Eternal flame

 

 

The light of  Our great master  will be eternal and it will show us the way in this world of darkness. It is already one year ago when Dr. Neil McLaren passed away and many generations of teachers still miss him, but he is surely present in our classes if we still try to take after him.

   

Here's my musical hint in honour of such an example for so many:   Eternal flame by The Bangles, and this is a version with lyrics  for you to sing along!

 

All those people who have been paramount in our lives are so alive in our hearts and they are kind of eternal flames that warm us up all along this tough cold day-to-day life.

 

So what's, in your opinion, the best thing that has happened this year? And what thing could we have done better? What has been the best song in 2023, in your opinion?

 

 

Here are some activities for you to do:

• 

  Learn how to speak English naturally:   How to get back on topic   (BBC Learning English) 
  

• Listening exercise for you to do: Our love of pets   (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)
  

• Pronunciation: When can 't' sound like 'p'  (BBC Learning English)
  

• The English We Speak:   I'm out  (BBC Learning English) 
  

 

 

 

English with Lucy: How to order coffee in English (Advanced English C1-C2)

 

 

Activities for my students in Bachillerato.....

 

Getting ready for Bachillerato.....

203. READING & COMPREHENSION. Read the text below about how liquor companies advertise their products.

 

Death by advertising

 

In many countries, young people have a more active social life than any other group in society. This means that they spend a lot of time in pubs, bars, discotheques and clubs. Therefore, young people are a natural target for advertisers, especially the advertisers who work for liquor companies. Promotions and advertising campaigns aim at introducing young people to different brands of liquor. The idea is to attract as many young people as possible into a club or a bar. In this way, they create a new generation of drinkers, who will go on drinking for the rest of their lives. Companies advertise drinks at cheaper prices together with free T-shirts, caps and posters in order to encourage teenagers to try new "tastes" in hard liquor. One vodka company actually held a competition at a university. The prize was free vodka for a whole term.

Health experts have strongly criticized this form of advertising. They argue that young people are unaware of the dangers of alcohol. The main danger, they say, is the serious risk to life when young people drink large amounts of liquor and then try to drive home. Drunken driving involving teenagers is a serious problem in many European countries, where drinking in bars is becoming more popular among teenagers. Drunken driving often leads to injury and death because young people are unaware of how drinking affects their judgement and reaction time. An unfortunate example of the effects of alcohol is the case of a young girl who collapsed in her home after drinking 17 tequilas at a liquor promotion. Later, when she was leaning out of her window to get some fresh air, she fell to her death.

Experts on alcoholism believe that the only way to prevent this disturbing trend is to teach teenagers the facts about the effects of alcohol on the body and to make them aware of the risks they take when they drink and drive.

Perhaps they should also show teenagers how they are manipulated by advertisers who are not concerned about the consequences, but only about making a profit.

 

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

 

1. Which two types of liquor are mentioned in the text?   ____________________________________

2. Give two examples of free gifts the liquor companies give to teenagers.   _____________________

3. Try to find the words in the text for the following definitions (one clue: they are in order) :

a. something that you want to reach; aim, objective.                    ______________________________

b. a product of a particular company.                                           ______________________________

c. to give active approval to.                                             ______________________________

d. to have no knowledge of.                                              ______________________________

e. to be worried about.                                                       ______________________________

4. Say whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE according to the text.

  a. Young people spend a lot of their time in pubs and discotheques    ________

  b. Liquor companies are not interested in selling to teenagers.              ________

  c. Free gifts are used to persuade teenagers to try new drinks.              ________

  d. The drinks sold as promotions are very expensive.                            ________

  e. The most serious consequence of teenage drinking is drunken driving.        ________

  f. Teenagers are not aware of the effects of alcohol on the body.          ________

  g. Liquor companies only care about making a profit on alcohol.         ________   

5. Define the following words from the text:

 

Advertising  (l. 3)   ,   Prize  (l. 7)     ,     Expert   (l. 9) 

 

 

204. COMPOSITION. Write a composition about anything you have just read in the text or your personal opinion about the problem of drinking among teenagers. (80 - 100 words)

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

 Learn English with MOVIES:  Let's imitate CHARACTERS 

 

 

 

 

WE ARE MILLENIALS!!!

 

 

Yes, would you believe it? We are MILLENIALS!!!         

Nobody could have believed that when our digital trek set off 12 years ago, when this blog was born on 11^th March, 2011. Our students have worked along with me writing almost 25,000 comments!!!  and we are getting closer to 1 million visits!!! 

 

 

 

 

In this heart of darkness, which our world of education has become, we are going through with the only light of Our great master  Dr Neil McLaren in the distance, a summit we will never reach, but with our belief that Victory belongs to the most tenacious here we are still fighting!!!      

 

 

So now it is the turn of our students and followers (and even haters) to rate the usefulness of this virtual diary, where we have dealt with so many semantic fields. Many things have happened: study trips to the British-Irish Isles, highs and lows, a pandemic, wars, victories, defeats, moments of absolute joy, moments of deep sadness, catastrophes, victories and defeats... Nevertheless, all the posts had a point in common:  the relevance they all may have had in our teaching-learning process of the English language.

 

Along with my site, this digital tool was so relevant during the pandemic. I feel really proud of our tenacity and resilience to keep this DIGITAL DREAM alive and I do hope that it was the seed for your own blogs and sites!!! But remember you have to water the seed and then the plant so as to be succesful, always being as flexible as water so as to overcome all difficulties you come across and to adapt to the most diverse situations.

 

 

Generation Comparison (1901-2024)

 

 

As well, with the word 'millenial' we make reference to those people who were born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s, that is, a member of the Generation Y. Actually, I, the author of this blog, am a babyboomer, who is someone born between the late 1940s and the 1960s, the years after the Second World War, when there was a high increase in the birthrate, whilst most of my students and readers of this blog belong to the Gen Z. ( Gen Z to take over )

 

With regard to 'baby boomers' (actually, I'm one of them myself) not long ago I read this: "America's healthcare costs are expected to soar as baby boomers become senior citizens". Here are a couple of newspaper articles to read about the issue: 

 

Aging baby boomers raise the risk of a long-term-care crisis in the U.S. (CNBC)

Baby boomers 'should work for longer to stay healthy' (The Guardian)

 

Fast Facts About Baby Boomers | History

 

 

 

Homework for my students  (Your comments will be sort of pieces of advice for future students with Albert):

• 1º ESO.- Using MODAL VERBS write a comment telling people what to do if they are in 1º ESO with Albert and want to pass English.

Example: You must do your homework everyday and you should write genuine comments.

• 4º ESO.- Write a comment using the REPORTED SPEECH saying what Albert told you at the beginning of the school year and now that the school year is coming to an end what has happened using the 3 types of CONDITIONAL SENTENCES.

Example: Albert told us to study everyday and we didn't. If we had studied every day, we would have had better marks in English.

 

 

Some other activities for you to do: 

• News Review: Can diet improve memory?  (BBC Learning English)
  

• A listening exercise for you to do: Is ecotourism good or bad?  (BBC Learning English) 

• English in a Minute: How to use 'POTENTIAL'  (BBC Learning English)

• The English We Speak:  Level up  (BBC Learning English)

 

 

🏆 Kings of Europa League! Sevilla's post-match scenes & trophy lift | UEL 22/23 Moments

 

 

 

   

Here's my musical hint for today: Father & Son by Yusuf / Cat Stevens. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along!! And this is a playlist you may like: Great Baby Boomer Songs.

 

 

And this is one of the most beautiful presents I have ever received from one of my students:

Thanks, Amin!

And if you are a new student with Albert, here's a form to fill in with all your personal data:

Fill in the form, please. Send me a photograph to my e-mail if you don't like the one taken in class.  

My e-mail:  albertomeditutor@gmail.com

Thank you very much.

Albert.

Our great master

Dr. James Neil Douglas McLaren has passed away today. My master and the master of so many!

 

I have just learned this piece of news that yesterday, Tuesday,17^th January, he is no longer among us and I must admit it has been one of the saddest moments of my life. It is not easy to meet someone who is so unanimously admired as our great professor. Teacher of teachers (he stopped teaching and retired in 2009), of generations of teachers (the 'maclarenian' movement, in Spanish it would be something like 'movimiento maclariano'). Teacher who taught us how to teach setting his own classes as an example to follow. I have never known the case of any other teacher everyone agreed most in recognising how good he was in his job. I have never met a person who said a single bad word about him or the way he taught.

He was the director of both my minor thesis ("tesina") and my PhD, and it was such an honor to be working along with him all these years. For my teaching career he has always been the light in this world (heart) of darkness. 

For several days, and even weeks, I have tried, in my humble way, to pay tribute to our master, who may not be so well-known to the world, but who was the light and reference to so many generations of teachers. I will always leave this post open to revisions and contributions from others.

Here are some articles for you to read about him and even the tweet by the University of Granada (UGR):

La Universidad de Granada despide al profesor Neil McLaren (Granada Hoy)

La Universidad de Granada despide al profesor Neil McLaren (WebGranada.com)

Post on Twitter  

 

 Long live his idea of teaching and working!      

 

 TO BE CONTINUED....

Activities for my students:

• 1º ESO - Talking about routines. What do you think your English teacher does everyday? And what about you?

Example: My English teacher wakes up at a quarter to six and he gets up. I don't get up so early. I wake up at 7 o'clock and I get up at a quarter past seven.

• 4º ESO - What do you think a teacher should be like? And what about a teacher of English?

Example: I think teachers should work as much as they ask us to work. A teacher of English should prepare us to learn English to pass the school exams and any other exams, like the B1 or B2.