Obama lights National Christmas Tree

.....so during a time in which we try our hardest to live with a spirit of charity and goodwill, we remember our brothers and sisters who have lost a job or are struggling to make ends meet (llegar a fin de mes)We pray for the men and women in uniform serving in Afghanistan and Iraq and in faraway places who can’t be home this holiday season. And we thank their families, who will mark this Christmas with an empty seat at the dinner table.
On behalf of Malia, Sasha, Michelle, Marian -- who’s our grandmother-in-chief -- (laughter) -– and Bo -- don’t forget Bo -- (applause) -- I wish all of you a merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season.
And now I’m going to invite the entire Obama crew up here to help me light this Christmas tree. (Applause.)
All right, everybody, we’re going to count from five -- five, four, three, two, one.
(The tree is lit.) (Applause.)
Merry Christmas, everybody!

The Flatmates episode 73,

Alice, Helen and Tim are talking about their plans for the Christmas holidays, but it looks as if Alice will have to work.

 

Recommended Grammar Books

Recommended Grammar Books

Credit cards

This week join Dan and Kate as they talk about credit cards. What are some of their advantages and disadvantages and how have they changed the ways that we handle money?

This week's question:

In what year was the first ever credit card introduced?

a) 1951

b) 1955

c) 1962
Listen out for the answer in the programme!

John Lennon's 30th Death Aniversary

Breaking news in Spain

Read about the latest news in Spain in English.

Spanish Air Traffic Controllers Strike 4 December 2010

Self-access exercises - Listening Comprehension

Listening comprehension exercises

Black Friday in the States

Read the following text and say if the following statements are true or false.

1. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
2. Black Friday is an official holiday.
3. Many employees have the day off so that they more people can go shopping.
4. Some larger retailers remain open for 24 hours.
5. A doorbuster is a very low-priced item designed to draw people into a sale. (The price can even be so low that the product is sold at a loss)
6. Black Friday is considered the first day of the Christmas shopping.
7. The term “Black Friday” refers nowadays to the period in which retailers go from being in the black to being in the red.

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000. Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees have the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday (with the exceptions of those employed in retailing, health care, and banking), which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5AM or even earlier. Some of the larger retailers (depending on the location) such as Sears, Best Buy, Macy's, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart have been reported to open as early as midnight on the start of Black Friday in localized areas and remain open for 24 hours throughout the day until midnight the following Saturday. Upon opening, retailers offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s.
The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day (see Origin of the name "Black Friday" below). More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Making healthy turkey and turkey gravy

Watch how to make healthy turkey.

Barack Obama pardons Thanksgiving turkey

Watch the one-minute news

US President Barack Obama has pardoned a turkey at the White House as part of an annual presidential tradition held in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving day

Thanksgiving in 2010 is on Thursday, the 25th of November.
In the United States, Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

Listen to an ESL podcast about Thanksgiving

Click here to read about traditional Thanksgiving dishes.

Speaking Unit 1 Discussion

Click here to find some speaking activities.

Intermediate Entry Grammar Checker Key

Click here to see the answers

Are Asian family values the future?

Read the article

Reflexive pronouns

When to use a reflexive pronoun. Click here to learn about this grammar point and do some exercises

Click here to learn how to use -selves and each other.

Now try a quizz

Test your family knowledge

Families quiz

Watch this video title: How UK families are changing.

Growing up in a big family

Click here to listen to two girls talking about what it is like to grow up in a big family.

Note down the advantages and disadvantages of growing in a big family.

We are family. Sister Sledge

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev'rybody and sing

Ev'ryone can see we're together
As we walk on by
(FLY!) and we fly just like birds of a feather
I won't tell no lie
(ALL!) all of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose

(CHORUS x2)

Living life is fun and we've just begun
To get our share of the world's delights
(HIGH!) high hopes we have for the future
And our goal's in sight
(WE!) no we don't get depressed
Here's what we call our golden rule
Have faith in you and the things you do
You won't go wrong
This is our family Jewel

Talk about your family

Click here to listen to Shuan talking about his family.

So / Such

:
Such and so can be used for emphasis. For example, 'You're such a goose!' means 'You're very much like a goose!' or 'It's so quiet' means 'It's very quiet'.
Click here to find the grammar explanation

Practice with suffixes

Click here to do some exercises

Noun suffixes

Noun suffixes
Click here to learn some suffixes to make nouns
-ness (nouns from adjectives)
 -ity (nouns from adjectives)

-tion / -sion (nouns from verbs)
-ment (nouns from verbs and adjectives)
-ment is another suffix that is used to make nouns from verbs and occasionally from adjectives
-ance / -ence (nouns from adjectives and verbs)
-ship (abstract nouns denoting different kinds of relationships)
- hood (abstract nouns denoting different kinds of 'families')

Suffixes 2

-er, -or, -ian, -ent, -ant: a person who does something

-ist: a person who specialises in an activity or area of study, or who is a member of a group with particular beliefs

-ee: a person who has something done to him or her

-hood: a state that is closely associated with a period of time

-ology: a subject (often academic) of study

-ion: a state or activity

-age: a state or process

-ce   important - importance,   patient - patience ,violent - violence
-y difficult - difficulty ,modest - modesty ,honest - honesty

Admirable Athletes

Listen as a group of people talk about which professional athletes they admire most.

