Happy Halloween

by Accent.Savvy.com
 

Pancake Day

Today it's you who has been selected to carry out some investigation about this event. This way you get to practice your reading as well as your writing skills.

Soooooo  The comment box awaits.

Thank you Lola for showing us how to make pancakes!!!!!!

Good news

 Watch this video from BBC learning English. Let´s all contribute!!

A Geographical Issue explained

 

A Geographical issue

Cristina Sáez Asensio

The United Kingdom, the British Isles, the British Islands, Great Britain… For sure you’ve heard these terms before but, do you know exactly where they are and what they mean? In case you don’t, you will in a sec!

First, we are going to start with the British Isles, which is the name of the landform, the archipielago created by the island of Ireland and the island of Great Britain mainly, although it also includes other little islands such as the Isle of Man, Jersey and many more.

Then we have the island of Ireland, which is represented in green in the picture, that is divided in two nations: The Republic of Ireland (in blue) and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland plus Scotland plus Wales plus England form the United Kingdom (UK).

Lastly, we have the British Islands, term that refers to the UK plus some territories that depend on The British Crown but not fully on the UK Parliament. They are the Isle of Man, The Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey. These territories have a special government system: they are not completely independent from the UK, like the Republic of Ireland is, nor another proper part of it like Wales e.g.

*Note about the picture: basically, what appears in green refers to landforms while what appears in blue refers to the political organization of the land.

A Geographical issue

 

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

This concept is often confussing. I would like you to write an article for this blog where you can make out the difference between The United Kingdom and Great Britain. You should also explain why Ireland appears both in green and blue. It should have about 150 words and the deadline is the 19th of January.

Improving your pronunciation

 BBC Learning English gives you a helping hand with the -s and -ed pronunciation.

Slang

 Dear reader,

Today I'd like to make you think about the meaning of these slang words. You can leave your answers in the comment box.

So do I

 Cork English Teacher gives you a hand with this structure. 

Check this video with real examples of its use. Thanks Álvaro Huertas García ;) 

used to and be/get used to by bbclearningenglish

 These two structures are sometimes difficult to differentiate. This video from BBC Learning English can give you a hand with it.

COT has some useful tips. Click to check!

To keep practising, you could think of situations in your life that implied changes, therefore, getting used to doing things in a different way. 

Leave your examples in the comments box.

Do you agree?

 Are you confident a native speaker could understand you if they heard you say this?

Test yourselves and leave your comments.

People that matter

 CNN Politics gives us the opportunity to listen to the 10 best Ruth Bader Gingsburg quotes

Image from The New Yorker magazine on October 5th 2020

US Presidential Elections 2020

To know about The Electoral college read this article from BBC

To know about Vocabulary, check bbclearningenglish 

Watch this video from The BBC

 

 

Acronyms

bbcenglishlearning has shared this  on Instagram.What do you think?

Things to avoid while improving your English

Check what @_dailyvocabulary has to say about this.
Do you agree? Do you let bad feelings ruin your process of learning?
Feel free to leave your answers in the comment box.

After the rain.

After having lived some weeks confined, we now have a glimpse of what our lives used to be. On March 17th I addressed you to share your feelings about the lockdown. Today I would like you to open up about these times of uncertainty. Have you learned anything?, are you a better person? has your life changed?

Street Art

bbclearningenglish has shared this video

"Science is how we solve problems. Art is how we cope with them.”
Do you agree?

From my window

These are two remarkable compositions from students working on their C1 certificate.

From my balcony

I had a real awakening while looking out from my balcony just the day when this confinement was declared. I realised that during this lock down, my balcony would be an awesome window to breathe the freedom that I was deprived of.

What I can see from there is the majestic Badajoz’s longest bridge called Puente Real with a few cars approaching in the distance along the bridge. Only the slow movement of cars makes me feel that it is not a picture. It is much more similar to a film set, especially when every sunset the sun is barely peeping through the clouds and touching carefully the metal part of the bridge. This image is a breathtaking moment to enjoy.

A refreshingly cool breeze always moisturizes my face while I can only listen to the silence in the air. No people hanging out, no lively streets, only me and the inspiring smell of a freshly grounded  cup of strong coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Victoria Carrillo

A VIEW FROM MY WINDOW

I am locked down, you are locked down… half the world is locked down these days. And, during my solitary confinement, a tranquil gaze from my window is the only way to scape. Fortunately, I live on a 5th floor; the 5th floor of a fifty-year-old building fronted by modern yet low-rise ones: a kind of privilege, given the circumstances…

So, I open my window: I can feel the warm, extremely soft spring breeze and close my eyes to deeply breath the freshest, cleanest, pollution-free air in years. Then I take a calm long look outside, over the tiled roofs until my eyes meet the farthest buildings, a tiny bit of the west horizon…and the sky. A mesmerizing pinkish-orange partly clouded sky displaying a strikingly awesome sunset, so totally breathking that makes me forget for a moment the cloud of uncertainty we are living under.

                                                                                                                                                          Anonymous

at home

Home is the place to be now.  I invite you to write about how you are coping with being confined, describe your home using the new adjectives we have learned and think of people's whose homes or companions are not so nice. Here you have a link  to The Guardian's Instagram where you will find out about coffin homes.

Life as we don't know it.

We are living a different situation in our lives. Coronavirus has given us an opportunity to test our resilience.  How are you coping? What do you worry about? What do you miss the most in your confinement? Please leave your comments on the answer box.

regrets and social media

video by The Guardian

The whole video