POLAND

My talk is going to be about Poland. First of all I'm going to speak about its economy. Its principal economy is agriculture with 14% of poblation active and the industry with 7% of poblation active. The Industry exports iron, cool, textille,etc.

Secondly I'm going to speak about its history. The people have lived in Poland for one thousand 5 hundred years and its history is about one milenium. In the XVI century the comunity poland-lituania formed the biggest state of Europe before the Russian Empire. In 1918 the Ucranian Republic negociated in secret Poland territorys with Austria and Hungria but it failed in the same year. In the Versalles Treaty Poland requested its independence. In 1920 Sovietic Union atacked to Varsovia but it failed. Furthermore Varsovia is a capital of Poland. In 1980 the Catholic Church help to Poland restore its Parliament and in 2004 Poland is admitted in the Europe Union.

Finally its principal cities are Varsovia(capital), Cracovia, Looz and Breslavia.
Its weather is normal hot in summer and cold in winter and his lenguage is polish

Overall his currency is zloty and not euro.
In my opinion is a good country
That's all.

Czech Republic

Hi, my name is Natalia and my talk is going to be about the Czech Republic.

It is a State of the European Union. Bordered on the north by Poland, east by Slovakia, on the south by Austria and west by Germany. In 1993, Czechoslovaquia split into two: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

First of all, the official language is Czech, but there is also widespread use of German.

Secondly, the Czech Republic is made up of thirteen regions and a capital city called Prague. The main cities are Brno, Ostrava, Plzen or Pilsen.

The Czech economy is currently one of the most prosperous and stable among the emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a centralized economy. This economy has a diversified industry. The industry occupies about a third of the workforce. Furthermore in 2005 economic growth in the Czech Republic was three times faster than most EU countries. The currency is the Euro.

The climate in the Czech Republic, because of his situacion, is a mixture of various climates: Ocean Climate and Continental one. Winters are harsh and snowfall is common, while summers are warm. The average winter temperature is around two degrees Celsius below zero, but it can easily reach at least twenty degrees, and in the summer the average temperature is twenty degrees with highs of thirty five degrees.

Finally, I will talk about the history of the Czech Republic. During the reign of Charles the fourth, Luxembourg, Bohemia lived its golden age. Charles became the monarch in the capital of the Holly Roman Empire. In 1348 Carolina University in Prague was founded. After Charles the fourth's death, a period of political instability begins. Bohemia suffered devastating wars, such as The Thirty Years War in 1756.

After the Second World War, the Czechs, together with their neighbours, the Slovaks, were united to form the independent republic of Czechoslovakia, that became a socialist state. It adopted a multiparty system and Czechoslovakia began to leave the socialist economy.

In January 1993, Czechoslovakia was divided in two by parliamentary decision. Since then, the Czech Republic on the one hand, an the Slovak Republic on the other, are two independent countries. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1998 and the European Union in 2004.

And this is all over this country. Thanks for your attention!

Listen a Minute: Friends

Your homework for next Monday is here: Listen a Minute, Friends. Remeber to try as many times as you wish with this listening. When you are sure about the way you pronounce it, record your own voice at least three times and bring your recordings to class next Monday. If you haven't done it yet, here you can download audacity and here you have some instructions and tips on how to use it. Greetings!

PORTUGAL

Hi!!! My name is Rubén Panes Pastor and I talk about Portugal:

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a sovereig member of the Europena Union, set up as a democratic state of law. It´s territory, capital Lisbon is located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Bordered to the east and north by Spain and the south and westby the Atlantic ocean. Portugal has witnessed a constant flow of different civilizations during the last 3100 years. Tarshish, Celts, Phoenicions and Carthaginions, Greeks, Romans, Germans ( Swabians and Visigoths ), Muslims, Jews and other cultures have left their mark on culture, history, lenguage and ethnicity. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portugal was a economic, social and cultural heritage, and their empire that stretched from Brazil to the East Indies. The official lenguage of Portugal is Portuguese. Portugal´s main industries are oil refineires, automotive, cement production, paper industry, textiles and footwear, fumiture and corcho. La manufacturing represents 33% of exports Portuguese. Portugal is the fifth larguest producer of tungsten, and the eighth larguest wine producer. Agriculture and fisheries no longer represent the largest concentration of the economy

Spain

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to talk to you about Spain, a country in the south-west of Europe.

