sábado, 30 de enero de 2021

425. HOW ARE YOU?

 ¿Alguna vez te ha pasado que no sabes qué responder cuando te preguntan How are you? If you want to sound like a real native speaker, your should know some very useful expressions to use day by day. Please comment if you like the video or have any questions. 👍



424. PHRASAL VERBS

 

En este video tenéis una explicación muy práctica sobre el uso de los Phrasal verbs en inglés. Si os gusta, podéis suscribiros al canal. Un saludo!


miércoles, 27 de enero de 2021

423. The importance of reading in English

Of course there are a lot of words you don´t know the meaning of when you´re reading. So, look them up > buscarlas in your dictionary or in wordreference and write them down > apuntarlas in your vocabulary book.

I put some words and expressions in bold > negrita which perhaps you don´t know.

April Fool's Day > Level B2

April Fool's Day is a special day for jokes and tricks in many countries. Read this article to find out all about it.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.

April Fool's Day is celebrated on 1 April in many countries around the world. On this day, people traditionally play practical jokes on each other and have fun trying to make other people believe things that are not true.

April Fool's traditions

In the UK, jokes and tricks can be played up until noon on 1 April. After midday it's considered bad luck to play a trick. Anyone who forgets this and tries a joke in the afternoon becomes an 'April Fool' themselves.

So, what kind of jokes do people play? Well, a simple example would be telling your friend that their shoelaces are undone. Then, when they bend down to do them up, you shout, 'April Fool!', and they realise their shoelaces are fine. Maybe it's not your kind of humour, but watch out, there's always someone who will find it hilarious! In Ireland, a popular prank is to send someone on a 'fool's errand'. The victim is sent to deliver a letter, supposedly asking for help. When the person receives the letter, they open it, read it and tell the poor messenger that they will have to take the letter to another person. This continues and the victim ends up taking the message to several different people until someone feels sorry for them and shows them what the letter says: 'Send the fool to someone else.'

In France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and French-speaking areas of Canada and Switzerland, the 1 April tradition is known as the 'April Fish'. A common joke is to try to stick a paper fish onto a victim's back without being noticed.

April Fool's Day in the media

Some newspapers, TV channels and well-known companies publish false news stories to fool people on 1 April. One of the earliest examples of this was in 1957 when a programme on the BBC, the UK's national TV channel, broadcast a report on how spaghetti grew on trees. The film showed a family in Switzerland collecting spaghetti from trees and many people were fooled into believing it, as in the 1950s British people didn't eat much pasta and many didn't know how it was made! Most British people wouldn't fall for the spaghetti trick today, but in 2008 the BBC managed to fool their audience again with their Miracles of Evolution trailer, which appeared to show some special penguins that had regained the ability to fly. Two major UK newspapers, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror, published the 'important story' on their front pages.

On April Fool's Day 1998, the American hamburger chain Burger King announced that it had created a left-handed hamburger. The advert for the 'new product' explained that all the ingredients had been rotated 180 degrees so that it was more comfortable for left-handed people to pick up and eat. The following day, Burger King admitted that this advertisement had been a hoax, but said that thousands of customers had gone to restaurants across the USA asking for a left-handed burger.

April Fool's Day controversy

April Fool's Day fans say it encourages fun and laughter, and one study found that it reduces stress and therefore could be good for your heart. Other people point out that it can have negative consequences, like confusion, worry or wasting time and resources. For example, a spokesperson for Dublin Zoo said staff had 'lost their sense of humour' after they received more than 100,000 calls asking for invented names such as Mr C Lyons, Anna Conda and G Raffe! The callers were victims of a phone hoax, who contacted the zoo after receiving a text message encouraging them to make the call.

In the era of 'fake news' it's often hard on a normal day of the year to work out when we're being tricked into believing something that isn't true, but on April Fool's Day you need to be even more alert. No one knows exactly how the tradition started, but there are plenty of people who enjoy this light-hearted day and are happy to keep the tradition alive.

Source: British Council

422. A POEM

It´s fun to write poems using your imagination and choosing words that rhyme.

I sometimes like to write poems when I´m inspired. It´s a great way to express how you feel.

I wrote this poem in 2017.


Breathing deeply

Walking slowly

The sun above me

Feeling so happily free

Cool breeze in the air

Gently going through my hair

The sun on my face

Will surely leave a lasting trace



Walking along the path of giant trees

Whispering gentle songs of quiet peace

Feeling good to be alive

Not important when I arrive

Time is still


This moment my very will

As I walk up the gentle hill

I may die on this day

Let my spirit take me away

And be born again in the month of May



Copyright Alan Moliner 2017

martes, 26 de enero de 2021

421. NEW IDIOMS EXERCISE (EXPRESIONES/FRASES HECHAS)

I've recently discovered this video, which I think is very interesting for improving your listening and conversation. Plus, she's a native speaker and she explains everything very clearly.

 

After watching the video and learning some of the idioms, you have to complete this exercise. Please, leave a comment if you have any doubt or a suggestion and click on like if you love the video. Hope you enjoy it! 

Exercise: Choose the correct idiom for each sentence. 

1. As you can see, I´m very busy, so please ............... 
2. It was a tense situation, so I had to think of a way to ................ 
3. Oh my God! It´s ................. We better take a raincoat. 
4. .............. Look who just arrived, late as always. 
5. I´m sure you can pass the test ..................
6. My father is always so funny, he loves ............... 
7. My brother is a ............... He´s lazy and all he does is watch televion. 
8. Don´t get ............... I´m doing the best I can. 
9. .............. I´m going to tell my boss that I don´t like working on Sunday. 
10. I´m going to clean my room and paint it a different color. Hahaha .............!