and you will be taken to the website
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
CHRISTMAS DOUBTS
Just some true stories of Christmas traditions. Do you still doubt that Santa exists? Read all the emails Santa receives every day of the year. Apart from that, you could solve out all your Christmas-themed doubts. Click on MERRY CHRISTMAS.COM
and you will be taken to the website
and you will be taken to the website
CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD
It is always interesting to know how people celebrate Christmas in their countries.I found this information browsing the web as I was trying to find something which could help you understand other traditions and customs. Click on this link on Christmas to know.
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
COURSE TO LEARN ENGLISH
Here is the best way to learn English easily and at home. A couple of lessons like this one will enable you to keep a conversation with a native speaker. If you have followed the whole course and you think you have improved your level, please leave me a message. It would be very comforting to know these lessons have been of great help to you.
Monday, 16 November 2009
WRITING FOR ALL LEVELS
As I would like you to improve your writing and your language skills in a funny way, five pictures have been posted so that you can make up your own story. Actually, what you are meant to do is to write a quick meaningful story with the pictures provided below and it doesn't matter the order you use them. It would be funny somehow to know what you come up with. I encourage you to write your story in the comments. Come on, go ahead and leave your short story.
Saturday, 31 October 2009
WRITING FOR ALL THE LEVELS
Amazing website to improve your writing skill. It can sometimes be important to write carefully and draft and redraft your letters. At other times it is good to write quickly.
Get into this website called ONE WORD, click on GO and at the top of the following page you will see a word. You have to write about that word for 60 seconds. After writing about that word, insert your name and submit. You will be able to compare what you have written to what other people have written about that word.
Friday, 23 October 2009
MORE ABOUT RECORDING YOUR VOICE - ADVANCED LEVELS
As I promised to some of you, here is another website where you can record your voice and send it to me so that I can correct your pronunciation. You will have to download the software and read the instructions, which are in Spanish. Click on the link AUDACITY
Sunday, 18 October 2009
GETTING BETTER AT SPEAKING - ADVANCED
I have been searching the web looking for ways to get extra English speaking practice opportunities and feedback on your English speaking skills. I have come across a very useful site called 'Podomatic'. It is a service available on the web that will host your podcast. This will help you make your own recordings and send them to me by e-mail. Read through the information provided on this link and sign up on Podomatic.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
YOUR PLACE - ADVANCED LEVEL 2
Very useful website which you might turn to if you wanted to know about TV licences in the UK, insurance, guides to cleaning or basic maintenance and many other aspects to consider when renting or buying a house. It is worth a visit: The Site.org the site to the real world.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
VIDEOS - ADVANCED LEVEL
The first video is on a Turkish tree-village. You will understand why it is a tree-village after watching the video.
This second video is on Lisbon in Portugal.
Those videos are examples of other more you can watch on this link
The guardian
This second video is on Lisbon in Portugal.
Those videos are examples of other more you can watch on this link
The guardian
MORE ON TRAVELLING - ADVANCED LEVEL
You should read this piece of information if you have thought of going to Manchester in a near future. Manchester airport trials naked-image security scans. It means passengers are requested to go through a full-body x-ray scanner that leaves little to the imagination of the security staff.
guardian.co.uk World news Web
Saturday, 10 October 2009
TRAVEL AND TOURISM - ADVANCED LEVEL
I offer you a unit which was intended for people who wanted to learn and practise vocabulary on travel and tourism. It provides a different set of activities from listening through reading. I encourage you all to try this site as a reinforcement. Hope you like it. Click on the link below.
Advanced Vocational English
WHY MEN DON'T TALK - ADVANCED 1
This is the last topic we were discussing about but not everybody dared say their own view. I would like you to read this article called 'Why Men Don't Talk', by David Zinczenko on yahoo and then leave your views on SOLVR
As the editor of the biggest men's magazine in the world, I am privy to something many women rarely hear - straightforward, uninhibited guy talk.
Don't be so shocked - guys do actually talk, and not just about Tom Brady's quarterback rating. Most women think their man is the strong, silent type (or maybe the oblivious, silent type), and they wonder why he doesn't share his feelings.
But here's the truth: Men do want to open up, about their hopes, their fears, and their passions. Yet put him alone in a room with you, and he often turns into a Sphinx. Why can't he take his eyes off the TV and talk about the state of the relationship, or the finances, or, heck, the backyard landscaping? Why in the world can't he just summarize his day for 10 minutes?
In fact, one in five women say that they typically fight about a man's lack of verbal interaction, and 30 percent of men say their failure to communicate is the source of major conflict in the relationship. Why is it this way?
Here's one answer: Because even men who have feelings to share don't always feel comfortable sharing them with their partner. These are some of the reasons why some men often prefer to zip it, rather than delivering the goods:
Guys Are A Little Intimidated
No question, women are expert communicators. They throw questions like Oprah after her third cup of coffee; they're connecting on all cylinders. And like the divine Ms. W, women bring a lot of skill to their game: A special awareness of the people-scape around them, a keen set of emotions keyed to that awareness, and a rich vocabulary they use to talk about anything at anytime.
