New Year's Resolutions

Have you made yours? If you want to know more about them, click here and do some reading!

The best 2012 digital ads!

Do you like ads? Do you really like them? If so, click here to read and.article about the best ones and watch.them online! Enjoy!!

Twisted Sister Christmas Carol

Would you like to listen to a not so traditional Christmas Carol? Enjoy!!

English Learning Tips

Click here and enjoy!!

New Articles in your Online Newspaper

If you want to read you fellow colleagues' creations, just click on Los Ángeles Times. It's your newspaper in English! Read and enjoy it!

The Hobbit: is it worth watching?

"Trailer - The Hobbit Official Trailer #1 - Lord of the Rings Movie (2012) HD" en YouTube

(Review extracted from The Guardian)

As Bilbo Baggins, Martin Freeman brings an endearing spirit to the first part of Peter Jackson's epic new Tolkien trilogy. Martin Freeman as the quiet, peace-loving hobbit Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Back in the early 1930s, when he was an Oxford don, JRR Tolkien was marking exam papers for the now defunct School Certificate when he
came across a blank sheet. For some reason he wrote on it: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." The line isn't exactly "Call me Ishmael" or "Happy families are all alike", but this first line of what was published in 1937 as a children's book began what has proved to be a literary phenomenon, an alternative religion, an endless invitation to exegesis and a major
industry that has led to an immensely
successful trilogy of books and films about life in Middle-earth.

Now the New Zealand
screenwriter Peter Jackson, who followed up the Lord of the Rings trilogy with King Kong and The Lovely Bones, has returned to his old hobbits, and in collaboration with Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro, has turned the initially modest The Hobbit into a full-scale trilogy of its own. Given three films, each presumably close to three hours long, Jackson and company have plenty of time on their hands, and 20 minutes of the film has passed before the immortal "In a hole in the ground there
lived a hobbit" is spoken.

What we get at first is a back story from a posthumously published Tolkien work explaining how a
blight fell on the underground city of Erebor when fire-breathing dragons,hungry for gold, attacked it, driving its dwarf inhabitants into exile. This extremely violent event, involving much death and destruction, warns the audience that it's a film for extremely hardy kids. It sets up an invitation to Bilbo Baggins to take part in an
adventurous quest proposed by the wizard Gandalf (the splendidly authoritative Ian McKellen). It involves him in joining a party of dwarves as the team's "burglar" on a mission to regain their ancestral lands and wealth from Smaug, the dragon guarding them beneath the Lonely Mountain.

A quiet, peace-loving hobbit, Bilbo is happily installed in his cosy subterranean home in the Shires, an idyllic corner of Merrie England inhabited by contented peasants
who look like people in the background of paintings by Fragonard or Constable. Bilbo (Ian Holm, reprising his role from The Lord of the Rings ) is seemingly writing his memoirs, puffing on his churchwarden pipe and blowing out smoke rings as big as haloes and eating regular meals. As he contemplates the past he's replaced by his equally pacifist younger self, to which part Martin Freeman brings the same decent, commonsensical, very English qualities that informed his excellent Dr Watson on TV.

His first challenge is provided by the bald, bearded, beaky-nosed, unkempt dwarves, six pairs of them with rhyming names and all constantly brawling, eating and singing. They resemble tramps auditioning for the
role of Magwitch in a musical of Great
Expectations . The 13th dwarf is altogether more serious. He's their leader, the handsome, tragedy-tinged Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). These knockabout scenes go on far too long, but eventually the quest begins and the dwarves, Gandalf and and initially reluctant Bilbo embark on their epic journey to the Lonely Mountain, encountering orcs, trolls, elves and goblins along the way and facing
endless perils. There are echoes of the Old and New Testament, of similar journeys from Homer's Odyssey through Morte d'Arthur to Gulliver's Travels , and there are all the essential mythic elements: all-conquering swords, magical rings, mysterious maps, giant eagles and dangerous riddling contests such as the one
engaged in by Bilbo and Gollum
(Andy Serkis).

It's an exciting story, easy to follow and lacking both the solemnity and the
portentous symbolism of The Lord of the Rings. You don't need to be a Tolkien devotee who knows their orcs from their elvish to enjoy the movie, and it's generally less irritating than the book, with none of the archness Tolkien adopts when addressing children. Thankfully there's also
an absence of knowing references to other movies and TV shows, and there isn't an American accent to be heard. The dwarves have various British regional brogues, mainly Celtic; the trolls speak comic cockney; the elves, largely played by Australian actors, stick to standard English.

