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!   :)

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!  :)

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

PLEASE CLICK ON THE ADS TO SUPPORT THIS BLOG. THANK YOU!
HAZ CLIC EN LOS ANUNCIOS PARA COLABORAR EN ESTE BLOG. ¡GRACIAS! :)

Colour Songs

Hello everybody!

We all know the basic colours in English, of course.
(Remember, 'colors' in American English!)

SPEAKING

1- What's your favourite colour? Why?
2- What's the colour you don't like? Why?

3- What are the colours of the rainbow?  

This is more difficult! Look at the picture below! :-)

LISTENING - SONGS

Today we listen to some songs to pracise the colours in English!
Let's start with this one:

   

And, to finish, a complete song about colours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4txwNwz_MP8

Do you understand the chorus of the song?

'But I see your true colours
Shining through
I see your true colours
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Just show your true colours,
True colors, ooh are beautiful like a rainbow...'

KARAOKE TIME! 

Listen to the song and sing!  <0:-P

Have a happy and colourful weekend, my friends! See you soon! ;)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2015!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2015!

Let's watch some videos and pictures about Christmas and New Year.

1) VIDEO: Christmas in Britain. What do British children do at Christmas? :)

2) VOCABULARY.

2.1) Christmas words

 

2.2) New Year words

 

Happy New Year 2015, my friends! :)

Hello everybody!
A new academic course begins and here I am again with this blog!
Did you have a nice summer?

What are your plans for September? A new job? Any new studies?
And also going on learning English, of course! ;)
Here you have a calendar of September 2013 to help you organise your ideas and plans.

 

As you can see , British calendars usually start on Sunday and finish on Saturday.
How are the calendars organised in your country?
Tell us about it, please!

Well, my friends. I will post again soon.
As always, I welcome your suggestions -in English or Spanish - for publishing new posts in this blog.
See you soon! Roll on September!
:)

Christmas around the world

Merry Christmas to everybody!

1- CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD

Let's watch a video about "Christmas around the world" first:

1.1- WRITING

- What Christmas customs can you see in this video? ..............................................

- What Christmas decorations are used in your town? ..............................................

- How do you decorate your own home at Christmas? ..............................................


2- CHRISTMAS CAROLS

A Christmas carol (also called a nöel) is a song or hymn whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.

2.1- LISTENING & READING:

Now we are going to listen to a typical Christmas carol:

2.2 - READING

The author and composer is unknown. However, this song may date back to the 16th century.
Now read the lyrics of this traditional carol:

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

We wish you a Merry Christmas.
We wish you a Merry Christmas.
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.

Glad tidings we bring
To you and your kin.
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.

Now bring us a figgy pudding.
Now bring us a figgy pudding.
Now bring us a figgy pudding
And a cup of good cheer.

We won't go until we get some.
We won't go until we get some.
We won't go until we get some,
So bring some out here. 

Glad tidings we bring
To you and your kin.
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.

2.3- VOCABULARY

What's the meaning of the following words? You can look them up in a dictionary!
1) tidings
2) kin
3) a fig
4) a figgy pudding
5) a cheer
 
2.4- SPEAKING - KARAOKE TIME

Watch the video again once or twice and then sing the song aloud!

That's all my friends!
I wish you a Merry Christmas to you and your kin!
:-)

Australian Song

1- BRAINSTORMING
Australia is a wonderful country! In fact, it is a big island and a continent at the same time.
What do you know about Australia?
Write ten key words about Australia in your notebook:
1- ................ 2-......................... 3- ............................ ; 10- ....................................

2 - LISTENING ACTIVITY:
This Australian song was played during the TV broadcasting for the official National Day of Mourning for the victims of the February 7 2009 Victorian bushfires.

2.1- First time, listen to the song and read the lyrics of the song in the video.

You also have the lyrics here:

(Chorus)
We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am
You are
We are Australian

I came from the dream time
from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart - the keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shore
I watched the tall ships come
For forty thousand years
I'd been the first Australian
I came upon the prison ship
bound down by iron chains
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains
I'm a settler
I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man
I became Australian
I'm the daughter of a digger
who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I'm a child of the depression
I saw the good times come
I'm a bushy, I'm a battler
I am Australian

(Chorus)

I'm a teller of stories
I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira
and I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse
I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda
I am Australian
I'm the hot wind from the desert
I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys
I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky
The rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land
I am Australian

(Chorus)

We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream
And sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian.

2.2- The second time you watch the video, sing it! Karoke time! :)

3- WRITING ACTIVITY
3.1 - There are many characteristics and attributes of all-time Australian people and landscapes in this song.
Look up the following words of the song in a dictionary:
the rocky shore -
the prison ship-
a settler -
a convict-
a free man - 
a digger -
the long and dusty road-
a bushy-
a battler-
a teller of stories-
a singer of songs-
the hot wind of the desert -
the black soil of the plains -
the drought and flooding rains -
the spirit of this great land -

3.2 - Now look for all the verbs in the song and complete a chart with the three forms:Infinitive - Past Simple - Past Participle
to be              was/were       been
to come             came          come
...........           .............         ..................

3.3- Have you learnt anything new about Australia? Well done!
Tell us about it adding a comment to this post! :)

What a Wonderful World (BBC Commercial of a documentary)

A few months ago we watched the video and the lyrics of the song "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong in the post:

What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)

 Do you remember it? Well, today we are going to watch a commercial of the BBC series "Frozen Planet" which will be released this Christmas. It is a BBC documentary with seven episodes presented by the famous British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough.
We can listen to him saying the lyrics of the song "Wonderful World". Enjoy the video and the voice too! :)

 

 

Lyrics "WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD"
(George Weiss / Bob Thiele)

 I see trees of green, red roses too
 I see them bloom for me and you
 And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

 I see skies of blue and clouds of white
 The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
 And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

 The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
 Are also on the faces of people going by
 I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"
 They're really saying "I love you"

 I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
 They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
 And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
 Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world

 Oh yeah

Moving Planet - Join the Global Movement

Moving Planet - Join the Global Movement

Moving Planet is a worldwide rally to demand solutions to the climate crisis. Come on bike, on skates, on a board, or just on foot.
It takes place in September 24, 2011 in different cities around the world. 

You can check the activities organized in this web:
Moving Planet Web

Enjoy it! :)

What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was a famous American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana (USA).

  This summer we have commemorated 40 years since Louis Armstrong's death. And today we are celebrating his birth, which took place exactly 110 years ago in August.
We are going to watch a video of his remarkable rendition of “What a Wonderful World” (1968) —  an optimistic song  in this difficult year for the whole world. Listen to it with no lyrics first:

And now let's watch another video with the lyrics in English.

KARAOKE TIME: It's not a difficult song.  Watch it again and sing it aloud!  Enjoy it! :)

You can read more information about Louis Armstrong in this link:

Wikipedia - Biography of Louis Armstrong