Back to School in September

 Hello everybody!
after the summer holidays, it's time to come back to school.

ACTIVITY 1 - LISTENING AND UNDERSTANDING
Let's watch a subtitled video about Schools in Britain first:

 
WRITING EXERCISE:
Did you like it? ...................... Anything surprising for you? .............................
What are the main differences with the schools in your own country?
In the UK schools ........................................
In my own country schools ................

ACTIVITY 2 - SCHOOL VOCABULARY - LISTENING AND REPEATING
Now we are going to practise some school vocabulary using talking flashcards:

Any new words for you? Watch the video again and write them until you know them!
You can use this video with your children to learn English too!

Please write any comments and contact me if you have any questions.
Enjoy this back to school period! :-)

London 2012 Olympic Games (I) - Getting Ready (DO YOU REMEMBER?)

Hi everybody! London 2012 Olympic games are coming at last!

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012.




1- This is the official clear logo for the games with 4 different colour combinations:

And this is the official logo in 4 colours, all of them will be used.

1.1 - Which colour would you prefer for the logo? Why? ...................................................................
1.2 - Which colour would be the best for the 2012 London Olympic Games? .....................................

 2- Now you can watch a promotion video of these Olympic Games.

2.1- What do you think about this video? Do you like it? Why or why not?

2.2- Can you name the different sports you are watching?
2.3- The first sport is.... and the first sportman / sportwoman is.................... from .................
2.4- The last sport is.... and the last sportman/sportwoman is..................... from ...................
2.5- I can also watch these summer sports: ..............,.................,..................,..............,.....................
2.6- Are there any other summer olympic sports which are not in this video?
       Name them! ................................................................................................................................


3- Now you can have a look at the London 2012 Official Website:
http://www.london2012.com/

Today - for example - you can watch the Torch Relay to London Live in this link:
http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/video/live.html

Enjoy the previous days to the Olympics!
And comment what you're doing to prepare for the Olympic games in this post!   :)

Science is Rock and Roll (LEVEL: Intermediate/Advanced)

"Science is Rock and Roll" - Jack Black, The Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Bono, Miley Cyrus, Just Bieber (and more!) speak out about science in the following video.

KEY WORDS: amazing - creativity - Engineering - experimentation - fascinating - future - geek - (to) invent - nerd - progression - robots - Robotics - Science -Technology.

1) WRITING: Before watching the video write your opinion about these two questions:
1.1) Do you love Science? Why or why not?
.............................................................................................................
1.2) Why do you think that Science is so important in our modern world?
............................................................................................................

2) LISTENING: Now watch the video for the first time. Listen and try to get the main ideas of the video.

2) LISTENING: Watch the video again and listen to these 6 sentences. Pause the video when necessary and write the time of the video and the person who said it. You can watch the video 2 or 3 times if you need it!

SENTENCES                                                                     TIME                        WHO SAID IT

‎1) "Science to me is music"                                                    0:04                       The Black Eyed Peas

2) "Without Science we'd still be cavemen" 

3) "It's the very basic elements of life" 

4) "I think that Robotics and Science, that's the future" 

5) "Science is Rock and Roll." 

6) " ...but Science rocks!"
 

3) SPEAKING: What do you think about these ideas? Do you agree with them?
Any other thoughts about the importance of science today?
......................................................................................................................................

4) WRITING:
Write a composition (200-300 words) about "Science in our modern world" using some of the ideas of the video and giving your own opinion about them. Add your own ideas about Science too!

 

Spring is Coming (Part II)

Hello everyone!
Yes, spring is coming again! Some photos to show it...  :-)

At the beginning of the spring flowers are blooming and  trees are blossoming.... It's wonderful!

Look at some spring photos from all around the world. In your opinion, where are they from?

Spain - Japan -Belgium - UK
France - USA - Singapore

 

 

 

And now we watch a video about cherry blossoms. When we talk about cherry blossoms, we usually think about Japan.
But this time, it's an American video. Enjoy it!

Spring is coming! Have a good time, my friends! :-)

Spring is Coming (Part I)

 Hello everybody!
Spring is coming... at last!
How was the winter in your hometown? Cold, snowy and rainy or maybe dry and mild?
And how is the springtime coming? Windy and wet or dry and sunny?
Anyway, spring is here to stay.

Let's watch some videos about the arrival of the spring:

1) A funny video to start with. Spring is here! Wake up, everybody!

 

 And a song about the Spring, too! 

 

One of the funniest American traditions is called "the Groundhog Day".
Do you know it? What is it about? And what does the groundhog say?

We will talk more about it in another post!
 
Just to finish, how do you say "Spring" in your own language?
Here you have a cute cat poster about it! Enjoy it! :)

 










 

That's all for now, my friends!
Comment about the post if you want to practise English.
Keep calm, spring is coming. Enjoy it!  Bye bye!  :)

Celebrating Earth Day 2016

On the 19th of March 2016 we are celebrating the Earth Day once again.

