Lecturas a un click

Os dejo el enlace de English Page, desde donde podréis acceder a periódicos, libros, revistas y bibliotecas. Ahora que se acerca el verano y hay algo más de tiempo, recordad "Un lector vive mil vidas antes de morir; aquel que nunca lee sólo vive una".

Cree tribe

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money".

The Cree are a First Nations tribe who live throughout central Canada. There are over 200,000 Cree living in Canada today. A small group of Cree also live in the United States on a reservation in Montana.

The Cree are often divided up into a number of smaller groups such as the James Bay Cree, Swampy Cree, and Moose Cree. They can also be divided into two major culture groups: the Woodland Cree and the Plains Cree. The Woodland Cree live in the forested areas of central and eastern Canada. The Plains Cree live in the Northern Great Plains in Western Canada.

History

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Cree lived in small bands throughout Canada. They hunted game and gathered nuts and fruit for food. When the Europeans arrived, the Cree traded furs with the French and British for goods like horses and clothing.

For many years, the influx of European settlers into America had little effect on the daily life of the Woodland Cree in northern Canada. The Plains Cree, however, took on the "horse culture" of the plains Indians and became bison hunters. Over time, the expansion of European settlers and the loss of the bison herds, forced the Plains Cree to move to reservations and take up farming.

What kind of homes did the Cree live in?

The Woodland Cree lived in lodges made from wooden poles covered with animal hides, bark, or sod. The Plains Cree lived in teepees made from buffalo hides and wooden poles.

What language do they speak?

The Cree language is an Algonquian language. Different groups speak different dialects, but they can generally understand each other.

What was their clothing like?

The Cree made their clothes from animal hides such as buffalo, moose, or elk. The men wore long shirts, leggings, and breechcloths. The women wore long dresses. During the cold winters both men and women would wear long robes or cloaks to keep warm.

What type of food did they eat?

The Cree were mostly hunter-gatherers. They hunted a variety of game including moose, duck, elk, buffalo, and rabbit. They also gathered food from plants such as berries, wild rice, and turnips.

Cree Government

Before Europeans arrived, the Cree had little in the way of formal government. They lived as small bands each led by a chief. The chief was respected and listened to, but did not rule over the people. Today, each Cree reservation has its own government led by a chief and a council of leaders.

Interesting Facts about the Cree Tribe

- The Cree lost much of their land when a number of hydroelectric dams were build in the James Bay area.

- During the winter, they ate a mixture of dried meat, berries, and fat called pemmican.

- The Cree language is still widely spoken among the Cree people today.

- Cree teenagers would pass into adulthood by going on a vision quest where they would go off on their own for several days and not eat until they had a vision. The vision would tell them their guardian spirit and direction in life.

- The word "Cree" comes from the name "Kiristonon" given to the people by French trappers. It was later shortened to "Cri" and then "Cree" in English.

Source: Ducksters

El bardo

Aprovechando que se celebra el 400º aniversario de la muerte de William Shakespeare, ¿por qué no lanzarse a leer las obras del mejor dramaturgo de la historia de la literatura? También conviene leer a Miguel Cervantes, por cierto.

No fear Shakespeare

Harriet Tubman, she made a difference

Harriet Tubman was born a slave on a plantation in Maryland. Historians think she was born in 1820, or possibly 1821, but birth records weren't kept by most slave owners. Her birth name was Araminta Ross, but she took the name of her mother, Harriet, when she was thirteen.

Life as a Slave

Life as a slave was difficult. Harriet first lived in a one-room cabin with her family that included eleven children. When she was only six years old, she was loaned out to another family where she helped take care of a baby. She was sometimes beaten and all she got to eat was table scraps. 

Later Harriet worked a number of jobs on the plantation such as plowing fields and loading produce into wagons. She became strong doing manual labor that included hauling logs and driving oxen. 

At the age of thirteen Harriet received a horrible head injury. It happened when she was visiting the town. A slave owner tried to throw an iron weight at one of his slaves, but hit Harriet instead. The injury nearly killed her and caused her to have dizzy spells and blackouts for the rest of her life. 

The Underground Railroad 

During this time there were states in the northern United States where slavery was outlawed. Slaves would try to escape to the north using the Underground Railroad. This wasn't a real railroad. It was a number of safe homes (called stations) that hid slaves as they traveled north. The people that helped the slaves were called conductors. Slaves would move from station to station at night, hiding in the woods or sneaking onto trains until they finally reached the north and freedom. 

