Keeping us alive

This fire, this desire to live... or just the love for our lover, relatives, friends... is keeping us alive and is making us fight day after day in these tough conditions.

 

 

The DIY diabetes kit that's keeping us alive (BBC News)

Blood tales: the magic liquid that keeps us alive (The Guardian)

 

   Here's a song by Jonathan Roy:   Keeping Me Alive 

 

 

 

Some activities for you to do:    

• 

  Listening exercise for you to do: Working for yourself   (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

• English in a Minute:   4 ways to use 'LIKE'   (BBC Learning English)

• The English We Speak : Workation   (BBC Learning English) 
  

 

Here are a couple of interesting articles about cybersecurity and your data on the web (Nightfall): 

• 5 Tips for Building a Culture of Security Among Remote Employees  

• 4 Most Common Types of Cybersecurity Threats  

 

 

 

Here are some projects by our students:

• Project about Jane Eyre by Aroa Bolaños (2º Bach A)

• Project about Jane Eyre by Ana Muñoz (2º Bach A)

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 210210 / 10 February 2021    >>>  Roller-skating making a comeback -    Language related to 'new hobbies'.  Need-to-know language: challenge, switch off, craze, life's too short & captivated.

 

Nadal is still alive at the Australian Open:

 

 

Top 5 shots - Day 8 | Australian Open 2021 - Highlights | Tennis | Eurosport

 

 

Wild wolves not to be hunted in Spain any more!!

 

 The hunting of wild wolves is to be banned at last!!! This was a wish Dr Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente had long, long time ago. But who was this great man?

Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, the Spanish David Attenborough

 

Some videos about this great man, who was a naturalist and broadcaster (in Spanish):

• Félix el último héroe 

• Some scenes with wolves filmed by him
  

• El hombre y la tierra: Capítulo 55 - El lobo | RTVE Archivo

 

 

 

Wolves 101 | Nat Geo Wild

 

Valley of the Wolves | Awesome Animals

 

There has always been a controversy between those people protecting these wild animals and those people affected by the attacks of the wolves on their herds of sheep, cattle... and that is the main issue of this new law. 

 

Here are some articles for you to read about the issue:

 

• Would we all be better off living with wolves? (The Guardian)
  

• The mystery of Spain’s dead wolves (El País)
  

• Return of the wolf haunts Spanish farmers (The Irish Times)
  

• The Spanish 'wolf man' who survived 12 years  in the wild (BBC News) Marcos Rodriguez Pantoja: Did this man live with wolves?
  

• Harmless or vicious hunter? The uneasy return of Europe's wolves (The Guardian)
  

 

Some activities for you to do:    

• A word to describe an experimental project : Moonshot   (The English We Speak, BBC Learning English)

• News Review:   INDIA: flood in Himalayas   (BBC Learning English)

• New English expression : I'll send him packing   (BBC Learning English) What does 'to roast someone' mean? 

 

mmmEnglish shows us How To Create More Confidence [& Stop Being Shy]

 

 

 

   Here's a nordic lullaby:   The Wolf Song (with English subtitles) 

 

 

Nadal is back in Australia playing the Australian Open, but also another great young Spanish tennis player:

Carlos Alcaraz: Spain’s Next Nadal? | Trans World Sport

 

Whatever will be, will be

 

Tough times to live. Many of our students are still kept confined in their homes either because they have tested Coronavirus positive or just because they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive.

With our BEATING COVID-19 page in our site and some online classes we are all trying to lessen the effects of this lockdown, but we need our students' effort to overcome this situation successfully.

What's the opposite of the verb 'to lessen'? What word does it come from? What does the expression 'Whatever will be, will be' in Spanish?

 

 

 

Let's start going through some interesting phrases to learn about COVID-19 pandemic:  

Contact tracing  ,   Flatten the curve   ,  New normal   ,    Living in a bubble

 

   I came across this old song and I thought it would be quite suitable for the situation we are going through. Just below we have a version with the lyrics. Pay attention to them and make a comment about the message given. Here's my musical hint in its  original version (film scene)  

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• Listening exercise for you to do : Can a woollen hat really keep you warm?   (BBC Learning English) Where does 'woolen' come from? Can you give other examples?
  

• English in a Minute:   4 PHRASAL VERBS for clothes (and accessories)   (BBC Learning English)

• News Review : Myanmar: Military takes control   (BBC Learning English) What does 'to roast someone' mean?

• BBC Master Class: Using stative verbs in the continuous form (BBC Learning English)
  

  
  

 

mmmEnglish: Perfect Your English Grammar | Stative Verbs & Continuous Tenses ❌

 

 

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 210203 / 03 February 2021    >>>  The 100-year-old magic trick -    Language related to 'magic'.  Need-to-know language: moment, illusion, captured their imagination, glory & landmark.

 

For our own good!!

 Unfortunately, some of our students have been, are and will be locked down for some time at home either because they are tested COVID-19 positive or because they have had a close contact with someone infected. So here we are all the staff at Mediterranean Sea School doing our best for the good of our students!!!

 

Here's an interesting document for you to read. Pay attention to all the vocabulary used and tell me which words you would add to our glossary:

COVID-19 Testing Overview (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

 

And some other articles for you to read:

• What you need to know if you’re getting tested for Covid-19 before seeing family (The Guardian)
  

  

• Coronavirus: Why are some people testing positive more than once? (BBC News)
  

• Here's why you can test negative but still be infected and contagious (CNN)
  

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• Listening exercise for you to do : The woman whose cells never die   (BBC Learning English)
  

• English in a Minute:   4 phrasal verbs for DATING   (BBC Learning English)

• News Review : UK: Tough new travel restrictions   (BBC Learning English) What does 'to roast someone' mean?

• 6 Minute Grammar:  DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES (BBC Learning English)

 

   Always looking for the good of our students, here's my musical hint:  Look For The Good  by Jason Mraz

 

News Review: Russian Navalny Protests  (BBC Learning English)

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 210127 / 27 January 2021    >>>  Dealing with Rome's starling problem -    Language related to 'humans vs nature'.  Need-to-know language: predators, murmuration, nuisance, augur & coexist.

 

The Australian Open is coming soon  >> 

Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem | EXHIBITION 2021

 

Don't get sick...

 

... and stay safe!!  We are living crucial moments to curb the third wave of the COVID pandemic. We don't want to regret complying with all the safety measures and forced the authorities stating this: "We regret to announce that we will be locked down again for two weeks"

 

English in a Minute:   REGRET doing sth vs to do sth   (BBC Learning English)

 

 

Here's also a nice story, just in case: SICK DAY (Stories for children, BBC Learning English)

Some activities for you to do: 

• Listening exercise for you to do : What makes a good story?   (BBC Learning English)
  

• Fluent English for TRAVEL:  Learn AIRPORT English vocabulary  with TV series
  

• 

  News Review : UK: Tough new travel restrictions   (BBC Learning English) What does 'to roast someone' mean?

• GoNaturalEnglish.com:  Improve Your Listening and Speaking Skills (Gabby)

Covid: WHO urges tougher measures to curb 'alarming' variant (BBC News)

Covid: tough UK restrictions to last until February at least, say experts (The Guardian)

English with Lucy: How to STOP being shy - 6 steps to be CONFIDENT  >>>

 

Project about Jane Eyre by Desirée Rodríguez (2º Bach A)

Project about A Foreigner in Britain by Johana Gutiérrez (1º Bach A)

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 210120 / 20 January 2021    >>>  Farming the sea for the food of the future -    Language related to 'farming'.  Need-to-know language: food bowl, reared, blue economy, aqua culture & supply chains.

Polyglots and Frontliners

What is a polyglot? Can you give a definition?

 

Here's a listening exercise for you to do and learn about it: Is learning languages good for us? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

The advantages of being able to speak several languages are so many. You are never afraid to travel because you can make yourself understood wherever you go and you can understand people and at the same time be more open and learn about other cultures. If you are student, apart from being most useful for your Curriculum Vitae, it enables you to read any bibliography and later it is so much easier to find a job. Therefore, the advantages are countless.

4 BENEFITS OF BEING A POLYGLOT (Seekapor.com, an educational companion)

Some activities for you to do: 

• The English We Speak : Mic drop   (BBC Learning English) What does 'to roast someone' mean?
  

• English with Lucy:  How to learn fluent English on your own at home  (5-step study plan)

• And who are the frontliners here in Spain? The English We Speak : Frontliner   (BBC Learning English) What does 'to roast someone' mean?

