Lemon Tree Very Pretty

The latest English assignment is sing this song in English. Yari is 12 years old and in her first year of Secondary School. I don't believe she has to memorize it, just sing it. Lyrics are easy to find but the video qualities vary a lot.  Peter Paul and Mary was not real clear and Trini Lopez made it a whole other thing. There were a couple copies of this Brothers Four song on YouTube so I downloaded it and put it on my IPhone for her.

This would have been an extremely difficult assignment for me at that age .... even though Spanish is a much more musical language compared to non rhythmic English, IMO. Her mom was over last night and was writing down words phonetically while I read them but that became a lot of work and we didn't know the value. I'll read to Yari and see what works for her. I think I'll skip an explanation of "But the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat" because I don't understand it except it's not sweet. Odd choice for a simile but it's just a song.

Lemon Tree by the Brothers Four

When I was just a lad of ten, my father said to me,
"Come here and take a lesson from the lovely lemon tree."
"Don't put your faith in love, my boy," my father said to me,
"I fear you'll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree."

Chorus:
Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet,
But the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat.
Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet,
But the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat.

One day beneath the lemon tree, my love and I did lie,
A girl so sweet that when she smiled, the stars rose in the sky.
We passed that summer lost in love, beneath the lemon tree,
The music of her laughter hid my father's words from me.

Chorus

One day she left without a word, she took away the sun.
And in the dark she left behind, I knew what she had done.
She left me for another, it's a common tale but true,
A sadder man, but wiser now, I sing these words to you.

Chorus

Today's English lesson

My neighbor is in his second quarter of English in his first year of Secondaria.  He had some in Primary but from what I saw it was not worth counting.   He was given this paragraph in English and was to translate it to Spanish.  I thought it could have been somewhat easier without the "science" but that's his assignment.   He thinks he can tell the teacher he did it on his own but don't think that will fly.   I suggested he say he used Google because at his level I don't think he could do it in a week on his own.    I used Google because my translation  would have been only close.  Bad might be better than good in this case.   He also has to read the English aloud.    We'll see

Small Intestine

The small intestine is a long, thin tube about 1 inch in diameter and about 10 feet long that is part of the lower gastrointestinal tract. It is located just inferior to the stomach and takes up most of the space in the abdominal cavity. The entire small intestine is coiled up like a hose and the inside surface is full of many ridges and folds. The folds are used to maximize the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. By the time the food leaves the small intestine, around 90% of all nutrients have been extracted from the food that entered it.

Intestino delgado

El intestino delgado es un tubo largo y delgado de aproximadamente 1 pulgada de diámetro y aproximadamente 10 pies de largo que es parte del tracto gastrointestinal inferior. Se encuentra inmediatamente por debajo del estómago y ocupa la mayor parte del espacio en la cavidad abdominal. El intestino delgado se enrolla como una manguera y la superficie interior está lleno de crestas muchos y pliegues. Los pliegues se usan para maximizar la digestión de los alimentos y la absorción de nutrientes. En el momento en que el alimento sale del intestino delgado, alrededor de 90% de todos los nutrientes se han extraído de la comida que ha entrado.