Effects of technology

Watch the following video on technology and test yourself!

The message behind commercials

      We may not be aware, but advertising has a powerful impact on us. Everywhere we go or whatever we do, we can't escape its influence.

     Advertisers use many techniques to persuade us to buy a certain product/service or to recognize a certain brand.

     They try to create a series of associations in our minds; consequently when we look at or watch an ad/ commercial, we need to discover the message behind it.

     Be aware and don't let yourself be fooled.

Now look at the "Emmy 2011 best commercials nominnes" and  identify:

• the name of the advertisement
• the name of the trademark/brand
• the slogan
• the hidden message

Infinitive or gerund?

Students of a foreign language generally present some difficulties when dealing with the gerund or infinitive. You can find a tutorial and lots of exercises at  English Page.

Participate in the contest: Songwriters

Regulations- Regulamento  (google doc)

Happy New Year!

New Year's Resolutions are popular year after year.

Find examples of some funny and serious resolutions and create a list of your own.
Don't ever forget it!!!

New Years

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?