NB 2 - If you love somebody, set them free

Dear students & readers of this blog,

As our classes are usually so packed, we don't have enough time to listen to music with the lyrics. And actually, this is a great way of learning new vocabulary and expressions, as well as of learning about pronunciation. So, with the excuse that, in our Basic 2 class we have studied the INDEFINITE PRONOUNS, we are going to listen to some music.
For some info on indefinite pronouns, click here.

What about Sting?

Here is Sting's song "IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY, SET THEM FREE", a song included in "The Dream of the Blue Turtles", his first solo album after leaving The Police, and it was released in 1985. Now watch the video, listen to the song, and fill in the gaps in the lyrics below:

"If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"

VERSE (=estrofa) 1

If you need somebody, __________ my name
If you want someone, you can ___________ the same
If you wanna ___________ something precious
You got to lock it up and _____________ away the key
If you want to hold onto your possessions
Don't even ______________ about me

Chorus

If you love somebody,

If you love someone,

If you love somebody, 

If you love someone

set them free

VERSE 2
If it's a mirror you want, just _________ into my eyes
Or a whipping boy, someone to despise
Or a prisoner in the dark
Tied up in chains you just __________ ____________
Or a beast in a gilded cage
That's all some people ever _____________ to be

Chorus: if you love somebody...

VERSE 3
You can't ___________ an independent heart
Can't tear the one you _____________ apart (tear someone apart)
Forever conditioned to _____________ that we can't live
We can't live here and be happy with less
So many riches, so many souls
Everything we see that we want to ______________

VERSE 1 REPEATED

 Chorus

For the full lyrics, click here. 

NB 1 - File 6B: how to say the date

Dear students & readers of this blog,

First of all, I want to apologize for having been absent for so long. These have been very busy months for me, since we came back from our Christmas holidays. But here I am again, ready to suggest you ways of practising your English at home.

In our Basic 1 class we have been studying how to say the date. Here you have some links that can help you study and practise at home.

First, you need to know the ORDINAL NUMBERS in English. Click here for a list...and more.

Next, you need to learn how to say THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR. Please take a few minutes to check the video below:



And finally, you need to be able to know how to say the YEARS correctly. Click here.

Here you will find a SUMMARY of everything. Don't miss it!

So...WHAT'S THE  DATE TODAY? Practice by writing a comment to this post.

Christmas 2015 is here! Come and join us for a Christmas celebration!!

Dear students & readers of this blog,

Christmas is just a few weeks away. We have completed our first term at the school and that is something to celebrate, so...

COME AND JOIN US NEXT 22 DECEMBER, AT 18.00, FOR A FUN CHRISTMAS PARTY!!


This is the programme for the evening:

Cartel promocional fiesta navidad from leticiaeoiplasencia

We'll have A COOKING CONTEST, A CHRISTMAS QUIZ, CAROL SINGING...and of course, FOOD AND DRINK!!

Afterwards, we'll join the rest of the Departments of the school and we'll share some time with French and German students. A unique opportunity to relax and get to know other people!!

DON'T MISS IT!!!

We all know how people celebrate it in Spain, but maybe we are not so familiar with Christmas traditions in the UK. For example, do you know what is...

• Advent?
• Boxing Day?
• mulled wine?
• mistletoe? 

If you want to learn the answers to these and other questions, click here.

If cooking is your thing, click on the mince pies below, and you'll get the recipes  for lots of traditional British dishes: 

Yes, but Christmas is also celebrated in other English-speaking countries. How do people celebrate Christmas in...

• The USA?
• Australia?
• South Africa?
• Canada? 

What's the story or Christmas Carols? To find out, click here.

These are the Christmas Carols we will be singing at the party. Why don't you practise a bit before?

DECK THE HALLS  

Click here if you want the lyrics with some notes about the vocabulary.

LET IT SNOW (with lyrics)

MAY YOU ALL HAVE A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY START OF 2016. I'LL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!!

NB 2 - What were you doing when... PAST CONTINUOUS

Dear students & readers of this blog,

After revising the tenses we studied last year in Basic 1, the time has come to move on and study something new. A new tense.

THE PAST CONTINUOUS

As it is a new tense for us, we need to know some things about it.

FORM

Simple! BE + -ING. Please find a fully conjugated verb below:

And don't forget short answers!!! Short answers are formed with the auxiliary verbs WAS/WERE.

Were you reading? YES, I WAS / NO, I WASN'T

Were they reading? YES, THEY WERE / NO, THEY WEREN'T

USE

We usually use the Past Continuous in the following situations:

• To describe an action in progress at a specific moment in the past.

         E.g. Last night at 9 I was watching TV.

• For an action that was in progress when a shorter action (in the past simple interrupted it.

         E.g. I was watching TV when the telephone rang. 

Have a look at this video that illustrates this use:

• To describe the context at the beginning of a narration or story.

         E.g. The house was silent. John was looking through the window, while Linda was reading a magazine. The clock was ticking, when suddenly...

For a more detailed grammar explanation, click on this wonderful link from the BBC English Learning site.

And now, some practice. Listen to Naziru, Ly and Fernando talk about what they were doing on a memorable day in their lives.

(source: bbc.co.uk/learningenglish)

NB: Describing people

Dear students and readers of this blog,

In our Basic level class we have worked with basic physical and character descriptions. So here you have some resources to work on how to describe a person correctly.

In the first place, how do we ask for somebody's description? Well, don't ask 'HOW IS HE/SHE?', because you'll probably be answered something like 'fine, thanks'. If you want somebody to give you a description of themselves, or of somebody else, you have to ask...

WHAT DOES HE/SHE LOOK LIKE? (For physical appearance)
WHAT'S HE/SHE LIKE? (For personality)

Never EVER confuse this question with 'What does he/she like?', because the answer to that question is something like 'she likes going to the cinema' (likes & dislikes).

