Reggae nights

Once upon a time, when I was in my late teens and used to hang around every summer evening with my friends, this is the kind of music we used to dance to. 

What good memories! Now when we meet, in our late fifties, we laugh about it and all the nicknames we had. I hope you are enjoying your summer holidays because these are moments you will never forget.

 

   

So here's my musical hint for today: Reggae Night by Jimmy Cliff. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing and dance along!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Fran Toledo (3º ESO A) and José Adrián González (1º Bach A) for getting their B1 in English!!! Here are the marks in the 4 skills of a 3º ESO student, an example to follow by all the students at our school!!!

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• 

  News Review: Eight months' rain in 4 days  (BBC Learning English)
  

• A listening exercise for you to do:  Preserving traditional recipes (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)    

• Quizz on  FOR or SINCE??  (BBC Learning English)

• Frankenstein (Drama story) Episode 2:  It's alive!  (BBC Learning English)

 

Answers to part one in the previous post...

A.     11. b   12. b   13. d    14. c   15. c   16. b   17. c  18. d   19. a  20. a 

TEST YOUR ENGLISH

A. Choose the correct option. 

21. One of the most luxurious and expensive hotels in Europe is "The Shelbourne",  ...... located in the centre of Dublin.    a. which is   b. that is   c. where is   d. whose

22. They gave me a form and they told me to  .....     a. fill in    b. fill in it   c. filling    d. fill it in

23. My mother wants .....     a. that I study architecture   b. me to study architecture   c. me studying architecture   d. that I will study architecture

24. He entered the house as silently as possible .....     a. for not waking his parents    b. so as not to wake his parents   c. for not wake his parents    d. to not wake his parents

25. It's Saturday so I ......    a. mustn't go to the school   b. mustn't go to school   c. don't have to go to school   d. don't have to go to the school

26. Not too many people  ..... at the meeting.      a. came    b. turned up   c. put up    d. came up

27. My stomach feels strange. The food in the Indian restaurant ...... been bad.    a. must   b. must have   c. could had   d. might of

28. The time for discussing the problem is over. Now we must act.  "Discussing" in this sentence can be substituted for    a. arguing about    b. thinking about   c. talking about    d. delaying

29. The total influence of literature upon the course of human history ...... .  a. is difficult to evaluate   b. an evaluation is difficult   c. difficult to evaluate it   d. it is difficult to evaluate

30. Public transport in most of the country is getting better. ..... , people continue to prefer using the car.       a. However,     b. Consequently   c. Despite the fact    d. Although

 

 

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

Mind Your Language - What is a sextet?  & Failed but happy  (edited clips)      

 

 

 

Football:  Football’s Greatest Players - Ronaldo   

 

I just came for the strawberries & cream!

 

Yes, that's the case of many people and even of some tennis players when going to Wimbledon, but that is never the case of our Rafael Nadal and has never been!! 

 

Rafael Nadal: What Rafael Nadal did to this player should be illegal #3   Tennis most brutal performance

FULL TIE-BREAK | Rafael Nadal vs Taylor Fritz | Wimbledon 2022 (Epic victory on RTVE)

Rafael Nadal vs Taylor Fritz | Match Highlights | Wimbledon 2022 - YouTube

Prophetic commentary on young Rafa Nadal!!   

Some activities for you to do: 

• News Review: World Energy Crisis  (BBC Learning English)
  

• A listening exercise for you to do:  Restoring trust in Science (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)    

• The English We Speak: learning a phrase about determination - to have a  Game Face  (BBC Learning English)

• Frankenstein (Drama story) Episode 1:  A passion for science  (BBC Learning English)

 

   

Here's my musical hint for today: Never Forget My Love by Joss Stone. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing and dance along!!

 

 

Answers to part one in the previous post...

A.     1. b   2. b   3. d    4. b   5. b   6. d   7. a   8. a   9. b  10. c. 

 

TEST YOUR ENGLISH

A. Choose the correct option.

11. Susan ...... that she was Australian.    a. said us   b. told us   c. told   d. said to we

12. If I go to Egypt, I ..... the pyramids.    a. visit    b. will visit   c. would visit    d. visited

13. Who ...... James to the party?    a. invite   b. did invite   c. do invite   d. invited

14. Frank is used to .....   in a big city.     a. being living    b. live   c. living    d. have lived

15. Next January workers ...... an increase in pay.    a. will give   b. will given   c. will be given   d. will to give

16. He ..... for them for three hours before they finally arrived.     a. had waiting    b. had been waiting   c. had been waited    d. has waited

17. I ...... with you. I think we should paint the room blue.  a. agreed   b. am agree   c. agree  d. are agree

18. If she had read the book, she ..... about his life.       a. knew    b. had known   c. would had known    d. would have known

19. I want ...... to the cinema with me tonight.   a. you to go   b. you go   c. that you go   d. that you went

20. I wish you ..... to the party with me.    a. had gone    b. did went   c. did go    d. go

 

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

Mind Your Language - International Day  & Talking about phonetics III         

My offspring to come

What does 'offspring' mean? Offspring means "all a person's descendants". In the case of a teacher like me, it is all the generations of students that pass and pass through secondary education and that I try to teach English the best I can.

TEST YOUR ENGLISH   part one

A. Choose the correct option.

1. Where ...... from?    a. you come   b. do you come   c. do you   d. you came

2. When is she ..... Dublin?    a. leave    b. leaving   c. be leaving    d. left

3. How ...... ?    a. many years are you   b. many years have you   c. much age have you   d. old are you

4. Peter is looking for .....     a. we    b. us   c. our    d. they

5. You really should ...... your mother.    a. to phone   b. phone   c. phoned   d. have to phone

6. ..... you see that film last night? No, I haven't seen any film recently. 

   a. Do    b. Have   c. Had    d. Did

7. She has lived here ...... three years.    a. for   b. since   c. during   d. ago

8. He is the ..... man in the world.    a. richest    b. most richest   c. richer    d. more richer

9. I ...... a bath when the doorbell rang.    a. had   b. was having   c. were having   d. have

10. They went to Granada and enjoyed ..... very much?    

    a. himself    b. theirself   c. themselves    d. theirselves

 

Answers to the Selectivity exam in the previous post...

A. COMPREHENSION. Answer the questions using your own words.

1. Why was Stuart Pike alone on the plane? He was alone because he was the only passenger to wait until the plane was fixed.

2. Why was it the best trip in his life?  It was the best trip in his life because he was offered a first class seat and he had all he wanted during the flight.

3. Did Stuart Pike watch any films? Justify your answer.     No, he didn't since he accepted the invitation to sit next to the captain in his cabin so as to watch the landing.

B. LEXICON. 

4. finish, do, accomplish

5. takeoff, take-off

6. to fulfil  (line 2)

7. to upgrade

C. GRAMMAR. 

8. Mr Pike said that it was the most pleasant flight he had ever had.

9. "Would you like to sit with me and watch the landing?"

10. He was given everything he wanted by the flight attendants. //  Everthing he wanted was given to him by the flight attendants.       

11. go

Some activities for you to do: 

• Learning a phrase: Have a frog in your throat  (Friday phrase, BBC Learning English)
  

• A listening exercise about the invention of the atomic bomb for you to do:  The Manhattan Project (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)   

   

• Mind your language: knockout competition  (BBC Learning English)

• News Review:  Prices rise across the world  (BBC Learning English)

 

 

 

Learn English with Lucy:

Replace those BASIC phrases with these ADVANCED alternatives!

 

 

 

 

Football:  Football’s Greatest Players - Iker Casillas   

 

 

 

 

Rafael Nadal: What Rafael Nadal did to this player should be illegal #2   Humiliation before his home crowd

 

Nadal's offspring >>>>> Carlos Alcaraz vs Oscar Otte | Match Highlights | Wimbledon 2022

 

You're simply the best!!

 

As with my students in 2º Bachillerato, I have always said that the best thing of all is my students, and this time I mean my students in 1º Bachillerato. You don't know how much this little present you gave to me today means to me. That is really what I have always worked for, as a teacher. You know you will always have me to help you at any time and I'll try with my blog and site to provide you with all the necessary information  for your Selectivity exam next year.

 

As a little sample of my gratitude, here's a Selectivity exam for you to do. In the next post I will give you some possible answers.

Here's the text to read...

 

  

And here are the activities to do...

