Montreal 2015! by Ludmilla

The dedication of an actor by Tiago Medeiros

Eddie Redmayne playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everething ( 2014)

          Being an actor or an actress can seem like an easy job where they win millions and spend the most of their time just traveling around the world promoting the movies which they have worked in, but if you look carefully you will realize some special work that some great actors are doing in movies.
          An interesting thing that we can call or a pattern shown in the last three Oscars is that the last three best actors winners had a type of challenge in common. All of them had to be another person physically. It is not about just using a different costume and hair style. It is about also changing the manner of speaking , walking and the way of thinking. Eddie Redmayne won Oscars 2015 for Actor playing the famous English theoretical physicist, cosmologist Stephen Hawking and he could show all that a great actor can do and he had to lose a lot of weight to play this character. 
          Matthew McConaughey won the Oscar for best actor for his performance in Dallas Buyers in 2014 and He had to lose more than 20 kg to play the character which gave him this Oscar. 

 Matthew McConaughey acting in Dallas Buyers (2013)

           In 2013, who won the Oscar was  Daniel Day-Lewis. He played Abraham Lincoln in the movie called Lincon which  was about his life and we can see thess kinds of crazy things that sometimes the actors have to do to achieve their goals as an actor. In accordance with many interviews ,articles on magazines and websites, Daniel Day-Lewis started to "be" the Lincon few months before starting the recordings. He asked for his family aways when anyone have to talk to win, before that, call him of Lincon. It was part of the research about the character. Probably , should not to be so interesting living with an actor. Just thinking about it.

Daniel Day-Lewis playing Lincon in Lincon (2012)

Big Hero 6 by Ludmilla

I love going to the movies to watch many movies and cartoons.

Would comment on the Birdman but Jane did very well.

 I will talk about an animated film : Big Hero 6 (Big Hero 6 - The New Heroes ( title in Portugal ) or Operation Big Hero ( title in Brazil ) is a comedy action adventure that takes place in San Fransokyo,  a mixture of San Francisco and Tokyo. 
The Oscar for Best Animated Film went to Big Hero 6 , Disney and directors Don Hall and Chris Williams . Don Hall , Chris Williams and Roy Conli received the award on stage , thanking John Lasseter , creative director of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios . Big Hero 6 was until now the sixth most watched film in Portugal in 2015 and obtained gross box office receipts of 476,000 euros.
 I watched with my nephews and recommend , fun Based on the comic from Marvel Comics .

Interstellar By Juan

Interstellar (Best Visual Effects)

The movie is a 2014 epic science fiction film directed by Christopher Nolan, In summary, It was a crew of astronauts who travel through a wormhole looking a new home for humans. 

Not only is the History awesome, even the visual effects are amazing, if you watch the movie, you will know what I am saying. Hurry up and watch it as soon as possible !!! You will have a good time with you girlfriend or good friends to enjoy it. every 5 minutes, I was paralized by the scenes, I felt my seat like my own spaceship, unfortunately, at the end of the movie, it was a little terrible, I prefer a good ending, I would like to tell you, but I prefer your own conclusion...

The Oscars are not only birdman

Whiplash.

Nominated for best picture, actor in a supporting role, film editing, sound mixing, adapted screenplay; just won 3 and deserve all of them. 

I can't describe the magnificent of whiplash, it is amazing. Directed and writed by Damien Chazelle (for me an unknown director until now), is for me one of the best movies of 2014 and definitely is in my top ten. Why? See the trailer: 

http://youtu.be/7EPC5m1QsSk

It is a big drama with an excelent performance of J. K. Simmons who won the Oscar for this job (obviously). Is a passionate movie full of stress, which take you beyond of your mind, my hands was sweating all the time.

This movie inspires you and makes you asking if you are doing enough for achieve your dreams and what's the limit (if exists). The soundtrack is obviously amazing and J. K. Simmons is pfff, the best. 

I can't spoil you because I will be so mean so if you enjoy drama movies you have to see it. I know what I'm saying. 

See you guys :)

Jaennette! 

Following My Dream by Carlos

Most people try to follow their dream but in their way,  they lose any hope to see their dreams come true. Most people just want to take the easy way to get to the top but the truth is that, ironically, the easy way is actually the most difficult and the longer one  is the best one.

When you define your dream and organize your ideas to follow the steps to get you to the top, your path is longer but focused on the important goal. As people say in my country, "Primero te tienes que comer las verdes para que puedas comerte las maduras después." Meaning: "First you need to eat the sour ones in other to eat the sweet ones after". It means that you need to work hard to get the best reward.

Each one of your decisions has to be attached and focus on your dream, but the most important is that you need to make the path enjoyable for you, trying to choose activities that you can enjoy, and it has to be related with your dream to keep you in touch with it,  to want it more and more.

I'm using this analogy to follow my dream and I'm on my way to get it. To have good luck and to be  positive,  that's the key.

A famous designer by Jaennette

Fernanda Ramirez not only is my little sister but also is my favorite designer. She is part of this enterview

If you had an opportunity to follow a dream, what would you be?"

-Well, you are talking like if I couldn't achieve my dreams and actually I living them. 

"One day I am going to be a famous designer". 

"My biggest dream is what I'm living now and the challenge is against cultural ideologies because here in my country not all the women have the dream to increase like professionals and she always looks at you in a weird way. 

I am working in my dream every day,  when I go to the university and fight against obsolete methods and I have to find the way to be better than that.

I must to be prepared for the global competition, because in these days the world is such a little thing. 

I had learned that all the things you do, have a consequence so, achieve my goals and dreams only depends of me"..

I love her and well, she is only 22 and she going to be a famous designer, I'm sure. :)

 

If you had an opportunity... BY JUAN

Hello guys !!! I interviewed my wife, about interesting questions, ok, here we go:

Juan: If you had an opportunity to follow a dream, what would you do ?
Mary: Follow until finish my goal, never say no, never give up, like my english teacher said: Every bad day, it's a good experience !!! or we I have our phrase: "We have a Dream, and we will die for it !!!"

Juan: Would you ever follow a dream that put you harm's way ?
Mary: Yes, emotionally, we waited for years, you lost your first wife because she never believed you for example, we sold our house and car to stay in another country and follow our dream. Our kids are in Mexico, but we know if we work hard, their future it will be better for them :)

Interview!! What drives us?

I  interviewed Thiago Vieira- Brazilian actor and model.

Would You ever follow  a dream  That put you  in harm's  way?

Yes, I'd follow a dream that put me in harm's way. That harm would have to be evaluated, though. Just imagine asking about how dangerous being a race car driver can be... or being a professional MMA fighter or a mountain climber (alpinista?). One way or another, we always have to cope with the possibility of our dreams being hurtful ones... literally.

Interviewed by Ludmilla

Valentine's day by Ludmilla

Curiosities: About the facts about Valentine's Day

 Valentine's Day in some countries known as Day of St. Valentim, is a special and commemorative day in which we celebrate the loving union between couples, lovers and in some places even with friends. Being common to exchange cards and gifts with heart symbol, such as the traditional boxes of chocolates. In Portugal, as in many other countries, will be celebrated on 14 February. In Brazil, the date is celebrated on June 12 , Saint Anthony 's day eve , also known by the name of " Holy Matchmaker "

'' Valentine's Day falls on a feast day of two different Christian martyrs, Valentine's name. But the customs related to this day probably come from an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia , which was held every February 14 . The festival honored Juno, the Roman goddess of women and marriage, and Pan, the god of nature "

Brazil , the date is celebrated on June 12 for being eve of June 13 , St. Anthony's Day, Portuguese saint with matchmaking tradition.

The date probably appeared in the São Paulo trade , the trader John Dórias brought the idea from abroad and presented it to traders. The idea for Brazil , based on the correlation with the Valentine's Day

Meet some countries that celebrate Valentine's Day:

Japan - The date is celebrated since 1936. For the Japanese customs , women should declare their love to their partners , giving them chocolates. There are still Japanese who refuse to celebrate Valentine's Day .

United States - The celebration takes place on February 14 . The shops are supplied cards , flowers and chocolates. Sending cards with friends and dating couples is a strong tradition .

Italy - Couples celebrating the feast of St. Valetim with banquets. Happens exchange of gifts like flowers, cards and chocolates.

UK - turns exchanging gifts , including keys and locks in heart shape . Chocolates and cards are also sellers.

Even cultures of Muslim origin, as Palestinians, have surrendered to Valentine's Day celebrations.

 Font: Wikipedia

Some cute animals!! By Malu

Walking through at Mont Royal park you are able To find these cuteness...





Two weeks ago, I went there to enjoy the amazing view that you can have, and i could see this
cute and fragile animal!!





















If you want to see them, go to Mont Royal park!!! 😃

Relaxing tips

Everybody has bad days, the world is not over yet, so breath and take into account the things that you love.

Some friends told me about their favorite activities for relaxing, so take note of them. 

"When I'm feel stressed, I like receive a good massage in my back.. a normal massage"

-Gustavo

"Well, I think that I like hanging out with my friends and playing some video games, then we go out for a meal and have fun. If that isn't relaxing you always can used go to boxing". 

-Jason

"When stress invades me I enjoy going to the gym, practicing Pilates and swimming"

(She is an active girl)

-Ludmilla

Henry said that the best thing to do in these moments is to sing. His favorite song is Bailando de Enrique Iglesias.

"I'm addicted to video games, that's the best way to relaxing, I can recommend 'gears of war' is a great video game"

-Felipe

And which is your favorite activity for relaxing? 

Jaennette 😊

Streets of Montreal By Carlos

Every day during the winter a group of people work hard to keep the streets and ways clear of snow for you. In this city nobody hides in their houses because of the winter, instead they continue with their normal life, not mattering if outside is -30, and that is cold but they can do it because of the people who work in the city to keep the street clear of snow like in the video below........

Kisses...... Carlos

Challenges of a Second Language learner by JUAN

Hello everyone, I did an interview with my wife, because she is studying at BLI School, she has a lot of challenges about how to learn a new language, but she is optimistic:

Juan: Could you tell me what is the biggest challenge about English classes ?
Mary: Yes, speaking and writing, It's hard to understand


J: tell me more, speaking and writing ?
M: sometimes, speaking sounds different, for instance, I want to say something but it doesn't the meaning, you say something that It's far away to say the real meaning.


J: Ok, How about Writing ?
M: Writing, mmmmm, because I can't understand verbs and of course, I need to increase my vocabulary.


J: What kind of challenges do you have with English Teachers ?
M: Listening and understanding what the teacher is trying to tell me, because she/he speak faster than I can understand, just one word I can get for every 2 sentences.


J: How do you feel in class? Do you worry ?
M: Well, I'm not worried, because if I DON'T KNOW, my teacher helps me, maybe I feel thirsty, I stand up, or try to move constantly every moment, and more when we have speaking exercises.


J: Could you give me in only one sentence about "test" ?
M: Writing test, "I'M LOST"


J: what kind of advise is better for someone like you, where some people want learn second language like English ?
M: Please, practice, not only in class, in your home, patience, increase your vocabulary, don't be shy and keep going, never give up !!!

Introducing "(south)Korea"

Hi I'm gyeonghee(anna)from Korea
I would like to introduce my country 'korea'
we have a beautiful culture, traditional places and very delicious food.
if you have chance to visit Asia, please visit my country, Korea!

(gyeongbuk-gung)

(hanouk-town)

(N seoul tower)

(kimchi, bibimbap, bulgogi)

And there is a traditional clothes called Hanbok and it's very pretty.
We wear Hanbok on Lunar New Year's day and Chuseok.

And also we have a nice language called Hunminjeongeum.
Hunminjeongeum was made by king Sejong that is a scientific letter.
So you can learn very easy!
Hope you guys to learn;)

Thanks for reading my post^.^

Brazilian flavors

Padoca Pâtisserie Brèsilienne

If you are missing the typical brazilian candies, now you can find it in Montreal!
The Padoca Pâtisserie Brèsilienne is a pastry company that makes candies from tradicional brazilian recipes.
Some of their amazing products are: queijadinha, brigadeiro, cocada, pão de mel, pudim and quindim.
You can visit their facebook page and order these sweet treasures. The candies will be delivered to your door! 

Contacts:
http://www.facebook.com/padocapatisserie
info@padocapatisserie.com

(Posted by Leticia)

The best guacamole in town.

http://youtu.be/ounMqNV-Yks

Do you want to make guacamole? 

Luis

Fun in the snow!

Free activities in Montreal by Carlos

You can enjoy without paying, Montreal gives you a lot of choices for example in Park La Fountain you can find different activities to do like ice skating, playing with the snow or just taking a plastic carpet to try to do the activity shown in the video. It is a lot of fun!

tasteful building

Do you like old fashion buildings?

I like them.if you see them, you can feel the country's culture.

So let's check them out!!

there is the one famous building near my school.

it is Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec. 

it is a beautiful building.
you should come and see!!




hiromu

Guacamole time !!!!

Hello, I'm Juan from Mexico, I will talk about Guacamole, maybe, if you visit a mexican restaurant, or if you are a mexican, well, you know what I mean, Guacamole is the King of Aztecas.

OK, I will explain how can you do guacamole:

1 tomato

2 green chile

5 brands of coriander

1 little onion

salt (it's your preference)

1 piece of garlic (only 1 tooth)

2 avocados 

1 lemon

tools:

one mortar 

one special stone for the mortar

In the mortar, you will grind with the stone salt, garlic and green chile (never cut anything, all is grind), put the avocados (without shell and seed) in the morter and you will grind again,  now cut vegetables (tomato, onion and coriander), finally you put only puts of lemon, and you finish your Guacmole !!!!

Rember, if you want to eat Guacamole, don't forget eat with toast or nachos

you will have something like this:

Activities in winter by Ludmilla

  I will talk about physical activities in winter

You can practice winter sports or enroll in any fitness center.

If you like extreme sports, this is the best time (season), like ski and snowbording and ice skating. In Montreal you should enjoy the Skis stations: Bromont, Saint Sauveur, Mont Saint Bruno inter alia.
I was in Saint Bruno, there you can rent clothing and equipment and the instructor also.
Sundays you pay 13$ after 17hs.

If you like climbing, Montreal has the word´s largest scale wall Centre d' Escalade Horizon Roc

 The adress: 2350, rue Dickson Montréal, QC H1N 3T1





Walking up early to enjoy the sunny days (which are many up the winter, but also cooler), a good idea is to make skating outdoors. Some skating rinks:


Bonsecours Basin
 Located:  Subway Champ-de-Mars, Old Port.
you need to pay to get in and you can rent the equipment.

 Jean Mance Park
 Located:  Subway Mont Royal and bus 11, Parc Jean Mance
Free, but you need equipment.
  
Beaver Lake 
Located: Subway Mont Royal and bus11, Parc Mont Royal
Free  and you can rent the equipment.
 
Olimpic Park
 Located:Subway Pie-IX, Montreal Olympic Village
 

Jean Drapeau Park
Located: Subway Jean drapeau, Jean Drapeau Park
Free  and you can rent the equipment.
 
La Fontaine Park  
Located: Papineau  and bus 45 or subway Sherbrooke, 3933 avenue du Parc-Lafontaine
Free  and you can rent the equipment.

"We were the best group" Gabby from Mexico Summer 2014

LaMatraca Restaurant♡ (;

Are you tired of Poutine, eggs or rice?! ;c
Do you want to try something new!? :D

          You would like to visit this place...

                       "La Matraca" !!

It's a very nice restaurant with a spicy theme...   MEXICOOO!! of course! (;
There you can try the best tacos in Montreal!!
You won't regret!!,

I've eaten there Twice... and was amazing!!
I wish have known that place before!!
I recomend this place (;

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/1464932/restaurant/Plateau-Mont-Royal/La-Matraca-Montreal

Winter Clothes

-10, -15, -20....What to wear???

If you are going to live or to have vacations do not forget, the canadian winter is terrible. So if you want to go, go prepared!!

Above, you can see some tips...

- If you are from tropical country, do not buy clothes in yours country, because in Canada you can find it in a good price.


You MUST HAVE to buy

 Inseparable Companions

Here we have some tips to keep warm and fashion in the winter!!!

I hope you had enjoy it!!

I'm a Mexican girl and I'm going to talk about food... Obviously

I am from Puebla, México; the town of "mole".. We'll, no, no let's get started from the beginning. Puebla is one of the cities with the most typical food in Mexico if you go there you're going to love the architecture and especially the food. We'll if you are French maybe don't do it because it's beyond me why some French don't like Mexican food, but that's not the point. 

When you go to Puebla, you definitely have to taste the "chalupas", this is a very simple dish that consists of a mini tortilla wit oil, a lot of salsa and meat, you dont have to go to a fancy restaurant to eat. The chalupas are in all the streets and as an extra it is very cheap and unhealthy. 

If you go to Purbla, you have to (and this is an obligation) buy a "cemita" because it is the only place in Mexico where you can find this. This is a big water bread with a lot of cheese, avocado, fried meat and green pepper. 

All this food are unhealthy like all Mexican food, so don't say that I didn't tell you. 

In Mexico they say: "from the view love is born", so here are pictures of my recommendations, Mexicans can tell you that you are going to enjoy it. 

Please visit Mexico soon! :)

Jaennette :)

Welcome!

Hey everyone! I'm an English teacher at BLI. My students and I have started this Blog for current, future and even alumni students. Here they promise to entertain with their experiences, tips, pictures,  videos and much more.
Siddiqa Sadiq - Rehman