Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and producer Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) team up to offer this snapshot of a single day on planet Earth.
Compiled from over 80,000 YouTube submissions by contributors in 192 countries, Life in a Day presents a microcosmic view of our daily experiences as a global society. From the mundane to the profound, everything has its place as we spend 90 minutes gaining greater insight into the lives of people who may be more like us than we ever suspected, despite the fact that we're separated by incredible distances.
To fully understand everything that is being said, you can activate the English subtitles on the lower side of the screen.
More information on the film can be obtained here.
domingo, 7 de abril de 2013
sábado, 6 de abril de 2013
Academic English Online from Queen Mary, University of London
It's been quite a while since we published a post from English for University, by Patrick McMahon, a lecturer in the UK teaching on a variety of Academic English courses and teacher training courses at Plymouth University. English for University is meant for international students who want to improve their English while studying in the UK.
A few weeks ago Patrick informed about a new academic English website which has come online from Queen Mary, University of London. The site is open to everyone.
One of the pages that drew Patrick's attention was the one which focuses on seminar speaking skills. He explains why:
"Participating in seminars is one area of university study that international students find particularly challenging for a number of reasons and this page highlights useful language that students can use to perform a range of important functions, such as disagreeing politely and giving an opinion. The good thing about the Queen Mary site is that it doesn’t just list the phrases for you. Instead there are interactive exercises in which you have to listen and identify the function of the phrases so there is a good chance that you’ll remember the phrases and you can use them in your own seminars."
So if you are planning to study a degree abroad where English is the language of communication, or simply you want to practise your English in a more formal and structured environment and practise your reading, writing, speaking skills along with your grammar, Academic English Online from Queen Mary looks like a good place to do so.
A few weeks ago Patrick informed about a new academic English website which has come online from Queen Mary, University of London. The site is open to everyone.
One of the pages that drew Patrick's attention was the one which focuses on seminar speaking skills. He explains why:
"Participating in seminars is one area of university study that international students find particularly challenging for a number of reasons and this page highlights useful language that students can use to perform a range of important functions, such as disagreeing politely and giving an opinion. The good thing about the Queen Mary site is that it doesn’t just list the phrases for you. Instead there are interactive exercises in which you have to listen and identify the function of the phrases so there is a good chance that you’ll remember the phrases and you can use them in your own seminars."
So if you are planning to study a degree abroad where English is the language of communication, or simply you want to practise your English in a more formal and structured environment and practise your reading, writing, speaking skills along with your grammar, Academic English Online from Queen Mary looks like a good place to do so.
viernes, 5 de abril de 2013
The History of April Fools Day
This video by Jeremiah Warren explains the history of April Fools Day. The pace of delivery is a bit fast, but the viewer has lots of visual on-screen clues on key information.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video two or three times and, as an oral activity, say what the following refer to.
1582
March 25 to April 1
1752
an image of a fish
throw flour
put jokes until noon
You can check your answers with the transcript below.
April Fools Day or All Fools Day is the one day of the year when you’re allowed to mercilessly prank your friend, family and coworkers. How exactly did this day come about? We don’t actually know for sure what started the celebration of April Fools Day.
References can be found as early as the 1500’s. But these accounts are infrequent and not very detailed. The most popular theory is that it began around 1582 in France during the reformation of the calendar. Before France adopted the Gregorian calendar, they celebrated New Year’s for eight days, beginning on March 25 and ending on April 1.
When they switch calendar systems, the eighth day moved from April 1 to January 1, because they didn’t have Internet, phones, social media and a mail system, a lot of people didn’t hear about this change until years later. Those that did not hear about the change continued to celebrate New Year’s in April. Others refused to celebrate it out of rebellion.
Those who had been informed of the change and adjusted their calendars, begin to make fun of these fools who were uninformed or rebellious. This harassment evolved into a tradition of playing pranks on the first day of April and this spread to other countries.
However, April Fools Day was already established in England, which didn’t switch calendar systems until 1752. Also, people were already engaging in pranks and light-heartedness around this time of the year, long before the French switched their calendar systems, such as in the case of the ancient Roman festival of Hilaria.