First of all, I'm going to start with its history. Spain was pretty important in the age of the Roman Empire, due to Mérida or Emerita Augusta. With the Muslims' Invasion, Spain or Al-Andalus went into a period of time when the three cultures (jewish, muslims and christians) coexisted in a fake peace. There weren't wars, but neither they used to walk hand in hand.

So in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs took muslims and jews out of Spain. Thereafter, Colon discovered America, the New World. In the XIX century, Spain was invaded by Napoleon, but Spanish fought and beat him. In the end of the century Spain lost America. In 1931, the Republic was established. Five years later, the Civil War broke out. It took three long years. With Franco, a 40 years-dictatorship started, 40 years of hunger, poverty, repression until 1975. When Franco died, King Juan Carlos put a democracy and Spain started to introduce itself between the most important countries, more or less. It went into the EU (1986) and in 2002, the Euro became our official currency.

Our weather depends on the place where you are: in the north usually is cold; in the centre it's freezing in winter and boiling in summer; and on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts it's intermediate temperatures, cool in winter and hot in summer. The showers are focused on the north coasts. The special area is Canary Islands, its weather is enviable with temperatures around 22 degrees all the year.

The more important cities are Madrid (the capital), Seville, Barcelonne, Valencia and Bilbao. These are the cities where the economy is focused, which is focused on the service sector. Spain is known above all for its bars and 'tapas'. It's also known for its agriculture (wine and olives) and its livestock (cured ham, cheeses, bulls...). Thank you for having listened to me.
(Picture: xornalcerto on flickr)

HUNGARY

Hello! my name is Natalia González.
My talk is going to be about Hungary.
Firt of all Hungary is a country of central Europe that forms a part of the European Union.
It currency is the forint.
It borders on Austria,Slovakia,Ukraine,Romania,Serbia,Croatia and Slovenia.His capital is Budapest.His language is the Hungarian or magiar.Some of the big cities of Hungary are Debrecen,Miskolc,Szeged and Pécs.
Secondly,Hungary is a country that exists from the Middle Ages,it was governed by kings,suffered the renaissance furthermore it had a war for fifteen years in wich the Hungarians faced against the Turks.It took part in the firt and second world war.

Hungary continues demostrating to be an economy of moderate-high growth.
The economic reforms as that of the system of health,taxes and funding of the local governments have not been achieved by the present government.

A year 2007,Hungary has a population of 9.956.000 inhabitants.
The life expectancy is 73 years,
The majority of the population is alphabetized.In Hungary the majority of persons are Hungarian(only a 1.7 sound other Europeans),gypsies,Asians,Americans and Africans.

Hungary has a continental relatievely dry climate,with cold winters and hot summers.

In Hungary Stands out sport of the waterpolo and the throwing of hammer.Also they have tradition great the fencing and the swimming for that Hungary has obtained many international successes.

The Hungarian culture has had a magisterial evolution across the centuries receiving Turkish,Latin and German influences.

AUSTRIA

 Hi !! My talk is going to be about Austria wich the official name of Austria's Republic.


First on all, his language is the German and his capital is Vienna.


The most important cities already be for his history, for the economy or culture they are a Burgueland, Lowers Austria, Tirol and Vienna between nine federated conditions or states. As a whole, the persons who live Austria are 8334325( information of 2008 ).


Secondly the currency is the Euro and around the economy it is one of 10 richer countries of the world in terms PIB per capita.


Futhermore his climate in winter patrols between 20 and 30 degrees.


Finally the history of this country is complex, being announced by de rommanizacion and the Sacred Germanic Empire in the Middle Ages, continuing with the Charlemagne's reign and finishing with the defeat of the Great War.

Degree Police Woman.

I want to study police municipal. Since I was little I wanted to be police. I want to be thanks to my stepbrother as we saw in small films and TV police series. The leads two years in the police force.
The police are a security force of citizens and subject to the orders of public authorities.
You can study in all regions , thougth the requirements are different in each. I will study in Madrid and I will live here. The police oposicions made in the '' Instituto de acceso a la función pública de Madrid''. The requirements in Madrid are:
-To have Spanish nationality.
-Be 21 years and old and not exceed 30 years.
-Have a minimum heigth of : men 1'70 m. and women 1'65 m.
-Possessing the title vocational first degree, graduate school, hight school graduate, technicians or any other top nivel.
-Have permissions drive A and B with specific authorization on the BTP.
-Sign a commitment to bear arms.
-Have no criminal record.

Oppositional test for are:
-1 test: test psychotecnical
-2 test: physical fitness: racing speed,resistance,medicine balls( 2 to 5 kilos ),long jump
-3 test: test written teorical
-4 test recognition medical

Opponents who exceed the previous test basis, will join the training center, where you start the training process integrated into the degree of the national police force.
On the topics of the police course is an topics with a minimum of 50 subjects divided into 5 groups:
-1: Constitutional and administrative law.
-2: Local governement and police.
-3: Criminal law, police administration and sociology.
-4: Traffic police
-5: Neighborhood police.

LUXEMBOURG

Hello! my name is Vanessa. My talk is going to be about Luxembourg.
The capital of Luxembourg is Arlon. Luxembourg is a small country because it has 453.000 habitants.
Luxembourg is geographically north of Belgium, eastern of Germany, southern of France and western Belgium. It´s currency is the euro. In Luxembourg speak French and German. It´s important cities are Esch Sur Alzette and Dudelang. The climate is warm. In the country´s economy works in the service sector 83,2% of the population, industry 14,3% of the population and agriculture 2,5% of the population.
I first have to talk a little about the modern history of Luxembourg since 1945.
After the second world war Luxembourg abandoned its policy of neutrality, when he became a founding memberof NATO in 1949 and was part of the United Nations. It is one of the signatories of the Treaty of Rome and constituted a monetary and economic union with Belgium and the Netherlands, the so-called Benelux in 1948.
Second in 1951, Robert Schuman, a native of this country, driving the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
Luxembourg became one of the six founding countries of the European union.
Finally on 24 December 1999, Prime Minister Juncker announced decision by the Grand Duke Jean abdicated the throne in fauor of Prince Henrí, who assumed the title and the constitutional duties of the Grand Duke. Thanks for listening.

France

Hi!
I'm Lorena Gómez and I'm going to talk about France, I think that France is a very interesting country!
First of all, the capital of France is Paris and its language is French. France is the largest state in the European Union by area, and the third largest in Europe behind Russia and Ukraine.
Secondly, France has a lot of cities but the most important is Paris, it's the central region, but too, there are important cities like Corcega, in the Mediterranean, Marseille, Montpellier, Lyon and Tolouse. The most populous metropolitan area of France is Paris with more than 12 million people.
Furthermore, France is a mixed economic which is the fifth largest economic in the world behind United States, Japan, China and Germany. It's the second largest economy in Europe and its currency is the euro.
About the climate, France usually has temperatures between 9-16 degrees and for that, it offers a diverse climate.
Finally, It isn't easy to do a resume of France, but I'm going to try to talk to you about the main important events about the history of France.
France experienced the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. The country was governed for a period as a republic, until the French Empire was declared by Napoleon Bonaparte. When he died, France started to live changes as a monarchy, then a republic and then as a Second Empire until a more lasting Third Republic was established in 1870.
France was one of the Triple Entente powers in the First World War fighting alongside the United Kingdom, Russia and their allies against the Central Powers.
Since Second World War, France has been a leading member in the United Nations and the European Union.
Overall, I think that France is a very interesting country and I encourage the people that they go to see it!!
Thank you for your attention!
(Lorena Gómez Garcinuño 1ºB bach.)

Parque de Lisboa News 7.

