Wednesday, March 10, 2010

ORIGAMI

Origami, the art of folding paper...
The video on the link below on PBS is definitely a must-see if you like art, craft, beauty and human inventivity.
So do watch this Independent Lens movie called "Between the Folds". Enjoy!
http://video.pbs.org/video/1340426590/
And there's this great site in progress: Le Crimp, a French folding group:
http://www.le-crimp.org/
Here's another video with Vincent Floderer from le crimp in English, s'il vous plait!:
At the beginning he says "I'm doing Origami since twenty years." If you send me what he should have said in the comment, I'll grant you additional points on your next paper. Be the first to correct him!
(What I would do to get just one comment :-(

Monday, March 08, 2010

Monday, March 01, 2010

A word a day, my favourite sites about words.

Thank you once again Anu Garg! Your site, http://wordsmith.org/ is a real treasure!
Here is a very interesting text in today's edition of Anu Garg's newsletter:

To subscribe to his newsletter and discover his precious online work:
http://wordsmith.org/words/today.html

" Recently I visited London to attend a wedding. The bride had graduated from Oxford, and among the invitees were some of her fellow graduates and a professor. During the long ceremony, we intermittently chatted about London weather, Gordon Brown, Queen Lizzie, and language.

Among other things, we talked about the differences between British and American English. I recalled reading about the inroads American English is making even in the UK, so I decided to carry out an experiment to find to what extent American English had "corrupted" English English.

I told them that sometimes the British write certain numerals (e.g. 1 and 7) differently from how they're written in the US, and asked them to write a short sentence so I could see if there were other differences in the script.

I quickly thought of a sentence for them to write:
"Her favorite flavors were in the gray catalog, she realized."

I said it aloud and the five Oxonians and the Oxford don kindly wrote it down on their napkins (serviettes). I collected the napkins and then told them about the experiment -- it had nothing to do with handwriting. In reality, that sentence had five words that could be written with American or British spellings (favorite/favourite, flavor/flavour, gray/grey, catalog/catalogue realize/realise).

Of the six people who participated in the experiment, three spelled (spelt) everything the British way. The other three had one or more words spelled in American English.

What does this experiment prove? Not much, according to my 12-year-old daughter, "Your sample size is too small."

Language, by its very definition, is a vehicle of exchange. A language means nothing in vacuum. When two people share, they give and take, though the movement is not always equal in both directions. US export of movies, television, music, books, technology, etc. includes something that goes through under the radar: Language.

Will American English take over the other Englishes? Probably not. Will the English language diverge into distinct languages just as Latin turned into French, Spanish, Italian and other languages? Hope not.

But who knows? Only time can tell, but in the meantime let's celebrate the diversity of languages by learning words English has borrowed from some of the less-known languages: Hungarian, Hebrew, Nootka, Afrikaans, and Persian. Even though they're not as well-known to most of us, they are still spoken by thousands or millions of people."

I'm way more than a little proud to be quoted in his second book, Another word a day, on page 122! Anu Garg has written three books which are all in my library! Well, on my bedside table!

http://www.amazon.com/Another-Word-Day-Limited-Gift/dp/0471778788

And Anu's site has long been in this blog's tags.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Amazing demo: SixthSense

You want to know what the future looks like?
By the way, what movie and what actor does the speaker, Pattie Maes, refer to?
This is a question of oral comprehension for my pupils ;-) Additional points in sight for any comment...

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Monday, February 08, 2010

Friday, February 05, 2010

NEW YORK CITY

Here's to the 2TBAA are working on the Big Apple. Soon in your classroom!

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

You love the TV series Heroes...

You may enjoy Zeroes too!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Monday, January 25, 2010

Hackney Council 'clean up' Banksy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/11/29/london_life_banksy_feature.shtml

Banksy makes his movie debut at film festival


THE ABOVE WALL PAINTING IS NOT BY BANKSY, but a Banksy-influenced artist indeed!

