About spelling

Watch the video and write a comment about it.

If you liked 'My name is Lucy Barton' you may like Elizabeth Strout's new novel.

An unforgettable cast of small-town characters copes with love and loss in a novel from the No. 1 New York Times bestselling and Man Booker long-listed author of My Name is Lucy Barton. 

Recalling Olive Kitteridge in its richness, structure, and complexity, Anything Is Possible explores the whole range of human emotion through the intimate dramas of people struggling to understand themselves and others. Anything is Possible tells the story of the inhabitants of rural, dusty Amgash, Illinois, the hometown of Lucy Barton, a successful New York writer who finally returns, after seventeen years of absence, to visit the siblings she left behind. 

Reverberating with the deep bonds of family, and the hope that comes with reconciliation, Anything Is Possible again underscores Elizabeth Strout's place as one of America's most respected and cherished authors. 

‘There is, in every chapter, a wrenching, beautiful dissonance between private desires and public obligations… Strout is a brilliant chronicler of the human condition. Anything is Possible is a wise, stunning novel.’ - The Observer 

 Born in Portland, Maine, Elizabeth Strout has spent her early life in New England before moving to New York. Justly considered one of America’s finest living writers, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her third novel Olive Kitteridge which was subsequently made into an award-winning drama by HBO.

Source:  https://www.waterstones.com/book/anything-is-possible/elizabeth-strout/9780241287972

Have something done

Activity 1. Click on the words in the correct order.

Activity 2. Complete the sentences.

Activity 3. Complete the sentences.

Verb patterns

Click here to listen to a BBC Six-Minute English about verb patterns. There is a little test at the end!

Activity 1. Choose the correct answer.

Activity 2. Click on the words in the right order.

Activity 3. Choose the correct answer.

Activity 4. Let or make?

Can, could, managed to

Activity 1: Choose the correct answer.

Activity 2: Complete the sentences.

Saint Patrick's Day

St. Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. He was born in the fourth century and is famous for bringing Christianity into Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day falls on the 17th of March. Click here to listen to the text and then do Task 1. (scroll down) 

About The Archers

Archers fan Stephen Fry gives his instant introduction for new listeners. Learn about the people and places, the laughs and the scandals, so that you can get the most from The Archers. What do you learn about the following characters? You can find the answers as a comment.

1. David and Ruth Archer:___________________________________

2. Pat and Tony Archer: ____________________________________

3. Brian and Jennifer Aldridge: ______________________________

4. The Hebden Lloyds: _____________________________________

5. Emma and Ed Grundy: ___________________________________

TV Addicts

Most people can't imagine life without TV, yet it's only 75 years since regular broadcasting began. Listen to the programme and complete the sentences. You can find the answers as a comment.

1. How many hours a week on average does someone in the UK watch television? 

a) 20 hours

b) 30 hours

c) 40 hours

2. The BBC first public broadcast in the UK began in ___________.

3. Nick Higham explains other names that were considered for the television, such as photo  ___________ or electric ___________.

4. The television historian John Trenouth mentions the radio was called  ___________ in the past.

5. Some of the first things to be shown on TV were ___________, ___________ demonstrations and ___________ models.

6. Some British people didn't have a TV set back then because they weren't ___________ and they were ___________ of this mystical device.

7. Manufacturers put ___________ on the front of TV sets as people thought the TV set could see them and tried to put a ___________ over the screen!

8. Technology has developed so much that today you can even watch TV on your ___________ ___________, and the number of ___________ has expanded.

Source: BBC 6 minute English

16th January: Martin Luther King's Day

 

Answer the following questions:

1. What event took place on 18th August 1963?

2. Who was the most relevant speaker?

3. What had happened a few months earlier?

4. How did President Kennedy react to that?

5. Where did the demonstration start and finish?

6. Who did Martin Luther King mention at the beginning of his speech?

You can find the answers to the question in 'comments'.

Christmas Lights by Coldplay

Watch the video and fill the gaps. You'll find the answers in 'Comments' . 

