2011 in review

2011 is about to end.

Let's remember some important events which have taken place in this year.



Let's hope 2012 will be much better.

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING... Let´s sing with him!

Tips for learning vocabulary and grammar

Are you having problems with the English language?
Are you having difficulties in understanding/ writing a text?
Do you feel you don't know enough vocabulary/ grammar ?

If you have answered "yes" to these questions, then this list of tips will help you a lot.
Tips for learning vocabulary and grammar.

English grammar is simple. Get some pactice by reading and listening to it. It's not difficult, English is all around you.

Speaking Time

Students are expected to debate about several topics. However, if they want to do that effectivelly, they will need to know a certain amount of expressions/phrases.

To help you communicate effectively, we will show you a list of useful exponents/ phrases.

For students in the 10th and 11th forms:

- Supporting oppinions 

- Contrasting  

- Discussion techniques 

- Clarifying  

- Checking understanding  

- Exploring options  

- Interrupting  

- Simple presentations  

- Conceading/ making point 

Phrases for conversation for younger students.

Looking for alternative lifestyles

An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle generally perceived to be outside the cultural norm (wikipedia).


-Which sort of words do you associate to the word "alternatives"?

             - Why do people opt for alternative lifestyles?

- Choose from this list the three most important factors.

a)      Unemployment;

b)      Homelessness;

c)       The desire to escape from the polluted environment;

d)      Religious beliefs;

e)      Political beliefs;

f)       Disenchantment with the materialism of modern life;

g)      The desire to change established values;

h)      The desire to change the world;
i)   The desire to have a healthier life.

Some examples of alternative groups:
Goths, New Age Travellers,  punks, vegetarians, hippies, punks, grunges, emos, vegans, etc....

- Now watch The Meatrix (a video against factory farms) and do the following exercises.


A.    Complete these sentences.
 - A Family farm is a …………………………
 - Factory farms ……………………………


B.    Identify the reason for creating factory farms.
C.     Identify the problems caused by factory farms.
D.    Refer to the solutions presented.


 Do you know other similar situations?   Have you heard about factory farms in the news?

Virtual friendships! A good or a bad thing?

Teens spend many hours online communicating with their virtual friends. But are these real friendships? Are teens really communicating?

Many times they sit together, but they are not really communicating with each other.  They are often sending messages to friends who are somewhere else. Have you seen this picture ? A lot?

Have a look at this article, Digital World: Alone Together and reflect a little about this issue.

The importance of English

English is a language spoken all over the world for several purposes. Its use has been growing a lot recently. Use the link below to know more about its uses.
http://www.saching.com/Article/The-importance-of-English-Language-/3556

Cloning: pros and cons

Cloning is a very controversial issue. Scientists, doctors, priests, ethicists, sociologists ... have been presenting a huge amount of arguments in favour and against its practice.

Use the links below if you want to expand your knowledge on this subject (pros and cons).

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-cloning.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-cloning.htm

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071127060903AATBUti

The environmental situation

The environmental situation is very serious.

Below, there's a list of several environmental threats that affect our world.

- global warming
- water pollution
- air pollution
- acid rain
- ozone layer depletion
- deforestation
- depletion of natural resources
- overpopulation
- water shortage
- ice melting
- biodiversity loss
- rubbish heaps/ landfills
- natural disasters

Some of these threats have natural causes, but most of them are caused by man. Even natural disasters are getting worse because of humans' influence

- Can we do anything to change this situation?


There are many interesting sites that deal with environmental issues.

Have a look at Think Quest and learn more about the environmental situation.

Halloween Quiz.Try it!

Halloween- Time to scare is almost there

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is celebrated in many different countries and takes place on October 31. It is commonly associated to trick-or-treating, costume parties, jack-o'lanterns, bonfires, apple bobbing, haunted houses, haunted attractions, pranks, scary movies, and horror films.

Halloween in Britain


Halloween in the USA


Try this Halloween Quiz

Global warming- learn and check your knowledge

History for Kids

How much do you know about:

·         ancient history?

·         world history?

·         British history (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales)?

Use this BBC site- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids/ and learn about many different historical events. Then do the quizzes.

Have fun, learn a lot and improve your English.

A Carnival quiz

Carnival is synonymous with joy, fun, laugh, trick and satire. People throughout Portugal celebrate it with great enthusiasm and good-humour. There are great parades in many Portuguese cities. However, each city has its own traditions and customs, which make part of the country's history.

People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations and pretend to be someone new and different. In many street celebrations, lots of floats with political or social message can be seen.



Test you knowledge and try this quiz on Carnival.

Brief History of America. Watch the video and do the quiz!

for websites and blogs that support iframes:

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a festival that cherishes love and romance. The festival falls on February 14 every year and is celebrated in several countries across the world including US, UK, Canada, Japan, France, China and India. Though the festival commemorates the martyrdom of a Christian saint called St Valentine, the festival as it is celebrated today has little religious significance. In present times, Valentine's Day has assumed a secular and global flavor and is celebrated by people of all ages and races.

Another noticeable factor in Valentine's Day celebration of present times is that the festival celebrates love in all its forms and is not just restricted to romantic love. People therefore exchange Valentine's Day greetings with their parents, teachers, siblings, friends, sweethearts or anyone special or close to them. The commonest way of expressing love on Valentine's Day is through exchanging cards, flowers and chocolates.

Valentine's Day History and Legends
The romantic festival of Valentine's Day is said to have originated in pagan times in Rome when people celebrated annual fertility festival called Feast of Lupercalia in mid-February. A unique custom of the festival was the mating of young boys and girls for a year through a lottery system. Quite often the couple would fall in love and marry.

http://www.stvalentinesday.org/valentines-day.html

Comparatives and Superlatives - watch the video and do the quiz!

The unique Bryan Adams

Lisbon is yellow ...

Daily routine

Try this quiz. Beautiful by Cristina Aguilera

The British Royal Family

Here is a picture of the British Royal Family

How many people do you know in this photo?

If you are curious about the British Royal Family, visit this site: http://projectbritain.com/royal/index.htm

There you can find all sorts of information about the British monarchy. You can also test your knowledge by answering some questions.

Learn and have fun.

Avril Lavigne