Now, about Banksy!
Notorious though elusive street artist Banksy, whose work has decorated his home town of Bristol to Israel's West Bank barrier, has turned his hand to film-making. Exit Through The Gift Shop will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
WHO IS BANKSY?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7504132.stm
Sounds like a tabloid headline, doesn't it?
Well, since we've studied some documents about him, including some of his works, I thought you might be curious though I hope he keeps up the good job and doesn't fall into the abyss of power. For I believe fame is one of a kind.
Anyway, here you will watch the trailer of the movie Exit Through the Gift Shop
Read the article too.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8471145.stm
Youtube Banksy, watch and say what you think in the comments.
Good for your English! Do I preach in the wilderness?

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Two former U.S. presidents asking to give to charity for Haiti.

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Monday, December 28, 2009

If you want to learn about languages:

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15108609

This article (above link) is a thrill.
If you're interested in languages, that is. And who isn't?!
What is the hardest language? Not English.Lucky you English learners!

ineffective spying?

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Neil de Grasse Tyson about 2012



This great scientist is both entertaining and enlightening. For all those who would be worried about 2012, listen and relax!

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

MORE TROOPS

So, more U.S. troops in Afghanistan?
Listen to Rachel Maddow and find out. Excellent oral comprehension exercise about war...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Patrick baillet,


http://www.patrick-baillet.fr/

A BIG THANK YOU to G.G.

http://rea.ccdmd.qc.ca/ri/listening/

G.G. has just sent me this link to a new great ORAL COMPREHENSION SITE,
with great oral comprehension exercises to do!
Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

OBAMA PRO-LANDMINES



As a former active member of Handicap International, I feel deeply miserable.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/25/us-obama-rejection-mine-ban-treaty-reprehensible
So the Obama administration is not going to sign the Ottawa treaty banning landmines.
The one that G.W.Bush said he would never sign...

Well, Obama didn't abolish the patriot act either. Quite the contrary, he voted to reauthorize it.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/16/obama-seeks-patriot-act-extensions/

And as for stopping wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, here it is :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/13/obama-afghanistan-troop-deployment
and the video of a sadly unforgettable moment here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/video/2009/oct/29/obama-defence-budget

Indeed, Obama is not the president anti-war-minded people could legitimately be hoping for.

Should we keep hoping the world becomes a better place or should we give up hope?
Let's keep hoping!
Yes, always. I mean at least as long as we live... PEACE
http://www.handicap-international.org/
http://www.icbl.org/index.php/icbl/Treaties/MBT/Treaty-Basics

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Talk about surveillance...

spy stuff available in retail stores near you...


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Sunday, November 01, 2009

CELL : Size and scale

A fabulous visual representation of microscopic life: from a grain of salt to an atom of carbon.
Fascinating! Move the cursor! http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/

Saturday, October 24, 2009

URGENT !! CORRESPONDANTS!

Etes-vous interessé par un correspondant américain?
Une amie collègue de français aux U.S. veut faire correspondre ses élèves avec les miens.
N'hésitez-pas! Envoyez-moi un mail à l'adresse arago2311@gmail.com avec comme sujet:
U.S. penpal.
Je me chargerai d'envoyer votre adresse mail à ma collègue qui la donnera à l'un ou l'une de ses élèves.
Merci d'avance. Mme Bilien

Saturday, October 17, 2009

News about Gary McKinnon


ComputerWeeklydotcom's essential guide to Gary McKinnon's story with links to articles from the beginning. (2002)
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/08/28/231065/hacker-gary-mckinnon-essential-guide.htm

Gary McKinnon talks to Huw Edwards on BBC News in July 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4715612.stm
Indeed, the above link features McKinnon telling us why he is not such a good hacker since he was only doing what is called 'blank password scanning' which is not a proper computer hack.
Listen to him saying " I would be considered by a proper computer hacker, a professional, to be completely amateur."
Then listen to his answer to the broadcaster's question: "What's your case against extradition?"

And here is the latest news from TimesOnline :http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6878553.ece

What could we do to help those children?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/17/world/main5392572.shtml

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Obama Okayed 13,000 More Afghan Troops

Yes we can.
But no we won't...


