B1 08.02.11

Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

Today we talked about the weather and we listened to this song:

B1 01.02.11

This is a hilarious Monty Python sketch in a courtroom with John Cleese as the counsel for the defence and svery peculiar witnesses including a chatter-box, Cardinal Richelieu and a dead man in a coffin.

Here you have the script for the sketch.

In this post you have the videos that we watched in class.

This is Marian Keyes, tha author of the article we read in class about joining a gym, talking about plastic surgery. Notice the Irish accent.

B1 25.01.11

We’re back (in the saddle again)

Enjoy the song:

I’m back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again 

Ridin’ the range once more
Totin’ my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin’ to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

I’m back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again

Ridin’ the range once more
Totin’ my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s is a time for fresh starts, new beginnings. Tradition dictates that every 365 days, you should try to kick bad habits and start your life anew. This is a time to look disdainfully at the person you have been, and look longingly into the idealistic future at the person you will become.

So,  sit down with a paper and a pen, and reflect: what New Year’s Resolutions will you make for yourself this January 1st?

These are some New Year’s resolutions that are popular year after year according to the usa.gov site:

• Drink Less Alcohol
• Get a Better Education
• Get a Better Job
• Get Fit
• Lose Weight
• Manage Debt
• Manage Stress
• Quit Smoking Now
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• Save Money
• Take a Trip
• Volunteer to Help Others

If you need more ideas you can visit this resolutions generator.

CEP B1 23.11.10

This is what we were dubbing in class:

The Story of Thanksgiving:

CEP B1 16.11.10

This is the song we listened to in class:

And this is the handout for the song The Summer before the War.

This is a BBC video that explains Remembrance Day.

 

CEP B1 09.11.10

The failed Gunpowder Plot to assassinate James I and the ruling Protestant elite would, however unfairly, taint all English Catholics with treason for centuries to come. Who were the conspirators and what did they hope to achieve?

Find out more here. (recommended for history buffs)

Here you can listen to and read a  BBC Learning English programme on Guy Fawkes with explanations of words and expressions and a quiz.

 

Here is some advice on how to stop yourself from crying in public, in case you want to heed it.

Hamid Karzai crying:

Notice the echo question uttered by Elmo in the previous post.

CEP B1 02.11.10

How do monsters tell their future? They read their horrorscope…

What do you get when you cross a werewolf and a vampire? A fur coat that fangs around your neck…

Do zombies eat popcorn with their fingers? No, they eat the fingers separately…

Why don’t skeletons ever go out on the town? Because they don’t have any body to go out with…

Why do witches use brooms to fly on? Because vacuum cleaners are too heavy…

What did one ghost say to the other ghost? “Do you believe in people?”

horror jokesWhat do you call someone who puts poison in a person’s corn flakes? A cereal killer…

This is  A short history of the afterlife from the BBC

 

CEP B1 26.10.10

Columbus Day

A U.S. national holiday since 1937, Columbus Day commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. The Italian-born explorer had set sail two months earlier, backed by the Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. He intended to chart a western sea route to China, India and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia; instead, he landed in the Bahamas, becoming the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland during the 10th century.

Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba and believed it was mainland China; in December the expedition found Hispaniola, which he though might be Japan. There, he established Spain’s first colony in the Americas with 39 of his men. In March 1493, the explorer returned to Spain in triumph, bearing gold, spices and “Indian” captives. He crossed the Atlantic several more times before his death in 1506; by his third journey, he realized that he hadn’t reached Asia but instead had stumbled upon a continent previously unknown to Europeans.

This is the song we did in class:

CEP B1 19.10.10

This is handout 03 with the text for the above video.