Today a list of phrasal verbs useful for New Year's Eve.
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
PHRASAL VERBS FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
SURPRISING CURIOSITIES OF BRITISH HISTORY
"I NEVER KNEW THAT ABOUT BRITAIN" is a British TV programme series which explores surprising aspects of British history. Here's an episode in the series which answers the following questions:
- WHERE IS THE CENTRE OF LONDON?
- WHY DO THE BRITISH DRIVE ON THE LEFT?
- WHO INVENTED TRAFFIC LIGHTS?
Monday, 29 December 2014
PREPOSITIONS OF MOVEMENT
Saturday, 27 December 2014
CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR'S DINNERS 2.0
Friday, 26 December 2014
26th DECEMBER: BOXING DAY/St. STEPHEN'S
Today is BOXING DAY or St. Stephen's Day in Great Britain. It's also an important day in Ireland, Catalonia... Here's some information about it from the Wikipedia.
Boxing Day is traditionally the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts from their superiors.
The exact etymology of the term "boxing" is unclear. There are several competing theories, none of which is definitive. The European tradition, which has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown. It may come from a custom in the late Roman/early Christian era, wherein metal boxes placed outside churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen] which in the Western Church falls on the same day as Boxing Day.
In Britain, it was a custom for tradesmen to collect "Christmas boxes" of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year. This custom is linked to an older English tradition: Since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts and bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.
St. Stephen's Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen, is a Christian saint's day celebrated on 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. Many Eastern Orthodox churches adhere to the Julian calendar and mark St. Stephen's Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which places it on 9 January of the Julian calendar used in secular contexts. It commemorates St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It is an official public holiday in Austria, Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Poland.
Thursday, 25 December 2014
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Wednesday, 24 December 2014
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
50 WAYS TO TAKE A BREAK
Now that we're on holidays, here are some ideas of what to do and how to take a break, doing something different than usual.
Monday, 22 December 2014
Saturday, 20 December 2014
PASS THE SALT!
There's a time and a place for each and everything. And when we're eating, we shouldn't be typing. Have a look at this video, does it sound familiar? Remember for the following special Christmas dinner meetings...
Video "PASS THE SALT":
Friday, 19 December 2014
HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY 2014! (& SEE HOW TO WISH A MERRY XMAS IN 24 LANGUAGES)
Here's the post to wish you a really happy Christmas holiday 2014. And at the same time you can learn 24 different ways of greeting for a Merry Christmas, watch the video below.
Merry Christmas in 24 different languages, watch the video:
Galician version of this post @ ArquivosDoTrasno.
GRANNY O'GRIMM'S OWN CHRISTMAS GREETING
Granny O'Grim is an Irish cartoon character from the Dublin based animation studios Brown Bag, known by its TV series and short films. More information about Granny O'Grim at her website GRANNY O'GRIM. But here's her own personal Christmas greeting on video.
Video:
TIPS FOR A BRITISH CHRISTMAS
We're approaching Christmas, so it's good to check on what makes a real British Christmas compared to celebrations in other countries. Here's another Anglophenia video which gives the top ten of British Christmas traditions, confronting most of them with American ones. Take a look...
Check your understanding after watching & listening. Answer the following questions:
1) HOW DOES FATHER CHRISTMAS GET HIS LETTERS IN BRITAIN?
2) WHERE DO THE BRITISH HANG THE CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS?
3) WHAT IS A CHRISTMAS CRACKER?
4) WHAT MUST YOU DO WITH A CHRISTMAS HAT?
5) WHAT DO BRITISH HAVE FOR DINNER ON CHRISTMAS?
6) WHAT'S A CHRISTMAS PUDDING?
7) WHAT DOES THE QUEEN DO EVERY CHRISTMAS DAY?
8) WHAT'S BOXING DAY? WHY IS IT CALLED BOXING DAY?
9) WHAT HAPPENS ON BOXING DAY NOWADAYS?
10) WHEN SHOULD YOU TAKE DOWN THE CHRISTMAS TREES?
Video HOW TO HAVE A BRITISH CHRISTMAS:
More about Christmas in the video below:
More about it all: CHRISTMAS IS COMING (from English With a Twist)
ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS ON THE VIDEO:
1) In England, letters to Father Christmas aren't sent by post, instead they're burnt in fires which supposedly take them directly to the North Pole.
