Planets; "Imagine", by John Lennon

Good morning everyone!

Last Monday we started with an activity called: "Are you telling the truth'?" You worked in pairs and we learnt interesting vocabulary like: Oh, you're lying! You're not telling the truth, are you?  Some of your stories were really good, and we discovered we had some celebrities in class!

After that, we corrected the photocopy about will and be going to and we learnt the pronunciation of the contracted form 'll. Also, remember the difference between want (ᴅ) and won't (əʊ)

Finally, we listened to the song "Imagine", by John Lennon. Here you have the original version:

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Listening to English at home: SONGS

Hi there!

I take advantage of this post to tell you about a very useful link with songs in English: www.subingles.com. Here you can listen to plenty of songs with the lyrics in front of you!

You have different songs classified according to their level of difficulty (you'll see that the website is extremely updated):

When you click on a song, it starts playing and the website also suggests other subtitled songs by the same band. You also have the possibility of listening to songs with online activities.

So this is yet another possibility to listen to English outside the classroom! :)

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"Invictus"; Events and celebrations

Good morning everyone!

Last week we continued with your oral presentations, which were incredibly well-prepared and enjoyable to listen to. Thank you once again for your hard work.

In Avanzado 1 A Luisa talked about South Africa, and I couldn't help but think about the 2009 film Invictus, which relates South Africa's story in the last days of the Apartheid, with Nelson Mandela becoming its president after gaining freedom from prison. Soon afterwards, the 1995 Rugby World Cup took place, and South Africa won, erecting itself as a new and strong nation where blacks and whites could life together.

It was just a sports competition, but it became a symbol meaning that South Africa was once again back in the world, and that difficulties, obstacles and injustice can be surmounted.

I watched the film not long ago, and I looked for information on the Internet to see how much of it was true. I was amazed to see how faithful it was to reality. I post a video below, which is 100% represented in the film. It might not mean much to you now, but if you watch the film, it will certainly send shivers down your spine:

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The best job in the world; modals in the past

Hello everyone!

On Tuesday we talked about ideal jobs and we practised the vocabulary on page 44. After that, we watched a Sky News video about what some people called "the best job in the world" (I'm afraid you can listen up to second 56; there's no sound afterwards).

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A piece of news: bungee cord snaps

Good afternoon, everyone

I've been having a look at the news today, and I've found one you were commenting on in class last Thursday. We talked about bungee jumping, and someone mentioned the case of a girl whose rope had broken. Click here for the report and video from BBC news.

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Listening to English at home: PODCASTS

Hello again,

As promised, here I post some information about podcasts!

In case you have never heard of podcasts, it's a digital media which consists of an episodic series of files (audio or video) to which you can subscribe. This means that every time there is a new podcast, they will tell you. Normally they last between 2 and 10 minutes, although there are some which are longer.

The best way to find podcasts is using the programme iTunes, which you can download from the Apple Store (it is compatible with both Windows and Mac). Once you install it in your computer, open it and on the left side you'll find something similar to this:

Click on iTunes store, and then select the option "podcast". You'll find a screen similar to this:

There you have a very complete list of podcasts you can choose from. If you already know what you are looking for, you can search according to category, choose if you want video or audio podcast, look for a specific one, etc.

When you find a podcast you like, click on it and then on "subscribe/subscribirse". Everytime there is a new one, it will automatically download to your iTunes.

To listen to your podcasts, simply click on Library --> Podcasts (left column). You can also copy the podcasts to your iPod, MP3 player, a CD, etc.

Try it: you'll see that it's not difficult at all, and it's incredibly, incredibly helpful. Besides, you can learn English while listening to something of your interest!

What else can you ask for? :)

If you want some recommendations, check What podcasts can I listen to?

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