Activity about Martin Luther King, Jr. : "I have a dream"

After 1876, blacks lost most of their rights, and they tried to get them with the American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). African Americans were discriminated and oppressed by whites. They couldn’t vote, they didn’t have part in the justice system, there was racial segregation (Public facilities, government services like education were different depending on the colour of the skin of the persons. Blacks and whites were separated in most of the activities in the daily life. For example, they couldn’t go to the same restaurants.). Sometimes, blacks were exploited because they didn’t have the same job opportunities and they suffered violence by the police and the whites. This situation was different in the North than in the South (it was “better” to live in the south). Georgia, Mississippi or Alabama were the worst places for black people. The Pilgrims were the European settlers who celebrated the Thanksgiving Day, a very important American holiday, with American natives. The spirituals are songs made by African slaves in America. The word “spiritual” comes from “spiritual song” and it’s related with religion. Vocabulary:

Rooted - arrelat
Rise up - aixecar-se, revoltar-se
Creed - credo
Hold - agafar, mantenir
Sweltering - sufocant
Heat - calor, escalfor
Rough - agrest
Crooked - torçat
Straight - dret, recte
Flesh - carn , (In the flesh - en persona)
Despair - desesperació
Hope - esperança



Martin Luther King, Jr. (English / Català)

“I have a Dream”

(Tinc un Somni (una il•lusió))

delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.



And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

(I doncs, encara que ens enfrontem a problemes d’avui i de demà, encara tinc un somni. És un somni profundament arrelat dins el somni americà.)

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

(Tinc la il•lusió que, algun dia, aquesta nació s’aixecarà i viurà el veritable significat del seu credo. “Sostenim aquestes veritats per posar de manifest que tots els homes han estat creats amb les mateixes igualtats”)

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

(Tinc la il•lusió que un dia, sobre les muntanyes vermelles de Georgia, els fills dels antics esclaus i dels propietaris d’aquests esclaus seran capaços de seure junts a la taula de la germanor.)

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

(Tinc la il•lusió que un dia, fins i tot l’estat de Mississippi, un estat sufocant de bullent injustícia, sufocant amb la calor de l’opressió, serà transformat en un oasis de llibertat i justícia.)

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

(Tinc la il•lusió que els meus quatre petits fills algun dia viuran en una nació on no seran jutjats pel color de la seva pell sinó pel contingut de la seva personalitat.

Ara tinc un somni!)

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

( Tinc la il•lusió que un dia, fins arribar a Alabama, amb els seus viciosos racistes, amb el seu governador que té els llavis impregnats de les paraules “interposició” i “anul•lació”, un dia, allà a Alabama, petits nois negres i noies negres podran ajuntar les mans amb petits nois blancs i noies blanques, com a germanes i germans.

Tinc un somni avui!)

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

( Tinc la il•lusió que un dia cada vall podrà ser elevada, i cada cim i muntanya es podrà rebaixar, els indrets agrests es faran plans i els llocs torçats s’aixecaran, “i la glòria del Senyor podrà ser revelada i les persones ho podran veure juntes”.)

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

( Aquesta és la nostra esperança, i aquesta és la fe amb la qual me’n vaig cap al Sud.)

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

( Amb aquesta fe, podrem extreure de la muntanya de la desesperació una pedra d’esperança. Amb aquesta fe, podrem transformar les sorolloses discòrdies de la nostra nació en meravelloses simfonies de germanor. Amb aquesta fe, podrem treballar junts, pregar junts, lluitar junts, que ens empresonin junts, aixecar-nos per la llibertat junts, sabent que un dia serem lliures. )

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

(I aquest serà el dia, aquest serà el dia quan tots els fills de Déu podran cantar amb un nou propòsit.)

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

(El meu país (It is of you) és vostre, dolça terra de llibertat, per vosaltres canto.)

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

(Terra on els meus pares van morir, terra del l’orgull dels peregrins.)

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

(Des de cada racó de la muntanya, deixem que la llibertat soni!)

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

(I si Amèrica serà una gran nació, això haurà de ser cert.)

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

(I doncs, deixem que la llibertat soni des dels prodigiosos cims de New Hampshire.)

