THANKSGIVING, THE ALL-AMERICAN HOLIDAY

Thanksgiving is the most important festival in the USA tradition. It is the time of the year when all families gather around the table to celebrate the time when the first pilgrims (fisrt European immigrants) arrived to America and to give thanks for all they have.

How much do you already know about Thanksgiving?

1. When is Thanksgiving?
2. Why do you think people celebrate Thanksgiving?
3. What foods are associated with Thanksgiving?




Thanksgiving is a four-day holiday for most US citizens. It starts on the fourth Thursday of November and continues through Black Fiday to the weekend. It is an occasion for families to get together for a few days.

The date for Thanksgiving was set by the country´s first president, George Washington, at his inauguration in 1789. The US Congress wanted to unite their nation in a day of celebration and prayer.

Watch this video from www.history.com to understand the origin of Thanksgiving:

Traditional Thanksgiving foods:

BLACK FRIDAY

If you are in New York, you can celebrate Thanksgiving by joining a parade like Macy´s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Macy´s, a large Manhattan department store, organises the parade with actors, bands and balloons:

On Black Friday, everyone goes shopping. It is the second biggest shopping day in the year
(December the 23rd is number one). Why black? Because shop owners make big profits and pay off their debts, so they are " in the black".

DO YOU FANCY COOKING A TYPICAL PUMPKIN PIE? HERE IS THE RECIPE:

PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE




Ingredients:

- 3 eggs
- half a cup of white sugar
- half a cup of brown sugar
- 1.5 cups of milk
- 600 gr of ground pumpkin
- half a teaspoon of cloves
- half a teaspoon of cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
- one teaspoon of lemmon extract

Instructions:

First beat the eggs and the white sugar together, then add the ground pumpkin and continue beating.

Now dissolve the brown sugar in the milk and the add this to the pumpkin mix.

Next add the spices and the lemon. Put the pastry crust in the pie pan and add the filling.

Bake in the oven at 180º C for 50 minutes.

Enjoy your pie!!


LEARN ENGLISH WITH THE AMERICAN SERIES "MODERN FAMILY"

This video by "Pick up English" will help you learn English from the TV series Modern Family. This lesson covers vocabulary and expressions from the 2nd episode of season 3 of Modern Family.




How about these funny mispronunciations by Gloria, who speaks English as a second language?
This video by "Learn English with TV series" can help you improve fluency and pronunciation.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES-IS WINTER FINALLY HERE?

EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS

We are experiencing a number of extreme weather conditions that scientist have proved are the cause of many natural disasters and diseases in our planet.

HUMAN HEALTH AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE:



Follow this LINK  to read about an study article by VOA: Climate Change Harms Health Worldwide as millions Swelter.

Read this article by VOA on how the USA stands alone on the Paris agreement

What do you think of London´s Toxicity tax?

 

Rine or shine we always talk about the weather! Follow this LINK  to remember weather words in English.

WEATHER EXPESSIONS IN ENGLISH. SOME VERY POPULAR ONES!! 

Watch this video to learn some more vocabulary about weather and natural disasters:

WEATHER FORECAST

Listen to these  two different weather forecasts from the BBC:

EARTH SONG BY MICHAEL JACKSON:

According to some, this is one of Michaels Jackson´s best songs. Listen to the song and enjoy the message and the music!

SCARY TIMES!

It is that time of the year when we hear the word Halloween everywhere!

But do we know the real origin of this celebration?

ANCIENT ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN (Source: History Channel)

Watch this video from History channel to learn more about the history of Halloween:

16 Terrifyingly Informative Halloween Spending Statistics

Let´s now listen to a classic thriller!

 

TASKS:

- Listen to the fist part of the video and write down the conversation between Michael and his girlfriend.

- Listen carefully to the rest of the video and fill in the gaps to understand the lyrics .

- Make a list of "terror" words.

Friends Haloween party for a bit of fun!

CELEBRITY TIME WELCOME BACK!

WELCOME TO A NEW EDITION OF OUR ENGLISH COURSE!

We are coming back in style talking about celebrities, success and fame!

In a world where big names are constantly on the spot, let´s discuss what these three concepts mean:

CAN YOU GIVE A DEFINITION FOR THESE WORDS?

CELEBRITIES 




SUCCESS





FAME




CONVERSATION QUESTIONS:

Choose those questions that appeal to you most and discuss them with your partner:

• Have you ever seen a celebrity in person? What did you do?
• Who are the celebrities in the news at the moment?
• What does it take to be a celebrity? 
• How many celebrity couples can you name?
• Which celebrity would you like to meet? What would you do if you could spend a day with this person?
• Do you think famous people have the right to have a private life?
• Do you think it's moral to sell your private life to the media?
• Do you approve of people who become famous as a consequence of appearing again and again in the media and not because of having an artistic career?
• What are the pros and cons of being a celebrity?
• What do you think of fans and fan-clubs ?
• Did you have any heroes when you were a teenager?
• Why do you think adolescents need to have heroes?
• Do you think being a celebrity automatically means the person is intelligent?
• Which celebrity do you most admire and why ?
• Would you like to be famous ? Why or why not ?
• Do you think there is a relationship between beauty and celebrity ?
• Are famous people happy?
• Should celebrities be role models?
• Do you think that some celebrities earn much more money than they deserve taking into consideration what they produce?

HOT SEAT CELEBRITY TIME!!

CAN YOU GUESS WHO I AM ?

- In teams write a list of 5 famous people.

- Members in your team take turns to describe one of the famous people in your list and the next team tries to guess who is it.

- Use structures:
He/She is a/an .....actor/politician......
He/She is British/Italian/Spanish.....
He/She is famous for........

Big publications like Time or The Economist make annual lists of the most influential people.

The 100 Most Influential People in the World 2017

 

Please debate:

Do publications in Spain list influential people?

Do you believe there is an difference between power and influence?

Do celebs have a right to a private life?

Watch this great three- minute TED- Talk about success:

8 SECRETS OF SUCCESS by Richard St. John

 

 

NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALISM

NEWS AROUND THE GLOBE!

In this topic we are going to learn how to talk about newspapers and the news, compare different types of newspapers and discuss the power of communication and social media.

Traditionally, in the UK there have been two types of newspapers, tabloid and broadsheet:

These are some of the most popular tabloid newspapers:




British tabloids include:  Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Record and The Sun.

Definition of tabloids:

1. A newspaper having pages half the size of those of a standard newspaper, typically popular in style and dominated by headlines and photographs
2. Sensational in a lurid or vulgar way.

These are some examples of British broadsheet newspapers:




Broadsheet newspapers:

1. A large piece of paper printed on one side only with information; a broadside.
2. A newspaper with a large format regarded as more serious and less sensationalist than tabloids.

British broadsheets include:  The Independent, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper publishing market is changing enormously.  There are now many free newspapers, including: Metro, City AM, Evening Standard and London Weekly.  All of these are of a tabloid format. Additionally, many of the broadsheets are publishing in a smaller form, which has been traditionally associated with tabloids.

Follow this link for a complete list of newspapers in the United Kingdom

People in Britain love reading the newspaper.  Visitors to London often comment on how many people are reading newspapers during their commute on the tube, buses and trains.


How about newspapers in the USA?

In the following link we can find a great source of information about the top ten US newspapers on The Internet and the US sources by región:

http://www.thebigproject.co.uk/USNewspapers/#.WLw62W8ixjp

How fake news go viral: a case study from The New York Times

Let´s now work on this article from The New York Times Learning Network:  Determining the reliability  of sources

Skills and Strategies | Fake News vs. Real News: Determining the Reliability of Sources

By

Katherine Schulten

October 2, 2015 10:51 am


As we all know, Twitter and other social networks like Facebook, have a great influence in the world of communication. Listen to this TED Talk by Evan Williams: The voices of Twitter users:

ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING

We have seen a number of adverts and commercials around the topic of the Super Bowl and Christmas. Now it is time to learn how to talk about commercials in English, discuss advertising and comment on some memorable ads!

Please Discuss:

- How would you define advertising?

- Is advertising a good or bad thing? Why?

- What advertisements do you think are more effective, those on TV, on newspapers, on the radio on the Internet or in the street?

- Do you think advertising could be considered and art?

- Do you think advertising is somehow lying about products?

- What products depend more on advertising?

- What factors are important when making a good advertisement?

- Are you easily persuaded to buy things after seeing or hearing an advert?

- What regulations should be applied to adverts to protect consumers?

- Have you ever been angry about an advert?

- Whinch companies , in your opinion, produce the best ads?

- Do pop-ups on the internet bother you? Why?

Now let´s comment on some advertisements!




Something from the past?



Guess the advertising Company?













 Watch this business English lesson describing products with  appropriate descriptive vocabulary:

 

Advertising - What psychological tricks do they use?   ESLvideo

Questions:

What is the video about?
Different kinds of commercials.
Strategies used in advertising.
How to make a good advertisement.