A. COMPREHENSION. Answer the questions using your own words.

1. Why was Stuart Pike alone on the plane?

2. Why was it the best trip in his life?

3. Did Stuart Pike watch any films? Justify your answer.

B. LEXICON. 

4. Give one synonym of 'COMPLETE' (verb)  (line 8)

5. Give one opposite of 'LANDING'  (noun)   (line 13)

6. Find one synonym in the text for 'SATISFY'  (verb)

7. Find int the text the WORD which has the following definition:  "to promote a person to a higher rank or position"

C. GRAMMAR. 

8. Put the following sentence into INDIRECT SPEECH:    

                          Mr Pike said: "It is the most pleasant flight I've ever had"

9. Put the following sentence into DIRECT SPEECH:

                         He was invited by the captain to sit with him and watch the landing.

10. Put the following sentence into the PASSIVE VOICE:

                         The flight attendants gave him everything he wanted.

11. Complete the following sentence with the correct form of the verb in brackets:

                       He could (GO) .................. to sleep on one of the 14 beds if he wanted to.

D. PRODUCTION. 

12.   a) Describe an interesting journey that you have made.

        b) What is your favourite method of travel?

    

CONGRATULATIONS to our students at the IES Mediterráneo (Salobreña) for their good results in the PEvAU exams (Selectivity). All of them have passed it and they have obtained a mean of 6.7 in English.

 

   

Here's my musical hint dedicated to all my students, especially those in Bachillerato, because THEY ARE SIMPLY THE BEST: The Best by Tina Turner. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along!!

 

Some activities for you to do:

• Bus: Part 1: Learn how to catch a bus  (BBC Learning English)

• A listening exercise for you to do:  Island life: Is it paradise? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)   

• What do you say when you forget something? The English We Speak: It escapes me  (BBC Learning English)

• News Review:  Google engineer: AI has feelings  (BBC Learning English)

 

 

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

Mind Your Language - The most funny* English class        

* They are not using here "the funniest" so as to make an emphasis.

 

Unlike our students, we live in a fake society, we have a fake educational system... we can even have the biggest fake in tennis!!!

 

 

 

 

Cow juice ;-))))

What do your think 'cow juice' really means?

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

Mind Your Language - Where do we get milk from?        

How to Milk a Cow By Hand (or goat)

 

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• Ten words you are probably mispronuncing  (mmmEnglish)
  

• A listening exercise for you to do:  The technology of translation (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)   

• And talking about new experiences, this is what happens you start a new job  >> The English We Speak: Onboarding  (BBC Learning English)

• News Review:  Boris Johnson survives non-confidence vote  (BBC Learning English)

 

   

Our 2nd Bachillerato are done with their selectivity exams and so are the rest of our students at school, so here's my dancing musical hint for today: Blame it on the Boogie by The Jacksons 5. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing and dance along!!

 

 

 

 

Rafael Nadal: Top 5 shots | Roland Garros | Eurosport Tennis

 

 

 

... and his 22 Best Points of 22 Grand Slams Won 

 

 

Here's the Selectivity exam they have set this year in Selectivity: It's not easy to be green & Men earn more money than women in every country   (June 2022)  

Valhalla awaits Rachnar!!

Like everything in life, all comes to an end. We are not inmortal. Rachnar went to Valhalla, Nadal will soon stop playing tennis and this year has been the last one your damned English teacher has taught in Bachillerato. Younger and stronger generations are to come and take the lead, as the normal process we find in any generational replacement. This is the so-called Circle of Life, which they referred to in The Lion King.

 

Years have been tough and I'm proud of the students I have had. I know everybody, students and me, could have done much better, but at least me, I tried my best. It is time just to fight smaller battles at ESO level, which are not so demanding, but perhaps more rewarding.  

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• Friday phrase: One in a million  (BBC Learning English)
  

• A listening exercise for you to do:  The world of Agatha Christie (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)   

• Mind your Language: Television  (Comedy)

• News Review:  Great Barrier Reef in danger  (BBC Learning English)

   

 

Ragnar Lothbrok: Odin awaits me in the halls of Valhalla!

Next week our students are facing the Selectivity exams and I would like to present you some articles, among many others, about the current situation, what is said and what is likely to come... 

• EBAU. El modelo de examen por la COVID dispara las notas de corte: "Meterse en una universidad pública es imposible" (RTVE) 

• Las facilidades disparan un 13% los aprobados en la Selectividad y un 85% los sobresalientes (El Mundo)

• El aumento de sobresalientes en selectividad incrementa las desigualdades entre CC.AA. (El Debate)

• Las peores regiones en PISA lideran los sobresalientes en Bachillerato y EBAU (La Gaceta de Salamanca)
  

 

 

I do hope our students do their best, but we all know we haven't been fair and the marks some have do not really reflect the reality. I guess it happens everywhere, but it is a situation I cannot cope with any longer. That is why I quit the bachillerato level for ever.