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

(Deixem que la llibertat soni des de les poderoses muntanyes de Nova York.)

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

(Deixem que la llibertat soni des dels immensos Alleghenies de Pennsylvania.)

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

(Deixem que la llibertat soni des dels Rockies de Colorado coberts de neu.)

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

(Deixem que la llibertat soni des de les curvilínies pendents de California.)

But not only that:

(Però no només això:)

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

(Deixem que la llibertat soni des de la Stone Mountain de Georgia.)

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

(Deixem que la llibertat soni des de la Lookout Mountain de Tennessee.)

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

(Deixem que la llibertat soni des de cada cim i cada monticle de Mississippi.)

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

(Des de cada indret de muntanya, deixem que la llibertat soni.)

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

(I quan això passi, quan permetem que la llibertat soni, quan deixem que soni des de cada poble i cada llogaret, des de cada estat i cada ciutat, serem capaços de fer anar més de pressa el dia que tots els infants de Déu, homes negres i homes blancs, jueus i no cristians, protestants i catòlics, seran capaços d’ajuntar les mans i cantar les paraules de l’antiga cançó espiritual negra:

Lliures finalment! Lliures finalment!
Gràcies Déu totpoderós, som lliures finalment!)

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Opinion Essay

IS HUMOUR NECESSARY TO SURVIVE?

Humour is present in lots of situations in the daily life. We can find it in the TV programs, in the newspapers or in the people who surround us. This fact raises a question: Do we really need it? In my opinion, humour is one of the most important things in our lives. Maybe it isn’t always necessary, but sometimes it is essential.

On the one hand, it depends on the type of humour. If we talk about silly humour or annoying humour, it’s not necessary. Maybe it makes some people laugh, but perhaps somebody becomes angry or sad, and we could dispense with this humour. There’s also a witty humour. I believe that’s a good humour because it gives a reason to laugh. If it’s harmless and doesn’t want to offend people, it is thousands of times better than cruel humour. If I had to mention some quotations, Albert Einstein’s words "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. ", or Bill Vaughan’s quote "We learn something every day, and lots of times it's that what we learned the day before was wrong." would be good examples of witty humour.

On the other hand, the situation determines the humour. Not all the types of humour can be used all the circumstances. For example, you can tell this joke: " A nursery school pupil told his teacher he’d found a cat, but it was dead. “How do you know that the cat was dead?” she asked her pupil. “Because I pissed in its ear and it didn’t move,” answered the child innocently. “You did WHAT?” the teacher exclaimed in surprise. “You know,” explained the boy, “I leaned over and went ‘Pssst’ and it didn’t move” ". Surely some people will laugh, but maybe, if your little sister’s cat has just died, it isn’t the best moment to tell her this joke. Otherwise, if a person is always in a hospital and a clown visits him and makes him laugh, surely he’ll get better faster.

Finally, the personality of each person is different, some people take life with more humour than others who don’t understand humour or it’s difficult to make them laugh. I think it’s better to talk with somebody who is cheerful than to have a conversation with a very serious person because the joy spreads easily. There’s a quotation from Elbert Hubbard (an American writer) in favor of humour: "Don't take life too seriously; you'll never get out of it alive". I think that’s a vital truth.

In conclusion, humour is very important and it’s hard to imagine a life without humour, without something very simple which, provided in small doses, can be very important to survive and make life more pleasant.


MISTAKES:

Humor (American English) - Humour (British English)
People who surrounds (plural noun) - People who surround us
will be better - will get better
In one hand - On the one hand

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Dialogue: Problems with alcohol

A known drunkards meeting, represented by:

Amy Winehouse (Marina Sarquella)
Barney Gumble (Alex)
John Hancock (Me)

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"The business of books"

The next 8th of October starts the annual book fair of Barcelona. It’s the 26th edition of this event and, there, there are the most important companies of this industry. Catalonia represents more than the 50% of the Spain’s publishing industry. In the fair there will be stands with roundtable talks, workshops, new titles, distributors, etc. The guest of honor of this year is Quebec.
The last day of the fair is the 10th of October, and it’s a good thing to do if there aren’t more plans.