The first principle is very effective because...
What they sell is cheap.
When you buy from them, they give you something extra, like a book or a flower.
they give you something and then you feel obligated to buy them something in return.

Is it a good strategy to make people believe a product is rare?
No, people only want successful products.
Yes, rare products are more attractive.
Yes. Collectors will be attracted to the product.

Are famous people effective in advertising?
Yes, because people believe them.
Yes, especially sportsmen and athletes.
No. It has been proven that famous people are less effective.

What is the principle of commitment?
First, we get information about the people. Then, we release the product.
First, we tell people that the product is good. Then, people are more attracted to it.
First, we introduce an idea or opinion. Then, we make people buy the product to support the idea.

When people around us buy a product...
it means the product is good quality.
we don't buy it because we want to be unique.
we are more willing to buy it.

11 types of advertising. Watch this really useful video by Dominic Carraro:

Watch this video from English vocabulary lesson to learn 6 common Advertising and marketing techniques:

  




Please send your favourite adverts to the comments section of this blog

These are the top 10 TV commercials of 2016 in the US according to Business Insider

But.....What if there was no advertising? | George Nimeh | TEDxVienna :

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

HAPPY VALENTINE´S DAY!




Watch this Valentine´s Day presentation to discuss the different types of love

BET YOU DIDN´T KNOW THE REAL STORY OF ST VALENTINE´S DAY!

Watch this video from the history channel to find out:






Let´s now learn some idioms that include the Word HEART in English:

Can you guess the meaning?
In pairs discuus the meaning of the following idioms an try to MIME what they mean!

- To have a heart of gold
- To have a big heart
- To be cold-hearted
- To wear your heart on your sleeve
- To cross your heart and hope to die
- To cry your heart out
- To eat your heart out
- From the bottom of your heart
- To have a change of heart
- To have a heart
- To have your heart in your mouth
- To have your heart set on something
- To set your heart at rest
- To be soft hearted
- To take something to heart

Follow this  ESOL Courses link to find out some more definitions





What happens to people who are in love? Here are some examples

What happens inside your brain when you are attracted to someone else? Listen to this video from the History channel about the science of love and attraction and be prepared to answer questions!







All Saints Never Ever. All Saints was a very successful band in Britain, The States and Australia during the 1990s. Their greatest hit was Never Ever. One of the four girls in the band wrote the song after splitting up with her boyfriend. The song won 1998 Brit Awards for Best Single and Best Video,
Listen to the song and choose the right word to go in the gap:





Now listen carefully to the beginning of the song. What questions would she like to ask her exboyfriend? Please write them down.



Now let´s get into something more "cheesy" and listen to a classic!

Love is in the Air by John Paul Young:





Fancy watching a very interesting TED Talk about Love? Follow the link to Mandy Len Catron Falling in Love is the easy part

SUPER BOWL TIME!

THE SUPER BOWL IS THE ONE AMERICAN THING!





But... What exactly is the Super Bowl? Why is it called like that?

Discuss with your partner how much you know about this anual event in the USA


Follow this link to learn about the Super Bowl from the Wikipedia

The Super Bowl is usually the most watched event broadcast on TV.

Did you watch the half-time show last night? Here is a video of the fantastic performance by Lady Gaga:


 Would you like to look at some numbers? Read this article from CNBC to learn about the Super Bowl spending

Super Bowl Ads: What You Can Learn From Big Game Commercials

Now let´s talk about one of the most controversial ads that was cut short in the Super Bowl but that everybody is commenting on. Guess what it is about?

Now watch a summary of the top 10 Superbowl commercials and be prepared to talk about them:

 

WELCOME BACK ! There we go again!

Welcome to the third edition of our English course. This course is intended to motivate you to use your English in different contexts, refresh what you already know and polish it!

Of course we all have different levels of English but remember that the most important thing is to keep you motivated to continue learning and improving!

WHAT STAGE OF THE MOUNTAIN OF ENGLISH ARE YOU AT?




Most important of all, you musn´t give up! There is always hope:




Getting around in English can be tricky sometimes but is there a better way to start than learning some body idioms? They will definitely make you feel better!





In pairs discuss what you think these idioms mean and see how many you can get right!

English has some funny words!listen to this famous poem called "Why the English tongue we speak?" and have fun practising different sounds!






Finally, let´s relax singing an easy song to cool down!