WALES

Harry Potter: Dobby's tribute site on Welsh beach saved for now

A tribute site to Dobby the House Elf can remain on an environmentally sensitive beach for now, the National Trust Wales has said.

The fans site for the fictional Harry Potter character sits above Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, where an important scene featuring Dobby was filmed.

But worries about high visitor numbers and pollution led to the Trust asking people about a possible move to another location.

The site mainly consists of pebbles with messages to the elf, voiced by Toby Jones in the film series, and of course... socks. In the Harry Potter stories, house elves are only freed from being servants if they are given clothes. In the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter tricks the Malfoy family into giving Dobby a sock... and his freedom.

The beach is a legally protected conservation area, home to lots of wildlife, including lizards, orchids and rare ground-nesting birds. The surrounding area is home to large grey seals, harbour porpoise, and some of the largest populations of seabirds in the world.

National Trust said, the site "will remain at Freshwater West in the immediate term for people to enjoy". But it also encouraged visitors to protect the environment by not leaving items at the memorial. "The trust is asking visitors to only take photos," it said. "Items like socks, trinkets, and paint chips from painted pebbles could enter the marine environment and food chain and put wildlife at risk."

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/63499638

One of the wonders of prehistoric Wales. Click to see where.

In remote moorland, it is a combination of burial mound and stone circle. At the centre is a cairn, 28ft across and three feet high. Outside the cairn are 15 slender stone slabs. Each about 6ft high, they lean outwards like bristling spears.

María Teresa Fernández shared this video about Welsh food:

DOING THE CEREDIGION COAST PATH

Shared by Simon Griggs:

Five years ago, my father and I along with three of his friends walked a part of the Welsh Coastal Path. It was an incredible walk and I can certainly recommend to all you outdoor types!

Big Pit Coal Museum in Wales

Shared by Noelia Fernández:

When I was in Cardiff many years ago, I visited the Big Pit Coal Museum. We  visited the ancient coal mine that had really narrow corridors 300 metres underground. It was amazing! We were equipped as miners and the guided visit was really exciting.

 Many accidents happened there during the first decades of the twenty century and nowadays is closed as a mine. It´s a well known museum in Wales.

Read more about it here: https://museum.wales/bigpit/

   Learning English through its cultural expressions
by Petrina Moir

Language is a means of expression.We express our feelings, emotions, thoughts, needs, desires etc. in words, symbols and gesture which is considered as language. 

Language can be defined as verbal, physical, biologically innate, and a basic form of communication. Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. 

Thus culture finds its expression in language; so, learning a new language without familiarity with its culture remains incomplete. An important question arises here, is it necessary to learn about the culture of the target language to acquire English as a foreign or second language?


From: THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, by Rahim Uddin Choudhury Lecturer, Department of English Jazan University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabiaby

Available at:
http://express-journal.com/pdf/April14Issue4/TheroleofCultureinELT_RahimUddin.pdfwww.express‐journal.com

Ramón Hernanz shares: 

I had just by chance bumped into this expression recently  watching a video of Michael Mcintyre. That is a bit of a coincidence, isn´t it. Minute 17:27

I absolutely recommend watching Michael Mcintyre shows not only because he´s a great stand up comedian but also because you´ll learn a lot of English from him.

Joaquín Tafur shares this video on climate change in Wales.

Sophie Howe is the world's only future generations commissioner, a new kind of government official tasked with advocating for the interests of generations to come and holding public institutions accountable for delivering long-term change. She describes some of the people-focused policies she's helped implement in Wales, aimed at cutting carbon emissions, increasing sustainability and promoting well-being as a national goal.

Wales under the covid. Welcome sign

Remedios Gómez shares:

For those of you interested in Wales, this is a great website full of great information you can use for your classes ;)  https://www.britannica.com/place/Wales

Getting to know Wales: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/getting-know-wales

Getting to know Wales

This lesson plan for teachers of teenagers and adults at intermediate level explores the theme of Wales. Learners will develop their knowledge of Wales, as well as practising their vocabulary and listening skills.

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/getting-know-wales

And another set of resources from British Council: 

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/destination-wales

Destination - Wales

This lesson plan for teachers of teenagers and adults at intermediate level and above explores the theme of the Wales. Students will build their knowledge of Wales and develop their reading skills.

Valle Peláez shares this video about Hay-on-Wye, a lovely small town in Welsh called "the town of books" because it has over twenty bookshops, many selling specialists and second-hand books. At the end of May or beginning of June it is held a literary festival:

Simon Griggs -tutor of our course- has walked and recomends the second part of the Wye Valley Walk (http://www.wyevalleywalk.org/), a route stretching from Chepstow in the south of Wales to Plynlimon in mid-Wales. If you like hiking,

"Three years ago, we walked the Wales coast on the Ceredigion Coastal Path (https://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/resident/coast-countryside/exploring-ceredigion/wales-coast-path/), where we were treated to wonderful scenery and experienced 'four-seasons-in-one-day' weather!"

Click on the headlines to view these really useful resources:

USEFUL LINKS 

 

WELSH QUIZ

 WELSH RUGBY




Hay-on-Wye as the City of Books:

The Uniqueness of Hay-on-Wye, The City of Books in The Border of England

EISTEDDFOD Cultural Festival

WELSH FOOD

Welsh Rarebit, pronounced Welsh Rabbit has is no rabbit in it at all.It is a dish made with a savory sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients that is served hot after being poured over slices of toasted bread.

It is believed the name originated in the 18th century as an English insult to the Welsh; while rabbit was a poor man’s meat in England, in Wales the poorer man’s “meat” was cheese. The basic ingredients (bread, beer, cheese) are food staples of every region, and it was certainly eaten in Wales for many centuries. The notion that toasted cheese was a favourite dish irresistible to the Welsh has existed since the Middle Ages. In A C Merie Talys(100 Merry Tales), a printed book of jokes of 1526 AD, there is a funny tale from the fourteenth century which talks of the welsh people´s love for the recipe: The Welsh people in heaven were being noisy and causing trouble and, in order to get rid of them Saint Peter went outside the gates of heaven and shouted "Caws Pobi!". The Welsh ran out after hearing about toasted cheese and then gates were shut behind them.The first recorded reference to the dish was "Welsh rabbit" in 1725, but the origin of the term is unknown.

A legend mentioned in Betty Crocker´s Cookbook claims that Welsh peasants were not allowed to eat rabbits caught in hunts on the estates of the nobility, so they used melted cheese as a substitute. The author also claims that Ben Jonson and Charles Dickens ate Welsh rarebit at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a pub in London, but there is no good evidence for any of this.

Today, the dish is enjoyed sporadically throughout the country. It holds a special position in Wales due to its status as a traditional dish, and it now even has its own national day – September 3rd is Welsh Rarebit Day. And, of course, here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 25g Welsh Butter
• 375g Welsh Farmhouse Cheese
• 100ml Welsh Ale or Milk
• 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and Pepper
• A loaf fresh White Farmhouse Bread

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a pan, add the grated cheese and stir over a low heat until melted.
2. Pour in the ale or milk; add the Worcestershire sauce and any other flavouring you wish. Season to taste.
3. Bring the mixture up to near boiling point, and then remove from the heat.
4. Then toast the bread.
5. Place on a baking sheet, pour over a good helping of rarebit mixture and brown either under a hot grill, or in a hot oven.

WELSH CAKES

Here´s a recipe for Welsh cakes. I think they´re usually sweet but this is a savoury take on this old Welsh recipe.





WELSH HUMOUR

Here's a joke that involves the world-famous enormously long Welch place name (the link after the joke tells you a bit about the place and how to pronounce it). Good luck!

Say it slowly...

On a beautiful summer’s day, two English tourists were driving through Wales.

At Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch they stopped for lunch and one of the tourists asked the waitress: “Before we order, I wonder if you could settle an argument for us. Can you pronounce where we are, very, very, very slowly?”

The girl leaned over and said:

“Burrr… gurrr… King.”

 More info:

http://llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.info/scripts/index.php

ISN'T WALES REPRESENTED ON THE UNION JACK?

St. David's Day craft activity

St David's Day craft activity with your classes if you work in Infants or Primary and wear your daffodil with pride! (Besides it's a lot more comfortable than sticking a thistle in your lapel on St Andrew's Day!!!)

https://nurturestore.co.uk/saint-davids-day-crafts-and-activities-lesson-plan

St. FAGANS Museum

St Fagans is a fantastic museum as the buildings are really the museum pieces, all are transported brick by brick and rebuilt.

What makes this place so special are the guides within each house who offer you titbits about their previous occupants. I really love one area which is a row of terraced houses, each one reflects a particular period so you can see how decoration and fashion changes. 

Oh! the best thing of all, there are great places to wander around, have a picnic and it is all free

WELSH MUSIC

Stereophonics
Many films have used theirs songs as soundtracks.