Happy Halloween!

Click here and have a look at some old posts about this festivity.



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Qi Gong 30-Day Challenge

This is the video we watched in class.

Questions no-one knows the answers to

30-Day Challenge

This challenge is to make you use your English more outside the classroom. For 30 days I want you to do at least one thing from the list every day. Fill in the grid each day with what you have done. Try to do as many different things as possible. You can only do each assignment three times.

1. Use Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp or Twitter in English for at least 24 hours.
2. Watch a movie in English with no subtitles.
3. Watch a movie in English with English subtitles.
4. Watch an episode of a series with subtitles at https://ororo.tv/es (you can watch 45’ for free every day).
5. Watch an episode of a series without subtitles at https://ororo.tv/es
6. Watch a video and read the script and explanations (level 2) at https://multimedia-english.com/videos/section/official-1
7. Watch three movie trailers in English on Youtube. Comment on at least one of them.
8. Choose a video and see one of the lessons at https://ed.ted.com/lessons
9. Watch a one minute video at http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/course/eiam or https://learningenglish.voanews.com/z/3619
10. Choose one of the videos and learn American English with Jennifer https://www.youtube.com/c/englishwithjennifer
11. Watch the intermediate part of a programme at http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/ingles-online-tve/
12. Listen to a podcast in English, look here for examples: http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/  (level 3).
13. Read at least one article at News in Levels http://newsinlevels.com
14. Read or listen to a piece of news about Spain in English at https://www.euronews.com/tag/spain, https://www.spainenglish.com/
15. Watch TV news in English (using the internet works fine). Retell three important things from the news to someone else.
16. Read a blog in English. You can find popular blogs here: https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/language/10-blogs-learn-english/ http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/blogs, https://tinytexts.wordpress.com/ 
17.  Write your own blog entry in English.
18. Write at least five text messages in English.
19. During a meal with family or friends, speak only English.
20. Make a room in your home the “English room”. Whenever you are in it, you may only speak English. Use this rule for at least 24 hours.
21. Take a walk with a friend or a member of your family for at least 30 minutes, speak English all the time.
22. Cook a meal using a recipe in English.
23. Listen to three songs from a top list from an English speaking country and sing along in at least one.
24. Practise lyrics from a song you like at lyricstraining.com.
25. Chat with a stranger in English in a computer game for at least ten minutes.
26. Find a clip from a TV show and imitate the accent. Overact as much as possible to sound really British or American. For British English: Downton Abbey or Peppa Pig, for American English: Frasier or My Name is Earl. These are only suggestions, feel free to find your own shows.
27. Read a short story in English at https://www.englishclub.com/reading/short-stories.htm , https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/stories
28. Spend at least 15 minutes practising vocabulary at http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/.
29. Create your own flashcards and practise vocabulary at https://quizlet.com/es
30. Learn at least five new English idioms. http://www.idiomsite.com/
31. Make labels for at least ten everyday household items and stick them around your house or apartment.
32. Make a short comic in English using http://www.pixton.com/ or www.powtoon.com.
33. Watch a video-blog in English and leave comments. Here’s a list of famous bloggers.http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/apr/07/youtube-uk-20-online-video-bloggers
34. Play a digital game of some kind (on your smartphone, through facebook or something similar) in English and find at least ten new words to learn. Add them to your personal wordlist.
35. Make your own meme in English, using for example https://imgflip.com/memegenerator
36. Read all the words and translations on one page in an English dictionary. Repeat them once later the same day.
37. Translate your favourite Spanish song into English and sing it to a friend (if you dare).
38. Play at least three games with the Akinator. http://en.akinator.com/
39. Send a digital message in English to a friend trying to persuade them to play a game or sport you like. Give them three reasons why they should start playing your game or sport.
40. Read or write a story in English at www.storybird.com
41. Read about your personality https://my-personality-test.com/, https://www.123test.com/personality-test/
42. Write a poem in English based on your name using this structure: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson391/WritingNamePoem.pdf. If you want to, go to www.canva.com and make a nice poster with your poem in it.
43. Learn about Scotland using this website: http://www.visitscotland.com/brave/.
44. Songs in English: Listen-read or- sing-along: http://esl-bits.net/Songs.for.English.Language.Learning/Songs.for.English.Language.Learning.html
45. Register and learn with some lessons on songs at https://rdlessons.teachable.com/
46. Register and work with one of the videos at https://es.englishcentral.com/myenglish/lessons
47. Listen and read: http://esl-bits.net/listening/ESL.English.Listening.htm
48. Learn about new words at https://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/begpacker.html
49. Do one of the activities in https://b2twolumi.blogspot.com/
50. Choose a grammar point and learn about it at https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/grammar-explanations.html

(Thanks to Mias Klassrum for the idea)

How to talk about people you admire

I. Watch the video and answer the questions. Check your answers in "comments".

1. Who is A.P. Giannini?
2. Why is he the person the speaker admires the most?
3. What did A.P. Giannini do when he was on the board of a bank called Columbus Savings and Loans?
4. What did he do when there was a big fire in San Francisco?
5. How did people consider Walt Disney before A.P. Giannini financed him?
6. What big construction did he support?
7. Why is A.P. his favourite entrepreneur?

II. Watch the video and answer the questions. Check your answers in "comments".

1. Why doesn't she recommend talking about a famous person in the exam?

2. Why should you talk about someone you know?

3. Why does she like talking about her mum?

4. When did her mum start her family?

5. What opportunity did she miss?

6. What do women usually do these days?

7. When did her mum decide to go back to university?

8. What did the speaker do?

9. How does the speaker describe this situation?

10. Did her mum continue studying?

11. What does she have a bachelor's in?

12. What does her mum do now?

III. Watch a video with an example of someone talking about a famous person she admires. Watch out, there are some mistakes in the transcription.

Personality

Click here and have a look at old posts about the same topic.

One-day trip to Alcalá del Júcar

If you're interested, contact me as soon as possible.

Sesame Street

Watch the video and answer the questions. Check your answers in "comments".

1. How long has “Sesame Street” been tackling tough topics?
2. What are some of these topics?
3. Who is Julia?
4. Who do they want to help now with Carly?
5. What is Sesame Street in Communities?
6. Why is Carly necessary?
7. Who was Carly living with when she was introduced in the show?
8. What will Carly do?
9. What has Carly learned?
10. Why is it important for Sesame Street to create tools to help address these issues?

Motivation

Click here to listen to a talk about motivation and do the comprehension activities.

Two websites to learn English in a minute

1. English in a Minute (British English)


These short videos...

• focus on real confusing terms.

• are clear, short (1 minute) and to the point.

• have a transcript, so you can also practise pronunciation if you decide to read along.

• have a grammar reference

• usually have  a quiz to test your knowledge

2. English in a Minute (American English)

 

This site run by VOA Learning English (Voice of America) explains expressions used in American English although, in most cases obviously, the expressions on the videos are used both in British and in American English.

The benefits of a bilingual brain

Click here to do a listening activity about this topic.

The secrets of learning a new language

This is the video you have to watch to answer the questions in the photocopy.