My daughter has drawn this card to wish you all a very happy Christmastime. See you next year!

Merry Christmas

Hello class,
I just wanted to wish you the merriest of Christmas and to make you read something in English (yes, I know, trying to kill two birds with one stone...). That's why I have included some good Xmas quotes I've found here and there, hope you like them:
Three phrases that sum up Christmas are: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men, and Batteries not Included. ~Author Unknown
Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it. ~Richard Lamm
The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other ~Burton Hillis
One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. ~Andy Rooney
At Christmas, all roads lead home. ~Marjorie Holmes
Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen. ~Author unknown, attributed to a 7-year-old named Bobby
When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? ~G.K. Chesterton.
I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. ~Harlan Miller
Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money. ~Author Unknown
Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money. ~Author Unknown
Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive. ~Robert Lynd
Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance - each beautiful, unique and too soon gone. ~Deborah Whipp
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. ~Erma Bombeck, I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression
Nothing's as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas. ~Kin Hubbard

Strees patterns

Pages 3 and 4 contain the answers to the exercises. I'm afraid the phonetic symbols have been altered in the process of converting my Word document, but the words are still recognizable
Stress Patterns

Fake Britain gap-filling reading comprehension and multiple matching exercise

Fake Britain

THE DIGITAL STORY OF NATIVITY

Great video, I hope you like it! I'm sure you had never been told the story this way.

HOMER SIMPSON AND KING JUAN CARLOS GAP-FILLING READING EXERCISE

Homer Blog

Voice Recognition Elevator

Many thanks to Neus for this hilarious video about how hard it can be to understand the Scottish accent. It reminds me of my times in Edinburgh... ha, ha!

BLACK FRIDAY

I'm sure you've all heard of Thanksgiving in the USA (which will be celebrated on Thursday 25th november this year), but probably you know nothing about Black Friday. Your classmate Santiago sent me this interesting article with some basic facts about this day. Please read it and we'll talk about it next week.

 

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the USA and falls on the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November. It is a busy shopping day as many people do not have to work. Many start shopping for the upcoming Christmas season.

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the USA and falls on the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November. It is a busy shopping day as many people do not have to work. Many start shopping for the upcoming Christmas season.

Black Friday is a busy shopping day for many people. ©iStockphoto.com/ zeeyy

What do people do?

Many people have a day off work or choose to take a day from their quota of annual leave on Black Friday. Some people use this to make trips to see family members or friends who live in other areas or to go on vacation. Others use it to start shopping for the Christmas season.
In the United States, it is very popular to start Christmas shopping on Black Friday. Many stores have special offers with very low prices on some goods, particularly on electronics and popular toys. Traditionally, people bought these as Christmas gifts, although now many are re-sold on internet sites. Many stores only have a few of the most popular items at very low prices. This means that some people choose to queue from very early in the morning or even overnight to make sure that they will be at the front of the queue when a particular store opens. Sometimes there are large skirmishes to get to the door when the store opens.

Public life

Black Friday is not a federal holiday. However, many organizations shut for the Thanksgiving weekend. In addition, many people take a day of their annual leave on the day after Thanksgiving. If you will need a particular service on Black Friday, it is wise to check carefully whether the organization or company will be open as normal. Public transit systems may run on their normal schedule or may have changes.
As shopping is a very popular activity on Black Friday and many stores have sales or special bargains, it can be incredibly busy in stores and malls. Some stores have extended opening hours to cope with the extra shoppers. There can also be congestion on roads to popular shopping destinations.

Background

Many people think that Black Friday is the busiest shopping day in the year. It has, for many years, been a popular day for many people visit brick-and-mortar stores. However, it has been said that the day on which most money was spent was usually the Saturday before Christmas.
There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. One theory says that it is because of the extremely heavy traffic on the roads on this day. The wheels of the vehicles left a lot of black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.
The other theory is that it comes from an old-fashioned way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small retail stores, only started making profits in the run up to Christmas. Many hoped that they would start showing a profit, which could be marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving. This theory does not apply to many large corporations, but may be a fact of life for smaller businesses.
The events on Black Friday are often followed closely by the local media. Television shows may show films of people queuing at night and then emerging victoriously from the store with the items they wanted to purchase. The large number of people shopping and the competition to obtain the cheapest goods means that some people now avoid the stores on Black Friday. Some groups organize a "Buy Nothing Day" on Black Friday to protest at the increasing level of consumerism in the USA and Canada.

GROW YOUR OWN DRUGS WORDBUILD EXERCISE

Grow Your Own Drugs

GROW YOUR OWN DRUGS

I take it you already know.... (pronunciation poem)

Listen to this man reading the poem we've seen in class. Why don't you give it a try?

How to complain

Hello.
Please have a look at this link with loads of useful advice on how to complain: http://www.squidoo.com/how_to_complain
I'm sure you'll find it very useful, especially because "writing a letter of complaint" is a typical exam question!

How many texts do teenagers send in a month?

Check out this article about how many texts teeanges send in a month: http://mashable.com/2010/10/14/nielsen-texting-stats/ . Over 3,000! Even with pitfalls such as thumb arthritis or “Blackberry thumb” (excellent neologism, check it in Wikipedia)ha, ha!), the trend for SMS texting continues apace. The article quotes a recent study in which the ability to send texts was the number one reason teenagers bought a mobile phone. The scariest part of this article is the fact that spoken language has decreased in teens by 14%. Will we bother speaking to each other at all in ten years’ time? A worrying thought, don’t you think? Please post your comments (or text them to me, ha, ha!)

WE'RE GOING TO DUBLIN!!!!!

Hi class! Just in case you haven't been able to come to class lately, I want to inform you that we're organising this year's trip. We'll be going to Dublin, Malahide and Galway from 15 to 19 April for just... 425€. If you're interested, please let me know before 25 November.

SEXTING gap-filling reading exercise

Sex Ting

Learning English with your Mobile Phone

Fill in the gaps in the following text with the help of your mobile phone once you've changed its language settings to English.
Learning English With Your Mobile Phone

The Life and Death of the Mobile Phone BBC programme

The Life and Death of the Mobile Phone Listening Comprehension activities

Life and Death of the Mobile Telephone Ok

BISHOPS' HALLOWEEN ADVICE

Bishops Halloween Advice

DO YOU HAVE A DRINKING PROBLEM LISTENING EXERCISE

Do You Have a Drinking Problem Listening Exercise

DO YOU HAVE A DRINKING PROBLEM?

The Binge Drinking Brits

The Binge Drinking British

READ ANGELA'S ASHES ONLINE

Celia's just sent me this ling where you can read Angela's Ashes online. Hope you find it useful in case you haven't bought a paper copy yet:
http://books.google.es/books?id=hG4-QGmD_84C&printsec=frontcover&dq=angela%27s+ashes&source=bl&ots=bytl1HqwiH&sig=FHg9rzz2g6t3XuyQH-vpKqO2xtM&hl=es&ei=DNi-TKWxMqPb4wakupyAAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=true

RANDY PAUSCH'S LAST LECTURE LISTENING COMPREHENSION EXERCISE

Randy Pausch Scribd

RANDY PAUSCH'S LAST LECTURE

I hope you like this very inspiring "last lecture". I've included here the link to the version we watched in class (10 minutes), but you can watch a much longer one (1 hour 16 min) on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

IDIOMS GALORE!!!

This year we'll be learning a lot of idioms in class. Here you have links to three good idioms websites.
1.- A large collection of idioms listed alphabetically, with brief definitions: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/
2.- A selection of "self-study idiom quizes" with answers: http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html
3.- A website explainig the origins of dozens of popular idioms: http:// www.idiomsite.com/

The English language in 24 accents!

I've found this very funny video in which a guy says (random) things in 24 different accents of English. Sorry about all the swearing!

SHOCKING CAMPAIGNS

Have a look at these campaign posters and match them with their corresponding slogans. Which issues are the campaigns trying to raise awareness of? Do you believe these campaigns are actually effective? How do you personally react to this kind of mesages? Please post your comments.
Shocking Campaigns

BABYSITTER GRANDPARENTS GAP-FILLING READING EXERCISE

Strike Grandparents Gap Filling

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS

Hi class,
Hope you "enjoyed" (at least a little bit!) the exercise based on The Week magazine that we did in class on Wednesday.
I'd love you to read the magazine on a regular basis (we've got tons of issues you can borrow from our library), and I promise it'll do wonders to your English.
Many thanks to Fernando, who told me that you can also read The Week online (for free!) on http://youkioske.com/actualidad-economia/-the-week-september-2010/

THE WEEK GAP-FILLING READING EXERCISE

The Week Reading Exercise

ANGELA'S ASHES WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

Angela's Written Assignment

CONTADOR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES

Please read the following article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/sports/cycling/05cycling.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=contador&st=cse and post a comment with your opinion about the topic.

PODCASTS

Hi class,
Here you have some links to hundreds of podcasts covering news, culture, art, the environment, politics, science, technology, film, music, sport, travelling, religion, children, entertainment, drama, etc. The idea is that you listen to the ones you like and then post some comments about them in the blog or talk about them in class encouraging your mates to listen to them as well. You'll see it'll do wonders to your English!
The Guardian podcasts: http://www.guardian.co.uk/audio
The BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts
Some others especifically designed for learners of English:
http://www.listen-to-english.com/
http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/index.shtml
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-podcasts.htm

REGISTER AS FOLLOWERS

Sorry class,
I didn't know you have to register as a "follower" before you can post any comments. You'll just need to create a gmail account (in case you do not have one already).
I'm also "wet behind the ears" when it comes to working with blogs, you can see I still have a lot to learn....
Cheerio

GENERAL STRIKE

Hello class. I won't be teaching any lessons next Wednesday, as I'll be on strike. Nevertheless, I want you to do some homework (I know, how cheeky!). Please read the following article in The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/24/spain-grandparents-childcare-strike-union about Spanish grandparents and the strike, as we'll be talking about it next week.

Travelling

Hello class. This week we'll be dealing with the topic of Travelling. Amongst other things we are going to watch a TV programme called Why Hate Ryanair and will read a text about the same issue (the original text: http://gospain.about.com/od/ryanair/tp/why_hate_ryanair.htm).
If you want to watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7B7E4AD880FC3B2B

Are you suffering from the Post Holiday Syndrome?

Hi class. I've uploaded the exercise about the holiday blues we did in class yesterday. Find the original article on http://www.independent.ie/travel/travel-advice/are-you-suffering-from-post-holiday-syndrome-933609.html

Lesson 22nd Sept. The Holiday Blues

Phd

Welcome everybody!!

Hi class! Just a quick note to welcome you all to my blog, where you'll be able to find some of the materials we've worked with or suggested in class (texts, assignments, video and audio clips, etc)