Songs in the classroom : I still haven't found what I'm looking for (U2)

The weekend is here, so let's celebrate it by singing. This time you can practise with U2's song : I still haven't found what I'm looking for. You have to fill in the lyrics with the verbs in the box, in the present perfect or the simple past. Are you ready ?

Complete the song  of U2 with the verbs in the box in present perfect or simple past

be (x2)          break              burn              carry              climb              crawl 

feel               not find (x8)    hold     kiss      loose         run(x2)      scale         speak 

I ___________ highest mountain 

I ___________ through the fields 

Only to be with you 

Only to be with you 

I ___________ 

I ___________ 

I ________ these city walls 

These city walls 

Only to be with you 

But I still _______________ what I'm looking for 

But I still ______________ what I'm looking for 

I __________ honey lips 

________ the healing in her fingertips 

It ________ like fire 

This burning desire 

I __________ with the tongue of angels 

I ___________the hand of a devil 

It _______ warm in the night 

I ________  cold as a stone 

But I still ___________ what I'm looking for 

But I still ___________ what I'm looking for 

I believe in the kingdom come 

Then all the colours will bleed into one 

Bleed into one 

Well yes I'm still running 

You _________ the bonds and you 

__________ the chains 

_______ the cross 

Of my shame 

Of my shame 

You know I believed it 

But I still ______________what I'm looking for 

But I still _____________what I'm looking for 

But I still _____________ what I'm looking for 

But I still _____________ what I'm looking for...

Consult your answers in the video 

Did you like this song ! I think is quite a good one ! If you want to continue practising with English songs, you can visit all my other exercises with songs in my blog in this link. In addition, you can learn by yourself in this webpage : Lyrics Training.

See you next week. 

Middle verbs

Long time not write ! 

I've been busy after the Christmas season but now I intend  to resume my habitual writing. This time I'm going to speak about another English quirk, middle verbs. Middle verbs are dual verbs in the sense that they can have an active and passive meaning at the same time, depending on the use. In other words, they are a bit like auto-antonyms : they can refer to two opposite actions. Let see how this works with functioning examples : 

1. Open     I usually open my shop at 10.00
                  My shop usually opens at 10.00   (my shop is opened at 10.00)

2. Close    Can you close the door ?
                   This door closes as soon as some air comes through that window (=is closed).

3. Read      I read your email yesterday.
                  This essay reads very well (=is readable)

4.  Hurt      I hurt my knee while I was climbing that tree.
                   My knee hurts because I climbed a tree yesterday. (=aches)

5. Look      I'm looking at you. 
                   You look horrible today.  (= appearance)

6. Sell         I am a book seller. I sell books.
                   This book is a best-seller. It sells very well. It is a best-selling book. (=is sold)

7. Start        I start my English classes at 10.00.
                     My English classes start at 10.00. (=are started)

8. Finish      Paul finishes his job at 20.00.
                    Paul's job finishes at 20.00.  (=is finished)

9. Break      I broke a glass while I was doing the washing-up.
                     That glass broke while I was doing the washing-up (=was broken).

10. Take       I take at least two hours to study. 
                     Studying takes time. 

11. Feel        I feel really good today because I don't have to work.
                     It feels great not to work today. 

12. Taste      I tasted a delicious chocolate cake.
                     This chocolate cake tastes delicious. 

13. Ring       I always ring my mother when I get back home. (=phone)
                    The phone is ringing. Answer it ! (=make a sound)

14. Sit          I like sitting at that table.
                    That table only sits four people. (=can only be sat by) 

15. Dress     I dress my son every morning.
                    My son dresses casually (=get dressed)

16. Cook      I'm cooking rice.
                     The rice is cooking. 

17. Get (dirty)   I got the floor really dirty when I accidentally dropped a glass of red wine. 
                      The floor got really dirty when I accidentally dropped a glass of red wine                                 (=became). 

18. Make      I made a lot of friends at the party.
                     Joanne and Paul made friends at the party. 

19. Fly          I like flying my kite. 
                     Look ! My kite is flying. 

20. Drive      I like driving a Ferrari.
                     This Ferrari drives very well (=is driven)

Well, isn't English really interesting and illogical at the same time? Verbs that combine both active and passive meaning. Awesome ! What do you think about this English quirk? Personally, I find it amazing. 

See you around.  

New Year Resolutions

Well, I start off with a new fresh entry of the blog in 2017. In this case, I intend to speak about New Year resolutions. I assume that you are familiar with them : New Year resolutions are the promises that you make at the beginning of the year, promises that you're willing to stick to, but, eventually, you usually break them, or do you not ? They are the principles that are going to lead your whole year, the commitments that you are willing to make this New Year but you failed to make last year. 

Here you have some possible structures in English that you can use to enunciate your New Year resolutions : 

This year, I will .../I'll

I intend to... this year

I hope I will ...  this year

I hope to... this year

I'd like to ... this year

I wish I could... this year

I promise I'll ... this year

This year I'll definitely ....

This year I'm going to...

What guidelines are you going to pursue during 2017 ? In my case, I intend to enjoy life a bit more; I wish I could control my temper a bit more this year and I'd like to be even happier. If possible, I hope to read more. Not so interesting resolutions, right ?

Now I'm going to share two videos with one. The first video is an example of some New Year resolutions set out by some people, you know, quit smoking, go to the gym and do exercise...

The second video attempts to answer the question : "do New Year resolutions work ?" from a scientific point of view. 

What are your New Year resolutions ? Please, share them with us : post them in a comment and try to stick to them. Remember, your intention is important. You have 365 opportunities to succeed in this newly born year !