The mountainous terrain, increasingly dark and menacing as the story progresses, at times resembles paintings by John Martin and Caspar David Friedrich , and is beautifully photographed by Jackson's regular cinematographer, Andrew Lesnie,
who has that feeling for landscape that's such a feature of antipodean cinema. At the centre of the film, and sensitively handled by Jackson, are the relationships between Bilbo, his gruff mentor Gandalf and his antagonist Thorin, and it's something children will respond to. In his book Anatomy of Criticism, the Canadian literary
theorist Herman Northrop Frye makes a distinction between "high mimetic" and "low mimetic" figures, ie heroes who are mythically and socially superior to ordinary people or at the same human level as the rest of us. Gandalf, who teaches Bilbo what
heroism is, and Thorin, who exhibits the necessary qualities in his actions, are high mimetic figures, while Bilbo is low mimetic. Bilbo can become a hero and then return to his former world, as indeed is suggested at the beginning of The Hobbit . What we see in
Martin Freeman's moving and endearing performance is Bilbo doing just that.

I liked the film and its measured pace and, except when I found myself looking over the top of my glasses, was largely unaware of the 3D

The Word "Just"

Keyword - Just

How the Internet is Changing Language (an article from the BBC)

Learn English online: How the internet is changing language By Jane O'Brien BBC News Magazine 14 December 2012

Users check Facebook in the Philippines Online, English has become a common language for users from around the world. In the process, the language itselfa is changing. When America emerged from the ashes of a bruising war with Britain in 1814, the nation was far from united. Noah Webster thought that a common language would bring people together and help create a new identity that would make the country truly independent of the British.

Webster's dictionary, now in its 11th edition, adopted the Americanised spellings familiar today - er instead of re in theatre, dropping the u from colour, and losing the double l from words such as traveller. It also documented new words that were uniquely American such as skunk, opossum, hickory, squash and chowder. An American Dictionary of the English Language took 18 years to complete and Webster learned 26 other languages in order to research the etymology of its 70,000 entries.

The internet is creating a similar language evolution, but at a much faster pace. There are now thought to be some 4.5 billion web pages worldwide. And with half the population of China now on line, many of them are written in Chinese. Still, some linguists predict that within 10 years English will dominate the internet - but in forms very different to what we accept and recognise as English today. That's because people who speak English as a second language already outnumber native speakers. And increasingly they use it to communicate with other non-native speakers, particularly on the internet where less attention is paid to grammar and spelling and users don't have to worry about their accent. "The internet enfranchises people who are not native speakers to use English in significant and meaningful ways," says Naomi Baron, professor of linguistics at American University in Washington DC.

Users of Facebook already socialise in a number of different "Englishes" including Indian English, or Hinglish, Spanglish (Spanish English) and Konglish (Korean English). While these variations have long existed within individual cultures, they're now expanding and comingling online. "On the internet, all that matters is that people can communicate - nobody has a right to tell them what the language should be," says Baron. "If you can talk Facebook into putting up pages, you have a language that has political and social standing even if it doesn't have much in the way of linguistic uniqueness." Some words are adaptations of traditional English: In Singlish, or Singaporean English, "blur" means "confused" or "slow": "She came into the conversation late and was blur as a result." Others combine English words to make something new.
In Konglish, "skinship" means intimate physical contact: handholding, touching, caressing. Technology companies are tapping into the new English variations with products aimed at enabling users to add words that are not already in the English dictionary. And most large companies have English websites, while smaller businesses are learning that they need a common language - English -to reach global customers. "While most people don't speak English as their first language, there is a special commercial and social role for English driven by modern forms of entertainment," says Robert Munro, a computational linguist and head of Idibon, a language technology company in California. "The prevalence of English movies in regions where there is not much technology other than cell phones and DVDs makes English an aspirational language. People think it's the language of the digital age." In previous centuries, the convergence of cultures and trade led to the emergence of pidgin - a streamlined system of communication that has simple grammatical structure, says Michael Ullman, director of research at Georgetown University's Brain and Language Lab.

