I know it's a pretty old video but I'm a fan of this stand up comedian and it can be useful for the activities I would like you to do.
Watch it, please and answer the questions below:

Now, it's your turn. What does Christmas mean to you?

Finland’s education system is considered one of the best in the world. In international ratings, it’s always in the top ten. However, the authorities there aren’t ready to rest on their laurels, and they’ve decided to carry through a real revolution in their school system.

Finnish officials want to remove school subjects from the curriculum. There will no longer be any classes in physics, math, literature, history, or geography.

The head of the Department of Education in Helsinki, Marjo Kyllonen, explained the changes:

“There are schools that are teaching in the old-fashioned way which was of benefit in the beginning of the 1900s — but the needs are not the same, and we need something fit for the 21st century.“

Instead of individual subjects, students will study events and phenomena in an interdisciplinary format. For example, the Second World War will be examined from the perspective of history, geography, and math. And by taking the course ”Working in a Cafe," students will absorb a whole body of knowledge about the English language, economics, and communication skills.

This system will be introduced for senior students, beginning at the age of 16. The general idea is that the students ought to choose for themselves which topic or phenomenon they want to study, bearing in mind their ambitions for the future and their capabilities. In this way, no student will have to pass through an entire course on physics or chemistry while all the time thinking to themselves “What do I need to know this for?”

The traditional format of teacher-pupil communication is also going to change. Students will no longer sit behind school desks and wait anxiously to be called upon to answer a question. Instead, they will work together in small groups to discuss problems.

The Finnish education system encourages collective work, which is why the changes will also affect teachers. The school reform will require a great deal of cooperation between teachers of different subjects. Around 70% of teachers in Helsinki have already undertaken preparatory work in line with the new system for presenting information, and, as a result, they’ll get a pay increase.

The changes are expected to be complete by 2020.

What do you think about all these ideas? I’d love to hear your opinion, so let us know in the comments.

Taken from Bright side 

Now in Vienna there's ten pretty women
There's a shoulder where Death comes to  cry
There's a lobby with nine hundred windows
There's a tree where the doves go to die
There's a piece that was torn from the morning
And it hangs in the Gallery of Frost
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz with the clamp on its jaws
Oh I want you, I want you, I want you
On a chair with a dead magazine
In the cave at the tip of the lily
In some hallways where love's never been
On a bed where the moon
has been sweating
In a cry filled with footsteps and sand
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take its broken waist in your hand
This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
With it's very own breath of brandy and Death
Dragging its tail in the sea
There's a concert hall in Vienna
Where your mouth had a thousand reviews
There's a bar where the boys have stopped talking
They've been sentenced to death by the blues
Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture
With a garland of freshly cut tears?
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz it's been dying for years
There's an attic where children are playing
Where I've got to lie down with you soon
In a dream of Hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon
And I'll see what you've chained to your sorrow
All your sheep and your lilies of snow
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
With it's 'I'll never forget you, you know!'
This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz …
And I'll dance with you in Vienna
I'll be wearing a river's disguise
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder,
My mouth on the dew of your thighs
And I'll bury my soul in a scrapbook,
With the photographs there, and the moss
And I'll yield to the flood of your beauty
My cheap violin and my cross
And you'll carry me down on your dancing
To the pools that you lift on your wrist
Oh my love, Oh my love
Take this waltz, take this waltz
It's yours now. It's all that there is

The other day surfing the net I stumpled upon this fantastic site: Luke's English podcast. A site with loads of podcasts to learn English produced by Luke Thompson, an English language teacher and also a stand-up comedian. 

Click on the picture to hear one of his podcasts about how to be an effective learner of English.

It’s obvious that knowing more than one language can make certain things easier — like travelling or watching movies without subtitles. But are there other advantages to having a bilingual (or multilingual) brain? Mia Nacamulli details the three types of bilingual brains and shows how knowing more than one language keeps your brain healthy, complex and actively engaged.

Here are some expressions you can use to agree and disagree - See more at: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/agreeing-and-disagreeing#sthash.ld6jeixU.dpuf

Here are some expressions you can use to agree and disagree - See more at: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/agreeing-and-disagreeing#sthash.ld6jeixU.dpuf

Here are some expressions you can use to agree and disagree - See more at: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/agreeing-and-disagreeing#sthash.ld6jeixU.dpuf

Here are some expressions you can use to agree and disagree - See more at: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/agreeing-and-disagreeing#sthash.ld6jeixU.dpuf

Here are some expressions you can use to agree and disagree - See more at: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/agreeing-and-disagreeing#sthash.ld6jeixU.dpuf