Once upon a time...

Probably one of the most beloved sentences ever heard by both adults and children, this well-known expression is by far the most powerful as well. It implies an overture to great adventures, an introduction do unexpected characters, a welcome to unimaginable places. Next MeetUP will pay its tribute to the world of stories.

So, do you guys have a favorite story, one you would read over and over again without ever getting bored of it? Can you remember the first book you read, or the first story you were told? And after all, what makes a story good? And a storyteller?

Get ready to give wings to your imagination: next Saturday we are going to travel around the universe of stories!

ROOM 101!

There's a TV show at BBC called ROOM 101, in which celebrities are invited to discuss their pet hates and persuade the host to consign them to a fate worse than death in Room 101 (named after the torture room in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four).

In the show, the audience often takes part in deciding what will enter the room, although the host is responsible for the final decision. Any item can go into Room 101, from boiled eggs to your aunt's awful laughter or the teletubbies.

In our next meetings, this is exactly what meetupspeakers are going to do: let's think about all small annoying or absurd things that should be locked up in a room away from everyone in order to make the world a better (!) place to live.

To warm things up until then, how about suggesting things here in our blog and wait for the next commentator to send or save your suggestions to/from that room?

Hey, Apple!

Here and there, now and then, there has always been some little thing that gets on our nerves and makes us lose our temper. From the dripping of a tap to some neighboors' awful taste for music, we have to put up with a lot daily in order to live in harmony. And if that isn't enough, some youtube videos will do that job quite as well.

In this week's meeting meetupspeakers will deal with annoying things: what do you usually do to avoid getting annoyed? how easily can someone get on your nerves? Are there any antidotes to make your day slightly better?

Humour in Our Lives

After a quick survey, our next topic was unanimously chosen in our first MeetUp gathering: Humour.

During Shakespeare’s time, there was a common belief that everybody was controlled by four humours, which were MELANCHOLIC, PHLEGMATIC, SANGUINE and CHOLERIC. They were directly influenced by the quantity of certain liquids in our bodies (respectively black bile, phlegm, blood and yellow bile). So by 1600 it was common to use "humour" as a way of classifying characters.

Meetupspeaker Tania already posted something about that sometime ago, and as I felt that our discussions here should start with what makes us laugh, I decided to bring it back again and ask you, folks, what humour best describes you? Read the analogy below and tell us, which one you are.

Once upon a time four people were walking in the forest when they found a rock in their way. So the MELANCHOLIC, very disappointed, said: “it’s a tragedy, there is a BIG rock in my way! This happens JUST with me! And now what should I do? I’m going to miss my meeting, my life is ruined”. The PHLEGMATIC felt flabbergasted admiring the rock’s beauty; he sat down on it and started dreaming awake. He also thought about some BEAUTIFUL ROCKS that he had seen on his ife and it would be wonderful if his girlfriend were there as well. Then, he breathed deeply the plants smell around him and went away. The SANGUINE, who was oming very overjoyed with the forest fresh air and the beautiful plants that he was seeing, jumped over the rock; he tried to make some dance steps and went away elighted. For sure, in two minutes he had forgotten that INSIGNIFICANT STONE. In the CHOLERIC’S case, upon seeing that STUPID rock, he really got cross, cussing at people who could have taken care of the path and could have removed it. Very furious, he kicked it hurting himself; getting angrier for that, he kicked it again and, suddenly, had a great idea of how to remove it from the path.

WELCOME!

A new year has come and our MeetUp SpeakUP meetings are about to get started once again. If you're crazy about English, or want to keep practising what you have learnt throughout the years, if you're trying to improve your argumentative skills of if you're just looking for an excuse to speak speak and speak English for a couple of hours--this is your club!

No books, no homework, lots of games and discussions about anything we feel like talking about wherever we decide to go. Ask any of our participants, they'll give their words for it!

What are you waiting for? We are very close to resume our 2010 gatherings. Call Yázigi João Pessoa for further information.

See you soon, meetupspeakers!
Teacher Berttoni.

Let It Come

A wonderful year has passed, an even greater is about to begin.

My best wishes of good thoughts for all of us, folks.

And long life to MeetUP SpeakUP Club

(once again, Thank you, Ju, for the awesome collage)

Time to say goodbye

But not for long.

