WHAT IF...?

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...




PRACTISE THE SECOND CONDITIONAL WITH FRIENDS!



TEARS IN HEAVEN- ERIC CLAPTON

A NEW YEAR AHEAD OF US!

Welcome back to the new edition of our 2018 English course!!

How about starting with a challenge from far away?

How much do you know about the Chinese New Year? 

Watch this short video by History.com to get an overall introduction to this popular celebration:

Do you feel identified with any of these symbols of the Chinese Zodiac?




Find further information about the chinese zodiac, typical food and traditions in this link: https://chinesenewyear2018.com/zodiac/dog/

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:

- I´m going to...     
- I´ve decided to...
- I intend to...
- I´m planning to...I´m planning on...+ing
- I might...

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, 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: