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

lunes, 19 de octubre de 2026

In this world full of problems... an earworm?

 

 



 

In this world full of problems all we need is love, someone to love or care for. It is so simple!


  


 

 

  Here's my musical hint for today (an earworm perhaps for you?):    I need you by Jon Batiste. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along.    

 


 

 

We just need some goals to achieve, commitment, someone to help and someone who helps us.

 

Earworms: Those songs that get stuck in your head

 

And also we need some time to enjoy ourselves, to go dancing... and perhaps an earworm to cheer us up! What do you reckon about the song proposed in this post? Doesn't it make you feel happy and make your feet move? I hope so.

 

 

Learning English from the News:   Deadly Saudi airport attacks  (BBC Learning English)  




When SAYING NO goes too far...

Buildings set ablaze and more than 1,200 arrested as police clash with protesters across France (The Guardian)

Are student protests being manipulated ahead of France's presidential election? (BBC News)

France protests turn violent nationwide (DW)

 




    

Here are some more activities for my students:



 

 
 



Leonardo Da Vinci  - The most talented human in history (English listening practice)  








English in a Minute:   4 meanings of LIFT   (BBC Learning English) 



  


 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"



Learning English with movies: Notting Hill -     She Walks Into His Bookshop And His Life Changes   &  Will's date is Anna Scott   (Hugh Grant revisits Notting Hill locations)

 



   

   Shanghai 2026 - Rafael Jodar vs Daniil Medvedev   &  Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Alexander Zverev   

Final: R. Jódar vs A. Davidovich  for The Title 🏆 | Shanghai 2026 Final Highlights

 ... and Alejandro Davidovich, the first Spaniard to win in Shanghai!!

 

 

 

jueves, 15 de octubre de 2026

How to say NO

 

 

On the one hand, there are so many things our rulers do wrong or at least we don't agree with the way the rule our countries. How can we express our disagreement, dissatisfaction, discrepancy, discontent...? (pay attention to the prefix all these words have in common to express something negative)

 

On the other hand, people have to choose the way they express this negative feeling. Some may say by voting, others by camping in the city centre or carrying out street protests. Even there are people who prefer the use of violence or go on strike. What is the best way to do it? Japanese think that working more and strengthening ourselves may give us a possibility to take over the power.

 

France's school protests: what lies behind the anger (BBC News)

Riot police fire teargas as 250,000 take part in schools protests across France (The Guardian)

Hundreds of French schools shut, teen loses hand in protests (DW)

 

 

  

 

Learning English from the News:   French student protests  (BBC Learning English)  



 

 

  Here's my musical hint for today about someone who didn't want to fight in the war and became a mountain man. He escaped into the Rocky Mountains and...    The Ballad of Jeremiah Johnson . Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along.    

 


 

The Geography of the Rocky Mountains explained



    

Here are some more activities for my students:



  



History of BEER  - Why drinking beer was safer than drinking water   (The history of root beer)










 

English in a Minute:   4 meanings of SPRING   (BBC Learning English)  




 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"



Learning English with  -     Sherlock Holmes   

 



 



 

 

 

 

domingo, 4 de octubre de 2026

The unsolved housing problem

 



 

Fourteen years ago I published this post onto this blog: The housing problem in Spain

 

and it seems we still haven't managed to find the solution for it.

 

 


 


 

 

Our society, especially the younger generations, should also make an effort to solve the problem by saving more and not wasting so much, by choosing the right place to live and not only thinking about living in big cities... What other solutions can you think of?




  

 

Learning English from the News:   Young people aren't weak, expert says  (BBC Learning English)  



 

 

  Here's my musical hint for today when you haven't got a home and you have to leave:    Hit the road, Jack! by Ray Charles. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along.    

 




    

Here are some more activities for my students:



 


 
 
 

 The sign of the four   Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four | Mystery & Horror | Dominoes Level 3 

 
 



The Entire History of Russia: From Viking Origins to Modern Superpower   


     





 

English in a Minute:   4 meanings of BLOCK   (BBC Learning English)  



  


 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"



Learning English with Pirates of the Caribbean -     Jack Sparrow and Elisabeth   

 





   

   Memories of a champion / Gustavo Kuerten | Roland-Garros