Mens sana in corpore sano

Couch-to-5K

I decided a few months ago that I had to take more care of my own body because it will be "my home" for all of my life. As I get older; I realize how important it is to be healthy and to have a toned body that is able to do whatever I want it to do.

I have taken up running and I want to participate in a race in the near future. That is the reason why I downloaded this app, it is called Couch to 5K (1.51€) and that is literally what it tries to do: take a person from the sofa to running 5 kilometers in nine weeks of controlled training. At the beginning of the training you walk more than run and this is the opposite at the end of the nine weeks.

It is completely in English (very simple and clear vocabulary) and you can also listen to music from playlists that you can create or import. So, I strongly recommend it to my students, they can listen to English songs and improve their listening skills while running, a healthy mind in a healthy body.

What do you think of making exercise?

Do you think using apps for training sports is a good idea?

Football vocabulary

British Council

We have already seen the difference between football and soccer in this blog. Today I present you with a great collection of games and exercises on football vocabulary. Many of my students are great football players so I recommend you to learn this new vocabulary on the field, the players, the clothes, the equipment, the vocabulary the referees use in the field, the one used by the supporters, cup competitions or even the English teams to which you may go in the future.

Do you like football? Then, give it a try!! ;-))

UEFA EURO 2012

In just two days, we will have loads of football on TV, why? Well, it's the European Football Championship that takes place every four years. This year, it is played in Poland and Ukraine, countries which I would love to visit, especially Poland. Spain is supposed to win, it is the World's Champion and every one expects them to win.
One of the Spanish songs to support the team is called "No hay dos sin tres!" which means literally "there are not two without a third!". The song is sung by three famous singers in Spain: David Bisbal, Cali&ElDandee, you can listen to it here.

Spain is in Group 3 and will be playing for sure on the following dates:

• 10th June against Italy.
• 14th June against the Irish Republic.
• 18th June against Croatia.

If you want to see the complete calendar or more information, you have it on UEFA Euro 2012. I hope Spain gets to play the final match and wins on the 1st of July!!!

If you want to learn more about the difference between football and soccer...

Which country do you think will win this year??

Leave your support for our Spanish team comments !!!

Olympic games in London 2012

from yo y mis circunstancias

The day before yesterday, the Olympic games came to a start with the ignition of the Olympic flame in a beautiful ceremony that you can watch at the BBC. It  is the starting point more than 70 days  before the London 2012 Olympic Games begin, and it is a way to link the ancient Olympic Games and the modern ones in a ceremony full of rituals.

Now the Olympic flame travels to England  where it will be fired on the opening celebration at the Olympic Stadium in London on the 27th July 2012, (unlike previous flames which went throughout the world, it will fly from Greece directly to England and will only go abroad to Ireland; this way, 95% of the British population would have been able to be just 10 miles away from it).

Believe it or not, the photo you can see with this post is (a joke-collage of) the Spanish official equipment.It was presented some time ago and designed by some Russian company who made it for free-as you can see!! Taking into account that we have very good fashion designers, I wish even a low-cost Spanish design company, such as Zara (who offered money to design it), would have done it; at least we would be laughed at ...consistently.

If you are willing to see the Olympic games, be it because you like sport  or because you want to see our sportspeople wearing these clothes, you can be informed of everything at the official website London 2012.

What do you think of "our uniform"? Do you like it? Would you wear it? Leave your comments and tell us!!

Oxford or Cambridge?

http://theboatrace.org

We all know that these are the two most famous universities in England, very near one to the other and very beautiful both of them. Not only Oxford, but also Cambridge are not more than an hour and twenty minutes far from London, the capital city of the United Kingdom.

But today I'm not talking about these two wonderful British cities but of the legendary rowing race that takes place each year and that two crews from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford compete in since 1829, it is one of the oldest sports competition in the world. Many famous people have participated in the race, such as the well-known Dr House (Hugh Laurie) or the Winklevoss twins, who were the beginners of the idea of Facebook together with Zuckerberg.

This boat race is held on the river Thames in London every year (except for the first one) and there is a great excitement around it. Oxford has won 76 times and Cambridge 80. Many of my friends have rowed for many years, some of them are Spanish champions of their cattegories and I hope they like this post.

Which crew do you think will win today?
Leave your comments and tell me!!!


UPDATE:
Finally, after a disturbed race with a person in the river and a broken blade in the Oxford boat, too much for only 6.8 km!! Cambridge has won the 158th boat race!!!

Soccer or Football?

http://carrie-persichini.blogspot.com.es 

From the 15th century onwards many games involving a ball and different parts of the body were played in England, they were all called "football"; these have evolved into different modern sports. The most famous one in Europe is called "Association Football", more commonly named as "football" or "footy". "American Football", also called "gridiron football" or just "football" in the USA, comes from the football that started to be played at the Rugby School and later on took its name, that is, from rugby.

So, what is "football"? 

In Europe, we call "football" to the game played by two teams of eleven agile and quick players who try to put a spherical ball into the rival's goal without touching it with the arms or hands.The game lasts for 90 minutes with a 15 minutes rest in the middle. In 1863 the Football Association was created. It is nowadays an Olympic Sport.

In the USA, we call "football" to the game played by two teams of eleven really strong players with lots of protective equipment who try to get an  ellipsoid ball into the opponents' end zone, they can run with it in their hands or kick it, they normally protect it with their own bodies so that the opponents don't get the ball. The game normally lasts for four 15 minutes quarters with a rest of 10 to 20 minutes after the second quarter. The first records of an official game dates back to 1869. It is not an Olympic Sport.

Americans, but also Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders, refer to"Association Football" as  "Soccer".

A fun way to learn football vocabulary at the British Council's web.
So, do you like football, or should I say "soccer"...? Leave your comments and tell me!!!