Merry Christmas,Mr. Bean!

In only a few days, we´ll be celebrating Chritmas again! If you want to learn about the different British traditions, click on the link below and get ready to have fun with Mr. Bean. Leave your result in your comments as usual. Merry Christmas to you all!

Merry Christmas Mr. Bean

The Great Houdini

Do you like magic? If so, you may have heard about " The Great Houdini". He was the first escapist ever. To know more about his life and career, click on the link below and then answer the questions in your comments.

The Great Houdini

1. What was Harry Houdini real name? Why did he choose that name?
2. What were his jobs to help his family?
3. What were the most famous escape tricks?
4. Apart from magic, what other interests did he have?
5. How did he die?

Trinity College Exam

If you are thinking about doing the Trinity College Exam this year, you will have to take some practice. In the link below there are examples of exams for B1 and B2, both for the Reading and Writing test and for the Speaking and Listening test. I hope you find this useful. Good luck with your exam!

Trinity Exam Samples

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most famous stories of English literature, but how much you really know about this fantastic books. Click on the link below and answer the questions you will find about the books, the films and other curious details.

The Lord of the Rings

Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are a nightmare for anyone learning English. Some of them are easy because you can guess the meaning but for most of them you will need to check the meaning in a dictionary. I suggest you to have a look at the list below and then try the exercises. Leave your results as usual in your comments.

Phrasal verbs List

Exercises:
Easy Common Phrasal verbs
Difficult Phrasal verbs
Advanced Phrasal verbs

Questions in English

Making questions in English is essential for oral communication. First of all, you need to know the appropriate question words, then you have to be careful with word order and, finally, you should distinguish between subject and object questions. In this post, we are going to revise these grammar points. Are you ready to begin? Click on the links below and leave your results in a comment as usual.

Question words
Making questions

Subject and Object Questions

Back to School

Next week most secondary students will be back to school. There are some differences between the schoolday in Britain and in Spain. Click on the video below and watch Jamie's routine. Then leave the answer to the questions in a comment.

1.  Who is Annette? What does she do?

2. What time does lesson one start? What two other school routines happen before lesson one?

3. How long is the break?

4. What subject is ICT?

5. Does Jamie go home for lunch? What does he eat?

6. What time does school finish?

Do and Make

A lot of students make mistakes when using the verbs "do" and "make". Therefore, it is a good idea to revise the most common expressions that go with them. Click on the video below  and them do the exercises in the links. Remember to leave your results in a comment.

Do and make - Basic level
Do and Make - Medium level
Do and Make - Advanced level

Learning English with apps

In this post I want to recommend you some apps for learning English. Most of them are free but you can find as well a premium version that you will have to pay for. Have a look at them and give me your opinion. Have you ever used other apps for learning English that don't appear here? Please share them!

1. WordReference: This is a dictionary app. It is very useful for translations and synonyms.
2. MosaLingua Lite: It is a basic vocabulary app related to specific situations.
3. Busuu: It is a complete language course with different levels.
4. LearnEnglish Grammar: It is an app from the British Council with lots of grammar exercises.
5. Vaughan Radio: This app is for developing your listening.
6. Sounds: Pronunciation App: It is a good Macmillan app for relating spelling and pronunciation.

Huckleberry Finn

This novel written by Mark Twain is the story of two teenagers who live in a world where slavery, racism and injustice are acceptable. This satirical story is one of the most famous books of American Literature. Therefore, I suggest you to follow the link below and answer five out of the nine questions you'll find there. Leave the answers in your comments as usual.

Huckleberry Finn

Confusing Words

For English learners, using some words correctly can be a real problem. In this video lesson, you can learn about some of the most confusing words for English learners, and you can see how to use the words correctly so that you don't make more mistakes.

After watching the video, do the quiz in the link below and leave your results in a comment.

Quiz: Confusing Words

Travelling

Travelling is one of my favourite activities during the summer and I guess I'm not the only one. It could be a good idea to check how much travel vocabulary you are familiar with. Click on the links below, do the exercises and leave your results in a comment. Enjoy your travel!

Travel Vocabulary 1
Travel Vocabulary 2
Travel Vocabulary 3
Travel Vocabulary 4

Writing: A Film Review

Writing a film review can be really easy if you follow the steps below:

1. Gather important information ( original title, type of film, stars, director's name, year )
2. Make a short summary about the story. Include when and where the story takes place,what happens to the main characters and how the story ends.
3. Give your personal opinion about the actors, the story, the music, the visual effects and so on. Recommend it to the audience or not, but don't forget to justify your critics.
4. Finally, revise your spelling, grammar and vocabulary in search for mistakes.

And now that you know how to do it, it's your turn to prove it. Choose a film and make a good or bad critic. Write about 40-70 words  and leave them in your comments.

Gerund or Infinitive

Learning how to use gerunds or infinitives in English may seem a bit tricky at first. It takes some time to learn the correct patterns so it is a good idea to play the video below and then click on the exercises.

Gerund or Infinitive- Easy Level
Gerund or Infinitive- Medium Level
Gerund or Infinitive- Advanced level

Finally, I also recommend you to click on the following video. It contains lots of examples taken from famous songs.

Songs with exercises

If you feel like singing today, I recommend you to follow the link below and choose a song from the list. There are easy, medium or difficult level songs. Why don't you try one of each group? Remember to leave your results in your comments as usual. Sing out loud!

Songs with exercises

Why live in Spain?

Thousands of tourists visit Spain every year and some of them decide to live here permanently. What do they find in our country? What is their opinion about Spanish people? What do they miss from their countries?Click on the video below and leave the answers to the exercises afterwards.

Why live in Spain? Exercises

The European Union

How much do you know about the European Union? Have you ever celebrated the Europe Day? How many languages are spoken in Europe? Which ones are the working languages? If you want to solve these and other questions about the European Union, click on the link below and leave the answers to ten of the questions in your comments.

European Union Quiz

James Bond

James Bond is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main character in a series of novels, films, comics and video games.
However, how much do you know about him?Do you want to check it? Then, click on the link below and leave the answers to the questions in your comments!

James Bond

Questions:
1. Who were James Bond's parents?
2. Apart from James Bond, what other famous people went to Eton College?
3. How has the character changed along the years? And his gadgets?
4. How many novels did Ian Fleming write? How many Bond films are there?
5. Which actors have played the role of James Bond?

Homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same but have got different meanings and spellings. They are a bit tricky but, don't worry, you only need some practise and common sense. The context will hopefully help you most of the time. Remember to leave your results in your comments!

Homophones- Easy level

Homophones- Difficult Level

Relative Clauses

Learning how to make relative sentences is essential English grammar . It is used very often especially when we want to define something or add extra information. Therefore, it is a good idea to practise them just like Bart Simpson is suggesting. Click on the links below, do the exercises and leave your marks in your comments.

Relative Clauses 1
Relative Clauses 2
Relative Clauses 3

Australia

Australia is both the smallest continent and the sixth largest country in the world. However, we know very little about it. It is much more than surfers, kangaroos and Sydney. Click on the link below and you'll find the information to answer these questions.

Basic Facts about Australia

1.  What are the six states and two territories in which Australia is divided?
2.  Is the weather in Tasmania very different from the weather in Queensland? Explain.
3.  What two names did Australia have in the past?
4.  Why is Camberra the capital of Australia?
5.  Are kangaroos the most common animals?

Picasso

Pablo Picasso is the most famous artist born in Málaga. He is known worldwide because of his personal painting style but also thanks to his private life. Click on the link below to discover more about this Spanish genius. Answer ten out of the fifteen questions provided and leave the results in your comments as usual.

Picasso

Holy Week in Spain

Today is Easter Sunday. This means the end of another Holy Week in Spain. It is a very peculiar religious festival which is celebrated specially in southern Spain. But what do tourists visiting Spain these days think about it? Do they like it? What was their first impression? What all of them have in common?  Read the article following the link below and summarise it. Please leave your answers in a comment!
Holy Week in Spain

Good Manners

Being polite is very important for British and American people. It is a question of both what you say and what you do and it is specially so if you are in a business environment or in a formal situation. Click on the video below and then leave the answers to the questions in your comments!

1.  What do you say if you step on someone's foot?
2. How do you greet someone?
3. How can you cover your mouth?
4. Is it polite to seat next to other people? How do you measure your comfort zone?
5. What is rule number 13? Why is it important?

Reported Speech

Reported or Indirect Speech is very common in any language. We use it whenever we reproduce a conversation that happened in the past. There are usually changes in the verb tenses, personal pronouns and adjectives and in some time/ place expressions. Click on the following links and do the exercises. Don't forget to leave the results in your comments!

Reported Speech Videos
Reporting Statements
Reporting Questions

NBA All-Star 2015

The 2015 NBA All- Star game will be remembered by basketball fans as the first time that two brothers made the opening jump. They happen to be Pau and Marc Gasol and they have enjoyed the experience a lot.
 Click on the link below and find the information to answer these questions.
NBA All-Star 2015

1.  Where did the game take place?
2.  How old are Pau and Marc Gasol? Who is the tallest brother?
3.  How many All- Star games have they played?
4.  Do they play other sports? Which ones?
5.  Why is the hotel important for Pau Gasol?

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year 2015  will begin on 19th February. It is the most important festival for Chinese people, however, we don't know much about it. In this post I invite you click on the link below  and leave the answers to the questions in your comments.

Chinese New Year

Questions:
1.  Which are the twelve animal signs in the Chinese calendar?
2.  What food is eaten during the New Year's Eve Dinner?
3.  Explain three superstitions Chinese people follow during this festival.
4.  What colours bring good and bad luck according to Chinese tradition?
5.  What presents are the most popular?

The year I was born

2015 started a few weeks ago. We don't know yet who will become famous this year, what will happen in the world or in your country. However, you can look for information about the year you were born in. I'll give you some ideas about what may be interesting.

1. Famous people who were born the same year as you.

2. Famous people who died that year.

3. Favourite books, films, TV shows that year.

4. Important news from that year.

5. Something curious that happened that year.

I hope you like the exercise and leave your answers in a comment as usual!

Numbers

This post makes number 100 in this blog, so I thought it would be a good idea to revise and practise how to say numbers, times and dates in English. To begin with, I suggest you to watch the two videos below to revise pronunciation and spelling. Then, you have to click on the exercises and try yourself. These exercises are for intermediate level and they are quite complete. Take your time! I hope you get good results and leave them in your comments as usual!

These are the exercises:
Numbers, time and dates
Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers