BEING A TEACHER....

BEING A TEACHER IS A DIFFICULT TASK NOWADAYS, SO I DECIDED TO FOLLOW THIS PIECE OF ADVICE BY BRUCE LEE:

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

by Bruce Lee

sábado, 29 de diciembre de 2018

Kids becoming billionaires!!!!

You never know, but even young children can have great ideas and become millionaires. Watch this interesting short video and you will discover some amazing facts >>>>






Some related articles for you to read about the topic:

Wanna Be A Millionaire? Learn From These 12 Kids Who Already Are (Lifehack)

High-fliers have more babies, according to study (The Guardian)


For your WRITING EXERCISE 07 you will have to find out what are the differences between Spain and the United States, with the help of our language assistant Elise, regarding the following issues:

School rules, chewing gum in class, talking in class, cheating in exams, playing truant or skipping classes, not doing your homework, conditions to pass, conditions to go on to the next school year, difference between 'to suspend' & 'to expel' a student, under which situations it can happen, what are teachers like?, discipline, interacting with teachers and other classmates, bullying....


You may have a look at these posts related to the issue (Label: SCHOOLS):



EXAM SKILLS  >>>>   6 tips to help you with writing exams   (BBC Learning English)



And talking about future sport Olympic heroes, read about our swimmer Tamara Frías Molina, who I swam in the lane next to this morning, and who is from Motril (Granada).



miércoles, 26 de diciembre de 2018

Buttons and keys, part of our digital world!!!

 

Yes, we are always pressing buttons to change TV channels, to switch on your computer, to dial a phone number... or keys to write on your computer, to play the piano... so our fingers are essential!!!!


However, let's go back to square one. Buttons were once used to fasten your coat before the invention of zips. By the way, do you know the meaning of the verb 'to fasten'? With which other expression is this verb very common? so let's start by something as simple as sewing a button, which not everybody knows how to do it.

 

How to sew on a button - it really is this simple (The Guardian)


So, here are some articles related to the issue:

 

However, nowadays we have gone a bit further on and instead of pressing/pushing buttons we touch screens:

Why touch screens push our buttons (The Independent)

 

Here's a listening exercise to do: Why we press buttons (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

A final article for you to read:

What is The Button? And will it ever not be pressed? (The Guardian)

 

English in a Minute  >>>>   The... The... Comparatives (BBC Learning English)

 



EXAM SKILLS  >>>>   6 tips about learning from mistakes   (BBC Learning English)


LINGOHACK  >>>

    Resultado de imagen de kid playing video games animated gif
  • Episode 181219 / 19 December 2018    >>>  South-Korea gaming addiction -  Language related to 'dependence'.  Need-to-know language: digital detox, addiction, seducing & symptoms.



domingo, 23 de diciembre de 2018

Hard times for our teenagers!!!!


Our society is really demanding nowadays, especially for our teenagers. We want them to have excellent results at school, to be fantastic at sport,  to be fluent in several languages (and especially proficient in English), to be skillful with multiple ITC tools, to be outstanding at social skills, to have time to go to the music school and play the violin like Yehudi Menuhin (Yehudi Menuhin playing the violin)... And this is impossible and frustrating for them most of the times.

 

 

Meanwhile, this society is especially dishonest as they try to manipulate our teenagers for political purposes, to experiment bizarre methodologies with them, to brainwash them... intending to have dull super-consumers with no critical analysis of their actions and decisions.

 

In a nutshell, nowadays our teenagers are just in the middle of a perfect storm they don't know exactly how to get through as there are no honest counsellors around.




Here are some interesting articles for you to read about the topic:



 

Here's a listening exercise to do: Inside a teenager's head (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)


English in a Minute  >>>>   affect vs effect (BBC Learning English)



Shakespeare speaks  >>>>   "All that glitters is not gold"     





LINGOHACK  >>>

  • Episode 181212 / 12 December 2018    >>>  Using Buddy Benches to improve mental health -  Language related to 'mental health'.  Need-to-know language: psychiatrists, mental well-being, inclusion, express feelings & stigma.


sábado, 15 de diciembre de 2018

Dickens & Christmas




In the level of 4th of ESO we have got the compulsory reader: 'A Christmas Carol' written by Charles Dickens. How much do you know about him? 

Here's a QUIZZ for you.

 

(Book online  for you to read)


Let's begin with a couple of videos about the writer:

 

 

and The Life of Charles Dickens (BBC)   


 

 

You can now write about the writer and your opinion about the novel.




Films to watch about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens:

  • "SCROOGE" | A Christmas Carol | Charles Dickens | Full Length Drama Movie | Classics | English" en YouTube


 

 

And for further information about Charles Dickens you can watch this That's English episode:  Unit 4B 

Here's a listening exercise to do: Why does 'x' mean 'kiss'? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)


 

English in a Minute  >>>>   while vs during (BBC Learning English)



Shakespeare speaks  >>>>   "Wild Goose chase - Love is in the air!"     



 

And in the level of 3th of ESO we have got the compulsory reader: 'England' 

What about watching some videos?

 

 

 

A Walk Through York, England

 


LINGOHACK  >>>

  • Episode 181128 / 28 November 2018    >>>  Moving London's dead -  Language related to 'burial'.  Need-to-know language: cemeteries,  final resting place, interred, morgue  & consecrated ground.


viernes, 14 de diciembre de 2018

Teachers and being a teacher

Do you know when the World Teachers' Day is?




 

What do you think teachers should be like? What is 'being a teacher' for you? Before trying to find the answers, watch these videos


and read about the issue:



RELATIVE CLAUSES (i)

Non-Defining Relative Clauses (Extra information)

These relative clauses give extra information about the antecedent, so they are not essential to the understanding of the message and you can omit them. They go in between commas and the relative pronoun can never be omitted. The relative pronoun THAT can never be used.
- We use the relative pronoun WHO when the antecedent is a person and is the subject or object of the relative clause.
 John,


 who


 came to the party
 , studied with me at the elementary school. 


 you saw at the party
 she was dancing with at the party


- We use the relative pronoun WHICH when the antecedent is an animal or a thing and is the subject or object of the relative clause.
 That dog,


 which


 barked in the street
  , belongs to my uncle. 


 you saw in the street
 she was playing with

- WHOSE (connection of possession)  
Mr Smith, whose wife is waiting for the bus, is my boss.
- WHERE (Adverbial of place). It can be substituted by WHICH + preposition.        
We visited Buckingham Palace, where the Queen lives

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES. Insert the clauses in brackets into the main sentences as non-defining relative clauses. Remember to add the commas.

1. Mont Blanc .... is the highest mountain in the Alps.  (it is between France and Italy) 
2. Alfred Hitchcock .... worked for many years in Hollywood.   (he was born in Britain)
3. We recently visited Cambridge .....   (Albert studied there many years ago)
4. Susana ..... loves travelling.   (she is in 3º ESO)
5. London .... has over 6 million inhabitants.  (it is the capital of Britain)
6. Mr Baraq Obama .... has never visited Spain.   (he is the former President of the United States)

 

 

Here's a listening exercise to do: Photo-friendly food (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)




English in a Minute  >>>>   lay vs lie (BBC Learning English)



LINGOHACK  >>>

  • Episode 181205 / 05 December 2018    >>>  Underwater sound pollution -  Language related to 'sound'.  Need-to-know language: listening in on something, picking up sounds, ruptured, eardrum & swamping.



domingo, 9 de diciembre de 2018

Coffee...it smells so good, especially in the early morning!!!


If coffee smells so good and we like it so much, why is it sold sometimes by many of the large companies in containers that remove  the smell? 

 

Why are all these words important in this context: disposable, lid, coffee chain, remove the smell, weird... ?


Here are some articles for you to read related to the issue:

Just the Smell of Coffee can Boost Brain Power (Live Trading News)

 

Here's a listening exercise to do: The smell of coffee (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

Learn some Food Phrasal Verbs in English with Lucy >>>

 

What is the difference between WHAT vs WHICH? Check it here in a new episode of English in a Minute (BBC Learning English).

 

And talking about Relative Clauses... 

 

RELATIVE CLAUSES

For a start, let's analyse the relevant elements we have to bear in mind when dealing with the relative clauses:
The boy who came to the party studied with me at the elementary school.

Main clause: The boy studied with me at the elementary school.        Relative clause: who came to the party
Antecedent: The boy             Relative pronoun: who

Why do we use the relative clauses? We use them either to give essential information about the antecedent (Defining Relative Clauses) or just some extra information (Non-defining Relative Clauses).
Another important thing about relative clauses is the connection you have between the antecedent and the relative clause because that will affect the kind of relative pronoun you are going to need. It could be subject, object, there could be a connection of possession...

Defining Relative Clauses

This kind of relative clauses is essential to the understanding of the message, so you can never omit them. Therefore, the intonation is rising till the end of the relative clause.
- We use the relative pronoun WHO (or THAT) when the antecedent is a person and is the subject or object of the relative clause.
 The boy


 who / that


 came to the party
  studied with me at the elementary school. 


 you saw at the party
 she was dancing with at the party


- We use the relative pronoun WHICH (or THAT) when the antecedent is an animal or a thing and is the subject or object of the relative clause.
 The dog


 which / that


 barked in the street
  belongs to my uncle. 


 you saw in the street
 she was playing with


You can omit the relative pronoun when it is not the subject of the relative clause (The boy you saw at the party... //  The dog you saw in the street...) and pay attention to the interesting use and position of prepositions (El perro con el que ella jugaba...).

- WHOSE (connection of possession)  
That's the man whose wife is waiting for the bus. (His wife is waiting for the bus.)
- WHERE (Adverbial of place). It can be substituted by THAT/WHICH + preposition.        
We visited the church where you got married // the church that you got married at. (you got married there / in that church)

And now some exercises for you to do  >>>>>

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate RELATIVE PRONOUN (who, which, where) and then say which sentences can have the relative pronoun THAT


1. I went to see the doctor ................ had helped my sister.
2. That is the hospital .................... the doctor works.
3. The dog .................. bit me belonged to my neighbour.
4. The woman ...................... phoned wanted to talk to my mother.
5. My mother bought the dress in the shop ....................... we saw the red sweater.
6. He is the architect .......................... designed the new bridge over the River Thames.
7. A library is a place ........................ people can read books.
8. Books are things ........................... give you a lot of information about different topics.
Now define what 'a student'  is.


Insert the second sentences into the first ones by means of a WHOSE-relative clause.


1. The house is beautiful. Its windows are open.

2. He was wearing a cap. Its colour was electric green.
3. The woman is on the phone. Her name is Greek.
4. Look at the man. You met his son at the party.
5. Paris is the city. Its main monument is the Eiffel Tower.

More RELATIVE CLAUSES exercises to do:    WHO/WHICH/WHOSE   (2)


 


Do you know how to play 'snooker'? This is s a typical British sport and one of his stars.



and some years later:   nowadays  




LINGOHACK  >>>

  • Episode 181121 / 21 November 2018    >>>  The effects of pollution on London's schoolchildren -  Language related to 'pollution'.  Need-to-know language: asthma, stunted lung capacity, exposure, particles  & low emission.
 

sábado, 1 de diciembre de 2018

And one day the dream came true!!!!

More than 25 years ago, to be more precise in 1992 in the Olympic Games in Barcelona, something amazing happened. Everybody has dreams and in those dreams we have always had an incredible super-team in football, basketball, handball... Well, this is what happened with the DREAM TEAM American basketball team that participated in the Games. 



Here are some videos for those of you who weren't even born to watch:



And dome articles for you to read:


And now I remind you of one of my earliest posts in this blog about two of these fantastic players:

Fly like an eagle or just...the magic?


What would be your team now? in basketball, football, in Spain, in Europe, in USA..?

sábado, 24 de noviembre de 2018

Loneliness, isolation, teenagers, sex!!!


Surprisingly, loneliness and isolation are very common feelings among our teenagers despite the fact that we live in overcrowded cities. Social media, video games, dangers in the streets... make our teenagers spend hours and hours alone in their bedrooms with their computers. Is this really good for their mental health? 

 

In the old days children used to play in the streets altogether, they would interact with other teenagers and they would learn about life through interaction.

 


Interesting articles to read about the issue:


And this can even affect their sexual habits:

 

Here's a listening exercise to do: Loneliness (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 



REVISION EXERCISE for 4º ESO

Complete the sentences using the correct FUTURE TENSE form.

1. I booked our summer holiday last week. We (go) _______________________ to France in July.
2. I think our team (win) ______________________ tonight. I’m feeling lucky.
3. I (have) _____________________ an orange juice, please.
4. I’ve just started a new diet. I (not eat) ______________________ any more chocolate.
5. It’s 8.30, you (be) __________________ late for school.
6. I (be) ____________________ 17 on my next birthday!     
7. We (play) ____________________ tennis tomorrow if it doesn't rain.
8. In our trip around Scandinavia we (visit) __________________ Copenhagen first, then Stockholm, Helsinki and finally Oslo, where we (have) _________________ on a cruise ship along the Bergen fjord.

