Are you, by any chance, studying the PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE in class? Are you a bit lost? Would you like some extra help?
Cogratulations!! You've come to the right place!!
Click here for some theory and exercises on the subject.
Did you know that you can practise your English with a soap opera? Yes, you have read well, a soap opera, The Flatmates. Click on the picture to meet them.
Now that you know them, listen to episode 18: EMERGENCY. Thanks to The Flatmates you can:
Listen to the episode with or without the text
Download this or any episode in your computer Check the language point of the episode for more info (in this case, on the present perfect)
In unit 5 of the New English File elementary student's book we come across a photo of Mt. Rushmore. So we have the perfect excuse to learn something more about it, and above all, about the men whose merit granted them such an impressive tribute. If you want to learn something about the history of the monument or its exact location, click here.
Take some time to watch the video below:
Ok, Mt. Rushmore is in South Dakota. But...where is South Dakota? Yes, yes, in the US, you know that already, but WHERE exactly? RIGHT THERE!!
Nickname(s): The Mount Rushmore State (official),The Sunshine State Motto(s): Under God the people rule Entered the union on Nov 2, 1889. State Capital: Pierre Largest city: Sioux Falls
This monument is a tribute to four key men in the history of the US: Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. If you want to know more about them, click on their corresponding picture:
In class, we leant that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence when he was 33. Do you know what it looks like? And most importantly, do you want read it? Click on the Declaration to find out!
I hope to have given you good reasons to visit this corner of the world someday!!
Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá ’le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig), colloquially St. Paddy's Day or simply Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17. The day is the national holiday of Ireland. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Montserrat. In Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States, and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday. (Source: wikipedia)
Watch now the history of the holiday and how it is celebrated in the US:
Why don't you accompany your reading with some music?I KNOW MY LOVE, by the Corrs & the Chieftains
Here are the lyrics:
"I Know My Love"
I know my love by his way of walking And I know my love by his way of talking And I know my love dressed in a suit of blue And if my love leaves me what will I do...
And still she cried, "I love him the best And a troubled mind sure can know no rest" And still she cried, "Bonny boys are few, And if my love leaves me what will I do"
There is a dance house in Maradyke And there my true love goes every night He takes a strange girl upon his knee Well now don't you think that that vexes me?
And still she cried...
If my love knew I can wash and wring If my love knew I can sew and spin I'd make a coat of the finest kind But the want of money sure leaves me behind
And still she cried...
I know my love is an arrant rover I know he'll wander the wild world over In dear old Ireland he'll no longer tarry An American girl he's sure to marry
And still she cried... (x2)
What will I do...
As you know, and as Justin, our language assistant, told us, St. Patrick's Day is also widely celebrated in the US, especially in the cities of New York and Chicago. We have learned that, in Chicago, the river turns green (the colour of the festivity, the colour of Ireland) every 17 March. Watch this video to see how:
William Shakespeare (c. 1564 - 23 April 1616), as you may know, is considered to be the greatest poet and playwright in the history of English literature. Maybe you also know that he is the author of such world-famous plays as Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet or Othello. Maybe you even know that he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon (England). But...
Do you know what William Shakespeare REALLY looked like? Would you like to know?
According to some experts, he looked like this:
If you want to read more, click on the BBC logo below:
And as we are talking about Master Shakespeare, here you have one of his beautiful sonnets.
SONNET 116 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Oooooookaaaaaay, this might be difficult for you to read, so I offer you a free translation into Spanish by Lucy in the Sky (Argentina)
Soneto 116 Que para la unión de las almas sinceras yo no admita impedimentos. El amor no es amor si se altera al enfrentar la alteración, o flaquea cuando el que parte se aleja: ¡Oh, no! Es un faro siempre en pie, que ve pasar las tempestades y nunca es derribado; es la estrella para el navío a la deriva, de valor incalculable, aunque se mida su altura. El amor no es juguete del tiempo, aunque el carmín de labios y mejillas caiga bajo el golpe de su guadaña; el amor no se altera con sus cortas horas y semanas, sino que todo lo soporta hasta el final de los tiempos. Si estoy errado, y que eso se pruebe, yo nunca he escrito, ni ningún hombre ha amado.
Maybe you have this look on your face when you come to think of WORD ORDER. English, as you know, has a very simple syntax, with just a few endings, so in many occasions, you need to check the position of a word in a sentence to know its function. For more info, click (separately) on the words below:
Are you, by any chance, studying the PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE in class? Are you a bit lost? Would you like some extra help?
Now that you know them, listen to episode 18: EMERGENCY. Thanks to The Flatmates you can:
