Tuesday 31 December 2013

Monday 23 December 2013

Blackberries

Is this RIP for BBM? From The Guardian Weekly

Tuesday 26 November 2013

BBC News Magazine

If you cannot find any interesting piece of news on this site, do not click here again.

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Joke

EU Directive No. 456179
In order to bring about further integration with the Single European currency, all citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland must be made aware that the phrase 'Spending a Penny' is not to be used after 31st December 2014....

From this date onwards, the correct terminology will be: 
'Euronating'.
Thank you for your attention

Thursday 31 October 2013

London school bans pupils from using 'innit', 'like', and 'bare'

A list of slang words and phrases have been banned as part of a new initiative at a school in south London. Given the chance, which slang words or phrases would you put a stop to?

Monday 28 October 2013

Diez curiosidades del inglés

Even though I don't usually post anything in Spanish I just thought you could like it.
10 curiosidades...

Thursday 17 October 2013

CNN Student News


CNN Student News is designed for use in middle and high school classrooms.

Friday 20 September 2013

Monday 29 July 2013

Major Breakthrough in Beauty Research

Be informed about the latest in technological advances in facial care and while you're at it, learn some new vocabulary.

Sunday 28 July 2013

Monday 22 July 2013

Detroit goes bankrupt

Read a recent article about Detroit here and if you want to go more into detail, click here.
BBC's here to help us.

Monday 8 July 2013

Education in the UK

Read this article about education from the BBC.                 
                       

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Tuesday 25 June 2013

Vox Populi

These two articles are great: In a Nutshell and Crisis English. If you feel like more of it, have a look at the whole magazine Vox Populi.  (from EOI Pamplona)

Friday 21 June 2013

World's 100 best beaches


Check the nearest ones here. And visit them ... at least virtually!!!

Friday 7 June 2013

Stories Behind Words


Why are some words / phrases used? There is always a story behind it. Learn it on Macmillan Dictionary.

Monday 3 June 2013

Swishing

My male students won't pay much attention to this post, but as most of you are female you might like the idea. Anyway, a new word for you. (...and for me!)
swishing

I now pronounce you … Wait, how do I pronounce you? | Macmillan

I now pronounce you … Wait, how do I pronounce you? | Macmillan

Friday 31 May 2013

Listening Samples

EOI Catalunya's listening comprehension samples for advanced students. (Click on the images to listen)

Friday 17 May 2013

Abbreviations & Acronyms

First of all start testing your knowledge here, and this as well... and this for chat rooms and SMS.
And finally, check this abbreviations & acronyms study sheet to see whether you know all of them.


Thursday 16 May 2013

Yes

YES is a new magazine (sample here) specifically designed to help students from an intermediate level onwards to practise and improve their English. A 136-page monthly (10 issues) publication offering:
- A wide variety of stimulating articles (on science, economics, politics, literature, business, history, language, psychology and so on).
- One hour’s downloadable audio files with scripts.
- 22 pages of exercises with answers to consolidate what has been learned.
Two versions: digital (in PDF documents + the audio sample here in MP3 files) 30€; or paper edition 80€.

Thursday 2 May 2013

Another Buzzword

Not difficult to imagine: 24/7/365.

Tuesday 30 April 2013

100,000 visits


First of all thanks to my followers, not many but the first ones. And also to my students, the real target of the entries. I'm really happy to have reached 100,000 visits. Thanks to any English learner who finds something interesting on this 5-and-a-half-year-old blog. I'll try to keep on attracting your attention with more posts. I wouldn't mind a comment every now and then --just to know you're there.
100,000 million thanks!!!

Thursday 25 April 2013

Council of Europe

Have a look at the Council of Europe website.
This week’s top stories include the impact of culture on democracy, and specifically the impact of digitalisation, as discussed by European Ministers of Culture meeting in Moscow, 14 - 16 April. In the case of ‘Aswat versus the UK’, the European Court of Human Rights decided to halt the extradition of a schizophrenic man from the UK to the US.
Also in the news this week, the highlights of the Spring Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to be held in Strasbourg in the week of 22 April.

Language tip of the week: change | Macmillan

Language tip of the week: change | Macmillan

Monday 8 April 2013

Your English: Phrasal verbs | Onestopenglish

You can find Tim Bowen's articles on phrasal verbs on the link below:
Your English: Phrasal verbs | Onestopenglish

Monday 1 April 2013

NASA Informs: Water on Mars

There is one of the many governmental and institutional websites that has tried to keep the April Fools tradition alive for decades. NASA’s official page has always been supportive of the idea in one way or another. In 2005, the staff joked about having found water on Mars.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Phrasal Verb Game 2

Another game to practise your knowledge of phrasal verbs. This game requires a little more work: choose the correct particle to complete the sentence, which contains at least one phrasal verb that’s important to know. I got 140 points!

4 ways to understand what you hear

Thursday 21 March 2013

World Poetry Day 2013

World Poetry Day

SONNET XLVIII (Pablo Neruda - 1904-1973)

Two happy lovers make one bread,
a single moon drop in the grass.
Walking, they cast two shadows that flow together;
waking, they leave one sun empty in their bed.

Of all the possible truths, they chose the day;
they held it, not with ropes but with an aroma.
They did not shred the peace; they did not shatter words;
their happiness is a transparent tower.

The air and wine accompany the lovers.
The night delights them with its joyous petals.
They have a right to all the carnations.

Two happy lovers, without an ending, with no death,
they are born, they die, many times while they live:
they have the eternal life of the Natural.

Introduction to Teaching Pronunciation Workshop (By Adrian Underhill)

More than 100,000 people have already "attended" this class. Would you like to join in?

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Nuestra EOI Cartagena

En tiempos de crisis algunos alumnos y profesores de la EOI de Cartagena se pronuncian ante la necesidad e importancia de la educación y de los idiomas en los tiempos que corren

Friday 15 March 2013

Speaking Lesson Monday 18th

On Monday we'll be talking about A visit to the doctor. Remember it doesn't have to be true. The idea is to introduce as much vocabulary as possible dealing with symptoms, illnesses and treatments (you can check on previous posts, try to be as specific as possible).

After that, we'll be talking about A bad habit you used to have: nail biting, smoking, being a chocoholic / workaholic / shoppaholic... Again, remember it doesn't necessarily have to be true. Answer the following questions: When did you realise you had a problem? When did you first try to give up? Were you successful? Why? Why not? What strategy did you adopt to help you kick the habit? How do you feel about it all now? Do you ever miss it?

During the last 15 minutes, in order to improve the interaction part, we'll be dealing with the book activity on p. 75 no. 3: Practice taking turns fluently. Use the following Conversation Strategies. (Thanks Ana)

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Friday 8 March 2013

Inspiring Women

Before the ones on the following video and definitely much more inspiring, let me name my great-grandmother (yes, I did know her and spent wonderful moments with her I still remember) my grandmothers, my mother, my sister, my wife and, last but not least, my daughter...

Thursday 7 March 2013

Wednesday 6 March 2013

How about some South African English?



If you want to learn more about South African English, click here. Everything's on MacmillanDictionaryBlog

Friday 1 March 2013

Body Image

How concerned are men and women about their body image nowadays? Check here (The Guardian Weekly)

Thursday 28 February 2013

Topic Map

Health. (From Oxford Learner's Thesaurus)
Key.

Friday 22 February 2013

Newspaper Headlines

Remember the "Headlines Dictionary" seen in class? Remember the final activity consisting of bringing some headlines "translated" to class?
We´ll be doing it next Monday. See some examples here.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Life Expectancy

Life expectancy data packed with surprises. The Guardian - OneStopEnglish Reading Comprehension Activity. (With KEY)
Life Expectancy Calculator

Thursday 14 February 2013

OH (my God!)

Macmillan Dictionary latest Buzzword: OH

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Speaking Practice.

Before getting down to the real speaking part, prepare your speech:

- Decide on the main points you want to develop.
- Select the vocabulary chunks you want to use.
- Be ready to use connectors and links between your ideas and make your points sound coherent.
- Have fillers ready to use in case you forget or don't know how to express something.

Do some speaking practice with the following cards: Childhood memories, Describe a resort, Important moments / decisions in your life, Security measures.

Monday 4 February 2013

Saturday 2 February 2013

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Exam Practice

Try to do the following practice in exam conditions, that is, sitting alone (no dictionaries or reference material) in a quiet place and timing yourself. Reading Comprehension: Do activities 2 to 4 from this article in 90 minutes. (KEY on the last page). Writing Expression: Do this in 90 minutes. Oral Expression: Be ready to talk about activities 3 and 4 in 10 minutes. Prepare a 4 min talk and be ready to interact with the given prompts. The same with this sheet.

Monday 21 January 2013

Absolutely Spectacular

Watch both: Batelco INFINITY The Making of Batelco INFINITY

Wednesday 2 January 2013