SedaNews, August 13

100% pass rate for SEDA students at Cambridge ESOL exams

A total of twenty students took the Cambridge ESOL exam with the support of SEDA

College in May. It has now emerged that all of them passed with a score of above 70%. One of the students who did well was Daniel Garcia from Brazil: “I did the Preliminary English Test (PET) and listening was definitely the hardest part for me,” he told SEDA News. “The reason I took Cambridge ESOL was to gain experience and may-be prepare for other exams: in future I would like to do the First Certificate in English and then the IELTS”.

The students had extra prepara-tion classes in the weeks leading up to the test, and SEDA also organised

transport to the examination centre, located in University College Dublin (UCD). Teacher Rosa accompanied the students to the centre. Special exam training modules are now part of most classes at SEDA, and the students who signed up for the Cambridge ESOL also did a mock test before the actual examination.

“We got very good preparation during our classes at SEDA and we also got learning guidelines from the director of studies, Carol Cregg,” said Daniel Garcia. “With these guidelines it was possible to study better at home. I think the preparation was excellent, but I believe that two months of prepa-ration is better and less stressful than

only a month of extra training that we got”.

Cambridge ESOL is one of the best-known English language exams in the world, and it is recognised by thousands of employers, universities and government bodies. The exams can only be taken in special centres authorised by Cambridge ESOL and there are just two such open centres in Dublin. Cambridge ESOL exams are available for every level – from elementary to proficiency. All courses at SEDA currently contain Cambridge preparation modules. The importance of taking these exams was highlighted by Carol Cregg, SEDA’s director of studies.

“Cambridge exams give you an in-ternational standard,” said Carol. “To go back to your home country with an internationally recognized certificate – there’s nothing like it. And that’s why I would urge all our students to take these exams”.

Another student who took the Cambridge test in May was Manuel Martínz Araque from Venezuela. He said: “I decided to take the exam to test my knowledge of English and also to include the Cambridge certificate on my CV. The test was very good. I re-ally enjoyed the speaking exam in part 3, but in part 1 I didn’t have enough time to finish the last question because I spent too much time reading...

The most difficult part for me was the listening test. I think having this certificate will help me apply for jobs and continue my studies. I would like to advance and do more exams in fu-ture”.

Juana Machado Navarro, another SEDA student who sat the Cambridge test, told SEDA News: “I signed up for the exam to test me and also because I want to apply for a good job. In 2003 I did the TOEFL exam and now I want to do the IELTS and possibly another level of the Cambridge ESOL test”.

SEDA News, Issue 21, August 2013 Copyright: SEDA College | www.news.sedacollege.com

All SEDA College students who took the Cambridge ESOL exams in May have passed and most got great results!

SEDA College organises internationally recognised examinations like Cambridge ESOL or City & Guilds on a regular basis. If you are interested in taking Cambridge ESOL exams talk to your teacher or log on to www.cambridgeenglish.org

Travelling the world by... COUCH: all you need

to know about

couchsurfing.

Want to be a star on YouTube?

Irish online sensations the Sac-cone Jolys tell you how

to achieve internet fame.

Students are invited to try Brazil-ian jiu jitsu in brand

new train-ing centre

INTERNET

SPORTS AT SEDA

TRAVELPAgE 7

PAgE 9

PAgE 3

SEDA students enjoying the Irish summer at the Cliffs of Moher. Check out more pics on pages 10 & 11 and send your photos to us on [email protected]

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NewsWelcome to the August edition of SEDA News!First of all, on behalf of every-

one here at SEDA News I would like to say well done to students

who took the Cambridge ESOL test in May and passed it with fantastic re-sults! Congratulations!

Congratulations are also due to Bra-zilian jiu jitsu coach Jorge Santos and all his students who started training in Jorge’s brand new gym, just 100 me-ters down the road from SEDA. SEDA News wishes Jorge to turn his students into the best BJJ team in Ireland and produce many champions in the years to come!

August is the final month of summer in Ireland and you really have to en-joy the good days while they last! One way you could do that is by going to the lovely seaside town of Bray: read all about it on page 8. And if you’re wondering what to do on a Wednes-day night, especially if it’s cold and raining, then may we suggest Denny’s sing song tour where you can have lots of fun, learn to sing traditional Irish songs and improve your English at the same time – check out page 9!

In case you’re thinking about going abroad then make sure to read another article in this month’s Going Out sec-tion – the one about couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is, basically, travelling the world by visiting strangers’ homes and sleeping on their sofas. It may seem unconventional, but this new mode of travel has millions of fans all over the world! There is a vibrant couchsurfer community in Dublin too, who organise monthly meetups in pubs around the capital. It’s a great way to travel: you learn much more than the average tourist because you’re actually spending all your time with a native, and you also spend much less than the average traveller. Perfect!

Another article in this month’s SEDA News that you simply can’t miss is an interview with the biggest Irish inter-net stars – Anna Saccone and Jonathan Joly (as well as their daughter Emilia and 6 dogs). You may have not heard about them, but hundreds of thou-sands of people all over the globe tune in to their YouTube channel daily to see the Saccone Jolys go shopping, play with their baby daughter and feed their dogs... It’s like a self-made reality show, and the couple now make their living entirely off YouTube. Watching their videos is also a great way to im-prove your English because the couple speak in an adorable Cork accent. Our writer Gabrielle Portes met with the Irish YouTube stars and interviewed them, getting some handy tips on achieving internet fame – check out the interview on page 7!

Finally, I would like to thank every-one who contributed stories to this is-sue and sent in their pictures. And if you’ve got something to share – be it a story, an idea for a story, or just a pic-ture of you and your friends – please do get in touch with us on [email protected]. We’ll be happy to hear from you!

SEDA News editor,

Viktor Posudnevsky

New language lab now open

The newly refurbished lan-guage lab started working last month. It’s located on the

2nd floor at the end of the long corri-dor with classrooms on the right hand side, and its purpose is to help stu-dents practice their listening skills and improve their English. The lab has five study places equipped with comput-

ers, great headphones and some very comfy chairs! All SEDA students are free to use the lab on a first come first served basis. The students are welcome to bring their own listening material (CDs that come with their study books, not the latest David Guetta album). If you don’t have your own CD or if you need

extra listening materials you are very welcome to get additional recordings from director of studies Carol Cregg or Ashleigh Langille (both can be found in their offices on the 2nd floor). The lab is open from 9 am to 5 pm and is absolutely free to use for all SEDA students! If you’ve any questions about it ask Carol or Ashleigh.

A brand new laboratory is now open at SEDA, but you don’t need a white coat to use it – just a set of headphones!

Book fans rejoice! SEDA’s library has got 100s of new titles!

From Maracaibo to Dublin

SEDA’s library has got hun-dreds of new titles last month,

including a Penguin collection of English classical literature divided by level of English, readers and

study materials, exam preparation guides, business books and many other volumes for the students to enjoy!

Some of the books are kept in a locker, but all students are very welcome to read them – they just need to get the key at the college’s reception area.

The students can also bring the books home if they wish. Renting the titles is free, but there is a cer-tain period within which students must return the books to the li-brary. SEDA does not have its own librarian yet, so registering the books and renting them needs to be done in the reception.

The library is located on the 3rd floor and all SEDA students are more than welcome!

The Rodriguez sis-ters come from the

Zulia State in Venezuela. They say they decided to come to Dublin to improve their English, learn about the Irish culture and enjoy the new experience. As their test results suggest, both girls have great Eng-lish, however it is their first time studying in an English speaking coun-try: they learned the language in Venezuela,

watching English movies and TV, and listening to music.“I used to work for the biggest oil com-pany in Venezuela,” said Mireille, 31. “I’m a very friendly per-son and I love to go shopping”. Mileidy is 25 and she is also an oil engineer by education, but she has been teaching English for the last 2 years and she loves it,

she says: “I’m always facing new ad-ventures with a big smile!”They arrived in Dublin last month and are loving the experience so far. “We haven’t been outside of Dublin but judging by this city we are sure Ireland is a beauti-ful country, full of colourful and nice people,” the girls said. “For us, it’s sur-prising and wonderful the diversity of

cultures that you can find here in Dub-lin. We like the fact that we can walk through the streets of Dublin and see beautiful buildings, struc-tures and meet lovely people. The weather is nice, but also un-predictable! It’s amazing how the weather changes

around here... We’re having a wonder-ful time, but the best is yet to come!”

Around 400 new books arrived in SEDA College’s library last month, including a collection of classical English literature, exam preparation and study materials, business books and many more!

Mireille and Mileidy Rodriguez from Venezuela have achieved the best ever placement test results for any student: they answered all 60 questions correctly and went straight to the Advanced class upon their arrival in Dublin last month. The bright Venezuelan sisters also found time for a chat with SEDA News

SEDA News: Ireland’s first newspaper for international students. Circulation: 1000 copies. Design by Isabelle PortesSEDA College,68-72 Capel Street, Dublin 1.Ph: 01 473 4915; [email protected]; www.news.sedacollege.com; http://www.facebook.com/mySEDA.Ireland

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Jorge Santos’ BJJ family gets new training centre

Jorge Santos moved all his classes to the new training centre in Capel Street last month. And

to celebrate the centre’s opening he invited third degree black belt Tony Souza, who teaches BJJ in Abu Dhabi, to conduct a seminar in the new space on Friday, August 2. A graduation ceremony took place after the 3-hour class, with many of Jorge students getting stripes on their belts or being promoted to new belts. Then Tony Souza awarded Jorge his first stripe since receiv-ing a black belt – a great honour in the world of jiu jitsu.“When somebody in Ireland asks me where to train BJJ I always point them to Jorge be-cause this guy is probably the only person here who can teach it in the proper way,” said Tony Souza after the seminar. “I am impressed by the Irish. They have fire in their blood, as we say, and they are real fighters. With Jorge’s help I am sure they will also learn the right technique, and we will have an Irish BJJ champion in future. Give jiu jitsu a try – you will find not just a sport or a

lifestyle, but a family”.The new training centre has a large matted area for BJJ training and spar-ring which is almost four times the size of Jorge’s previous gym off Abbey Street. It also has an airy and light re-ception with a big TV screen showing fights by world class BJJ athletes. There

is also a storage area as well as chang-ing rooms and toilets on the basement level. Jorge Santos said that the new training centre, opened with the sup-port of SEDA College, was his “dream come true”.“I am really happy because now we

have a big space to train,” he told SEDA News. “That is what I always wanted for my students and this will help me make them big champions”. “I would like to invite all SEDA stu-dents to come down and give BJJ a try,” he continued. “One of the obvi-ous benefits is it’s good for your health.

These workouts can strengthen your heart in the long run, and they can also help people lose weight. Some other benefits of jiu jitsu is self-confidence and self-defense”. Besides being a coach, the Bra-zilian black belt continues his fighting career. Jorge is now pre-paring for a BJJ tournament in Tallaght, Dublin 24, where he will feature in one of the superfights. The tournament will take place on September 21. He is also pre-p a r i n g

for the world BJJ champion-ships in Long Beach, Califor-nia, which will take place in October.

Jorge Santos BJJ training centre is on the corner of Capel Street and Parnell Street. Classes are running from Mon-day to Saturday, with morning, after-noon and evening slots available for both men and women. Sessions nor-mally consist of a warm-up, BJJ tech-nique training and light sparring. Eve-ryone is welcome to have a look at the classes or give BJJ a try. Normally you would need a gi (a kimono) to practice, but beginners are welcome to try the sport in regular sports clothes. SEDA students get a special discount and can train for just 40 euro per month (for as many times as they wish).

For updates check out Jorge Santos’ Fa-cebook page: www.facebook.com/Jorge-SantosBJJ or call Jorge on 087 3568115

SEDA student and Irish Brazilian jiu jitsu gold medallist Jorge Santos is inviting everyone to try the “gentle art” in his brand new training centre – located just 100 meters down the street from SEDA!

Ireland’s education minister Ruairi Quinn has abolished college fees for migrant

students who have obtained Irish citizenship. Previously students from outside the Euro-pean Union had to pay fees of up to €10 000 per year for third level education even if they became Irish citizens during their course. But now Minister Quinn has announced that migrant students who become Irish citizens during their third level education will be able to study for free, like most Irish citizens. “This Government has introduced citizen-

ship ceremonies for new Irish citizens, and this policy change will follow on from that development, and ensure that new citizens will be treated exactly the same as those born in Ireland,” he said.But to qualify for free uni-versity education students will also have to prove that they have been living in Ireland for three of the past five years. Students who don’t have an Irish passport (even if they are long-term residents in Ireland) will still have to pay international student fees for their college education. In-

ternational stu-dent fees differ significantly from EU fees and can reach €10,000 per year.

Free education for migrants with Irish citizenship

News

Jorge Santos with third degree BJJ black belt Tony Souza

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Russian students fly home after “unforgettable” month in IrelandSEDA’s first ever students from Siberia have gone home after enjoying an amazing month in Dublin. The two girls were fascinated by Ireland’s green grass, fresh air, the kindness of local people and... the pubs!

Na t a l i a Rumi-a n t -

ceva and Irina Anyugina from Abakan in Sibe-ria both said they spent an amazing month in Ireland. Natalia is an Eng-lish teacher and she runs her own school in Aba-kan.

She said she enjoyed “being on the receiving end” of classes at SEDA and loved meeting everyone at the college.

Both Rus-sian students attended the morning Ad-vanced class with teachers Rosa and Mela-nie. Asked about her most mem-orable experi-ence in Ireland Natalia said: “I`ve never met so many kind-hearted people in one place before. The Irish are always

ready to help. For example, once I went to a funfair in Bray: it was packed and I

spent almost an hour queuing for one of the attractions. But at the last mo-ment I was told that I can’t pay for the ticket with a 100 euro note - and that was all I had on me at the time! I was very upset, but the woman behind me paid for my ticket. Even though later I found some change to give her the money back, she wouldn’t take it! She just said - enjoy

your stay here, dear!!”

The girls found plenty of things to do outside of the class-room and en-joyed visiting Dublin’s pubs like O’Reilly’s, F a r r i n g t o n’s in Temple Bar and O’Neills. In fact, Nata-lia added, they socialised so much that it was sometimes

difficult to attend morning classes.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t feel very motivated to study, but my English im-proved definitely in one month here,” said Natalia.

“It`s always good to be immersed in the language environment. I guess, when I come back home I will see the difference more clearly: my friends and students will tell me if my English has changed! I also learned plenty of new expressions. I am not sure if they are Irish, but my favourites are crad-dle snatcher, tight-fisted, nifty and thrifty, the hair of the dog and murder of crows!” (Editor’s note: the expres-

sions would be an interesting addition to your vocabulary: try to find out what they mean!)

Both girls have said they would like to come back to Ireland and SEDA, how-ever for now they have plenty of things to do. Natalia will be busy renovating her school in Abakan and preparing for the new academic year in Septem-ber, while Irina, who studies in China’s Guangzhou University, has to write her final year’s thesis.

Natalia had this to say to her SEDA classmates, teachers and all the friends she made in Dublin: “Guys, don`t for-get about me, please!!! I know I will never forget you!”

Last month it seemed like the Global warming finally

reached Ireland: July was so hot and sunny that it broke temperature re-cords at weather stations around the country, the Irish media report. Temperatures in some parts of the West of Ireland, Dublin, the South West and the Midlands were at

their highest for 63 years – or since records began! Other weather sta-tions reported the warmest July for seven to 30 years. Some parts of the country experienced heatwaves (in Ireland a “heatwave” is five days or more of temperatures over 25C). The highest temperature recorded last month was in Ardfert, county

Kerry, where mercury rose to 30.3C on July 19. As a result of the long hot spell most parts of Ireland were also hit with droughts and some people experienced water shortages. But by the end of the month the weather seemed to be getting back to nor-mal, with temperatures of around 15C and plenty of nice cold rain...