2) Christmas stockings are hung on the beds, close to the person sleeping.
3) Christmas crackers are a colourful cardboard tube filled with tiny prizes, a paper crown and/or jokes, which are pulled by each side to break.
4) Paper crowns must be worn on your heads.
5) Turkey, pork sausages, roast potatoes and Brussel sprouts are the typical food eaten at the Christmas dinner.
6) A Christmas pudding is a dense boiled cake of dried fruits, spices and soaked in alcohol and made months before Christmas.
7) She gives her yearly speech about the year's past events on TV.
8) Boxing Day is the day after Christmas. It's called so either because workers used to receive presents from their bosses or because people had to prepare them in boxes for the poor.
9) It's a holiday now and people go shopping for bargains.
10) The British say that the Christmas tree and decorations should be taken down within 12 days after Christmas to be lucky.
Etiquetas:
Christmas,
Link,
Listening,
Practice,
Traditions,
UK,
Vocabulary
Thursday, 18 December 2014
SAM SMITH, "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS"
Every Christmas, pop artists take up an oldie or brand new Christmas song to try to become the nº1 single in the Christmas charts. In previous years, we've shown famous artists with their Christmas songs and covers.
This year, up to now, we've only found this song by Sam Smith, who covers an old Christmas classic "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS". Just his voice and a piano. You'll surely recognize the song.
Video "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS", Sam Smith:
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
THE SIMPSONS ARE 25, TOO
Others that are celebrating their 25th anniversary are the Simpsons. The TV-cartoon family are celebrating exactly today, December 17th, the anniversary of the broadcast of their first ever episode on American TV, since then they have become a worldwide TV phenomenon.
so, HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY, SIMPSONS!
More about the Simpsons on the Wikipedia.
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
PASSIVE WITH MODALS
This post is to check on how to make the passive when using modal verbs. Always follow this pattern:
MODAL VERB + BE + past participle
Monday, 15 December 2014
CHRISTMAS IN BRITAIN
Another post devoted to how Christmas is celebrated in Britain. Sally and Jack show us different traditions to celebrate Christmas there.
Video:
Sunday, 14 December 2014
RIPPLE
Another video about giving... An act of kindness can make someone's day. For him, it lasts a lifetime. This story is about a man who wants to pay tribute to a stranger's good deed that moved him decades ago.
Video:
Saturday, 13 December 2014
GIVING
Approaching Christmas, which is time to give and think about the others. This is a Thailandese TV-ad which has gone viral on the web, with more than 12 and a half million views on YouTube. The power of giving without expecting anything back. Here's the video with English subtitles.
Video "GIVING"
Thursday, 11 December 2014
PRONOUNCING THE NAMES OF SOME BRITISH PLACES
You all know how difficult is pronunciation in English, there aren't many rules. But pronunciarion even becomes more difficult with proper names, like names of towns, villages and cities. Here's a list of British places and how they are pronounced. Check them.
- Alciston, East Sussex – Aston
- Alfriston, East Sussex – All-Friston
- Allerton, Bradford, West Yorkshire – Ollerton
- Alnmouth – Allenmouth
- Alnwick (Northumberland) – Anic
- Althorp (where Princess Diana is buried) The village is pronounced Olthorpe but the House is pronounced Orltrop (notice the reversal of the O and the R!)
- Ansty, West Sussex An-Sty
- Ardingly (Sussex) – Ardingl-eye
- Bamburgh (Northumberland) – Bambruff or Bambro?
