FELIZ DÍA DE LA MADRE

A TODAS LAS MADRES, HOY EN SU DÍA... MUCHAS BENDICIONES DERRAME EL SEÑOR SOBRE CADA UNA DE USTEDES... LES DESEO LARGA VIDA, Y FORTALEZA... EL SEÑOR LAS CUBRA CON SU MANTO

¡Feliz día de la madre! #GoogleDoodle

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Enviado desde Correo para Windows 10

LOS ARHUACOS

TOMADO DE YOUTU BE.COM Publicado por: Sueskún Agencia de Creatividad Publicado el 15 sept. 2016

  HISTORIA DE LOS NIÑOS ARHUACOS TOMADO DE YOUTU BE.COM PUBLICADO POR: Mininterior Colombia Publicado el 31 oct. 2016 https://youtu.be/FOwanHs-w7A


TOMANDO EL CAMINO A LA SIERRA

ENTREVISTA CON EL ESCULTOR GONZALO JINETTE DE LA ROSA

Autor barranquillero, quien se ha destacado por obras originales que representan el movimiento, la figura humana como la mujer de manera especial,,,

Entrevista realizada por las docentes CECILIA JINETTE DE LA ROSA Y EMILSE HEILBRON, en la ciudad de Valledupar

https://youtu.be/dRfKyLb8F2s

SERRANIA DE CHIRIBIQUETE

El PARQUE NACIONAL DE CHIRIBIQUETE, UBICADO EN LA SERRANÍA DE CHIRIBIQUETE, EN LA AMAZONÍA COLOMBIANA ENTRE EL GUAVIARE Y CAQUETÁ COLOMBIA, FUE DECLARADO HOY EN ACTA FIRMADA POR LA UNESCO COMO PATRIMONIO CULTURAL DE LA HUMANIDAD https://youtu.be/2nTriOxcJlE

VOA English Words Borrowed From the Americas

On a recent program, we told you the stories of some English words borrowed from Japanese. Today, we will tell you about words English has taken from languages of the Americas. The Americas include North America, South America and the Caribbean. When Europeans arrived in the land now known as North America, millions of indigenous people were already living there. Indigenous Americans are often called Native Americans and sometimes American Indians. Archaeologists say that indigenous people had inhabited North America for some 30,000 years before Europeans settlers arrived. Eventually, the settlers would forcibly remove many of them from their land. Others died of European diseases. Native Americans lost nearly all of this land during the American conquest. Today, they make up less than 2 percent of the U.S. population. And yet, English has kept a large number of indigenous words, including the names of places, animals, plants and foods. Most of the words that English has borrowed come from the Algonquian group of languages. The word Algonquian also refers to the group of tribes that speak those languages.

Map showing the Great Lakes region in the U.S. The word Michigan comes from the word mishigamaa, meaning "large lake." Michigan is also the name of the state next to this lake.

Algonquian languages were spoken – and some are still spoken – along North America’s Atlantic Coast, from Canada to South Carolina, and west to the Great Plains. Let's start with U.S. place names. U.S. state names It is not very well known – even by Americans -- that 26 U.S. states are named after Native American tribes or their lands. That is more than half of the states. For example, Alabama is named for the Alibamu tribe and Kansas is named for the Kansa, or Kaw, tribe. The word Kansa is believed to mean "people of the south wind,” though that is probably not its original meaning. Many of our town, river and lake names are also Native American in origin. For example, two of the Great Lakes – Erie and Michigan – are Algonquian words. The word "Michigan" comes from the word mishigamaa, meaning "large lake." Michigan is also the name of the state next to this lake. And Erie comes from the Eriehonon people. ​Gary McCone is the head of Library and Information Services for the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. He told VOA that the reason so many Native American place names were used is likely because early European explorers needed a way to communicate with local native people. Changing place names would have made that more difficult. The names of dozens of common American animals are also from Algonquian languages. They include chipmunk, moose, caribou, opossum, raccoon and skunk. In addition to Algonquian languages, English has borrowed words from the Nahuatl language of Central America and the Arawak languages of the Caribbean and South America. Coyote For example, the name of another animal common to America, the coyote, comes from Nahuatl. A coyote is a small, dog-like animal with large ears. The original Nahuatl word was coyotl. The word first passed through the Spanish language before becoming part of English.