July was the warmest in Ireland’s history

SEDA goes green

Abortion is now legal

SEDA’s student lounge now has a set of bins for every type of waste

– general, organic and recyclable. Students can also get cool fresh water whenever they wish: a total of five wa-ter dispensers have been installed on every floor of the college. However, instead of using the plastic cups available, students are asked to bring their own bottles to fill at the water coolers. “This summer has been very warm

and we want to keep our students fresh and hydrated – that’s why we took care to install water coolers on every floor of the college building,” said Tiago Mascarenhas from the college admin. “However, we are asking students to please bring their own bottles because this would reduce unnecessary waste. I really hope everybody stays conscious of the environment and enjoys fresh water from the new water coolers!”

News

New laws allowing abortion in Ireland were passed last month.

However, the new legislation per-mits abortions in very limited circum-stances: a woman only has the right to terminate her pregnancy if her life is at risk, including from suicide. And in case the mother does threaten to kill herself three independent doctors need to confirm that there is a danger of suicide – only then abortion is al-lowed. If a woman decides not to have the baby for whatever other reason (for example, if the baby was conceived fol-lowing a rape) she cannot legally get an abortion in Ireland. However, she is free to get advice on other options available, including ter-mination of pregnancy in England where the laws are more liberal.

The legislation was drawn up amid a public outcry over the death of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian dentist who worked and lived in Ireland, but died

in a Galway hospital in October last year. The woman had suffered a mis-carriage 17 weeks into her pregnancy, but was denied an abortion despite asking for it several times. Her wid-ower Praveen claimed the couple had been told a termination would not be allowed because “Ireland is a Catholic country”.

Ireland was also under pressure from the European Court of Human Rights to introduce abortion legislation. In 2011 the Court ruled that Ireland dis-criminated against a woman with can-cer who wanted to end her pregnancy, but was forced to travel to the UK be-cause she couldn’t do it in Ireland. Before the law was passed there were several big protests by both the Pro-Life and the Pro-Choice movements. Pro-Life groups protested against the bill, while Pro-Choice organisations claimed it didn’t go far enough.

Natalia and Irina with their SEDA teacher Melanie

Bring your own bottle – save the planet

The Russian students enjoying a night out in Dublin

There are now separate bins for recyclable waste and water coolers on eve-ry floor, but the students are asked to bring their own (plastic) bottles to help the environment.

Is this Spain? Brazil? Australia? No, it’s Bray, just South of Dublin, last month. Pic by Leopoldo Carrasquero.

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BJJ “addict” Mateusz brings a bit of Poland to SEDA

Mateusz, can you tell me a bit about yourself?

I was born in the city of Torun, but I’ve lived for most of my life in the city of Bydgoszcz –right in the middle of Po-land. I came to Ireland about 2 years ago. My dad had been living here for about 6 years and one day he called and asked me if I wanted to join him. At the time I wasn’t happy with my job and I needed a change, so I said why not and I left my job and came to Ireland the next week! I’ve always wanted to live in another country, to see a different culture, meet new peo-ple. About a month after coming here I found a job in Dublin and I worked for almost a year and a half at a factory. I’m sharing an apartment with my dad in Clonee, Dublin 15, and my uncle is also living here.

Why did you decide to study in SEDA and how long are you going to stay here?

I’d met a lot of SEDA students before and they really enjoyed this place. In my first year and a half in Dublin I was only working and I didn’t have that much time to meet new people and improve my English. But now I’m not working, so I decided to study. So far I’m not disappointed with my course! I’ve made a lot of new friends. I didn’t expect the school to be so big – it’s big-ger than a primary school in Poland! At the moment I’m in the Intermedi-ate group and I enrolled for a 3-month course. Maybe later I’ll stay for longer.

But maybe I will get a good job and then I won’t have time to continue my studies... But if I’m still free I will defi-nitely do another course in SEDA and maybe do a Cam-bridge exam as well.

There are many Polish people in Dublin, but a lot of them don’t speak English so well – why is that?

Yes, there are loads of Poles in Dublin! But most of them just come here to earn money. I can understand the old-er people: I think it’s hard to learn some-thing new when you’re 50. So they only want to make money in order to build a house or buy a flat in Poland. They just work and sleep for 3-4 years and then they go back home... But the young people should definitely learn and improve their English: may-be they will need it in future. You have to speak English to work in a good company. So I think Polish people should definitely go to school here in Dublin and talk to Irish

people more. I think the problem is that most Polish people only mix with other Poles.Is that the case in your household?

Do you mix with a lot of Polish people?

In my area there are loads of Poles and

most of them stick together. I don’t know why – maybe they’re afraid to get to know people from other coun-tries? I don’t really understand this

type of mentality.

So you must feel very comfortable in SEDA, being the only Polish student here!

Yes, of course! The people are very nice, everybody is always ready to give me a hand, it’s like one big family. I’m really enjoy-ing these classes. I’m the only Polish student here, but I think it’s good for me because I am forced to speak English all the time!