 

I MUST KEEP GOING - Powerful Motivational Speech on PERSPECTIVE (Featuring Marcus Elevation Taylor)

 

 

 

   

Like Christina Perri in her song I Believe (the film version), I do believe that one day we will all discover this great fake. Don't worry about me because, as it is said in the song, "this is not the end for me, this is the beginning". This is also how Nadal has overcome all the difficulties in life and his injuries!!! Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along!!

 

 

As well, this is not the end for you, either. It is just the beginning of new stage in your life and I wish you all the best. It's been a pleasure to work with you these long 6 years!!!

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

Episode 220511 / 11 May 2022    >>>   Pigs on patrol   -    Language related to 'farming'.  

Need-to-know language: scarecrow, harvest, crop, soil  & fertile.

 

WHY WE LOVE Rafael Nadal - The G.O.A.T Tribute (21 Grand Slams Special | Thank you, Rafa!)

 

John McEnroe tells us the true story behind the legend of Rafa Nadal!!

14 Roland Garros - How Rafael Nadal BROKE a Grand Slam (all French Open winners of the Open Era)

 

Our students at work...

Project about The Hound of the Baskervilles  by Sergio García (1º Bach A)

Project about  Cervantes Meets Shakespeare  by Raquel Peinado (1º Bach A)

Victory belongs to the most tenacious

 

 

"Victory belongs to the most persevering." A quote attributed to Napoleon I and one which Roland Garros made his own... so much so that he inscribed it on his planes' propellers.

 

 

Here are two documents about this pioneer Roland Garros in English and in French. You'll discover an amazing story. 

 

 

On the whole, our students should never give up. They should keep working in a tenacious (synonym: 'persevering') way so as to achieve their goals in life.

 

 

GET UP AND KEEP FIGHTING - Powerful Motivational Speech (Featuring Billy Alsbrooks)

   

My encouraging song to help you keep fighting: Keep Singing by Rick Astley. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along!!

 

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• Learning about past habits: USED TO, BE USED TO, GET USED TO  (BBC Learning English)
  

• A listening exercise for you to do:  People who can taste words (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)   

• Detective work: Part 10: Getting a confession  (BBC Learning English)

• News Review:  Monkeypox: New disease spreads  (BBC Learning English)

 

 

 

 

 

Rafael Nadal beats Novak Djokovic in battle of the GOATS | Eurosport Tennis

 

 

Other interesting videos to watch: Eurosport highlights ,  highlights , Zverev vs. Alcaraz

Rafael Nadal vs Casper Ruud - Final Highlights I Roland-Garros 2022

 

Rafael Nadal's Interview after winning 14th Roland-Garros | Roland Garros 2022 | Eurosport Tennis

 

 

John McEnroe makes his pick for Roland-Garros 2022 | Eurosport Tennis

 

Sculptures to mark the tournament’s history I Roland-Garros 2021   ( 1 & 2 )

 

 

Another example of tenacity is Jaycee Carroll., the American basketball player who has played for Real Madrid for so many years. Actually, he is the foreign player with the most matches played for this team.

 

CBS News >>> Rafael Nadal on record 22nd Grand Slam title, 14th French Open victory

 

Rafael Nadal - ALL 22 Grand Slam Championship Points (2005-2022 | The G.O.A.T)

 

How Rafael Nadal set the best tennis record of all time (all French Open winners of the Open Era)

 

 

 

Activities for my students:

• 1º ESO - Talking about routines (Unit 3). Interview Rafa Nadal about his daily routines?

  Example: What time do you get up? When do you have breakfast?

• 1º ESO - Describe Rafa Nadal physically (Unit 1). What does he look like?
  

Example: What does he look like? He's quite tall. He's got short brown hair.

• 1º ESO - A friend of yours wants to become a professional tennis player (Unit 5. Exercise 8). Using the modal verbs MUST, CAN, SHOULD in the affirmative and the negative give him/her some advice and think about possible questions she/he can ask you.

  Example: You must have a tennis racket. You can play in Salobreña. You shouldn't eat too much before a match. 

  Can you play when it rains? Must I wear shorts? Should you have some classes before a match?