Enjoy August!!!

Summer Words You Need to Know (By Dictionary.com)

Whether your summer days are balmy or sweltering, these words will brighten up your vocabulary. Get ready to use these summer words at the next BBQ.

14 Sizzling Words To Enjoy On A Summer Day

Business English (By Lucy)

 15 essential Business English phrases that will make you sound like a seasoned professional.

bonus phrases and related terms to expand your Business English vocabulary even further.

pronunciation tips to help you nail the delivery of these phrases every time.

Find it written here.

Get some more expressions here.

And sharpen your skills with these exercises

Is It True “W” Can Be Used As A Vowel?

A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y … and W? Yes, the letter W can behave as a vowel. It’s time to level up your Scrabble game, people. By Dictionary.com 

EL PAÍS News in English

Kamala Harris shoulders Democratic hopes

Dear readers,

As of last Sunday, Kamala Harris is all-but-certain to face Donald Trump in the November presidential election after Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy amid ongoing concern about the 81-year-old's physical and mental ability to fulfil a hypothetical second term. The announcement, and Biden’s anointment of his vice president to run in his place, immediately revitalized a flagging campaign as donors and Democratic Party heavyweights flocked to Harris’ banner. From the Republican side, the change of candidate led to a switch in strategy, with Harris being attacked for her handling of the immigration crisis, a portfolio she was never actually tasked with overseeing. Other, more personal slurs were also quick to emerge, with Harris counterpunching that her legal experience could be key in winning the election against a convicted felon facing several more courtroom dates. “I was a prosecutor; I know Donald Trump’s type,” she noted.

Venezuela will hold presidential elections on July 28 and EL PAÍS interviewed some of the main protagonists in the run-up to the ballot, (...). María Corina Machado, the opposition leader barred from running by the courts, told this newspaper that she and Edmundo González Urrutia, who inherited her political capital and the presidential candidacy of the main opposition formation, will ensure a “peaceful transition,” stating their confidence in victory. “We have already defeated Chavismo in the streets,” Machado said. Nicolás Maduro Guerra, the president’s son, also expressed his conviction that the ruling party would retain power, predicting a “comfortable” win, while assuring that if that is not the case, Maduro will accept the outcome. (...).

We also sat down with Dennis Gross, dermatologist to the stars, who among other tips advises against drinking collagen and advocates Vitamin C instead, took a look at the vertiginous world of free solo climbing, and interviewed Asher Liftin, the child prodigy artist discovered by Wes Anderson.

We hope you enjoy this selection of stories from EL PAÍS English Edition.

You can also read:

• From a population of 11 million to little more than 8.5 million: The real toll of Cuba’s migratory crisis
• No, drinking in moderation does not lengthen your life (even if some studies say so)
• A simple monthly injection allows mice to live 25% longer and free from diseases
• The sock war: Tell me how high you wear them and I’ll tell you how old you are

Speaking Name 3 things

Name three things (the first ones coming to your mind). If you cannot say or pronounce them correctly in English, look them up!

Mediation Activity KEY

Check your suggested written mediation key here. 

Check your suggested oral mediation key here. 

Ego Awareness

Collocations (by Lucy)

Find your collocation activities in pdf. format here!

Extra Lucy's Collocation exercises here!

(-)gh(-) Pronunciation

How about plough or hiccough?

Adverbs

Choose three or four of each list (the ones you want to learn) and make 1 or 2 sentences with each.

EL PAÍS News in English

Trump: Cult of the leader

Dear readers,

Donald Trump was anointed as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee at the national convention in Milwaukee, just days after surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania, where he was the subject of a photograph that will enter the annals of U.S. history, his fist clenched against a backdrop of the Stars and Stripes. From the convention, our Washington correspondent explains how the former president has risen to the top again as he bids for a second term in the White House, bending the Republican Party to his will and completing one of the great political turnarounds after his recent judicial triumphs, capped at a GOP gathering where he has been feted and memories of another image for the ages — his police mugshot in Atlanta — have been set to one side as the conservative formation unites behind his candidacy.