The logo and hashtag this year is 'Change climate change - Shine a light on climate action'

But what is the "Earth Day"? 
The Earth Hour is an event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
It was started in 2007. It is held on the last Saturday of March every year.
The WWF asks people to turn off their lights and appliances for one hour.
They want to raise awareness for climate change.

You can read more information about Earth Day 2016 in these webpages:

http://www.earthhour.org/

https://worldwildlife.org/


LISTENING / READING ACTIVITY.

Watch the officials videos of the Earth Day 2016 to know more about it:

Now watch this video and think about our present environmental actions
and the possible future consequences for the world we live in. 

What are you going to do to celebrate Earth Day 2016?
You can meet your family and beloved ones for a quiet "candle-lit dinner"...
or maybe organise an outdoor dinner under the moonlight for your friends!

So, let's celebrate this special eco-friendly weekend when we celebrate
the start of the spring and we also protect our planet Earth!
Roll on Saturday, Roll on the Earth hour!  :)

NATIONAL CUSTOMS & FESTIVALS (Part I)

Welcome everybody! You know I'm a big fan of festivals and national customs all around the world.

You can send a friendship request to my Facebook profile in English:
https://www.facebook.com/profesoringles.murcia
And then join my Facebook profile and group: Holidays all around the year.
Please join it if you want to know more about festivals and national customs all over the world!


Furthermore,  I am going to show you some interesting resources on these topics in this blog entry.


First of all, I would like to mention some webpages:

National Day Calendar: An amazing website with all national days around the world.

Festivals all around the world. Lonely Planet's festival guide for each month.

Scottish festivals. We love Scottish festivals! With an interactive map.

Irish festivals and events. Ireland has many traditions and events to discover, too.

ACTIVITY 1- READING

As an example, let's watch this video about Scotland's summer festivals.

1.2) SPEAKING
Would you like to travel to Scotland this summer? Would you go to any of these festivals?
Which one would you visit and why?



ACTIVITY 2 - Birthday traditions all around the world.

2.1) READING.
Let's check some birthday traditions all around the world. 

 2.2) SPEAKING
1- Did you know these traditions?
2- Is there any special birthday tradition in your own country?

2.3) LISTENING
Now watch this video. It's not subtitled but we can get some general ideas about how birthdays are celebrated all around the world...

2.4) SPEAKING
1- Did you know these traditions? Which tradition do you like more and why?
2- Do you eat something special for your birthday in your own country?
 
And that's all for now, folks! I hope you enjoy this funny trip surfing on the net.
Or, even better, visiting these places to check these customs directly!  :)

ENVIRONMENT: Biodiversity.

Our planet’s diverse, thriving ecosystems may seem like permanent fixtures, but they’re actually vulnerable to collapse. Jungles can become deserts, and reefs can become lifeless rocks. What makes one ecosystem strong and another weak in the face of change? Kim Preshoff details why the answer, to a large extent, is Biodiversity.

LISTENING / READING (B2 - Advanced Level)

Watch this video first. You can select subtitles in English or Spanish if you want to read it, too!

SPEAKING / WRITING (B2 - Advanced Level)

1- According to the author of the speech, the main idea is:
Biodiversity = ecosystem diversity + species diversity + genetic diversity.
Can you describe these four concepts in your own words?
Have you ever thought about them? What are your own ideas?

2- What are the consequences of biodiversity loss around the world?

3- What could we do to preserve the environment in our local area?


You can use some of the concepts in the pictures below:

 That is all for now, my friends. Remember, our environment must be protected and preserved! :)

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Halloween History vs. Halloween Stories

This weekend, the 31st of October, is Halloween.
But what is REALLY the Halloween festival?

We all know about dreadful and horrible Halloween stories like this:

Spooky pumpkins , killer clowns, monsters, witches, vampires, zombies, ghosts and ghouls...

And there are also some  funny stories or parodies about these spooky characters, such as this:

 

Count Duckula is a vegetarian vampire and he is also very polite and good!
Look at the intro of this TV Series. What words and expressions do you understand?

And now with the subtitles. It's really funny! :)

All these stories are horrible and spooky, funny and entertaining but...
do we know the real history of Halloween?
Let's have a look at it!

 

Una versión simplificada de lo que ocurre en  Halloween en español aquí:

Well, I think we all know more about the REAL Halloween festival now.
I hope you enjoyed this special Halloween post, my friends!

Happy Halloween to everybody! Be spooky and scary!
Good night out there, whatever you are!  3:)

P.S: We're going to a Halloween costume party! (Look below)
Have you already prepared your spooky toffee spider cakes? Terrifyingly Yummy! :-P

Halloween 2014 - 31st October.

Halloween 2014 is (was) here!    Scary! Spooky! And funny!

Here you are some Halloween videos we watch (watched) in our class:

1) Vocabulary flashcards (for children):

  

2) Halloween traditions for children in Britain:

And some Halloween vocabulary for you,too!

Happy Halloween to you, monsters, witches or ghosts!  3:)
See you soon!

