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 ! 

New Year's Eve : this blog's last entry... of the year !

Well, hello there !

2016 is coming to an end. Tonight is New Year's Eve and the twelve chimes of the clock will finish a year that, at least for me, has been particularly good ! I have passed my public examinations once again and thanks to that I can get to live in Madrid with my significant other. Besides, my niece keeps growing and growing and she can walk and she's learning to do things quite fast ! Anyway, since I'm on holiday, this entry will be a compilation of some touching Christmas videos and carols. What better way of ending the year than with a bunch of optimistic songs of Christmas ?

Let's begin with Mog's Christmas. It's quite an entertaining advertisement about a clumsy -yet friendly cat that, much like the Grinch, ruined its owners' Christmas. Or didn't he ? 



Let's continue with another catchy Christmas carol representing all the Christmas values. 

You know today it's New Year's Eve. It's an important family celebration in Spain where we will definitely try to eat the twelve grapes (one for every chime of the clock). However, in the English-speaking world it is not that important, Christmas Day being far more important for them. Anyway, the year is coming to an end, so to finish this post, here you have the trailer of a well-known film : New Year's Eve. Watch it because you will see some of the Christmas traditions, including New Year Resolutions. Here you have it : 

If you want to keep learning stuff about Christmas, you can click on the following links : Boxing Day ; Christmas vocabulary; Christmas videos; Practise your listening at Christmas; Christmas carols; Christmas in Spain, the UK and the US.

What are your New Year's resolutions for 2017? Come on, post them in a comment ! 

P.S. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Boxing Day

What can you smell in the air ? Well, the Christmasy atmosphere, of course. Everywhere you look, all you see is Christmas related : the Christmas decorations and ornaments, the bells jingling, a wreath of holly on every door, Santa climbing all the people's windows and the streets of your cities overcrowded. What about your belly ? Do you feel stuffed like a turkey ? Have you eaten more than you can really digest ? Worry not ! In the UK, you'll continue eating tomorrow. The UK is celebrating an important public holiday tomorrow : Boxing Day. 

In this post, I will summarize some of its more important traditions : 

1) Families come together to eat Christmas leftovers

From : http://www.solihull.towntalk.co.uk/events/d/56009/boxing-day-lunch

2) Britons buy presents to thank other people : close friends, waiters... : Christmas and consumerism are closely associated. That's why Boxing Day exists ! In the past, it was an opportunity to buy presents and distribute them to the poor, but now it is only buying presents for spending's sake ! Something similar to the tradition of Secret Santa in America. 

3) Shopping centres offer outrageous discounts, making boxing day one of the busiest days of the year (much like Black Friday in America). Some stores may knock-off prices up to 80%, so it is really a good opportunity to get some bargains ! Finders keepers ! 

4) Football is watched once again :  Local football and rugby leagues are broadcast on TV. These competitions add up a lot of viewers (much like football on Thanksgiving). As you can see in the picture, football fans will dress up in a Christmasy mode. 

Here you have a video summarising all the traditions of Boxing Day :

If you want to keep learning more about this day or about Christmas traditions in the English-speaking world, click on the following links :

http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/boxingday.shtml 

http://www.learnenglish.de/culture/christmas.html

Well, how do you like Boxing Day ? Keep enjoying these days with your family and friends, that is the most important thing at Christmas ! 

Let's sing an optimistic song : Don't Give Up

Howdy,
The week is finally coming to an end. Is there a better way to celebrate it than by singing quite an optimistic song ? The song I proposed this week is Don't Give Up by Bruno Mars

Complete the following song by Bruno Mars using THE PRESENT SIMPLE and the IMPERATIVE  of the verbs in the box.

 feel (x2)                     get                   have                hit (x3)            keep

put                               stand               try  (x3)           not think         want                   

Don’t give up (By Bruno Mars)

When you wanna do something that’s new.
And it seems really, really hard to do.
You ________  (1) like quitting, you _______ (1) you’re through.
Well I___________ (2) some advice for you

Don’t give up, _______   (3) on trying,
Y’all gonna make it (I ain’t lying); don’t give up.
Don’t ever quit, try and try and you can do it, don’t give up (yeah).

If you __________ (4) to catch a ball, but are having  no luck at all.
The ball _______ (5) your head, it ________  (5)your nose.
It _______ (5) your belly, your chin and toes.
Well ________ (6) and  _________ (6)  and  ________(6) again, keep on trying and soon then
You’ll put your hands out in the air,
You’ll catch that ball, yes this I swear.

