Best moments 2017 - part I

When we look back, there are wonderful moments which will stay in our minds forever.

Thanks to all of you and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

 __________________________________________________

Jan '17-July '17 (school year 16-17)

Valentine's day activities

Cool kids :) | Hoverboarding :)

Special gestures

French, German... all languages are fun!

A different language is a different vision of life

The limits of my language are the limits of my WORLD

"A dreamer is a winner who never gives up."

"Hugs can do great amounts of good." :)

"Dreams don't work unless you do."

Going to the cinema

3D Puzzles are not for everyone!!!

"Shot to the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."

Summer fun courses!

There is always that one SUMMER that changes you!!

ALL our courses include FRIENDSHIP & LOVE.

:)

Carrousel or Merry-go-round

There is a small carousel, also know as merry-go-round, as part of the christmas decorations of the school. It has a lot of details: the music ride, the horse figures, the stairs, the people...

We can find the real-sized carousels in big winter fairs in villages around Europe. They're very traditional at Christmas.
The first one appeared in the 18th century in Europe!
They provide really fun moments for children and even adults, because people sit on an animal-like wooden figure, e.g. a horse and it moves in circles while the music is on.
Carousels are usually very shiny and colourful and they're part of everyone's childhood memories.

In 2015, Lancaster College had the opportunity to visit Brighton with a very cheerful group of students, parents, teachers and staff, who didn't miss the oportunity to ride on one of the most famous UK's carousel, in Brighton.

Lancaster College trip to Brighton, UK (2015)

http://www.brightonpier.co.uk/rides-and-attractions/carousel   

 Written by our student Afonso Cadilhe

The nativity scene

Why do people always place the nativity next to the Christmas tree, during Christmas time? What's its true meaning?

The nativity scene is part of Jesus's story.
When Maria, Jesus's mother, was warned by angel Gabriel, that she would be pregnant of the Messias, she left with her husband, Joseph, on a donkey, towards Bethlehem. and there gave birth to Jesus.
As they were poor and had no possessions, Jesus was born in a barn. His craddle was made of straw and he was warmed by a cow and a donkey.

That's why we put a craddle, a donkey and a cow under our Christmas tree to symbolize Jesus's birth, his simplicity and love for everyone.

Francisca Moreira

My Christmas traditions

Hello, I am Rodrigo Patrício and I will talk about some of my christmas traditions.
First I go to the house of my mother's aunt or to my grandmother's, then my sisters, my cousins and I play until all family is gathered.
Before we open the presents at 00:00, we eat dinner. Women usually cook dinner and the tables get full of codfish, turkey, potatoes, vegetables and many tradicional sweets.
My favourite present ever was a dinosaur!

  Article written by our student Rodrigo Patrício

All I Want For Christmas...

O Natal deve ser passado com a família, com muito amor e carinho.
No Natal recebemos presentes e muitos meninos e meninas criticam as prendas que recebem, pois não era o que queriam. Esses meninos e meninas não se lembram que há pessoas que nem comemoram o Natal, pois não tem dinheiro para isso. Outros nunca recebem prendas, porque no passado as suas famílias os abandonaram.

Por todo mundo, regra geral, o Natal comemora-se com um grande banquete e com muita alegria. Sabem porque é que no dia 26 se come a chamada "Roupa Velha" ou "Trapos Velhos"? No dia 26 (antigamente), para não se desperdiçar comida, as pessoas juntavam os restos do dia 25 (bacalhau, batata e couves) para a refeição, e deu-se a essa mistura o nome de "Roupa Velha" ou "Trapos Velhos". Antigamente havia o hábito de desperdiçar comida, mas ao longo dos anos esse hábito foi diminuindo. Agora quase todos os anos mais de metade da comida vai para o lixo!!

Gasta-se muito dinheiro e depois as pessoas queixam-se da sua situação financeira. Eu gosto de ajudar os que não podem ou os que não estão com as suas famílias nesse magnifico dia. 

Para mim o Natal não é só aquele dia em que nos juntamos e abrimos as prendas! Para mim o Natal é uma altura em que estamos com a família, brincamos com alegria, conversamos com pessoas que já há algum tempo não vemos e partilhamos amor.

No Natal eu gostaria de receber paz, amor e carinho, que é o que eu dou aos outros!!! 

Artigo escrito pela nossa aluna Maria Martins

Estudar e de ajudar nas atividades extra

                                  A importancia de estudar e de ajudar
                                     nas atividades extra

Na minha opinião, quando participamos numa atividade do Lancaster, estamos a trabalhar de uma forma diferentes, a divertir-nos e a melhorar a nossa criatividade. E uma boa criatividade pode-nos sempre ajudar, principalmente a Português, a Inglês e a outras línguas. 

Estudar não precisa de ser aborrecido. 

Por exemplo, numa atividade do Halloween, quase todos nós pintámos uma máscara tipicamente Mexicana e escrevemos uma história sobre ela. Isso ajudou-nos a aprender mais sobre outras culturas e a ter mais ideias para outras composições da escola.

Outro exemplo: agora no NATAL, alguns alunos criaram o livro "Christmas Jokes", que por acaso está muito engraçado. 
Foi um trabalho que contribuiu imenso para as composições escolares, e de certeza que quem fez o livro nem deram conta. 
Para além disso, como ficou exposto na secretaria, quem quiser pode ver esse livrinho e divertir-se com piadas de natal, típicas de Inglaterra.

Carlos Silva

TOP 10 tips - How to NAIL Lancaster's exams!!!

THIS IS IT.
The week everyone has been anxious about: LISTENING and WRITTEN TEST week.

But relax. Everything will be all right. Just have a look at my TOP TEN TIPS:

#1 - Don't overthink. It can lead you to doubts that don't really exist.

#2 - Breath. If you don't know an answer during the exam, take a deep, deep breath and think again.

#3 - Clarify all your doubts with your teacher during lessons.
        If you don't understand something during the lessons, don't be shy - ask your teacher and he/she will help you.

#4 - Pay attention during classes. It will be much easier at home, if you get everything the teacher said.

#5 - Practice, practice, practise. Try to solve some exercises at home without checking the key until you memorize everything.

#6 - Vocabulary - One of the best ways to learn new vocab is to read English books/ magazines, online sites or watching films without subtitles (or with subtitles in English).

#7 - Positive thinking - if you come thinking that the exam will be bery difficult, you stress and might really forget what you studied.

#8 - Play with the content - try to do a song or write a fun story including the vocabulary or the grammar rules, so it gets easer to remember it during the exam.

#9 - DON'T study minutes before the exam - it will make you nervous!!!

#10 - Before the exam, don't go late to bed. Listen to a nice a song, think positive
AND you
WILL NAIL IT!!!

Article written by our student Afonso Cadilhe

Black Friday - are the sales worth it? Are the deals real or a con?

Black Friday.

We all know it isn't a common day in a person's life. We are flooded with ads and everyone talks about the day(s) when prices are lower than ever.  
In Portugal, there is not much need to buy what is cheaper at any cost like for example in the USA, but who doesn't like a good discount? Some people are craizier than others, some wait at the store door before it opens, others even sleep outside in tents just to get the best place for their purchases. There are still those who consider Black Friday a festive season.

The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24, 1869. Two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to buy up as much as they could of the nation’s gold, hoping to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits. On that Friday in September, the conspiracy finally unraveled, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers.  

Personally, I do not usually shop at Black Fridays because in my opinion it's not worth the effort and dedication spent just to buy something 60% cheaper. Another much talked about theme during the Black Fridays are the stores that cheat us, also known as "Black Frauds" in which the shopkeeper raises prices about 15 days before that day and then says it has drastically lowered the price. 

In short, Black Friday depends on the personality of each person and has several points of view, from contributing to the national and international economy to encouraging more violent behaviour to get to keep something specific for you.

Check here some footage from 2017 Black Friday in the USA:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcYXkjRfS5c

Article written by our student Afonso Cadilhe

Entrega do 1º prémio - Concurso de Halloween

O Guilherme divertiu-se imenso numa pequena caça ao tesouro para encontrar o seu prémio.

E não é que o nosso mordomo de serviço, o Mr. Crazy Butler, fez as honras da casa? 

Foi tudo pensado ao milímetro, com susto incluído!

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween 2017 - Póvoa de Varzim

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween - Valongo

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween - Paredes

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween - Paços de Ferreira

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween - Bragança

Science is the answer (SHORT STORY)

   Once upon a time there was a very intelligent scientist. He built a time machine.
   One day he decided to travel to the future.When he arrived ,he found Mrs Zultron, a female alien. She came to earth to save the humans. When she looked at the scientist, Mrs Zultron fell in love. But the scientist didn´t feel the same thing.
   Anyway,they organized a team for the battle. Then, the battle started.
   Seven years later, they won the battle, but the scientist was dying. His last words were - "I love you, Mrs Zultron". Then, he died.
    Mrs Zultron built a science museum in his memory, with all her love.

Written by our student, João Pedro - Level KC

An adventure around the Planets (SHORT STORY)

One day my sister and I went to an old house and we found an old future time machine.
We looked at each other in surprise and decided to step in and sing the song of the planets, which was like this:
                                                     Mercury and Venus
                                                     Are so hot.
                                                     Please don`t take
                                                     me there.
                                                     Neptune and Uranus
                                                     Are so freezing.
                                                     Please don`t take
                                                     me there.
                                                     Mars,Saturn
                                                     Or Jupiter
                                                     You can
                                                     take me there.
 After we finished the song, the door closed very fast, the lights went off and we fainted.

 When we woke up, we were in a big rocket .We were really afraid, so we held our hands and closed our eyes.When we opened our eyes, we were in the future, on Saturn. My sister and I saw Humans and ETs talking in English and living together.We were very scared! So we ran back to the rocket.
We winked and we were then on Mars.We left the rocket and walked around for kilometres. During the walk we saw many portals to every planets of the infinite Universe, but we chose to go in the Earth`s portal .We were back on planet Earth, in the old house! We ran to the future time machine and we returned to the present. When we were back in the present, we went to our house, and we kissed our parents!!!!!

Written by our students, Ema and Mariana -  Level KC

PARQUE WARNER in San Martin de La Vega, Madrid (ARTICLE)

Hello!!
Have you heard of PARQUE WARNER in San Martin de La Vega, Madrid, Spain?

It's an amusement park with a lot of attractions with different degrees of intensity, for different ages and with amazing events throughout the year.
An example is the YOGUI BEAR (Zé Colmeia) attraction which can be rode by the whole family.

All of the thematic areas and attractions are based on Warner Bros characters.
The trip from Porto by car takes about 6 hours.
You can choose a package of two days with hotel for 39,90€ per person. However, the parking is very expensive and it has to be paid separately.
Like in most thematic parks, the queues are very long and can reach 1 hour.
Basically, I advise everyone to go to Parque Warner, not just kids but the entire family because it will be very fun and family moments are always important!

Written by our student, Afonso Cadilhe - Level B1.2