When the next generation of pidgin speakers begins to add vocabulary and grammar, it becomes a distinct Creole language. "You get different endings, it's more complex and systematised. Something like that could be happening to English on the web," he says. Take Hinglish. Hinglish is a blend of Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and English and is so widespread that it's even being taught to British diplomats. Mobile phone companies are also updating their apps to reflect its growing use. In Hinglish, a co-brother is a brother-in-law; eve-teasing means sexual harassment; an emergency crew responding to a crisis might be described as 'airdashing', and somewhat confusing to football fans, a 'stadium' refers to a bald man with a fringe of hair.

There's even a new concept of time - "pre-pone", the opposite of postpone, meaning "to bring something forward". The increasing prevalence of the internet in everyday life means that language online is not a zero sum game. Instead, it allows multiple languages to flourish. "Most people actually speak multiple languages - it's less common to only speak one," says Mr Munro. "English has taken its place as the world's lingua franca, but it's not pushing out other languages." Instead, other languages are pushing their way into English, and in the process creating something new.

Listening Practice

Try out your English listening skills by choosing from a variety of topics. Feel the challenge!! Click here to overcome it!!

Read to Improve Grammar

Here you have some tips to improve your grammar as you read. Enjoy!!

Verbal Tenses Review

Select the exercise you feel is suitable for you and keep on working! Click here and enjoy!

Listening Activity: Catching Up with a Friend

It's been a long time since we last saw each other...Let's catch up!

Listening: a Customer Request

Let's continue a bit more with this skill...Enjoy!

Listening Gap Fill Exercise

It's time to practise you listening skills! Start!

A Story...With Questions!

Read the following story and answer some questions about it!

Alien Story

Do you like aliens? Well, if you want to read a story based on real facts...but first, you will have to put the paragraphs in the correct order. Click here and don't get scared!!

Read the following job advertisements:

1. Needed: Full time secretary position available. Applicants should have at least 2 years experience and be able to type 60 words a minute. No computer skills required. Apply in person at United Business Ltd., 17 Browning Street.

2. Are you looking for a part time job? We require 3 part time shop assistants to work during the evening. No experience required, applicants should between 18 and 26. Call 366 - 76564 for more information.

3. Computer trained secretaries: Do you have experience working with computers? Would you like a full time position working in an exciting new company? If your answer is yes, give us a call at 565-987-7832.

4. Teacher Needed: Tommy's Kindergarten needs 2 teacher/trainers to help with classes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Applicants should have appropriate licenses. For more information visit Tommy's Kindergarten in Leicester Square No. 56.

5. Part Time work available: We are looking for retired adults who would like to work part time at the weekend. Responsibilities include answering the telephone and giving customer's information. For more information contact us by calling 897-980-7654.

6. University positions open: The University of Cumberland is looking for 4 teaching assistants to help with homework correction. Applicants should have a degree in one of the following: Political Science, Religion, Economics or History. Please contact the University of Cumberland for more information.

Comprehension Questions

Which position is best for these people? Choose ONLY ONE position for each person.

• Jane Madison. Jane recently retired and is looking for a part time position. She would like to work with people and enjoys public relation work.
The best job for Jane is _____
• Jack Anderson. Jack graduated from the University of Trent with a degree in Economics two years ago. He would like an academic position.
  The best job for Jack is _____
• Margaret Lillian. Margaret is 21 years old and would like a part time position to help her pay her university expenses. She can only work in the evenings.
  The best job for Margaret is _____
• Alice Fingelhamm. Alice was trained as a secretary and has six years of experience. She is an excellent typist but does not know how to use a computer. She is looking for a full time position.
  The best job for Alice is _____
• Peter Florian. Peter went to business school and studied computer and secretarial skills. He is looking for his first job and would like a full time position.
  The best job for Peter is _____
• Vincent san George. Vincent loves working with children and has an education license from the city of Birmingham. He would like to work with young children.
  The best job for Vincent is _____
  If you want to check your answers, click here!
  (Extracted from esl.about.com)

Verbal Tenses Practise

Are you looking for more exercises? Well, enjoy these ones!! Enjoy!! Would you like some more? Well, click here!!

MORE FIRST AND SECOND CONDITIONAL PRACTISE

Still keen on continuing? Well, click here, or here or even here!!

SECOND CONDITIONAL REVIEW

Do you still want more? Well, here you are. If you click on this link, you'll find plenty of extra practise!

FIRST CONDITIONAL REVIEW

Click here and review the First Conditional!

Future Tenses Review

Do you need extra practise on Future Tenses? Then, why don't you click here?

English as a Second Language Apps!

