ZERO ARTICLE vs THE

MODAL PERFECTS

When talking about past actions, we have to use modals in the past. MODAL PERFECTS.

23rd APRIL, BOOK'S DAY: SOME SUGGESTIONS ON ENGLISH LITERATURE

On the 23rd of April, commemorating St. George's Day and Book's Day, here are some suggestions on English books and authors to read.

TIME EXPRESSIONS

[8th CW] "RAPPING THE COSMOS", THE REPORTERS' MAKING OF VIDEO

Finally including the reporters' making of video from the "RAPPING THE COSMOS" project that this year's English teacher-in-practice, Tania Souto, organized together with 2nd BAC students. Some of the students played the role of reporters asking all the participants how they felt setting up the work. At the end the actual show can also be seen.

Video REPORTERS:

Galician version of this post @ ArquivosDoTrasno

COLLOCATIONS TO EXPRESS A LARGE AMOUNT OR DEGREE

This chart shows some common word collocations to show amount, quantity.

USEFUL VOCABULARY & PHRASES IN A CAFÉ

Here are some useful words & phrases you'll need when you go to a café with different funcions: ordering, offering and paying.

HOTEL BOOKING

Just in case you're going on holidays, here's some vocabulary for hotel booking.

EXPRESSING TIREDNESS

Here are different ways of expressing tiredness, depending on how tired you feel.

[8th CW] RAPPING THE COSMOS

Tania Souto, the English teacher in practice in our school this year, has prepared a task based educational project related with the Cosmos and popular urban culture of rap and hip hop. She has been able to involve all the students from 2nd BAC to complete a multi-competence task. We are grateful for her interest and work. Here are some photos, we'll be updating with video soon.

Galician version @ ArquivosDoTrasno.

MEND, REPAIR OR FIX?

[8th CW] STAR WARS OPENING CRAWLS

STAR WAR CRAWLS

Each of the seven Star Wars films begin with nearly identical openings, in which the text "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." is displayed, followed by the Star Wars logo over a field of stars. A subsequent downward tilt reveals the film's episode number, the subtitle in all-capital letters, and a three-paragraph summary of events immediately prior to the events of the film.

In the widescreen (or letterbox) versions of the Star Wars films, each line of the opening crawl text appears directly in its entirety from the bottom of the screen. In the fullscreen (or pan and scan) versions, the sides of each line of opening crawl text are visible only after that line reaches the center of the screen.

The roll-up (alternatively called the "crawl") is a homage to Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s and 1940s, which Star Wars creator George Lucas enjoyed as a child. It is also for this reason that many of the subtitles of the seven films have a "pulpy" sound to them or are reminiscent of the Gordon serials.

[From Wookieepedia]

Episode I: THE PHANTOM MENACE 

"Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo. While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict...."

Episode II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES 

"There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand solar systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic. This separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy. Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, is returning to the Galactic Senate to vote on the critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC to assist the overwhelmed Jedi...."

Episode III: REVENGE OF THE SITH 

"War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere. In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate. As the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor...."

Episode IV: A NEW HOPE 

"It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...."

Episode V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 

"It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the galaxy. Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth. The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space...."

Episode VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI 

"Luke Skywalker has returned to his home planet of Tatooine in an attempt to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt. Little does Luke know that the GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly begun construction on a new armored space station even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star. When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of rebels struggling to restore freedom to the galaxy..."

Episode VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS 

"Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed. With the support of the REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy. Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke's whereabouts...."

[8th CW] THE COSMOS CULTURAL WEEK 2017

Our 8th Cultural Week devoted to the Cosmos kicks off today. 

You've already been able to see the contibutions we have made from the English Department on previous posts on this blog, but from the link below you can follow all the info about the activities prepared for this week.

Everything about it:

@ArquivosDoTrasno-Cosmos

Everything in English here: 
@ClickOnEnglish-Cosmos

Here is this year's poster of the event.

DANIEL TAMMET, AN AUTISTIC TALENT (World Autism Awareness Day)

On April 2nd, when it's World Autism Awarness Day, here's a post devoted to Daniel Tammet. Do you know him?
In Unit 5 of our 1st BAC textbook, there is a reading text about Daniel Tammet, an autistic person who has an outstanding talent for numbers and languages, though for ordianary everyday tasks, he's a bit more clumsy. He sees numbers as figures, he enjoys reflecting and experimenting with words and knows several languages. He's currently a freelance tutor, a writer, essayist and translator.

Yesterday he appeared on an interview on Spanish radio SER, so I looked for more information about him. Here are three links and some videos about him, on our etc-page you can find his interview yesterday on the radio (Cadena SER).

- Daniel Tammet @ Wikipedia.

- Daniel Tammet's webpage.
- Optimnem: language courses.

Video "THE BOY WITH THE INCREDIBLE BRAIN":

Video "DIFFERENT WAYS OF KNOWING", a lecture by Daniel Tammet:

BEWARE, IT'S APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

Today's April Fool's Day in the Anglosaxon world, beware of jokes and people teasing you. Here are some expressions on the topic. Link to previous posts about this day in this blog here: APRIL'S FOOL @ ClickOnEnglish.
And below some of today's fake news on the British media:

PRINCE HARRY'S SECRET WEDDING @ "Daily Mail"

POLAR BEAR APPEARS FLOATING ON A SCOTTISH ISLAND @ "The Daily Telegraph"

PERSONAL STEREOS FOR HORSES AT GRAND NATIONAL RACES @ "Daily Mirror"

PIZZAS DELIVERED TO YOUR LETTERBOX @ "Daily Express"

[8th CW] CLASSIC SCI-FI BOOK/FILM REVIEWS

Our 8th Cultural week devoted to the COSMOS officially starts next Monday. One of the activities, organized by the English Department, for this year's Cultural Week was to write reviews of all-time classic science-fiction books or films. Here are the ones chosen by 1st BAC students to write about in alphabetical order:

Handed in reviews

Reviews on exhibition.

"AVATAR" (2009)

[Paula Conde & Marta Vázquez Luaces 1ºBAC-A]

Video trailer "AVATAR":

"DIVERGENT" (2012)

[Miguel Alcalde 1ºBAC-C]

Video trailer "DIVERGENT":

"E.T." (1982)

[Sara Criado, 1ºBAC-A]

Video trailer "E.T.":

"GRAVITY" (2013)

[Lucía Gª Expósito, 1ºBAC-C]

Video trailer "GRAVITY":

"INTERSTELLAR" (2014)
[Pablo Couso, 1ºBAC-C]

Video trailer "INTERSTELLAR":

"UNDER THE SKIN" (2013)

[Iago Mora, 1ºBAC-C]

Video trailer "UNDER THE SKIN":

Thanks to all for taking part in this activity. They'll be displayed in the exhibitions of the cultural week together with the rest of works done.

BREXIT STARTS TODAY

The moment Theresa May's letter is handed in to Europe Council's president Donald Tusk by Tim Barrow.

Today, March 28th, is the day Brexit starts, and this is how the British newspaper THE GUARDIAN has shown its front page. Below the video of the Prime Minister Theresa May's statement on the Article 50.

Video: