Happy Christmas!

Unfortunately, this is our last post. The end of the year is already here. Most probably you are all very busy studying for your final exams and also making great plans for your holidays. For this reason, I won't take much of your time today. I just want to thank you all for having trusted me in this project, and for all your comments and collaboration. To start getting in the Christmas mood, here you have a very famous Christmas song that I would like to share with you.



Christmas is not only about giving presents, eating and having fun. The end of the year is a good time to calm down, relax and reflect on the things that we would like to change in our lives and in the world too.Why not? For this purpose, I would like to introduce you to a poet I really like: Benjamin Zephaniah. As he is better at putting words together than I am, he is going to introduce himself.
"My full name is Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah which is Christian, Jewish and Muslim. I was born in the district of Handsworth in Birmingham. My poetry is strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and I can't remember a time when I was not creating poetry. This had nothing to do with school where poetry meant very little to me, infact I had finished full time education at the age of 13."
"I try to write poems that are fun but they should also have a serious message." If you want to know more about him go to his official website. You can have a taste of his poetry by reading this poem I have selected.
Christmas Wise
All I want fe Christmas is world peace
I don't want loads of food dat I really can't eat
All I want fe Christmas is a long holiday
An a house in Jamaica where I can stay.
I don't want kisses under mistletoe from
Sloppy people I don't know,
I won't be putting out nu stocking cos
I don't wear de tings,
I won't be cutting down nu Christmas trees.
I like dem living.

All I want fe Christmas is dis planet for ever
Fully complete wid its ozone layer
All I want fe Christmas is friends and...
No more records from Status Quo,
I don't want a white Christmas and
I bet We'll get nu more of dem cos of de Greenhouse effect,
An I reckon at Christmas we create too much waste
Maybe a green Christmas is more to my taste.
All I want fe Christmas is sum honesty
About de wisdom of Christmas
An how it should be
All I want fe Christmas is clean air,
But I reckon I won't get none
An I don't think dat's fair.

I hope you liked it. Thanks for all. Happy Holidays, Christmas and New year! See you next year.

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31st. During that night children go to their neighbours' houses asking for candies. The usual phrase "Trick or treat" is heard everywhere. There are also lots of halloween festivals, bonfires and costume parties going on. And of course, horror films and ghost stories cannot be missing.
In spite of the fact that we do not generally celebrate Halloween in our country, I invite you to be surrounded by the spooky atmosphere of this celebration. You can start getting into the mood by reading a ghost story or a tale of terror that you can find in this website : Halloween Ghost Stories.
As you may know, the students from FCE course started last week a discussion in our forum on "Life After Death" (of course, everybody is welcomed to take part in the discussion). At one point, the question of whether ghosts exist or not cropped up, and some ghost stories were given as examples. For that reason, I invite you now to expand on that discussion. I would like to hear your opinion on the topic and if you want, to share with us a ghost story. Maybe, if you celebrate Halloween in your country, you can also share your experience. You can comment on this in our forum. Looking forward to hearing your stories. Happy Halloween!

Spelling Challenge!!!!

Can you realise what's wrong with this sentence? (HELP: There is a spelling mistake which creates a humorous effect) If you have spotted it, why not leave it as a comment?

The Spellathon is just around the corner, so we should start practicing NOW. As you all know, it will take place on the 22nd of October.

Last week, we practiced the alphabet so I hope that by this time, you already know your abc perfectly well. If that is so, we can devote the whole of this post to practicing spelling.

Let's start with a fun warm-up. As you can see from the picture we have here, spelling can change the meaning of a sentence completely. So don't underestimate the need of correct spelling. This picture is part of a series made by Graham Rawle appearing in some British newspapers, where a single consonant is missing from a normal sentence, creating a humorous effect. Here you will find more examples. Click the button that reads : "More of this" to see more examples. If you spot the mistakes share them with us by leaving a comment.

And here you have some games to practice your spelling before the great day comes.

Alien Scavenger Hunt: Shoot the letters to form the word you hear.

Spelling Bee: Listen to the word and write it down.

Spell Check: Which word is not spell correctly?

Hope you like them. Good luck in the spellathon!!!!

Our new project!! Why don't you take part in it?

We are a group of students from Intermediate level and we have been working on differences between living in the city and living in the country. We have listened to a folktale called "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse" .
Here you have a Tom & Jerry cartoon in which you will find more differences between living in the country and living in the city.


Now, we are all interested in knowing what YOU think about the topic so as to have more ideas to include in our project. We would be grateful if you could answer the questions we thought for you and collaborate with us. You would find all the questions in our forum.
Please, do not forget to tell us your name or nickname, your age and your nationality
Thanks,

Intermediate Courses.

What would you do if you had a second life?

Have you ever heard of Second Life? According to wikipedia "it is an internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, developed by Linden Reasearch Inc. (commonly referred to as Linden Lab)"

A downloadable program called the Second Life Viewer makes it possible for the users, called residents, to interact with each other.Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade virtual items and services from one another, among other things. If you want to get more information about this here you will find an article from the BBC, with a list of interesting vocabulary used in the article and a quiz to check your comprehension of the text.

This is an example of what you can do if you enter Second Life: attend a U2 concert!!!!

A new version of Second Life has recently been developed for teenagers between 13 and 17 years old. It is an international gathering place where you can make friends, play games, learn and create. If you are interested in having a look at it, here you will find the official site.

Now, why don't we use our imagination? Let's imagine that it is possible to have a second life, what would you change in your current life? Think about age, clothes style, hobbies, job, nationality, family.It would be better if you give us the reasons for your changes. Is there any aspect of your life you wouldn't change? Why? You can answer these questions and follow the discussion in our forum. We are waiting for your answers.

The Future of Our Planet!!!!!!

Have you ever wondered how much "nature" your lifestyle requires? In this quiz you will find the answer to your question.
"This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet."
Warning: The results of this quiz may shock you and make you think!!!!!!
Global warming is a term that is heard everywhere nowadays, but do you know what global warming really is? In this clip from Futurama you will find a very thorough explanation.



Would you like to do something to revert this situation? Apparently, there are lots of people who DO want to make a difference. Greenpeace has hit the news this week as a result of their original campaign to save the Switzerland's Aletsch glacier. Here you can find more information about it (You can either read it or listen to it) You will also find a list of interesting vocabulary used in the article.
What do YOU make of all this? We are eagerly waiting for you opinion and predictions for the future (leave them as a comment or continue the discussion in our forum) :

• What do you think about the Greenpeace campaign?Are they going to succeed in achieving their aims?
• Are you pessimistic or optimistic about the future of our planet? Would you like to share your predictions with us? You can talk about climate, the environment, energy, health, transport, agriculture, fauna and flora, and others.

We will be waiting for your comments!