Music!

Biography of Chayanne

Elmer Figueroa Arce, better known as Chayanne, was born in Puerto Rico on the 29th* of June in 1968 and is the third of five siblings. He recently married the Venezuelan Marilisa Maronese, with whom he had a baby who is almost 3 years of age who was named Lorenzo Valentino. Like any other adolescent, Chayanne was delighted to ride motocycles, play tennis, and enjoy a good book; furthermore he is a tireless fighter and self-disciplined, thanks to which he has become an example for all his generation. Chayanne is indebted for his stage name to his mother and a North American TV series. He debuted as a singer at ten years of age, becoming a part of the group "Los Chicos" (the boys), one of the most acclaimed groups originating in the decade of the 80s, causing a true frenzy among the adolescents. Professionally, he has recorded 14 albums/CDs, 5 of these with Los Chicos and 9 others as a solo performer. In 1987 he recorded for the first time with Sony Music International (CBS Records) an album/CD entitled "Chayanne," among whose songs the major hits were "Tu Pirata Soy Yo" (I am Your Pirate), "Este Ritmo se Baila Asii" (This Rhythm is Danced Like This), and "Fuiste un Trozo de Hielo en la Escarcha" (You Were a Chunk of Ice in the Frost). In 1989 he recorded his second album/CD (for Sony) also entitled "Chayanne," among whose songs the major hits were "Fiesta en America" (Party in America), "Violeta" (Violet), "Te Deseo" (I Wish), and "Para Tenerte Otra Vez" (In Order to Have You Again). This album was also recorded in Portugese and resulted in several hits in the Brazilian market. This recording was found worthy of a nomination for the Grammy awards in 1989 under the category "Best Latin Pop Performance." In this same year he signed an exclusive contract worldwide with the Pepsi-Cola company, and recorded the first commercial that came out in Spanish without subtitles primarily in the United States, Latin America, and Europe during the beginning of the Grammy Awards (1989). Then he recorded another commercial for Pepsi, this time in English. Other recordings of his include: "Sangre Latina" (Latin Blood), "Tiempo de Vals" (Waltz Time), "Provocame" (You Turn Me On), "Influencias" (Influences), "Volver a Nacer" (To Be Born Again), and most recently, "Atado a Tu Amor" (Tied to Your Love), which received a nomination for the Grammy Awards in 1998 in the category "Best Latin Pop Performance." Other brillant facets of Chayanne's career have been as an actor. As an actor for television he recorded the soap opera "Pobre Juventad" (Poor Youth) for Televisa/Mexico; meanwhile, when in Puerto Rico and for WAPA TV (today Televicentro of Puerto Rico), he was the star of "Tormento" (Torment) and "Sombras del Pasado" (Shades of the Past). As an actor in films he participated in the film Linda Sara (Pretty Sara), by Jacobo Morales, with the ex-Miss Universe Dayanara Torres; and recently he was the star of the film Dance With Me with Vanessa L. Williams. * On T.V. y Novelas Idolos, Chayanne talks about the day he was born, and he says, "Ella entró al hospital el día 28, pero me tuvo en la madrugada del 29. A pesar de eso, el médico me registró el 28!" (She entered the hospital the 28, but she gave birth on 29 daybreak. In spite of this the doctor registered me the 28!)

Books!

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez.

Published: November 2006 (first published 2004) by Vintage International

Binding: Paperback, 115 pages

Setting: Colombia

Literary awards: Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction (2005)

Description:
On the eve of his ninetieth birthday a bachelor decides to give himself a wild night of love with a virgin. As is his habit–he has purchased hundreds of women–he asks a madam for her assistance. The fourteen-year-old girl who is procured for him is enchanting, but exhausted as she is from caring for siblings and her job sewing buttons, she can do little but sleep. Yet with this sleeping beauty at his side, it is he who awakens to a romance he has never known. Tender, knowing, and slyly comic, Memories of My Melancholy Whores is an exquisite addition to the master’s work.

Gabriel Gárcia Márquez Biography's

García Márquez, Gabriel (1928– ), Colombian novelist, short‐story writer, and polemical journalist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982. His literary works have influenced writers all over the world. In particular, his novel Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude, 1967) is a landmark in literary theory and history, since it gave rise to the term ‘magic realism’ and led many writers to imitate its style. As a major representative of ‘magic realism’, García Márquez has always felt suspicious of pure realism which, in his view, is unable to capture the essence of Latin America. Consequently, both his novels and short stories integrate the real and the fantastic, together with mythic, legendary, and magical elements. In fact, it is not uncommon for García Márquez's short stories to have their sources in Märchen, folklore, and myth. Formally austere and frequently located in rural settings, they are full of surprising elements that defy rational laws and make demands on the reader's imagination. His first volume of short stories, Los funerales de la Mamá Grande (Big Mama's Funeral, 1962) has been critically acclaimed as his best collection. It includes, among many others, two prodigious tales: ‘La prodigiosa tarde de Baltazar’ (‘Balthazar's Prodigious Evening’, 1962) and ‘La viuda de Montiel’ (‘The Widow of Montiel’, 1962). In the 1970s García Márquez published two other collections of short stories: La increíble y triste historia de la cándida Eréndira y de su abuela desalmada (Innocent Eréndira and Other Stories, 1972) and Ojos de perro azul (A Blue Dog's Eyes, 1972). Several critics have considered the title story of the former as a revision of ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, a tale that García Márquez goes back to in ‘El avión de la bella durmiente’ (‘The Sleeping Beauty's Plane’, 1982). This tale is included within his last volume of short stories, Doce cuentos peregrinos (Twelve Wandering Tales, 1992). Also incorporated into this collection is ‘El rastro de tu sangre en la nieve’ (‘The Trace of Your Blood on the Snow’, 1976), which is likewise related to the fairy‐tale genre.

