A bit of magic

Hi!  Welcome back!! After this ,some-would-say, longish holiday (you know there are some things you never get tired of ) I am back and so are you, if you are reading this post.

Today I want to introduce you to Akinator, the Web Genius. Akinator can read your mind and tell you who you’re thinking of by answering a few questions.Think about a real or fictional character, and he will try to guess who it is !
You too can try to trick Akinator. You will see that he is not infallible. But hush… he does not like to hear it. Be careful though: you must answer honestly. Remember the frightening warning of our genie!

 I am capable of guessing who you are thinking about with a few questions. If I cannot, if you beat me, then I shall leave you alone. But be careful! Answer my questions accurately or… or you will take my place in the lamp.”

Click on the genie or follow this link http://en.akinator.com/.

Kind of creepy,isn’t it?

Another problem caused by deforestation

A good laugh but also food for thought.

In a way it reminds me of a packed pub on a  Saturday night and the long queue at the ladies.

Learning:

  • deforestation(n):The loss of forests due to overcutting of trees
  • food for thought (idiom): somehting  it is worth thinking about or considering seriously
  • packed (adj): completely filled ; full
  • queue (n) : a line of waiting people

Unusual Sports

Victory belongs to the most persevering. Napoleon Bonaparte

There are no gains without pains. Adlai Stevenson

These inspirational quotes are  aimed at people who need some sort of encouragement when finally and after years of putting off taking up some kind of exercise they have finally decided  to come to terms with the acute necessity our body seems to have for some sort of physical activity.

 Couch potatoes are not trendy but let’s face it ,going to the gym doesn’t guarantee a six pack, flat abs and a tight butt . In fact, if you are thinking that by overworking your body you’re going to look like Naomi Campbell or Hugh Jackman , you’ll soon give up. Engaging in sports activities like tennis, football and even walking for an hour or so  will keep you interested for a longer time . But if you find these sports too boring or too conventional , why don’t you try any of these ??

Pancake Racing : In which each participant carries a pancake in a frying pan. All the runners must toss their pancakes as they run and catch them in the frying pan.

Welly/Wellie wanging or throwing - A freestyle sport that originated in Britain, most likely in the county of Yorkshire. Competitors are required to hurl a Wellington boot as far as possible within boundary lines, from a standing or running start. Each player has three throws, the longest distance thrown within the zone wins. Note that the word wellie is also often spelt as welly.

Wheelbarrow and Straw Bale Race - Each player in the team races over 50 yards with 4 straw bales on the barrow, then tosses the bales over a 6ft height bar. The quickest team wins.

 Cheese-Rolling - During the annual Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake, competitors race down a steep hill in Gloucestershire, attempting to catch a Double Gloucester cheese which has been set rolling from the top. Often this results in many injuries.

Haggis hurling or throwing - A Scottish game involving, yes you guessed it, throwing a haggis. Modern Haggis Hurling is judged on the basis of distance and accuracy of the throw (hurl) and a split or burst haggis is immediately disqualified, as the tradition dictates that the haggis must be fit to eat after landing, yummy. The sport requires subtle technique rather than brute force, as the hurl must result in a gentle landing to keep the haggis’ skin intact. Despite it’s eccentricity, the practitioners take the sport seriously, with a World Haggis Hurling Championship. Haggis Hurling was even supposed to be presented as a demonstration sport at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Plans to use a fake haggis in a hurling competition at a Highland festival in Melbourne have split the purists from those who are fearful of the mess a high-speed impacting example of Scotland’s national dish may cause (see Haggis gets a bashing from fakes). It is unclear to the uninitiated if the sport promotes the enjoyment of this often maligned delicacy (to which a famous ode of praise was once composed by Robbie Burns himself). According to a Canadian source that disapproves the practice as insensible, the haggis is the main event at the annual Burns Night celebrations held by Scots and Scottish wannabees the world over.