Harriet Escapes 

In 1849 Harriet decided to escape. She would use the Underground Railroad. After a long and scary trip she made it to Pennsylvania and was finally free. 

Leading Others to Freedom 

In 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. This meant that slaves could be taken from free states and returned to their owners. In order to be free, slaves now had to escape to Canada. Harriet wanted to help others, including her family, to safety in Canada. She joined the Underground Railroad as a conductor. 

Harriet became famous as an Underground Railroad conductor. She led nineteen different escapes from the south and helped around 300 slaves to escape. She became known as "Moses" because, like the Moses in the Bible, she led her people to freedom. 

Harriet was truly brave. She risked her life and freedom to help others. She also helped her family, including her mother and father, to escape. She was never caught and never lost a slave. 

The Civil War 

Harriet's bravery and service did not end with the Underground Railroad, she also helped during the Civil War. She helped to nurse injured soldiers, served as a spy for the north, and even helped on a military campaign that led to the rescue of over 750 slaves. 

Later in Life 

After the Civil War, Harriet lived in New York with her family. She helped poor and sick people. She also spoke out on equal rights for blacks and women. 

Fun Facts about Harriet Tubman

• Her nickname as a child was "Minty".
• She was a very religious woman having learned about the Bible from her mother.
• Harriet bought a house in Auburn, New York for her parents after helping them to escape from the south.
• Harriet married John Tubman in 1844. He was a free black man. She married again in 1869 to Nelson Davis.
• She was so successful in helping slaves to escape that, at one point, slave owners offered a reward of $40,000 for her capture.
• She is going to be the first woman in appearing on paper money in USA.

Fuente: Ducksters

Biographies

Os dejo aquí unos enlaces para trabajar la comprensión lectora a través de breves biografías; la primera página Web ofrece también ejercicios relacionados con el texto en cuestión.

Famous people lessons

Many things

Ducksters

War children of Syria

Samir Duwoot says she cries every day because her children don’t have a father. It’s the reality of the five-year conflict in Syria. People, families left with nothing. Her daughter knows no different. Like many children here, her young eyes have seen much of the brutality of conflict, but have never seen home.

Her dad, Shahadi Nanood, died last year while fighting for the regime. She doesn’t understand where he’s gone, with her mother saying she sleeps in the same place her father used to sleep, she’s waiting for him to come home. The rest of their family have fled to Lebanon. For those in poverty like them, there’s no option but to stay.

They now live in this school near Damascus, which 141 people now call home. A building serving a dual purpose. But it’s estimated that across Syria, up to two million children no longer go to school, a further million no longer live in their own homes and six million need emergency humanitarian assistance.

“It’s been the most dangerous place in the world for children. Five years is a lifetime for a child! This war has been going on for five years! There are ten year olds in Syria who’ve never seen the inside of a classroom.”

Generations, opportunities changed forever by this conflict and in the balance if the ceasefire doesn’t hold. 

Fuente: News in levels & Interantional Rescue Committee

Podéis escuchar la noticia y consultar las palabras difíciles en el enlace.

Cómics

Para aquellos que les gusten las historietas o las tiras cómicas, aquí os dejo unos enlaces donde podréis leer cómics en inglés.

Cómics English

Learn English (Gardfield)

Learn English with comics

Adventures in English

Emmeline Pankhurst, she made a difference

Emmeline Goulden was born on 14 July 1858 in Manchester into a family with a tradition of radical politics. In 1879, she married Richard Pankhurst, a lawyer and supporter of the women's suffrage movement. He was the author of the Married Women's Property Acts of 1870 and 1882, which allowed women to keep earnings or property acquired before and after marriage. His death in 1898 was a great shock to Emmeline.

In 1889, Emmeline founded the Women's Franchise League, which fought to allow married women to vote in local elections. In October 1903, she helped found the more militant Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) - an organisation that gained much notoriety for its activities and whose members were the first to be named 'suffragettes'. Emmeline's daughters Christabel and Sylvia were both active in the cause. British politicians, press and public were astonished by the demonstrations, window smashing, arson and hunger strikes of the suffragettes. In 1913, WSPU member Emily Davison was killed when she threw herself under the king's horse at the Derby as a protest at the government's continued failure to grant women the right to vote.

Like many suffragettes, Emmeline was arrested on numerous occasions over the next few years and went on hunger strike herself, resulting in violent force-feeding. In 1913, in response to the wave of hunger strikes, the government passed what became known as the 'Cat and Mouse' Act. Hunger striking prisoners were released until they grew strong again, and then re-arrested.

