The groundhog day

Mightybook is a fantastic site for those parents who want their children learn English in a funny way. Here, you'll find games, stories and songs. Play with your children and sing in English. Now, I'll invite you to watch that video about a common festivity celebrated in the USA and Canada on the 2nd of February. Learn some new vocabulary and some tips on this festivity.

The Mixed-up Chameleon

I'll show you another video about a good story by Eric Carle. It's a really loving story. Enjoy it!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Eric Carle is acclaimed and beloved as the creator of brilliantly illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for very young children. His best-known work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has eaten its way into the hearts of literally millions of children all over the world and has been translated into more than 50 languages and sold over 33 million copies. Since the Caterpillar was published in 1969, Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, many best sellers, most of which he also wrote, and more than 110 million copies of his books have sold around the world.

Listen to the story and have fun. I really love the story and the book is amazing with these beautiful pictures. 

WHITE FLAG by DIDO

"White Flag"

I know you think that I shouldn't still love you,
Or _______ you that.
But if I didn't say it, well I'd still have felt it
where's the sense in that?


I __________ I'm not trying to make your life harder
Or __________ to where we were


I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be


I know I left too much mess and
destruction to come back again
And I caused nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you _____ by the rules of "it's over"
then I'm sure that that makes sense


I will _____ down with this ship
And I won't _____ my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will ____


And when we ______
Which I'm sure we will
All that was there
Will be there still
I'll let it ______
And hold my tongue
And you will _______
That I've moved on....


I will ____ down with this ship
And I won't ______ my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be


I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be


I will _____ down with this ship
And I won't _____ my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

My cool sock

I've just created my new voki avatar. She is going to tell you some sentences in the future tense: be going to. First, listen carefully to her. Then, write down the questions or click pause to answer them. As my cool sock ;) says, don't answer only yes or no. Try to give more explanations to your answers. Have fun and practice your speaking! good luck!

Travel/journey/trip/expedition/safari/ cruise/voyage

What is the difference between these words all concerning travel:


Travel/journey/trip/expedition/safari/ cruise/voyage 

• Journey describes travelling from one place to another over a considerable distance. That's why in the test sentence we are talking about is a three day journey. 

• Trip is often travelling to a place and coming back the same day and so it is not usually long. You are staying in a hotel on holiday and the travel company representative will organise trips to places of interest and you will come back to the hotel that day for your evening meal. 

• Tour describes travelling from one place after another over a period of days/weeks and visiting various towns/cities and in the end coming back to where you started. This is also a word used on the internet sometimes described as a virtual tour when you are shown a series of pictures describing the site you are looking at.

50 things killed by technology

Ringing the cinema to check film times, owning an encyclopaedia and dialling 1471 are among 50 things killed off by modern technology, according to a new poll.

This is the begining of a new article written in the Telegraph. Read it, it sounds very interesting and let me know what do you think about it.

TOP 50 THINGS WE DON'T DO ANY MORE

1. Ring the cinema to find out times

2. Going into the travel agents to research a holiday

3. Record things using VHS

4. Dial directory enquiries

5. Use public telephones

6. Book tickets for events over the phone

7. Print photos

8. Put a classified ad in the shop window

9. Ring the speaking clock

10. Carry portable CD players

11. Write handwritten letters

12. Buy disposable cameras

13. Take plenty of change for pay phones

14. Make mix tapes

15. Pay bills at the post office

16. Use an address book

17. Check a map before or during car journey

18. Reverse charges in payphones

19. Go into the bank or building society to conduct your business

20. Buy TV listings

21. Own an encyclopaedia

22. Queue to get car tax in Post Office

23. Develop and send off for photographs

24. Read a hard copy of the Yellow Pages

25. Look up something in dictionary

26. Remember phone numbers/ Have a phone book

27. Watch videos

28. Have pen friends

29. Use a telephone directory

30. Use pagers

31. Fax things

32. Buy CD's/ Have a CD collection

33. Pay by cheque

34. Make photo albums

35. Watch programmes at the time they are shown

36. Dial 1471 when you get home

37. Warm milk or other hot drinks on stove

38. Try on lots of pairs of shoes on high street

39. Hand wash clothes

40. Advertise in trading papers

41. Send love letters

42. Hand-write essays / school work

43. Buy flowers from a florist

44. Work out how to spell something yourself

45. Keep a personal diary

46. Send post cards

47. Buy newspapers

48. Hang washing out in winter

49. Keep printed bills or bank statements

50. Visit car boot sales

For Intermediate students

I came across this site which is very interesting for intermediate students to improve your oral skills. As it is well known, speaking is always a problem for English students. Dominic Cole suggests many tips to improve your speaking.  

One of the most common problems for IELTS candidates is not having the opportunity to practise speaking simply because you live in a country where there are few chances to speak English. Reading and listening are easy enough, you can find books or internet sites. For writing all you need is someone to send your writing to. But speaking? Well, I’ve a suggestion for you. It may sound mad, but it isn’t – learn to speak to yourself. Let me explain why it can work and how you can do it. I’ll also try and give you a few practice ideas so that you can make it work for you.

Read more: Find your perfect IELTS speaking partner | Dominic Cole's IELTS Blog 

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Watch this fantastic slideshow and enjoy it. ;)

New Year's Resolution List - More amazing videos are a click away

How do you pronounce 2012?

"How do you say 2012? This is a post by The Virtual Linguist. Click on the linkfor further details about the way 2012 will be pronounced by most native English speakers.


It's said that it was still quite common to hear 'two thousand and eleven' during the past year, but it is his guess that you won't hear 'two thousand and twelve' very much this year. Instead, most people will say 'twenty twelve' - in the UK, anyway."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I came across this fantastic glogster about New Year Resolutions. What are yours? Are you going to visit your grandmother every weekend? Are you going to the gym? Are you going to give up smoking? Tell me about your new resolutions for this year. ;)