See you soon!

Well, and that's the end of this blog. Time flies, can you believe it? It's been a real pleasure to work with you guys and I have to thank you all for how well accepted this blog has been since the very beginning. The great amount of visits and comments on Google Classroom proves that it was a good idea to start this blog on the first place, don't you agree? Also, if, as I think, it has helped you to learn more about the English-speaking world, I couldn't be happier. That's, after all, the reason why we teachers do what we do, helping you students in your learning process.

But this doesn't finish here! You need to keep practising your English as much as you can, since that's the only way you can improve your communicative skills. For the ones who have passed the test, congratulations and I wish you all the best in Intermediate Level. I'm sure we'll see each other around at the school again. For the ones who unfortunately didn't pass, don't give up! You'll have another chance in September, so don't forget to study some English this summer besides going to the beach, alright? All the best for September!

But passing doesn't mean forgetting your English, so try to practise a bit this summer. These holidays are long and you don't want to lose all you've accomplished, do you?

These are some tips you can do to keep up with your English this summer:

1. Watch films or TV series and listen to music in English: After all this year, I'm sure you're able to understand more words than before, don't you? Keep it up and you'll see how you'll improve faster and faster.

2. Check previous posts on this blog: I understand you were very busy studying for the course and maybe you haven't checked in detail all the posts on this blog. The summer is the perfect time to do so. You can watch the videos, listen to the songs and visit the websites that have been posted here throughout the year.

3. Talk to your classmates in English: Your Google Classroom group is still open, so you can still be in touch with your classmates, if you want! Try to practise English with them, I'm sure many of them will be very pleased to do so!

4. Travel to an English-speaking country: This is the ideal way of practising your English in a fully authentic environment. Summer holidays are long and, if you have saved up during the year, get yourself a treat and travel somewhere far, like the USA, for instance! Can you imagine speaking English with real Americans? And also experiencing all those situations we've talked about on this blog for real? Walking along 5th Ave, going to Hollywood, eating authentic American burgers. It's the perfect time to put in practice all those real-life situations we've been performing throughout the course, such as ordering food at the restaurant, clothes at the shop or asking for a room in a hotel. Wouldn't it be great? Check airfares on-line, you can get really good deals out there!

And now, to finish the course with a smile, let's listen again to Best Day of my Life, by American Authors. You can even dance to the video if you feel like it. After all, the end of the course should always be a celebration!
Best Day of my Life

That's all for now. But, as the title above says, this is not goodbye, just see you soon.

All the best,

Javier

Unit 12 - Self-assessment

We reached the end of Unit 12 and now it's time to check what you've learned. Tick all statements that are true for you.

• I can express my health condition and ask for it to others
• I can write an argumentative text
• I can say and understand vocabulary of health and the human body
• I can say and understand some proverbs in English
• I can make use of Reported Speech and Conditional Sentences in my language practice

If you ticked them all, congratulations and keep it up! If not, don't give up and keep practicing!

Unit 12 - Let me take care of you

Did you have fun playing doctors the other day in class? Well, it was game for us, but it's a reality for many professionals who take care of us when we are in need. Doctors and nurses do their best to try make us feel better.

Life in hospitals is so interesting that it has inspired popular TV series for years, with well-known examples, such as ER, House MD, Grey's Anatomy or The Good Doctor.

If you click on the links below, you'll watch a few clips from two of these popular shows. 
What elements related to health and the human body can you see or hear?
Grey's Anatomy
The Good Doctor

See you in class!

Unit 12 - Healthy Choices

Having a healthy life doesn't mean just eating properly and working out, there are other important habits we need to take into account if we want to keep up our good health.

One of them is the one you can see at the picture above: sleeping. We actually talked about that in class the other day and already highlighted the importance of taking a good rest every day. Our body releases a big amount of energy along the whole day and, therefore, we need to recharge our batteries every night, so that we can feel full of energy again the next day. Doctors recommend at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep everyday, in order to rest properly. If we go to bed very late at night and wake up early in the morning, we feel tired and weak, and that's not good for our health.

There is an unhealthy phenomenon that's quite recent, known by same people as the pandemic of the 21st century: it's stress. I'm sure you've heard this word before but, what's stress? It is a situation in which our body fails in some way as a response to some kind of physical or emotional threat. A stressful situation is, for instance, feeling very tired or angry after an excess of hard work. In this highly demanding world, where it seems like we need to work harder and harder to advance in life, stress is becoming more and more usual, and it can be very dangerous. A high situation of stress can cause high blood pressure and even heart failure, so it's a very serious thing. In order to avoid stress, we need to relax and take things easy. A good way of relaxing is taking a break from work from time to time and doing some pleasant activity, such as playing sports, dancing or listening to music. You can also practise specific techniques that are based on the principles of relaxation. The Asians are the ones who master this type of techniques, which are spreading quickly all over the world. Two examples of these practices are yoga (originally from India) and tai chi (coming from China). Besides helping you to relax, these techniques are excellent for stretching and toning your muscles, so you can kill two birds with a stone!

To watch what yoga practising looks like, check out this video:

Yoga Practice
Tai Chi Practice

Do you live a healthy life? Which of the healthy habits we've talked about in these two posts do you have? Have you ever done yoga or tai chi? Would you like to try? How about unhealthy habits? Please feel free to make any comments on our Google Classroom group. Moreover, remember this unit's special project consists of making a presentation about different healthy and unhealthy habits, so you can take a look at both previous and following posts in this unit to get ideas about that topic.

See you in class!

Unit 11 - Self-assessment

We reached the end of Unit 11 and now it's time to check what you've learned. Tick all statements that are true for you.

• I can give details about the weather situation
• I know several phrasal verbs in English
• I can make a presentation on recycling
• I can make use of the Passive Voice in my language practice
• I can write an opinion article

If you ticked them all, congratulations and keep it up! If not, don't give up and keep practicing!

Unit 11 - Recycling and reusing

In order to protect our planet, there's something really easy that we can do, recycling our rubbish and reusing the things we don't need any more. Let's have a look now at what can be done with recycled materials:
Recycling Hacks

Precious Plastic

What do you think? Do you recycle? Can you think of any useful ways of reusing your rubbish? Comment on our Google Classroom group.

Recycling and reusing tips will actually be our next class project, so start looking for ideas, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

See you in class!

Unit 11 - Save Our Planet!

Nowadays, everyone's aware of the importance of protecting the environment, there's a general feeling in all of us telling us we've been doing wrong all this time and we couldn't just keep treating our planet like that. However, lately, we've been feeling the consequences of all we've done this time, and it seems there's no turning back. All over the world, there have been great weather changes: longer summers, more extreme temperatures, violent nature phenomena, etc. The Earth is behaving in a way it never did before, like warning us we've been doing quite a lot of harm to it. 

Scientists all over the world have come to the conclusion those big weather changes are occurring because of a phenomenon known as global warming, caused by the greenhouse effect. Because of the great amount of pollution thrown into the air, we've turned the atmosphere in a sort of greenhouse ceiling, keeping the world's temperature warm and not letting it breathe. This is not good for nature, since, as it occurs with real greenhouses, life cycles are distorted and growing rythms accelerate. As a consequence, plants are starting to grow in different seasons as they were, creating great confusion in animals. Also, because the world's temperature is getting hotter and hotter, the poles are melting quickly, changing animals' environment and making the oceans contain more water.

If this dangerous situation continues, and the poles keep melting, oceans can overflow, and floods would sink islands and cities by the sea. This is not a legend or an exaggeration, it's something it's already happening, and it'll get worse if we don't act. Global warming has been ignored by governments before, which kept allowing factories to produce all toxic gases they wanted. However, a documentary made by American former vice-president Al Gore showed us all what was really happening. This documentary is called An Inconvenient Truth, and it proves how governments knew about this phenomenon, but preferred to hide it, because causing pollution was just making them richer and richer. This documentary was awarded with two Oscars in 2006. If you haven't watched it yet, check it out, it's worth it a look. 11 years later, Al Gore presented the second part, called An Inconvenient Sequel, and this is an interview in which he explains why he decided to make a sequel:

An Inconvenient Sequel - Truth to Power

What do you think of global warming? Do you think governments are doing enough to fight against it? Do you think we can solve this problem or it just can't be undone? As always, feel free to make any comments on our Google Classroom group.

See you and be nice to our planet!

Unit 10 - Self-assessment...and extra tips

Now, it's time to check what you've learned this unit. Tick all statements that are true for you.

• I can contrast past events using different tenses (Simple and Continuous)
• I can write a mystery and crime short story
• I'm aware of some intonation variations in English
• I can use vocabulary of crime in my conversations
• I know about British famous mystery and crime writers and novels

If you ticked them all, congratulations and keep it up! If not, don't give up and keep practising!

See you in class!

Unit 10 - British mystery and crime (2)

There's another famous British character related to the world of mystery, Agent 007, Bond...James Bond. First, a a book saga written by Ian Fleming and, then, a series of successful movies. James Bond is secret agent working for MI6, the British Secret Service, always at the service of Her Majesty the Queen. This character has been played by different actors along the years, for example, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and, the most recent one, Daniel Craig (picture above)

If you're a James Bond's fan and would like to know more about this popular character, click on its official website:

007

An important element in James Bond films is soundtrack, always performed by popular singers. In class, we listened to one of them, Skyfall, by Adele, from the movie Skyfall, where Spanish actor Javier Bardem plays the evil villain. Would you like to listen to the song and sing long?

Adele - Skyfall

Great song and great voice, don't you think? See you in class!

Unit 10 - British mystery and crime (1)

One of the many literary genres available is mystery and crime. These stories normally focus on a murder and the investigation to find out who the murderer is. Along history, the British have proved to master these type of literature, and there are many mystery and crime stories which have been written by authors from the UK.

- Sherlock Holmes: There is probably no one in the world who hasn't heard of this English detective. This Londoner, who lives on Baker St, is famous for smoking his pipe, looking through his magnifying glass and, above all, resolving crimes together with his friend and faithful helper, Dr. Watson. Holmes is the main character of a series of novels and short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle around late 19th c. and early 20th c. Sherlock Holmes became such a powerful character at that time that Doyle started to feel jealous of his own creation, and decided to kill him in one of his stories, to keep on writing about something else. However, Holmes fans complained after his unexpected death and criticised Doyle for his decision. Then, the writer decided to bring his famous character back to life in his next story, understanding no one could ever kill Sherlock Holmes, not even his creator. Today, Sherlock Holmes is a universal character, probably the best known detective in the whole world. The book to you have read on the holidays is actually a compilation of several Sherlock Holmes stories, which I'm sure you enjoyed.

- Agatha Christie: Known as the Queen of Crime, this prolific English author wrote mystery and crime stories almost along 3 entire quarters of 20th century. No wonder why she was labelled as the Queen of Crime! Her stories are unique, with such degree of suspense and mystery that they keep you hooked on them until you finish reading and find out who the murderer was. They're also easy to read, since they tend to follow the same pattern: a murder, an investigator looking for clues and, finally, a shocking discovery of who committed the murder, normally the person no one could ever suspect of. There are two famous characters in Christie's novels: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, who always end up resolving the crimes. They were quite different from each other, since while Poirot was a proud Belgian detective, Marple was an apparently fragile elderly lady, but so clever that she could resolve any crime, surprising all characters in the story, including the police. The most famous works by Agatha Christie are Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and Ten Little Niggers.

If you'd like to know more about Agatha Christie, click on this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie

By the way, have you watched the BBC series Sherlock? It's a modern reinvention of Sherlock Holmes stories and it's been a huge success all over the world. I'd like you to watch the video a this girl speaking about the series and then, I'll ask you a few questions:

10 Reasons to watch BBC Sherlock

Now, if you haven't watched the series, would you like to watch it? Why/why not? Why don't you try watching it in English with subtitles? Did you find any crime vocabulary on the previous video? You can ask all these questions on our Google Classroom group.

See you in class!

Unit 10 - Read! Read! Read!

Do you enjoy reading? It's an activity we just can't live without nowadays. We read signs on the streets, cooking recipes, ingredients on food packages. etc. That is reading for information and everyone needs to do it. But what about reading for pleasure? Reading literature is a very recommendable activity. It allows you to be part of a story, another world that came from the writer's mind. Reading can make your imagination fly to other places you could have never imagined and discover things you never knew. Reading can make you laugh, cry, fear, hate and love. And all this can be done while you're sitting down on your sofa, or lying on your bed. 

Reading is also a fantastic way of learning things. By reading, we can learn about history, science, geography, art, and many other topics. If you read in another language, as it's our case, reading makes you learn new vocabulary and expand your knowledge in that language. That's why it's important for you to read several books throughout this course. During the holidays, it would a good idea to read the second term book: Sherlock Holmes Stories, by Arthur Conan Doyle.

What do you know about English literature? I'm sure you could mention Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and many other authors, couldn't you? But what about contemporary literature? There are many successful English-speaking writers nowadays, creating book sagas sold all over the world. We'll give the examples of two women writers:

- J.K. Rowling: This British writer is the author of the Harry Potter book saga, a series of best-selling books also turned into several blockbuster films. The books tell the story of a young boy and his adventures at school of witchcraft and wizardry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter

- Stephenie Meyer: This American writer is the author of the Twilight saga, also best-seller books later made into blockbuster films. These books tell the love story of a vampire and human girl, and the difficulties they need to overcome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_(novel_series)

Have you read any Harry Potter or Twilight books? Have you seen the films? What kind of book do you like reading? As you know, you can make any comments on our Google Classroom group. In following posts, we'll be talking about mystery and crime. You can't miss it!

See you in class

Unit 9 - It's springtime!

Are you enjoying your holidays? I hope you are, but also that you don't forget to practise your English!

This new season that recently started, spring, is the season of joy and happiness, of renewance after a long cold winter. Therefore, many people have special celebrations in this time of the year. In Andalucia (Spain), people celebrate the Holy Week and several festivals (ferias), and, in the English-speaking countries, they also have their own festivals. These are the most famous ones:

- Easter: Originally, this is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, and that's the main reason why it's celebrated in other countries, like Spain. However, in Anglo-Saxon countries, like the UK and the USA, Easter has become less religious and it's celebrated by both Christian and non-Christian people. In these countries, Easter is one of children's favourite holidays, because of symbols like Easter Bunny and Easter eggs, and the special games they do on this day. On Easter Sunday morning, American and British children wake up and find baskets filled with presents and candy for them, left by Easter Bunny. Later, in the afternoon, the whole family get together and have an Easter dinner, a big meal with a lot of delicious food. After that, they decorate hard-boiled eggs altogether. First, they dye them in coloured water, and then they paint them using brushes. After having coloured them, it's time for fun! Easter Bunny comes (without being seen by the children) and hides the eggs in the family's garden. Then, the children have to do an egg hunt, which means they have to find the hidden eggs. If they find the special golden egg, they'll get a prize!

If you'd like to know more about Easter traditions, click on this link:
http://festivals.iloveindia.com/easter/traditions/easter-in-usa.html

- Spring Break: Right now, here in Spain, we're having a holiday, in which people commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the UK and the USA, they also have a holiday around this date, but for less religious reasons. They call it Spring Break, and students have no school during about a week or so. Unlike our holidays, Spring Break might not coincide with Easter, it's merely a celebration of springtime. Many people decide to go on vacation for Spring Break, since the weather is starting to get nicer. This is the case of many American university students, whose Spring Break parties have become internationally famous. These beach parties are full of fun, dancing, drinking, and craziness! Students are celebrating they just finished their first semester and won't have to think of exams for a while!

- Parades: Other springtime celebrations include street parades, some of them done during Easter time, and some others before. This is the case of Mardi Gras, the famous parade they do in New Orleans, USA, on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is a carnival, so people traditionally wear costumes and masks. Everyone watches the street parades, full of colour and jazz music, a music style originated in New Orleans area. It's also a lucky day for getting married, so many couples decide to tie the knot on this day!

If you'd like to know about the origins of Mardi Gras, click on this link:
http://www.history.com/topics/mardi-gras

Enjoy the rest of your holidays and see you next week in class!

Unit 9 - Self-assessment

We reached the end of Unit 9 and now it's time to check what you've learned. Tick all statements that are true for you.

• I can express obligation and necessity
• I can advise and ask for advice
• I can order at a clothes shop
• I can write an argumentative text
• I can distinguish between main and supporting ideas in a text
• I know about shopping streets in London and NYC
• I'm aware of silent letters, so I don't pronounce them
   

If you ticked them all, congratulations and keep it up! If not, don't give up and keep practicing!

Unit 9 - Shop 'til you drop!

Shopping is a pleasure for many people and a torture for many others. Those who love shopping and can't stop buying and buying are called colloquially known as shopaholics, since they have almost an addiction to shopping. Other people, however, just shop for what's really necessary and spend their money on something else.

Let's analyse two different streets for different types of shoppers:
- Oxford Street (London)

This street is famous for all types of shopping. You can find clothes, electronics, books, food, souvenirs, etc. It's not the place in London to find expensive designer clothes, such as Versace or Armani, but rather more affordable shops, like Zara, H&M or Adidas. This is also the favourite shopping venue for tourists and foreign students, since they can buy all kinds of London low-price souvenirs. Therefore, if you travel to London, don't miss Oxford St!

- 5th Avenue (New York)

People who shop at 5th Ave have a totally different idea from the ones who go to Oxford St. In this avenue, you can find the finest and most exclusive designer clothes and complements. Versace, Gucci, Prada, Armani, Christian Dior, Chanel, Carolina Herrera, Tiffany's, Manolo Blahnik, etc. They're all in here! 5th Ave shoppers can afford buying what those shops offer them, and therefore they spend great amounts of money in their favourite handbags, jewels, shoes, suits or cocktail dresses, for instance.

However, in the age of technology, streets are not the only place where we can go shopping, since more and more people prefer shopping online, and the most famous clothes shops (Zara, Mango, H&M...) have their own websites and phone apps, where we can easily buy anything we want without leaving home.

Shopping and fashion is also very present in films and TV. One of the clearest examples is Sex and the City, a popular TV series in the late 90's and early 2000's. This show was mainly about the love stories of 4 friends living in NYC. However, with the pass of time, the audience started to pay special attention on the clothes the characters were wearing. Designers saw this, and started to advertise themselves in the show, having the characters wear their clothes and shop in their stores. This show contributed, for instance, to the big international success of the Spanish shoemaker Manolo Blahnik, since its protagonist, Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), loved his shoes and wore them all the time. The series was so successful that they also made a movie in 2008 and a sequel in 2010. Now, watch the trailer of the first movie and then I'll ask you a few questions:

Sex and the city (The Movie)

What elements of fashion could you see in these videos? Do you feel reflected in those characters because of their relationship with fashion or are you totally opposite? Do you prefer traditional shopping or shopping online? Feel free to give your opinions on our Google Classroom group.

See you in class!

Unit 9 - Fashion Trends

Once shops have learned all new trends and bought those clothes that are supposed to be fashionable at the moment, how do they convince the general public of acquiring those clothes? 

This is mainly done through media. There's nothing more powerful than an image, and both designers and retailers know that. There are two kinds of advertising: direct and indirect. With indirect advertising we mean how designers use celebrities to show their clothes, so that people who admire them wish to wear like them. This is done in premieres, important events or through social media, like Instagram. Lately, there's even been a new phenomenon of people who were not initially famous but have become celebrities because of the number of followers they have on this kind of media. They're known as influencers and fashion industry has realised how important they are, especially to reach the young public, so they're letting them borrow their clothes and accesories as a way to advertise them on Instagram or YouTube, for instance.

Influencers 

Direct advertising is the one done through commercials on TV and magazines. There are many magazines specialised in fashion, showing fashion icons on their covers (like Sarah Jessica Parker above) and advising people what they should or shouldn't wear (also on the cover above).

Many of these publications were founded in the USA, and then spread internationally, obtaining great success and prestige all over the world. Out of all originally American magazines available on the market, we've selected four. The first one on the list, Vogue, is considered by experts the most influential one in the world of fashion. If you click on these links, you can visit their official websites:

- Vogue
- Cosmopolitan
- Harper's Bazaar

Do you normally read any of these magazines or follow any influencers? Do they help you finding out what the latest fashion trends are? You can make any comments on our Google Classroom group.

See you in class!

Unit 9 - Are you "in" or "out"?

We're constantly reading or watching lists of the most and least elegant celebrities, of what's in and what's out (short forms for "in fashion" and "out of fashion"), but who decides what's fashionable and trendy?

First, it's designers. They create their fashion collections, sell them to the shops and, finally, they reach people who end up wearing them. But how do shops decide what clothes to buy and what's trendy? This is done, among other things, through Fashion Weeks. These are one-week-long events in which designers present their collections to their buyers and the media, through runways and other special promoting events. There are Fashion Weeks in every main in the city in the world, but there are four main ones: London, Paris, New York and Milan. As you have seen, two of the cities are in English-speaking countries, which highlights the importance of this language in the world of fashion, as well.

These are some links to videos of some runway shows in those Fashion Weeks:
Palomo Spain at NY Fashion Week
Fashion Week Plus Size

As you can see, times are changing, luckily, and fashion is lately reaching more and more different kinds of people and bodies.

There's another step in which these designs reach the public, but we'll be talking about that in our next post.

See you in class!

Unit 8 - Self-assessment

We reached the end of Unit 8 and now it's time to check what you've learned. Tick all statements that are true for you.

• I can express ability and probability
• I can ask how to borrow something
• I can write a short biography
• I can use the correct modal verb in each case
• I can use the correct verb pattern in each case (-ing, bare infinitive or infinitive with to)
• I know about music trends in the English-speaking countries
• I can make a presentation about a popular English-speaking singer/band

If you ticked them all, congratulations and keep it up! If not, don't give up and keep practicing!

Unit 8 - What kind of music do you like?

Nowadays, music is freer than ever, we can listen to it anywhere and at any moment. Freedom in music is also its variety. There are so many music styles out there that everyone can find his/her favourite type of music. 

Next, we'll see examples of different music styles that are successful in the English-speaking countries nowadays. The importance of both the UK and the USA in the music industry is really huge. The reputation of British singers is known worldwide and this country is always looked at to know which is the latest music trend. As for the USA, music industry has a big power there, just as big as Hollywood film industry. For this reason, many American singers succeed all over the world, just like films do. The music power of these two countries has become so big that many other bands or singers who are not native English-speakers decide to sing in English in order to reach fans from the whole world and succeed internationally. Examples of these are ABBA (Swedish), Shakira (Colombian) or Enrique Iglesias (Spanish).

But, who's being successful in the English-speaking countries right now? Some of them you know for sure, but some others are not so well-known internationally.
Here's a list with different styles, singers/bands, their countries of origin and links to their music videos. Enjoy them!

- Pop: Katy Perry (USA)

- Rock: U2 (Ireland)

- Hip hop: Jay-Z (USA)

- Dance: Calvin Harris feat. Dua Lipa (UK)

- Country: Blake Shelton (USA)

- R&B: Rihanna (Barbados)

- Indie: The Killers (USA)

- Punk: Sum 41 (Canada)

- Grunge: Pearl Jam (USA)

- Soul: Amy Winehouse (UK)

- Jazz: Ella Fitzgerald (USA)

- Blues: Norah Jones (USA)

- Swing: Michael Bublé (Canada)

- Folk: The Corrs (Ireland)

- Gospel: David G (Nigeria)

Well, which were your favourite music styles? Do you think our music tastes here in Spain are similar to the ones in the English-speaking countries?  You can make any comments on our Google Classroom group.

See you in class!

Unit 8 - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On March 17th, the Irish celebrate their biggest day, St. Patrick's Day. With this, they're commemorating the death of their patron, St. Patrick. Even though this celebration started in Ireland, because of Irish immigration to other countries, it's now celebrated in many other places, such as the USA, Canada and Australia. In those countries, this day has become a big celebration of Irish culture, rather than a Catholic commemoration of St. Patrick, as it originally was. The tradition of wearing green, for example, which is internationally spread nowadays, actually began in the USA, since that colour reminded Irish-Americans of the old Irish flag, despite the fact that green is considered an unlucky colour in Ireland.

St. Patrick's celebrations in the world include, besides wearing green, drinking Irish beer, eating Irish food and dancing Irish folk music. It's the day when people from all over the world who share an Irish origin feel proud to be Irish. 

If you'd like to know more about the origins and celebrations of St. Patrick's Day, click on this link:

Origins of St. Patrick's Day

And since we're talking about Ireland, would you like to know something more about this amazing country? Here's a video for you to enjoy and see the wonders of Ireland:

Discover Ireland

And, to end this post, nothing better than listening to one of the most popular Irish bands, The Cranberries. Its leading singer, Dolores O'Riordan, sadly left us last year, so this is also a way to honor her.

The Cranberries - Zombie

What do you think of Ireland? Would you like to travel there? What does the song Zombie speak about? Feel free to make any comments.
Slán go fóill! (See you in Irish Gaelic)

Unit 7 - Self-assessment

Before evaluating yourselves, let me congratulate you all for you great work on Dessert Day, everything was so delicious! I knew you were good actors, but now I realise you're good chefs, too! You'll never stop surprising me!
Now, it's time to check what you've learned. Tick all statements that are true for you.

• I can compare and contrast several people and/or things
• I can use previous knowledge to help oral and written comprehension
• I can order at a restaurant
• I can give instructions for a cooking recipe
• I can use words to quantify different elements
• I know several traditional dishes in the English-speaking countries
• I know several English idioms

If you ticked them all, congratulations and keep it up! If not, don't give up and keep practicing!

Unit 7 - Jamie Oliver

Have you heard of Jamie Oliver? He's a very famous young English chef who has proved to be the total anti-symbol for the traditional view of British eating habits. As we've mentioned on earlier posts, the world tends to have a very bad idea of British food and eating habits, associating them with junk and unhealthy food. Well, Jamie Oliver is radically opposite to that idea. He has a TV show on British TV (and also on American TV) where he cooks all sorts of tasty dishes made out of fresh ingredients he grows himself. He masters Italian cuisine and very often includes elements from this country in his dishes. 

But he's not just a young talented chef, he's also a great promoter of healthy food and eating habits. Through his campaign "Jamie's School Dinners", he went to several schools in England giving advice for improving the quality of kids' meals, understanding eating habits need to be part of our education since we're little. Another campaign helping young people he made was opening a series of restaurants around the world, called "Fifteen". In each of these restaurants, he trained 15 young people with social problems, teaching them a job and helping them to re-start their lives. For all these merits, Jamie was awarded as a Member of the Order of the British Empire, a very prestigious recognition in the UK.

If you'd like to know more about Jamie Oliver, click on this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Oliver

Let's do an activity now. Click on this links and you'll watch several recipes cooked by Americans. I'll ask you a question afterwards.

Pasta Puttanesca
Healthy lunch recipes

Did this post make you change your mind about British and American cooking style? Why? Feel free to make any comments on our Google Classroom group.

See you in class

Unit 7 - Women's Day

Today, 8th March, we're celebrating International Women's Day, I'm sure you've already seen that on the news. But, do you know why we celebrate it on this particular day?

The history of International Women's Day

Last year, women all around the world, both famous and anonymous, started several movements, called Me too and Time is up, in which they protested against sexual harassment and the abuse that women have suffered for centuries, as well as the inequality that is still present in our society.

Me Too and Time's Up

Let's hope that, soon, we don't have to speak about inequality ever again and men and women are always treated equally.

See you in class!

Unit 7 - Anything for dessert? (1)

American and British food is much more than burgers and hot dogs. For different reasons, desserts have resisted the pass of time much better than traditional savoury dishes, and today, there are many typical American and British desserts known and respected worldwide. Next, we're going to present a list of different desserts, with links to their recipes:

- American Pie (USA): It's the one from the picture above. Apples are its main ingredient and it's normally served with vanilla ice-cream, what is known as American Pie á la mode.

- Apple crumble (UK): Delicious British dessert, also containing apples as its main ingredient. The British like to side it with warm custard and jam.

- Brownie (USA): If you love chocolate, this is definitely your dessert. Try it warm and topped with ice-cream, it's not to be missed!

- Trifle (UK): A multi-layered cake with jam, custard and whipped cream.

- Cookies (USA): Chocolate-chip ones are by far the most truly American. They tend to be soft, and not crispy, as most people think.

- Blueberry muffins (UK): Similar to Spanish "magdalenas", but bigger and softer.

- Banana bread (USA): Don't be misled by the word bread, since it's actually more like a cake.

- Plum Cake (UK): A soft cake filled with fruit, perfect to eat with a cup of tea or coffee.

- Pumpkin Pie (USA): The most traditional dessert for Thanksgiving Day. Often sided by whipped cream.

- Pavlova (Australia and NZ): A Down Under cake with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

Read this list very carefully, since very soon you'll be cooking one of these desserts!

See you in class!

Unit 7 - Eating well in the UK and USA

There are many differences between the UK and the USA, but if they share one thing, besides their language, that is their bad reputation for food. When you travel to one of these countries, one of the first pieces of advice people give you is: try to eat well! Many people have the image of these countries as the paradise for fast food restaurants, where no other type of food can be found, and that is definitely not true. Perhaps this image comes from the fact that neither American nor British people have many traditional dishes, and those they have don't have a very good reputation, since they tend to be greasy and high in calories: burgers, hot dogs, fish 'n chips, etc. However, to be fair, there are other traditional dishes which have survived through generations, and are, unfortunately, less internationally famous:

Shepherd's Pie (UK)
Clam Chowder (USA)
Lancashire Hotpot (UK)
Jambalaya (USA)

You could try those recipes and then maybe you'll change your mind about American and British food! Other examples of good traditional food in these countries are desserts, but we'll dedicate an entire post for that, since it will be the topic of this unit's sweet special project. 

Besides traditional food, the UK and the USA offer a wide range of good international food, due to the high presence of foreign people living in these countries. Their multicultural nature results in good authentic food from all over the world: Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Mexican, etc. Indian food, for instance, has become so immersed in the British life that people even speak of English curry which, apparently, is different from Indian curry. Something similar has happened with Mexican food in the USA, giving way to the creation of Tex-Mex style (meaning Texan-Mexican), of pure American origin.

This is an interesting link about that topic:
http://www.lifeintheusa.com/food/texmex.htm

See you in class!

Unit 7 - Fast food = Junk food?