This period of militancy was ended abruptly on the outbreak of war in 1914, when Emmeline turned her energies to supporting the war effort. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave voting rights to women over 30. Emmeline died on 14 June 1928, shortly after women were granted equal voting rights with men (at 21).

Fuente: BBC - History

Trivial

Os dejo un enlace a TriviNet, una web donde podréis jugar al trivial en inglés, sólo tenéis que ir a la opción de configurar trivial, seleccionar inglés como idioma, la dificultad, el tiempo máximo para responder y las temáticas con las que deseas jugar.

Que no se diga que no se puede aprender jugando.

Proverbs and sayings

Echad un vistazo a estos dichos y refranes, frases hechas que tal vez habéis leído u oído sin saber qué querían decir... ¡desvelado queda el enigma!

300 proverbs and sayings

50 most important English proverbs

English proverbs and sayings

Proverbs and their origins

Carnivals

Os dejo un enlace en el que podréis descubrir cómo se celebra carnaval en otros lugares; podéis leer un texto, ver un vídeo, hacer un ejercicio de vocabulario, de listening o de comprensión lectora... a través de los carnavales de Notting Hill (London) y de Mardi Gras (New Orleans).

ESOL Courses

Aprender inglés con libros y series

Dos recursos útiles para trabajar inglés:

English e-books: donde podéis descargar libros gratuitos a vuestro e-book.

Ororo.tv: donde podéis ver series gratis en inglés con subtítulos.

Actividades online relacionadas con el cine

Os animo a que hagáis alguna actividad de esta página Web; hay diferentes tipos de listening, ejercicios de vocabulario... muy amenos y distribuidos por niveles.

ESOL courses.

La Web, en general, está muy bien y ofrece muchos recursos, así que curiosead.

Christmas recipe

Have you ever tasted a Yule log? It is a traditional dessert, very common at Christmas time. Do you dare to make it?

Yule log

Rosa Parks: She made a difference

Where did Rosa Parks grow up? 

Rosa grew up in the southern United States in Alabama. Her full name was Rosa Louise McCauley and she was born in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4, 1913 to Leona and James McCauley. Her mother was a teacher and her father a carpenter. She had a younger brother named Sylvester. 

Her parents separated while she was still young and she, with her mother and brother, went to live on her grandparent's farm in the nearby town of Pine Level. Rosa went to the local school for African-American children where her mother was a teacher. 

Going to School 

Rosa's mother wanted her to get a high school education, but this wasn't easy for an African-American girl living in Alabama in the 1920s. After finishing up elementary school at Pine Level she attended the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. Then she attended the Alabama State Teacher's College in order to try and get her high school diploma. Unfortunately, Rosa's education was cut short when her mother became very ill. Rosa left school to care for her mother.

A few years later Rosa met Raymond Parks. Raymond was a successful barber who worked in Montgomery. They married a year later in 1932. Rosa worked part time jobs and went back to school, finally earning her high school diploma. Something she was very proud of. 

Segregation 

During this time, the city of Montgomery was segregated. This meant that things were different for white people and black people. They had different schools, different churches, different stores, different elevators, and even different drinking fountains. Places often had signs saying "For Colored Only" or "For Whites Only". When Rosa would ride the bus to work, she would have to sit in the back in the seats marked "for colored". Sometimes she would have to stand even if there were seats open up front. 

Fighting for Equal Rights 

Growing up Rosa had lived with racism in the south. She was scared of the members of the KKK who had burned down black school houses and churches. She also saw a black man get beaten by a white bus driver for getting in his way. The bus driver only had to pay a $24 fine. Rosa and her husband Raymond wanted to do something about it. They joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 

Rosa saw the opportunity to do something when the Freedom Train arrived in Montgomery. The train was supposed to not be segregated according to the Supreme Court. So Rosa led a group of African-American students to the train. They attended the exposition on the train at the same time and in the same line as the white students. Some people in Montgomery didn't like this, but Rosa wanted to show them that all people should be treated the same. 

Sitting on the bus 

It was on December 1, 1955 that Rosa made her famous stand (while sitting) on the bus. Rosa had settled in her seat on the bus after a hard day's work. All the seats on the bus had filled up when a white man boarded. The bus driver told Rosa and some other African-Americans to stand up. Rosa refused. The bus driver said he would call the police. Rosa didn't move. Soon the police showed up and Rosa was arrested. 

Montgomery Bus Boycott 

Rosa was charged with breaking a segregation law and was told to pay a fine of $10. She refused to pay, however, saying that she was not guilty and that the law was illegal. She appealed to a higher court. 

