INTERNATIONAL WOMEN´S DAY

International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on the 8th of March every year.  

It is a major day of global celebration for women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.

Today, IWD is an official holiday in countries such as Afghanistan, China (for women only), Cuba, Madagascar (for women only), Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their women in their lives -mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc- with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day, where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

In the new millennium there is a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation.

However, women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts and are still not present in equal numbers in business or politics. In general, women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

According to the United Nations (UN) this year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The theme for IWD 2011 is “Equal access to education, training and science and technology”.

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DID YOU KNOW …?

There is also an International Men's Day (IMD). It is an annual international event celebrated, in some countries, on the 19^th November.

International Men's Day is celebrated in countries such as Jamaica, Australia, India, United States, Singapore, Malta, United Kingdom, South Africa, Hungary, Ireland, Canada, Denmark, Austria, England, France, Scotland, …  (but –as you know- it is not celebrated is Spain).

 READING COMPREHENSION.- Answer the following questions about the text:

1.- When is the International Women's Day celebrated?
2.- In which countries is it an official holidays just for women?
3.- What is the tredition in some places on this date?
4.- What is the theme for IWD 2011?
5.- When is the International Men's Day celebrated?

LANGUAGE AWARENESS.-

An ACRONYM is a word formed from the initial letters of other words.
(For example: UFO = Unidentified Flying Object).

a) Name 3 ACRONYMS that appear on the text.
b) Underline ALL the nouns  from the previous text and put them into the correct place in the following table. Then, Complete the table "SINGULAR vs. PLURAL".

SINGULAR  NOUNS	PLURAL  NOUNS

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Finally, watch the following video to pay tribute to all the working women.

If you don't understand anything,

 ...

Don't Worry!! ...It is NOT English!!

It is Galician ("gallego").

It is Celtic music from Galicia.

("Centeàs", by LUAR NA LUBRE) 

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And, just to finish,
to celebrate this day,

I hope you enjoy the next video
"WOMEN IN FILM"

HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY !!