C 2 · Media, arts, literature & entertainment · Open cloze

Funny or not so funny?

We all saw it on the news this morning. Just when we had high hopes of receiving an award for Spanish cinema, there goes Will Smith who gives Chris Rock a slap in the face and drops an F-bomb opening the debate on whether certain issues should be overlooked in the name of humour and…… Continue reading Funny or not so funny?

C 2 · law & crime

C2 Listening Working on the Parole Board

Photo by Isabella Mendes on Pexels.com Paul Worsley, former judge, discusses the dilemma a parole board faces when it comes to deciding whether a person convicted of murder can be released into the community. In this listening activity, you will listen to an interview from Talkradio Europe. Fill in the blanks with the word(s) you…… Continue reading C2 Listening Working on the Parole Board

C 2 · Education, study & language · mediation

C1-C2 Mediation Hi! I’m moving to Spain

Now what? Watch the video and take down some notes. Have in mind that you’re sending an audio to a friend, so you should sound as if you were doing just that, meaning that you shouldn’t sound stiff and pedantic. Be aware of the importance of doing exactly what you have been asked to do.…… Continue reading C1-C2 Mediation Hi! I’m moving to Spain

C 2 · Media, arts, literature & entertainment

Flipping cards Vocabulary for The Press & Media

Image from the Daily Mail Before flipping the cards, you may want to take a peep at the wordcloud that you’ll find linked to the button. Thanks Cristina, I love it!!!! WORDCLOUD HERE! Guess the word and turn over the cards to see if you got it right.

C 2 · Media, arts, literature & entertainment

B2-C2 Vocabulary for Fictional characters

What’s the name for the bad guy that moves within a plot? And what type of character is the opposite to He-who-must-not-be-named? Here’s a flipping card vocabulary activity that deals with these terms. Look at each card and hover the mouse over it to see the other side. .

C 2 · People, relationships & family

Negative prefixes for adjectives

What is it, un-, in-, dis- or im- for abashed? Eeeeks! There are some rules for word formation concerning adjectives such as ir- if the word begins with r like in responsible = irresponsible and im- for words that begin with a p or b like possible=impossible, or prudent=imprudent, but this sometimes needs some practice…… Continue reading Negative prefixes for adjectives

C 2 · law & crime

Confusing words: rob and steal

Hi there! I’m back with some innovations. This is the first one I’m going to try out, that is, creating a quiz with the plugin Quiz Cat. Some of you will somehow be a bit surprised that I should place the category of these two words under B2 and C2, when it’s almost obvious that…… Continue reading Confusing words: rob and steal

A2 · B1 · B2 · C 2 · C1 · phonetics · video

What is phonetics and why should we learn it?

Some years ago I devoted part of the blog to this area of language learning, but now that the plug-in is no longer available, I needed to refocus on a new tool. So why not Youtube? I’m going to gradually upgrade all the stuff I wrote on phonetics and here is the very first video.…… Continue reading What is phonetics and why should we learn it?

C 2

English idiom The Proof is in the Pudding

Mmmmm only five days to Christmas Day and we’ll be eating up some Christmas pudding! I know, all my Spanish friends think it’s absolutely revolting (they don’t say so, but I can read it on their faces :-). Oooops! That would be a translation from Spanish. In English it’s more common to say ‘They’ve got…… Continue reading English idiom The Proof is in the Pudding