Xmas farewell party

Click on the following sentence to see the video :)

James' Xmas farewell party. See you in January!!

Do you have a bucket list? What are some of the things that are on it?

Have a look to the following website where you can find different suggestions appearing in teen's Bucket Lists all around the world. Feel free to post some of the things you would like to do before your next birthday. 

The Teen Bucket List

Welcome back to school!!

The new academic year is upon us! Are you ready? 

In order to have a good start, have a look to the following 20 back to school study tips and tell us what you think. Do you find them useful?

Can you think of any other ones? Feel free to post any suggestion.

Have a great year!!

"Two Can Toucan" a tale for our little ones

Yesterday, our 3rd ESO students, Paula Bermejo and Antía Sierra, visited the 4-year-olds to tell them the story of Two Can Toucan, the bird who didn't have a name. They did it so well that they are going to repeat it with the 5-year-olds tomorrow. Next week, they will be on tour in Primary Education :-)

Job well done, girls!!!

Superstitions

Do you believe...

that finding a four-leaf clover will bring you good luck?

or 

that breaking a mirror will bring you 7 years bad luck?

If you do, then you should watch this video and learn where some of these superstitions come from. 

And if you are still in the mood for superstitions, here's Stevie Wonder's wonderful song. Enjoy it!

Learning English with Kahoot!

Who said learning was boring? 

Our 4th ESO students have been playing Kahoot! to revise some contents from the last unit. 

Expressions with "do"

A collocation is the combination of words formed when two or more words are often used together in a way that sounds correct. 

Here are some collocations with the verb "do":

GIF from: 

http://blog.cambridge.es/

Interviewing inventors

Our 4th ESO students did a great job in their speaking tests last term. 

We had been reading about inventions and discoveries and some of the stories were quite curious. For example, did you know that the Chinese were the first who made ketchup? or that toothpaste was originally made with vinegar, honey, salt and ground glass? 

I asked students to pick one of the inventors seen in class or a different one of their own choice, prepare an interview and record it. 

Here are some of the interviews. Congratulations guys!

How to invite someone to do something

INVITING SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING

Do you want to / *wanna (very informal)…?

Do you want to go to the movies tonight?

Would you like to…?

Would you like to have some coffee?

Will you . . . (with me)

Will you dance with me?

How about  V+ing…?

How about going to the ice rink?

How would you like to…?

How would you like to go on a trip at the weekend?

I was wondering if you would (like to)…

I was wondering if you would like to go to the theatre on Friday.

I would like to invite you to (more formal)…

I would like to invite you to my birthday party.

Conversation practice

When inviting someone to do something with you, it is polite to "break the ice" before extending the invitation. For example:

- Will you go dancing with me on Friday? (too abrupt by itself)

You should give the other person time to "prepare" for your invitation.

- Do you have time on Friday?

Yes, I do. Why do you ask?

- There's a dance at the Grand Ballroom. Would you like to go with me?

Sure! I'd love to.

Inviting:

• Do you want to go to the movies tonight?
• Would you like to go to the theater tomorrow?
• Would you be interested in going to the stadium next Sunday?
• How do you fancy going to the restaurant for dinner?
• How about going to the movies?
• Care to come over for lunch?
• I was just wondering if you would like to come over for a drink.
• We'd be delighted to have you over for my birthday party.

Accepting invitations:

• Sure. What time?
• I'd love to, thanks.
• That's very kind of you, thanks.
• That sounds lovely, thank you.
• What a great idea, thank you.
• Sure. When should I be there?

Declining invitations:

• I can't.  I have to work.
• This evening is no good.  I have an appointment.
• I'm busy tomorrow.  Can I take a rain check* on that? 
• That's very kind of you, but actually I'm doing something else this afternoon.
• Well, I'd love to, but I'm already going out to the restaurant.
• I'm really sorry, but I've got something else on.
• I really don't think I can - I'm supposed to be doing something else.

(*rain check: used to tell someone that you cannot accept invitations now, but would like to do so at a later time)

www.eslgold.com

Find some very useful material on the following links:

http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/accepting_refusing.html

http://www.learning-english-online.net/speaking/exercises/inviting-someone/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/howto/

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening-skills-practice/inviting-someone-cinema

"Being around" by The Lemonheads

If I was in the fridge, would you open the door?

If I was the grass, would you mow your lawn?

If I was your body, would you still wear clothes?

If I was a booger, would you blow your nose?

Would you keep it? would you eat it?

I'm just tryin to give myself a reason, for being around.

If I was the front porch swing would you let me hang?

If I was the dance floor would you shake your thing?

If I was a rubber check would you let me bounce

Up and down inside your bank account?

Would ya trust me, not to break you?

I'm just tryin really hard to make you,

Notice me being around.

If I was a haircut would you wear a hat?

If I was a maid, could I clean your flat?

If I was the carpet would ya wipe your feet,

In time to save me from mud off the street?

If you like me, if you love me,

Why don't you get down on your knees

And scrub me?

I'm a little grubby

From being around.

Sleepy Hollow, the legend of the Headless Horseman

3rd and 4th ESO students are attending today a theatre play based on the short story 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' by American author Washington Irving.

As a post-viewing activity, I'd strongly recommend the film adaptation by Tim Burton, if you haven't watched it yet.