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!

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! :)

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! :)

Merry Christmas! Some songs for the Winter Season

MERY XMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR! LET'S LISTEN TO SOME POP CHRISTMAS SONGS! :)

    Season's greetings to all of you! Winter is here and Christmas time, too!
As some of you have told me,  I have not been publishing many posts in this blog lately.
Well, today this post is just to say thank you to all of you who are supporting me in my life and with my blogs and social networks AND, of course, to wish you a happy Christmas season to you all!

Here you have some good pop Christmas songs - old and new, with and without subtitles -
but... no classical carols this time, promised!
We have already sung many traditional carols in our English lessons, for sure! :)

Let's start with a the great Whitney Houston which also recorded a Christmas album.
Her voice was not at her best here, but this is a very nice Christmas song though:




Now we are going to see a different vision of Christmas; let's sing this song of Coldplay all together:

The last one is a current song (2013) but with some traditional arrangements.
I hope you enjoy it, no subtitles this time!
Can you understand any words and sentences here? Let's try!





And that is all for now! Which was your favourite song and why?

Feel free to tell us and to suggest me any other Christmas songs you like, as always.

Merry Christmas to you all!  Enjoy the winter holiday season!
o<|:-)

An Eco-friendly Weekend (II): Earth Day 2013

We go on with this special eco-friendly weekend. Roll on Saturday - the Earth Day 2013!

2) On Saturday the 23rd of March, we celebrate "Earth Day"
READING ACTIVITY.

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 2013 in these webpages:

http://www.earthhour.org/

https://worldwildlife.org/


LISTENING ACTIVITY.

Watch the official video of the Earth Day 2013 to know more about it:




  What are you going to do to celebrate Earth Day 2013?
You can meet your family and beloved ones for a quiet "candle dinner"...
or maybe organise an outdoor dinner under the moonlight for your friends!

Anyway, enjoy this special weekend when we celebrate the start of the spring
and we also protect our planet Earth!
:)

An Eco-friendly Weekend (I): World Water Day

Welcome to my blog!
This weekend is special: we are thinking about the water, the environment and our planet.
Let's start with Friday celebrations!

On Friday the 22nd of March, we celebrate "World Water Day".

 


READING ACTIVITY.


  What is the "International World Water Day"?  Read this:

	International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.

You can read more information about World Water Year 2013 in this webpage:
http://www.unwater.org/water-cooperation-2013/home/en/

LISTENING ACTIVITY.
 
  This is a Video Message from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (South Korean)
on the importance of Water Cooperation, the theme of World Water Day 2013.
Watch the official video of the United Nations to know more about it:

  

WRITING ACTIVITY.
 
The ending of the video is: "Water is life".
Answer the following questions.

1) "Water is life." - Do you agree with this sentence? Why or why not?
........................................................................................................
2)  Why is water so important?
.......................................................................................................
3) What can we do to save water every day?
......................................................................................................
That is all my friends! 
Please share this post and celebrate World Water day with your family and friends!
:)