Halloween

After listening to this British Council podcast about Halloween

for each of the questions decide if they are true or false.

1. Halloween is liked by many people.

2. The Celts celebrated Samhain at the end of the autumn.

3. The Church thought pagan feasts were holy days.

4. Only poor people play "treat or trick".

5. Witches are a modern invention.

6. Jack O'Lantern was another name for the devil.

7. Animals that live at night are popular symbols.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-podcasts-themes-halloween.htm

Guy Fawkes' Night

November 5th is Guy Fawkes' Night and it will be celebrated by people across the UK.
Guy Fawke's failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, King James I and the entire English government. Luckily, the plot failed but why do we continue to celebrate such a violent event 400 years after the actual attempt?
Click here and find out.

Obesity epidemic

Click here to read and listen to the article

Describing food

Ways of describing food:
fresh
crisp
juicy
dry
raw uncooked but edible (you can eat it). For example, carrots, tuna or beef can be raw fresh in a natural condition rather than artificially preserved by, for example, freezing
ripe completely developed and ready to be eaten
off no longer fresh or good to eat because it's too old
rotten fruit or vegetables which are no longer fresh
rancid butter or oil which is no longer fresh

Meat can be: raw, rare, medium, well-done, burnt
Flavours:
sour milk which is no longer fresh
salty
sweet
spicy/hot
mild
strong
creamy

Listen to the following podcast. Describing the taste of food

The Cinnamon Club

Read this  short  article about one of the most elegant Indian Restaurant in the heart of London

Mexican food

In this week's London Life, Mexican Miguel Molina tells us about Mexican food in the capital city. Find out why he doesn't go to Mexican restaurants anymore and why, if you're Mexican, it might be hard to find food that you love from back home!

Before you listen to the programme, look at the questions below - the answers are in the programme.

1. Which spice is used a lot in Mexican cooking in the UK that you wouldn't find in the food cooked in Mexico?

2. Approximately how many Mexicans are living in London?

3. What two things would Miguel do to make Mexican food in London better?

LISTEN

British breakfasts

We find out what the great British breakfast is made of, and why it is becoming more and more popular, especially in London, to eat breakfast in a café before arriving at the office for a hard day's work! Our guests are an American anthropologist, a top chef in a London restaurant, and the author of new book called 'Egg, Bacon, Chips and Beans: 50 Great Cafés and the Stuff That Makes Them Great'.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1557_london_extra/page7.shtml

Recipes from around the world: Paella

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/specials/2009/02/090305_recipes_index.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/specials/2009/07/090806_recipes_aug1.shtml

The new Superfood

If you're someone who is quite careful about what you eat and likes to be healthy, then you might want to find out about what's being hailed as the latest super food.

Listen to the story

Food on the move

A research group says that Britons are spending four times as much for 'food on the move' as the Spanish and nearly twice as much as the Italians. The reason - it takes longer to get to work.

Read the article.

Silent letters

CUPBOARD/'kʌbəd/

One difficult thing in Enlish is the pronunciation of words that contain a silent letter. Click here and you will find certain combination of letters in which there are silent letters.

Fast Food

Watch this video clip on restaurants and then answer the questions based on what you see and hear.

Vaughan radio

If you want to listen to Vaughan radio live click here
You will enjoy listening to him for a while and I'm sure you will always learn something, I usually do.

Wonderwall Oasis

Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Backbeat the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me ?
And after all
You're my wonderwall

Today was gonna be the day?
But they'll never throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do
About you now

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me ?
And after all
You're my wonderwall

Today was gonna be the day?
But they'll never throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do
About you now

And all the roads that lead to you were winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
I don't know how

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me ?
And after all
You're my wonderwall

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me ?
And after an
You're my wonderwall

Said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
You're gonna be the one that saves me
You're gonna be the one that saves me

Pronunciation tips

Quizzes about pronunciation

Learning a foreign language

Kawabe gives his secret for learning English really well.

Listen to him and note down how he improved his English.

Is it the same for you? What do you do to improve your English?

Learning a language

Listen to what a group of advanced foreign language learners and their teachers suggested when they were asked what the best way of learning a language is.

Note down their suggestions. There are 8 people speaking. Cissy, Russel, Sachiko, Miguel, Steve, Gao, Eduardo and Eun-sil.

http://eoiutebo.educa.aragon.es/maripaz/successatlearning.mp3

PHONETIC CHARTS

Top Five English Phonetic (Phonemic) Charts

Phonemic chart



Phonemic chart


Sounds of English by BBC learn English

The phonetic chart by EFL productions


The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet

Vowels, diphthongs,consonants.

1 Vowels
2 Diphthongs
3 Consonants
4 More consonants
Stress Monsters

How to greet people in informal contexts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1142_greeting/page2.shtml

The coursebook/New English File Intermediate Online

Our coursebook student's book and workbook.




New English File Intermediate online


Learn more English here with interactive exercises, useful downloads, games, and weblinks. Practise your grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, listening, and reading, and have some fun too.
Grammar
Vocabulary
Pronunciation
Practical English
How Words Work
Text Builder
Weblinks
Games
Help

Web EOI Utebo

http://eoiutebo.educa.aragon.es/

Shakira - "Waka Waka" with Lyrics - FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010

Centros Net/

Para consultar tu expediente, notas finales, papeleta, faltas de asistencia etc. Lee la siguiente información y accede a Centros Net.

Transport in my town

Listen to some people talking about transport in their town.

Is TV good or bad for people.

Marika tackles the question of whether TV is good or bad for people.

Click here to do the listening exercise.

Television its use and abuse

Click here to read about this topic.

Another Brick in the Wall. Pink Floyd

"Another Brick in the Wall" is the title of three songs set to variations of the same basic theme, on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera, The Wall, subtitled Part I (work title Reminiscing) , Part II (work title Education), and Part III (work title Drugs), respectively, all of which were written by Pink Floyd's bassist and then lead songwriter, Roger Waters. It has become one of the most famous Pink Floyd songs.[citation needed]

Part II is a protest song against rigid schooling in general and boarding schools in particular,[1] which has led to the song being banned in South Africa.[2] It was also released as a single and provided the band's only number one hit in the UK, the US, West Germany and many other countries.




We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
(A bunch of kids singing)
We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

I'll be there for you. The Rembrandts

So no one told your life was gonna be this way
Your jobs a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A.

It's like you're always stuck in second gear
And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month,
or even your year
but..

I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

You're still in bed at ten
And work began at eight
You've burned your breakfast
So far... things are goin' great

Your mother warned you there'd be days like these
Oh but she didn't tell you when the world has brought
You down to your knees that...

I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

No one could ever know me
No one could ever see me
Seems you're the only one who knows
What it's like to be me
Someone to face the day with
Make it through all the rest with
Someone I'll always laugh with
Even at my worst I'm best with you, yeah

It's like you're always stuck in second gear
And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month,
or even your year...

I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

I'll be there for you
I'll be there for you
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

8 Tips for apartment hunting

Apartment hunting hints

With all the help from the internet, you would think that finding a new apartment would be a cinch. However, that is not always the case -- here are eight tips for finding the apartment right for you!

Click here to read those tips.

Rent or buy? How to choose

If you haven't decided yet whether to rent or buy a house read the following article. It may help you decide.

First and second conditionals

Do the following exercises to revise both types of conditional sentences.

Second conditional

Exercises

Second conditional

In this programme Grammar Challenge looks at the second conditional - a way of talking about impossible or unlikely events or situations.

Anna Lee from South Korea is asked to imagine that she could meet anyone in the world... who will she say she'd like to meet?
And you, who would you like to meet if you could meet anyone in the world?

The second conditional

a. A conditional sentence is usually composed of two parts – The condition and the consequence.
In the condition we usually use the past simple of the verb (was, had). In the consequence we use would + infinitive without to (would speak, would go): Examples: If there was a problem with his room, he would speak to the manager.

If I had the money and also the time, I would go to New York.
We always separate the consequence and the condition with a comma, when we begin the sentence with the condition. When we begin the sentence with the consequence, we usually don’t use a comma. Example: I would go to New York if I had the money and also the time.
b. The negative form of 'would' is 'wouldn't': Example: If there was a problem with his room, he wouldn't contact his travel agent
c. When you make a question, you change the word order by moving 'would': Examples: What would you do if there was a problem with your room? If you had the money and also the time, where would you go? Would you contact your travel agent? Would you visit the Statue of Liberty?
d. In short answers to yes/no questions, you use would or wouldn't? Examples: Would you contact your travel agent? No, I wouldn't. Would you visit the Statue of Liberty? Yes, I would.
e. In spoken English, we usually use a contracted form of would: I would = I'd, he would = he'd etc.
f. It is possible, in the condition, to say both 'If I were you ...' and 'If I was you ...' 'If I were you ...' is the traditional and more formal form, but 'If I was you ...' is very common nowadays.
Listen to the Flatmates episode 192

Future time clauses

Click here to do some exercises on this grammar point.

Future time clauses with as soon as, when, after, before,until

Brentwood County High School

If you want to read about Brentwook County High School, click here.

Free education

SIX people have been asked if university should be free or students should pay for their education.
Click here and you will find the listening exercise
Read the transcript if you need to.

Do you agree with any of the speakers? In your opinion should it be free?