Food idioms -2

A few weeks ago, you had the opportunity to learn some food idioms, but in case you haven't had your fill yet, here you have some more: Exercise Complete the following idioms with one of the following words:  bacon, butter, butterfingers, cake, cheese, peach, onions, pie, potato, soup: 1.- You should get out more and watch less TV, you're turning into a real couch ........ 2.- Except for a bit of ........ fuzz, the baby was born bald. 3.- When it comes to computers, he really knows his ........ 4.- No one ever thought she was so naughty;...

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World Englishes by Prof. David Crystal.

I have the pleasure to share with you today the interview to the prestigious linguist Prof. David Crystal, conducted by Tony O'Brien, Western Balkans British Council Director in Belgrade on 9 November 2013, Prof. Crystal maintains that there isn't only a 'World English', but lots of 'World Englishes', as many as countries where English is spoken. I find this talk very enlightening and enjoyed it thoroughly, and I'm sure you will enjoy it too: ...

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Children's songs to learn English: the animals went in two by two

Here's another children's song to learn English, while having a bit of fun too. If you, teachers, find it too long, you can always shorten it to your taste: Lyrics The animals went in two by two, hurrah! hurrah! The animals went in two by two, hurrah! hurrah! The animals went in two by two, the elephant and the kangaroo And they all went into the ark, for to get out of the rain. The animals went in three by three, hurrah! hurrah! The animals went in three by three, hurrah! hurrah! The animals went in three by three, the wasp, the...

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Gramática- Plurales extranjeros

Plurales Extranjeros Ciertos nombres de origen extranjero, en su mayoría cultismos de origen griego o latino, tienen plurales especiales: - singular terminado en –is       →        plural en -es /i:z/: basis                           base                           ...

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Léxico: False friends

FALSE FRIENDS We say that a word is a ‘false friend’ or a ‘false cognate’ when it has the same or very similar form in two languages, but a different meaning in each. The similarity may cause students to use the word wrongly, giving rise sometimes to awkward misunderstandings: fastidious, for example, does not mean ‘fastidioso’ (annoying, bothersome), but ‘meticuloso’.  Sometimes an English term is equivalent to a Spanish one, but only in one of its meanings: to assist can mean ‘asistir’, but only in the sense of ‘socorrer, ayudar’; for...

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Pincelada de humor de los Apuntes Secretos de Sir Francis

Tenemos un poco olvidado a Sir Francis. Bueno, tras una semana intensa con The First World Week of Phrasal Verbs, no viene mal un breve paréntesis de humor con Sir Francis, con una entrada tomada de sus Apuntes Secretos: aphrodisiac. Afrodisíaco, sustancia que excita o aumenta el apetito sexual. Aunque no esté demostrado científicamente, tienen esta reputación algunas sustancias, tales como la raíz de ginseng, la yohimbina, la cantárida, conocida vulgarmente como ‘la mosca española’ (the Spanish fly) y algunos alimentos, como las ostras, las...

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The World Week of Phrasal Verbs -2

Here you have your phrasal verbs for Thursday and Friday, to complete the World Phrasal Verbs Week. On Friday, we bring to a close our 1st World Week of Phrasal Verbs. No phrasal verbs por Saturday or Sunday, as I guess you have better things to do on the weekend. Phrasal Verbs for Thursday Fill in the gaps with the appropriate particle: 1.- This computer is sold with the printer thrown ....... 2.- I wish you would stop showing me ...... in front of my friends  3.- The stress of her husband's illness is beginning to tell ...... her 4.-...

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The World Week of Phrasal Verbs - 1

The World Day of this, the World Day of that, the World Week of this, the World Week of that, but no world day or week of phrasal verbs. Well, this week is going to be 'The World Week of Phrasal Verbs' for us, OK? Phrasal Verbs for Monday Complete each sentence with a phrasal verb with the same or almost the same meaning as the verb given in brackets. As an additional help,  the initial letter of each phrasal verb is provided: 1.- Last year the company decided to b..... ......  into some new lines [expand] 2.- Capital punishment was...

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Food Idioms

FOOD IDIOMS Exercise Complete the following idioms with one of the following words: milk, egg, bread, carrot, salt, biscuit, cherry, potato, peas, jam                   1.         After their team lost the match 5-0, the fans were left with..........on their face.       2.         You really take the ...............for making a fool of yourself with women.      ...

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Talking Statues: mutilated text (2nd part)

Here you have the mutilated text of the 2nd part of the interview to Henry VIII's statuehttp://sanchezbenedito.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/historias-y-humor-talking-statues.html. I invite you to fill in the blanks. To help you, I give you the first letter of every word omitted: J: Well, it was Jane Seymour, your third wife, who finally g..... birth, in 1537, to a son, Prince Edward, the future Edward VI. You must have been very h.... the day he was born?H: Yes, it was, without a doubt, the happiest day of my life, and the e..... was celebrated all...

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Talking Statues: mutilated text.(1st part)

Here you have again the first part of the interview to Henry VIII in my story 'Talking Statues'http://sanchezbenedito.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/historias-y-humor-talking-statues.html, but the text is mutilated. I invite you to fill in the gaps. To help you, I give you the initial letter of every word omitted: Journalist: Well, Your Majesty, I'm a reporter from The Times, and I'm here to ask you a few questions about your life and r......... I hope you don't mind, as some of my questions might s...... too personal to you.King Henry VIII: Whether...

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Historias y Humor: Talking Statues and reading comprehension exercises.

If you like English History, I suggest you read my story 'Talking Statues'http://sanchezbenedito.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/historias-y-humor-talking-statues.html and, if you have some free time, do the reading comprehension exercises about it I proposehttp://sanchezbenedito.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/talking-statues-suggestions-for.ht...

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Talking Statues: Suggestions for exploiting the story in the classroom.

Here are some suggestions for exploiting the story 'Talking Statues'http://sanchezbenedito.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/historias-y-humor-talking-statues.html in the classroom. The exercises I propose can also be useful to students studying English on their own, just substituting reading comprehension for role-play: Role-play Interview Henry VIII's statue: one of the students takes the role of the journalist, and the other, that of Henry VIII's statue. Here are some suggested questions: - When did you reign over England? - Why did you want your...

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Historias y humor: Talking Statues

Yesterday it was Halloween, the scariest day of the year, when thousands of restless ghosts go prowling around at night ready to appear to you. No ghost appeared to me, but I was visited in my sleep by one of these lost souls, who whispered in my ear a detailed account of some bloodcurdling events which took place in the England of the XVIth century, during Henry VIII's reign. I ignore the identity of my mysterious visitor who, for all I know, might have been the unfortunate monarch himself, wanting to rehabilitate his memory.  Anyhow, whoever...

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