Don’t give up, keep on going.
You’re on a boat, so keep on rowing
Don’t give up, don’t ever stop,
Try and try and you’ll come out on top, don’t give up.

You got yourself new roller-skates.
You __________ (7) them on and you feel great,
__________ (8) up, but then you fall.
___________  (9) you can skate at all.
You _________ (10) back up and then you trip
You skip and tip and slip and flip
Well try and try and try some more,
And soon you’re skating across the floor.

Don’t give up, keep on moving.
You’re gonna get there just keep on grooving
Don’t give up, don’t pack it in,
Try and try and you will win, don’t give up.
No no no, don’t give up
No no no, don’t give up
No no no, don’t give up, no no
Don’t give up
______________________________________

To check your answers, click on this link.
Do you like this positive song ? I hope so and, remember, no matter what happens in your life : don't give up and keep on going. 
Here you have the links to other songs in my blog :  songs about peace; Paradise; Christmas carols; Fast Car;  Somebody I Used to Know; I am a Believer; Friday I'm in Love.

Eponyms : when a person's name creates a new word.

Well, well. I know a long bank holiday is ahead of us  (for some people), but I insist on sticking to writing my posts about the quirks of English. In the past I wrote several posts about English quirks, for examples, a post about lexical creativity, another one about borrowing or loanwords, some Spanish borrowings and some French borrowings, another one about clippings, some posts about false friends I, and II; another one about abbreviations and initials,  another one about interjections, and another one about blending. This time I will be writing about eponyms or eponymous words, that is, words who were named after their inventors or in honour to a person or God. 

From : http://www.slideshare.net/chandramoulidubey/word-formation-26432145

Can you think of some examples of your own ? Well, while you are at it, I will illustrate some of my favourite eponyms. First of all, days of the week. Some days of the week are eponyms and they refer to gods  :

Monday = Moon.

Thursday = Thor, god of thunder.

Saturday = Saturn, god of agriculture. 

Sunday = Sun.

Let's continue with the months of the year, shall we ? In case you hadn't noticed, some months are eponyms given that most of them were coined after gods, goddesses or emperors:

January = Janos, the god of homes and bridges.

February = Febo, the god of light.

March = Mars, the god of war. 

May = Maia, goddess of spring.

June = Juno, goddess of marriage and childbirth.

July = Iulius Caesar, Roman emperor.

August = Octavio Augustus, Roman emperor.

From : http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/whats-in-a-name-a-lot-if-that-name-is-hodgkin-crohn-or-alzheimer

There are far more eponyms that one can imagine and many of them are created every day. Here you have some more examples :

- Jacuzzi = The hot tub was named after its inventor, Candido Enzo Jacuzzi. 

- Alzheimer = This illness was first identified by the psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer.

- Asperger syndrome = This illness was named after Hans Asperger, the psychologist that discovered it. 

- Pasteurize = The Frenchman Lous Pasteur discovered how to sterilize something by heating and cooling rapidly. 

- Machiavellian attitude = This behavioural conduct was named after Nicolau Machiavelli . His thought can be summarized by the motto : "the end justifies the means." 

- Guillotine = The first Frenchman to suggest the use of the guillotine to kill people without much suffering (regardless of the fact that he was against death penalty). However, he did not invent the guillotine himself, it being invented by Antoine Louis. 

- Nachos = These delicious Mexican snacks were invented by Ignacio Anaya (Nacho, that is). 

- Sandwich = This typical snack was "invented" by the count of Sandwich, a small town in England. The Earl was a gambler addicted to game and eating a sandwich would allow him to continue playing endlessly. 

- Mesmerise / mesmerize : Franz Anton Mesmer had a theory about hypnotism and the energies about human beings. Mesmerizing, isn't it ?

- Silhouette : This word reminds us of Etienne de Silhouette, a French politician that imposed high taxes to the upper classes. Having portraits painted started to become expensive and silhouettes became very popular thanks to his economic measures. 

In addition to this, there are some expressions considered eponyms :
Aphrodisiac : Related to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. 
Achiles' heel : To honour this brave warrior that was killed by the impact of arrows in his heel, his only vulnerable part. 
Adonis : A prototype of men's beauty.
Adam's apple : In reference to the well-known story in the Bible.
Thatcherism :  Based on the conservative ideas of Margaret Thatcher. 

Well, today we learnt some very interesting eponyms. Maybe one day, you can become the origin of an eponym yourself. Who knows ?
P.S. Can you tell me more examples of your own ? Please, leave more eponyms in your comments.