Tony Curtis in heaven above...

Bernard Schwartz, best known as TONY CURTIS, American actor, has just died. Earlier today, on 29 September, he suffered from a cardiac arrest and died in his house in Las Vegas. Curtis participated in many films, such as Spartacus or Some Like it Hot, a fragment of which you can watch below. And he is also well-known for having a turbulent personal life that took him to marry several times, some of them with much younger women. But let's remember him for his outstanding career.

If you want to read further about Curtis's death, click on his photo (source: bbc.co.uk)

Now, watch how it was told in the news reports. This one, from the American TV channel CNN:

Some Like it Hot is one of my favourite films of all times, if you don't mind my saying. It was directed by Billy Wilder in 1959 starring Curtis along with Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe. It tells the story of two jazz musicians, Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon), who witness the St Valentine's Massacre, and because of that, they are forced to flee disguised as women as part of a female orchestra that's performing in Florida. Things get complicated when Joe tries to seduce the leading vocalist of the orchestra, 'Sugar' Kane Kowalczyk (Monroe) and when Jerry/Daphne gets wooed by Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown)...

The extract you are going to watch belongs to the moment when Joe/Josephine and Jerry/Daphne are going to board the train that's going to get them to Florida. No subtitles, sorry. Just listen and see what you can understand. ENJOY!!! And remember...

NOBODY IS PERFECT!

Rest in peace, Tony!

B1 - Really? You absolutely adore English? SO DO I !!! (agreeing & disagreeing)

So we were talking about weekend activities in class (we've just started our textbook), when this phrase came along: SO DO I. Hmmmm...what's this, exactly?

So far, when we wanted to agree with a positive statement, we have used ME TOO, right? And when we wanted to agree with a negative statement, we used ME NEITHER, yes? And, come to think of it, how can we disagree to something a person tells us?

Okay, let's expand your options a little bit. For some grammar, click HERE.

And now, some practice: practice 1 practice 2 practice 3

Did you find this useful? Yes? SO DID I!!

NI (B1) - Multiple Intelligences

Today, in our class, we have been talking, among other things, about Howard Gardner's MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES theory.

But what are "multiple intelligences"? According to the Birmingham City Council:

"It has been claimed by some researchers that our intelligence or ability to understand the world around us is complex. Some people are better at understanding some things than others.For some of us it is relatively easy to understand how a flower grows but it is immensely difficult for us to understand and use a musical instrument. For others music might be easy but playing football is difficult.Instead of having one intelligence it is claimed that we have several different intelligences."

Knowing the 8 type of intelligences suggested by Dr. Gardner can be extremely helpful for us in the classroom and outside of it. Knowing the predominant types of intelligence of each student can help the teacher plan his/her classes, choosing the activities the best suit the students' profiles. As far as the learner is concerned, multiple intelligences can help him/her with self-study. The learner can select those learning methods and activities most adequate to him/her.

So if you want to know which are your predominant intelligences, click on the image below, and take the test. Then, when you have finished, print out the results.

I also took the test, of course!! This was my resulting pie chart.

Let's see what your pie chart looks like!!

1º NB (A1) - Sing with me your ABC

Hello everyone,

In our 1º de Nivel Básico class we're learning how to SPELL. In English, it is very important to know THE ALPHABET, or your ABC, very well. So here you have some help for you to practise:

These are the letters of the English alphabet. As you can see, they are the same as in the Spanish alphabet. But how do you pronounce them correctly? Would you like some help? You'll find the pronunciation between brackets. But be careful, that's not a phonetic transcription!!!!

Now watch the video, listen and repeat:

This is another video about the alphabet in English. But there is a small difference. Can you tell me which one it is?

Here you have some famous acronyms that we talked about in class last week:

EU = European Union
CIA = Central Intelligence Agency
UFO = Unidentified Flying Object
L = Learner
B.C. = Before Christ
A.D. = Anno Domini
NHS = National Health Service
Ph.D.: = Doctor of Philosophy
SOS = Save Our Souls
IQ = Intelligence Quotient
NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization
PC = Personal Computer
MTV = Music Television
OK = Okay (other version: zero killed)
USA = United States of America
UK = United Kingdom
CD = Compact Disc
VIP = Very Important Person/People
BMW = Bavarian Motor Works
DVD = Digital Versatile Disc
FBI = Federal Bureau of Investigation
BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation
GMT = Greenwich Mean Time
MPH = Miles per hour
DIY = Do it yourself
VAT = Value Added Tax
NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration
HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome
IRA = Irish Republican Army
MP = Member of Parliament
PM = Prime Minister


And to finish, let's rock with Jackson 5!!!

"Once more onto the bridge, dear friends, once more" Henry V, act III, scene 1

Dear students, old and new,

Welcome back to the Official Language School of Mairena del Aljarafe and to my blog. This year I will be teaching 1st level of Nivel Básico and Nivel Intermedio. Here you will find extra resources and information related to the English language and the culture of the English-speaking countries, as well as tools to practise the basic skills: listening, writing, reading and speaking.

First things come first, so here you have the recommended text books for this year:

1º Nivel Básico: NEW ENGLISH FILE Elementary, by Clive Oxenden & Christina Latham-Koenig. Ed. Oxford.

Nivel Intermedio: FACE 2 FACE Intermediate, by Chris Redston & Gillie Cunningham. Ed. Cambridge.

You'll find information about the recommended readings on this blog later on in the year.

So are you ready to start?