Do you ever miss home?

It’s very easy for me to go home – there are flights to Po-land nearly every day and the flight is only two and half

hours! About 2 months ago I really wanted to go back to Poland, but now I’m very busy and I’m meeting lots of new people, so I’m not feeling home-

sick at the moment. I think I will stay in Ireland for a long time now!

How long have you been training in Brazilian jiu jitsu? Are you pre-paring for any competition at the moment?

I’ve been doing jiu jitsu for 3 years, I started it in Poland. I was looking for a good gym in Ireland and a friend suggested Jorge Santos’ place to me and now it’s like a family. Jorge is like a brother to me and he’s helping me a lot. I can’t imagine what I would be do-ing if I didn’t start jiu jitsu! There will be a BJJ competition in Dublin in Sep-tember and I’m training hard for that!

And finally if any of our read-ers want to visit Poland – where should they go and what should they see?

I’ve noticed that a lot of SEDA stu-dents are Catholic and I would advise them to go and see the birth place of Pope John Paul II in Wadowice, which is about 50 km from Kraków. A lot of people also go to visit Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp – it’s an un-forgettable experience. Warsaw is also a good place to go to. Actually Poland is not that big, so if you have 3-4 days free you can fly in and see pretty much everything! I’d say spring is the best time to go because it’s not too hot and not too cold. It’s like Ireland, but it doesn’t rain so much!

What’s your favourite thing about Dublin?

The people can say that I’m crazy, but I love the weather in Dublin!

What’s your best personal tip about coming in Dublin as a stu-dent?

You have to know what to say at the immigration office at the airport and what documents you should have on hand. Also, don’t forget to give a big

smile for the camera at the immigra-tion office! Another very important tip that I give to all my students is to have no fear because coming to Dublin will be the best experience of their lives for sure.

What’s the best thing about work-ing in student support?

Answering all the students’ questions and making their dreams come true! What in your opinion is special

about SEDA?The most special thing is how we treat each other here – we are like a family.

Give three main reasons for com-ing to study in Ireland.

Come to study in Ireland because only here you will find SEDA College, a pub on every corner (literally!) with good Guinness and the famous leprechauns!

Finally, what’s the best place to see in Dublin or Ireland?

I love Dublin city centre with the Liffey River and the bridges. I love it that there are people from every part of the world here.

Mateusz Głowiński, 26, is currently SEDA’s only Polish student. He chatted to SEDA News about his life in Dublin, the Polish community and his passion – Brazilian jiu jitsu.

Andressa Karen is a member of SEDA’s friendly student support team who works with Brazilian students. She’s been in SEDA for a year and a half and previously worked in tourism. From Recife in the North East of Brazil, Andressa speaks Portuguese and English. You can always contact her on [email protected] or via Skype or Facebook.

SEDA People

Staff of the Month

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The Saccone Jolys are an Irish couple from Cork who make their living on YouTube. Every day tens of thousands of people tune in to watch videos about their lives: playing with the baby daughter, walking their dogs, going shopping… The two internet stars chatted to SEDA News’ Gabrielle PORTES about their rise to fame and gave some advice to would be followers.

SEDA’s Mario Bortoletto, who works in marketing and student support, has his own successful blog and You-Tube channel where he gives tips to Brazilians coming to study in Ireland.

They became an internet sen-sation after launching their own video diary, document-

ing their normal day to day activities. Through episodes posted daily, we see a young Irish couple doing everything from celebrating a holiday to giving birth to their baby girl Emilia (not surprisingly, this episode got the most views – almost 700 000 to date!)

The Sacconejolys is a daily web show broadcast on the YouTube channel Leflooftv. The show follows the lives of Jonathan Joly and Anna Sac-cone. They live in Cork, Ire-land with their 6 Maltese dogs (Albi, Sina, Bianca, Nivea, Nuvola and Theo) and their child, a baby girl named Emilia Sac-cone-joly. Since the show started Jon-athan and Anna have moved house, moved city, got engaged, got married and had a daughter and they invite the world into their Cork home to share the highs and lows of their lives.

They started this “reality show” 3 years ago, and now they`ve gathered a legion of fans across the world, with more than 27 million YouTube views and 131 000 subscribers, and they told me all about it during the meet

up that they organized for their fans, here in Dublin last month.“Our biggest fans are obviously from

America and then the UK, and then Ireland, Germany, Poland and a lot of the Northies countries, not so much

the hot countries,” jokes Jonathan.

It was Jonathan who came up with the idea of “vloging” right after he graduated in Design and Animation from univer-sity. “I just think that when I graduated university in animation and design, there was nothing really going on. I wanted to find a way to work internationally, and YouTube is a platform that lets anyone do anything, to kind of put your work out there and let the audience decide if it`s good, and...3 years later, here I am!”

The couple film every morn-ing to produce a half-hour episode of the show each day.

“From eight or nine o’clock to 12, that’s production time. We might shoot an hour a day, then I’ll turn it into 20 minutes,” Jonathan says.

Probably some people won’t find the idea of watching videos about the day to day life of a couple of strangers that interesting or exciting, but as soon as you watch just a minute of any of their vlogs your curiosity starts to increase.

