British Christmas Traditions

Yes, Prime Minister

Some footage from the show "Yes, Prime Minister"

Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign by Dory Previn

Teaching Through English Certification

Here's the link to the call for Teaching Through English Certification.
In Annex 8, point 13, they include the C1 Certification from the Official School of Languages

The sound ʒ

Presentation language

Here is a link to signpost language, which
can be really useful when giving presentations

C1 certification soon?

Although we have to be cautious until it's official, and appears on the BOCM, it seems that we may soon have official certification for C1.
Read the news here:
link 1
link 2

Paris terrist attacks

Here's the link to a video .
This is a longer one:

Kitchen utensils

Be aware that the terms used here are American and some of them are different from the British terms.

Daylight Saving Time

Vocab:
CFL : Compact Fluorescent Lamp
LED : Light Emitting Diode

Scariest Urban Legends

Top 10 Most Expensive Places to Live

Europe's Refugee Crisis

Pronunciation Sh, Ch, J, and Y Sounds

Obama addresses school kids

Test your English

The Cambridge site offers this short test (25 multiple choice questions) to see what your level is.
Link

C1 at other EOIs

Here are links to EOI Segovia and to exam samples from other  regions:

- Aragón

- Euskadi, Nivel Aptitud 

- Gijón

- Laredo

- Tudela

Outcomes. Advanced Level. Student's Book

This will be our course book this year:

-  Outcomes. Advanced Level. Student's Book
    Publisher: Heinle-Cengage ELT


You can download the class cd's legally from the publisher's site  here 
and you can watch the videos here

Inversion

Inversion from Sara

Some exercises here:

Negative inversion - practice exercises

Inversion exercise 2
Inversion exercise 3
Inversion exercise 4

Hilarious "Don't judge too quickly"

Final Exam

Here are the dates for the final exam:

- Mon/Wed class: May 20th
- Tu/Thu class: May 21st

For those of you who have attended less than half the classes, this is your chance of a positive report.

For those of you attending & participating regularly it's just an exercise.

Meet Chantelle Winnie

vitiligo
soft-tread

Cosmetic Tattooing

Basma Hameed provides para-medical tattoo treatments to help patients hide scars and burns. Read the story here

Plastic surgery

Vocab

receding hairline
prominent veins
crow's feet
go down a slippery slope
a trailblazer

Posture at the computer

Vocabulary:
- lumbar roll
- stepstool
- ream of paper
- phone book

Health care

Pulling a sickie

Fired

Vocab
- candour:frankness
- candid: frank & outspoken
- to nod:to make a slight, quick inclination of the head, as in assent, greeting,..

Google perks

EOI Survey

If you'd like to participate, follow the link here

As sly as a fox

Germanwings flight 4U9525

Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz - pictured here on his social media profile - is not known to have any links to terrorism. The co-pilot of the Germanwings plane that crashed into the French Alps on Tuesday appeared to want to "destroy the plane", French officials said.

A Tale of Two Brains

Formal letters

• Writing job applications with examples 
• Another example
• Three excellent cover letter examples
• Language for Formal letters

The Story of Cosmetics

It examines the pervasive use of toxic chemicals in our everyday personal care products.

• To err on the side of caution:(idiomatic) To act in the least risky manner in a situation in which one is uncertain about the consequences. (wiktionary definition)
• hair relaxers: type of lotion or cream used by people with tight curls or very curly hair which makes hair straighten 
• skin whitening creams:chemical substances  to lighten skin tone 
• comply:to act in accordance with rules, wishes, etc
• to be assessed:to be evaluated

Cosmetics vocabulary

- Cosmetics & Make-up Vocabulary

 

Animal Idioms

• Animal idioms 
• More Animal Idioms

What is an earthquake?

Visual dictionary

An amazing online dictionary. See some examples:

• animal kingdom 

• dog breeds

• A sorting plant

Causative Get and Have

Causative Get and Have

Double-Decker Buses

VOCAB 
-  tilt^:  To cause to slope, as by raising one end; incline:

- keel over:

1. to turn upside down; capsize

2. (intr) to collapse suddenly

- weld:
to join pieces of metal together by heating the edges until they begin to melt and then pressing them together

^- plywood^: a strong board that is made by gluing together thin sheets of wood

 

 

What's your wish?

 genie:a magical creature in old Arabian stories that will do what you want when you call it
spare tire: an additional tire /a bulge of fat around the waist 

Mock Exam

• Reading & Use of English: To be given on Febr 26th (Mon/Wed class) & 27th (Tue/Thu class). To be corrected on March 4th & 5th. Allotted time: 90 minutes
• Listening: March 2nd (Mon/Wed class) & 3rd (Tue/Thu class). 40 minutes

Tacky

The other day the word "tacky" came up in class & Alberto mentioned this song and kindly sent me a link.
You can learn some new expressions like:
plaid: a cloth made with a tartan pattern 
to drop names: To casually drop the name of a famous person who you, a friend or relative know, so as to appear cool vicariously because you know a famous person.
uggs & crocs are shoe brands. The first is best known for soft boots like these. 
Crocs are rubber clogs like these.
sequins:disk-shaped beads used for decorative purposes. Like these
resume: CV
YOLO: You Only Live Once

How to survive Valentine's Day if you're single

  Vocab:
Take heed: to consider someone’s advice or warning and do what they suggest

Mope: to feel bored or unhappy and show no interest in doing anything

Brash: cheekily self-confident and impolite

Smug: well satisfied, or too obviously pleased, with oneself

Sneer: to raise the top lip at one side in a kind of smile that expresses scorn or contempt

Sour grapes : criticism of something that you make because you are annoyed that you cannot have it

Pay through the nose:  to pay a lot, or too much

tat :anything that looks cheap, is of low quality, or in bad condition

Slushy programmes: Expressing emotions in an excessive, silly or embarrassing way

A knowing smile: showing that you know about something, even when it has not been talked about

A tacky teddy bear:  used about something that looks cheap and of poor quality or something that shows bad taste

Play the field: to have several sexual relationships before you choose a permanent partner

How to spot a liar

Watch again the video we saw in class
And the conclusion is here

Our school in the press

El País article 
Thank you for sharing, Miguel Angel.

Writing a Book Review

Some pointers, sample language, etc:

Link 1
Link 2

Euphemisms

View the video again:  Euphemisms

Malala Yousafzai

In this exclusive, unedited interview, "I Am Malala" author Malala Yousafzai remembers the Taliban's rise to power in her Pakistani hometown and discusses her efforts to campaign for equal access to education for girls. Malala Yousafzai also offers suggestions for people looking to help out overseas and stresses the importance of education.

Vocab
blast:To destroy, or to be destroyed with an explosion
flog: to hit someone very hard with a stick or whip as a punishment
slaughter: to kill a lot of people in a violent way