Cruise with with your favourite band?

Hello B1/PET class!

Do you remember a couple of units ago we spoke about cruises. Well, here is an interesting article about how cruises are changing.

The title is "Whatever Floats Your Boat", this is an idiom but what does it mean? Give your answers below.

Read the article and answer the following questions, using A for True and B for False


1) The Kiss cruise is held once a year
2)  On the cruise you can only watch the KISS concerts
3) Gene Simmons does not look forward to the cruise.
4) Themed cruises are aimed at pensioners.
5) Themed cruises are the only way for cruises to make money.

(The answers are in the text before the picture of Gene Simmons)

FCE Jordan Romero: The Young Mountaineer

Hello everyone,

Just thought you may be interested in this video which was released shortly after Jordan's climb.

Let me know if you have any questions. 

And bonus! Mixed Conditionals quiz. Enjoy!

Are you ready?

Hello everyone!

It is the last day of the holidays and even my dog, Barry, is sad.

No English studies today because I hope your'e relaxing in the sun. See you all this week! (FCE tomorrow morning!)  Don't be shy to send me any questions on here or by email.

Duolingo- for when you need some inspiration

Hello everyone!
I hope you are having a good Semana Santa/ Easter weekend so far. Mine has been pretty relaxing.  I went for a walk to Costa Cabana yesterday and got pretty burnt, even though I had put suncream on.

One thing I wanted to do this week, is study Spanish (and a few other languages) but I have been pretty lazy. If your'e like me and not been keeping up your English studies, don't fear, it isn't too late. I recommend spending 10 minutes on Duolingo. Even if it is just a bit of vocabulary practice, it will still keep your "English" mind active. If you want to add me as a "friend" we can motivate each other Let's be friends .

On a side note, did you notice my use of "pretty". How is it used in the above examples? Reply in the comments section and read here for more information.

Happy Easter!

Happy!

Hello everyone!

I tried to avoid the internet yesterday because the Brussels bombings was just so awful :-( I hope that you and all your loved ones are safe.
On that note, let's focus on happiness.

What makes you happy?
Maybe you have similar reasons to these people?

Write in the comment box below, three things that make you happy.

What makes me happy is MUSIC. I understand that not everyone enjoys music, but it is a great way to practice your English. In future posts I will be putting up songs for you to listen to, so if you have any preference (not Reggaton) then I can personalise the songs for you. It may be better to choose songs that you like but don't know every word of. So, to begin, here is a song we all know, but do you know the words?

It might seem crazy what I'm about to say

Sunshine she's here, you can take away

I'm a hot air balloon, I could go to space

With the air, like I don't care baby by the way

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do

Here come bad news talking this and that

Yeah, give me all you got, don't hold back

Yeah, well I should probably warn you I'll be just fine

Yeah, no offense to you don't waste your time

Here's why

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do

Happy, bring me down

Can't nothing, bring me down

Love is too happy to bring me down

Can't nothing, bring me down

I said bring me down

Can't nothing, bring me down

Love is too happy to bring me down

Can't nothing, bring me down

I said

Because I'm happy

Published by

Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group

Click here for the answers. 

What do you think Pharrell Williams mean about feeling like a room without a roof?

Please let me know if there is any other music you would like to listen to!

Here is the Almeria version of the Happy song

Funny Pronunciation of "-ough"

Hello everyone!

I thought you might appreciate this video about the difficulty of pronouncing words ending in "-ough"

Eddie Izzard Completes 27 Marathons in 27 days

First, read the text and answer the questions:

(image credit news.yahoo.com)

"Comedian Eddie Izzard has completed his challenge in South Africa to run 27 marathons in 27 days for Sport Relief.

The 54-year-old needed to run a double marathon on Sunday to complete his challenge beneath a statue of Nelson Mandela, in Pretoria.

Izzard attempted a similar feat in South Africa in 2012 but had to pull out for health reasons.

The comedian's endurance feat raised more than £1.35m. The 2016 Sport Relief total stands at £56,984,007.

"That was very, very tough," Izzard told reporters as he swigged from a celebratory bottle of sparkling white wine.

The 27 marathons were intended to reflect the 27 years Mr Mandela had spent in prison before becoming South Africa's first black president.

Over the 707-mile route, Izzard battled through dehydration, heat exhaustion and sunstroke.

He was forced to take an unscheduled rest day on the fifth day of the challenge, which meant he had to complete two marathons on the final day.

"It's been the hardest thing I've ever done," said a "very tired" Izzard. "Thank you to everyone who has donated [and] don't do this at home."

Questions:

1.  What is Eddie Izzard's job?
2. Why did Eddie Izzard run 27 marathons in 27 days?
3. How much money did Eddie raise for Sports Relief?
4. What do you think he means by "don't do this at home?"

Now, watch the video and complete the vocabulary challenge! 

1. Eddie is running up/over the steps
2. The crowd are shouting/chanting his name.
3. Eddie stops ________ rest __________ the statue's feet.
4. Eddie __________ to speak because he has run _______ of breath

(text and video from BBC.com/news 20 March 2016)

Speaking Tips PET and FCE

Hello everyone,

Some tips from Cambridge

:-)

B1 Tips for Mock Exam Term 2 Reading & Writing

Hello everyone,

This is to help you think a bit about the exam but focusing on Part 5 (reading) Part 1 (writing)

• What means the same as "as early as possible"--> as ______ as
  eg. Please reply to this email as ______as you can
• Direct speech--> reported speech

Here is some extra practice:

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/index.php

http://www.flo-joe.com/preliminaryenglish/writing/pet_writing_practice_test_part_1.htm

For writing part 2 remember the checklist!

Good luck!

B2 FCE Mock Exam Hints and Tips: Use of English

Hello everyone,

I am obviously not going to give you the answers, but this could help you with the mock exam. To help you, I am going to give you some exercises to get you thinking. Please post any questions or answers below.

1) what collocates with trouble?

2) What are the differences between look, search and seek?

3) Far _______
    close ______

4) What are the different forms (adj, verb, adverb etc) of the following words:

• consider
• limit
• minimum
• character
  

5) Transformation practice http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/first-certificate-key-word-transformations.php

Good luck!!

B1 Rachel and James

Hello my B1 class!

Last week we used some phrasal verbs to tell a story about Rachel and James. Can you still remember it?

Type your answers into the comment section. Don't forget those phrasal verbs!

Well, Rachel and James have gone back to cold, rainy, England. They have been missing Almeria, and sent me some memories of their trip.
You may have thought the Alcazaba would be too boring to visit, but they visited it twice! They loved it! Here is a video of James enjoying the acoustics.

From the Alcazaba they could see the Jesus statue. Rachel hiked up there and took a "selfie". What a pity the statue was too tall to join in. 

After all the walking they enjoyed some tasty beer and tapas (the beer was not Almeriense but they had enjoyed many 'cañas' at other times) 

One thing that was difficult to get used to was mealtimes. In England people generally eat supper at around 6pm, whereas reatuarants only start serving tapas at 8pm. This was the perfect excuse to enjoy something sweet:

and a cup of coffee

Looking forward to Rachel and James return visit! 

Do you have any questions for them?