“People like the real stuff,” says Jona-than. “I think it`s a human interest

story, you know, they watch me and Anna get together, get married, have a baby and so on, it is really simple. They want to know what goes on in other peoples’ lives. We share our expe-riences and because of that people are emotionally invested in the content.”

Apart from the entertainment val-ue, their videos are also a great learn-ing material for English students. What better way to improve your listening skills and get familiar with the Irish accent than watching videos made by and about the native speak-ers? You can choose any video among the 1000s of uploads in the Saconne Joly`s YouTube channel, and get used to the informal language as well as learn some Irish slang words.

And if you feel inspired by the Sac-cone Joly’s success, and want to start

your own vlog on YouTube, here`s a piece of advice from Jonathan: “If you want to start, just start, just do it, you know. Because all day long you have reasons why not to do it… so don’t listen to what anyone says, as long as you`re happy doing it, just do it!”

You can watch the Saccone Joly’s videos on www.youtube.com/user/LeFloofTV

Want to be a star on YouTube? Here’s how!

Your story

SEDA’s Marião telling it like it is online

When he’s not busy helping students at SEDA Mario Bortoletto shoots videos

for his YouTube channel Marião na Europa (Mario in Europe) and writes posts for his blog of the same name.

Updated regularly for over a year and a half, the blog now has thousands of followers. Most of the posts and videos are in Portu-guese and are made for the benefit of Brazilian students who are com-

ing to study in Ireland (or those who have arrived here recently).

They cover such diverse subjects as learning English, cooking a tradi-tional Irish breakfast and violence in Dublin. All Mario’s videos are done with his trademark sense of humour and have become quite popular among Dublin’s Brazilian community.

You can check them out on www.marionaeuropa.com

Mario’s vlog: listen up everybody!

The Saccone Joly family and their six Maltest dogs

The internet celebrities organized a meet up in Dublin last month which was packed with fans

SEDA News writer – and a Saccone Joly fan – Ga-brielle Portes with Jonathan Joly and his daughter Emilia.

By Gabrielle PORTES

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Shows & Gigs in Dublin

Lamb of God11th August

Olympia Theatre

Tickets: €30.50

fucked up12th August

Whelan’s

Tickets: €16.50

Jimmy eat WorLd 6th September

Olympia Theatre

Tickets: €28.50

paramore2nd September

The O2

Tickets: €36.50

Leonard cohen11th/12th September

The O2

Tickets: €88.50 - €110.00

SWanS15th August

The Button Factory

Tickets: 25.50

SpirituaLized10th August

National Concert Hall

Tickets: €45.00 - €50.00

cLoud nothinGS11th August

The Button Factory

Tickets: €14.00

aSidemainStream

bandS | GroupS | SinGerS

bSideaLternatiVe

bandS | GroupS | SinGerS

a Woman’S heart/eLeanor mceVoy, hermione henneSSy, Gemma hayeS, Sharon Shannon, mary couGhLan

28th to 31st AugustThe Olympia Theatre

Tickets: €19.00 - € 31.50 - €33.50

Lapd/Liam, andy, paddy & dónaL

17th AugustNational Concert Hall

Tickets: €35.00

iSide

iriShbandS | GroupS |

SinGerS

By Guilherme AKIO

LoW20th August

Whelan’s

Tickets: €25.00

etame impaLa 21th August

Olympia Theatre

Tickets: €21.00

+ Puck Fair 09 - 12 August 2013 Killorglin, Co. Kerry

If you want to see something unusual head to county Ker-ry for the Puck Fair – Ireland’s oldest festival. It is com-pletely unique as the only festival in the world which takes a wild goat from the local mountain range and makes him king of the town for 3 days and nights. This year, the festi-val is celebrating its 400th year and to mark the occasion it is expanding to 4 days!There will be lots of live music as well as street entertain-ers. Highlights include open air night time concerts, local bands, traditional groups, markets and céilis (traditional Irish dance that you can learn!). Tradition dictates that a horse fair takes place on the first day of the festival and cattle fair on the second day. There will also be a parade and a crowning ceremony where the Queen of Puck, tra-ditionally a local school girl, crowns the goat King of the town for the next four days. The festival will come to a spectacular climax on the last day with a midnight fire-works display and open air concert.

More info on: www.puckfair.ie/

+ Dublin Horse Show 07 - 11 August 2013 RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

There will be plenty to do at this month’s Dublin Horse Show. With live music and entertainment, art, fashion, shopping, food and the best in national and interna-tional equestrian competitions, you will definitely find a lot to enjoy.The Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show is one of Ire-land’s biggest annual sporting and social events and the 2013 Show will feature the Land Rover Puissance featuring the famous ‘Wall’; the Longines Internation-al Grand Prix; the popular FEI Nations Cup for award of the Agan Khan Challenge Trophy; over 100 national showing and show jumping classes.

Another famous event is Ladies Day which will take place on 8th August and will see dozens of women in designer dresses and fancy hats compete for the dis-tinction of being the best dressed lady.

Find out more on: www.dublinhorseshow.com

Bray is a city situated on the East coast of Ireland, near Dublin. It is famous for its beautiful beach, which has a total length of 1.6 km. The Irish love to enjoy a day out in Bray, especially in the summer. If you love sand, sun and sea visit Bray and if it’s hot you can even sunbathe and swim here!