That night a number of African-American leaders got together and decided to boycott the city buses. This meant that Africans would no longer ride the buses. One of these leaders was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He became the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association which helped to lead the boycott. 

It wasn't easy for people to boycott the buses as many African-Americans didn't have cars. They had to walk to work or get a ride in a carpool. Many people couldn't go into town to buy things. However, they stuck together in order to make a statement. 

The boycott continued for 381 days, and finally, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the segregation laws in Alabama were unconstitutional. 

After the Boycott 

Just because the laws were changed, things didn't get any easier for Rosa. She received many threats and feared for her life. Many of the civil rights leader's houses were bombed, including the home of Martin Luther King Jr. In 1957 Rosa and Raymond moved to Detroit, Michigan.

Rosa continued to attend civil rights meetings. She became a symbol to many African-Americans of the fight for equal rights. She is still a symbol of freedom and equality to many today.

Fuente:  Ducksters

Recipes for English learners

Aquí os dejo una serie de páginas Web a través de las cuales podréis sacar al chef que lleváis dentro, al tiempo que trabajáis con el idioma. Espero que os animéis y nos contéis el resultado (o lo compartáis, eso lo dejo a vuestra elección).

LEO Network. Una gran cantidad de recetas que incluye una sección de vocabulario relacionado.

BBC. Selección de recetas para estudiantes de inglés.

To learn English. Recetas e historias relacionadas con la comida, con ejercicios extra para trabajar la comprensión lectora.

Vocabulario relacionado:

Easy Pace Learning.

Leo Network.

Más páginas Web para trabajar la comprensión lectora

Os dejo unas páginas Web para seguir trabajando la comprensión lectora.
- 5 Minute English.
- British Council.
- EC Learn English.
- Speak method.

Curiosidades y comprensión lectora

Os animo a leer estos textos, cortos y amenos, sobre diferentes temas; os ayudarán a ampliar vuestro vocabulario, así como a mejorar vuestra comprensión lectora en inglés:

- La historia detrás de las palabras.

- La historia detrás de las expresiones.

- Películas.

- Lecturas.

- Cuentos.

Páginas Web de lectura

A continuación os incluyo una lista de páginas Web donde podéis encontrar textos que os ayuden a mejorar la comprensión lectora en inglés:

- Rong-chang: Encontraréis textos cortos, la mayoría de tipo informativo, además de otras muchas actividades. La página, en general, está muy bien, así que os recomiendo que no os quedéis sólo en los textos.

- American stories in easy English: Relatos de diferentes autores adaptados para estudiantes de inglés. Son textos más largos que los de la Web anterior.

- English club: Aquí encontraréis textos más largos de autores conocidos, así como refranes y noticias.

- Saber inglés: Podéis leer textos de diferentes niveles. Esta Web, en general, es muy buena, así que os recomiendo que le echéis un vistazo.

- 365 short stories: Historias cortas, al estilo de las que podéis encontrar en Rong-chang.

- News in levels: Aquí podréis leer noticias en varios niveles, como ya indica su nombre, de modo que podéis escoger mayor o menor dificultad, dependiendo de vuestro nivel.
- English as 2nd language: Aquí podréis encontrar textos de varios niveles. La Web en general está muy bien.

Texto: Man injured at fast food restaurant

A 79-year-old man was slightly injured on Saturday while waiting in his new convertible in a drive-through[1] lane at Burger Prince restaurant. Herman Sherman of Northville suffered a mild[2] burn about 9:00 p.m. when a young female employee accidentally spilled[3] a cup of coffee into his lap[4]. Sherman said the coffee was hot but not scalding.

He refused medical aid, saying the only problem was the stain on his slacks[5], but it would wash out. He was given a fresh[6] refill. Before Sherman drove off, the restaurant manager, John Johnson, gave him two free gift certificates -one for an extra-large coffee and one for the restaurant's newest sandwich, the McRap.

The employee, who was a new hire, was let go[7] later that evening. She was quite upset. She said she would probably sue[8] Burger Prince for letting her go. She said it was the man's fault for ordering something that she might be able to spill.

Fuente: Rong-chang

---

[1] Drive-through, drive-in: Restaurante, normalmente de comida rápida, donde te sirven el pedido en tu coche.
[2] Mild: Leve.
[3] To spill: Derramar.
[4] Lap: Regazo.
[5] Slacks: Pantalones.
[6] Fresh: Nuevo/a.
[7] To let (sb) go: Despedir.
[8] To sue: Demandar.