Christmas lights

Just a song to send you some of the Christmas spirit flying out there...
Hope you enjoy it!

Christmas lights

Christmas night, another fight
Tears we cried a flood
Got all kinds of poison in
Poison in my blood

I took my feet
To Oxford Street
Trying to right a wrong
Just walk away
Those windows say
But I can't believe she's gone

When you're still waiting for the snow to fall
Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all

Up above candles on air flicker
Oh they flicker and they float
But I'm up here holding on
To all those chandeliers of hope

Like some drunken Elvis singing
I go singing out of tune
Saying how I always loved you darling
And I always will

Oh when you're still waiting for the snow to fall
Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all

Still waiting for the snow to fall
It doesn't really feel like Christmas at all

Those Christmas lights
Light up the street
Down where the sea and city meet
May all your troubles soon be gone
Oh Christmas lights keep shining on

Those Christmas lights
Light up the street
Maybe they'll bring her back to me
Then all my troubles will be gone
Oh Christmas lights keep shining on

Oh Christmas lights
Light up the street
Light up the fireworks in me
May all your troubles soon be gone
Oh Christmas lights keep shining on

"How to..." videos

I've found an interesting web where you can learn how to ask someone where they got that, how to pay a compliment, how to greet, and so on. Watch these interesting videos and practice!!!

THANKSGIVING DAY

On the last Thursday of November American people celebrate Thanksgiving. On this day families gather around the table and have turkey for dinner. Historically Thanksgiving began as a tradition of celebrating the harvest of the year. It is also celebrated in Canada but on a different day.

Watch this VIDEO and learn about how the Pilgrims and the Indians celebrated the first Thanksgiving.
And have some laught guessing which are the ingredients for this "traditional" English triffle-pie made by Rachel.
I hope you enjoy it!!!

Travel, trip, journey, voyage... which one should I use?

When I finished checking your writings I realized you had a problem with this set of words: "Travel, trip, journey, voyage" so, in order to help you solve this doubt I found a web page which will help you understand it better, I hope!

Travel, trip, journey, voyage... which one should I use?

Ten things you need to know about LONDON

Just in case we visit London any time, here you have an interesting video about the 10 most interesting things to do in London.
I hope you enjoy it!

PREFIXES

A prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to modify or change its meaning. This is a list of the most common prefixes in English, together with their basic meaning and some examples.
I hope you understant them better now! ;)

The sounds of English

Do you think English sounds weird and you won't ever be able to pronounce it correctly? That's a mistake, you only need some practice and not being ashamed. Here you have some webs to practice and improve your pronounciation. Just click on the image and listen!

Here you have a DICTIONARY of English Pronunciation

LISTENING

Practice your listening skills with these quizzes in different levels and get ready for the listening Test.

EASY

MEDIUM

DIFFICULT

ADVANCED

It's Halloween!

Next 31st October people around the world celebrate a popular festivity known as HALLOWEEN...
Would you like to know more about it?
Read about the origins and other curiosities around this popular festivity: Halloween history
Once read, try to answer the questions in this WEBQUEST
Do you want to know where the tradition comes from? It's a celtic tradition in fact
Read MORE 
Work with this SONG, a very suitable one by Michael Jackson!

FUTURE

There are many ways of expressing Future in English, which can be a little confusing. Let's read some notes on that and try to make it clearer.

WILL

• It is used to talk about a future fact.

            Ex. He'll be 18 next month

•  We also use WILL to make predictions. It is often preceeded by opinion verbs or connectors( I think / I hope/ I imagine/ Perhaps/ It's possible...) and followed by a time expression

             Ex. I think it'll rain tomorrow. Perhaps she'll be late

•  It also express an intention made at the moment of speaking

             Ex. It's very hot. I'll take off my coat.

GOING TO

• It is commonly used for predictions when there is evidence that something is going to happen.

           Ex. I haven't studied for today's exam. I'm going to fail.

• It is also used for future intentions, when a decision has already been made.

           Ex. When I finish Batxillerat I'm going to go to university.

PRESENT SIMPLE

• It is used to tals about timetables, itineraries... that is, fute events that we cannot control

            Ex. The bell rings at 8 o'clock every morning or The plane for Paris leaves at 9.30

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

• It is used to talk about future arrangements (intentions that involve organisation like writing down in a diary ofr not forgetting something)

            Ex. I'm having vegetables for lunch everyday (the doctor told me to do so if I wanted to lose   weight)

FUTURE CONTINUOUS

• It is used to describe a situation in the future ata a particular time

           Ex. This time next month I'll be eating lunch on the plane on my way to London.