A day in ...BRAY

By María Gabriela MARCANO

After spending the day on the beach and having a delicious dinner, there is nothing better than to rest on top of Bray mountain where you can read a book, take a nap, chat and play with your friends, do some exercise or em-brace your girlfriend or boyfriend while watching the wonders of Bray from above!There are several ways to get to Bray from Dublin: by car, bike, bus or train.

I recommend you go by train so you can enjoy the beautiful views of the beaches of Ireland.

Bray is well-known for its delicious food: here you can taste the best Fish and Chips, a traditional dish in Ire-land. Make sure not to miss some of the seafood restaurants, for example The Barracuda. And for dessert, you can eat ice cream, crepes or anything else that you like.

The beach

The food

The mountain

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Travelling around the world is a favourite thing for millions, but have you ever thought about

doing it with a person who knows everything about the place that you are going to? One way of doing it is Couchsurfing: an experience that money can’t buy.

The name says a lot – if you use your imagination! CouchSurfers are a global community. “Travel like a local, stay in someone’s home, or just have some fun with a local person” – this is how you could describe Couchurfing. Started in 2004 as a small project by Casey Fen-ton, today it is a community of about 6 million people. Just in 2012 around 10.4 million couches were surfed!

How to become a couchsurfer?

The first step - and for me the most im-portant - is to be sure that you really understand the rules of the commu-nity. Couchsurfing doesn’t mean just staying in someone’s home for free, doing whatever you want and having fun. On the other hand, becoming a host doesn’t just mean letting some-body stay in your home and then leav-ing them alone. The idea is to exchange culture, experience and knowledge, so spend some time with your host (or visitor) – it is part of the deal!Registering on www.couchsurfing.org is very easy and it’s free. It’s important to describe yourself in as much detail as possible. You can also choose if you want to receive someone in your home (in case you have a couch available) or

if you just want to have a coffee (or a pint!) with a visiting couchsurfer and show them your city.Couchsurfing has been used by thou-sands of people and in most cases it’s perfectly safe. However, it is always better to make sure that you have as much information as possible about where you are going to stay. For exam-ple, have a good look at profiles when you are choosing your host and read what people say about them. And af-ter staying in somebody’s home leave a review – this will allow other people learn more about that host. Choosing a person with similar inter-ests will give you both a better chance of enjoying each other’s company. So, pay attention to the profile of the per-son who you are going to surf (and vice-versa), including music that he

(she) likes, what he (she) is interested in etc.

There’s a community of Couch-surfers near you!

Many cities have weekly meetings for Couchsurf-ers and Dublin isn’t any different! Friday is the day for new and old CS-ers (Couchsurfers) to gath-er and have fun! Every week they choose a different place to party: La-fayette, Dandelion, The Church, Howl at the Moon, Trinity Bar, The Village. So just keep an eye out and see where the next meeting will be.If you are a Cser who is interested in practicing your English go to “The Dublin Language Exchange Group”.

The meetings happen every Monday night, at 8 pm, in MacTurcaills Late Bar & Restaurant – only a 3-minute walk from Trinity College. Every nationality

is welcome! You can find info in your account on www.Couchsurfing.org. There are also Games Nights, Music, Trips around Ire-land and Dancing.

So what are you waiting for? Improve your English,

make new friends, have some fun and discover couchsurfing!

You can write to Maiana on [email protected]

Going Out

By Maiana CHAMUSCA

Travelling the world by COuCH

To teach you a little bit more about the famous Irish songs that you listen to every week

in Temple Bar: that is the purpose of Denny’s Singsong, a different activity which will probably get you hooked from the start! With the slogan “Sing the songs, learn the stories, have the craic”, Denny O’Brien invites you to join the event every Wednesday at 6 pm in Jack Nealon’s Pub, Capel Street (just a 2-minute walk from SEDA). One hour to learn the interesting sto-ries behind Irish traditional songs, make new friends from different countries and, to be sure, drink a few pints of Guinness!During the tour you get to sing about ten songs. At first, Denny and his partner, a professional musician, explain the history of the song and show how to do the chorus. Then, the group can sing, clap their hands and

just follow the rhythm. The partici-pants are welcome to ask any ques-tions about the song or the English words and expressions used in it. They are also welcome to visit the website www.dennysdublintours.com to find further information and some homework because the goal is to help you improve your English.

Denny’s Singsong got started two years ago at the school where Denny used to work as an English teacher. “I used to play songs with the students: it is another way to teach English. That was the initial idea. Just providing them with a list of verbs and telling them to learn them by heart and repeat them is boring. Music makes learning nice and easy. The students need to feel comfortable and enjoy the classes”.

Then, six months ago, Denny brought the Singsong to Jack Nealon’s Pub. The event is open for everyone, from teenagers to older people. But most of the tour-goers are students who are in Ireland to learn English. “The feedback is always good,” says Denny. “You can have fun, make new friends, improve your English and learn how to sing the songs that you listen to in Temple Bar”. Anita Fernandez, from Spain, did the tour twice and enjoyed it. “It is a cool way to get into the Irish culture. Now it is much nicer to listen to live music in the pubs”, she told me.Another goal is to show the impor-tance of music for the Irish people. If you’ve spent at least a month in Ire-land you have probably already real-ised that the natives sing all the time and everywhere. “Everything is music for us. We are singing at dinner, gath-

ering, party and even during a funeral. Most of our songs are about love, beer, whiskey and the historic war against England. And all the songs that we sing have a history,” says Denny.

