Merry Christmas!

Singing is good for your English, so click on full screen,  put up the volume, and sing along with John Lennon, Wham!, The Cadillacs, U2, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and Aretha Franklin

I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming year!

Rosa Parks

This is a mini biography of Rosa Parks, a civil rights activitst. December 1st was the anniversary of the day she decided not to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery. Level two students wrote about that on the same day

• 10 things you didn't know about Rosa parks: Click HERE

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Traffic Jam

WATCH HERE The ten cities with the worst traffic.

Black Friday

This Friday is  Black Friday. What is Black Friday? Black Fridayis  the day that signals the start of the shopping season in the USA,




and that can be as dangerous as this:

• WATCH THE VIDEO
• The truth: Facts you didn't know about Black Friday
• To counterbalance black Friday, we also have  BUY NOTHING DAY 
• Find them at  http://www.adbusters.org/bnd/

Nice

'Nice' is an adjective that you can apply to almost everything ( a nice person, nice weather, nice clothes.... but are there any other adjectives in English apart from 'nice'?

Halloween

Some Halloween jokes ....

 

• ... the History of Halloween : Read about the  origins of Halloween and see in which way it is similar to our traditions.
  

•  ...and a classic for Halloween, Michael Jackson's THRILLER, the complete story,  with Vincent Price the master of horror stories and movies, in the rap. You'll recognise his laugh HERE
  

  Happy Halloween, or castanyada, or whatever you celebrate!

Gotta

... and lots of adjectives!

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold

You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger

You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together

Check the full lyrics HERE
Or sing along with the video HERE

What are they like?

And what are the British like? you can check it out HERE (No subtitles)

Remember:
What are they like? Clever
What do they look like? Tall and elegant
What do they like? Music

What are you like?
Take The World's shortest Personality Test: Short but accurate.

The Puffer fish//Fugu

We talked about food in L3. This is a slightly longer version of the video we saw in class. You can turn on 'captions (bottom right of the screen) and see subtitles in English.
 

Be careful with your sushi! Bon appetit!

Solar storm

Oct 2nd International Day of Non Violence

Level 3 may want to watch THIS VIDEO too

5 benefits

So what now?

Exams are over, so just to remind you that on June 26th  your marks will be posted:

 - Online: www.eoigarraf.cat    or you can download the new mobile app Centrosnet.  Be patient with technology since the system tends to crash when everybody tries to log in at the same time.

- EOI's notice board: you'll see your scores for the five skills and your final mark.

So what now?
FAQs (Frequently asked questions):

 - "I got 65 (or more) and I'm very happy." Congratulations! I knew you would!" Try to read a little in summer or watch movies, or listen to podcasts, speak, cook, sing ...do whatever you can in English so that you don't forget it all!

 - "I got 65 but I didn't really mean it! I don't think I'm prepared for the next level!" Oh, well, too bad, too late, so sorry. Good luck next year!

 - "Oh, no ! I didn't get the f*#`* 65! It would be suicidal to get to the next level. Language learning is a difficult equation, certainly more complex than divisions into levels/years. Take it easy, take your time, try once more and you'll end up with a much better chance of passing and, most important, improving your English.

Please remember that the 'matricula online' is on specific days in July. Please check the EOI webpage or ask Secretaria if you have any doubts or questions on this and make sure you get your 'matricula' in order if you want to continue with us next year.

And finally, I'd like to wish you a well deserved summer break!

 OOOps, and a final recommendation: Speaking is essential. Remember that at http://www.gospeaky.com/ you have a myriad  of English speakers impatiently waiting for you ! So, speak... and sing along as much as you can!

That's all folks!

Time flies and classes are over! Exam time is always stressful (both for students AND for teachers) but fortunately there are remedies/techniques to help you cope with exam stress:

Music...


original video HERE

...and a good laugh:  THE EXAM, a classic  by Mr. Bean.




- And the usual advice:

• Get plenty of sleep the night before, and don't eat too much on the exam day.
• Make sure you arrive with time to spare so that you can chat with your friends and go in calmly rather than in a frantic rush.
• It may sound stupid, but don't forget to read the instructions of every exercise, and make sure you know what you have to do.
• It may sound even more stupid but, as we've said so many times,  in the oral/written exam, use what you know,  NOT what you don't know. SHOW what you know, not what you don't know!
• Write slowly, don't translate, KISS (Keep It Short and Simple - but rich and well connected :-)) connect your ideas, use words/structures that you've learnt.
• In the oral exam, relax and be ready to have a nice conversation with your partner (L3 remember to play tennis, keep the ball rolling!). L2-L3: Don't worry about the words you don't know and focus on the things that you know.

• Leave your mobile phone at home, don't forget your pens and your ID,  relax, concentrate, keep the right dose of adrenaline ready for action and ...
...enjoy it!

Thanks for your attention and your patience all through the year and...
I wish you all the best!

      

Bears on the beach

What happens if you go to the beach in California Lake Tahoe...

Addicted to your smartphone?

