WISHING

As these days we make a lot of wishes, we devote this post to explain how to express wishes in English depending on if they are wishes/regrets about a present, past situation or wishes for the future. 

TEXTURES

PERSONALITY ACCORDING TO HOROSCOPES

Do you believe in horoscopes? Can someone's personality depend on the time of the year they were born in? Link to see what your horoscope sign says about your personality. Do you agree?

- YOUR PERSONALITY ACCORDING TO YOUR HOROSCOPE SIGN.

Other previous similar posts:

- ZODIAC SIGNS.

- MONTH OF BIRTH.

CURRENCY SYMBOLS: DOLLAR, POUNDS & YENS

Do you know the origin of the names and symbols of the different currency, here's a video that explains the origin of American dollar, British pound and Japanese yen.

BASIC ADJECTIVES

SILENT LETTERS

Here are charts with common words which have silent letters. Remember them.

Video on Silent Letters in English:

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ClickOnEnglish.

Click HERE for the infographic of British Christmas traditions.

CONTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS: GIVE SOMEONE A CHRISTMAS THEY'LL NEVER FORGET

In Spain we have the lottery, the cava or turron ads to announce that Christmas has arrived, In Britain it's these ads by Department Stores John Lewis that mark the beginning of the holiday season. Here's the ad from 2013: Give someone a Christmas they'll never forget. The soundtrack is a cover of Keane's song "Somewhere only we know" by Lily Allen.

Video making of:

WATCHING FILMS & TV SERIES IN ENGLISH

SCENES FROM "LOVE ACTUALLY" & "THE HOLIDAY"

So we've watched the films you chose in English previous to the Christmas holidays. You could see that you have understood quite a lot.

Once again reminding you that it's a good way to practice listening, pronunciation, entonation vocabulary & everyday expressions in context. Watching films or TV series is one of the funniest, chepeast and most efficient ways to learn English. Obviously watching them in English with English subtitles.

Here are some help tips:

- Choose a film. If possible one you've already seen, so you won't miss the plot.

- Play it in English with English subtitles. As time goes by try watching without them to check if you are able to understand it .

- Don't do it as a marathon. It's a fun way to learn. It shouldn't be boring so it's better to watch half or an hour of an English film a day.

- Write down each word you don't understand and look it up in the dictionary. Each and every new word you don't understand. It may seem tiring, but you'll be thankful. Revise them days later.

- Practice pronunciation. Try repeating some of the actor's lines, imitating their entonation.

Choose a film that you like. Here's a possible list by levels:
- Beginners: "Harry Potter", "Indiana Jones", "E.T."
- Intermediate: "Notting Hill", "Grease", "Casablanca"
-  Advanced: "The King's Speech", "My Fair Lady", "Billy Elliot"

To end, let's remember two scenes from the films we've just seen:
Video "Mark & Juliet's scenes/Christmas Cards for Juliet" from "Love Actually":

Video: "Mr Napkin Head & The Tent Scenes" from "The Holiday":




So why don't you watch a film or two in English during these holidays? Good practice.

A SNAPSHOT OF CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD

Today we're bringing you a link to see and check how Christmas is celebrated around the world through photos and descriptions of traditions. Take a look:

Link: Photobox's Snapshot of Christmas around the world

SUFFRAGETTE [7th CW]

Next Friday, a new film will be premiered in cinemas throughout Spain. "SUFFRAGETTE" is a 2015 British historical period drama directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan. The film stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Meryl Streep. It tells the story of the Suffragetts movement at the beginning of the XXth century. Women's suffrage movement fought for women's right to vote in the elections and take part in politics and can be considered a pioneering movement which we can work on for this year's School Cultural Week 2016. The English Departmente will be definitely working on it.

+ info: [@bbc.co.uk]

- The women's suffrage movement

- The suffragists

- The suffragettes

- Summary of the suffrage movement

Below pictures from the film and the video trailer:

"DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS?", BAND AID (1984)

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in reaction to television reports of the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded in a single day on 25 November 1984 by Band Aid, a supergroup put together by Geldof and Ure and consisting mainly of the biggest British and Irish musical acts at the time. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 3 December 1984 and aided by considerable publicity it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one and stayed there for five weeks, becoming the Christmas number one of 1984. The record became the fastest selling single in UK chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone and passing 3 million on the last day of 1984, on the way to becoming the biggest selling single of all time in the UK. 

The single's worldwide success in raising awareness and financial relief for the victims of the Ethiopian famine led the recording of several other charity singles in the UK and in other countries, such as "We Are the World" by USA for Africa. The song also led to various spin-off charity events, such the Live Aid concert which would take place seven months later in July 1985.

Video+on screen lyrics "DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS?", BandAid (1984)

SO YOU VOTED FOR...

1ºBAC-A results: 13 votes (half the class+4)
Winner film: "LOVE ACTUALLY" (5 votes)
("Stepmom" 4 / "The Holiday" 3 / "Peter's friends" 1)

Eva Menéndez: "I want to see 'Stepmom' because I like how Julia Roberts acts and I think it will be a very good film".

Vera Iglesias: "I want to see 'Love Actually' because I really like its actors and it is a great film that mixes romance with comedy".

Ana Amigo: "I want to see 'Love Actually' because there are very famous actors and it looks very funny".

Francisco Espiñeira: "I want to see 'Love Actually' because I think it will be entertaining".

Rodrigo Folgueira: "I want to see 'Stepmom' because I think it's a very original film and it can be funny and interesting".

Iulia Izabela: I want to see 'The Holiday' because I love Cameron Diaz and also because I saw the trailer and I think it could be a very interesting film".

Álvaro Vázquez: "I want to see 'The Holiday' because it's going to be a funny film".

Marina Saez: "I want to see 'Peter's Friends' because I think it is the funniest".

David Santiago: "I want to see 'Love Actually' because I think it's a funny film and I'll like it".

Antonio Díaz: "I want to see 'Love Actually' because I think it can be interesting and funny".

Paula Fernández: "I want to see 'Stepmom' because I think it will be a very good film".

Sara Calderón: "I prefer 'The Holiday' because I think it's the funniest film".

Pablo Rodríguez: "I want to see 'Stepmom' because I think it can be funny"

1ºBAC-B results: 12 votes. (Half of the class+2)
Winning film: "THE HOLIDAY" (10 votes)

Lorena Martínez: "I want to see 'The Holiday' because it is a funny film and I like the actors".

Eva Vecilla: "I want to see 'The Holiday' because it looks funny"

Daniel Fernández Pavón: "I would like to see 'The Holiday' because I find it funny"

Antón Ochoa: "I don't care what film..."

Marta Parga: "I would like to see "The Holiday" because it seems interesting and funny".

Silvia Vijande: "I would like to see "The Holiday" because I think Kate Winslet is a fantastic actress and the film looks great".

Álvaro Santiso: "I want to see "The Holiday", I think it is the funniest film."

Marta Mallo: ·I want to see "The Holiday" because people say that it's funny"

Andrea Iglesias: "I want to see "The Holiday" beecause it's interesting."

Noemi Zubieta: "I want to see "Stepmom" because I saw it and I think it's very funny"

Sergio Ríos: "I'd rather watch "The Holiday" because it looks funnier than the others".

David Mourenza: "I would like to see "The Holiday". Reason why??

BASIC PAST IRREGULAR VERB CHART (ORDERED IN GROUPS-2)

Here are other basic past irregular verb chart subdivided in clear groups:

GROUP 1- Irregular verbs which have all the same three forms.

GROUP 2- Irregular verbs which have the same past and past participle forms, in three subgroups:

a) ending in -D

b) ending in -GHT

c) ending in -T

GROUP 3- Irregular verbs which have three different forms for present, past and past participle, in another three subgroups:

a) ending in -EN

b) having the series E/-WN

c) having the vowel series I/A/U (begin/began/begun)

Video on the same topic:

For a more complete chart, link to previous post 

MAKING ENGLISH IRREGULAR VERBS EASY (Ordered in groups-1)

GRAMMATICAL WORDS

THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Every December 10th is the International Human Rights Day celebrated throughout the world.

+ info: HUMAN RIGHTS DAY.

VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AmE & BrE

Here above, you have another infographic with some differences between American & English vocabulary, useful when you're going to study or spend some time studying in any of the two places.

First section: Words that are completely different in each geographical area to refer to food/drink, clothes or scholar-academic issues.

Second section: Another list with words that have double meanings depending on if they're mentioned in America or in Britain, their meaning changes.

Below more examples of vocabulary differences between British and American English.

- CAR PARTS:

- FOOD VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES:

- LETTERS, PUNCTUATION & NUMBERS:

- BUILDINGS:

- CLOTHES & SHOES:

- SPORTS:

+ info: For a complete references of all the differences (spelling, vocabulary & pronunciation) between British & American English, on previous post in this blog go HERE.
+ info: More about AmE & BrE vocabulary differences
+ examples.