Go Spain!

In today's semi-final football match Spain is facing Portugal! Do you know anything about Spain's football history in this kind of tournaments? In the following video you'll find out about it :-)

 

So good luck this evening, Spain! Or will it be another siesta? ;-)

End of course - surveys

Ya ha terminado el curso y todos habéis hecho unos exámenes estupendos, CONGRATULATIONS! :-)

Un último recordatorio: tenéis en vuestras cuentas de correo de la Universidad de Oviedo (UO……@uniovi.es) un mensaje de la Unidad Técnica de Calidad con la información precisa para acceder a una encuesta para que podáis aportar vuestra opinión sobre el curso que ahora finaliza. Se podrá cumplimentar desde el 1 de junio al 31 de julio, momento en el que la aplicación informática quedará cerrada. Si no tenéis los datos de vuestras cuentas de correo electrónico ni la contraseña asignada inicialmente, podéis solicitarlos presencialmente en la administración de La Casa de las Lenguas. Además, durante el periodo de realización de la encuesta habrá una persona de lunes a viernes de 9:30 a 13:30, y ordenadores en el Club de las Lenguas, para falicitaros el proceso de cumplimentación. Por favor, no dejéis de hacer la encuesta, vuestra opinión es fundamental para poder mejorar de cara a próximos cursos.

Me despido de vosotros dándoos las gracias porque ha sido un curso genial :-) 

I wish you all a wonderful summer and I beg you - Please don't put your English aside and practice what you've learnt doing some exercises and listening tasks. You already know what to do, so please do it! 

Good bye!

Carmen 

Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee

Celebrations spread across Britain for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, this is 60 years on the throne! The centrepiece event took place yesterday, Sunday 3rd, on the river Thames - a huge royal pageant with over 1,000 ships! Clicking on this link you'll have the opportunity of watching every single ship on that pageant thanks to a BBC time lapse camera. And to read more, here you have The Guardian article. 

But how much do you know about the British Royal Family? If you want to find out, try this BBC Learning English quiz, good luck! :-)

Offside - Always a Problem

How many of you (boys and girls, especially girls) have a very clear and absolutely unmistakeable idea of what an offside position is? Anyone there? We're talking about football, of course! ;-)

I feel myself like this girl in Forge's cartoon:

That's why I found this video very inspiring!

What is offside in football? - Explania

 

Although, I must admit, I still don't really get it!!! ;-P

Olympic Games

The lighting of the Olympic Flame for the upcoming Olympic Games in London took place two weeks ago in what seems to be ancient Greece. A beautiful ceremony that reminds us what the Olympic Games meant then and what they should also mean today.

Here you have the link to a short BBC video, in which the head of the team organising the London Games, Lord Coe, expresses the meaning and importance of this beautiful ceremony.

If you are interested in the Olympic Games, here you can access all the relevant information about them. Enjoy! :-)

Final Exams!

The school year is almost over and we have to get ready for our final tests!

INGLÉS 2B (Mondays and Wednesdays): test on Wednesday 23rd

INGLÉS 2C (Tuesdays and Thursdays): test on Thursday 24th

INGLÉS 4: test on Tuesday 22nd

INGLÉS 5: test on Monday 28th

I'm sure you'll all do very well!

Science Explained

I don't know about you, but I have to admit I'm scientifically illiterate, and therefore I really enjoy watching self-explanatory videos like this one, in this case describing how to capture and store carbon dioxide. I hope you also find it interesting!

Isabel - a real baker!

Do you remember how Isabel told us she was able to bake delicious cakes? It's not that we didn't believe her, but... just in case, here you have the yummy proof! 

Hopefully next time she'll not only send the picture, but bring the cake instead ;-)

Like what you do - do it with passion!

This is one of my favourite TED speakers, Sir Ken Robinson, a real expert on and deffender of education as such and as the best way of creating a much better world. Listen to this marvellous talk, you can play it with English or Spanish subtitles or also inlcude an interactive transcript. Enjoy! :-)

Race - an illegitimate concept

The feeling of otherness vs. the feeling of one's self, very inspiring indeed! :-) Easy to understand, with English subtitles and, if necessary, you can change them to Spanish. Enjoy!

Postcard from Moscow!

Our Javi (English 4) has travelled all the way to Russia just to send us this great postcard, thanks a lot, Javi!! :-) We hope to see you back in class soon!

I think it's a fantastic way of starting our Easter break! Happy holidays to all of you!

Happy reading holidays!

No need for words...

Stay Creative!

I've just watched this nice video with 29 tips to stay creative and I thought I could share it with you because these tips can also apply to learning English :-)

Imagine

This week we worked on the song Imagine in our English 2 groups and I wanted to share it with all of you. It's one of the most beautiful songs ever, don't you think?

Here you have a very nice activity, you can test yourselves to see if you are really "Imagine experts". You can choose a lower-level activity (beginner), a medium (intermediate) or the expert level. Try it out!

http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/6519/john_lennon/imagine

And if you want to prove you are a real Beatle expert, try this quiz here.

Have a wonderful weekend! And imagine... :-)

Radio Dramas

Many of you have asked me for exercises and web sites to practice your listening skills. Well, here you have a nice recommendation - Radio dramas! You can choose from a wide range of stories - from Dracula to A Christmas Carol, not to forget Jane Eyre... And you can also choose a faster or a slower speed while you read what you are listening to. Here is the link: 

http://esl-bits.net/Radio/radio.html

Since I know may of you are cinema lovers, I'm sure you'll specially enjoy this Casablanca adaptation or (my favourite!) this Graham Greene's and Welles' The Third Man. I think this is one of the best scenes ever filmed! :-)

And the Oscars went to...

The Academy Awards celebrated their big night (on its 84th ceremony) last Sunday in Los Angeles. The French silent movie The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicious, won best picture, best director and best actor (for Jean Dujardin). Meryl Streep won her third Oscar for her part of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Scorsese's 3D movie Hugo won five awards! Here you can watch the trailer:

I recommend you to watch the acceptance speeches! And here you have the "must see" moments of the ceremony. To view the nominees and how they looked liked, click here; and here for the winners. And here you have  a complete news article by the BBC. Enjoy! :-)

Mardi Gras - the history

This week we are celebrating Carnival. There is much to say about this tradition, but I thought you might find interesting watching the following video on the history of New Orleans' world- famous Mardi Gras:

Let's go to the movies!

Este viernes se proyecta en inglés en la Casa de las Lenguas la película australiana Rabit Proof Fence. Será en el Club de las Lenguas a las 18:30. La proyección irá precedida de una presentación por parte de una compañera de la Casa y también tendrá lugar un coloquio posterior. See you at the movies! :-)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cupid’s big day is here again, and Google is celebrating this February 14th holiday with an animated Doodle that I find quite nice. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Pronunciation practice

In the following link you can do some extra pronunciation practice on different topics:

http://www.languageguide.org/english/

Alumnos de Inglés 2: podéis practicar las partes del cuerpo que hemos estado viendo y también repasar tanto el vocabulario sobre the weather y cómo dar la hora.

For English students in level 4, you can revise the vocabulary on food (here and here), family and numbers.

For English 5 students, you can check the house vocabulary here and in all these other links: indoor, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and dining room. 

Charles Dickens's Bicentenary

Next Tuesday, February 7th, the world-famous British writer Charles Dickens is turning 200! His life was not an easy one but he left us literary masterpieces. Here you can watch a BBC animated cartoon film on his life:

If you want to find out more about Charles Dickens and his bicentenary, click on this link. And if you want to prove you are an expert on Mr. Dickens, try to solve this crossword. For clues, go to his other link.

The Oscars Nominees

Here you have the nominees for the 2012 Academy Awards, the Oscars! Click on the picture to watch the full BBC video.

It's a good practice to listen to the actors' and actresses' names! In this link you can practice your pronunciation.

And if you want to find out more about this year's academy awards, click here!

Flu is in the air!

Be careful! Flu is in the air... or should I say cold is in the air? Thanks to the following video we can learn the difference:

What is ‘flu? - Explania

Golden Globe Awards

The Golden Globe Awards ceremony is taking place today, Sunday 15th! If you have the chance of watching it, don't you miss it!

To find out more about this year's ceremony and nominees, I recommend you this BBC article here. For a full list of this year's nominations, click here. And here is the link to the official Golden Globe Awards site. Enjoy!
It seems the silent movie The Artist is one of the favourites!

Happy New Year!

2012 is here to stay, so happy New Year to all of you! 

Has any of you thought about any New Year's resolutions? Check these out and see if they match yours ;-)