- Beaconsfield – Bekonsfield
- Beaulieu – Bewley
- Bedworth – Bedduth
- Belvoir – Beever
- Berwick on Tweed – Berik on Tweed
- Bicester – Bister
- Boughton, Lincolnshire – Bootun
- Brough, East Yorkshire – Bruff
- Burpham, Surrey or West Sussex Ber-Fam
- Chippenham (see comments at top of page) – Chipnam, Chipenum
- Chiswick, London – Chizzik
- Cholmondeston, Cheshire – Chumston
- Cholmondley – Chumly
- Edinburgh – Edinboro or Edinburah (just NOT Edinburg)
- Eltham, SE London – El-tum
- Etchilhampton (near Devizes Wilts) – Eyeshalton
- Fowey (Cornwall) Foy
- Frome – Froom
- Gillingham, Kent – Jillingham
- Gillingham, Norfolk & Dorset – Gillingham (hard sounding “g” as in girl)
- Gotham, Nottinghamshire – Goat’am
- Glasgow – Glazga
- Gloucester – Gloster
- Greenwich – Grenich
- Grosmont, North Yorkshire – Grow-mont
- Grosvenor – Grovenor
- Harrogate – Harrowget
- Hastings, Sussex – Haystings
- Holborn, Central London – Hoe-burn
- Hunstanton (Norfolk) – Hunston
- Keswick, Cumbria, England – Kezik
- Kettering (Northamptonshire) Ke’-rin – Apostrophe indicated glottal stop
- Launceston (UK) – Lawnston
- Leadenham, Lincolnshire – Led’nam
- Leicester – Lester
- Leominster – Lemster
- Lewes, East Sussex – Loowis
- Mildenhall (Wilthsire) – Minal (to rhyme with spinal)
- Milton Keynes – Milton Keens
- Mousehole, Cornwall – Mowzel
- Norwich – NORRich
- Penistone – Penny -stun
- Plymouth – Plimuth
- Ruislip – Ryeslip
- Salisbury, England – Sawlsbry
- Scone, Perth, Scotland – Skoon
- Shrewsbury – Shrowsberry
- Slough – Slow (to rhyme with how/now)
- Southwark – Suthuk
- Truro, Cornwall – Tru-row
- Warwick – Warrick
- Welwyn – Wellin
- Weymouth, Dorset – Waymuth
- Worcester – Wooster
Video practice:
Wednesday, 10 December 2014
SOME FALSE FRIENDS
Here's a quick reference list of common false friends, that is, English words which are similar to other Spanish ones, but actually don't mean what they seem to.
- abstract = abstracto, but also resumen.
- to achieve = lograr o alcanzar, not archivar.
- to assist = ayudar, not acudir = to attend.
- accommodation = alojamiento, not acomodamiento = arrangement
- actual = real, not actual
- advice = consejo, not aviso
- actually = en realidad, not actualmente.
- advertise = anunciar, not advertir = to warn.
- apt = propenso o apropiado, not apto = qualified or able.
- argument = discusión, not argumento = plot.
- carpet = alfombra, not carpeta = file, folder
- casual = fortuito, informal, ocasional…, not casual
- constipated = estreñido, not constipado = (have) a cold
- to compromise = ceder, aceptar o poner en peligro, not comprometer(se) = to (get) involve, to get engaged,
- dessert = postre. For desierto = desert
- diversion = desvío, not diversión = fun, amusement
- embarrased = avergonzado, not embarazada = pregnant
- exit = salida, not éxito = success, not suceso
- grocery = tienda que vende comestibles, not grosería = rudeness
- hardly = apenas, difícilmente. not duramente
- by heart = de memoria, not de corazón
- large = grande, not largo = long
- lecture = conferencia, not lectura = reading
- library = biblioteca, not librería = book-shop/store
- miserable = triste, destrozado, abatido, deprimido, horrible, terrible, not miserable = mean
- parent(s) = padres (padre+madre), not pariente, familiares = relatives
- petrol = gasolina, not petróleo = oil
- to presume = suponer, not presumir = to show off.
- to pretend = simular, fingir, not pretender = hope, expect
- prize = premio, not precio = price
- quiet = silencioso, tranquilo, not quieto = still
- quote = cita textual or presupuesto, not cuota = fee.
- to rape = violar, not rapar = to shave.
- regular = medio, de tamaño normal, not regular, ‘no muy bien’ = bad, not so good
- rope = cuerda, soga, not ropa = clothes
- rude =maleducado, descortés.not rudo, bruto, basto = rough.
- salad = ensalada, not salado = salty.
- sale = venta, not salir = to exit, to go out
- sensible = sensato, not sensible = sensitive
- succeed = tener éxito, not suceder = happen
- ultimately = a la larga, not últimamente = lately, recently.
Link to other false friends.
Etiquetas:
Basics,
Confusing,
FalseFriends,
Link,
Vocabulary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
This site is used with a non-profit educational purpose only. If you find content (photo/video...) you think shouldn't have been included here, please tell me so I can delete it. Thanks.
Blog labels / Tabs
'-ED'
'-ING'
'S
1ºBac
1ºESO
2ºBac
2ºESO
3ºESO
4ºESO
8M
A(N)
ABAU
Abbreviations
Ability
Accents
Adjectives
Ads
Adverbs
Advicing
Agreeing
Agreement
Alphabet
Altkönigschule
Animals
Animation
Anniversaries
Antonyms
Apologizing
AprilFool
Art
Articles
AS
Aux.Verbs
Basics
BBC
BE
Behaviour
Biography
BlackFriday
Blog
Body
BonfireNight
BrE/AmE
Bullying
Business
BY
Carnival
Causative
Cause
Celebration
Christmas
CINEMA
Cities
CitySongs
ClassActivity
ClassrooManagement
ClassroomLanguage
Clothes
Collocations
Colours
Commitment
Communicating
Comparatives
Competition
Compounds
Conditionals
Confusing
Connectors
ContinuousTenses
Contractions
Contrast
ConversationAssist
Cooking
Coruña
Cosmos
Countability
COVID
Crime
Culture
Curiosities
CV
CW
Date
Day
Demonstratives
Descriptions
Design
Determiners
Directions
DO
Emails
EngDepActivities
EngEvolution
EnglishWeek
ENOUGH
Environment
EW19
Exams
Exclamations
F&AEssay
FalseFriends
Family
Feelings
Films
Food
Formal
FrequencyAdvs
Fun
Functions
Furniture
Future
Galicia
Game
Gastronomy
Gender
Genitive
Geography
GET
GO
Graduation
Grammar
Greetings
Greta
HAD BETTER
Halloween
HandwritingHistory
Harassment
HAVE
Health
Help tips
Heritage
History
Home
Homecoming
Homographs
Homophones
Horoscopes
Hull
HumanRights
Hygiene
ICT
Idioms
Imperative
Infinitive
Info
Informal
Instruments
Interjections
Internet
Introducing
Inviting
Ireland
IrregularVerbs
Jobs
Karaoke
Kron19
Kron23
LanguageLearning
Leisure
Letterwriting
LIKE
Listening
Literature
Lockdown
London
LoveActually
MAKE
Maps
Maths
Measures
Media
Memories
MindMap
Mistakes
ModalVerbs
Money
Music
MusicProject
Narrative
NaturalDisasters
Nature
Negative
News
Numbers
Nürn10/11
Nürn12
Nürn14
Nürn18
Obit
Obligation
Offering
Onomatopoeias
Opinions
Paddington
Palindrome
Passive
PASSWORD
Past
Peace
Penpals
PerfectTenses
Permission
Personality
Philosophy
Phoning
Photography
PhrasalVerbs
Pioneers
Plurals
Poetry
Politeness
Politics
Poll
Possessive
Possibility
Practice
Preference
Prefix
Prepositions
Present
PresentPerfect
Press
Prohibition
Projects
Promising
Pronouns
Pronunciation
Punctuation
Purpose
QTags
Qualifications
Quantifiers
QuestionMaking
Questionnaire
Quiz
Qwords
RafDieste
RD25Years
Reading
Reason
Recipes
Relatives
ReportedSpeech
RepVbs
Requesting
Retirement
Routines
Royals
Scholarships
SchoolActivities
Science
Scotland
SeaSongs
Secuencing
Senses
Shipwrecks
Shopping
Slang
Slide
Smileys
SocialMedia
Speaking
Spelling
Sport
SportProject
St.Patrick
Storytelling
Strategies
Stress
StudentExchange
StudentPics
StudentRecipes
Suffix
Suffragette
Suggestions
Symbols
Synonyms
Teaching
Technology
Terrorism
Thanksgiving
THE
THE SEA
Theatre
Time
Tools
Traditions
Translation
Travel
Tribute
TrinityExams
TV
UK
USA
UsedTo
Valentine
Vehicles
Verbs
VerbTenses
Videos
Vocabulary
vs
Wales
Wearing
Weather
Wellbeing
Willstätter
Wishing
Women
Wordbuilding
WordOrder
Writing