What's in the News?

Week 16^th - 18^th March

Hi! How are you doing?

Starting the countdown for Easter? I am!

10 - 9 – 8 -7- …ZERO!

By the way, talking about ‘How are you doing?’

Do you remember how to answer these questions?

How do you do?	How do you do?	Formal for: "Nice to meet you."
How are you doing?	I'm fine, thanks. / Not too bad.	Informal for: "How are you?"
What do you do?	I'm a student / a teacher /an engineer.	Informal for: "What's your job?"
What are you doing?	I'm learning English.	What you are doing at the moment.

We started the week reading a text entitled ‘A hard lesson’.

It was the story of a tourist who was conned.

con⁴ /kɑn/adj., v., conned, con•ning,n. 

adj. 

·  Informal Termsinvolving dishonesty and trickery;
deceitful:swindled by a con artist.
v. 

·  Informal Termsto swindle; trick:[~ + object + out of + object]The crooks conned her out of her life savings.[~ + object]She was conned quite smoothly.

·  Informal Termsto persuade by deception, threats, exaggeration, etc.:[~ + object]He conned her with a scary story about witches.[~ + object + into + object]conned me into going out with her.

A man in a business suit sat next to him and told him that he had lost his suitcase with all his documents and a train ticket in it. He asked him to borrow some money so as to get a train to Madrid promising that his company would pay him back. But everything was a lie (not true) and the tourist never saw his money again. Luckily it was only €60!

We continued with the news.

Heading head•ing /ˈhɛdɪŋ/n. [countable]

something that serves as a head, esp. a title or caption:The heading was: "Verb tenses in English.''

Headlines head•line /ˈhɛdˌlaɪn/n., v., -lined, -lin•ing. 

·  Journalisma statement printed in large letters at the beginning of a newspaper article, summarizing the subject of the article.

  Journalismheadlines, [plural] news stories important enough to appear on the front page of newspapers:The peace conference has been in the headlines all week.

Title  /ˈtaɪtl/

ti•tle /ˈtaɪtəl/n., adj., v., -tled, -tling.

n. 

  [countable]the name of an artistic work, as a book, painting, etc.

  [countable]a heading, as of a chapter of a book, that describes what is contained:The title was: "Chapter 4: Issues and Implications.''

Remember: we use present tense in headlines, (the “titles” in the news) so the item of news looks more interesting or shocking. After that we use a variety of tenses, past simple, continuous or present to report the piece of news.

Look out! News is uncountable in English and takes the singular form of the verb.

I’ve got two news. I’ve got some news. 

The news are bad.  The news is bad.

First we listened to some headlines and tried to get the key words (the words that carry important information). After that we tried to make up (to arrange, to compose) the actual (finished) news item.

We wrote a news report. The news was really interesting. “Kangaroo saves farmer’s life.”

It was the story of a kangaroo that was adopted by an Australian farmer after the kangaroo’s mother had been run over by a car and was killed. Time went by (passed) and the kangaroo grew up (became an adult). One day there was a terrible storm that damaged the fence around the farm. The farmer was repairing it when a branch of a tree came off and hit him unconscious. The kangaroo was standing near him and started to make a loud noise (bark) to attract somebody’s attention. The kangaroo succeeded and the farmer’s family came to help him.

It was a nice story. Unfortunately most of the news is usually bad!

And that was our week!

See you tomorrow!

The future! A Trip around the World and ... a Song!

Week 9^th - 11^th March

Hello! How’s everybody?

We started last week with a song, “White Flag.”

Yes, you’re right; the songs we are listening lately are about couples who split up! We need something more cheerful!

Anyway, this song is beautiful and easy to understand, in my opinion.

·         The answer to the question, “Who usually goes down with his ship?” is …the captain. Of course!!

Usually doesn’t mean always. Take as an example the captain of the “Costa Concordia,” which crashed into a rock in Italy some years ago…

·         “When does somebody hold up a white flag?” When there’s a war or battle and one of the two sides surrenders (=gives up).

Then, we read about horoscopes.

 Most of us don’t believe in those predictions but, nevertheless, we keep on reading the horoscope.

 We continued talking about the future. This time we learnt the use of “will / won’t” for predictions and promises.

Which promise do you find the most difficult to keep? Why?

It seems that “We’ll keep in touch” is the most difficult promise for most of us to keep.

2015: Fire Up and Burn Steady 2015 - It's a year full of fire and passion, and we get to choose how that passion is applied. If we don't participate, the world won't wait around for us. This year, we get to zero in on our personal passions and bring them closer to fulfillment. If stressed or overburdened, this is your year to relax and work from a calmer, internally quiet place. All desire is not loud and hyperactive. Focus on those few things that most deeply touch your heart and soul, pace yourself, and patiently address them every day. That's passionate living, too. Is it your health, or better relationships, or ambitious career designs, or some humane or public service? Numerologically, 2015 is an 8-Year, with 8 signifying complete manifestation in the physical world. We can really make things happen in 2015!  Read more in here

Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces

PROMISES:

·         Make a promise, keep a promise, and break a promise…

·         Keep in touch / get in touch / lose touch

Do you still keep in touch with friends from school?
 When was the last time you got in touch with your friends? Last month, year, weekend?