Christmas night, another fight 
__________, we cried a flood
Got all kinds of poison in
Of poison in my __________

I took my __________ to Oxford Street
Trying to right a wrong
Just walk away, those __________ say
But I can't believe she's gone

When you're still waiting for the snow to __________
Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all

Up above, __________ on air flicker
Oh, they flicker and they float
And I'm up here holdin' on
To all those chandeliers of __________

Like some drunken Elvis singin'
I go singin' out of __________
Sayin' how I __________ loved you, darlin'
And I always will

Oh, when you're still waiting for the snow to __________
It doesn't really feel like Christmas at all
Still waiting for the snow to __________
It doesn't really feel like Christmas at all

Those Christmas lights light up the street
Down where the __________ and city meet
May all your __________ soon be gone
Oh, Christmas lights, keep shinin' on

Those Christmas lights light up the street
Maybe they'll __________ her back to me
And then all my __________ will be gone
Oh, Christmas lights, keep shinin' on

Oh, Christmas lights, light up the street
Light up the __________ in me
May all your __________ soon be gone
Those Christmas lights keep shinin' on

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

What's a University Education Worth?

Every year, it costs British students more and more to attend university. Students are graduating with larger and larger debts. So is a university degree really worth it?

Click here to download the worksheet with the listening activities. Don't read the transcript before you do the exercises!

Click here to download the audio track.

The global food waste scandal

Watch the video and answer the questions:

1. What did he notice when he was feeding his pigs and selling them to get some pocket money? 
2. What was his first act of freeganism?
3. What point is he trying to make by showing these graphs?
4. Why isn't this surplus of food supply a success for human civilization?
5. What do the nine biscuits he found in a supermarket bin represent? How many are we left with to feed on? 
6. Why is it necessary to sneak around the back of supermarkets to know where all the waste is going?
7. What examples are given to show that real waste is not in supermarkets' bins?
8. What does the national dish in Kashgar (Wester China) symbolize?
9. What is one of the possible solutions to stop food waste?
10. What event did he organize for the first time in 2009?

(You can check your answers in 'comments')

Thanksgiving

 

Click here to listen to how the efforts of Sarah Hale helped establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Teens and elders bridge generation gap and digital divide

Watch the video and answer the questions:

1. What's 'Capable Living' about?
2. In what way are the employees special?
3. What's the goal of the company?
4. Who does Amanda Cavaleri speak to? What about?
5. What do demographic data show?
6. How can seniors be helpful for younger people?
7. What's one of Amanda's newest projects?
8. What has Bruce Mackenzie learned to do?
9. What does Jack Williamson think are the benefits of this programme?
10. What is her latest project?

You can find the answers to these questions as a comment to the post.

What were you like as a child,or as a teenager?

 
Write a short paragraph about what you used to be like as a child (or as a teenager) and if you have changed as a comment to this post.

31st October. It's Halloween!

 

Watch the video and answer the questions: (the answers are in 'comments')

1. The celebration dates back to...
a) Roman rituals   b) Welsh rituals   c) Celtic rituals

2. Which USA state was the first to celebrate it according to official records?
a) Louisiana    b) Minnesota   c) Michigan

3. Which of these statements is true?
a) Fewer people in the USA celebrate Halloween now than they used to.
b) People celebrate Halloween for longer than they used to.
c) People spend less money on Halloween than they used to.

4. People in the USA will spend nearly 5 billion dollars on...
a) Halloween theme parks
b) going to the National zoo
c) costumes, candy and decorations 

5. Which of these statements is false?
a) Kids visiting the zoo dress up in Halloween costumes.
b) The keepers dress the animals up in Halloween costumes. 
c) Some of the animals are given Halloween treats.

Source:  http://www.esolcourses.com

Past simple, Past continuous and 'used to'

Activity 1. Past continuous and past simple. Click here to read some examples and do the grammar exercise. Click here if you need to practise the pronunciation of the past of regular verbs.

Activity 2. Choose the correct answer.

Activity 3. Click on the words in the correct order.

Activity 4. Listen to the song and complete the gaps. (You'll find the answers as a comment to the post)

You (1) ______________ to me like

I was the only one around
You (2)______________  on me
The only other choice was falling down
You (3)______________ with me like
We had nowhere we needed to go
Nice and slow
To no place in particular

CHORUS:

We (4) ______________ this figured out
We (5)______________ without a doubt
When nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see
We (6)______________  this under control
We never thought we (7) _______________
At least there's you
And at least there's me
Can we get this back
Can we get this back
To how it (8) ______________?

I (9)  ______________ for you when
I got lost along the way
I (10)______________ you

You always had the just right thing to say
I (11) ______________ 

Never really cared where we would go
Fast or slow
To anywhere at all

CHORUS

I look around me
And I want you to be there
'Cause I miss the things that we shared
Look around you
It's empty, and you're sad
'Cause you miss the love that we had

You (12) ___________to me like
I was the only one around
The only one around

CHORUS