• English in a Minute:  3 ways to pronounce '-ED' (BBC Learning English)

 

 

Your English teacher always wants to be a polyglot, a frontliner, an icebreaker... people even Call me The Breeze + (with lyrics) from the Mediterranean Sea (J.J. Cale), but here's another version with Eric Clapton>>>>

 

Learning languages with Big Bang Theory  >>>>

  Klingon vs Ubbi Dubbi  

How to Understand Sarcasm in English with The Big Bang Theory

 

 

Sleeping like a log

Sleeping is essential in our lives and for our health. You may have some sleep disorders when you've got exams the next day, when you've got a problem to solve... or just because you are getting old. Yes, because babies usually are an example of good sleepers.

 

However, now young people are having more and more problems with sleep. Why??? And this is obviously affecting their success in life.

This post is connected with this Selectivity exam:

2019 - OPTION A: ELDERLY SPANISH COUPLE SLEEP IN PARK AFTER BEING EVICTED & OPTION B: SOCIAL MEDIA AND MENTAL HEALTH 

 

By the way, do you remember the song by The Beatles A Hard Day's Night? Have a look at the lyrics.

 

Some interesting articles for you to read and videos to watch:

• Sleep problems mounting in children (BBC News)
  

• Sharp rise in hospital admissions for children with sleep disorders (The Guardian)

• Coronavirus lockdown caused sharp increase of insomnia in UK (The Guardian)
  

• Matthew Walker Teaches the Science of Better Sleep | Official Trailer | MasterClass (Learn how to sleep correctly)
  

• How To Improve Your Sleep | Matthew Walker

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Big: To Be With You - Live from the living room some years later (with lyrics) 

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• Talking about HUMAN EMOTIONS  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

• Grammar practice: Verb patterns (BBC Learning English)

• English with Lucy:  MUCH or MANY or A LOT OF??? Countable and Uncountable Nouns!

 

Project about Jane Eyre by María Prados (2º Bach A)

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 210113 / 13 January 2021    >>>  Extreme E: The new electric motorsports series ( Learn English with Sir Lewis Hamilton ) -    Language related to 'power'.  Need-to-know language: horsepower, acceleration, generate, fuel cell & capable.

Year of challenges

 Any New Year is full of challenges, but probably this one is even more (included the recovery from this amazing snowstorm all over Spain), especially for those students of mine in the level of Bachillerato.

 

What are your challenges for this year? Getting the highest marks, passing your B2, doing the university degree in the university you wish, getting over the pandemic....???? 

Or just eating healthier. Here's a listening exercise for you to do: Why can't we resist comfort food? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

My personal challenges are, among others, making my students' academic challenges become a reality and going back to our old days' normality!!!!

English in a Minute:   4 uses of 'AS'   (BBC Learning English)

 

And here's another challenge for our country:

• Spain paralyzed by snowstorm, sends out vaccine, food convoys (CNN)
  

• At least three people die in Spain's worst snowstorm in 50 years  (The Guardian)
  

• Historic snowfall buries Madrid as storm slams Spain (The Washington Post)

 

Weather Events 2021 - Snowstorm - heavy snow & risk of flooding (Spain) - BBC News- 10th January 2021

 

Storm Filomena: Spain sees 'exceptional' snowfall (BBC News)

News Review: Record-breaking snow storm hits Spain  (BBC Learning English)

Talking about THE ENVIRONMENT  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 210106 / 06 January 2021    >>>  Fruit fashion -    Language related to 'design'.  Need-to-know language: standards, sewed, vision & ran with it.

Post-Brexit life

No more countdowns!!!  Brexit is just a fact, a part of our history books. There are certain things that have changed back to what it was like some years ago, but there are some other things that still remain and that it will difficult to make them move back in the past.

Here's a good summary of all the changes that can affect British citizens:

Brexit: how the new rules will change your visits to the EU (The Guardian)

 

Other related articles:

• Life after Brexit: What will change for people in 2021 when the UK is free of EU rules? (Euronews)
  

• Life post -Brexit: The ins and outs of travel to the EU get complicated for British people (Euronews)
  

 

What Happens to Gibraltar After Brexit? Britain's Territory Stranded Post Brexit? - TLDR News

 

 ....And what about the post-Trump times in the USA?

News Review: Trump tells official: 'Find' votes   (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• Coldplay's Best Songs To Learn English (Learn English with songs)

  

• Talking about TECHNOLOGY  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)
  

• A listening exercise for you to do: What is fat-shaming?   (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

• English in a Minute:    Ways to say 'tired' in British English (BBC Learning English)