It is almost Christmas and as every year we are ready to watch the most popular ads for the festive season!
Number one this year is John Lewis´ad with Elton John as the protagonist. Enjoy watching!
JOHN LEWIS CHRISTMAS ADS 2018
Starring an eight year old star giving the performance of her life, all for her mum. Directed by Michael Gracey, the director of The Greatest Showman.
The Show tells the story of the North Star overcoming her nerves to deliver a performance of a lifetime, to the amazement of mum. She is supported by a huge cast of 59 kids aged 6-11, all dressed as a variety of Christmas staples - including a turkey drummer and set of Christmas lights (plug included). The cast all dance and sing along as the stage transforms to reveal a 40ft Christmas tree and a 14ft glitter-filled gravy boat. ALL THE 2018 CHRISTMAS ADS RANKED AND RATED BY BRANDWATCH.COM
What date is International Women’s Day 2018, what is this year’s theme and how is the day celebrated?
By Edward Hyatt. 7th March 2018
This annual event celebrates women's achievements and pushes forward towards gender equality.
It has been observed for over 100 years and is now marked around the world. Here's everything you need to know:
When is International Women's Day 2018 and what is the theme this year?
International Women's Day falls on March 8 every year - that means that it falls on Thursday this week.
The day brings together global governments, women's organisations, businesses and charities together under the banner of International Women's Day.
The day itself will be marked with talks, performances, rallies, networking events and marches.
With the recent scandals in Hollywood, and the World Economic Forums' Global Gender Gap Report showing that it will take 217 years to close the gender parity gap, it's more important than ever that aim for progress.
The theme of this year's International Women's Day is #PressforProgress.
The website argues: "We can't be complacent. Now, more than ever, there's a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity.
"A strong call to #PressforProgress. A strong call to motivate and unite friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive."
The event has been celebrated on March 8 since 1913.
What are International Women's Day's origins?
The earliest observance of a Woman's Day was held in New York on February 28, 1909, and was organised by the Socialist Party of America.
A year later, at the International Women's Conference in Copenhagen, Socialist representatives proposed that there be an International Women's Day, inspired by the demonstration in New York.
The delegates agreed that an international day should be formed as part of a strategy to promote equal rights for women and women's suffrage.
It was celebrated for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on March 19, 1911.
Two years later, in 1913, it was proposed that the date be moved to March 8 and it has been celebrated on this day ever since.
Why do we still celebrate International Women's Day?
The original aim of International Women's Day was to achieve gender equality for women - this has not yet been realised.
The Gender Pay Gap still exists in the UK where women earn up to 14% less than men. In January 2018, Ladbrokes, EasyJet and Virgin Money revealed pay gaps of over 15% in favour of men.
This story is told around the world for a number of reasons, including the lack of women's representation in politics and business.
The World Economic Forum found in 2017 that at the current rate of progress the global gender gap will take 100 years to close.
This represents quite the decline over 2016 where it was estimated to be 83 years.
Last year also saw the rise of the #metoo movement where women from all over the world came forward to share their story of sexually harassment.
The women who broke their silence on sexual assault and harassment were named Time's Person of the Year - The Silence Breakers.
A FEW POPULAR TED TALKS TO MAKE US THINK:
TEACH GIRLS BRAVERY, NOT PERFECTION. TED TALKS. RESHMA SAUJANI is an education activist, founder of "Girls Who Code":
BRING ON THE FEMALE SUPERHEROES!BY CHRISTOPHER BELL
(Media studies scholar)
THE DATA BEHIND HOLLYWOOD´S SEXISM. BY STACEY SMITH
(Media researcher)
IF YOU LOVE SPEAKING ENGLISH YOU´LL LOVE THIS NEW LESSON!
Talking about hypothetical situations, giving advice, expressing your views on a moral dilemma or even making a polite request or an angry remark. These are but some, situations we may encounter when speaking English!
Let´s start with a famous song that uses conditional sentences to talk about a hypothetical situation:
How many sentences starting with If can you spot in this song?
Please make a list
Watch Dan´s quick review, by BBC Learning English, of the different types of conditional sentences in English and choose one of them to explain to the rest of the class with examples:
Zero and first conditional
Listen to this video by 6 minutes grammar from BBC Learning English and discuss the examples given:
How about using conditional sentences to think about these moral dilemmas:
What would you do if...?
- You found a 100 € note as you were walking a busy street - You were given the wrong change (extra money ) at a shop or a restaurant - The only parking space available was the disabled parking space - You were driving on a road and you knew there are no speed cameras - You wanted to take a day off work and you didn´t have an excuse... Can you think of any other moral dilemmas?
A BIT MORE CHALLENGING! MIXED CONDITIONALS
Stop Saying series: how to use unfinished conditional sentences
Sometimes in spoken English is not necessary to finish your sentences as the speaker will probably understand what you want to say...
Let´s begin with a quiz by ESOL Courses to learn some of the adjectives that may describe your personality! Fancy having a look at a Chinese menu? It will definitely make you feel hungry!
TO PREPARE FOR THE NEW YEAR....... HAVE YOU MADE ANY NEW YEAR´S RESOLUTIONS YET?? Look at these examples to think of your plans for the future! There are different expessions and ways to refer to the future in English. Here are some patterns you can use:
People make New Year´s resolutions to improve their lives in some ways. We can improve our lives by: - Startig something new: I am thinking of starting a Chinese course. - Triying harder at something: I am planning to try harder in English. - Cutting down on something: I am going to cut down on surfing the Internet. - Quitting something: I´ve decided to quit smoking. - Or we can just keep doing what we are doing now! I am planning to keep going to the gym. NOW TRY MAKING YOUR OWN!
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.
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.
- 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.
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:
A newspaper having pages half the size of those of a standard newspaper, typically popular in style and dominated by headlines and photographs
Sensational in a lurid or vulgar way.
These are some examples of British broadsheet newspapers:
Broadsheet newspapers:
A large piece of paper printed on one side only with information; a broadside.
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.
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:
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:
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 :
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 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!
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:
Friday, 3 February 2017
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!