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/13/politics/washingtonpost/main5381329.shtml?tag=stack
extract :
The request reportedly includes different options for adding troops for combat, training and support, with one option totaling about 40,000. The ability of the Army and Marine Corps to meet the request would depend on the type and number of troops McChrystal asked for, and when he wants them. A significant troop increase in Afghanistan early next year - similar to the 2007 increase in Iraq - would be difficult to sustain given the current size of the Army and Marine Corps and ongoing troop demands in Iraq, officials said.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

CHECK OUT THIS GREAT WEBSITE TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH

http://www.englishmaven.org/

Explore in the above link the blue column on the left . Some labels have few lessons. Others have lots.
I suggest you begin with the "Pronouncing -ed endings" lesson.

You can do the lessons for free BUT JUST ONCE.

This site is now referenced under the label "LESSONS" on the left column of this blog. I called it MAVEN there.
Enjoy and check out the other links as well as the other labels...

Obama Nobel Peace Prize


http://www.truthout.org/101009A

The above link is an interesting comment on the picture of those 4 famous people...
Or are they that well-known?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/woodrowwilson/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/theodoreroosevelt/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

Saturday, October 10, 2009

LISTEN TO GREG PATILLO !




HERE'S A PHOTO OF HIS GROUP: PROJECT TRIO
and the link to their website: http://www.whatisproject.org/index.html
I can't wait to see them in France!

We Will Not Pay To Use Facebook. We Are Gone If This Happens

Apparently if Facebook gets sold then theres a major possibility that it will turn into a "Paysite". This is just stupid! Lets all stick together on this one and let them know that we will leave Facebook if they decide to charge us to use it.

WILL YOU PAY TO USE FACEBOOK ?
I don't use it much but if this happens, I'm gone!

Friday, October 09, 2009

Colton Harris Moore



http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/facebook_fan_page_for_teen_ban.html

A new oral comprehension site: Learn English Feel Good

I hope you all feel good... I knew that you would!

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/esl_movieclip9.html

It's now referenced under the label "Oral comprehension sites" on the left column of this blog. Enjoy and check out the other labels.

Friday, October 02, 2009

Mc Donald's in the U.S.


No comment !!!

One of the most important video I've ever watched...

Because the truth will ALWAYS prevail and because freedom is our most precious possession, I believe everybody should watch it. Thank you.
This is the French version but you'll easily find the English one on the web.
I hope we'll have the web for ever. But I'm not so sure about it.
http://video.google.fr/videoplay?docid=-647042342894016035#

TO ALL THOSE WHO VISIT MY BLOG

WELCOME!!!
My blog was first created for my pupils. I'm a female John Doe... (any idea how you'd call her?) but I've got to admit that few of them visit it :-(
Many of you visitors come from around the world:
Britain, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Turkey, India, Philippines, Korea, Japan, U.S., Canada, Mexico, Argentina, and so on and so forth.
Indeed, thanks to sitemeter (the free version, thank you Sitemeter!), I'm able to see where my visitors come from and it's a thrill to see these web connections.

I'd love to hear from you all. Why don't you say hello right below in the comments. I promise to reply to every single comment. Or if you wish to send me a private message, please contact me at arago2311 at gmail.com.
I'm very much interested in teaching, UFOs, science and the 9/11 truth movement.
What about you?
Thanks in advance. Enjoy every single second of your life and your world. Our wonderful world. Peace. Elisabeth

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Preventing the Flu in France ou Comment dire "Hugh" en Américain!


http://www.lecielestbleu.com/html/main_pateason.htm

Great creative crazy stuff you find on the web...
A quote by Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States (1945-1953) :
"The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know."
as quoted in Plain Speaking : An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman (1974) by Merle Miller, p. 26

Friday, September 11, 2009

WTC 1 and WTC 2 collapsed on the morning of 9/11/01.
Did you know that WTC 7 collapsed at 05:20 pm on the same day?


And what about that?