Do you think you are addicted to your smartphone?
 L2 Offtime is an applet that helps you disconnect:
READ the details HERE
L3: a more challenging video: Digital detox!

Take the test:  ARE YOU A SMARTPHONE ADDICT ?

or READ THE 23 SIGNS that you are addicted to your smartphone

Looking forward to 2100

I was comfortably driving to Barcelona the other day, listening to my favourite music and thinking about myself 500 years ago riding a horse and taking ages to get to the big city.And then I saw this video:
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Michio Kaku is an American physicist, a a professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York and a best selling author.
I'm looking forward to year 2100!

Books and roses

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. "   
William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet (1564 – 23 April 1616)

"Oh, my luve’s like a red, red rose, 
 That’s newly sprung in June 
Oh, my luve’s like the melodie 
That’s sweetly play’d in tune."  
Robert Burns, Scottish poet (1759-1796)

"Roses are Red Violets are 
Blue Sugar is Sweet 
And so are You" 
English Nursery Rhyme  (traditional  short poems for children) 

"The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses."  
Ovid, Roman poet born 43 BC.  

Happy St. Jordi's day!
Enjoy your books and roses,
Enjoy yourselves,
Have a good day, have a good time, Have fun! 

Think!

We've said that in class lots of times...



The four stages:
1)words 2)sentences 3)functions 4)narrative

Of course you can!

Food and Workout

For those of you interested getting fit, here’s what Science says you should eat before and after a workout. What you eat before your workout matters just as much as what you eat after. Shawn Arent, a professor of kinesiology at Rutgers,talks about which foods will best fuel you through your workout.

Chuck Berry dies

Father of Rock dies, aged 90


READ some more and listen to Johnny B.Good HERE

Sydney to London in two hours

This is going to be  next year!




READ more here

Sea monster found

What is this mysterious giant blob creature? Locals baffled after hairy-looking beast washes up in the Philippines. A huge, hairy mysterious sea creature has washed up on a beach in the Philippines.



 A "sea cow"? Some explanations HERE

 I think it looks a bit like Chewakka...

found a new home?

The universe just got a bit more crowded

NASA scientists have announced the existence of 7 small planets, and they are only 40 light years away! They are similar to the Earth in size and composition, and maybe they have water on the surface.
Have we found a new home?
WATCH the video HERE

Blah, blah, blah...

Arrrgh!! The exam was horribly difficult! Frustrating! I'll never be able to understand those horrible videos! How can I improve my spoken English?  I hate writing!

OK, calm down and take it easy.  Language learning has to do with patience, regularity and love (yes,  love) rather than trying to learn it all in a couple of days/weeks/months.
You know that class time is NOT enough, so  you'll have to use English  at home, in the street, driving to work... you have to live it, you have to love it, you have to make it part of your life.

Below you'll find some  tips that you'll have to adapt to your own habits (like talk to yourself!). The five language skills are  connected so the time invested in reading, listening, writing, and working on 'use of English' will sure contribute to your speaking skills-and vice versa.

• Learning tips ( tips n.2,3,5,6,13 particularly interesting)

And a very important one: KISS (Keep It Short and Simple), which means DON'T get entangled in your own story -generally because you wanted to translate  word by word from your mother tongue. You don't need to do this. You know a lot of things by now, you know more than you think, so use the things that you know, not the things that you don't know.

Don't translate. Forget about your mother tongue, forget about yourself.  Be another person... and speak English! There is a saying in Czech that goes : " Learn a new language, get a new soul"

Sorry there's no pill. Or rather, the only pill is regular practice and patience. But you know all that jazz, don't you?   So why don't you use this mini holiday to put  things in order, revise aspects we've done in class, revise things from last year, catch up with things you missed, organize your work, organize your life, and promise yourself you'll be in contact with English at least 20 minutes a day.

Of course, frustration may be part of the process, but it's transitory AND normal.  So don't worry too much. As they say, keep calm and carry on:

• Tips to overcome language learning frustration (by a school teaching portuguese)

...and you can always scream and shout in this blog if you need it. If you have any other useful  tip, please let eveybody know!

The Chicago hot dog

America is called a 'melting pot' of cultures. Something so American like the Chicago Hot dog came from somewhere else. Here's the story:



So German sausage, Greek vegetables, and no ketchup with the Chicago hot dog!

The Year of the Rooster

The Chinese New year starts on January 28th ..... . 2017 will be the Year of the Rooster.
The Rooster is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese Zodiac


In the city of Taiyuan, this is how they are going to celebrate:



Read the article HERE

Are you a rooster?  What are roosters like? What animal are you ?
Find out HERE  and  check your characteristics, your personality, and the Chinese  horoscope for this year.

Blue Monday,

Good morning! In case you didn't know, after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Jan 17th is Blue Monday, the unhappiest, the gloomiest, the most depressive day of the year

READ HERE
READ what you can do to beat Blue Monday


So if you are feeling blue, just  keep calm and get through Blue Monday!

....and a happy new year!

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS. I'm gonna make some changes in my life....

 

READ LYRICS HERE