Yes, it seems that this years' last MeetUP has finally arrived. And we've got a lot to remember and to talk about. Therefore, to make our last meeting even more special, a special treat awaits all meetupspeakers.

Following close BND's principles and to celebrate our friendship and the lovely time we spent together, we'll play Secret Santa! The rules are simple: everybody must take a homemade present with you, anything is just perfect; we'll draw the Secret Santa on December 12th and give the presents there. =D

Till this moment, I invite everybody to share this semester's best moments here, in our blog! Which meeting did you enjoy the most? What things we didn't do this time that should get into next year's have-to-do list? How can we make Meet UP Speak UP even better?

Share your ideas and opinions here!

BND!

Guess what guys? Our next meeting will fall exactly on this year's Buy Nothing Day. Do you have any idea of what that is?

It's a day where you challenge yourself, your family and friends to switch off from shopping and tune into life. The rules are simple, for 24 hours you will detox from shopping and anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!

Everything we buy has an impact on the environment. Buy Nothing Day highlights the environmental and ethical consequences of shopping. The developed countries - only 20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the earth's natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and an unfair distribution of wealth.

As consumers we need to question the products we buy and challenge the companies who produce them. What are the true risks to the environment and developing countries? The argument is infinite - while it continues we should be looking for simple solutions and Buy Nothing Day is a good place to start.

So, are we, meetupspeakers, compulsive buyers or responsible shopers? How about joining BND?

*By the way, that's the reason why we're meeting in a square rather than in a restaurant/snack bar. =D

Why do we act the way we do?

Have you ever thought about why someone is more or less competitive, supportive, and extroverted, has good social skills, etc. than others?

According to Ancient Greek Teachings the human beings behavior is determined by a set of innate characteristics combination that we inherit from our parents; in this sense, these characteristics affect our conduct, vocational aptitudes, sense of humor, motivation and even our feelings. Do you believe that?

In order to explain that, many psychologists work with the Four Temperaments Theory that provides information about how this set of characteristics combination determines our actions. The four temperaments are: melancholic, choleric, phlegmatic and sanguine. All of them have strengths and weaknesses and, although we all have characteristics from each one, there are two predominant.

To sum them up, I would like to share this analogy. Please, read it and tell us who you would be:

Once upon a time four people were walking in the forest when they found a rock in their way. So the MELANCHOLIC, very disappointed, said: “it’s a tragedy, there is a BIG rock in my way! This happens JUST with me! And now what should I do? I’m going to miss my meeting, my life is ruined”. The PHLEGMATIC felt flabbergasted admiring the rock’s beauty; he sat down on it and started dreaming awake. He also thought about some BEAUTIFUL ROCKS that he had seen on his life and it would be wonderful if his girlfriend were there as well. Then, he breathed deeply the plants smell around him and went away. The SANGUINE, who was coming very overjoyed with the forest fresh air and the beautiful plants that he was seeing, jumped over the rock; he tried to make some dance steps and went away delighted. For sure, in two minutes he had forgotten that INSIGNIFICANT STONE. In the CHOLERIC’S case, upon seeing that STUPID rock, he really got cross, cussing at people who could have taken care of the path and could have removed it. Very furious, he kicked it hurting himself; getting angrier for that, he kicked it again and, suddenly, had a great idea of how to remove it from the path.

Of course, the temperament is not the only influence on our conduct, many others daily life aspects exert powerful influences on our actions.

International English Certificates

Hi my friends,

Sorry, I’ve abandoned you … haven't it? :-(
But I have a good reason for that :-), in the last two or three weeks, I was desperate because I would take the International Spanish Certificate (DELE - Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) last Saturday. Thanks God, now I am free of it :-)! It was difficult! The grammar and vocabulary test was terrible; there were idiomatic expressions that people use just in Spain. It’s really bad, isn’t it? Anyway, I’m very satisfied with my Spanish and I’m sure I’ve done everything that I learnt with my dear “maestra” Marcela Bown (She’s a great Spanish teacher from Yazigi).

By the way, what do you think about the International English Certificates? Which are the most required? TOEFL? Cambridge exams (FCE, CPE)? IELTS? Etc. When should we take one? Are you confident to take one of them?

p.s I wasn’t shocked with a certain teacher wearing a Scottish kilt, he was cute :-)))))