International Working Women's Day

Did you know why International Working Women's day is celebrated on the 8th of March?
Watch this video for a short summary of the history of the movement for women's rights..

One of the main reasons why it is celebrated in March is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in March 1911. The tragedy sparked outrage through worker activists and gave emphasis to the celebration. Unfortunately, many of the problems women faced in the early 20th century are still present today. Watch the video and learn about what they are:



You can find more information about the fire here.
Through the years, International Women's Day has become a more broad celebration that also speaks about gender equality in our private lives as well.

For example, Beyonce's celebrated music video If I were a boy is from 2008. What issues does she discuss in the video?

 

Finally, in 2018 Taylor Swift released her own take on women's rights. Do you believe attitudes have changed? Why?

 

If wishes were horses...

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

If turnips were watches, I'd wear one by my side.

If "if's" and "and's" were pots and pans,

There'd be no work for tinkers' hands."

(Traditional nursery rhyme)

We use the verb "wish" when we want something we can't have. At least for the moment. (here's a version of the nursery rhyme on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtzuVToJp4M )

Here's a good summary of all the ways you can use the word wish. As you can see, there are many. (Please check http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/towards-advanced/unit-23/session-1 for the whole lesson)



Also, remember we use "wish+were" in formal speech, not "Wish+was", which is very common but considered not standard (for more information, see https://ludwig.guru/blog/i-wish-i-was-vs-i-wish-i-were/ ) 

Here you have a song where you can see the use of wish. 

Wish + past tense




The prologue to the musical "Into the Woods" also has a lot of examples of how to use "wish". You can try to write down what each character wishes for. You will probably recognize them, as they all come from traditional fairy tales.



And if you watch the whole musical, you'll realize that wishing sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for...

Gerund or infinitive? (BACHILLERATO)

Please revise when to use the gerund and the infinitive in this presentation.



You can also check out this unit on BBC Learning English to do some exercises.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/lower-intermediate/unit-10/session-1

As usual, Agendaweb.org is a great source of exercises to practice this. https://agendaweb.org/verbs/infinitive_gerund-exercises.html

Here is a fun collection of songs that use gerund or infinitive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyr5WhdXoE8

I've also created a small playlist of songs that appear in the presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFy9rQLLBWSYoQ0sb0zdXdAl0f9wfITTM

The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement was one of the most important events in US History. During the 1950s and 60s, African-Americans fought for equal rights to voting rights, education, healthcare, justice and more.
Before we watch the video, can you think of people and events that happened during this period?



Look at the infographic. Which events on the video are mentioned in the image?

On the third Monday of January every year, the US celebrates the birth of one of the main leaders of the movement, Martin Luther King, who was born on the 15th of January.

What do you know about MLK? Watch the video and check if the facts match what you believe. Who else is in the video? Why do you think that is?




Martin Luther King was a great speech writer. His best known speech is probably the "I have a dream" speech, which he gave during the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963. It is believed that 250.000 attended this protest.



The speech is so famous that it has been put into song by rapper Common for the soundtrack of the film Freedom Writers.

 

Another famous film about the Civil Rights Movement is the film Selma, which received an Oscar  nomination for Best Film in 2015. The main soundtrack song, Glory, received the award for Best Song on the same year.


. .

Selma deals with the difficulties the black population in the American South faced in order to register to vote and participate in elections. Here's a fragment of the film. What do you think about how the two people in the clip behave? What conclusions do you draw about the situation in the 1960s in the US?




Finally, February is Black History Month. Do you think it's still relevant to celebrate this month? Why?

More conditional songs

Here are two more songs that use conditional sentences. Can you guess which types of conditional we are talking about?

 

For more conditional sentences in songs, you can click here https://goodatenglish.blogspot.com/2018/05/conditional-songs.html

The passive voice (BACHILLERATO)

Here is a presentation on how to use the passive voice, which we will be seeing in unit 6. As you can see, it's quite similar to Spanish BUT there are some peculiarities that you need to pay attention to.
(Note: I've changed the presentation a little, as it was a bit hard to read on mobile phones)

Here is further information on how to use the causative structure.