News

Alcoholism – Russia’s "National Disaster"

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has said alcoholism is a ‘national disaster’ in his country. He spoke of his shock at how much Russians drank each year. In particular, he said Russian people drank too much vodka, which is the nation’s most popular alcoholic beverage. Mr. Medvedev quoted a recent report that showed the average Russian drank 18 litres of pure alcohol each year. That means around 350 litres of beer or about 45 litres of vodka. That's almost a litre of vodka a week. The president said: “When you convert that into vodka bottles, it is simply mind-boggling.” He said measures aimed at reducing the levels of drinking have not worked. "This is a centuries-old problem and one cannot hope to solve it overnight," Medvedev said.

Doctors in Russia believe alcohol causes around half of all deaths of Russians between the ages of 15 and 54. An equally frightening statistic is that only 40 per cent of Russian school leavers are likely to live to the age of 60. This will have a huge impact on Russia’s economy. The country has one of the highest rates of alcohol-related diseases in the world. Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said: "We are the absolute leader in terms of alcohol consumption." One problem Russia has is bootlegging – making and selling vodka illegally to avoid paying taxes. Quite often the alcohol content in bootleg vodka is much higher than that in commercially produced liquor. Officials say up to 50 per cent of Russia's vodka market is illegal.

English

Simple Past:

"Irregulars Verbs"

Introduction

Although many verbs in English form their past tense with -ED, some do not. These are called irregular verbs, and they include some of the most basic verbs in English. This page will explain some of the most important patterns in forming the past tense. However, the only way to know how an irregular verb will change in the past tense is to learn all of the important verbs.

1. The three most important irregular verbs

The three most important irregular verbs are BE, HAVE, and DO. The simple past forms for BE are different depending on the subject.

Pronoun	BE	HAVE	DO
I	was	had	did
You	were	had	did
He / she / it	was	had	did
We	were	had	did
They	were	had	did

2. Other irregular verbs

Other irregular verbs fall into three main categories:

Category	Examples
Verbs which don't change	cut - cut hit - hit fit - fit
Verbs which change their vowel	get - got sit - sat drink - drank
Verbs which change completely	catch - caught bring - brought teach - taught

Irregulars Verbs:

Infinitive	Simple Past	Past Participle	Spanish
be	was / were	been	ser
become	became	become	convertirse
begin	began	begun	comenzar
bite	bit	bitten	morder
blow	blew	blown	soplar
break	broke	broken	romper
bring	brought	brought	traer
build	built	built	construir
buy	bought	bought	comprar
catch	caught	caught	atrapar
choose	chose	chosen	elegir
come	came	come	venir
cost	cost	cost	costar
cut	cut	cut	cortar
do	did	done	hacer
draw	drew	drawn	dibujar
dream	dreamt/dreamed	dreamt/dreamed	soñar
drink	drank	drunk	beber
drive	drove	driven	conducir
eat	ate	eaten	comer
fall	fell	fallen	caer
feel	felt	felt	sentir
fight	fought	fought	pelear
find	found	found	encontrar
fly	flew	flown	volar
forget	forgot	forgotten	olvidar
forgive	forgave	forgiven	perdonar
get	got	got	obtener, alcanzar
give	gave	given	dar
go	went	gone	ir
grow	grew	grown	crecer
have	had	had	tener
hear	heard	heard	oír
hide	hid	hidden	esconderse
hit	hit	hit	golpear
hurt	hurt	hurt	herir, doler
keep	kept	kept	mantener, guardar
know	knew	known	saber
learn	learnt/learned	learnt/learned	aprender
leave	left	left	dejar
lend	lent	lent	prestar
lie	lay	lain	mentir
lose	lost	lost	perder
make	made	made	hacer
mean	meant	meant	significar
meet	met	met	conocer, encontrar
pay	paid	paid	pagar
put	put	put	poner
read	read	read	leer
ride	rode	ridden	andar
ring	rang	rung	sonar
rise	rose	risen	elevar
run	ran	run	correr
say	said	said	decir
see	saw	seen	ver
sell	sold	sold	vender
send	sent	sent	enviar
set	set	set	establecer
shoot	shot	shot	disparar
show	showed	shown/showed	mostrar
shut	shut	shut	cerrar
sing	sang	sung	cantar
sit	sat	sat	sentarse
sleep	slept	slept	dormir
speak	spoke	spoken	hablar
spend	spent	spent	gastar
spill	spilt/spilled	spilt/spilled	derramar
stand	stood	stood	levantarse
steal	stole	stolen	robar
strike	struck	struck	golpear
swear	swore	sworn	jurar
swim	swam	swum	nadar
take	took	taken	tomar
teach	taught	taught	enseñar
tear	tore	torn	rasgar
tell	told	told	decir, contar
think	thought	thought	pensar
throw	threw	thrown	lanzar
wake	woke	woken	despertarse
wear	wore	worn	usar
write	wrote	written	escribir

