Lola's Blog

Photo by Pep Fernández. Flickr.com CC-BY-NC-SA Nelson Mandela (1928-2013) died a year ago. He was 95 years old. He did nothing but fought throughout his entire life for peace and reconcilation in South Africa, a country notorious for racial oppression and apartheid . Is South Africa a peaceful country today? Reading and Listening Read this article about how South Africans are celebrating Nelson Mandela's life today. You can also watch an interview with his grandaughter, Ndileka Mandela, who talks about his gradnfather's legacy. And meanwhile, demonstrators fill the streets of New York Have you watched or read the news recently? What's going on in America? How much do you know about Eric Garner? Reading  Read this Wikipedia article about him and take notes When and where did it happen? Who was involved in the incident? What happened to Eric? What was the outcome of the investigation and the grand jury?  Watch this video Visit this New York T...

El gordo by Marccostablanca. CC-BY-SA This post is about verb forms and expressions that we use in English to talk about what is going to happen in the future, i.e. predictions. Look at the lottery ticket and answer these questions: Have you ever won the lottery? Would you like to win the lottery? How likely are you to win the lottery? If you won the lottery, what will you be doing next year? These are some of the questions that you will answer in class today. Making predictions in English We can say how sure we feel about the future by using will , modal verbs , the future continuous and the future perfect . There are also other phrases we can use to express our certainty or uncertainty about future events. Making a definite prediction with “ will” We use “ will ” in a definite prediction, when we know or believe that an event is certain. The cost of tuition fees will continue to rise We can make the prediction more or less certain by using adve...

Solar Power Plant at Serpa by Ceinturion. CC-BY-SA How much do you know about renewable and non-renewable energy sources? Are you aware of, for example, the estimated time left for oil? Who are the two world greatest carbon polluters in the world? Are they doing anything to curb the situation? What does the scientific community think is going to happen if we don't reduce greenhouse emissions? Can you give some examples? Well, this is the topic we are going to discuss in class today. Worksheet You can download this  Renewable and non-renewable energy sources worksheet . News report First, download the worksheet so that you can complete the listening exercises.

One Thousand and One Night. Public domain Can you think of a well-known story or folktale from Spain? Have you read any of the stories of The Arabian Nights ? Do you know in which language they were originally written? Why are the tales so famous? Visit this page and find out. Scheherazade is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of The Arabian Nights . She is the daughter of the King's Vizier and she tells a story for one thousand and one nights.  Why do you think she tells a story a night?   Gradable and non-gradable adjectives One way of making our stories more interesting is to use gradable and non-gradable adjectives.   Gradable adjectives can be used in comparative or superlative forms, or with adverbs such as extremely, very , quite, fairly or pretty . We can grade or show the degree of a particular quality in a person or a thing:                             ...

Arthur Racham en.wikipedia.org Look at this picture. What can you see? What famous fable is being pictured here? That's right! Can you tell the story? Definition of fable 1) Make a list of 3-5 fables you remember. 2) Can you write a definition of fable ? 3) How is it structured? 4) What makes a good fable? You can check your answers here.   Aesop  Aesop by Velázquez, Prado Museum. Wikimedia Commons Physical appearance Most of the world's best known fables are attributed to Aesop , a Greek slave who lived around 550 BC. In the anonymous Aesop Romance (dated 1st or 2nd century AD) we find a vivid description of Aesop's appearance: "of loathsome aspect... potbellied, misshapen of head, snub-nosed, swarthy, dwarfish, bandy-legged, short-armed, squint-eyed, liver-lipped—a portentous monstrosity" (Source: Wikipedia). Don't you think this description is a bit of an exaggeration? Visit the Linguee page and translate  Aesop´s descr...

The Earth.NASA: Public domain How often do you visit Wikipedia ? Do you find its articles good? Who writes those articles? How many articles have been produced for Wikipedia ? In how many languages? What is the policy for publishing articles? This post is about Wikipedia , the first topic in your book Global . You are going to debate in class what is the best way to find accurate and reliable information. Video The history of Wikipedia You are going to watch "The History of Wikipedia in two minutes". The speaker speaks fast but don't worry. You'll be helped by the pictures and captions provided in the video.   Remember Watch the video once to get a general idea. Watch and answer the questions (once or twice). Watch once more to check your answers. Before you watch 1) Do you know the following people? What's their connection with Wikipedia:     Ward Cunnigham            Jimmy...

Image by Lola la Torre When was the last time you applied for a job? Did you send in your CV? Did you write a cover letter explaining why you were a suitable candidate? This post is about CVs and cover (or covering) letters. In your book Global you will find a sample of a cover letter at the end of Unit 1 . You will be expected to apply for a job and write a cover letter in class at the end of this week. This is going to be your first writing task. Some tips to plan what you are going to write: 1) Pay attention to formal letter conventions. 2) Make sure you are aware of false friends (e.g. qualifications , career ) 3) Use appropriate academic terms. 4) Edit your letter before you hand it in. This requires re-reading more than once. CVs What should you include in your CV? Do you know how many types of CV there are?  Click here to see good and bad examples of CV . Click here for a Europass Curriculum Vitae . Cover letters What is a cover letter? ...

I shared some photos of my holiday in the post titled "New York".  In this post I would like to share some more photos. As you can see in the slideshow, I visited not just New York City but also upstate New York. What did I do during my holiday?  During my two-week stay I managed to do quite a lot. You can guess by just browsing my photos. I visited Manhattan, Long Island and Lake George. New York City New York City Boroughs map. User Perry Planet. CC-SA How much do you know about New York? Can you answer these questions?: How many languages are spoken in New York? How many people live in New York? New York used to be the capital of the USA? When? What landmarks can you find in Manhattan? Where is the One World Trade Center building? Where is the Statue of Liberty? What is the Bronx famous for? and Brooklyn? What is the climate in New York?  You can click here to check your answers. Long Island   NYC and the counties o...

© 2014 Lola la Torre Hello again. It has been a long time since I kept in touch. Back to school, back to work, back to learning.... Look at the photo on your left. Does it ring a bell? Of course, it is Broadway, the heart of American theatre industry. This theatre pictured here is in Times Square, New York City. I would like to share with you my holiday in New York. I took hundreds of photos. Rather than me telling you about my holiday, I'd like you to look at the photos and guess what I did each day. Also, you will find an interview with Woody Allen, a typical New Yorker. Day 1 © 2014 Lola la Torre View from my hotel room in Times Square © 2014 Lola la Torre Something unexpected happened on the first day of my arrival. © 2014 Lola la Torre © 2014 Lola la Torre Day 2 © 2014 Lola la Torre. Typical American breakfast. Follow the recipe © 2014 Lola la Torre.7th Avenue © 2014 Lola la Torre Mega famous station. Click here ...