• It is also used to predict a future state or habit at a particular time in the future.

           Ex. In two years time I expect I'll be living in Barcelona and I'll be cycling all around the city.

FUTURE PERFECT

• It is used to talk about an action that will be completed before an specific time in the future. The Future Perfect looks back from a point in the future and refers to an indefinite time up to that point.

           Ex. By the time we get there, the film will have started. 
                 When we get there we can say: The film has started

For practising with FUTURE TENSE: Activity 1, Activity 2, Activity 3, Activity 4, Activity 5, Activity 6, Activity 7, Activity 8, Activity 9
Grammar CHARTS

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?

Test your culture level and have fun with this online popular GAME

CARBON FOOTPRINT

After the first approach to the term CARBON FOOTPRINT, I encourage you to read a little bit more on it so you can be "greener". Read it here

USED TO / WOULD

 This is the difference between 'would' and 'used to' -
We only use 'would' to describe actions or situations that were repeated again and again and again...
But we use 'used to' for any extended action or situation in the past.

'Would' is only good for actions or situations that were repeated many times;
'Used to' is good for any action or situation that continued for a period of time in the past, including repeated actions or situations. Read more...

Exercise 1- used to vs would
Exercise 2 - used to vs would

CURIOSITY: Origin of the names of the days

Do you know where the names of the days of the week come from?

Sunday
The name comes from the Latin dies solis, meaning "sun's day": the name of a pagan Roman holiday. It is also called Dominica (Latin), the Day of God. The Romance languages, languages derived from the ancient Latin language (such as French, Spanish, and Italian), retain the root.
French: dimanche; Italian: domenica; Spanish: domingo
German: Sonntag; Dutch: zondag. [both: 'sun-day']
Monday
The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon monandaeg, "the moon's day". This second day was sacred to the goddess of the moon.
French: lundi; Italian: lunedi. Spanish: lunes. [from Luna, "Moon"]
German: Montag; Dutch: maandag. [both: 'moon-day']
Tuesday
This day was named after the Norse god Tyr. The Romans named this day after their war-god Mars: dies Martis.
French: mardi; Italian: martedi; Spanish: martes.
The Germans call Dienstag (meaning "Assembly Day"), in The Netherlands it is known as dinsdag, in Danmark as tirsdag and in Sweden tisdag.
Wednesday
The day named to honor Wodan (Odin).
The Romans called it dies Mercurii, after their god Mercury.
French: mercredi; Italian: mercoledi; Spanish: miércoles.
German: Mittwoch; Dutch: woensdag.
Thursday
The day named after the Norse god Thor. In the Norse languages this day is called Torsdag.
The Romans named this day dies Jovis ("Jove's Day"), after Jove or Jupiter, their most important god.
French: jeudi; Italian: giovedi; Spanish: jueves.
German: Donnerstag; Dutch: donderdag.
Friday
The day in honor of the Norse goddess Frigg.
In Old High German this day was called frigedag.
To the Romans this day was sacred to the goddess Venus, and was known as dies veneris.
French: vendredi; Italian: venerdi; Spanish: viernes.
German: Freitag ; Dutch: vrijdag.
Saturday
This day was called dies Saturni, "Saturn's Day", by the ancient Romans in honor of Saturn. In Anglo-Saxon: sater daeg.
French: samedi; Italian: sabato; Spanish: sábádo.
German: Samstag; Dutch: zaterdag.
Swedish: Lördag; and in Danish and Norse: Lørdag ("washing day").

UNIT 1: Verb Tenses

Can you understand the verb tenses you have studied? Check it here.

http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz/kkrest.htm
http://www.nonstopenglish.com/exercise.asp?exid=912
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/lefg1_mixedverbs5.html
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2885
http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/pastreview2/exercise5.swf
http://www.learn-english-today.com/wordgames/hotpot-quizzes/Verb-tense-quiz2.htm
http://www.eoilangreo.net/cristina/advanced/tenses1.htm
http://www.kico4u.de/english/uebungen/aktiv/mary.htm

Sentence transformation (Rewriting)
http://www.world-english.org/sentencerewriting.htm