Super Mario Bros

Why is SM so popular? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English). I'm not very familiar with this famous video game icon myself, but I know that generations of teenagers have played this kind of games.

Have you played any of his games?

 

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• Advanced grammar:   Inversion 2: reduced conditionals, adverbs of place and movement, consequences of an adjective   (BBC Learning English)

• News Review: COP26: Fossil fuel industry has largest delegation  (BBC Learning English)

• Space-International Law : Where do international laws come from? (conventions and protocols)   (BBC Learning English)

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

Episode 211110 / 10 November 2021    >>>  Climate change: Islands at risk   - Language related to 'climate change'.

Need-to-know language: front line, unpredictable, challenge, vulnerable & mitigate. 

 

 

 

mmmEnglish teaches us some Interesting English Idioms | Everyday Phrases to describe how you FEEL

 

 

 

TENNIS  >>>  Vintage US Open... when it was played on grass!!!

Bjorn Borg v Arthur Ashe in a breatkthrough match! | US Open 1973 Round 3 

 

And now Carlos Alcaraz, the present and the future of tennis, has just become the Next Gen Master in Milan beating Korda in the final. Here's an example of his unbelievable tennis!!!

 

 

Here's my musical hint for today: Super Mario - Suite (Live: SCORE Orchestral Game Music) by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and here's another Super Mario Bros... 

 

 

Project about A Foreigner in New York  by Johana Gutiérrez (2º Bach A)

 

Buttons and keys, part of our digital world!!!

 

Yes, we are always pressing buttons to change TV channels, to switch on your computer, to dial a phone number... or keys to write on your computer, to play the piano... so our fingers are essential!!!!

However, let's go back to square one. Buttons were once used to fasten your coat before the invention of zips. By the way, do you know the meaning of the verb 'to fasten'? With which other expression is this verb very common? so let's start by something as simple as sewing a button, which not everybody knows how to do it.

 

How to sew on a button - it really is this simple (The Guardian)

So, here are some articles related to the issue:

• Press me!! The buttons that lie to you (BBC News)

• Illusion of control: Why the world is full of buttons that don't work (CNN)

 

However, nowadays we have gone a bit further on and instead of pressing/pushing buttons we touch screens:

Why touch screens push our buttons (The Independent)

 

Here's a listening exercise to do: Why we press buttons (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

A final article for you to read:

What is The Button? And will it ever not be pressed? (The Guardian)

 

English in a Minute  >>>>   The... The... Comparatives (BBC Learning English)

 

EXAM SKILLS  >>>>   6 tips about learning from mistakes   (BBC Learning English)

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 181219 / 19 December 2018    >>>  South-Korea gaming addiction -  Language related to 'dependence'.  Need-to-know language: digital detox, addiction, seducing & symptoms.

The eSports are already here!!

Can eSports be really considered as any other average sport? Do they deserve to be included in the Olympic Games?

Some articles for you to read about the issue:

• eSports are real sports. It’s time for the Olympic video games (The Guardian)

• Seven-figure salaries, sold-out stadiums: Is pro video gaming a sport? (CNN)

• Extreme eSports: the very male, billion-dollar gaming industry at a stadium near you (The Guardian)

• Should pro gamers be considered athletes? (CNN)

• Is computer gaming now a sport? (BBC)

Here's a listening exercise to do: Is gaming a sport? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

And if you want to have a try here's a good expression  >>>  The English We Speak (BBC Learning English)  >>>  Have a pop   

 

On the highway to our B1 in 2020   >>>  Some activities for you to do:

56. Ask for more information :

 1. My teacher bought a new car. What kind __________________________?

 2. My grandmother came to see us last Saturday.     ___________ your grandfather ____________________, too ?

 3. She got up at six o'clock. Why ___________________________?

57. TENSES. Put the verbs in brackets into the SIMPLE PAST and fill in the four gaps with these     words:    and    magazines  Friday    beautiful 

JOE: On _________ I (travel) ........................  by tube to Heathrow airport. I (buy) ....................        some ____________ at the airport. I (take) .................... a plane to Edinburgh. On the plane       I (have) .................... lunch and (see).................... a film.

MARY: Where (you, stay) ........................................ in Edinburgh?

JOE: I (not stay) ........................ there, I (phone) .................... a friend ____________ we (go)       .................... to his flat in a little village not far from Edinburgh.

MARY: (you, visit) ........................................ the castle?

JOE: Yes, of course. It (be).................... really ______________.                                     / 5

58. Fill in the gaps with the comparative forms of superiority of the adjectives in brackets. Then write sentences using the superlative form in the dotted gaps:

1. Russia is (large)___________ than China.  ............................................................................................................

2. The Suez Canal is (long) ___________ than the Panama Canal.   ...........................................................................

3. Mount Blanc is (high)___________ than Mount Etna.    .....................................................................................

4. A snail is (slow) ___________ than a tortoise.   ........................................................................................................

5. Betis' supporters are (happy)___________ than Sevilla's supporters this season.  ..................................................

6. The Pacific Ocean is (big) ___________ than the Atlantic Ocean.   ....................................................................

7. The Parthenon is (old)___________ than the Colisseum.   ......................................................................

8. Venus is (near) ___________ the sun than Mars.   ..........................................................................

9. Raul plays (good) ___________ than Ronaldo.   ........................................................................

10. This class is (noisy) ___________ than 2º Bachillerato.   .....................................................................

59. GIVING REASONS. Complete these sentences with suitable words and write the questions:

1. Mary went out __________ a walk.  ___________________________________________ ?

2. I'm going to bed __________ I'm tired. ________________________________________ ?

3. He wants a match __________ light his cigarette. _________________________________?

60. LANGUAGE IN USE. Write questions for the following answers:

1. __________________________________ ? A, L, B, E, R, T.

2. __________________________________ ? On 12th April, 1978.

3. __________________________________ ? A letter to my girlfriend.

4. __________________________________ ? There are 32 students in my class.

5. __________________________________ ? Almost always.

6. __________________________________ ? At ten o'clock in front of the cinema.

  

And for more revision and extension exercises you can visit this page in my site: MOCK EXAMS (3º ESO) 

 

And now, changing topics, a bit about the natural disasters caused in Greece, Sweden, UK... by the wildfires, as every summer. Last year we had similar cases in Portugal and Spain.

Here's an article for you to read:

Daily Telegraph: Sweden fights 80 wildfires amid heatwave  

News Review: Wildfires rage in Greece (BBC Learning English)

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 180718 / 18 July 2018    >>>  Wildfires in the UK   -  Language related to 'fire'.  Need-to-know language: smoulder, wildfires, smoky, plume & drifting.