‌This week EL PAÍS spoke with Luis Manuel Otero, Cuba’s most prominent political prisoner and, in his own words, its “most dangerous.” In September 2021, he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, two months after being imprisoned during the largest anti-government protests since the early years of the Cuban Revolution. (...).

‌We also looked at the phenomenon of global cyberespionage — a NATO spokesperson told EL PAÍS that cyberdefense has become one of the coalition’s “main priorities,” adding that malicious cybernetic campaigns could “lead the North Atlantic Council to invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty,” its collective defense clause — as well as the housing crisis in Lisbon through the lens of two-time World Press Photo winner Mário Cruz and the enduring Seattle legacy of Kurt Cobain.

‌We hope you enjoy this selection of stories from EL PAÍS English Edition.

You can also read:

• No surprise in the attack against Trump
• A simple monthly injection allows mice to live 25% longer and free from diseases
• A camera in space to photograph the unphotographable
• 200 years of cement: The building material that changed the world
• Not childish or a punishment: Why blocking WhatsApp helps our mental health
• David Remnick, editor of ‘The New Yorker’: ‘Is the gigantic tidal wave of crap we see online the alternative to traditional media? I don’t think so’
• Joe Biden announces he is stepping down from re-election campaign
• Yes, the Democrats still can

Winning images of the 2024 BigPicture natural world photography competition (By The Guardian)

<-- Last Year finalist

Watch this year pictures here. Just beautiful!

Read the comments / explanations! They are enlightening!

Normal vs Advanced (words)

Mediation Activity

Do this mediation activity. Choose whether you'll do the written or oral version first!

Key for both oral and written Mediation Activity next week

Three simple activities with homophones

                     Read the list of homophones and:

1. Highlight the pairs you didn't know that were homophones.

2. Spot the odd man out: only ONE pair is composed by two words that are NOT homophones.

3. Write five more pairs of homophones (not included in the list).

Free Yoga, Pilates and Aerobics on the Beach (from Murcia Today)

Where to do free yoga, pilates and aerobics on Cartagena beaches

Professional / Business English

You can also read this Professional English Phrasebook by Lucy, with plenty of varied activities.

[More business English on 30th July post]

Phrases in Australian English

Read these phrases and sound like a native...

EL PAÍS News in English

Could NATO survive another Trump term?

Dear readers,

With world leaders gathered in Washington for the NATO summit, many observers are wondering what will happen to the Alliance if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, as growing numbers of Democrats fear may happen if Joe Biden refuses to step aside. 

Meanwhile, the presumptive Republican nominee is getting additional support from unexpected places.  We analyzed the extreme views of Juan Ciscomani, an outspoken congressman from Arizona who is giving visibility to ultra-conservative Latinos who are planning to vote for Trump. 

In global news, we interviewed an Israeli doctor who worked at the Sde Teiman detention, interrogation and torture center and says he feels “complicit” and “guilty” about the violations being committed there. We also revealed how a tiny, deserted islet in the Mediterranean has become a new immigration route from Africa into Europe, and explored how robots are helping an aging population cope with loneliness in Japan.

This week we also took a look at how microplastics are creeping into every part of our lives (and bodies), interviewed David Remnick, the longtime editor of The New Yorker, and asked ourselves why nobody seems to like Katy Perry anymore.

We hope you enjoy this selection of stories from EL PAÍS English Edition.

You can also read:

• Rocafonda, the neighborhood that regained its pride thanks to soccer sensation Lamine Yamal
• The US economy created 206,000 jobs in June
• The problem with ‘Inside Out 2:’ Are our emotions at the service of productivity?
• Kinkeeping, the exhausting invisible work that keeps the family together
• The cost of New York street food is soaring

Verbs to describe READING in English (+ a recommendation)

BTW, I was recommended Babel by R. F. Kuang, a riveting novel dealing with 19th c. Oxford, translation, etymology, words in different languages... I'm reading and loving it (more than McDonald's). 

