Nelson Mandela: Courage and Dignity

I can't help offering my little tribute to a man who was able to overcome the anger he felt against those people who had tried to do away with him just because he had a great goal in mind: to help his country and his people.
I don't know whether I'd be able to do so but I do admire his courage and cleverness.
This is part of an interview he did in Oprah Winfrey's program in 2000. Watch it and do the fill-in-the-gap activity to practise your listening but above all, enjoy it.

A great liar

Last week we enjoyed a presentation about the benefits and dangers of sport in which Lance Armstrong was pictured as an example of the kind of risky and illegal practices some sportspeople are able to engage in to improve their performance.
I guess you all have heard of the interview Armstrong granted Oprah Winfrey a few days ago and though he didn't sound really truthful or regretful to me, I decided to use part of it to get a listening task ready for you. Watch the video and do the fill-in-the-gap activity below. If you want to get the key, click the link on the toolbar.
You can read the whole transcript of the interview here.

What does the future hold?

Happy New Year! I guess it's about time to come back to work, isn't it? And, why not, the perfect time to think of our future plans and dreams. 
In their song 'I'm gonna be', really popular thanks to movies such as 'Benny & Joon', the sitcom 'How I met your mother' and TV advertisements, the Scottish group The Proclaimers makes use of four different tenses (present simple, present continuous, 'will' and 'be going to') to talk about the future. 
Now, paying attention to these tenses, listen to the song and do the gap-fill activity below. Get the key clicking the link on the toolbar.
By the way, why don't you try to find out the meaning of the Scottish word 'haver' (L.7)?

Are we so different?

Men and women, and the everlasting question: Are we the same or different? Last week I was discussing with my students whether our brains are really different or it's just the result of the cultural biases imposed on us since we're born, and the thing is although at the beginning I was much more in favour of the latter, I was told that there's been a lot of scientific research on this issue which has proved that in fact, WE ARE different in several aspects.
I know stereotypes are usually unfair but, if they're not taken too seriously, commonplaces can also be fun. I hope you'll enjoy this stand-up monologue which show us how different our brains are.
First watch the video and then try to do the fill-in-the-gap activity below. I'd also like you to write a short comment giving your own point of view.

Somebody that I used to know

Here we are, one more year, and I think it's about time to start working, isn't it? I'm glad to share the news with you all : I was lucky and got a part-time post in EOI Villaverde, a new school with new workmates among whom I've felt really welcome as they've been really nice to me.
To open this school year I've chosen a song I love and that I hope you'll enjoy too. Through it, we'll practise two English vowel sounds, /æ/ and /ʌ/, that Spanish students sometimes find difficult to recognize and produce.

• To pronounce /æ/ make a Spanish /a/ and in the middle change it to /e/ while keeping the front part of your tongue in the lower part of your mouth.Click the arrow in the audio reproducer to listen to this sound and some words containing it.

        

• To pronounce /ʌ/ make a short Spanish /a/ with the middle part of your tongue in the centre part of your mouth. Click the arrow in the audio reproducer to listen to this sound and some words containing it.

    

• You can click here to see a short video that'll help you pronounce /æ/ correctly and then here for the sound /ʌ/.
• Now, paying attention to these sounds, listen to the song  "Somebody that I used to know" by the Belgian singer Gotye. Then, listen again and do the gap-fill activity.

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.