RING IN THE NEW YEAR, HAPPILY!

CONFUSING: "BEEN" vs "BEING"

A clear chart to distinguish confusing uses of "Been" or "Being".

COLLOCATIONS 'COME' vs 'GO'

Collecting typical collocations with the verbs 'COME' & 'GO', which can be confusing.

'BORROW' vs 'LEND'

CONFUSING: ARRIVE 'IN' vs 'AT'

ASKING & GIVING ADVICE. [CONFUSING 'ADVICE' vs 'ADVISE']

GEORGE MICHAEL ALSO DIES

2016, the horrible year of music business, seems it's going to continue like that up to the end, right up to its last day. Today, we've had breakfast hearing the news of the death of another pop icon, George Michael at 53. RIP. We remember him with some of his songs and which was the first James Corden's carpool karaoke.

+ info: BBC.

Video "CARELESS WHISPER", George Michael:

Video GEROGE MICHAEL carpool karaoke:



Audio "FAITH", George Michael+subtitles:

ClickOnEnglish WISHES YOU ALL...

DIFFERENT WAYS TO WISH MERRY CHRISTMAS

CONFUSING WORDS: DURING, FOR & WHILE

See the difference between 'DURING', 'FOR' & 'WHILE', so you don't confuse them.

CONFUSING: 'EVERY DAY' vs 'EVERYDAY'

Explanation by Laura Baker. The difference is in the part of speech.

Everyday is an adjective. It is used to describe that something always happens each day or the quality of being normal or usual.

Examples:

This is an everyday occurrence.

–Everyday is an adjective used to modify occurrence. The sentence means that this happens each day.

We are just your average, everyday people.

–Everyday is an adjective to modify people. The sentence means that we are average, normal people.

Every day is an adverb and noun. It is used adverbially to talk about time.

Examples:

This happens every day.

–Every is an adverb to modify day. It is not just some days that it happens, but every day.

I go to work every weekday.

–Every modifies weekday. This means that I don’t go to work on the weekends, just every weekday.

CHARO PITA & SOPHIE HEYDEL, TODAY @ "RAFAEL DIESTE"

Updating with some photos of Charo Pita & Sophie Heydel today at our assembly hall telling traditional stories in both English & Galician.

Students from 2nd & 1st ESO have been listening to them as a final activity before the Christmas holidays.

So now that the holidays have started, enjoy them!

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to everyone!

CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD

STORYTELLING @ "RAFAEL DIESTE" WITH CHARO PITA & SOPHIE HEYDEL

An old friend of ours is back to visit us, Charo Pita, but this time not with her all-time partner Tim Bowley, as in previous occasions (check on Storytelling tab). Now she's accompanied by Sophie Heydel, a London Guildhall School of Music & Drama actress. They'll be visiting us on our last school day before the Christmas holidays to tell the same story in two versions English & Galician to 1st & 2nd year ESO students. 

Galician version @ ArquivosDoTrasno.

IT'S CHRISTMAS, ACTUALLY!

Why don't you watch films or TV-series in English in these holidays? You can watch them in English with subtitles either in English or Spanish. You can watch the whole film, or only some scenes, or repeating the scenes...

This year we don't have time to see a whole film, but we'll spend a class or two watching part of a British Christmas classic...

This is how it begins...

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport.  General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that.  It seems to me that love is everywhere.  Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there —fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends… If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion… love actually is all around.”

[8th CW] THE COSMOS: TOPIC FOR OUR VIII CULTURAL WEEK 2017

This course, IES "Rafael Dieste" will be working on its VIII Cultural Week devoted this year to science & nature: 

THE COSMOS.

We've already decided the dates, too: 

3rd to 7th April.

Each Department will be working on different aspects. You can participate with ideas...

The English Department has already started: here are all the names of the planets in English:

Video "HAMING THE PLANETS" BBC:


Video "Solar system & Universe beyond":


+ info on:
- Asteroid Belt.
- Kuiper Belt.
- Dwarf Planets.

Can you propose any other aspect about the Cosmos that we can work on from the English classes? Comment below or to your English teacher.

Galician version of this post @ ArquivosDoTrasno.

LOOKING FORWARD TO...

I suppose we're all LOOKING FORWARD TO the Christmas holidays... Here are different ways to express it.

CONFUSING: 'HEAR' vs 'LISTEN'

PHRASAL VERBS: HEALTH

More info about phrasal verbs @ the phrasal verb page on this blog.