Everyone knows about the phenomenon of "fast food", widely spread all over today's world. In fast food restaurants, meals are cooked in a short time, so that customers can quickly finish their lunch or dinner and go back to work or to other more important duties. The result of this short cooking tends to be cheap and bad quality meals. For this reason, fast food has gained bad reputation and it's commonly known as "junk food". Fast food restaurants started in the US, succeeding then all over the world. Despite their bad reputation, they still have millions of faithful customers who seem "addicted" to this type of food.

Examples of these restaurants are: McDonald's (the greatest representation of junk food), Burger King, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Subway. These restaurants also tend to have a dark history of how they obtain their ingredients, with many people doubting they actually offer "real" chicken or beef. McDonald's bad reputation reached its highest point some years ago, when the documentary Super Size Me was released. In this film, a man proved how much harm this type of food can do to your body.

If you'd like to know more about this film, click on this link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/plotsummary 

However, if you read this post title, you might think: is fast food always junk food? The answer is no. Lately, many people have understood the importance of eating healthy, and how not having enough time for your lunch or dinner shouldn't mean a negative influence for your health. For this reasons, many restaurants are now offering "healthy fast food". Short time cooking doesn't always have to mean bad quality or unhealthy food, and these restaurants are proving this.

Examples of these are those places where you can toss your own salad or pasta dish, choosing among fresh ingredients to create your own salad or pasta dish in just a few minutes. See? Fast but healthy! Other examples are Wok Buffets (also getting popular in Europe), where you can choose your fresh raw ingredients and then have them cooked in front of you in a healthy Asian wok. Again, fast but healthy! These type of places have been a wake-up call for traditional fast food restaurants, which are now offering healthier choices in their menus. People are more aware of healthy eating than ever, and therefore, fast food restaurants need to adapt themselves to these new times.

Here's a article about healthy fast food:
http://www.starchefs.com/features/trends/healthy_fast_food/index.shtml
Getting hungry? OK then, grab some lunch or dinner, but remember to eat healthy!

See you in class

Unit 6 - Self-assessment

We reached the end of Unit 6 and now it's time to check what you've learned. Tick all statements that are true for you.

• I can express future predictions and plans using the correct tenses
• I can write down relevant information when I listen to an oral text
• I can underline relevant information when I read a written text
• I can describe my "dream house"
• I know about Microsoft and Apple
• I know several homophones in English
• I know several acronyms and abbreviations in English

If you ticked them all, congratulations and keep it up! If not, don't give up and keep practicing!

Unit 6 - VR Glasses

Have you ever heard of VR Glasses? The acronym VR stands for Virtual Reality and, thanks to these glasses, we can live a much more realistic experience when we play video games, watch videos or read. Would you like to know how they work? Click on the following links:

How VR Glasses work

The possibilities of VR

What do you think of this device? Do you have one of those? If so, are you happy with them? Does it make our lives easier or is it something unnecessary, in your opinion? Please, feel free to make any comments on our Google Classroom group.

See you in class!

Unit 6 - Coldplay

Did you like the song we listened to in class today? It's called Talk and it's played by the British rock band Coldplay. This band was formed by four men who met at UCL (University College London) in 1996 and decided to start playing music together. What started as a hobby became their life, and, in 1999, they released their first album: Parachutes. This album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and every single album released after that one have been great successes. There is no doubt of the big influence of British bands on music history, having The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Queen as the greatest examples of this.

Despite having "just" a 23-year-long history, Coldplay are also becoming another great British band to be taken into account, very successful all over the world, including the US. It's not always easy for British singers to succeed in America, since music tastes are not always similar there and Americans tend to be very protectionist in terms of music. However, Coldplay are a big exception, having their albums always at the top of Billboard and awarded with many Grammy Awards, as it happened in 2009.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/4565494/Grammy-awards-2009-Coldplay-lead-British-triumph.html

One of the elements why Coldplay are praised is the great quality of their live performances.
You can check out this video to have an idea of why people say this:
Live in Frankfurt (Germany)

A very characteristic element is this band is also how original and creative their music videos tend to be. Remember this unit we've been talking about technology and innovation. What relationship can you see between that topic and the video of Talk, which we watched in class today? You can make any comments on our Google Classroom group. 

If you'd like to know more about Coldplay, click on this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldplay

See you in class!

Unit 6 - Microsoft Vs Apple (1)

You have all probably heard about Microsoft and Apple, two of the most important computer companies nowadays. However, the relationship between these two companies is much more interesting than the one among the rest of the companies. They have such rivalry that they're constantly competing and comparing each other's products, always portraying theirs are better than their competitor's. 

Now, click on these link and you'll watch a couple of TV commercials in which both companies are clearly referring to each other.

MacBook VS Lenovo

Could you see their rivalry? It's very obvious! However, it doesn't have to do just with a technological competition. The reason for this rivalry is simpler than it seems: it's about two men who never understood each other. Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft) and Steve Jobs (president of Apple) were two of the biggest computer talents in history. However, there is a dark history behind them, since Jobs accused Gates of stealing Apple ideas to create his revolutionary operative system: Windows. Gates, on the other hand, denies all this, and speaks of an agreement with Apple for taking advantage of its technology. Whatever the case is, there is no doubt these two men changed the history of technology.