The word coyote was borrowed from the Nahuatl word coyotl. The coyote is a wild, dog-like animal that is common to North America.

 Chocolate

 Here’s another example from Nahuatl: chocolate. Spaniards also first borrowed this word before it reached English. The Nahuatl word for chocolate is xocolatl. Mesoamericans grew and consumed cacao for centuries before Europeans came into contact with it.

An Aztec woman pours a drink made from cacao. The word chocolate comes from the Nahuatl word xocolatl, a fermented drink used in religious rituals.
 ​The word xocolatl was originally the name for an ancient, fermented Mesoamerican drink made from ground cacao seeds. Then, in the early 1500s, Spanish conquistadors observed how native people valued cacao beans. They took them back with them to Spain. The Arawak languages of the Caribbean and South America, such as the Taino language, have also given the English language many words. Two of them are hammock and barbecue. Hammock In English, the word hammock is a kind of hanging bed made from cloth. The cloth is hung between two poles or trees. It comes from the Taino word hamaka of the indigenous people of the island of Hispanola. It once meant “stretch of cloth.” Hammock is another example of a word that passed through Spanish first before reaching English.

A Honduran baby sleeps in a hammock. The word comes from the Taino word hamaka of the indigenous people of Hispanola. Originally, it meant "stretch of cloth." Native people of Central and South America first developed and used hammocks. Years later, sailors used them on boats to sleep more comfortably and make good use of a small space. Explorers and soldiers also used them in forested areas. Today, hammocks are very popular among Americans. Barbecue Another word of Taino origin is barbecue. The English meaning refers to a method of cooking over an open fire using wood (or charcoal) and a grill. Barbecue is also the word for the cooking device used in this cooking method. The indigenous word was barabicu and meant “structure of sticks set upon posts.” It referred to the raised wooden structures that indigenous Caribbeans used to cure meat on or to sleep on. Other language research says it meant "sacred pit."

From the National Capital Barbecue Battle in Washington, D.C. After Christopher Columbus reached America in 1492, Spaniards came across indigenous Taino people roasting meat barbecue style. In 1526, a Spanish explorer was the first person to use the word in Spain, when he wrote of "barbecoa" in a Spanish dictionary. Back in the Americas, as Spanish conquistadors began to travel north into what are now the southern United States, they brought along the barbecue cooking method. Today, most Americans use at least one Native American word each day as they talk about places, foods, animals and other things. Join us again soon to learn the history of English words borrowed from other languages. I’m Alice Bryant. And I'm Phil Dierking. Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Botanist Works to Save Hawaii's Rare Plants

America’s 50^th state, Hawaii, recently suffered two large, rare storms. The high winds and heavy rains left plant scientists hoping that the islands’ most unusual plants survived. 
The state is home to many native plants. They include 1,200 species, 90 percent of which are not found anywhere else in the world.  But Hawaii also has become the endangered species capital of the United States.  Nearly 40 percent of the plants on that endangered list grow in Hawaii.
Its natural heritage has been disappearing because plants and animals from other areas have invaded. Experts also blame agriculture, development and natural events that cannot be predicted. 
Field plant expert Steve Perlman has led protection of Hawaii’s endangered species for more than 40 years.  He is one of the state’s first ‘rock star’ botanists.  In the 1970s, he rappelled using ropes around his body to swing down from high cliffs to save the Brighamia insignis. People call this rare Hawaiian plant Alula.
“A lot of the botanists in the old days, at least for the first couple hundred years working in Hawaii, would be able to hike around the ridges and the valleys and find their species.  But no one had ever really looked at the cliffs.”
Then Mr. Perlman started to use those same methods of climbing and hanging from cliffs to get to other plants.
He is now in his 60s.  But he is still rappelling off cliffs to save endangered plants.  The rescued plants are varieties, or kinds, that have established themselves in places where hungry animals like goats and pigs could not get them.  He says it is worth it to see a species survive.
“We know the Amazon is losing all these species.  But Hawaii is losing species.  There’s an extinction crisis going on here, and we’ve already had over 100 species go extinct.”
After a long career as a field botanist at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, he is now the statewide specialist for Hawaii’s Plant Extinction Prevention Program.  The program centers on protecting species with fewer than 50 plants remaining in the wild. 
“This Plant Extinction Prevention Program is putting thousands of native plants, critically endangered plants, back out into the areas on the islands where they grew.  And we’re seeing that success.”