You can go to Agendaweb's section for passive voice practice here http://www.agendaweb.org/verbs/passive-exercises.html

For more on passive reporting structures, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/

For more on using the passive voice with two objects check http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/

You can see some practical examples of how the passive voice is used here:

 

There is a second part of the video. You can watch it here.

Finally, this collection of songs that use causatives and passives is also worth checking out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG_7Xlghi_c

Analyzing Black Panther

Besides being a really exciting film and one of the highest grossing films in US history, MCU film Black Panther is a great film to think about African culture and the effects of the African diaspora.

Its production design is loaded with references to different African cultures. If you want to learn more about them you can read the Twitter thread quoted here:

The world of Black Panther makes reference to many important elements of African cultures. https://t.co/QRog5plint

— Elena Clemente (@Good_At_English) 10 de mayo de 2018

You can also check out production designer Hannah Beachler herself explaining how some of the scenes in the film were designed.
-What is an isicolo? What is an adinkra symbol? Why are they important in the entrance scene?
-What cultures are represented in the waterfall scene? (watch this with subtitles!)



You can also watch director Ryan Coogler's breakdown on how the casino scene in the movie was shot.

-How does feminism influence the way the scene was shot?
-What are the African references in this scene?
-What are the two contrasting concepts in it?



Here actress Laetitia Wright describes some of the science fictional and technological elements that appear in the movie.
-What's the main innovation in the new Black Panther suit?
-What are kimoyo beads? How are they used?



Finally, here's a more in-depth discussion of the symbolism of Black Panther. 
-Why are colonialism, internationalism and isolationism important for the movie? How do they relate to our own world?
-What are the main differences between T'Challa and Eric Killmonger? Why is T'Challa the better leader?
-If you have seen Infinity War, why are these ideas important in the next film? In your opinion, what would have happened on Earth if the ending of Black Panther had been different?




As a bonus, you can reward yourself with Kendrick Lamar's album inspired by the movie here:



This is the music video for the main theme song (includes subtitles):

Conditional songs.

Can you identify which conditionals are these songs using?











Now look at this video. What conditional type are they using?

 

How about now? What conditional is Vegeta using?


Now look at them all together:

 

*you can check out even more conditional songs here https://goodatenglish.blogspot.com/2021/01/more-conditional-songs.html

Watching Coco

Coco is a 2017 fantasy film. It was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Lee Unkrich wrote and directed the film, along with co-director Adrian Molina. It is the story of a 12-year-old boy named Miguel Rivera, who wants to be a musician but whose family hates music. After an accident during Día de los Muertos, he is sent to the land of the dead, where he will need the help of his great-great-grandfather to return to his family among the living.

The film was written by Molina and Matthew Aldrich from a story by Unkrich, Jason Katz, Aldrich and Molina, and the music was composed by Michael Giacchino and also includes some classic Mexican songs, like La Llorona.

Coco was  released in Mexico the weekend before Día de los Muertos, and in the United States on November 22, 2017. The film became immediately popular, and it won two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "Remember Me", as well as the Best Animated Film at the BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Critic's Choice Movie Awards, and Annie Awards.

Watch the next video on the link to know why the film has become so popular and received so many awards:

Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo declared Tuesday, Feb. 27 as "Coco Day" in LA 🙌

Here’s why the Pixar film is being celebrated: pic.twitter.com/vOfUWP1pEm

— AJ+ (@ajplus) 27 de febrero de 2018

After watching the movie, think about what would have happened if:

1. Miguel’s great grandfather hadn’t abandoned his family?
2. Miguel’s great grandmother hadn’t forbidden music in the house?
3. Miguel hadn’t discovered the secret in the photograph?
4. Miguel’s grandmother hadn’t broken his guitar?
5. Miguel hadn’t stolen Ernesto de la Cruz’s guitar?

Think of other moments in the film when the story would have changed completely if Miguel or another character had taken a completely different decision and write 3-5 more sentences in the 3rd conditional.

Finally, you can do this quiz at home.
It only takes a couple of minutes!

Which Coco Character Are You? 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/luisdelvalle/which-coco-character-are-you?utm_term=.ew5ODMzoJ

After you are done, you can reward yourself later singing the bilingual version of "Remember Me":

How to use phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs from Elena (IES Cervantes)

Phrasal verbs in English are very, very common. The best advice is to calm down and pick them up just like any other verb, one at a time.
Also, a good idea is to pay attention to them when they turn up in songs. Lindsay Dow has a fantastic Youtube playlist with songs that use them. Check them out!

 

You can also revise this BBC Learning English unit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-21/tab/grammar?ocid=socialflow_twitter

And you may want to practice with this fantastic series from the BBC about phrasals, too:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/faceup/

Comparative and superlative adjectives (repost)

Comparatives and superlatives from Elena MacLeod

 Make sure you also visit the British Council section on Comparative and superlative adjectives . You can also do some exercises at http://agendaweb.org/

This song from the classic musical 'Annie get your gun' is a great example of what happens when comparing people gets a bit out of control:



You can also check out this post by Luiz Otavio Barros, with 15 songs that use the comparatives https://www.luizotaviobarros.com/songs-comparatives/

Finally, here's another video with songs that use comparatives and superlatives for you to practice with.

Enjoy!

Let it snow!

Well, it will be Christmas this Saturday!

So, here goes our Christmas song for the year: Let It Snow. It's a traditional song and there are dozens of versions of it by many singers, from Boyz II Men to Frank Sinatra.

Here's a slow version by Kylie Minogue, with lyrics:



And here's a slightly different heavy metal version by Twisted Sister. This version is one of my favourite Christmas songs ;-)

By popular demand, "Crawl", by Chris Brown

...ok, by "popular demand" I mean the class of 3B, and by "class of 3B" I mean, of course, Yaiza. XD

The second conditional

I know, a bit late!

But better late than never!

Conditional Sentences (2)

View more presentations from Elena (IES Altair).

Happy, by Leona Lewis

Some of my students of 3rd of ESO are great fans of Leona Lewis, so I'm dedicating this song to them!



Notice how Leona uses a lot of contractions for common expressions in English, for example:

'cause =Because
gotta= have got to
wanna= want to
tryna= trying to
outta = out of

(This is because prepositions and connectors in English sometimes are pronounced with a weak sound, a sort of weak "a").


Some other linguistic notes:

safe as could be = as safe as possible

So what : (click on this link)

In vain (click on the link)

One for the future forms!

A summary of the future forms for my students of Primero de Bachillerato. Make sure you have a look at the activities and music videos at the end of the presentation :-)

Future Forms

View more presentations from Elena (IES Altair).

...as I suppose you'll be studying hard for your exam in January...

...I give you here a song that will both encourage you to study and present a few examples of the present perfect in action... ;-)





...and happy new year!!!

Merry Christmas!

Remember you can look up the words you don't know in the dictionary.


Enjoy the holidays, rest, have fun and come back charged and ready for the next term!

Happy Halloween!

Not a lot of work this time... just enjoy the video!

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Summer Cat, by Billie the Vision and the Dancers

On this youtube video you can listen to the song and read the lyrics

The Summer cat title refers to the fact that many people abandon their pets (cats or dogs, usually) when the summer comes and they go on holidays. This songs talks about a man whose girlfriend leaves him after the holidays, probably because she's going back to her home.

Read this USEFUL VOCABULARY before you listen to the song:

Hold so close — abrazar tan fuerte

Wanna — want to

chilly wind —viento frío

whip —golpear (a veces también significa batir)

cheeks —mejilla

gonna —going to

wave my hand — mover la mano

Worn out hat — sombrero viejo

broken hearted —con el corazón roto

break into —entrar en un sitio por la fuerza (e.g. para robar)

whisper —susurrar

instead —en vez de (hoy)

clouds —nubes

naive —ingenuo