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SAINT PATRICK´S DAY!

Saint Patrick's Day 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.

Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.

Vocabulary: Ireland: Irlanda, green: verde, in March: en marzo, rainbow: arcoiris, good luck!: ¡buena suerte!, Clover: shamrock: trébol, Saint Patrick´s Day: día de San Patricio Limerick: poema de cinco versos, pot-of-gold: caldero de oro, four-leafed-clover, parade: desfile, wish: deseo, Irish: irlandés.

A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. The leprechauns spend all their time busily making shoes, and store away all their coins in a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

If ever captured by a human, the leprechaun has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for their release. Popular depiction shows the leprechaun as being no taller than a small child, with a beard and hat.

Saint Patrick is traditionally thought to have lived "between 432-461 A.D., but more recent scholarship moves the dates up a bit." At the age of sixteen he was kidnapped from his native land of the Roman British Isles by a band pirates, and sold into slavery in Ireland. Saint Patrick worked as a shepherd and turned to religion for solace. After six years of slavery he escaped to the Irish coast andfled home to Britain.

While back in his homeland, Patrick decided to become a priest and then decided to return to Ireland after dreaming that the voices of the Irish people were calling him to convert them to Christianity.

After studying and preparing for several years, Patrick traveled back to Ireland as a Christian missionary. Although there were already some Christians living in Ireland, St. Patrick was able to bring upon a massive religious shift to Christianity by converting people of power. Says Prof. Owens, "[St. Patrick] is credited with converting the nobles; who set an example which the people followed."

But Patrick's desire to spread of Christianity was not met without mighty opposition. Prof. Owens explains, "Patrick ran into trouble with the local pagan priesthood, the druids: and there are many stories about his arguments with them as well as his survival of plots against them." He laid the groundwork for the establishment of hundreds of monasteries and churches that eventually popped up across the Irish country to promote Christianity.

Saint Patrick is also credited with bringing written word to Ireland through the promotion of the study of legal texts and the Bible, says Prof. Owens. Previous to Patrick, storytelling and history were reliant on memory and orally passing down stories.

Patrick's mission in

Ireland

is said to have lasted for thirty years. It is believe he died in the 5th century on March 17, which is the day St. Patrick's Day is commemorated each year.

The first year St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in America in 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first official St. Patrick's Day parade was held in New York City in 1766. As the saying goes, on this day "everybody is Irish!" Over 100 U.S. cities now hold Saint Patrick's Day parades.

INTERESTING WEB PAGES: ENGLISH

www.eslkidsworld.com

www.angles365.com

www.apples4teacher.com

www.ediadigital.com

Desde estas páginas, os vamos a ir indicando cómo mejorar vuestro conocimiento del inglés. Por supuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuesto, lo mejor es atender en las clases de vuestros profes de inglés…

Pero hay otras maneras, que os iremos contando, como os acabamos de decir… una muy especial es VIAJAR a los países de habla inglesa, especialmente a Inglaterra (y si es, concretamente, a Oxford, ya ni te cuento…)

Por eso, os traemos esta tabla, donde los profes y personal del cole cuentan a dónde han viajado.

¿Has viajado alguna vez a algún país de habla inglesa?

	Países/lugares visitados	Cuándo lo visitó	Algo de aquella experiencia	Alguna foto
Susana	No
Carmen	Inglaterra
Irene	USA, Inglaterra, Escocia, Irlanda	En muchas ocasiones	Aprendí inglés e hice un montón de amigos.
Emilio	USA	2002-2006-2010	Los parques nacionales, muy interesante.
Luís	Malta	2008	Una isla muy especial
Juan	No
Chon	No
Paki	Ámsterdam	Tenía 40 años	Me encantó
Melisa	USA, Inglaterra, Irlanda, Italia, Amsterdam, Alemania, Luxemburgo, Portugal, Bélgica	En varios años	Muchos recuerdos, experiencias y fotos.
Mª Ángeles	No

Sabina	No
Silvia	Londres	19 años	Muy interesante
Ester	No
María José	Londres	Diciembre 2009	Muy divertida
Rosa	Inglaterra, New York	2000-2011	Diferentes culturas
Mª Jesús	Londres	2004	Multiculturalidad
María	Londres	2010	Muy interesante
Ana J	Malta	2008	Allí también se habla algo de inglés, isla bonita y divertida.
Óscar	USA, Inglaterra, Escocia	1995, 2009, 2011	Hablar por gestos
Alberto	Londres, Irlanda	Hace 5 años	Muy interesante
Mª Carmen	Brasil	Hace 4 años	En todas partes, te puedes comunicar con el inglés: conocí otra cultura y forma de vida.
Toñi	No
Manuel	Italia	2001	Me marché de Erasmus y estudié inglés
Ana I	Escocia, Irlanda, Inglaterra…	Antes de llegar al Arranz	Conocer gente distinta y mejor a mí misma.
Mª Luisa	Inglaterra	Este verano	El Big-Ben, precioso
Miguel A	Inglaterra	Este verano	Bath es maravillosa, patrimonio
Virginia	Inglaterra	Tenía 18 años	Pasé mucha hambre
José M	No
Mª Antonia	Londres	2010	Favorecen el arte: museos gratuitos.
Cristina	Paraguay	Tenía 26 años	Conocer otras culturas

Miguel	USA, Inglaterra, Canadá, Kenia	2009-2010	la gente y el paisaje
Sergio	USA: New York y Washington.	2007, viaje de novios	Maravilloso: I Love NY