Now , have a look at this diagram you have helped me build with your contributions  during the lesson. I have used a tool called Gliffy, which I recommend since it’s free.



You’ll never forget how to pronounce “would”

Learning and mastering English pronunciation can sometimes feel like a daunting task. I have been marking heaps of exams lately and now it’ s time  for the oral test and if you want to know the truth… I ‘m dreading  it!! Students insist on mispronouncing words they have heard a thousand times , like the word “since” , which they insistently pronounce as /sains/ and the “l” in words such as : walk, talk, should, half …. and would, when I’m well aware they know it’s never pronounced.

By the time you finish watching this video, I bet you won’t forget how to pronounce “would”.

This clip from the movie “The Pink Panther”  is probably one of the funniest I have ever seen and Steve Martin is at one of his best performances

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Weird Hotels: Lesson Plan

Have you planned your summer holidays yet? Are you in the mood for something different? Weird and even wacky? Are you tired of the conventional hotels everybody goes to? Have a look at these photographs . 

These are some of the weirdest hotels you will ever see. But don’t hold your breath ..some of them are very expensive and most of them are fully booked for this summer; so I guess, it must definitely be an experience for some people  sleeping in one of those but, trust me on this… you won’t find me there!

Given the chance I don’t know whether it ‘d be easy to choose one of them to spend a nice relaxing holidays. I guess you think it would be a rush of adrenaline sleeping in a cabin hanging from a slender tree but I know for sure I wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink waiting for the branch to crack.

And an underwater hotel… are they paying me???

In my humble opinion ,the Survival Pod Hotel in The Hague, this orange alien-shaped thing, seems to invite people to choose to die if the option is living in these claustrophobic capsules. Can’t imagine having to pay for it!

Some other picturesque pictures show the Das Park Hotel, Ottensheim in Austria and I have to admit that, at least, it has been cheap to build. The idea is that you sleep inside a piece of concrete sewage pipe and guess what?? This is cheap …’cause you pay only what you think they are worth!!

As for me, I’ve always felt an attraction for luxurious hotels where the service is impeccable , the views from the balcony breathtaking, the place a haven of peace and relaxation and the bed as comfortable as a bed should be. I  don’t want to spend the night killing cockroaches or freezing to death just to have the time of my life ,thank you very much.

Anway, why this post on Weird hotels?  ’cause my students are about to study this lesson and I came across some of these pictures while looking for different things on the web and I prepared a lesson about hotels this morning , which I thought I’d share with you. So, if you are interested ,and you’re not one of my Pre-Intermediate students (we’ll be doing this lesson on Monday, God willing!) Click here .

If you are one of my pre-intermediate students and still want to do something about hotels, you can click here and listen to this postcast about Weird Hotels.

And then watch this video… but don’t expect it to help you with your English!!!

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

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That that that that that

Tired of doing  boring exercises with relative sentences?  Have some fun and tell me : Is this sentence correct?

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How many bricks…?

A puzzle to rack your brains
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

 

Unusual jobs

I am a teacher, well I am an English teacher, and I do not know whether people might consider this an unusual job but it is.
And why the hell is it an unusual job? Some of you might be wondering, when the very first thing that comes to your mind is the outrageous amount of holidays teachers enjoy.Nothing is easier than being a teacher. You have to be mother, father, friend, counsellor, psychologist, actor,lawyer… You have to be motivating,energetic,enthusiastic, flexible, hard , understanding, strict, compassionate, well-mannered,well-meaning, well-balanced,well-educated,loving, tender….and you can never ever complain as you , as everybody knows, enjoy a scandalous amount of holidays. But /and this is why I love being a teacher.
But I have also cleaned windows, worked as a waitress(I was made redundant after two months), picked apples in a Canterbury Farm ( I was one of the fastest), been an au-pair of dearest David ( I wonder where he is now), worked in a pub….

Surfing the Net I have gathered this bunch of unusual occupations.One might think some of them are made up.
House sitting : This is quite simply moving into someone’s house while they are away, a kind of ‘live- in burglar alarm and someone to keep the house kept and warm. Could be for two weeks or six month’s, you don’t know.
Odor Judgers :Odor Judgers get to smell armpits all day to help make deodorants that will work well. I’m not sure why somebody other than some strange fetishist would want this job.
Chicken Sexer This is a real job title. A chicken sexer sorts through baby chicks to determine if they are male or female, and then segregate them.
Hot Walker:This is the person that walks the racehorses around after a race. It is important, because if a horse doesn’t cool down before returning to his stall, the overheating can cause kidney damage.
Saddle consultants: The people who ensure equine enthusiasts have the most comfortable ride possible and that their horses have the perfect riding accessory.
And you? What about you? Have you got or have you had any interesting,safe,dangerous, boring occupation? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Related links

Becoming a housewife

The Italian who went to Malta

Corcholis or it is raining cats and dogs

What on earth is a palindrome?

Word of the day: Fuck you

Becoming a housewife

Now dear reader , you might be wondering why I haven’t dedicated a single minute to this blog of mine. The truth be told , I felt I needed a break from the computer and from teaching , never from English… I’m addicted!!!
But …One important event has happened in my life… my maid has resigned after 11 years working at home. Yes, I know what you are thinking… !!! Just save it, …I’m not interested in the irony!! The thing is that after so many years I had forgotten the basic things a person has to do to be able to survive.. and although it’s true that I was an expert at baking desserts, the sad thing was that I didn’t know how to cook ordinary lentils, among other things.
So, after a few burns from ironing, salty dishes hardly edible, plus mixing bleach with ammonia and almost …etc… I’m sure you are not interested in my misfortune… but there are some positive things about me having to become a housewife.. now I’m more independent!!
If you have never ironed a fitted sheet you might encounter , as I certainly did, some problems ironing and folding it properly …quite a difficult chore if you think about it! The solution to my domestic problems….. the Mighty You Tube. Have a look at these videos and learn what I am now an expert at.

How to fold a fitted sheet

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

 My children also had to learn how to fold their T shirts neatly. Interesting video and also great fun for children

 This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

 Speed-peel potatoes … when in a hurry

 This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

and so on and so forth….. but…. I don’t like being a housewife , I like being a teacher…and just that!!! Carmen, please come back!!!! I miss uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!

The Thriller Dance

My son Lucas, who is 9, was watching TV (I’m afraid he’s sort of becoming a couch potato if I do nothing about it) when the video of Thriller filled the screen . He called me all excited about what he was seeing. I tried to explain who Michael Jackson was ( difficult when I got to the part of him turning white) and what the video was about ( the part about the graveyard and him turning into a zombie and scaring the girl was his favourite) and then, in my determination to show him how funny dancing could be I started searching the Net and bumped into this funny page where you can learn how to dance the Thriller Dance.

And well, I am just beginning to think it might be very interesting to teach vocabulary related to verbs of movement in a funny way. So… dear students … get ready, next year when we get to the point of learning verbs related to movement we’ll be dancing Thriller… if you don’t believe me … have a look at how organised they’ve got it all for me , ready to be used!! We might even be asked to perform at the Christmas Party!! How about that!!! I can’t wait!!!

Let’s get started
Step 1. The Dance . There are 8 lessons and each consists of 4 clips
http://thrilltheworld.com/learn/videos

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

Step 2. The Dance Script
http://thrilltheworld.com/images/uploads/TTW_Official_Dance_Script.pdf

Step 3. The Lyrics and the Script together
http://thrilltheworld.com/images/uploads/TTW_Lyrics_and_Script.pdf

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Karaoke online

How many bricks..?

Fancy a riddle??
How many bricks does it take to complete a building made of brick?. … The answer below Related Links

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

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A puzzle to rack your brains
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch .
Beauty is a product of Photoshop

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