And here's a video about the Bergen fjord:



and another video about the train that goes from Oslo to Bergen: (What does 'Norway in a nutshell' mean?)



martes, 20 de noviembre de 2018

lunes, 19 de noviembre de 2018

Objectification, a top issue

Objectification of human beings is supposed to be one of the problems our society must tackle as soon as possible. We must all stand up against this problem if we want a fairer society for our children.


In the world of advertising it is not all gold that glitters.


 

 

 

 

 

 

UN Women | My Story: End Violence against Women & Girls


And now you can create your own story by clicking here: My own story

 

TED TALK: The dark secret behind sexist advertisements by Natalia Ortiz Hazarian

  

Here are some interesting articles for you to read and you will discover that objectification affects both women and men:

And finally here's a listening exercise to do: Objectification (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)



REVISION EXERCISE for 3º & 4º ESO

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. ¿Con quién sueles ir al cine? Suelo ir con mis amigos.
2. Hay unos cuantos libros interesantes en la biblioteca, pero no son demasiados. 
3. El jersey es demasiado grande para tí y no es lo bastante bonito para tu novia.
4. Estábamos esperando el autobús cuando vimos el accidente.
5. No tenemos que llevar uniforme en el instituto

 

English in a Minute  >>>>   Remember to do something vs Remember doing something (BBC Learning English)

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

  • Episode 181114 / 14 November 2018    >>>  First woman Physics Nobel Prize winner in 55 years -  Language related to 'inventions'.  Need-to-know language: ground-breaking, devised, to get recognised  & in the field.

domingo, 18 de noviembre de 2018

Chickens on the run

Chickens have always been presented as dull animals, but IS IT REALLY TRUE? What does the expression 'chicken on the run' mean?


Let's begin by reminding you of the famous film CHICKEN RUN. Did you see the film?




This film was based on another great film called THE GREAT ESCAPE, which is starred, among other famous actors, by Steve McQueen. Here's the official trailer of the film....




... and this film was based on a true story that happened during the Second World War (The Making Of The Great Escape. Part 1 of 4). Here is also an interesting documentary to watch:




Great Escape: The Untold Story (WW2 POW Documentary) | Timeline

 

 


However, going back to chicken, here's an interesting listening exercise to do: What can chickens teach us about organisation? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

 

Organizations are often run according to "the superchicken model," where the value is placed on star employees who outperform others. You can watch this fascinating TED talk by Margaret Heffernan: "Forget the pecking order at work". By the way, what does 'pecking order' mean?

AMERICA GOES CHICKEN CRAZY (The New York Times)

 

Here's another listening exercise to do: High-vis fashion (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)


English in a Minute  >>>>   Prevent vs Avoid (BBC Learning English)


LINGOHACK  >>>

  • Episode 181107 / 07 November 2018    >>>  Train of the future -  Language related to 'power'.  Need-to-know language: diesel, electrification, hydrogen, coal  & battery-powered.

martes, 6 de noviembre de 2018

Dumbphones and plastic




What do you mean by 'dumbphone? Is it a phone for dummies? What does a 'dummy' mean? What is the opposite of 'dumb'? These are all questions that can be answered by having a look at this:

 

The English We Speak: Dumbphone (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

What kind of mobile phone have you got? In the previous listening exercise there are certain expressions you should look up. can you tell me the meaning of them?

"I was getting addicted to my smartphone"  _____________________________

"I couldn't stop checking" _____________________________

"I got rid of it" _________________________

"There is no temptation to stare at this dumbphone in bed"  ______________________

"I'm sick of being bullied by my smartphone."  _______________________

"I could swap my computer for my typewriter."  _____________________________

 

And now changing topics, .....

Here's a listening exercise to do: Curbing our plastic addiction (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

Related article you can read about the issue:

Plastic-eating enzyme could help fight pollution, scientists say (CBC)


And do you remember the difference between these two words:

English in a Minute: Been vs Gone (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

SOLUTION to an exercise in the previous post.
 
Answer these questions:   How do you call... ?

1 a strange-looking man    2 a young fair-haired girl      3 a badly-dressed lady       4 some well-made furniture