DARWIN / EVOLUTIONISM versus CREATIONISM

February 12 marked the 200 anniversay of Charles Darwin's birth. The event was widely commemorated in the media. The BBC has loads of programmes and articles devoted to his figure, but I'll just recommend this short, funny video from history.com. Those who are really, really interested will be happy to know you can find his complete work online, even with audio you can download and listen to on your way to work.

Since Darwin's time there has been a controversy between Evolutionism as a theory to explain the origin of man and the world in general, and Creationism, the idea that a supreme being created the universe. Nowadays it is specially strong in the United States. Basically, creationists want the theory of Intelligent Design to be taught at school, in Biology class. Evolutionists argue that that is religion, not science. For a quick overview, visit this Wikipedia page. The whole thing is explained in this video (90 minutes).



On a lighter tone, the controversy had a curious moment with the appearance of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Pastafarians, as they call themselves, claim that their views should also be taught at school. You can learn about them by clicking on the image (don't miss the hate mail section).

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

February is Black History Month in the United States (October in Britain). Kids study African-American history and culture at school and special events are celebrated. You can find plenty of information in history.com or biography.com

The most prominent figure is probably Dr Martin Luther King Jr, winner of the Nobel Peace Price in 1964 and assassinated in 1968. You can learn about him and the Civil Rights Movement in the pages I mentioned; visit this one as a sample.

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."

These words are part of his most famous speech, which you can see, listen to and read in this page.

SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY

It's mid-February, the days are longer, storks are back and winter starts to fade away (at least in clothes shops). Any time is good for romance, but this week we have an official occasion: Feb 14, St Valentine's Day. Everybody knows you should give your partner a little something (or else!): a card, chocolates, flowers, a dinner out... But what do you know about the history? Who was Saint Valentine? History.com has a wealth of information. Read this article and see this short video; there are plenty more.

Maybe you're wondering: Is this for me? Am I truly romantic? If you want to know for sure, do this short quiz.

Love not only affects our soul, but also our body: our brain does some funny things (no wonder some people are addicted to love). Find out how we lose our mind in this article about the chemistry of love.

If you don't have a partner and you're sick of consumerist rituals, you can still celebrate Singles Awareness Day, or SAD. Learn more here.

GRAMMAR POINTS 3

Here's information about gradable and non-gradable adjectives, and adverbs you can use with them:

• adjective modification

GROUNDHOG DAY

One more year, this morning in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, thousands gathered to watch Phil the groundhog make his prediction about how long winter will last.

Hear Ye Hear Ye

On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009

Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators

Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper

And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths

After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,

Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time

And a bright sky above me

Showed my shadow beside me.

So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.

For a brief history of this curious tradition, which officially started in 1887, click here. For much wider information, visit the official site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

The tradition is internationally known and proof of it is this article in The Guardian. It probably owes its fame to Groundhog Day, a very funny movie starring Bill Murray and Andy MacDowell. Click here if you want to see the trailer.

PHOBIAS

A phobia is a constant, extreme or irrational fear of an animal, object, place or situation that would not normally worry the majority of people.

Visit this website where a specialist explains the difference between a fear and a phobia. By clicking on the icons under the screen you can pull down the transcript of watch the video with subtitles. There's also a lot of information about the subject.

You have probably heard of agoraphobia, clautrophobia or arachnophobia. There are dozens of terms to designate some curious phobias which are not so widely known. I hope you don't suffer from xenoglossophobia (fear of foreign languages) or scolionophobia (fear of school) as these would make it hard for you to attend my classes. Other examples:

• caligynephobia: fear of beautiful women
• chorophobia: fear of dancing
  
• epistemophobia: fear of knowledge
• ergophobia: fear of work
• gamophobia: fear of marriage
• hippopotomonstroesquippedaliophobia: fear of long words
• mageirocophobia: fear of cooking
• oenophobia: fear of wine
• pentheraphobia: fear of mother-in-law

I found these in phobialist.com, which has a list of more than 500. You won't find an explanation of the phobias, though, as it is simply a list of names compiled by the webmaster.

One common phobia in the UK, affecting at least four million Britons, is toilet phobia. Click on the image to read a related article.

For some listening practice you can follow this link to a segment of a radio programme discussing driving phobia (sorry, no transcript). [You will probably need RealPlayer.]