Do you like technology? Do you have a smartphone or a tablet? If the answer is positive, read this article about apps for learners of English...Some are for free, but others aren't, so be careful!!

Christmas Activities to do everyday!!

Do you like Christmas and want to do some extra pracise as well? Click here and enjoy!!

December, the fifth: International Volunteers Day!

Click here for a multi-skill practise!!!

How tablets are Invading Classes!!

Tablets in the classroom? Will they be substituting books and notebooks? Get informed here!!

Help to Understand English!!

Videos to Help with English Learning

You Think You Know a Language Until... Watch and have a laugh!!

Watch "Don't try this abroad - BBC Languages" en YouTube

World Children and Education: practise your reading, grammar, vocabulary and listening skills

To continue with the topic of education, here you have a webpage with all types of exercises and practise. Of course, answers are provided at the bottom of the webpage!!! Click here and enjoy!!

Victorian Style Exams in the 21st Century

Copy and paste this web address to read a real newspaper article on exams in Great Britain. It is a real article, so you will need a good dictionary!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9691299/Victorian-style-exams-harm-childrens-education.html

Natural Disasters Review

Would you like to take a look again at your knowledge about natural disasters? Here you will find a text with lots of vocabulary and soke questions to make sure you understand everything!!

Video about Body Language!!

Amy Cuddy speaks about how body language shapes who you are. It is a long video but worth watching it!! Click here and enjoy!!

Future Tenses Review

If you want to practise a bit more these verbal tenses, why don't you start with this website?

Magic, Cards, Technology and History!!

Marco Tempest: A cyber-magic card trick like no other #TED : http://on.ted.com/iFqh

Television Day!

November, 21st: Television Day. Why don't you celebrate it by reading a text and testing your reading skills? Click here to try!

Despite vs. Although!

esl-library.com (@ESLlibrary) twitteó a las 3:23 a.m. on dom, nov 18, 2012: A simple explanation of Despite vs. Although: http://t.co/tPzBYu6C #ELT #grammar (https://twitter.com/ESLlibrary/status/270004150857760768) Consigue la aplicación oficial de Twitter en https://twitter.com/download

The Importance of Clothes.

Hi everybody, here you have a great article about the importance of clothes, what they transmit and some of the results and consequences of getting dressed in a way or another. It is a complex test with lots of vocabulary, but with a good dictionary, you will get through it!! Enjoy!!

http://communicationweekly.com/2012/11/dress-code-what-to-wear-to-work-is-a-form-of-non-verbal-communication-jenn-swanson/#sthash.mhgrfLiv.dpbs

Google Cultural Instute

Take a look at the following address and learn about a wide variey of topics!!

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/#!exhibit:exhibitId=QRj3T1tV</p>
</div>

Thanksgiving Reading Comprehension

If you want to try your reading comprehension skill, type this address, carry out the quiz and learn about this special day in the USA!

http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa110800a.htm

ANOREXIA

Hi everybody, here you have the link if you want to watch again or just do a listening task on a very serious topic: ANOREXIA. It's tough, but unfortunately it's part of or reality.

Elementary Podcasts by the British Council!!

Go to the following web address and enjoy!

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/elementary-podcasts?utm_source=facebook-teachingenglish&utm_mediu%C2%ADm=wallpost&utm_campaign=bc-teachingenglish-facebook

A Short Story

Why did the woman complain? Look for it by typing this address on your toolbar!

http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/stories/story002.htm

MUCH OR MANY? SOME OR ANY? LITTLE OR FEW?

Hello everybody! Do you still have doubts or problems about the use of these wonderful, but sometime troublemaking words???? Well, have a look at this link and get the chance to practise a little bit more!! Click here!

Some Idioms in English (dedicated to Celia)

Idioms are very important and really common in every language. Can't you remember the Spanish Sancho Panza, for instance? As well as he's a fantastic example in Spanish, here you have some great examples in English. Enjoy and avoid being snowed under too much work!!

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth:
A caballo regalado, no se le miran los
dientes.

Be snowed under work: estar hasta arriba de trabajo.

Don't count your chickens before they are
hatched: No vender la piel del oso antes de
cazarlo.

Still waters run deep: Del agua mansa líbreme Dios que de la brava me libro yo.

Half a loaf is better than none: Algo es algo, peor es nada.

Actions speak louder than words: Las palabras se las lleva el viento.