FOOD - Meat and Fish (I)

Hello, my friends!
Today we are going to talk about proteins, of course.

 








And, more specifically, about Meat, Poultry, Eggs, Fish & Seafood.














 Let's see some vocabulary of meat, poultry and seafood first:

 
And now, some more fish, divided into white fish, oily fish and shellfish/seafood:

Hmmm.... if you're not a vegetarian, you're probably feeling hungry now! :-P

To finish, let's see how you can ask for your favourite steak at a restaurant with this image:

SPEAKING & WRITING -  ACTIVITY.

What about you? Answer these questions!

NOTE: If you are a vegetarian, then probably you will not enjoy the following questions.
But, anyway, that's very common English vocabulary and you have to know it!

1) Are you a vegetarian? Why or why not?
2) Do you prefer fish or meat? Why?
3) What's your favourite meat? Why?

4) What poultry do you usually eat at Christmas? Is it your favourite?

5) And what's your favourite fish? Why?

6) What about your favourite shellfish/seafood? Why?

7) How often do you eat fish? Do you think it's enough? 

8) Do you like eggs? How many eggs a week you have? How do you cook them?

9) Have you ever tasted any special meat or fish?  (e.g.: from foreign species, such as the kangaroo  meat in Europe)
  Where? Did you like it? Any reasons why or why not?

10) Which meat or fish you don't like or hate and why?

Well, I hope you know something else about meat, poultry and fish by now.

We will go on talking about food soon. Enjoy your meal! :)

FOOD - Fruit and Vegetables (Basic)

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES - BASIC VOCABULARY.

Today we are talking about Fruit and Vegetables.
Do you like fruit and vegetables? Why or why not?

Let's start looking at some basic vocabulary.
Some popular fruit to start.  

  

SPEAKING & WRITING ACTIVITY

What's your favourite fruit? ..............................................................................................
What fruit do you usually eat? ..........................................................................................
How many pieces of fruit do you eat every day? .............................................................
Do you know other kinds of fruit? Write a list with all the fruit you know.

And now some common vegetables, too.

SPEAKING & WRITING ACTIVITY

What's your favourite vegetable? ......................................................................................
What vegetables do you usually eat? ................................................................................
Do you eat vegetables every day? .....................................................................................
Do you know other kinds of vegetables? Write a list with all the vegetables you know.

Well, that's all for now, my friends.
Remember to eat fruit and vegetables every day. It's very healthy! :)

DAILY ROUTINE 1: Breakfast.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day. And it is very important because you need energy for working or studying in the morning, of course!

I usually have toast with butter and jam and a coffee for breakfast.

And you?
What do usually have for breakfast?

Now watch this video to see some typical breakfasts from all around the world.
You can pause the video to see and write the countries and the food vocabulary.
What does the world eat for breakfast? ;)

WRITING - ACTIVITY

1 - How many different countries in this video do you know?
2 - How many different food words in this video do you know?

3 - Write all these words in four columns:
 FOOD/DRINK - COUNTRY - NEW WORD? (Yes/No) - MEANING (Spanish)

4- What's your favourite food and drink in this video? Why?

That is all for now! Enjoy your breakfast time! :)

Basic English and Spanish Vocabulary (I) - Vocabulario Inglés y Español Básico (I)

 Welcome back to the blog and to the new academic year!

¡Bienvenidos de nuevo al blog y al nuevo curso escolar!

Today we have a bilingual post with some basic English & Spanish vocabulary.

Hoy tenemos un post bilingüe con vocabulario Inglés y Español básico.

I hope you like it and learn some new words. Let's go!

Espero que os guste y aprendáis alguna palabra nueva. ¡Vamos!

Let's start with some greetings and politeness words.

Empecemos con algunos saludos y palabras corteses.

 It's important to mention that there are different varieties of Spanish... and different vocabulary is used in them, of course.

Es importante recordar que hay distintas variedades de Español... y que usan distinto vocabulario, naturalmente.

Let's see how we say 4 basic words (glasses, car, computer and ball-pen) in Mexico and Spain.

Veamos cómo se dicen 4 palabras básicas (gafas, coche, ordenador y bolígrafo) en México y en España.

 Now you know I use the Spanish variety from Spain, not the one from Mexico! :-)

¡Ahora ya sabéis que yo uso el español de España y no el de México! :-)

Sometimes, translating from English into Spanish (or the other way round) is easy.

Algunas veces traducir del inglés al español (o a la inversa) es fácil:

But sometimes it is more difficult. Can you guess what the unicorn and the boy are saying?

Pero a veces es más dificil. ¿Adivinas lo que están diciendo el unicornio y el niño?

 

Unicorn:  you are very intelligent and very talented/skilled.

Niño: Lo estoy haciendo muy bien en la escuela porque el unicornio mágico que habla español en mi cabeza cree en mí.

Well done! See you soon, my friends! :-D

¡Bien hecho! ¡Hasta pronto, amigos! :-D

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