If you'd like to know more about them, click on these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs 

See you in class!

Unit 6 - Living the future

Today, we started Unit 6, in which we'll speak about technology and innovation. Interesting topic, don't you think? Can you imagine a city looking like the one in the picture in a near future? It might seem impossible, but technology just keeps advancing faster and faster and, today, we're able to do things we couldn't have even imagined a few years ago. Thanks to the Internet and the powerful mobile devices we have now, we have total access to all sorts of information anywhere and at any moment of the day. We can check our personal mail, knowing about our dear ones' updates or even going shopping just with a click or a finger touch. No one knows what the future will actually bring for us, since the limit is just our own imagination. 

Everyday, we can hear in the news about smart houses, robots or flying cars, for instance.
These are some articles about those topics:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1776047.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/04/18/spark.rabbit/index.html

But, do you think it will all come true? What's the real limit for technological innovation? Do you think technology makes our lives easier or we're too saturated with so much hi-tech?

Please share your opinions on this post or on our Google Classroom group. In later posts, we'll talk about famous computer companies.

See you in class!

Unit 5 - Self-assessment...and extra tips

I must really congratulate you all for your extraordinary performances the other day. We have some future Hollywood stars in our class!

Now, it's time to check what you've learned this unit. Tick all statements that are true for you.

• I can use expressions of agreement and disagreement
• I can understand the differences between -ed and -ing adjectives
• I can use Present Perfect in my language practice
• I know about forms of entertainment in the English-speaking world
• I know about Christmas traditions in the English-speaking world
• I can perform a film scene
• I can use both linking and filler words in my conversations

If you ticked them all, congratulations and keep it up! If not, don't give up and keep practicing!

Unit 5 - And the Oscar goes to...

Every year, one day around late February or early March the whole world is looking at the same place: The Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. That day, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decides which film productions and performances deserves the Academy Awards, best known as the Oscars. There are many theories of why these awards got to be known as Oscars, but the most accepted one is that one of the first winners commented the man portrayed in the statuette looked like her uncle Oscar, and that name has remained till today.

The Oscar ceremony is a big event in the USA and the rest of the world, and people from all different countries gather in front of TV that day waiting for their favourite films and performers to be awarded. Before the ceremony, the whole world also pays great attention to the moment in which the best actors and actresses walk along the Red Carpet, showing their incredible designer's clothes and jewels. Those who are the most and least elegant will be commented on the media the following days, just as much as those who win the Oscars.

Now, if you click on the following links, you can watch some videos from the Red Carpet, as well as several speeches given by Oscar-winners. And the Oscar goes to...
Red Carpet
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy
Leonardo DiCaprio

Interesting speeches, don't you think? What messages did the winners give and what impact can this have? Feel free to comment on Google Classroom.

Music is also present on the Oscars, since soundtrack is a very important element in a film and, as such, it's worth an award, too. The Oscar winner for Best Song last year was Remember Me, from the animated film Coco. This is the performance at the Oscars ceremony 2018.
Remember Me

See you in class!

Unit 5 - Live on stage!

Out of all forms of theatre, one of the most spectacular and magical ones is musical theatre. Musicals have become a perfect blend of a live music concert and a drama or comedy play. This type of plays are attracting a bigger and bigger audience, who leave the theatres totally amazed by the performers' great talent and capacity of acting and singing live, which is not an easy task.

When some musical plays are very successful, they can be turned into films, which is the case of great hits like Grease, The Sound of Music, Chicago and Nine. Sometimes, also, we have the opposite case, successful films turned into equally successful musicals: The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Wicked and High School Musical. Lately, there has been another case, which is creating musical plays based on the discography of a famous band. Examples of these are Mamma Mia!, with music by Abba, and We Will Rock You, with music by Queen.

In terms of street venues famous for musical plays, there are two places determining what succeeds and what doesn't: Broadway, in New York City, and The West End, in London. So if you ever visit one of these two cities, don't miss one of these productions, they're not to be missed!

Now, you can click on these links to watch some clips from different musicals. Enjoy yourselves!
The Lion King
Mamma Mia
Les Misérables
Wicked
The Phantom of the Opera

See you in class

Unit 5 - This is Hollywood

All of you have probably heard about Hollywood already, but what do you really know about this place? In this Unit 5, we're going to speak about different forms of entertainment, and that word cannot be understood in today's world without mentioning Hollywood. This neighbourhood in Los Angeles, California (USA) is the place where most films and TV shows are shot. But this area is not just full of TV and film studios, but also bursting with spectacular theatres hosting the premieres of the most important films.

And what about the famous Hollywood sign on the top of a hill? Did you know what people could see in the original sign? It was "Hollywood Land", this area's first name. Because of a big earthquake in L.A. (which occurs very often), the four letters forming the word "Land" got broken, so they decided to call this area simply "Hollywood".

This place is also home for the famous "Walk of Fame", where we can see the names of the great performers of all times, from Charles Chaplin to Meryl Streep. Everyone who pursues to be someone in the entertainment industry dreams to have his/her name engraved on a star on Hollywood streets.

If you'd like to know more about Hollywood, click on this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Los_Angeles,_California

See you in class!