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Mr. Perlman also continues to discover new species through his work.  The Hibiscadelphus trees are one example he and others found growing in a steep valley on the island of Maui.  His explorations often take him to places that have not been touched.  He recalls an especially memorable trip to the highest point on the island of Moloka’i. 
“It’s like being someone like a Charles Darwin who’s just gotten to come to an island that no one’s ever been to.  And everything is interesting:  the birds, the insects, the plants.  And you’re like the first person in this kind of place.  We may rediscover something old, or we may find something brand new.  And so it’s like the age of discovery is not really over.”

I'm Mario Ritter.
This story is based on a report by Heidi Chang and was adapted by Jerilyn Watson.
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Words in This Story

native   n., born or grown in a particular place
invaded   v., entered an area by force.  In this story, plants not known in Hawaii began growing in the state and killed off some native Hawaiian plants
botanist   n., an expert in the science of plants
disappear   v., to become unseen, to no longer exist
extinction   n., the state or situation that results when something (such as a plant or animal species) has died out completely

Now it’s your turn to use these words.
In the comment section, write a sentence using one of these words and we will provide feedback on the use of vocabulary and grammar.

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Words in This Story

native   n., born or grown in a particular place
invaded   v., entered an area by force.  In this story, plants not known in Hawaii began growing in the state and killed off some native Hawaiian plants
botanist   n., an expert in the science of plants
disappear   v., to become unseen, to no longer exist
extinction   n., the state or situation that results when something (such as a plant or animal species) has died out completely

Now it’s your turn to use these words.
In the comment section, write a sentence using one of these words and we will provide feedback on the use of vocabulary and grammar.

Earth's Ozone Layer Shows Signs of Recovery

by:

 

The new report says the Earth’s ozone layer is showing signs of recovery. Ozone is a form of oxygen. It is found in the air we breathe and in Earth's atmosphere. The ozone layer in the upper atmosphere protects life on Earth.  The ozone there blocks harmful radiation from the Sun. But near Earth, ozone is a common pollutant. It can harm people, crops and other plants.
The UN report says the ozone layer appears to be improving because of a reduction of industrial chemicals into the air.
Scientists say the improving conditions are a result of an international treaty signed in 1987. It is called the Montreal Protocol.
The Montreal Protocol was meant to end the use of or sharply reduce over 100 known ozone depleting substances. It banned ozone-depleting chemicals, including man-made chlorofluorocarbons, also known as CFCs. They were once widely used in refrigerators, spray cans, insulation foam and fire suppression products.
The report comes as good news for Geir Braathen, a scientific officer with the World Meteorological Organization. He says a lot has changed for the better since the UN agency released its last report on ozone depletion four years ago. 

“Now for the first time in this report, we say that we see indications of a small increase in total ozone.  So that means that recovery of the ozone layer in terms of total ozone has just started.  If you go more specifically at the higher level, about 40 kilometers in the stratosphere high above the ground, there one sees a clear increase in ozone in recent years.”
Geir Braathen says this is a sign that the amount of ozone-depleting gases is decreasing and ozone levels are on the way up again. The stratospheric ozone layer is a fragile shield of gas. It protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
The UN Environment Program says the Montreal Protocol will prevent two million cases of skin cancer each year by 2030. Officials say it will also help prevent damage to human eyes and immune systems, which protect the body against disease.

The report finds the discontinuation of ozone-depleting substances has been good for the world climate. This is because many of these substances also are strong greenhouse gases -- pollution linked to climate change. But the report shows that some substitutes are themselves strong greenhouse gases that could harm these gains.
The WMO calls international action on the ozone layer a major environment success story. It is urging the same kind of unity to tackle the even greater issue of climate change.
I’m Caty Wever.
*This story came from reporter Lisa Schlein in Geneva. Marsha James adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words In This Story

deplete – v. to use up most or all of something
man-made - adj. made by people, not by nature

fragile – adj. easily broken or damaged
substitute; pl. substitutes – n. a person or thing that takes the place of someone or something elseEarth's Ozone Layer Shows Signs of Recovery Take our quiz
tackle – v. to deal with (something difficult)

Now, its your turn to use these Words in this Story. In the comments section, write a sentence using one of these words and we will provide feedback on your use of vocabulary and grammar. 


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Earth's Ozone Layer Shows Signs of Recovery

Take our quiz

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