• Click here for some useful vocabulary to describe people. 
• Also, if you click on this link, you'll find a nice vocabulary bank.
• And if you want to practise a bit, click here.

Would you like to play a description game? Click here.

Happy Thanksgiving 2015 everyone!!!

Thanksgving, one of the most important festivities in the US, is here. The time is come to learn about how people celebrate it.

Did you know that...


...Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November?
...in Canada, Thanksgiving is in October?
...the turkey, the cornucopia, the corn or the pumpkin are the symbols of this holiday?
...people give thanks for everything good in their lives?
...every year, the President of the United States pardons the life of a turkey, which ends up in Disneyland?
...every year, there's a spectacular parade in many American cities like New York or Chicago?

If you want to read about Thanksgiving traditions, click on the image below:

Now some history. What's the origin of this festivity? Where do its main traditions come from? Take some time to watch this video:

Want to know some facts about the ship that took the Pilgrims to America? Watch the video below:

Millions of turkeys will be stuffed, roasted, and served this Thanksgiving. But yesterday, one lucky bird got free to live in a farm thanks to the traditional Presidential pardon. Please know the lucky winners:

YOU ARE THE HISTORIAN. Hey, don't miss this!!! Click again on the picture below if you want to find out more about the festivity. It will be worth your time, believe me!!

And to end on a humorous note, don't miss "I will survive":

For all of you, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Remember, remember, the 5th of November - TODAY IT'S BONFIRE NIGHT!

"Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot..."

Dear students and readers of this blog,

Nowadays, we all identify the city of London with on of its most impressive landmarks, the Houses of Parliament, and the UK with its King or Queen. But a long time ago, in the year 1605, on a day like this, that could have changed...dramatically. History was about to be very different. And if was all the making of a few men, of which the most famous was...GUY FAWKES NIGHT.

 

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

1600 - Elizabeth I dies. James I is the new King of England.

James I was the son of a CATHOLIC queen, Mary Queen of Scots. But he was PROTESTANT. And he passed (aprobó) some LAWS against Catholics. They had to practise their religion IN SECRET. So they weren't happy, and they felt the situation had to change.

AND SO...

...a group of men decided to KILL THE KING, HIS FAMILY AND ALL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT (MPs) on the 5 Nov 1605.

How? The king had to OPEN PARLIAMENT that day, so the CONSPIRATORS (conspiradores)  decided to BLOW UP (volar -with explosives!) the Houses of Parliament with the King inside, by using 36 BARRELS (barriles) OF GUNPOWDER (pólvora). They hid (escondieron) them in the CELLARS of the building. And a man called GUY FAWKES was left to WATCH (vigilar) over the barrels, and light (encender) the FUSE (mecha).

One of the conspirators sent a LETTER to a MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT telling him everything about the plot. And so the King FOUND OUT (lo averiguó). Guy Fawkes was the first one to be ARRESTED. All the CONSPIRATORS were killed.

This historical event originated one of the most characteristic festivities of the UK, BONFIRE NIGHT. Do you want to know more? Watch the video:

If you want to read more about the history behind Guy Fawkes' Night, click here.

WHAT WE CELEBRATE TODAY, AND HOW

People light BONFIRES ( hogueras) and they burn EFFIGIES (= efigies) of Guy Fawkes. Children go around asking "A PENNY FOR THE GUY", and with the money they get, they buy FIREWORKS (= fuegos artificiales). There are also FIREWORKS DISPLAYS (= espectáculo de fuegos artificiales) IN THE STREET! Read more. Click on the picture:

Did you know that even today, before every STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT, the YEOMEN OF THE GUARD (a.k.a. BEEFEATERS) SEARCH (buscan) in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament by the light of old candle-lanterns?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT? Click HERE for an online tour.

AND NOW, YOU CAN PLAY THE GUNPOWDER PLOT GAME. Discover the barrels of gunpowder and stop the conspiracy. SAVE ENGLAND AND THE KING!!

This even, as you can imagine, has inspired many books, plays and even films, among which is Alan Moore and David Lloyd's graphic novel V FOR VENDETTA, divided in ten parts and published between 1982 and 1988. It tells the story of an anarchist avenger who fights the dictatorial government ruling in Britain. This man will take up the appearance of a modern Guy Fawkes, becoming a sort of defender of the people against tyranny and oppression.

Happy Bonfire Night!!!

NB1 - Practical English: At a hotel

Dear students & readers of this blog,

These days, in our Basic Level class, we are revising some useful phrases to use when we check in at a hotel. Here you will find a sample dialogue and a few videos you might find interesting. Take a minute or two to have a look!

SAMPLE DIALOGUE:

Receptionist: Welcome to the Wyatt Hotel. How can I help you?
Guest: I'd like a room, please.
Receptionist: Would you like a single or a double room?
Guest: I'd like a double room, please.
Receptionist: Can I have your name, please?
Guest: Timothy Findley.
Receptionist: Could you spell that, please?
Guest: Sure! It's F-I-N-D-L-E-Y.
Receptionist: How many are you?
Guest: Just two.
Receptionist: Just for tonight?
Guest: Yes, that's right.
Receptionist: How will you be paying?
Guest: Is Visa okay?
Receptionist: Yes, sir. Would you like a wake-up call?
Guest: Yes, please. At 6.30.
Receptionist: Here's your key. That's room 405 on the 4th floor. The lifts are over there. Enjoy your stay, Mr Findley.
Guest: Thank you!

Here you have some videos you might find useful:




The following video recreates a real check-in situation. (In American English. Please note that the word "guys" is quite informal). Have a look!



And to finish, some humour with Mr Bean: