Happy Friday Readers!
I don’t know about you, but I tend to be much more motivated in the Fall (Autumn) than any other season. I am usually excited about having an excuse to grab a great novel, make some hot chocolate and cover up. It is also a great time to pick up (start) a hobby or focus on learning something new and preparing to host (have/invite people to) dinners at home since it gets dark and cold so early!
So this post is about learning, listening and becoming just a little smarter.
http://explore.brainpickings.org/
Want to know the benefits of knowing a second language? Watch this video: The benefits of a bilingual brain
Fascinating article from The Guardian on making ourselves more intelligent. Did you know we only use 15% of our neurons? Read this article: Can we make ourselves more intelligent?
and for fun, test yourself on how smart you are: Personality Test
And the director, Luc Besson speaks about his film last year on Lucy. Watch a video on him explaining his reasons for the movie: Luc Besson’s celebral sci-fi
Finally, if you want to get into a great book, but prefer to listen to it. Try audio books. A great way to listen and even read at the same time: Audio Books
Or try my favorite, Podcasts. These two are on my top list: The Hidden Brain and Ted Radio Hour
Have a wonderful Autumn weekend!
Okay, so, I have to be honest and confess that I am not a big fan of series. I don’t really watch any at all and Game of Thrones is not something that screams out to me: “Watch Me!”. But, after speaking with a few of my students, I realized how many of my students are hooked (addicted).
I am serious, so many of you cannot stop telling me about it. You also love it so much you are watching it in English!! As you know, anything you do in English makes me happy, so I thought I would share some interesting topics in your honor and since the last episode of Season 5 was aired last week and had everyone talking. Don’t worry, there are no spoilers (when someone shares something you prefer to find out on your own) in this post…
So, for all those Game of Throne Lovers, here you go:
One of my favorite Instagramers posted this today which has inspired this post
Then, a student sent me a video on Game of Thrones and requested I share this with everyone…think Musical + Coldplay (subtitles included)
An entire library archive on The Guardian
Game of Thrones Trivia
Activities all about Game of Thrones in English!
A homemade spoof (funny or mocking imitation) on the opening song
The most beloved character of all being impersonated (Advanced Video)
Speaking of beloved, Jon Snow gets invited to a dinner party in New York (advanced video)
Why NPR thinks Game of Thrones is so popular in Spain. Do you agree??
The days are getting longer, summer is right around the corner and more than one of you has holiday destination on your mind. But before you pack your bags, let’s take a close look at conditionals and talk about the sun.
Here’s a sneak peak at how/when to use conditionals:
|
Zero Conditional |
First Conditional | Second Conditional | Third Conditional |
|
Possible at any time, but mostly in the present or a fact (x=y or cause and effect) |
Possible in the future (thewarning/offer/possibility) |
Impossible in the present…possible but improbable in the future (hypothetical) | Impossible in the past (too late) |
| If + present & present | If + present & will (future —be going to, may, can, should)+ infinitive | If + past & would (could, might)+infinitive | if+ past perfect (past perfect continuous, might have, could have) & would have + past participle |
| If you press this key, the game starts | I’ll call the hotel, if you don’t have time.
If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police! |
If I knew the answer I would tell you
If I were you, I would do it (advice)
|
I wouldn’t have got wet if I had taken an umbrella. If you had been driving more slowly, you could have stopped in time.
|
Think of the Zero conditional as a FACT (Present Simple), The 1st Conditional refers to A HYPOTHETICAL FUTURE, the 2nd conditional is referring to the present or HYPOTHETICAL PRESENT and the 3rd conditional is the PAST or too late.
Now watch this video on how the sun sees you and see if you can create some sentences using conditionals. And most importantly, start wearing sunscreen. Madeleine recommended it to me and I cannot stop sharing it with all our students.
Key words to keep in mind:
Freckles (a small patch of light brown colour on the skin, often becoming more pronounced through exposure to the sun)
Sunspots (a spot or patch that appears from time to time on the sun’s surface, appearing dark by contrast with its surroundings)
Sunbathing (sit or lie in the sun, especially to tan the skin)
Sunscreen (a cream or lotion rubbed on to the skin to protect it from the sun)
Still confused with conditionals? Try this link: http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/conditional-exercises.html
Happy sunbathing!
Our next objective on your list is watching or listening to English more frequently. I know we cannot tell you enough times how important it is to listen to English as much as possible, but we really do want to emphasize this. So, this post will be on doing just that…watching something, anything, in English at least 30 minutes a week. C’mon, I know you can do that!
Here is what we suggest:
Claire Suggests:
If you fancy watching a film to challenge and improve your listening skills go to the cinema and watch Selma in original version. It’s a phenomenal film full of history, amazing acting and great for your English skills! Enjoy!
(Heidi adds: Just go to the cinema and watch anything in original version…it really is not that bad!) Here are some cinemas that show original version movies in Barcelona:
In Barcelona, many cinemas offer half price ticket deals on a Monday night. This is subject to change and depends on the individual cinema. If you are looking for the half price deals it is best to check the website of the cinema that you are heading to and see if they offer the Monday deal.
Madeleine Recommends:
For learning useful phrases and slang: BBC Podcasts-The English We Speak
If you fancy a change from TED talks, I would recommend watching some of these “Do Lectures.” They focus on similar subjects, but the whole set up is much less formal, (normally the speakers spend the weekend on a campsite together!). The series travels from Wales in the UK, to Australia and the U.S., so it’s good for testing your comprehension of different accents.
The School of Life is a fantastic project and the Sunday Sermons are a series of talks from invited writers, psychologists, philosophers. My personal favourite is this talk from the great Ken Robinson: http://youtu.be/-
This short film on TedEd from the film festival Tropfest
Heidi Recommends:
StoryCorps Animations–-Real stories about real people. Sometimes a little emotional, but really so lovely and you get to hear real people speaking.
Aeon Video–Amazing stories and documentaries on and about people.
Soul Pancake are feel good videos that make you smile
BBC’s One Minute English News (Yes, ONE minute…I am sure you have that free in your schedule)
TedEd You can learn about anything and everything in under 10 minutes.
Ted.com is always a winner in class
And as many of you know, I am a F-A-N of podcasts. It is another way of listening and really having to listen. Here are a few of my favorite, but I have more if you want:
You really have NO excuses now…So, who wants to go to the movies with us?
What if you were the last person to speak your language?
Did you know that over 7,000 languages are endangered (in danger of extinction) and at least one language dies every two weeks! Read this article for some interesting facts
This woman is the last woman to speak Wukchumni, a Native American Language. She is the LAST one! Watch her fascinating story HERE (advanced video)
And check out this interactive map on the languages that are disappearing.
The 25 most endangered languages in the world…
Finally, fascinating maps of languages
So, what’s your opinion? How does this affect us? What would you do to save a dying a language? Do you or anyone you know speaks an endangered or at risk language?
Photo Source: http://unescoeducation.blogspot.com.es/2009/03/unesco-courier-endangered-languages.html
Just in case you are wondering, a short history on Halloween and why we do what we do: Happy Halloween! and Happy Autumn Festivities! (Video Level B1 and up)
Photo source: Le Halloween Postcard Vintage Style
In the world of business and frequent meetings, you will receive a lot of information. So, we always suggest you to stay away from (avoid/don’t use) the sentence, “I don’t understand.” That can so easily be interpreted as, “I don’t speak English” and we know that you do speak English and are trying your very best when doing it.
So, let us recommend some expressions you can use when you don’t understand something:
From Formal to Informal:
I beg your pardon?
I’m sorry, could you run that by me again?
I’m not sure I understand your point.
I’m not sure I know what you mean.
Could you be more specific?
Could you elaborate on that?
Would you give me an example?
Excuse me?
Important! Avoid using “What?” It is considered very rude or impolite
If you think you heard it, but want to make sure it is correct:
If I understood correctly, you have said…
Let me see if I have that right…(repeat what they have said to you)
Do you mean…?
In other words, what you are saying is…
Finally, if someone does not understand you, here are some helpful expressions:
Allow me to explain myself.
Let me put it differently. What I was trying to say was…
In other words…
Sorry, let me say that again.
A short video on 5 ways to listen better (a fascinating video for levels B1 and up)
A short podcast on asking for clarifications (Level A2 and up)
Great tip on how to take control of the English Language
Photo Source: http://notesondesign.tumblr.com/page/18
Welcome Back Everyone! We are on a roll here teaching and learning business English and this is more than perfect timing to remind you why languages are so easy to love. But before we do that, do you know what the quote above means? Do you have something similar in Spanish or Catalan?
So let’s talk about Linguistics. What is linguistics anyway? And why is it so fascinating? According to Webster, linguistics is the study of language and of the way languages work.
Learning a language is not just memorizing it and it is not done overnight. It is going beyond the book in your hand and exploring the language, the culture and history. So, let’s explore!
This video on Linguistics explains how languages evolve, because, they are a living thing, aren’t they? (B1 and up)
Just to prove my point, here are 10 Spanish words that you cannot translate to English words. Can you guess what they are before you click on the link?
More of our favorite Spanish words…
And a fabulous visual dictionary that shows you all the uses of a word in English
Finally, just for fun, the language of food! (reading and listening)
Have fun exploring and living the language!
It’s officially holidays time! Or as us Americans say: Vacation time!
But we don’t want to leave you without some fun links to check out and to keep your English skills up to par.
How good is your English? Take this test and find out!
Start practicing your business etiquette
Speaking of Etiquette, a video on saying Thank You (Level B2 and up)
Read up on some classic short stories
A video on magic and solving (Level B2 and up)
I am an avid (passionate/zealous/keen/insatiable) fan of stories. I love reading. I love listening to people tell stories. I love telling stories. Summer is a great time to sit around someone’s garden and listen to everyone tell stories about their adventures, when they were young, the last trip they had, etc. So this post is dedicated to all those storytellers out there!
Remember!
We say something when we are repeating what someone else said: They said we would get our money back
Or we can say something TO someone: I said goodbye to her and left
But we tell someone something when we are giving instructions or information: Tell them to leave earlier.
Do not say the following: Tell to them that we will leave earlier. We say: Tell them we will leave earlier.
We also have expressions with tell: Tell the time/ tell a lie or the truth/ tell a story!
Now that we have the grammar clear, let’s look at some great links:
This is one of my favorite pages to read on a weekly basis. It is so beautiful how many people out there have so many stories to tell! All of us have something to tell: Humans of New York
Story Corps is a great resource for animated stories and recorded stories.
Here is a great video on how to Tell Stories well and how to listen, which is so important. Whether it is at a family gathering or at an important meeting. How to Speak so that People Want to Listen (B1 and up)
Finally, some of my favorite podcasts to listen to at night are:
So now it is your turn. Prepare a short story and share it with us!
Photo Source: http://www.studiodiy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/kelinsta.jpg