New words learnt:

Boast - presumir
Roundable - taula rodona (discussió)
Descending - baixada
Fair - fira

Article from Catalonia Today (Thursday 2nd of October 2008), written by Joseph Wilson

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"Just plug in and drive"

General Motors is going to launch a new car called Volt. It’s made as an answer to Toyota’s Prius. The car works with electrical batteries (the name of the car comes from this quality) and it charges the energy in about three hours.
This fact is very important for the company, which has just celebrated its 100th birthday and last year lost the first place as the world’s most important automobile maker, because Toyota got the first place.
The company expects to launch the Volt in the last term of 2010, and there are already about forty thousand unofficial buyers. I think the car is a bit expensive (€40.000).


New words learnt:

Ace up - as
Sleeve - màniga
Scheduled - Previst

Article (story of the week)from Catalonia Today (Thursday 2nd of October, 2008)written by Joseph Wilson

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"Have a flutter"

The Butterfly Park, in Empuriabrava, is a place with plenty of butterflies, moths and, more recently, tropical birds. There you can see different species, all of them amazing. Some can travel through oceans and some of them live only one day after mate. In the park, you can also see some iguanas, abandoned because they had grown too much.
In the Butterfly Park, animals and plants live in perfect harmony like in a tropical forest.

New words learnt:

Leak (to) - degotar
Stripped-pine - parquet
Odds - probabilitats
Plight - mala situació
Moth - papallona nocturna / arna
Painstakingly weaving - laboriosament teixit
Cocoon - capoll
Mate (to) - aparellar-se
Utterly - absolutament
Starvation - fam
Somewhat of a - una espècia de / una mena de
Entrepreneur - empresari
Onerous - pesat
Spooky - “espeluznante”
Nettle - ortiga

The article is from RESIDENT, September 2008, and it's written by Simon Newman

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Joke

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A man receives a phone call from his doctor.
The doctor says, "I have some good news and some bad news."
The man says, "OK, give me the good news first."
The doctor says, "The good news is, you have 24 hours to live."
The man replies, "Oh no! If that's the good news, then what's the bad news?"
The doctor says, "The bad news is, I forgot to call you yesterday."

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Presentation e-mail

Hi Lourdes!

My name is Adrià, I’m seventeen years old and this year I’m going to study 2nd of Batxillerat. If I pass it I want to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Girona because I love cars. I’ll probably go to Girona because it’s closer than Barcelona and I don’t need a high access mark (a 5.00). After that, If I get the degree (and my time and my money let me do it), maybe I get specialized in Environmental Engineering because I am very interested in this topic. But now I need to concentrate on Batxillerat.

I live in Vila-Sacra. It’s a small town between Figueres and Castelló d’Empúries. It’s a peaceful place but sometimes it’s very boring. One of the things which I like most is that you can go anywhere with a bike, but I hate that to go to Figueres or Castelló there is only a bus per hour (two in summer) and sometimes buses don’t come because they think the bus stop will be empty and they jump it. Despite it, I catch the bus every day.

As for my personality, I think I have changed quite a lot lately. I’m very shy but, if it’s necessary, I forget that. If I’m nervous or uncomfortable I take my nose or my eyes. I’m complicated to understand, but easy to please. Maybe sometimes I’m too much insensitive because I watch some things from a different viewpoint.
I am very active. I play in the Esplais handball team in Castelló d’Empúries. I hope this year we will win some matches (the last year hadn’t been very good). I usually play in the bad position (well, for me it’s normal because I’m left-handed) and I wear the number eight. This year I want to start swimming two hours every week because it’s one of the best sports for the body.
I like watching films and, in my free time, I play with my Playstation. Another of my hobbies is taking photos. I became interested in photography in second of ESO, but now I have stopped a little bit because my camera isn’t very good and it needs a lot of time.

This summer has been very short. I’ve been working as a lifeguard at the beach in Empuriabrava. Maybe it’s not related with what I want to study but I like it because it’s a very gratifying job. Luckily, this year we haven’t got deceases and that’s good because it’s hard to live it.
I’ve also got the theoretical part of the driving license and I only need to pass the practical exam. I’ve always wanted to drive and, if I can, I want to take the exam the week of my birthday.

Well, this is a short summary of me.
Good bye!

Adrià

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