Writing Tips: Link Ideas

English Tenses Test (by Lucy)

Read about the importance of grammar and then check your tenses HERE. And do this extra Grammar Test. 

You'll love them: short and interesting!

Because

Simplify your Life

Sure you'll do with more than 2 or 3 of these pieces of advice... 

Choose the ones suitable for you and put them into practice!

Conjunctions

EL PAÍS News in English

All eyes on Biden

Dear readers,

All eyes are on Joe Biden after his disastrous performance at last Thursday's presidential debate against Donald Trump. Pressure is mounting on the U.S. president to step aside, and the next few days will be crucial in determining the future of his campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris is currently the front-runner to replace Biden if he decides to pull out of the race.

In other U.S. news, the Supreme Court ruled that the official acts of presidents are immune from criminal prosecution, in what marks another legal victory for Trump. The liberal justices who voted against the decision warned the ruling would allow presidents to assassinate political rivals, accept bribes and order coups with impunity.

EL PAÍS also travelled to Estonia to see how the country is preparing for a possible Russian attack, spoke to economist Joseph Stiglitz about the dangers of a second Trump mandate, and looked back at the romcom classic Four Weddings and a Funeral, which was a box office hit despite the cast's reservations.

We hope you enjoy this selection of stories from EL PAÍS USA Edition

You can also read:

• Are Covid cases growing in the United States? Things to know for summer
• How to marry a millionaire: Tips to find a wealthy partner are no joke on social media
• The planet’s vision is getting worse: 50% of the population will have myopia by 2050
• The reality of living in Ibiza: Workers sleeping in vans due to high cost of rent
• Big nose, ears that stick out: Why mouse-faced men are coming out on top
• New middle class, hedonism and visa ease: The economic reasons behind the boom in global tourism
• My robot and I: Japanese stories of technology and old age

Modal Perfect Forms (& Pronunciation)

Be careful with the pronunciation:

Idioms with Lucy

How to Learn Idioms

Lucy's Idioms Test

Revise Idioms here.

Revise the ones from the picture here.

Advanced Vocab

 

Of course you know some; but not all of them. Learn the new ones! 

(Read ALL the words and check spellings and pronunciations of both known and unknown words!)

Normal vs Advanced (phrases)

C2 Adjectives (not the 200 but the ~20)

 

There are twenty or so you don't know how to use accurately, write them down, check'em and use'em asap!

C1 Intensifiers: Adverbs of Degree

EL PAÍS News in English

America's other historic debates

Dear readers,

The history of presidential debates in the United States is also the history of television in the country. Ahead of Thursday's showdown between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, we looked back at other historic televised debates, starting with the one between JFK and Richard Nixon (...) and including Jimmy Carter vs Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush vs Al Gore.

‌As part of our coverage of the Americas, we reported on a spike in tourist deaths in the Colombian city of Medellín, which authorities have linked to drug use and prostitution. We also explored the volatile backdrop against which Bolivia has just experienced a coup attempt, and interviewed a former U.S. Border Patrol Agent from El Paso who now spends his days helping newly arrived immigrants.

‌Another major headline this week was the release of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, who returned to Australia a free man on Wednesday. EL PAÍS reveals the inside story of how it participated in the 2010 publication of the U.S. State Department cables along with other leading media organizations - and the consequences of that move.

We hope you enjoy this selection of stories from EL PAÍS USA Edition.

You can also read:

• Macro study shows that a healthy lifestyle can compensate for genetics
• Addiction to love is real, and can be avoided
• Sweet, salty, sour and bitter? No, the textbook taste map of the tongue is a myth
• Alejandro Cáceres, the hacker who took down North Korea’s internet from his home
• Japan’s tourism is a victim of its own success