Learning and mastering English pronunciation can sometimes feel like a daunting task. I have been marking heaps of exams lately and now it’ s time for the oral test and if you want to know the truth… I ‘m dreading it!! Students insist on mispronouncing words they have heard a thousand times, like the word “since”, which they insistently pronounce as /sains/ and the “l” in words such as: walk, talk, should, half .… and would, when I’m well aware they know the “l” in these words is never pronounced.
By the time you finish watching this video, I bet you won’t forget how to pronounce “would”.
This clip from the movie “The Pink Panther” is probably one of the funniest I have ever seen and Steve Martin is at one of his best performances
The video you are about to watch is part of an activity I will be doing with my students one of these days. The videos of Mali and Dubai and all the exercises from the videos have been provided by my colleague MªJosé (visit her blog here). My only contribution has been to arrange what she so generously provided into a Lesson Plan which you will find here: Lesson Plan
I never say “no” when one of my friends phones me to suggest going shopping. I love it!!!
Although I like going shopping a lot I don’t see myself as a shopaholic: I am definitely not a compulsive shopper although I am one of those who sort of view going shopping as a hobby. It helps me relax but I certainly do not spend money I do not have and I am not drowning in debt because of my purchases. Well, this is what I tell my mother every single time she tells me off for wearing new clothes.
Anyway, this is a video from the film Pretty Woman, which I’m sure all of you have seen.
You can do three things:
♦ Just watch and enjoy it
For students in the elementary level
♦ Watch the video and do some exercises ♦ Do a whole lesson plan on going shopping Here
And now that we are on the subject what about learning some expressions containing the word shop?
→ talk shop
if people who work together talk shop, they talk about their work when they are not at work Even when they go out in the evening, they just talk shop all the time.
→go window-shopping to go about looking at goods in store windows without actually buying anything. Joan said she was just going window-shopping, but she bought a new coat.
→shop around(for something) to shop at different stores to find what you want at the best price. You can find a bargain, but you’ll have to shop around.
→be like a bull in a china shop
to often drop or break things because you move awkwardly or roughly.
Rob’s like a bull in a china shop – don’t let him near those plants.
This is the speech given in class by Olaya Cruz, a student in the Pre-intermediate level. Thank you very much Olaya, it was beautifully done.
“Nothing else matters” is a song written in 1991 by Metallica, a band of Thrash metal. This song is considered the best hit in history of metal ballads.
James Hetfield, vocals and guitar of Metallica wrote this song. It was written when he was talking on the phone with his girlfriend. While he was talking to her, at the same time he was playing the strings of his guitar at random with the other hand. He heard a rhythm that he really loved, so he hang up and started to compose this beautiful song.
James initially wrote this song for his family, for the homesickness because he spent almost all his life in tours and concerts -he says in the song “so close no matter how far”- so he couldn’t dedicate so much time to them
In the beginning he didn’t want to publish this song because he considered it very personal, but Kirk Hammett, another member of Metallica, listened to it and loved it, so finally they decided to include the song in the “Black Album”.
This song was played with the Symphonic Orchestra of San Francisco and it was also played in a concert dedicated to Fredie Mercury when he died.
Since this song has been published a lot of artists, like Apocalyptica, Lucie Silvas and White Raven recorded new versions of the original song.
Nowadays this song is considered, according to James H. a song dedicated to all his fans who fall in love.
Have you ever put your life at risk? or Have you ever done any extreme sports? I began to wonder whether I’ve ever had .
The truth is I’ve never been an adventurous person; maybe I was a bit more in the past when I was younger. I remember I used to like horror films and talking about paranormal phenomena with my friends. I even played the Ouija Board once or twice and went with some peers to visit a mansion ghost, which was said to live in a house in ruins in my own hometown; but I, at least, was pushing the limits of my own courage although I pretended otherwise. I remember the rush of adrenaline I experienced and the feeling of being amazingly brave. But these can be hardly be named extreme sports although some people would say that playing with the unknown is much worse than risking your life doing bungee jumping or sky diving something, I know, I’ll never have the guts to try.
Come to think of it, I’ve sometimes put my life at risk like when I hitchhiked in England being only 19, or refusing to cross the road when seeing a gang of punks drinking and I had to walk past. This counts as risky , doesn’t it?
But the maddest thing I’ve ever done was about 10 years ago in the Wagner Bros Park, in Madrid, when I rode in one of these ride thrill attractions. It was a vertical tower of about 60metres. You are launched up and , believe or not, you take off from your seat and you literally fly before dropping in a breathtaking descent. When I think about it, it still gives me the creeps… Well, I warned you , I’ve never been a thrill seeker!!
And you… Do you live on adrenaline rushes? Are you hooked on the buzz of the extreme?
If you would like to do a lesson on Extreme Sports and Taking Risks , click HERE
