Merry Christmas!

Everything you need to know about Black Friday

Where are the best deals to be found? What’s necessary to snag the hottest doorbusters and freebies? Which deals are truly deals, and which are just hype?

Phrasal verb games

Here are a couple of phrasal verb games:

• One  

• Two

Arrests over three London women 'held as slaves'

Traumatised trio rescued from 'ordinary house on ordinary street' as police say human trafficking case is worst ever found in UK
You can read about this story here

London slaves: three women freed after 30 years' captivity

Germany election ad uses viral video to comic effect

Really funny!
This political ad campaign video by German metalworkers' union IG Metall uses viral YouTube videos to pose policy questions in the run-up to the German elections on 22 September. Angela Merkel's conservative coalition has a strong lead over Peer Steinbrück's Social Democrats (SPD) in opinion polls

Ana Botella defending Madrid's bid in English

How do you feel about your English now?

C2 course

If you're interested in the C2 course, you may still be in time to enrol. Just contact the school and they'll give you the necessary information.

Scores dead in Spanish rail disaster

At least 80 killed and 130 injured after mass carriage derailment outside city of Santiago de Compostela.

First Glimpse of the Royal Baby

Prince William and Duchess Catherine emerge from St. Mary’s Hospital in London with their baby boy, who has yet to be named. This is the first public appearance of the royal baby, but certainly not the last.

Nature sounds

Sometimes you just need to unwind!
Use this free tool to create your combinations of nature sounds to relax while reading or meditating or just for fun. You can export your compositions and/or embed them in your blog.

All safe after Bali plane crash

A passenger jet has crashed into the sea off the Indonesian island of Bali. Everybody on board - 108 people - survived. The Lion Air Boeing 737 overshot the runway at Bali's Denpasar airport. Al Jazeera's Ali Mustafa explains.

BBC April Fool's Hoax

Film maker and writer Terry Jones discovers a colony of penguins, which are unlike any other penguins in the world.





And this is how they made the video:



 Thank you, Paloma, for telling me about the video

Transportation vocab

If you feel like practising a bit while I'm on sick leave, here are some links to activities and vocabulary connected with transport.

vocab1
vocab 2
vocab 3
vocab 4
car rental
train travel
airplane travel

Inversion

In the new unit we'll be looking at inversion so here's some supplementary material.
If you'd like an explanation: click here and here

If you want to try exercises, go here, 
 here  & here

Frozen Ready Meals 100% Horsemeat

Funny Commercials

Want to watch the ads again? Here they are:

Hundreds injured as meteorite wreaks havoc in Russia's Urals

Another chance to watch the video we saw in class:

A different approach to the Spanish Crisis

Vocab:
- desalination plant: planta desalinizadora
- through thick & thin: through good times and bad times. 
- wind farm: A power plant that uses windmills or wind turbines to generate electricity

SUGGESTED READING FOR 2ND TERM

British Fiction:

-         The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 & 3/4, by Sue Townsend

-         About a Boy, by Nick Hornby  

-       Fever Pitch, by Nick Hornby

-         Stardust, by Neil Gaiman.

-         Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding.

-         A Mind to Murder, by P.D. James.

-         A Thousand Splendid Suns, by K. Hosseini.

-   The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.

American Fiction:

-   The Eyes of the Dragon, by Stephen King.

-    The Lady and the Unicorn, by Tracy Chevalier.

     -   The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Leguin.

Spain's corruption eruption

 

Slush fund: a fund for financing political or commercial corruption. A fund raised by a group for corrupt practices, such as bribery or graft. a fund for buying votes or bribing public officials  
Undermine: To weaken, injure, or impair, often by degrees or imperceptibly

Paxman interviews minister Chloe Smith on Newsnight

 
pasty: a round of pastry folded over a filling of meat, vegetables, etc.
chugger:charity+mugger

No Pants Subway Ride Manhattan

People wearing little more than their underwear are expected to ride the NYC subway system on Sunday. In an attempt to bring some laughter to commuters' lives, the comedy troupe Improv Everywhere/ We Cause Scenes has organized No Pants Subway Ride 2013.

Prague

The capital of the Czech Republic is one of the best looking cities. Prague is one of Europe's best preserved cities, a showcase for one thousand years of architecture.

How to Write a Book Review

You could cover these points:
1. Title and writer's name.
2. Paragraph summary of the book plot
3. Short description of each main character
4. Author writing style
5. Things I would change in the book
6. Things I liked in the book
7. Why you should read this book

Make a list of all the great 'persuasive language' words you can think of that describe characters, the plot, and the author's style.
E.g. Evocative, gruesome, insightful, ensnaring, gripping.

Now is the time to put everything together, and combine them with formal language.

For an example click here