'BY' PHRASES

INTERJECTIONS & THEIR MEANINGS

CONFUSING: 'PERSON', 'PERSONS' OR 'PEOPLE'

This post helps you to distinguish when to use each of these words correctly:

- PERSON (singular): to refer to any person.

Joel is such a nice person.     She’s a person I have a lot of respect for

- PERSONS (plural): it's a formal word, mainly used in legal contexts:

Any person or persons found in possession of illegal substances will be prosecuted. 

- PEOPLE (plural): to refer to groups of people or human beings in general:

I saw three people standing on the corner.   Not: I saw three persons …

People are generally very selfish.

Three people were interviewed for the job, but only one person had the right qualifications and experience.

[Examples from Cambridge University Press]

PHRASAL VERBS WITH 'WORK'

CHRISTMAS ADS 2016 (3): "THE GREATEST GIFT" (Sainsbury's)

Our third 2016 Christmas ad. This is Sainsbury's 2016 Christmas ad. Sainsbury is a British supermarket company.

PHRASAL VERBS: SLEEPING (CONFUSING 'WAKE UP' vs 'GET UP')

A post devoted to phrasal verbs related to sleeping and the difference between confusing WAKE UP & GET UP:

TIME CLAUSES

CHRISTMAS AD 2016 (2): IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN A LANGUAGE (Allegro)

Another Christmas ad which deals with learning languages and teaches us a great lesson. It's never too late to learn a language and motivation is really important. Here's the ad of a Polish granddad who learns English to speak with his little granddaughter.

Video "Polish granddad learning English":

A TYPICAL BRITISH CHRISTMAS DINNER

- Roast turkey and its stuffing.
- Roast potatoes.
- Vegetables: carrots, peas and Brussel sprouts.
- Chipolatas, bacon-wrapped pork sausages.
- Sauces: gravy and cranberry sauce.
- Mince pies.
- Drink: mulled wine.
- Desserts: Christmas pudding, Christmas cake and Chocolate yule log.

+ info on why the British eat turkey at Christmas Day?

ADJECTIVES FOR FOOD

PREFIXATION

In this post you can find all the English prefixes with their meanings and examples.

English prefixes

English prefixes	Meanings	Examples
a-	verb > predicative adjective with progressive aspect	afloat, atremble
a-	not	acyclic, asexual, atonal, atheist
anti-	against, opposite	anti-freeze, antivirus, anticlimax, Antichrist
arch-	supreme, highest, worst	arch-rival, archangel
be-	equipped with, covered with, beset with (pejorative or facetious)	bedeviled, becalm, bedazzle, bewitch
co-	joint, with, accompanying	co-worker, coordinator, cooperation
counter-	against, in opposition to	counteract, counterpart
de-	reverse action, get rid of	de-emphasize
dis-	not, opposite of	disloyal, disagree
dis-	reverse action, get rid of	disconnect, disinformation
en-/em-	to make into, to put into, to get into	enmesh, empower
ex-	former	ex-husband, ex-boss, ex-colleague, ex-friend
fore-	before, in front	forearm, forehead, forehand, forerunner
hind-	after	hindsight, hindquarters
mal-	bad(ly)	malnourish, maladjusted
mid-	middle	midstream, midlife
midi-	medium-sized	midi-length
mini-	small	minimarket, mini-room, minivan
mis-	wrong, astray	misinformation, misguide, misfortune
out-	better, faster, longer, beyond	outreach, outcome
over-	excessive, above	overreact, overact, overbearing
post-	after, behind	post-election, post-graduation, post-war
pre-	before	prevent, previous, pre-election, pre-enter, pre-select
pro-	for, forward, in favor of	propulsion, propound, pro-life
re-	again, back	redo, revisit, rerun, reorganize
self-	self	self-sufficient, self-explanatory
step-	family relation by remarriage	stepbrother, stepmother
trans-	across, from one place to another	transatlantic, transSiberian
twi-	two	twibill, twilight
un-	not, against, opposite of	unnecessary, unequal, undesirable, unhappy
un-	reverse action, deprive of, release from	undo, untie, unexpected, unlock
under-	below, beneath, lower in grade/dignity, lesser, insufficient	underachieve, underground, underpass, underdeveloped, underrated
up-	greater, higher, or better	upgrade, uplift, upsurge
with-	against, back, away (from)	withstand, withcall
Afro-	relating to Africa	Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean
ambi-	both	ambidextrous, ambitendency
amphi-	around, two, both, on both sides	amphiaster, amphitheatre, amphibian
an-/a-	not, without	anemic, asymmetric
ana-, an-	up, against	anacardiaceous, anode
Anglo-	relating to England	Anglo-Norman, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American
ante-	before	antenatal, antechamber, antecedent
anti-	opposite, against	antivenom
apo-, ap-	away from, detached	aphelion, apogee, apomorphine
astro-	star	astrobiology, astrology, astronomy
auto-	self	autobiography, automatic, autonomy,
bi-	two	bicycle, biped
bio-	life, biological	biology
circum-	around, surrounding	circumnavigate
cis-	on this side of	cislunar
con-/com-/col-/cor-/co-	together or with	confederation, commingle, colleague, correlation, cohabit
contra-	opposite	contradict, contraindication
cryo-	ice	cryogenics
crypto-	hidden, secret	cryptography
de-	down	depress, descend
demi-	half	demigod
demo-	people	democracy, demography
deuter-	second	deuteragonist, deuterogamy
di-	two	dicotyledon, digamy, dioxide
dia-	through	dialysis, diameter
dis-/di-/dif-	apart	differ, dissect, divide
du-/duo-	two	dual, duet
eco-	ecological	ecosystem
electro-	electric, electricity	electro-analysis, electromagnetic
en-, el-, em-	in	ellipsis, emphasis, energetic
epi-, ep-	upon, at, close upon, in addition	ephemeron, epicentre, epidermis
Euro-	European	Eurocentric
ex-	out of	exit, expel, explode, exploit, explore, export
extra-	outside	extracurricular
Franco-	French, France	Francophile, Franco-British, Franco-German
geo-	relating to the earth or its surface	geography, geology, geometry
gyro-	spinning on an axis	gyrocopter, gyroscope, gyrosphere
hetero-	different	heterosexual
hemi-	half	hemimorphic, hemisphere
homo-	same	homogenous, homologous
hydro-	relating to water, or using water	hydroelectricity, hydrant
hyper-	above, over	hyperthermia
hypo-	under or below something, low	hypothermia
ideo-	image, idea	ideograph, ideaology
idio-	individual, personal, unique	idiolect, idiopathic
in-	in, into	insert, include
Indo-	relating to the Indian subcontinent	Indo-European
in-, il-, im-, ir-	not, opposite of	illicit, impossible, inexact, irregular
infra-	below, beneath	infrared
inter-	among, between	interact, intercede, international
intra-	inside, within	intravenous
iso-	equal	isochromatic, isotherm
macr-	long	macrobiotic
maxi-	very long, very large	maxi-skirt
mega-, megalo-	great, large	megastar, megalopolis
meta-	after, along with, beyond, among, behind	metabolism, metaphysics
micro-	small	microbacillus
mono-, mon-	sole, only	monogamy, monotone, monosyllabic
multi-, mult-	many	multicultural, multi-storey, multitude
neo-	new	neolithic, neoclassical
non-	not	nonexistent
omni-	all	omnipotent, omnipresent, omnivore
ortho-	correcting or straightening	orthodontics, orthotropic
paleo-	old	paleolithic
pan-	all, worldwide	pan-African, pandemic, panorama
para-	beside, beyond	parallel, paranormal
ped-	foot	pedal, pedestrian
per-	through, completely, wrongly, exceedingly	permeate, permute
peri-	around, near or adjacent	perihelion, periphrase
photo-	light	photoelectric, photography
pod-	foot	podiatrist
poly-	many	polygon, polyhedron
post-	after	postfix, postpone, postscript
pre-	before	predict, prepare, preview
preter-	beyond, past, more than	preternatural
pro-	for, substitute, deputy	proconsul
pro-	before	procambium
pros-	toward	prosthesis
proto-	first, original	protoplasm, prototype
pseudo-	false, imitation	pseudonym
pyro-	fire	pyrokinetic, pyrotechnic
quasi-	partly, almost, appearing to be but not really	quasi-religious
retro-	backwards	retrograde
semi-	half	semicircle
socio-	society, social, sociological	sociopath
sub-, sup-	below, under	submarine, subterranean, suburban, support
super-	above, over	supervisor, superintendent
supra-	above, over	suprarenal
sur-	above, over	surreal, surrender
syn-, sy-, syl-, sym-	together, with	syllable, symbol, synthesis, system
tele-	at a distance	telegraph, telephone, telescope, television
trans-	over, through, across	transverse
tri-	three	tricycle, tripartite
ultra-	beyond	ultramagnetic, ultrasonic, ultraviolet
uni-	one, consisting of only one	unicycle, universal
vice-	deputy	vice-president, vice-principal, vice-admiral