And they're always practicing their Q&A skills on their many friends, so they're in top talk mode all the time. Men know this. And they also know that more than one-third of women say that men simply can't relate and don't understand women. The result: Men are afraid of saying too much, because saying the wrong thing may get them into more trouble than Lindsay Lohan as a designated driver.
Guys Need To Decompress
Woman's view: When a man walks in the door, he ought to cough up some of the details about his day. After all, it's been 10 hours since they've communicated, not counting the two IMs, three voice mails, and one actual mid-day conversation.
Man's view: Can I please make a beeline to the bathroom? When men reach home, it's like those ultra-marathoners staggering across the finish line in Death Valley. The last thing they want to do is discuss how bright the sunlight was, and how scarce the water stops were.
Further up on his want-to-do list after arriving home: 14 percent of men want to check email, 12 percent are looking for a little private time in the bathroom, and 10 percent simply want to eat dinner. The common theme here: After they've spent a day serving the needs of others, they want to take care of themselves a little.
So when a man is hit with a demand for conversation so closely after returning from the stressful environment of work, he has only one gear left to shift into, and sometimes it's reverse. He's retreat, retreat, retreat.
Guys Are More Comfortable With Actions Than Feelings
Rather than talking about how he "feels," often a man would rather express his love by changing her oil, or bringing home a flower, or relinquishing control of the remote.
And when men do talk, they'd prefer to talk about actions rather than emotions. For instance, a lot of guys would choose to express their long-range faith in a relationship by talking about next summer's vacation plans, not by launching into a soliloquy about undying love.
Both conversations can mean the same thing (that he plans on sticking around); he just prefers to say it with plane tickets, rather than poetry. It's one of the reasons men are more comfortable talking at work (the practical universe) than they are at home (the castle that emotion built). But you can bring out his great communicator by making him feel more like he's operating in work mode, even when the topic at hand is your love life. Here's an incredible article, "The Home Office," that shows how he can use his best office skills for great success at home.
Guys Don't Want To Be Put On The Spot
When men talk less and women want more, the scenario can escalate. Like when the bad cop is pummeling the reluctant witness, more silence equals more questions. A full 65 percent of men we surveyed recently told us they don't want their partners to ask them more questions about themselves.
It's clear that some men are just plain tired of feeling like they're on the witness stand. They're not necessarily hiding anything; many guys simply prefer not to have to relate confusing feelings that they may not even understand themselves.
An age-old tactic can make things better: Back off a little, give him room to operate in a conversation, and he's more likely to open up. To find out if his lack of communication really does mean that your relationship needs a tune up, take this quick quiz.
As the editor of the biggest men's magazine in the world, I am privy to something many women rarely hear - straightforward, uninhibited guy talk.
Don't be so shocked - guys do actually talk, and not just about Tom Brady's quarterback rating. Most women think their man is the strong, silent type (or maybe the oblivious, silent type), and they wonder why he doesn't share his feelings.
But here's the truth: Men do want to open up, about their hopes, their fears, and their passions. Yet put him alone in a room with you, and he often turns into a Sphinx. Why can't he take his eyes off the TV and talk about the state of the relationship, or the finances, or, heck, the backyard landscaping? Why in the world can't he just summarize his day for 10 minutes?
In fact, one in five women say that they typically fight about a man's lack of verbal interaction, and 30 percent of men say their failure to communicate is the source of major conflict in the relationship. Why is it this way?
Here's one answer: Because even men who have feelings to share don't always feel comfortable sharing them with their partner. These are some of the reasons why some men often prefer to zip it, rather than delivering the goods:
Guys Are A Little Intimidated
No question, women are expert communicators. They throw questions like Oprah after her third cup of coffee; they're connecting on all cylinders. And like the divine Ms. W, women bring a lot of skill to their game: A special awareness of the people-scape around them, a keen set of emotions keyed to that awareness, and a rich vocabulary they use to talk about anything at anytime.
And they're always practicing their Q&A skills on their many friends, so they're in top talk mode all the time. Men know this. And they also know that more than one-third of women say that men simply can't relate and don't understand women. The result: Men are afraid of saying too much, because saying the wrong thing may get them into more trouble than Lindsay Lohan as a designated driver.
Guys Need To Decompress
Woman's view: When a man walks in the door, he ought to cough up some of the details about his day. After all, it's been 10 hours since they've communicated, not counting the two IMs, three voice mails, and one actual mid-day conversation.
Man's view: Can I please make a beeline to the bathroom? When men reach home, it's like those ultra-marathoners staggering across the finish line in Death Valley. The last thing they want to do is discuss how bright the sunlight was, and how scarce the water stops were.
Further up on his want-to-do list after arriving home: 14 percent of men want to check email, 12 percent are looking for a little private time in the bathroom, and 10 percent simply want to eat dinner. The common theme here: After they've spent a day serving the needs of others, they want to take care of themselves a little.
So when a man is hit with a demand for conversation so closely after returning from the stressful environment of work, he has only one gear left to shift into, and sometimes it's reverse. He's retreat, retreat, retreat.
