Is the CORONA VIRUS really the solution to CLIMATE CHANGE?(QUARANTINE: DAY 11)

 

Well, I really don't know if this pandemia is the solution for climate change, but something is for sure, the pollution in our big cities has reduced to minimum levels!!! That would be the case of India. INCREDIBLE, BUT TRUE!!

 

As people quarantine themselves Rohit Sharma says air and noise pollution have dropped (India Today)

Trees are also said to help climate change, as you can see in the Lingohack section just below.

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 200325 / 25 March 2020    >>>  Can trees help climate change?  -    Language related to 'research'.  Need-to-know language: experiments, instrument, tracks, monitored & don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Quarantine Scoreboard

Posts uploaded:  10

Students participating:  about 50 out of 110 (45%)

Comments written and corrected: nearly 200

Emails exchanged: about 550

PASEN announcements & messages: more than 600

Things handed in and corrected: almost 170

Visits to blog and site during quarantine: more than 2,300 (Average of 300 visits per day)

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE QUARANTINE

Some English classes today on TV (Clan TV & La 2)    >>>   Don't miss them!!!!

 Thursday, 26^th March

Solutions to some of yesterday's exercises.

Unit 5. Translate these sentences into English. 

• You shouldn't have a big lunch before a football match.
  
• You must wear your sandals in the swimming-pool. You mustn't wear shoes or sport shoes.
  
• A fish can't walk, but some can jump very high out of the water.
  
• Can you speak German? No, but I can speak French well.
  
• The students should do the comic about Around the World in 80 Days quickly.
  
• You can study hard during the school year and pass in June, or you can live happily without working. Then you must study during the summer for the September exams.
  
• People can't play golf in Itrabo.

  Tasks for today:

 

>>>  Still nobody has given me the mistakes they committed in the dictation (Nadie me ha dado todavía las faltas del dictado que hicimos el miércoles y recuerden que las soluciones las di en la entrada del jueves)

 

>>> Do exercises on page 68 and you'll have to do Writing Exercise 10 (Description of a sport). I will put it in PASEN and in my blog.

 

>>> Time to revise for the exam: Do exercises on page 148 to start revising Unit 4 during the weekend. On Monday I will give you the solutions.

 

>>>>  Read aloud the text on page 64 about the History of Basketball

Did you like the video at the bottom of this post by MacAskill? Can you do it with your bike? Perhaps, Joel Martín in 4º ESO A can.  👀  👀  👀

 

NOTHING TO DO TODAY, as we haven't got any classes on Thursdays.

 

Another way to be eco-friendly.

News Review:  Can we make them repairable?   (BBC Learning English)

 

 

Homework for today:

  Unit 6  (page 72-73)

 

Visit my site: Mock exams (1º Bach) and do exercises 15 to 20. I'll give you the solutions on Monday.

Here are the solutions to the previous post B2 exercises:  

1. on; 2. for; 3. in, out of; 4. by; 5. on; 6. at; 7. by/at; 8. of; 9. on

China Begins To Ease Coronavirus Travel Restrictions As Cases Decrease | NBC Nightly News

 

Coronavirus: Italy virus deaths rise but infections slow again - BBC News

 

Coronavirus: sharp rise in UK death toll as hospitals prepare for a surge in cases - BBC News

 

Danny MacAskill's Gymnasium

 

 

Who taught you the most things? Why the mother tongue?

Who taught you the most things? Your Mum or your Dad? Or both at the same time? Are the teaching roles inside the family changing nowadays? 

 

Well, things used to be so different. As babies or little children, we used to spend a lot of time at home with mothers and obviously we would learn from them, but nowadays mothers may be working and we may spend more time with our fathers, with our grandparents, or even at nursery schools.

 

In northern Europe many mothers, or fathers, may decide to stay at home and raise their children themselves and that would mean that we would go back to square one.

Anyway, children learn their languages from the people that are around them, so sometimes it's the mothers, or the fathers, or grandparents, or the nannies that take care of them! Just before they begin to speak they go through what is called THE SILENT PERIOD, when they just listen and listen without producing anything at all. 

 

 

Write about how you learned to speak and to do many other things, and about the people who taught you most.

 

Why mother tongue matters

 

Here are some articles for you to read about all this learning process and even a listening exercise for you to do:

• 7 Remarkable Things My Mother Taught Me About Life (The Budding Optimist)

• Why I wish my parents had taught me their language (Metro)

• Listening exercise to do: Why is it called 'mother tongue'? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

• Can you lose your native language? (BBC News)

• I lost my mother tongue -- and almost my mom (CNN)

• What happens in the brain when you learn a language? (The Guardian)

• How do we learn languages? (Brainblogger)

• No habla español? How Netflix could transform the way we learn languages (The Guardian)

The “Silent Period” in Language Acquisition: Truth or Myth?

What is SILENT PERIOD? What does SILENT PERIOD mean? SILENT PERIOD meaning, definition & explanation

 

 

 

English in a Minute: 5 uses of BREAK   (BBC Learning English)

 

 

 

Learn English with Papa  >>>  How Do You Talk To The Doctor In English?       

 

Nature is speaking. So listen!!!

What's hidden under the Greenland ice sheet? - TED Talks    by Kristin Poinar

Danny Macaskill: Danny Daycare

 

 

Football:  Football’s Greatest International Teams .. Germany 1972-1974   

 

 

Summer holidays passed long ago, but...

... what are your plans for your next holidays? or if you ever win the lottery? This post will deal with travelling, which is a topic that we see in unit 2 with our 1º bachillerato students, so it will be quite suitable for them!!   I hope 😎😎😎😎

 

 

 

Here are some articles for you to read:

• Winter holidays are coming. The time to start making travel plans? Now. (CNN)

• Where to go on holiday in 2019 – the hotlist (The Guardian)

• What Brexit means for half-term holiday plans (BBC News)

Which holiday do you prefer?

• Tulum is a town in the state of Quintana Roo in south-eastern Mexico. It is known for its beaches, the nearby Mayan temple ruins and the biosphere reserve in Sian Ka'an.

   

   

   

• Beijing is the capital city of the People's Republic of China. It is a large city in north-eastern China with over 21 million inhabitants. There are several UNESCO world heritage sites in Beijing, including the Forbidden City.

   

   

   

• The Forbidden City was the home of China's Emperors for nearly 500 years until 1912. The large palace complex has over 900 buildings, and since 1925 it has been preserved as a museum. There are more than 14 million visitors to the museum every year.

   

   

   

• Guillin is a city in the south of China. It is famous for its beautiful scenery, especially its river and the cone-shaped hills around the city.

   

   

   

• Shanghai is a large city in the east of China at the estuary of the Yangtze River. Shanghai is one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of over 23 million people.

And talking about gorgeous places to visit in China. here's...

"Avatar" Mountain & Wulingyuan Scenic Area, Zhangjiajie, China   

Visiting Peru

• Peru >>  The Republic of Peru is a country in the west of South America with a population of over 30 million people, who are called Peruvians.

• Lima is the capital city of  Peru, situated on the Pacific coast. Lima has many important colonial buildings and museums with pre-Columbian artefacts (objects created byu indigenous people prior to the arrival of Columbus).

• Cuzco is an ancient Inca city in the south of Peru. It is famous for its archaelogical sites and is popular with tourists who often visit the ruins of Machu Picchu.

• Altitude sickness is a common problem for visitors to Peru. It is often caused when people travel to places more than 2,500 m above the sea level. Symptoms of altitude sickness include dizziness, feeling sick and having difficulty breathing. It can be very serious, so tourists are advised to rest and get medical help.

   

 

Musical hint:  The Traveling Wilburys (playlist)

George Carlin - Saving the Planet

 

 

 

Danny MacAskill’s Imaginate

 

 

The English We Speak: SLOW TV   (BBC Learning English)

Stories for Children   >>>   Joe goes fishing  (New series in BBC Learning English) 

You don't always have to work for the money ;-)))

... although your English teacher does it every day. Unfortunately, most students don't do things for free, or do they? Do you write a comment or a composition for free even if your English teacher is going to correct it for free?

 

Here's a listening exercise for you to do and some articles to read:

• 6 Minute English: Working for free  (BBC Learning English)

• Interns beware: working for free could put a dent in your career (The Guardian)

• Thomas Cook: Ex-employees work for free to help holidaymakers (BBC News)

• Work for free, advertize yourself: How millennials can nab perfect job (CNN)

 

 

 

And talking about money, here's something interesting for you  >>>>

                    English in a Minute:  Lend vs Borrow   (BBC Learning English)

 

 

 

Nature is speaking. So listen!!!

The English We Speak: Buyer's remorse (BBC Learning English)

English with Lucy  >>  STOP SAYING 'SUPER' - The 8 overused SLANG words that make you sound UNINTELLIGENT 🤦‍♀️   

Danny MacAskill & Claudio Caluori: Home of Trails

 

 

Stories for Children   >>>   Milly and the Rainbow  (New series in BBC Learning English) 

Revolutions

Which verb does the noun 'revolution' come from and what does it mean? What other words have the same changes concerning word formation?

Here are some 'revolutions' going on:

• How to start a social care revolution in seven easy steps (The Guardian)

• Pope Francis gives a surprise TED Talk, calls for a ‘revolution of tenderness’ (The Washington Post)

• Welcome to the social media revolution (BBC)

• How the Internet is changing Cuba (BBC)

 

And talking about revolutions, here's 'Industrial Revolutions' by Danny Macaskill >>>>

English with Lucy:

The Schwa /ə/ Sound - Endings British Pronunciation & Spelling Tips | -er -ar -or -our -ure -re

72. Put the following sentences into INDIRECT SPEECH:

1. "Bring me the newspaper, please", the father to the son.

______________________________________________________________________________

2. "Who put salt in my coffee?", he asked.

______________________________________________________________________________

3. "I'm going fishing with my mother this afternoon", said the small boy.

______________________________________________________________________________

4. "What was she wearing when you saw her last?", the policeman asked me.

______________________________________________________________________________

5. "I'll sit up till she comes in, but I hope she won't be late", said Mrs Pitt.

______________________________________________________________________________

73. Give a piece of advice to each problem:

1. I find it really difficult to get up in the mornings.

_______________________________________________________________

2. My car is not going very well lately.

_______________________________________________________________         

74. COMPARATIVES. Fill in the gaps with the comparatives of superiority and the     superlatives of the adjectives you are given in brackets:

1. For (far) ______________ information on the passive you should revise the grammar revision.

2. Mick Malone's (old) _______________ brother came from Ireland to visit him.

3. This is (bad) _______________ football match I've ever watched.

75. Translate the following sentences into English:

4. Ella no llegó tan tarde como de costumbre.  ________________________________________

5. Cuanto más estudio, menos problemas tengo con el inglés.

______________________________________________________________________________

6. Los exámenes se van complicando cada vez más.

_____________________________________________________

What was the best and the worst of 2016???

What was the best and the worst song, film, athlete... thing of 2016?

 

For instance, at school for me the best thing was the fact that we came back safe and sound from Dublin and that 7 of my 4º ESO passed their B1 exams at the Official Language School and the worst thing is that not all the students I had in mind entered these exams. I hope they'll do it this year and that my B1 students have the best of lucks in their B2 exams.

However, the best thing of all is that I still have dreams and hopes and ready for new challenges. As well, with regard to this, the worst thing is that I can't convince as many people as I would like.

 

And here's one of my greatest discoveries in the web. Watch it and give me your opinion in this cycling journey from Edinburgh to Skye >>>>

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

Episode 161228 / 28 December 2016   >>>  Expressions presented: pioneering, safe haven & distracted.

SOLUTIONS to the B2 exercise in the previous post:  1. C   2. B    3. B    4. C     5. D    6. D    7. A  8. A   9. D   10. C   11. A  12. C   13. D   14. B   15. C   16. C  17. D   18. C   19. C   20. A   21. C   22. D   23. B   24. B   25. A  

Alone or with company???

There are certain moments in life when one really enjoys solitude (especially, teachers, who are always in crowded and noisy places), but there are also great moments we love sharing with people (like our study trips to the British-Irish Isles).

Here's an incredible video about the Scottish mountain-biker Danny Macaskill in the Isle of Skye. Enjoy the gorgeous Scottish landscapes that this year I would like to share with my students:

And here's another one: Danny MacAskill’s Wee Day Out  (Enjoy Scottish landscape!!)

Two listening exercises to do: "Is loneliness in our genes?" (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English). However, to begin with, you have to know yourself: "Who do you think you are?" (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

Article to read:

All by myself: is loneliness bad for you? (The Guardian)

And here's another one:

What's the difference between being lonely and a loner? (BBC News)

LINGOHACK  >>>

Episode 161012 / 12 October 2016   >>>  Expressions presented: destabalise, appetite, limiting the damage & nudge.

English with Lucy >>>>

New Series >>>> English at university: Just landed (episode 2)

A final question before ending: How do you know you're real? Interesting video about it to think about it: