FACEBOOK FACTS AND FACEBOOK LOSERS

Have a look at these 50 facts about Facebook that we dealt with in class. In this webpage, there are thousands of random facts about loads of things. I hope you can find something interesting!
I also told you to take a test about your Facebook use but it seems it's been removed from where I first found it. A pity, because it was quite funny.

April Fools' Day

Hi class. Have a look at this article about this year's April Fools' newspaper hoaxes and have some fun. Remember to use Lingro to look up difficult words.
Also, watch again the famous spaghetti harvest footage we saw in class.

Lingro. An amazing online dictionary

Show this article about Facebook narcissism on the screen, cut and paste the address, go to Lingro and paste in the address into the first field. The Guardian website will come up, and then click on some difficult words to show that a definition comes up. Isn't that amazing? Besides, you'll be able to save the words you've looked up for you to revise later on.

Spain's best festivals and parties 2012

An ex-student sent me this link to an article in The Guardian about the best festivals in our country. Guess which little town an hour's drive from Valencia comes up? Maybe this year we'll have a few more Britons around and you'll be able to practise your English!

Kentucky's Marketing Tradition

Have a look at this short video that James, our conversation assistant, has sent me for you to see. Fancy a visit?

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Hi class. Have a look at this very interesting site with loads of info about St. Patrick's Day (and many other topics!):  http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day

Spain in The Guardian

Have a look at this fantastic link to The Guardian newspaper in-depth look at our country. I'm sure you'll enjoy learning what the Brits think about us. There are also podcasts and videos where people tell us what they think is the best country in Europe and talk about lifestyle, politics, climate, dress sense... to justify their choices.

Fake Britain BBC video

It seems this time there's no copyright infringement with this video (I don't know why there was with the mobile phones programme!). This is the first part of the programme only, but you'll see a link on Youtube to the second part as well. You can also activate the subtitles, though I'm afraid they are not very good, as they are created automatically with some voice-recognition software.

Fake UK. Gap-filling and multiple matching reading comprehension exercises

Fake Britain

An Expanding Wasteline

An Expanding Waste Line Reading Advanced

The Life and Death of the Mobile phone (listening comprehension activity)

Life and Death of the Mobile Telephone Ok

The Life and Death of the Mobile phone (BBC documentary)

Please comment on some of this things:
Do you identify with any of the mobile phone users who appear in the documentary? In which ways?
Are you addicted to your mobile phone? Do you know anybody who is?
Could you live without a mobile phone? In which ways has it made your life easier / more difficult / different?
Do you normally get annoyed when people use their phones in public places next to you?

Learning English with your mobile phone

Fill in the gaps in the following text with the help of your mobile phone once you've changed its language settings to English.
Learning English With Your Mobile Phone

How many texts do teenagers send in a month?

Check out this article about how many texts teeanges send in a month: http://mashable.com/2010/10/14/nielsen-texting-stats/ . Over 3,000! Even with pitfalls such as thumb arthritis or “Blackberry thumb” (excellent neologism, check it in Wikipedia)ha, ha!), the trend for SMS texting continues apace. The article quotes a recent study in which the ability to send texts was the number one reason teenagers bought a mobile phone. The scariest part of this article is the fact that spoken language has decreased in teens by 14%. Will we bother speaking to each other at all in ten years’ time? A worrying thought, don’t you think? Please post your comments (or text them to me, ha, ha!)

I take it you already know (pronunciation poem)

Listen to this man reading the poem we've seen in class. Why don't you give it a try?

Etiquette and Netiquette

Here you have some links to some of the things we saw in class last week. Click here for a brief guide to British Etiquette and here for useful tips on the art of netiquette. I hope you like them. Comments welcome!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Hi there. Have a look at this reading activity based on chat up lines and "nasty" answers to turn men (why always men??) down. Also, have a look at this website with loads of chat up lines and tell me what you think. What's the best/worst chat up line you've used (or somebody else has used with you!)?
Chat Up Lines and Answers Matching Exercise

Is Apple Exploiting Chinese Workers?

Are you going to throw away your iphone after reading this article or, on the contrary, are you going to buy a new one? Comments welcome.
Is Apple Exploiting Chinese Workers

Teruel Existe in the USA.

Hi class. Please read this very interesting article written by Trey Popp, an American journalist who came to our town some years ago to interview one of the "existential activists" of Teruel Existe. By the way, I was the interpreter in that interview, and I enjoyed the experience enormously. Please tell me what you think of the guy's view of our homeland.
Existential Activism Teruel Existe in USA

Watch English TV for free!

Thanks to David, I've found a way to watch English TV without any geographical restrictions, just as if your computer were in the UK. Just go to www.expatshield.com. Download their program from there, run it and... hey presto! your computer is "virtually" in the UK, which will then allow you to go to websites like www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ or http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od and watch their content without problems. THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOUR ENGLISH IN YEARS! Please enjoy and share the word!

It started with a kiss

As our Bodas de Isabel are just around the corner, I would like you to have a look at this article about our medieval festival written by Annie Bennet and published in 1998 in The travel section of The Daily Telegraph. It is interesting to see our own fiesta through the eyes of a British journalist. You can also read the translation -by some guy from Villastar you might have heard of- which appeared a few days later in Diario de Teruel.
It Started With a Kiss

THE FUN THEORY

www.thefuntheory.com This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is theeasiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself,for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing thatmatters is that it’s change for the better.

THE FUN THEORY GAP-FILL

Girl taken into care after her mother injected her with botox (multiple choice reading comprehension)

Unbelievable from a Spanish point of view, isn't it? Comments welcome.
Girl Taken Into Care After Mother Injected Her With Botox

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING!!!!!

I was looking forward to posting this pic at last. Funny or what?

Javi's blog class competition

As we said in class, I intend to run a competition to encourage you to post comments on my blog. The rules are simple: the three students that participate more actively in the blog (both in terms of quantity and of "quality") from the beginning of the school year until mid May will win a free BBC DVD each. My verdict will be "unappealable"; after all, I'm the teacher, aren't I? Ready? steady? go!!!

Controversial video

Hi again. Remember we talked about some "shocking campaigns" in class? Well, I've just come across this very controversial video. It's NOT what you think by just watching the first seconds and it is NOT a joke. It has sparked widespread criticism (and also admiration), and I thought you'd like to post some comments about it. Sorry if you're offended or upset by the footage.

Agony Aunt

Here you have one of the many Agony Aunt websites. Very good for your English, dont you think?. http://myagonyaunt.com/
Remember to send me a letter by next Wednesday (by email) about something that is worrying you (not necessarily addictions as we said in class). I encourage you to be original and imaginative, and we'll see what Agony Aunt thinks about your worries! I promise you'll get an answer sooner than you think!

New Year's Resolutions

Hi again. Here's the text about New Year's resolutions that we've been working with in class. Remember the psychologist suggests that you have to make your resolutions public so as to get support from the people around you. Why not here? Comments welcome.
New Year's Resolutions

(Belated) Merry Christmas

Sorry I didn't wish you a Merry Christmas before, I just forgot. Sorry for not having updated anything in the last weeks, the Christmas break has been veeeery long! Please have a look at the digital story of the Nativity that we watched in class, just in case you missed it! WATCH IT HERE