Barbie Girl
Hi Barbie
Hi Ken
Do you wanna go for a ride?
Sure Ken
Jump In...
I´m a barbie girl, in a barbie world
Life in plastic, it´s fantastic.
you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere.
Imagination, that is your creation.
Come on Barbie, let´s go party!
I´m a blond bimbo girl, in a fantasy world,
Dress me up, make it tight, I´m your darling.
You are my doll, rock´n´roll, feel the glamouring thing,
kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky.
You can touch, you can play, if you say "I´m always yours"
uu-oohuh..
Come on Barbie, let´s go party!
Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please,
I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees.
Come jump in, be my friend, let us do it again,
hit the town, fool around, let´s go party
You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I´m always yours"
You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I´m always yours"
Come on Barbie, let´s go party!
Come on Barbie, let´s go party!
Oh, I´m having so much fun!
Well Barbie, we just getting started.
Oh, I love you Ken.
Adapted by Julio Aguilera
A, An, The, or (Nothing)
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Why learn English?
There are lots of facts you can find which help to persuade you that learning English is a good idea - 400 million first language speakers, 700 million second or foreign language speakers, over a billion people learning it right now! And over 80% of the information stored in the world's computers is in English, more than half the world's scientific journals are in English, it's the main language on the internet, and so on*. The reason is not hard to find: nowadays it's the enormous political and economic power of the USA, though British imperialism in the last century is another important, historical reason.
The result is that more and more every day, people expect you to know some English, and it's not only English speaking people who expect it - another fact often given is that 80% of the English used in the world is used between non-native speakers. In short, it's become the main way you get around, the main way you get things done, the way you make friends, the way you do business with a foreign country, the way you get information.
If English was just a boring, practical language for getting business done - a sort of computer programming language - this growth in its use would be horrible, and we would all have to fight it. But luckily it isn't only that. It's a rich language, with many forms and varieties, ever changing to meet the needs of the modern world, but also with a rich cultural history. If you learn English well, you have access to one of the biggest and brightest bodies of literature that has ever existed, as well as to the many new examples of its power, as in films and song lyrics.
And lastly, it is a rich language. There are many things which other languages do better, but English has excellent flexibility and great richness of vocabulary - features which make it hard to learn but very satisfying when you can begin to control and use it. So even when you have some English, it's a good idea to try and get more: learning English is one activity where you can be sure you will never be wasting your time.
It's Another New Year...
...but for what reason?
"Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said and heard for at least the first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way. But the day celebrated as New Year's Day in modern America was not always January 1.
The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, Babylonians celebrated the beginning of a new year on what is now March 23, although they themselves had no written calendar.
Late March actually is a logical choice for the beginning of a new year. It is the time of year that spring begins and new crops are planted. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.
The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.
The Romans continued to observe the new year on March 25, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.
In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what was come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.
Although in the first centuries AD the Romans continued celebrating the new year, the early Catholic Church condemned the festivities as paganism. But as Christianity became more widespread, the early church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations, and New Year's Day was no different. New Years is still observed as the Feast of Christ's Circumcision by some denominations.
During the Middle Ages, the Church remained opposed to celebrating New Years. January 1 has been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for only about the past 400 years.
Other traditions of the season include the making of New Year's resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.
The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. It celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in California.
Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the following year. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the festival.
The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.
Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus.
The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century.
| Openers and Closers |
The following is a list of useful openers, pre-closings and closings.
Greetings Responses
Good morning/afternoon/evening......................... Good morning/afternoon/evening Hello................................................................... Hi How are you?..................................................... Fine, thanks/Great/OK How are you doing?........................................... Pretty good How's it going?................................................... Not bad What's happening............................................... Not much What's up?......................................................... Nothing much Long time, no see ............................................... Yeah, I haven't seen you for ages
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