Stereotypes

Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people whereby we attribute a defined set of characteristics to this group. These classifications can be positive or negative, such as when various nationalities are stereotyped as friendly or unfriendly.

We are going to talk about it today.

What stereotype do you know about people from different countries?

For example, Spanish people dance “flamenco” and they are always bullfighting.

 

Come on! Tell me some more stereotypes you know.

Driving on the left side

This custom comes from some centuries ago, when feudal lords rode on the left side, the same side they carried their sword. When they found enemies, they could unsheathe and defend themselves with their right hand.

Also, in big carriages, when coachmen used the whip, they used to reach passengers travelling on the carriage coming from the other side when they went on the right. So, they decided to drive on the left side in order to prevent this problem.

Because of that, in England and in other countries which were British colonies, like Australia and India, people drive on the left side.

However, in continental Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte changed this habit because he was left-handed. He’d rather keep his left arm between him and his opponents and so, he could manage his horse better. He repaired some roads in Europe and he established the traffic flow on the right side.

From that moment on, countries which are influenced by France drive on the right side, while countries belonging to the British Empire drive on the left one. 

Shakespeare, Cervantes & World Book Day - April 23

On this day in 1616 both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes died, thus prompting UNESCO to declare today "World Book and Copyright Day." The declaration may also have been inspired by a third death on this day, that of William Wordsworth in 1850. As April 23 is also the generally accepted date of Shakespeare's birth (based on baptismal records), the day is even more momentous.
On the other hand, some say that Cervantes really died on April 22; and in any case, the claim that both died on the same day is misleading, since it relies on a calculation correlating the new Gregorian calendar of Cervantes's Spain to the old Julian calendar still in use in Shakespeare's England.

The year 2012 also marks the 80th anniversary of the Index Translationum. This international bibliography of translation provides a unique tool for the monitoring of translation flows in the world.

Titanic's centenary

RMS Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City, US. The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,514 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. One of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, she was built between 1909–11 by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. She carried 2,223 people.


Her passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as over a thousand emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and elsewhere seeking a new life in North America. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. She also had a powerful wireless telegraph provided for the convenience of passengers as well as for operational use. Though she had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, she lacked enough lifeboats to accommodate all of those aboard. Due to outdated maritime safety regulations, she carried only enough lifeboats for 1,178 people – slightly more than half of the number travelling on the maiden voyage and one-third her total passenger and crew capacity.

Today is Titanic's centenary, and many different institutions and people make ceremonies in commemoration of it in order to remember this wonderful ship and all the people who died in the first and only voyage.
http://www.the-titanic.com/es/Galeria/Detalles-de-las-ofertas-especiales/Titanic-Centenary.aspx

April's Fool Day

April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is a day celebrated in various countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on a fool's errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible.
It is somehow similar to Spanish "Santos Inocentes" on December 28.

St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: "Lá Fhéile Pádraig") is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.

Saint Patrick's Day was made an official feast day in the early seventeenth century, and has gradually become a celebration of Irish culture in general.

The day is generally characterised by the attendance of church services, wearing of green attire, public parades and processions, and the lifting of Lenten restrictions on eating, and drinking alcohol, which is often proscribed during the rest of the season.

Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador and Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by Irish people living in other countries, especially in places such as Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand, among others. Today, St. Patrick's Day is probably the most widely celebrated saint's day in the world.

Welcome

Hi, I'm Anabel, your English teacher. I hope we all have a very good year and learn a lot. See you in class.