Song: Arcade

Try doing this activity while you listen to Duncan Lawrence Eurovision Song Contest Winner song, Arcade.

Duncan lawrence arcade from Ana Arias Castro

Differences between Christmas in Britain and in the USA

Earth Day Doodle

Watch this video (without or with subtitles) and try to answer the following questions:

SOME QUESTIONS:

• Can you say something about Jane Goodall's childhood?
• How did Jane feel one day at Gombe National Park?
• What is her message to all of us?

Vancouver riots

READ ABOUT IT:

• The Globe and Mail
• Vancouver Sun

WATCH THIS VIDEO:




Now it's your turn to try and explain what happened.

Environment

SOME QUESTIONS:

• Do you think this idea is feasible? Why?
• What will the most important problems be?
• Can you think of any other good ideas to keep our environment cleaner?

Environmental issues

• What other environmental problems can you list?
• Can you think of any in your area?

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Big city small world -  British Council - audio file

Big city small world -  British Council - pdf

8 sites that will help you improve your listening skills

If you want to improve your listening skills, here are some sites that will help you in the process:

1. YouTube. This popular site will let you choose videos of any genre and about any topic you may be interested in: tutorials, movies, documentaries, movies, etc. If you can understand most of what is being said, no problem, you may slow the video down to make it easier to understand or check the most difficult words. If your level is lower and you need subtitles, you can either choose videos with subtitles or add your own using this YouTube tool.
   
2. Speech Notes is a speech recognition text editor. You can read or tell your own texts for the
   
   computer to convert them into text. It will let you know when your speech is easy or difficult to understand.
   
3. Natural Readers is a complementary service. You can write or paste any text that will be read aloud to you with the accent and voice you choose. This will let you know how to read or pronounce some difficult words or expressions.
   
4. British Council Listening Skills Practice. This site has a good number of videos and audios with a number of activities to follow. The texts have been designed for students of English and are quite easy for a foreign student.
   
5. Lyricstraining is the best site for those who love music. There are lots of different activities at different levels about the latest songs. First you select your level (beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert) and then you choose the song you are going to complete the lyrics of. The higher your level, the more words that are missing and you will have to supply.
   
6. Podcasts in English has a large number of podcasts at different levels and about different topics. Although the worksheets and other extras are only for subscribers, you can find many interesting audio files about a lot of topics.
   
7. Audio Lingua is also a site for podcasts. You can find them in a number of languages and you can search them by your level (A1-A2-B1-B2-C1-C2), language, key word, and length. You can even download the podcasts. You can submit podcasts for other learners of your own language. If you have a website or blog, these podcasts can be embbed in it.
   
8. BBC Learning English. This popular site has a good number of interesting features and sections. My recommendation is 6-Minute English, a series that contains short audio files about hot topics. You can listen to the podcasts and the site also contains the transcripts and the key vocabulary you will hear.
   

Shopping for clothes

At the restaurant

At the restaurant from Tino Grandio

"Every Breath You Take" by The Police

 ACTIVITIES

• Write the words in three groups: break, day, face, make, play, embrace, say, stay, take, trace, aches and take.

/ei/	/eis/	/eik/
day	face	break

• Now complete the song with those words:

 EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE

1                 Every breath you __________

Every move you __________

Every bond you _________

Every step you _________

I’ll be watching you.

2                 Every single __________

Every word you __________

Every game you __________

Every night you __________

I’ll be watching you.

3                 Oh can’t you see

You belong to me

How my poor heart __________

With every step you take.

4                 Since you’ve gone

I’ve been lost without a __________

I dream at night I can only see your _________

I look around but it’s you I can’t __________

I feel so cold and I long for your ___________

I keep crying, baby, baby, please

More songs and activities for English as a Foreign Language students.

"Let Her Go" by Passenger

Mike Rosenberg, Passsenger, is an English folk-rock singer who has become famous with his song, Let Her Go.




QUESTIONS:

• how does the narrator feel?
• what has he/she recently experienced?

LYRICS
Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missin' home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go

Staring at the bottom of your glass
Hoping one day you'll make a dream last
But dreams come slow and they go so fast

You see her when you close your eyes
Maybe one day you'll understand why
Everything you touch surely dies

But you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missin' home
Only know you love her when you let her go

Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart
'Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast

Well you see her when you fall asleep
But never to touch and never to keep
'Cause you loved her too much
And you dived too deep

Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missin' home
Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go
And you let her go
Well you let her go

'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missin' home
Only know you love her when you let her go

'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missin' home
Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

Interview to Mike Rosenberg

More songs and activities for English as a Foreign Language students.

Classroom language

Listen to the radio in English (or in any other language)

If you want to listen to the radio in English, Radio Garden is a good option. It lets you rotate the globe and choose among the radio stations in the place and language you choose. Why don't you  give it a try?