Parque de Lisboa News 7

Welcome to our seventh news program. Today we will speak about tobacco price increased, Winter Olympics tragedy and our literary recommendation. And we begin our new weekly game in which you will have to answer a question and leave your answer in the comments for this post. But first,

TOBACCO PRICE'S INCREASE.

My talk is going to be about tobacco and the increase in its price. First of all, the Government thinks that if they increase the price of tobacco we can go out of crisis, because the Government catches 50% of the money from there. Secondly I think they must do other things because people who smoke can't buy tobacco so frequently. Then income goes down. In my opinion they must do other things for going out of crisis (by Nicolas Kireyev).

WINTER OLYMPICS TRAGEDY AND WHAT LUGE IS.

Last Friday, Nodar Kumaritashvili died in Vancouver when he was racing at 150 km/h in a luge race. Doctors did all they could to make Nodar back to life, but they couldn't do anything because he died in the same instant when he crashed against a column. Nodar was from Georgia and he was 21 years old. Nodar was the 44th in the world and he is the first dead in 18 years in Winter Olympic Games. The next day after his death all Vancouver observed a moment of silence in his memory. Furthermore, every important person, like Jacques Rogge, the president of IOC, sent their condolences to Nodar's family and friends.

Luge consists in a sledge made of metal with rollers in the lowest part of the sledge. There aren't brakes in the sledge and you must drive it changing the position of your weight. The driver goes with his feet forward and the head backwards. There are weight limits in the sledge, it must be 23 kg, and the person has another weight limit. IOC puts a limit because everyone must have the same opportunities when he is racing. Luge is a very limited sport because it needs a lot of expensive installations and only a few countries can afford it (by Alejandro Montero).

LITERARY RECOMMENDATION: THE LONG WALK.

How long could you keep runnning over 6 km/h? How long could you keep runnning over 6 km/h...if your life was at stake? This is the plot of this week's book. Written by Stepehen King, The Long Walk deals with a contest where, if you win, you can ask for whatever you want for the rest of your life, but if you lose... you'll be wacked-you'll be shot by the soldiers. The soldiers are going to follow you day and night and they aren't going to hesitate to shoot you. The competitors are 100 teens who are attracted by the prize, 99 will die, just one will survive. How can they allow this type of contest? Very easy to answer: who leads this contest, the Major, is who leads the country. How can they watch this type of contest (there are billions of viewers)? Oh, you can imagine: if nowadays we watch contests like Big Brother, why can´t they watch things like that within 40 years? Ah! It's a Stephen King's book so, beside having sociological issues, it has a bit of terror and suspense too. Be a good boy (or girl) and read it, it's interesting (by Álvaro Bravo).
Finally, today's question is: "What's the name of the Spanish Prime Minister?" Leave your answers as a comment to this entry. Thank you, we'll meet again next week.

Parque de Lisboa News 6.

Welcome to our sixth weekly programme, in which we try to speak about the topics of your interest. Today, we are going to speak out against gender violence, gardrails in Madrid and we begin a new section in which we will tell you about great books to read and have fun with our literary recommendation. Our suggestion is El misterio de la cripta embrujada. But first,

GENDER VIOLENCE
I´m going to talk about gender violence. Today, people live in a world full of hypocrisy and wickedness, but today I have to focus on an issue that concers us all... It is gender violence. This issue is vey delicate and who is suffering doesn't say anything... Maybe for fear to your bully, who in most of the cases is the partner, or the fear that people will start to look at you like someone inferior.
There are many types in the abuse: the first is called ''the honeymoon", in which everything is perfect and there aren't any problems. The second one is when the abuser begins to underestimate the partner in a subtle way. The third phase is when the abuser is capable of physical abuse.
These three phases are always together and always follow the same order... There are many types of abuse, like the psychological or physical ones, as well as the economic... We mustn't stay quiet when things like this happen!
We musn´t get into the privacy of the partner but we can help the victim from outside! So I only say that we can be brave and stop that when it happens because you will do a big favour to the victim. (By Lorena Gómez 1ºB Bach)


