Old Times

"Old times were better", some people think but "not always", I say. However, I must admit I've really enjoyed preparing this activity as watching the video has reminded me of my youth (a loooong time ago!). For some of you, the youngest, this song will just ring a bell, others, the not so young, will probably associate it with their teenage but I hope you all will enjoy doing the fill-in-the-gap activity. You can check the right words with the key. Then revise the pronunciation of regular and irregular past forms by clicking the link on the upper toolbar.

Something is changing around the world

I don't know if the protests that started in Madrid on 15th May will result in a future presence of the protesters in the political arena but, at least, they seem to have awoken the citizens' awareness all around the world. 

To learn something about how these protests have arisen in London, watch this item of news and do the fill-in-the-gap activity. 
You can check your answers clicking the key.

What are your problems with English?

Have you ever wondered how to deal with your problems with English? I mean, that's if you have any .

Actually, I think analyzing the difficulties we encounter when learning and trying to find a solution is a good way to start solving them.

First watch this presentation that'll help you reflect on the kind of trouble you may experience yourself.

Presentation

Now, watch the funny video in the Voicethread below about some students who do have problems with English . Then, listen to my comment and try to make yours, explaining what you find most difficult to deal with and your tips to overcome obstacles.

Would you dare correct their mistakes? Try the online activities underneath.

QUESTION TAGS

PRONUNCIATION

IDIOMS

A lesson for life

I'm sure you've heard Steve Jobs, the father of 'Apple' died last Wednesday. I knew he was a visionary who founded the company which has created such wonderful devices as the iPad, the iPhone or the iPod but after listening to his speech at Stanford University, I discovered a man with a philosophy of life that we all should follow.
You can do the listening test below and found out what he advised young people to do. You also have the transcript so that you can read it after you've finished the listening activity.

Too much or too little holiday?

Hello everybody! Yes, I’m sorry to tell you summer is over and holidays too! I hope your enjoyed yours as mine weren’t as relaxing and peaceful as I’d expected.
But now it’s time to go back to work and brush up your English and what a better way to do it than revising some grammar through music? I’ve chosen “Broken Strings”, a song by James Morrison & Nelly Furtado, in which you’ll find several quantifiers and indefinite pronouns. First, do the listening task and then, revise the use of these words trying the activities below. They’re not too difficult as I guess you'll need some time to get used to hard work, won’t you?
As usual, you can correct your answers if you CLICK THE KEY.

Did you say you needed a "pin" or a "bin"?

Let's face the truth, whether we like it or not being able to recognize and produce English sounds is key to understanding and being understood. 

Some pairs of consonants are pronounced exactly in the same way but for the vibration or non vibration of our vocal cords in their production and, thus, we sometimes find it difficult to tell them apart.

Here you are a couple of interactive activities to get familiar with four of these pairs.

Now listen to Amy Mcdonald's song "This is the life" and try to fill in the gaps with the correct words, which all contain the consonant sounds introduced in the activities above. Click "hint" to get the phonetic transcription of the missing words and here to download the KEY.

What if God was one of us?

An interesting question, isn't it? This is the title of a song by Joan Osborne that really moves me whenever I listen to it but this title also made me think about second conditional sentences (a tendency to see everything from a professional point of view, you know). So I decided to create a gap-fill activity that you can do below. Click the KEY to check your answers.

If you want to get further practice on the pronunciation and use of "would", why don't you try and meet Justin, an Australian student, and Kylie, an American teacher?

First, repeat what Justin says paying attention to the pronunciation of "would".

Then, listen to Kylie's answers to some questions and say the questions. You will listen to them after a few seconds to check if you were right.

The King's Speech

Do you like cinema? 

The King's Speech

I love it and one of the best fims I've recently seen is "The King's Speech". Actually, I'd recommend you to go and see it if you haven't so far, of course in original version since it's a fine example of British English and you'll surprise yourselves by discovering you can understand more than you expected.

If you've already seen it, I'd like to know you personal opinion about it. Write your comments below.
Now, let's practise listening comprehension doing a gap-filling activity. You can check your answers clicking here to download the KEY.

Earth Hour

You know last Saturday 26th a large number of countries around the world, among them Spain, participated in a big switch-off to call the citizens and governments' attention to the need to save energy and reduce emissions.

Read this article published in the Guardian and do the comprehension exercise below.

Then, watch the video which offers you some tips to save energy. Do you already do any of them? What else do you do to help the Earth? What do you think you could do? Write your comment below.

Earth Hour »

How To Save Energy in the Home on Howcast

Flying

How do you feel when you take a plane? Excited? Frightened? Thrilled? I must admit I feel a little anxious, especially when the plane goes through some turbulance, that's why I always pay attention to the flight attendants when they give the safety instructions. However, I know most people never listen to them.

We're going to learn some vocabulary related to flights and planes with the interactive activities below. Then, you can do the gap-filling activity to complete the safety instructions a really witty and funny flight attendant gives to his passengers. Check your answers downloading the Key

Write your comments telling how you feel when you fly or any funny, frightening or curious experience you've had when doing so.

Mind the sound (English Dypthongs)

Phonetics may seem plain boring to you but why not take a funnier approach to it with music?

Below you'll find an activity to work on English Dyphthongs. First, click the link above to download a presentation that'll help you revise these dyphthongs. Next, do the gap-fill activity to complete the lyrics of U2's song "One". Check your answers with the Key. Finally, click "next exercise" to do a matching activity based on the lyrics.

"Hot n cold"

You've surely heard Katy Perry's song "Hot n cold". I must admit this song makes me feel full of energy but also, listening to it made me think of a way to work on opposites (words with opposite meanings), which can help you increase your vocabulary.

Listen to the song and complete the gap-filling activity using the hints in the ? buttons if necessary. To check your answers you can use the Key.

You've probably noticed that the chorus is based on opposites, haven't you? Would you like to find some more? Do the wordsearch activity below.
Could you now use some of these opposites to make a comment here and show their meanings? I know you can!

Have you?

You know, I'm a terrible gossip! So I'm willing to know what you have done in the last months. I myself have been very busy with an online course that has helped me to create this blog and all the activities you have found in it so far. I've already learnt how to use a lot of interesting tools but I haven't finished it yet. I've also been to Liverpool with some students and two of my colleagues. We went there a fortnight ago and we had a wonderful time. What about you? What have you done recently?

Click  here before making your comment to download a presentation that'll help you revise and understand the uses of Present Perfect Simple and Past Simple tenses.

Let's dream!

Ideas

Who hasn't dreamt of having a wonderful house in a nice place where everything is perfect?

Dreaming is free and I'd like to show you my ideal house:

But I'd also like to know what your ideal house would be like and to do so I've created a Voicethread that you can join to hear my description of my ideal home and then your peers'. Give it a try and lose your fear to speak! Make your comment now!

How do you learn?

Learning English is such a fun, isn't it? But it also involves working hard to improve all our skills and achieve our goal: being able to communicate in English.

Each of us uses different tools to learn. To me, reading and listening are essential to learn vocabulary and grammar patterns in context as well as correct pronunciation and English intonation.

What about you? How do you learn English?

I'd like you to share your tips with me and your peers here but first you may have a look at this presentation and give it some thought.

I'm willing to read your comments!

What kind of learner are you? on Prezi