Monday, September 07, 2009

I MUST NOT COPY WHAT I SEE ON THE SIMPSONS

Back to school in France. We call it "la rentrée". (No such noun in English).
Anyway, it's high time I posted something new for september. Well, I went on Banksy's site again and saw his new work and I thought you should have a look.
http://www.banksy.co.uk/menu.html
Because I consider Banksy's art to be extremely worth studying, we'll go back there together in the multimedia room.
http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/horizontal_1.htm
He's got nothing to sell, nothing to proselytize.
Nothing of that sort.
He is just creating a great work of art in progress, his acute lucidity is here for us to ponder on our urban world.
All those walls.
119 friendly admirative French earthly free hugs to Banksy and Welcome back to school, kids!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

About Global Warming

and nature terribly off-balance.
http://thebigask.eu/
Radiohead on tour with the Big Ask

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Rattrapés!

En TS: Rémi, Fadila, Erwan et Damien. Good job.
En TES: Hélène, Manu, Katiba, Pierrine, Laura et Yassine.
Que les autres se consolent, ils pourront repasser une année à Arago.
What a thrill ...

BRAVO to the baccalaureates!

Bravo aux reçus du premier tour. Un ban pour Sophie et Marvin, mention très bien en S Un ban pour Emilie et Jérôme, mention bien en S et STI. Je suis très contente aussi pour tous les autres reçus.
Maintenant, j'attends avec impatience les résultats du rattrapage pour ceux qui doivent surmonter cette épreuve supplémentaire.Merci de me laiser un message pour me donner des news.
Et puis... HAVE A VERY NICE SUMMER ALL!

Thursday, July 02, 2009

JON couldn't believe his ears.

Some people make major mistakes: here, at 1 minute, a Michael Scheuer, interviewed by Glenn Beck on Fox News and presented as a "Former CIA Anti-terrorism Analyst" utters a shocking comment.
JON STEWART's denounces it all in his own humurous puzzled way. Once again, thanks to Jon for making us laugh and think.
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorJason Jones in Iran

Safety instructions

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

GAÏA



Earth, That's her name. Well, her English name.
How do you say Earth in different languages?
We earthlings sometimes call it ADAMA in hebrew, ARD in Arabic, BHUVAN in Sanskrit, BIN in Greek, CHIKYUU in Japanese, die ERDE in German,LUR in Basque,TERRA in Italian, Latin, Portuguese Spanish, DIQIU in Chinese, ZEM in Czech, , ZIMLIA in Russian, ZIEMIA in Polish, TERO in Esperanto,

We all love our planet, don't we?

Well, same to you kids... the future is in your hands! Anyway, we're all in the same boat!
Quite a boat, isn't it? She's called Earth

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Prisoners pay tribute to Michael Jackson

CBS NEWS Sat Jun 27 12:38:18 PDT 2009
INMATES PERFORM "THRILLER"
1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice!
After being told of Jackson's departure, 1,500 Filipino inmates hit the exercise yard, practicing for nine hours to pay tribute to Michael Jackson by recreating the 'Thriller' dance and some other Jackson hits.
Find a synonym of
1) "inmate" : ..........
2) "departure" : ............

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

SPIN



spin n. [spɪn] spins
1. A swift whirling motion (usually of a missile).
2. The act of rotating rapidly: “he gave the crank a spin”; Synonyms: twirl, twist, twisting, whirl.

spin v. [spɪn] spun ◊ spinning ◊ spins
1. To revolve quickly and repeatedly around one’s own axis; Synonyms: spin around, whirl, reel, gyrate.
2. To work natural fibers into a thread: “spin silk.”
3. To form a web by making a thread, as of spiders.
4. To prolong or extend: “spin out a visit”; Synonyms: spin out.
5. To make up a story, as in “spin a yarn.”
6. To stream in jets, of liquids: “The creek spun its course through the woods.”

PHRASES:
spin doctor n.
A spokesperson for a political party or candidate who tries to forestall negative publicity.

spin dryer (or drier) n.
A machine that uses centrifugal motion to dry the clothes that are put into it;

spin the bottle n.
A game in which a player spins a bottle and kisses the person that it points to when it stops spinning.

spin the plate n.
A game in which something round (as a plate) is spun on edge and the name of a player is called; the named player must catch the spinning object before it falls or pay a forfeit; Synonyms: spin the platter.

spin off v. [spɪn ɔːf]
To produce as a consequence or an unplanned result.

spin a yarn v.expr.
To tell a story, esp. a long or fabulous tale.

spin-dry v. [spɪn draɪ]
To dry by spinning and making use of centrifugal forces; as of clothes.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

For those who are taking the Baccalauréat...