Denny’s Singsong takes place eve-ry Wednesday at 6 pm. The price is €10 and that includes a book of Irish songs and a free CD of these songs performed by some of Ireland’s most promising new tal-ent. Jack Nealon’s Pub is located at 165, Capel Street, Dublin 1. Further information is available on www.dennysdublintours.com, by ringing +353 83 100 32 27 or e-mailing: [email protected].

Denny’s Sing Song is a weekly meetup/tour for foreign students, and it takes place in Jack Nealon’s pub, just a 2-minute walk from SEDA! At the Sing Song you can learn about the Irish ballads that you listen to in Temple Bar every weekend, and improve your English … while enjoying a pint of Guinness.

Discover the famous Irish songs’ historyBy Bianca DAGA

Have you heard of couchsurfing? It’s a new way to travel the world by staying in strangers’ homes and spend-ing the nights in their living rooms. Sound intriguing? Our journalist Maiana Chamusca is a seasoned couchsurfer

and she shared her experience with our readers.

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Photo Album

Pretty in pink - Jorge Santos’ ladies’ team Tony Souza showing how it’s doneSmile for the camera!

Dinny Santana ‘’celebrating’’ his new purple belt

The new training centre has loads of space Whipping of the new graduate - BJJ tradition

Don’t mess with these guys - four BJJ black belts giving class at Jorge Santos training centre

Jorge Santos’ BJJ family

Jorge Santos getting his first stripe after being promoted to black belt

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Photo Album

Tony Souza showing how it’s done

A trip to the Giant’s Causeway

SEDA students at the Cliffs of Moher

Natalia Rumyantceva and Irina Anyugina in Howth

Lili Garzaro met ex-SEDA student Maribel Puente in Spain Michelle Caetano with her teachers from SEDA

At the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland

Statue of Fernando Pessoa - the Portuguese Shakespeare - in Lisbon

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Puzzle: find the -ain words

Indie games: Yuri’s Top 5

Take a look at this puzzle and see if you can find all the (English) words ending with –ain.

A Bit of Fun

Send your answers to [email protected], or cut this page out and give it to your teacher. If you get the answers right you can win a prize!

Your name:________________________________

___________________________________

Your e-mail: _______________________________

___________________________________

Congratulations to ALLINE SANTOS! She won last month’s puzzle and can claim her prize in Carol’s office.

For more crosswords log on to: www.abcteach.com

Here are the answers to last month’s crossword puzzle:

By Yuri GALIZALike video games, but tired of playing Call of Duty, Halo, GTA and other big name commercial releases? Then try Indie games – a genre that focuses on innovation, story and imaginative design rather than big budgets and billion euro profits. Passionate Indie gamer Yuri Galiza presents a list of titles that everyone should play.

Braid is a fast-paced game which is about reflexes, a platformer with

puzzles mixed in. It’s more cerebral and slower than other games, it will lull you with its beautiful background music and watercolor art design. The story is about Tim who has to help a princess, but what makes it so differ-ent is that you can rewind time: that’s right, if you die, you can go back a few seconds and try again. Braid reinvents its mechanics as you delve deeper into it, so each world feels fresh through-out. This game is a must for puzzle lovers.

Limbo tells a story of a boy who wakes up in the middle of a forest

and searches for his sister, but finding her won’t be easy. The game is a puz-zle platformer, but can also be called ‘death and try’ since you’ll die a lot. But instead of death being a punishment the game will make you learn from your death in order to get through the challenges. The Playdead studio used monochromatic black-and-white tones, minimal ambient sounds and film grain effects to create an eerie at-mosphere that is associated with hor-ror genre games.

Binding of Isaac is a top-down ad-venture-action, roguelike (which

means level randomization and per-manent death) game in which the player controls Isaac, a crying naked boy who ran away from his mother af-ter she heard God’s voice that said she had to sacrifice him for his sins. So he ran into the basement where he now has to face the seventh circle of Hell... The game’s graphics mimic child-like drawings that makes all the fighting, collecting and exploring even better and funnier, because it contrasts with the grotesque monsters chasing Isaac.

Mark of the Ninja invites the play-er to be sneaky. This game is a

stealth-oriented platformer where you have to pass through a series of envi-ronments while you try to stay out of sight of guards and perform silent assassinations. You will have to act in the shadows and think of the best way of hiding and sneaking if you want to kill someone. You will also have many options of how to proceed through the game, like using your tools to fool enemies. The game has a thrilling story about a ninja whose clan is en-dangered. The main character has the mark of the ninja, which is dangerous and might kill you.

Castle Crashers reminds of old “beat ‘em up” games (that is, the player

needs to defeat a group of enemies be-fore advancing to the next level). It is a side-scrolling game that allows you to play alone or co-op with up to four players, but the game also incorpo-rates a few RPG elements and each of the four characters has a unique ability to defeat the opponents. The story is about four knights who are charged by the king to rescue a kidnapped prin-cess, to recover a mystical stolen gem and to bring the dark wizard to justice.

1|BRAID 2|LIMBO 3|BINDINg OF ISAAC 4|MARK OF THE NINJA 5|CASTLE CRASHERS

Most of these games can be found on Steam, Xbox Live or PSN.