Guys Are More Comfortable With Actions Than Feelings
Rather than talking about how he "feels," often a man would rather express his love by changing her oil, or bringing home a flower, or relinquishing control of the remote.
And when men do talk, they'd prefer to talk about actions rather than emotions. For instance, a lot of guys would choose to express their long-range faith in a relationship by talking about next summer's vacation plans, not by launching into a soliloquy about undying love.
Both conversations can mean the same thing (that he plans on sticking around); he just prefers to say it with plane tickets, rather than poetry. It's one of the reasons men are more comfortable talking at work (the practical universe) than they are at home (the castle that emotion built). But you can bring out his great communicator by making him feel more like he's operating in work mode, even when the topic at hand is your love life. Here's an incredible article, "The Home Office," that shows how he can use his best office skills for great success at home.
Guys Don't Want To Be Put On The Spot
When men talk less and women want more, the scenario can escalate. Like when the bad cop is pummeling the reluctant witness, more silence equals more questions. A full 65 percent of men we surveyed recently told us they don't want their partners to ask them more questions about themselves.
It's clear that some men are just plain tired of feeling like they're on the witness stand. They're not necessarily hiding anything; many guys simply prefer not to have to relate confusing feelings that they may not even understand themselves.
An age-old tactic can make things better: Back off a little, give him room to operate in a conversation, and he's more likely to open up. To find out if his lack of communication really does mean that your relationship needs a tune up, take this quick quiz.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE - ADVANCED LEVELS
Do you need some pronunciation practice out of the school? Have you thought of improving that pronunciation of yours? YAPPR provides you with a programme where you record your voice and might get as many points as 100 if your pronunciation is perfect. Why don't you give it a try? You might have some fun while improving your English.
Monday, 28 September 2009
ADVANCED LEVEL 1
What are the major problems with friends? Add your opinion on this link and share your views with other students. You can add as many views as you wish. Come on! Help us out with your comments.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
UNLUCKY SOLAR ECLIPSE
Nepal is one of many Asian countries affected by Wednesday's total solar eclipse. Traditionally most Nepalis think eclipses are unluckly but not everyone thinks this eclipse is bad news.
Read and hear the report on BBC Learning English
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
MICHAEL JACKSON
Like him or not, Michael must be considered the king of Pop. He died on Thursday 25th June after suffering a sudden heart attack. He had the best-selling album of all times. Besides his third album 'BAD' set a record for most No. 1 singles by a solo artist on one album.
In 1993 he stated he was addicted to painkillers after scalp reconstruction surgery as his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1984.
Those are highlights of Michael's life. If you want to know more about his life, click on Michael's life in the spotlight.
Moreover, there have been a lot of pieces of news on Michael these days. Today the world has been able to watch his funeral on live. If you want to watch those videos, click on MSNBC.COM. Select from a playlist any of the videos on Michael. You will know everything about his funeral.
REST IN PEACE.
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
WHAT A SONG! MY FAVOURITE
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you know there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world
(Ohhh)
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People could not believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
(Ohhhhh Ohhh Ohhh)
Hear Jerusalem bells are ringings
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Oooooh Oooooh Oooooh"
Monday, 29 June 2009
LISTENING WEBSITES FOR THIS SUMMER
After the students' demands of websites which could offer good listening activities/practise, I have added these links below. Click on the link provided and enjoy yourselves.
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com
http://www.mansioningles.com/listening00.htm Listening activities with exercises online, scripts and different accents ( British or American ).
http://www.saberingles.com.ar/listening/index.html Listening comprehension exercises in American English in three levels (easy, medium and difficult).
http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/
100 short stories for intermediate students to listen to and answer questions. There are two options, one at low speed and the other at a normal speed. There are also activities to practise your comprehension. Besides, you can listen and read the script at the same time.
http://www.esl-lab.com
Choose your level,listen to the text and answer multiple choice comprehension questions. You can also listen and read the script at the same time.
http://www.elllo.org
Most activities include images, an interactive quiz, transcript of the audio and downloadable MP3. Click on a listening and you will see a menu on the right side which will provide you with other options.
http://a4esl.org/podcasts
Podcasts you can listen to online or download.
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com
http://www.mansioningles.com/listening00.htm Listening activities with exercises online, scripts and different accents ( British or American ).
http://www.saberingles.com.ar/listening/index.html Listening comprehension exercises in American English in three levels (easy, medium and difficult).
http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/
100 short stories for intermediate students to listen to and answer questions. There are two options, one at low speed and the other at a normal speed. There are also activities to practise your comprehension. Besides, you can listen and read the script at the same time.
http://www.esl-lab.com
Choose your level,listen to the text and answer multiple choice comprehension questions. You can also listen and read the script at the same time.
http://www.elllo.org
Most activities include images, an interactive quiz, transcript of the audio and downloadable MP3. Click on a listening and you will see a menu on the right side which will provide you with other options.
http://a4esl.org/podcasts
Podcasts you can listen to online or download.
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