BEING A TEACHER....

BEING A TEACHER IS A DIFFICULT TASK NOWADAYS, SO I DECIDED TO FOLLOW THIS PIECE OF ADVICE BY BRUCE LEE:

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

by Bruce Lee

miércoles, 31 de agosto de 2016

Our golden boy Calderón quits ÑBA



Our golden boy José Manuel Calderón (his biography so far) says goodbye to the basketball national team as he wants to concentrates on his NBA team (LA Lakers) and his family. We all wish you the best of lucks!!! Thanks for such great moments!!

Jose Calderon retires from Spanish national team (NBC Sports)




Changing topic, what does 'domestic chores' mean? Well, both my wife and I have been doing the cleaning and painting of our flat and I would like you to do this exercise and give me your opinion >>>>>


Listening exercise to do: Do women clean the house more often than men? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)


New section in BBC Learning English: English at work, which focuses on English communication in the office. Here's the first episode: 00 Introduction



viernes, 26 de agosto de 2016

A lot to solve and to discover :-(((((


Our world is full of paradoxes. A lot of efforts and investments are made to travel in the universe and find planets elsewhere, building glass bridges... while we still have areas in our world where a natural disaster can cause hundreds of victims. It is fantastic to make discoveries, but shouldn't we invest more money to solve ordinary problems on Eath such as: famine, droughts... or earthquakes?


Natural disaster:

Italy earthquake: Death toll rises to at least 159 (BBC)  >>> The latest: Italy earthquake: Death toll reaches 247 amid rescue efforts  


Astronomy:

Discovery of potentially Earth-like planet Proxima b raises hopes for life (The Guardian)


Advances:

'I'm not afraid – it seems safe!': China opens longest glass-bottomed bridge (The Guardian) Watch this video.



Make a glossary with the most prominent words you find in both articles. Remember other articles related to these two issues in this blog:

 

LINGOHACK  >>>



miércoles, 24 de agosto de 2016

Olympic legends in Rio 2016



The Olympic Games in Rio finished last Sunday (Olympics Closing ceremony, News Review, BBC Learning English) and it's time to make a balance of the achievements obtained. 

 

First of all, what and who will these Olympic Games be remembered for? For instance, the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 will always be remembered for all the victories Jesse Owens obtained in front of Hitler.



Articles to read:


VOCABULARY: 8 uses of 'round'  (BBC Learning English)

The English we speak (BBC Learning English)  >>  'to pull something out of the hat'

Two listening exercises to do:



sábado, 6 de agosto de 2016

Río de Janeiro 2016, Olympic Games in Brazil


Río is over and here are some activities to do:

>>>   News Review  >>  Brazil wins a gold medal in athletics  (BBC Learning English) 

>>>   LINGOHACK  >>>

 

 

Spanish flag on a flag pole gif animation
BREAKING NEWS   >>>  three more medals for Spain (17 medals in total so far):

 

  • Spain Men's basketball national team defeats Australia in an incredible match and get the bronze medal. Our golden generation will never disappoint us!!!!

  • A bronze medal for Coloma in mountain bike event.

  • Spanish rhythmic gymnasts get the silver medal among olé cries and guitar playing!!!



 

This is no country for men, IT BELONGS TO WOMEN, INDEED!!!




 

Ruth Beitia wins the seventh gold medal for Spain in women's high jump (read the report)   (watch the jump)

 

The latest from Río

 

 

 

Two more medals for Spain (13 medals in total): INCREDIBLE historical SILVER MEDAL for women's basketball national team (Congratulations for being so competitive!!!!) >> watch this and bronze medal for Saúl Craviotto in the k-1 200 metre event.

 


INCREDIBLE   >>>>>  Carolina Marin, the young lady from Huelva, wins the sixth gold medal in badminton!!!! (some images)

 

 

 

Another gold medal for Spain (the fifth one)  >>>  Saúl Craviotto and Cristian Toro in K-2 200 metre canoe sprint (watch the race)

 

Two more medals for Spain in Taekwondo: silver medal for Eva Calvo and bronze medal for Joel González (video)




Our men's basketball national team will fight for the bronze medal  (watch summary) and our Women's national team in basketball will be in the final fighting for the GOLD medal against the USA in the Olympic Games in Río after defeating Serbia in the semi-finals!!! GOOD LUCK!


The New Spain has brought us the fourth gold medal and the first silver medal, that is, the seventh medal in total for Spain >>> Marcus Cooper Walz, the canoeist born in Oxford whose father is English and whose mother is German, from Majorca wins the gold medal in K-1 1000 metres event (watch the event) & Orlando Ortega, Cuban-born, won the silver medal in 110 hurdles event (watch the event). 


 

 

And now the 110 hurdle race:


 

 

Fifth medal for Spain  >>  Marc López & Rafael Nadal wins the third gold medal for Spain in the men's doubles in tennis, the first one for our Spanish men!!!

 

  "A gold medal and with one of my best friends is just unforgettable", said Nadal after the match.

 

Fourth medal for Spain  >>>  Lydia Valentin wins the bronze medal in weightlifting!!!

 

Second gold medal for Spain (third overall) >>> Maialen Chourraut in canoe slalom!!! (Watch the race)



Our Golden Girl (Mireia Belmonte once again), the first gold medal for Spain!!!! in 200m butterfly

Watch the race and enjoy it!!!!









Mireia Belmonte wins first Spanish medal of Rio 2016 (Marca)


First medal for Spain: Mireia Belmonte wins the bronze medal in Women's 400m Individual Medley (estilo libre)

 

However, what does 'medley' originally mean? And what's the Spanish for 'heat'?

 

Tip: Make a glossary with all the words you learn in English related to the Olympic Games. (I'll do one myself for you in my site)

 

What time is it right now in Rio? Remember that they are five hours behind Spain.

 

RIO 2016 - official website   


Problems we may find during these Olympic Games:

 

 Nadal, the stand bearer for Spain. How happy he looks after his big disappointment for not being able to it in the last Olympic Games in London.


Some articles to read:

Murray (gold medal in London and Río), the stand bearer for the United Kingdom.

>>>>>>



Michael Phelps, the stand bearer for the United States
<<<<<<<<<

Michael Phelps selected as U.S. flag bearer for Rio Olympics (CNN)


The Shark from Baltimore is back and the American mermaid in Rio: Michael Phelps wins 19th Olympic gold, Katie Ledecky breaks record (CNN)

Michael Phelps extends his legacy with two more gold medals at Rio Olympics (The Washington Post)

 


 

Michael Phelps ties a 2,160 year-old Olympic record (Marca)

 

 

Here's a link to the coverage of the event in the newspaper The Guardian: Rio 2016    

STILL MORE TO COME!!!

 And don't forget Pau Gasol, our Spanish stand bearer in the previous Olympic Games in London!!!





viernes, 5 de agosto de 2016

English, a language in motion

     All languages are, of course, in a constant evolution due to the use of the language speakers of the different parts of the world, but this phenomenon is especially significant in the English language due to the lack of an English Language Academy. Instead, universities such as Oxford or Cambridge work on different corpora (plural form of the word 'corpus') to make their dictionaries or grammar books.

    For instance, thirty years ago we would learn the Future Simple using 'shall' for the first person singular and plural. We don't do that any more. Now we use 'will' for all the persons.

Here's an interesting listening exercise for you to do: 'Is English changing?' (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)




Have a look at Lingohack and you'll learn about the latest on the US elections, a cyborg beetle and the teenage brain development.

And remember this previous post about the human brain.


LINGOHACK  >>>

miércoles, 3 de agosto de 2016

Summer time is a time to let people off the hook





What does the expression 'off the hook' mean? Have a look at this interesting The English We Speak programme.

So what do people do instead? They relax and ....

Pokémon Go: five tricks for pro players that are almost as good as cheats (The Guardian)

Pokemon and the power of nostalgia (BBC News)

This latest madness may be ok for some time, but it becomes a problem if it turns into an obssession and you spend (or waste) too much of your time instead of reading, playing with your friends or going out. Here is an article about it:

The top five most crazy stories about Pokemon Go ... so far (The Irish Times)

Listening exercise to do: Dealing with boredom (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

Children should be allowed to get bored, expert says (BBC News)

TRÈS INTERESSANT  >>>  Les films français avec sous titres en français: filmfra.com