English

Simple Past: verb "to be"

The Simple Past Tense (with the verb to be)

Similar to the Present simple tense, The simple past is divided in two main parts. The form with the “to be” and with “other verbs”

It is quite simple. We DO NOT use auxiliaries (do, does, don’t and doesn’t) To form the negative we just add the “not” and for questions

we just switch the SUBJECT and the VERB TO BE.

In present tense we used: Am / Is / Are

NOW IN PAST TENSE WE USE ONLY 2 CONJUGATIONS! >>> WAS & WERE
He / she / it — was (Positive) Wasn’t (Negative)
I / we / you / They— were (Positive) Weren’t (Negative)

YES:
- I/HE/SHE/IT => was
-YOU/ WE/THEY =>were

NO:
- I/HE/SHE/IT => wasn't
-YOU/WE/THEY => weren't

Verb to be with question words:

In this class we will talk about question words and how we can use them with the verb to be in the present tense.

Question words are those words that may go in the beginning of a question. When we use question words we do not use a yes or no answer.

Ejemplo :

What’s your name?
I’m David Taylor. (The answer is a sentence)

With no question word:

Are you Maria?
No, I’m not (The answer is a yes/no because there isn’t a question word)

Question words are used to gather specific information. The following table shows the meaning of the question words in Spanish.

English	Spanish
Where	Donde
Why	Por que
Who	Quien
What / (time)	Que / Cual (a que hora)
Which	Que / Cual
How long	Por cuanto tiempo / para medidas
How often	Con que frecuencia
Whose	De quien
How many/much	Cuantos
How old	Edad
How	Como
How + adjetivo	Descripciones
How come	Como asi

Question Word	Verb (to be)	Subject	Complement
What	is	(your) name?	[no complement]
How old	are	you?	[no complement]
Where	is	Juan	from?
Who	is	(the) present	for?

Remember:
In questions with the verb to be, only the question words can go in the beginning. Nothing may go in front of the question words in full questions.

Where are you from? (QW goes first)

Typical questions with the above properties:

What is this for? (¿Para que es esto?)
Who are the books for ? (¿Para quien son los libros?)
What is the movie about? (¿De que se trata el libro?)

English

Simple Past

In the simple past, there are two ways to distinguish in regulars and irregulars verbs.

The regulars verbs:

Syntax (POSITIVE FORM):
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they + VERB (PAST FORM) + Complement

-The verbs regulars, make up the past adding

Rules:

-Verbs ending in e, add d.
- Consonant + y change y => i + ed.
- Wowel + consonant, double the consonant and add ed.
- y and w, at the end of a word are not consonant sounds. So verbs ending in y or w don't double consonant.

Examples:
- Linten => Linstened
- Like => Liked
- Study=> Studied
- Play => Played

Examples: NO MATTER WHICH IS THE SUBJECT: ALWAYS wear the same CONJUGATION

1) Maria played soccer last week.
2) Pedro and Juan watched TV yesterday
3) We studied for the test but we all failed.
4) They talked on the phone for two hours last night.

NEGATIVE FORM:

In the negative form we need to use the auxiliary did + not (didn’t). remember that when we use the auxiliary we put the verb in the INFINITIVE form. The auxiliary didn’t is used in the negative form with verbs that are not to be. DO NOT USE DIDN’T WITH WAS OR WERE!!!

Subject	Auxiliary (did) + not	Infinitive
I You She He It We They	Did not (didn’t)	Study Work Play Go Eat Arrive Live

Positive form	Negative form
She studied all night	She didn’t study all night

Simple Past (QUESTION FORM)

In the question form we need to use the auxiliary “Did” and we have to write the verb in the INFINITIVE form

We can also place the question word before this structure:

QW + DID + Subject+ Verb (Infinitive)

Examples:

- What did you do yesterday?
- Where did Maria go last week?
- What time did Pedro leave the party?
- When did Sarah get married?
- How many bottles of beer did they drink?

* As seen in this comparison, the only thing that changes is the auxiliary.

Present Simple	Past Simple
(-) I don’t study	I didn’t study
(-) She doesn’t work	She didn’t work
(?) Does she study?	Did she study?
(?) Do you like movies?	Did you like the movie?

Creations

My Picture

This picture, was created in a painting workshop in the school by teacher of Arts.

In the picture appears with main a tree with it leaves green. With background appears a montain and a river and a beautiful sky blue.

This picture is of the day of the mothers already passed and my mom much liked.