It can read your mind!

Incredible! This program knows what you're thinking!

Think of something - animal, mineral, vegetal or other - and this artificial intelligence program will guess it in 20 questions or less. Don't you believe it? Give it a try:

20Questions

You'll be amazed!

Easter

According to Christian tradition, Easter is a major celebration marking the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was crucified on what is known to Christians as Good Friday and was resurrected three days later on Easter Sunday.

Of all the symbols associated with Easter, the egg, the symbol of fertility and new life, is the most identifiable. In the UK children still paint colored eggs, but most British people simply exchange chocolate eggs on the Sunday. In North America, the Easter Egg Hunt involves lots of eggs being hidden around the house or garden by the Easter Bunny before the children of the house get up for the day. They are then invited to try and find all the eggs often with a chocolate egg as the reward. (adapted from Wikipedia, and Happy-Easter.com)

But do you know there's another kind of Easter eggs? Do this worksheet to find out.

It's springtime!

Spring is in the air! The days are longer, the sun is warmer, the trees are in bloom, poets are reciting their poems...



I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850), British poet, Daffodils

Spring's an expansive time: yet I don't trust
March with its peck of dust,
Nor April with its rainbow-crowned brief showers,
Nor even May, whose flowers
One frost may wither thro' the sunless hours.
Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), British poet. Winter: My Secret (l. 23-27). . .

Create your flowers in this virtual flower garden.

Saint Patrick's Day

Today is Saint Patrick's Day, patron saint of Ireland.

To celebrate this day people wear green and attend the many parades that take place worldwide. Probably the most spectacular ones run along the streets of Dublin, New York and Chicago (you may have seen it at the beginning of The Fugitive)

See what they are like:

Misheard lyrics

Did you know that sometimes the songs in English (or in any other foreign language) hide secret messages in Spanish?

In the radio program No somos nadie, and later in the TV programs Channel nº4 and El Hormiguero, they used to collect this kind of songs, under the name "momentos teniente".

Here you have a sample. Can you hear the Spanish words?



(If you want to hear more of these, type "momentos teniente" in YouTube). Enjoy yourselves!

Cast your vote!

Have a look at what the foreign press says about the Spanish elections:

The Times online
The Guardian
Financial Times
The New York Times

It's quite interesting to compare them!

Eurovision Song Contest

Last night Spain voted that our representative in this year's Eurovision Song Contest will be Rodolfo Chikilicuatre, with the song Baila el Chiki Chiki. The song was selected by internet voters in MySpace, and then won in the TV final.

Spain won't be the only country to send an unusual singer to the contest. Ireland may be breaking all the records by sending Dustin the turkey, with the song Ireland douze points!

Dictation

Here is the correction to today's dictation:

Riding for the Disabled is an organization which takes volunteers to help run holidays for disabled children and adults. You need to be over eighteen ans experience is useful but not essential. You'll get free accommodation and they pay basic living expenses.

Here are the other NGOs mentioned in the text:

WWOOF
CBA
Earthwatch

Base jumping

Today we heard about BASE jumping. Did you know that the first jump dates back as far as 1783?
Learn more about this extreme sport here.

If you want to know what it feels to jump from a height, watch this:



Are you considering taking up Base jumping? Try this game and start training:

Base Jumping Base jump over 5 rounds to challenge the King.

Play this free game now!!

Barça v Celtic

Tonight there's an important match, as Barça is being visited by Celtic in the return leg of the Champions League. In the first leg, Barça won 2-3. What will happen tonight? Who will get a pass to the quarter-finals? Will Barça make it to the final in Moscow?

Read the information provided in this worksheet and do the accompanying exercises.