Speaking faster

Interesting links for students of English

Here you are some interesting websites you might want to have a look at:

NEWS & INFORMATION

• News in Levels
• BBC Learning English
• Time for Kids

GAMES

• Crosswords from iteslj
• BBC Learning English quizzes
• English at Home Games

TEXTS

• Nick Jr - Stories from around the world
• Reader's Digest

ESL Fast - level 2 books

VIDEOS

• ESL video
• Many Things TV (YouTube channel)
• Voice of America (YouTube channel)

GRADED READERS

• Burlington Books (click on the book and you can download and listen to the text)
• Free Graded Books
• ESL Fast (Graded readers: online text and audio files classified according to their level of difficulty)

EXERCISES

• Many Things
• English at Home

Tips for learning English

These are the ideas mentioned in 3º ESO for those of you who want to improve your English or any other foreign language.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

• Go to a country where that language is spoken, if possible
• Listen, read, write and speak in English as much as possible
• Read books in English (original or adapted)
• Read a book in English that you have previously read in your first language
• Watch TV in English (change the language/original version with/without subtitles)
• Play videogames in English
• Minecraft, etc.
• Listen to songs (YouTube, radio, i-Tunes, etc.)



keep a small notebook or journal for new expressions

• Songs with the lyrics
• Read the news online in English
• Keep a small notebook or journal for new word and phrases
• Accept mistakes as positive, as part of the learning process
• Watch YouTube videos for songs, dialogues, speeches, documentaries, etc.
• Speak to foreigners who speak English
• Set your phone in English (settings)
• Try

WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T DO

• Speak in Spanish in your English class
• Translate everything
• Use a translator (Google Translator, for example)
• Look up every single word you don't know
• Not speak trying to avoid making mistakes
• Study a lot of English in a short period of time

How to pronounce the -s/-es of third person present simple verbs

This inforgraphic will let you see the three possible pronounciation patterns for the final -(e)s either in present simple verbs or in plural nouns:

Phonemic chart

This phonemic chart contains the standard sound of British Received Pronunciation. If you want to try the interactive version, go to the original interactive chart in the British Council website.

The most interesting websites for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

BBC Learning English

• News in levels will help you read news in English at your own level. Once you've understood it you might try a higher level, or the other way round, try the most difficult level and then an easier one.
• Activities for Esl/EFL students offers a wide range of activities, particularly quizzes, which are always fun.
• Isabel Pérez is probably one of the most interesting Spanish websites. You'll find all sorts of grammar and vocabulary exercises but also interesting texts on a variety of topics. It is also a good website for ESL teachers.
• Lyrics Training will let you listen to your favourite songs and learn English at the same time. Our former assistant, Sam, recommended it.
• Five minute English has short articles on different topics that will be useful for language learners, such as the difference between hear and listen to.
• ESL America has lots of activities with audio files so that you can focus on difficult aspects of pronunciation.
• Audio-Lingua has a large selection of mp3 files for learners of many European languages. You'll find files from A1 to C2 levels. Many of them are in English.
• BBC Learning English website has lots of different sections where you can find texts, audio files and activities designed for foreign students of English.
• Duolingo is a great website if you want to learn English (French, German or Portuguese) on your own. It uses translation and dictation as its main activities. It can be useful particularly if you want to reinforce what you have learnt in class. You can register using your Facebook or Google account.
• Newspapers in English. Here you'll find lots of online newspapers to read in English:
• from Spain
• from England A-K
• from England L-Z
• from Ireland
• from other European countries

If you know any other interesting websites that we haven't mentioned, just leave a comment so that we can also include it.  Thanks for your help.

Songs for EFL classes

If you are studying English, listening to songs and doing the following activities might be helpful if you want to have a good time while learning English:

• Ain't No Mountain High Enough by MARVIN GAYE and TAMMI TERREL
• All of Me by JOHN LEGEND  
• Another Day In Paradise by PHIL COLLINS
• Counting Stars by ONE REPUBLIC
• Don't You Worry by SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA
• Every Breath You Take by THE POLICE
• Fortunate Son by CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
• Happy by PHARRELL WILLIAMS
• Hey Brother by AVICII 
• If Today Was Your Last Day by NICKLEBACK
• It's A Beatutiful Day by MICHAEL BUBLÉ
• Jingle Bells
• Let Her Go by PASSENGER
• Perhaps Love by PLÁCIDO DOMINGO AND JOHN DENVER
• Silent Night by OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
• Somebody I Used to Know by GOTYE
  
• Treasure by BRUNO MARS
• Wake Me Up When When September Ends by GREEN DAY
• We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by TAYLOR SWIFT
• When I Was Your Man by BRUNO MARS
• Woman by JOHN LENNON
• You Are Always On My Mind by ELVIS PRESLEY
• Your Song by ELTON JOHN

All these songs can be found in the SONGS page in this blog.