Friendship

For our Nov 3rd Workshop meeting we are going to talk about Friendship. One of my favourite quotes about friendship is this: "Friends are God's way of apologizing to us for our families." What do you think about it? If you wish to read more quotes about friendship here you have a good selection. Have a look at them and see if you have a favourite one or maybe you have a definition of your own for friendship.

See if you can answer some of the questions in this quiz about friends. We'll talk about them in our Monday meeting. Good night.

The Beatles sang a song called "I get by with a little help from my friends." Click here to hear the song with the lyrics.

Come on, don't be shy and post a comment sharing with us how important friends are for you.

PS Oh dear, How could I possibly forget "You've got a friend" by James Taylor?Don't miss it! If any problem with the lyrics, try here.

The happiest day of my life

Next Monday, Oct 27th, we are going to talk about happiness and we are going to share the happiest moments in our lives. Check vocabulary and useful questions here.
Do you think most people around you would consider themselves happy people?

Happiness is probably one of the most frequent words in our vocabulary and I'm sure if you asked people what they understand by happiness, they'd come up with very different answers? What makes a person happy?
If you wish to read a bit more before the meeting, here are some links:

• Read what a young girl wrote to describe the happiest day of her life. A man wrote something quite different. 
• "I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life. Oh, just to be with you is having the best day of my life", sings Dido in her song "Thank you". Love and happiness walk hand in hand.
• Are we putting the key to our happiness in the hands of too many people? In this blog you'll find little tips that will help you to make your life happier. 
• "Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself" This is my favourite quote on happiness. Do you have a favourite quotation?

And as usual we shall be looking forward to seeing you on next Monday's meeting!! Bye!

Homelessness

On our Workshop session # 3, on Monday Oct 20th we shall be talking about Homelessness. Here you can download an interesting article published by The Guardian and slightly adapted for school purposes. At the end of the article there are some questions if you want to check your level of reading comprehension (keys are included).

We have also posted a glossary and a series of questions that might help you to participate in our Workshop meeting.

And finally, here you have a few links with extra information related to this week's topic for discussion:

• Visit the wikipedia for a definition of 'homelessness'.
• Australian website with plenty of information on homelessness, pictures, statistics... Rebecca's Community is a community group whose staff and volunteers work with people who experience homelessness in Sydney, Australia.
• Go on and read some real stories behind people who are or were in the street.
• This famous song, Suzanne, by Leonard Cohen, has always reminded me of a homeless lady.
• “Another day in paradise” (1989) by Phil Collins. Collins sings the song from a third-person perspective, observing as a man crosses the street to ignore a homeless woman, and he implores listeners not to turn a blind eye to homelessness because, by drawing a religious allusion, "it's just another day for you and me in paradise". Collins also appeals directly to God by singing: "Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do? Oh lord, there must be something you can say!" 

Enjoy yourself and... see you on Monday!! Don't miss out!
By the way, this week we'll have the visit of Ms Mary Whitefrizz, an English lady who regularly collaborates with Café y Calor, a programme run by Cáritas for homeless people in La Línea. She'll be happy to share her experience with us all and answer our questions.