No bees, no honey, no work, no money: El que no trabaje, que no coma. El que quiera peces, que se moje el culo.

You're playing with fire: Estás jugando con fuego.

To learn something parrot fashion: repetir como un loro (sin saber lo que se dice).

The early bird catches the worm: A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.

Everyone has his hobby: Cada mochuelo a su olivo.

When the lights are out, all cats are grey:De noche todos los gatos son pardos.

In for a penny, in for a pound: De perdidos, al río.

A word to the wise is sufficient: A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan.

Like father, like son: De tal palo, tal astilla. en inglés

You can't turn back the clock: No se puede engañar al tiempo.

Walls have ears: las paredes tienen ojos.

Birds of a feather flock together: Dios los cría y ellos se juntan.

Give a thing and take a thing, to wear the
devil’s gold ring: Santa Rita, Rita, Rita,lo que se da no se quita.

Easy come, easy go. in Spanish Lo que el agua trae el agua lleva/ Lo que fácil viene, fácil se va.

Grammar Snacks by the British Council.

Try these Grammar Snacks to learn, get some extra practice or review your knowledge. Check them in the following webpage and look for the most suitable one for you!!

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-snacks?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=wallpost&utm_campaign=fb-TeachingEnglish

Chat with Chopin!!!

Hi music lovers! Have an interactive virtual chat with one of the greatest musicians of all time: Frederick Chopin!! Speak about his life, adventures, his most important compositions, his journeys, friends and many more topics. Enjoy both his music and the web!!

http://echopin.pl/en/chat-with-chopin

Do you like cats?

Cats

Helpful guide to writing!!

Writing More Complex Sentences and Paragraphs

Beatriz Barajas...sobre Conchi.

La verdad es que este curso iba a ser el primero que Conchi me diera clase, pero aún así la conocía bastante para saber que era una persona que siempre estaba contenta y feliz y te ayudaba si lo necesitabas. Me acuerdo de los primeros días de clase cuando se estaba aprendiendo los nombres de todos, de esa forma suya tan peculiar, o cuando se paraba siempre que nos cruzábamos en los pasillos a saludarnos con una sonrisa y nos llamaba "Pili y Mili" a Miryam y a mí.  La verdad es que sí, es muy injusto que se haya tenido que ir ella, pero Conchi siempre vivirá en nuestros recuerdos y corazones.

Juanjo "Flamenkero"...sobre Conchi.

¿ Cómo describir a Conchi? No se puede describir porque no hay persona como ella ni adjetivos en el mundo... Todas las mañanas al entrar al colegio siempre estaba contenta y si nos veía mal siempre estaba para ayudarnos en todo momento tanto en lo malo como en lo bueno. Siempre era una persona que intentaba solucionar el problema y lo solucionaba... Cuando me entere de lo sucedido me quedé sin palabras y con unas lagrimas en los ojos porque una persona como ella no se podía ir. Ha dejado huella en el colegio y en todos los sitios en los que estuvo. Descansa en paz, Conchi.

Natalia Fernández...sobre Conchi.

Hace ya como 4 ó 5 años que me fui del colegio y mi último año lo pasé con ella. La verdad es que eran horas muy reducidas, pero a la vez intensas, Me acuerdo cuando se reía con nosotros; esas ayudas que nos daba a todos era de gran ayuda. El día que me entere de su desaparición no me lo podía creer, la verdad que desde ese día estoy como en una nube sin saber cómo sentirme, y cómo me sentiré el día que vuelva a entrar a por esas puertas del colegio y no la vea.....
¡¡¡Siempre en nuestros corazones, Conchi!!!

Diana Jiménez...sobre Conchi.

Porque siempre estaba ahí, por los pasillos por clase... diciendo” ¡Hola, chicos!” con ese tono que todos tenemos en nuestra mente; porque siempre conseguía hacernos aprender las cosas con sus “tonterías” y poses raras (¡ja,ja, ja!) como la Pasiva. ¿Quién no se acuerda de donde pasa el Complemento Directo y “demases”? Es y era ÚNICA, nadie como ella para hablar y pasar muy buenos ratos. Siempre veía las cosas de una manera muy optimista, siempre el vaso medio lleno, siempre quedaba alguna solución. Como ella ninguna y si no, que hagan una encuesta.
No sería capaz de olvidarla. Marcó la vida de muchas personas e hizo grandes cosas por todos nosotros. Siempre en el corazón, Conchi.