitud, sino por la libertad. El el capítulo 17 de San Lucas se lee: “El Reino de Dios no está en un hombre, ni en un grupo de hombres, sino en todos los hombres…” Vosotros los hombres tenéis el poder. El poder de crear máquinas, el poder de crear felicidad, el poder de hacer esta vida libre y hermosa y convertirla en una maravilosa aventura.
En nombre de la democracia, utilicemos ese poder actuando todos unidos. Luchemos por un mundo nuevo, digno y noble que garantice a los hombres un trabajo, a la juventud un futuro y a la vejez seguridad. Pero bajo la promesa de esas cosas, las fieras subieron al poder. Pero mintieron; nunca han cumplido sus promesas ni nunca las cumplirán. Los dictadores son libres sólo ellos, pero esclavizan al pueblo. Luchemos ahora para hacer realidad lo prometido. Todos a luchar para liberar al mundo. Para derribar barreras nacionales, para eliminar la ambición, el odio y la intolerancia.
Luchemos por el mundo de la razón.
Un mundo donde la ciencia, el progreso, nos conduzca a todos a la felicidad.
Soldados.
En nombre de la democracia, debemos unirnos todos

St Patrick's Day 2015 (Michael)

            On this past 17th of March, I spoke with a few of the classes about St Patrick’s Day, the national holiday on the island of Ireland, where I am from. When most people think of St Patrick´s Day nowadays, they think of the likes of what is celebrated in the Plaza de España here in Pontevedra – that is to say green hats, leprechauns, shamrocks, loud music and an excuse to drink lots of beer. However, there is a little more to the story of the day and who St Patrick was and I will try to explain some of the history.

            St Patrick, Ireland’s patron Saint, was not Irish. He was originally from either Wales or Scotland and named Maewyn Succat, according to historians, although when we are talking about someone who lived in the late 4^th Century, it is difficult to say things with certainty. What we know about St Patrick comes from a letter he wrote in Latin, called his ´Confession´, that is one of the oldest surviving texts written in Ireland in any language. You can see it at the famous Trinity College in Dublin.

What is clear is that Patrick was born to wealthy parents, and kidnapped from his family’s lands and taken to Ireland, where he was enslaved, working as a shepherd around the lands of Slemish Mountain, County Antrim (40km from Belfast). Patrick´s parents had believed in God, but he was not very religious. However, in his loneliness working in the fields, it is said that he turned to prayer and heard the voice of God call to him to escape from Ireland after 6 years there, which he did, and after a few years found himself home with his family. However, while home, he writes that he had a dream which told him to return to Ireland and teach the people about his Christian God. At this time, Ireland, like Galicia, was Celtic and Pagan, and missionaries were yet to convince the majority people to believe in the new religion.

Patrick converted and baptised thousands of people, and set up small churches all over the island, especially in the North. He also set up Monasteries in rural areas for people to study the word of God, establishing Ireland as ´The Land of Saints and Scholars´. This is really important, because during the Dark Ages which followed the Roman Empire, Irish Monasteries were one of the very few places in Europe where people were writing, producing beautiful manuscripts like the famous ´Book of Kells´. St Patrick died on March 17^th, and is buried at the Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down (which is the county I am from). This is why we celebrate on this day.

There are many myths and legends about St Patrick. The Shamrock is Ireland’s national symbol because it is said that Patrick used the 3 leaves of the plant to teach the people about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit when he was speaking to big crowds. It is also said that St Patrick rid Ireland of all of its snakes, and drove them into the Irish Sea. These are both nice stories that we learnt as children, but they aren’t true. However, in Ireland we have lots of myths and legends like these. 

             So now you know the Religious part, how did St Patrick’s Day become the celebration of Irishness that we know today? The key lies in the fact that the Irish, like Galicians, emigrated all over the world due to problems in their homeland, most infamously the Famines in the in the middle of the 1700s and 1800s. They especially went to Australia and North America. The Irish abroad looked for a day in which they could celebrate their culture. This is where the idea of St Patrick’s Day as a cultural festival came about. The first St Patrick’s Day Parades were held in Boston and New York City in the 1760s, and took on greater and greater importance as time went on and the Irish diaspora went out around the world. 33 million Americans today have Irish heritage, including 22 of the 43 Presidents up to Barack Obama, whose Great Grandfather was from County Offaly.

As the Irish emigrated, they took their culture with them. As a result, soon all over the World, from Sydney to New York to Madrid, festivals were held on March 17th with Irish dancing, language, music, Gaelic sports, and (most importantly perhaps) food and drink. This is the St Patrick´s Day we know today. The Irish people love to have a good time and people all over the world want to join in, wearing green and drinking pints of ´the black stuff´ (Guinness). Famous buildings, like Cibeles in Madrid, the Taj Mahal, and the White House, are all lit up in green for the day.

However the most famous parties and the best parades are, of course, in Ireland! We climb the mountains of Croagh Patrick in Mayo and Slemish in Antrim. We also have big parades in places like Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Downpatrick, and Galway. Everyone is off work and school, so the party starts before the 17th and lasts for a few days. Some people go to church, but most don’t, however everyone wears green. Hopefully, now you understand a little bit more about St Patrick’s Day and why it is by far the best day of the year. Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh! (Happy St Patrick´s Day to You All in the Irish language)

International Women's Day 2015

Camellias are said to be the symbol of International Women's Day in countries such as Italy and Russia. Students of "A Xunqueira" took the opportunity of creating a mural where everyone was invited to contribute with their opinions. The question of what equality means and the importance of working together has been the main focus of this commemoration.

Anton Chekhov

A look at prison from the outside 

Una mirada al sistema penitenciario desde fuera

      Next 30th and 31st March 2015, IES "A Xunqueira" no. 1 will visit the town of A Lama and, more in particular, its penitentiary. A group of twenty students and four teachers will be given the opportunity of meeting inmates and educators from Module 8, and complete two workshops in collaboration with them.

After a brief presentation of the activity plan, one of the first points in the project's programme will involve inmates and students in the reading of a short story by Anton Chekhov entitled "The Bet". 

      We would like all of you, whether you take part in the school trip or not, to read the story, listen to the audiobook we have prepared for you, and leave your opinion in the comments section below. This is a story of voluntary imprisonment and its effects. What is the moral of the story? Is there one at all? Will it be interpreted in the same way by a student, a teacher, an educator, or an A Lama inmate? The floor is yours; read, listen, and comment.

The Bet English (pdf)
Audio Mp3 link 

Una Apuesta (pdf)
A look at prison from the outside (short version, 17 min)
A look at prison from the outside (full version, 48 min)