GARDRAILS IN MADRID

The comunity of Madrid is the comunity in Spain with more gardrails suitable for motorbike riders in 2009. They were to install 40km but in the end they have been 85km. Motorbike riders are very happy. The goverment has not only fullfilled what they promised, but the deal has been exceeded. This is something important because most of motorbike accidents have dire consequences. With these measures  the death toll  is expected to decrease. (By Jorge Gonzalez 1ºC Bach)


LITERARY RECOMMENDATION

Welcome all our readers to this section, where we recommend you a book every week. The first book that I recommend you is El misterio de la cripta embrujada by Eduardo Mendoza. This book is very entertaining for all kinds of public because it has mistery, humour... it has everything. This work by Eduardo Mendoza shows the story of a school where girls start to disappear. Thus the commissioner Flores releases an inmate from a mental hospital in order to discover the mystery and know the reason for the disappearances. The ex-prisoner lives many adventures, following his ''old instinc'' to impersonate identities and solve mysteries such as, for example, theses strange disappearances. (By Alejandro Muñoz 1ºA Bach)

Listen a Minute: Family

As promised, here you have your homework for next Wednesday. It's here: Listen a Minute. Family. Remember to listen to the audio as many times as you need, while reading the tapescript at the same time, for you to be able to reproduce it. Then record your own voice repeating the audio at least three times, paying attention to the differences between your words and the original audio and trying to improve your pronunciation. Bring the files (MP3 format) to class on Wednesday for me to check how well you do it. Enjoy yourselves!!

Last night party

LEROY- Hey man! It's Leroy.
ALI- What's up?
L- I want to complain about last night party. It was too noise and... you didn't invite me.
A- We didn't make much noise. You're lying.
L- Are you calling me a liar?
A- Yes, I am. I called you that.
L- I call it an insult.
A- Sorry, I've been very unpolite... but I've had a lot of problems this week.
L- Don't worry. But, if you do another party, invite me or don't make so much noise, OK?
A- Fine. But I won't do any party in some weeks because I'm angry with my friends.
L- Why?
A- Because they broke a lot of things of my flat and they don't want to pay them.
L- Screw you! You shouldn't have had the party!
A- I've learnt the lesson.
L- Good boy!
A- Sorry, but I have to leave you. I have to tidy the flat. See you soon.
L- Good bye!

Neighbour's complaint

- Hi! It´s your neighbor Miriam Sanchez. I´m calling you about last night´s party. I think that your friends and you did a lot of noise because of noise woke up my son and me wake up my daugther.

- Oh! I´m so sorry!

- Sorry? Only you say sorry?

- Now, I can´t to do anything...

- Ok, I hope that it doesn´t happen again ok?

- Ok ok... I´m feel very embarrased...

- What happened in the party?

- What happened in the party, are you asking me?

- Yes!

-Ok... I was celebrating my birthday and I did a party with my friends. I thought that the party could have finish at eleven o´clock but then, at half past eleven, my friend turned on the radio and put music... I said him that he stops the music but he didn´t ´want. Sorry...!

- Ok, don´t worry. I´ve been young and I understand you, but please, controls a little more for next time ok?

- Ok, ok, don´t worry!

- Bye!

- Bye and sorry...!


By Lorena Gómez and Jorge Gonzalez

HOTEL DEVONCOVEN

L- Mum! I'm phoning to make an hotel reservation. I decided phone Devoncoven's hotel, ok?

All of our operators are busy at this time. Please hold for the next avaible person...

A- Thank you for calling Devoncoven. Jody speaking. How can I help you?

L- Good. morning. I'm Julie Thompson. I'm phoning to make an hotel reservation.

A- Right. How many are you?

L- Five people

A- Ok, you need two double rooms

L- How much does it cost?

A- One hundred thirty euros per night. How many nights you want to stay?

L- I wat to stay a week, seven nights. Can I take my dog with me?

A- Yes. We have special offert for pets. We have a special departamentwere you can bring your
pets and we will take care them, it cost a plus, ten euros per night. You want to reserve?

L- Yes. For thenext monday.

A- Ok, please give meyour details...