We learnt verbs + back.

This particle gives the meaning of “returning.”

1.    Could I pay you back (returning money) at the end of the week? I don’t have money right now.

2.    “Where are you going?” “To the library. I’m taking back ( returning) the book I borrowed last week”

3.    Could you give him back (return) his calculator? He needs it.

4.    What time do you go back (return) home after work?

5.    I’m busy. Can you call back (phone again) later?

So, we lhave already studied the different ways of talking about the future.

Here’s a summary

Will/ won’t	decisions (instant / unplanned decisions)	“We are going to the cinema.” I’ll go with you.”
	predictions (based on opinions or wishes)	It’ll rain if you have a barbecue in the garden.
	promises	“I’ll phone you tomorrow.”
	offers	“I´ll help you with your homework.”
Shall	offers (only for I, We; only in questions)	Shall I help you with your case? It looks heavy!
going to (to be + going to+ infinitive)	decisions (planned decisions or arrangements)	He’s going to have dinner with his parents next weekend.
	predictions (based on facts)	Look at those clouds. It’s going to rain.
	intentions	I’m going to boil some water to make spaghetti.
present continuous (to be + ing)	plans or arrangements (things you write in your diary. e.g.: going to the dentist, meetings, talking to your kids’ teacher etc.)	He’s having dinner with his parents next weekend.

For definite plans (arrangements) it’s better to use “present continuous”, but you can also use “going to.” Both are correct.

I’m talking to the teacher tomorrow. I’m going to talk to the teacher tomorrow.

…and, we went on a trip!

We played a board game called “Around the world in 100 days!” no, not this.

The game consisted in throwing the dice and following the instructions we had on the square we had landed. Sometimes we had to make decisions, sometimes we didn’t. For example, you land in Berlin: “You’ve forgotten your traveller’s cheques! Go back to London and get them! So, you had to go back until the ‘London square’. Delhi: “you’ve started to feel ill, what do you do? a) Go straight to the doctor. b) Stay in your hotel room and wait. c) Push on with your journey.

One of the answers made you lose no time, another one meant to add four days to your journey time and another one made you add seven days.

Did you make the right choice? Did you consider the advantages and disadvantages of going to a doctor in India, keeping travelling despite your illness, going to an Indian hospital…?

The winner was the person who got to the end of the journey, that is, who got to the finish square making the journey in the fewer days. None of you were able to finish in 100 days! Violeta, you should be more careful with your passport!

You can make more exercises clicking here

Well, enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you on Monday!

Are you Free on Monday? Would you Like to Go Shopping on Tuesday? Where Shall we Meet?

Week 2^nd - 4^th March

Hi! How are you doing?

It’s a lovely weekend. The weather is great. It feels like spring.

Today 8^th March is ‘The International Women’s Day’

The Women’s Trade Union League campaigned for the 8 hour work day, safe working conditions and respect for women at work and in society. 
Photographer: unknown, ca. 1900
Kheel Center image identifier: 5780pb33f3jp 

Women are Working Day andNight to Win the War

In World War I, all sides used posters as tools to mobilize their populations for the war effort. With men fighting at the front, women played a great role in sustaining industrial production for the war effort and civilian needs,often by working in urban factories located away from   their homes. This British poster by an unknown artist shows women working at a lathe 
(/leɪð/ a machine used in cutting or forming a piece of wood, metal, etc., by holding and rotating it against a tool that shapes it) in a factory complex with a Young Women's Christian Association structure visible through the window. The YWCA was engaged in housing women workers, and the text proclaims:“₤25,000 immediately needed for the Women's War Time Fund to provide rest-rooms, canteens & hostels.”

You can listen to this clicking here Listening

If you want to know what happened on this day in history, click here Russian Revolution

We started the week talking about plans and arrangements.       

We learnt that we can use either going to or present continuous for plans or arrangements. Although present continuous is the best choice when we talk about arrangements e.g.: going to the doctor’s, seeing friends etc.

We do not use present continuous for future predictions. In that case, we use will or going to, depending if the prediction is an opinion or something based on evidence.

We planned our diary for the week & made suggestions or invitations to our classmates in order to fill in = complete, the free time we had.

“Are you free on Monday?” “Sorry, I´m going to the dentist’s.”

“Would you like to come to the gym with me tomorrow?” “I’m afraid I have to look after my niece.” “What about Friday morning?” “Perfect.”

“How about going to the cinema on Saturday?” “I’d love to.” “Where shall we meet?”



Do you remember the meaning of these verbs:
 look forward to + ing
 look up /look after and look for?

Last week you told me how you see life. Are you optimistic or pessimistic?

So, you are optimists.

Adjective	Noun
I am an optimistic person.	I am an optimist.
I am a pessimistic person.	I am a pessimist.

And finally, we made sentences with some opposite verbs and also some confusing verbs.

·         Do you often lose your glasses?

·         Have you missed any English lessons?

·         Have you ever missed a bus? And a plane?

·         What things do people lose more frequently?

·         Do you lend money to friends? Why/ why not?

·         Do you borrow money from friends? Why/ why not?

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday! See you tomorrow!