"Intelligence is not what you know, but what you do when you don't know. " - Piaget
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
The poor thinker dashes madly after an answer; the good thinker takes his time and looks at the problem….. - John Holt

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

ANTI BULLYING CAMPAIGN

Anti bullying campaign advertisement featuring Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters, and many more.

How two FOX news journalists were fired...

A video about GMOs

A video about Genetically Modified Organisms...
and more particularly Genetically Modified Foods... and about Monsanto of course.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

About the sun, its sunspots and Northern Lights.

News from SOHO, the solar and heliospheric observatory.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29may_noaaprediction.htm?list53494

""The 1859 storm--known as the "Carrington Event" after astronomer Richard Carrington who witnessed the instigating solar flare--electrified transmission cables, set fires in telegraph offices, and produced Northern Lights so bright that people could read newspapers by their red and green glow. A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a similar storm occurred today, it could cause $1 to 2 trillion in damages to society's high-tech infrastructure and require four to ten years for complete recovery. For comparison, Hurricane Katrina caused "only" $80 to 125 billion in damage.
The latest forecast revises an earlier prediction issued in 2007. At that time, a sharply divided panel believed solar minimum would come in March 2008 followed by either a strong solar maximum in 2011 or a weak solar maximum in 2012. Competing models gave different answers, and researchers were eager for the sun to reveal which was correct.
It turns out that none of our models were totally correct," says Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA's lead representative on the panel. "The sun is behaving in an unexpected and very interesting way."

Researchers have known about the solar cycle since the mid-1800s. Graphs of sunspot numbers resemble a roller coaster, going up and down with an approximately 11-year period.
""
cf http://bilien.blogspot.com/2008/09/spotless-sun.html

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

ENJOY JON - Oral Comprehension exercise

Watch this video in another window and ENJOY JON'S HUMOR-
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=228042&title=bronx-bombers

We could do the exercise below in the multimedia room .
Why not do it at home? Don't put your answers in the comments but bring them or mail them to me!
In the comments, tell me if you had fun watching it. If you did, you'll probably be willing to do the Test. ENJOY!


A... 1'14'' - 1'24 : Is that a .......................... or a .............................. I'm doing B... 1'45'' What does Jon say about the police car?
C... Then what does he suggest about the cuts in the New York City budget?
D... What did the 4 so-called "homegrown terrorists" allegedly plan to do?
E... 2'14'' Why does Jon look so surprised? And he says he's done what?!
F... 2'30'' What's the joke!
G... The public was at no time in any danger... Why?
H... What does Jon say about the suspected terrorists?
I... 3'22''What does he compare their cellphones to? And their Stinger missiles? And their beards?!!!
J... 3'45''Fox news says they have proof Obama is endangering America... Explain. And say what Gitmo is.
K... What is Jon's conclusion?

Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard

A gripping short film about our world: The SoS, the Story of Stuff is a must see.

"Do you have one of these?" (Annie Leonard shows her iPod). "I got a little obsessed with mine. In fact, I got a little obsessed with all my stuff. Have you ever wondered where all the stuff we buy comes from and where it goes when we throw it out? I couldn't stop wondering about that so I looked it up. And what the text books said is that our stuff simply moves along these stages: extraction to production to distribution to consumption to disposal. All together, it's called the materials economy.
Well, I looked into it a little bit more. In fact, I spent ten years traveling the world tracking where our stuff comes from and where it goes. And you know what I found out? That is not the whole story. There's a lot missing from this explanation. " ............................................
Watch that great video and learn!

Here is a New York Times article about this film:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/education/11stuff.html?_r=1

Monday, May 11, 2009

Friday, May 08, 2009

Monday, May 04, 2009

Chicken à la carte: A Must See



I heard on the radio yesterday that in rich countries, 30% of the food we bought was thrown away.
We're careless, so careless... Maybe we'll be more careful after watching Chicken à la carte.