Modern celebrations of April Fools Day have slightly different traditions depending on the country you are in. But they all has the similar theme of pranking or humiliating individuals.
In France, they try to tape an image of a fish to your back without you noticing. And in Portugal, they throw flour at you. In England, you are only supposed to put jokes until noon and if you pull a joke after noon, you are called an April fool. In the United States and Britain, even popular media outlets and companies have been known to get involved in the fun.
In 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the Liberty Bell from the City of Philadelphia and was going to rename it The Taco Liberty Bell. In 1992, NPR claimed that Richard Nixon would be running again for President. British publication, The Guardian, famously pranked the public in 1977, when they said that a semi-colon shaped island in the Indian Ocean had been discovered. This hoax is credited for launching the trend of April Fools Day pranks by British tabloids.
So hopefully you now know a little more about the history of April Fools Day or at least what we think the history of it is. Now that we are at the end of this video, you might be wondering of how those information is accurate seeing that it is a video about April Fools Day. Yeah, it’s accurate, but seriously it’s accurate. I wouldn’t do that to you.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video two or three times and, as an oral activity, say what the following refer to.
1582
March 25 to April 1
1752
an image of a fish
throw flour
put jokes until noon
You can check your answers with the transcript below.
April Fools Day or All Fools Day is the one day of the year when you’re allowed to mercilessly prank your friend, family and coworkers. How exactly did this day come about? We don’t actually know for sure what started the celebration of April Fools Day.
References can be found as early as the 1500’s. But these accounts are infrequent and not very detailed. The most popular theory is that it began around 1582 in France during the reformation of the calendar. Before France adopted the Gregorian calendar, they celebrated New Year’s for eight days, beginning on March 25 and ending on April 1.
When they switch calendar systems, the eighth day moved from April 1 to January 1, because they didn’t have Internet, phones, social media and a mail system, a lot of people didn’t hear about this change until years later. Those that did not hear about the change continued to celebrate New Year’s in April. Others refused to celebrate it out of rebellion.
Those who had been informed of the change and adjusted their calendars, begin to make fun of these fools who were uninformed or rebellious. This harassment evolved into a tradition of playing pranks on the first day of April and this spread to other countries.
However, April Fools Day was already established in England, which didn’t switch calendar systems until 1752. Also, people were already engaging in pranks and light-heartedness around this time of the year, long before the French switched their calendar systems, such as in the case of the ancient Roman festival of Hilaria.
Modern celebrations of April Fools Day have slightly different traditions depending on the country you are in. But they all has the similar theme of pranking or humiliating individuals.
In France, they try to tape an image of a fish to your back without you noticing. And in Portugal, they throw flour at you. In England, you are only supposed to put jokes until noon and if you pull a joke after noon, you are called an April fool. In the United States and Britain, even popular media outlets and companies have been known to get involved in the fun.
In 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the Liberty Bell from the City of Philadelphia and was going to rename it The Taco Liberty Bell. In 1992, NPR claimed that Richard Nixon would be running again for President. British publication, The Guardian, famously pranked the public in 1977, when they said that a semi-colon shaped island in the Indian Ocean had been discovered. This hoax is credited for launching the trend of April Fools Day pranks by British tabloids.
So hopefully you now know a little more about the history of April Fools Day or at least what we think the history of it is. Now that we are at the end of this video, you might be wondering of how those information is accurate seeing that it is a video about April Fools Day. Yeah, it’s accurate, but seriously it’s accurate. I wouldn’t do that to you.
jueves, 4 de abril de 2013
Time explains: the Mayan apocalypse
Time explains is an interesting educational feature of Time magazine where we can learn about topics of public interest through short videos. In a February search the Time explains section featured videos on an asteroid almost missing the Earth, how a new Pope is elected, why US post offices are cutting Saturday mail, and it went on and on.
In late December, a Time explains video was devoted to the Mayan calendar and the theories of the apocalypse and the end of the world.
Self-study activity:
Watch the three-minute video and answer the questions about it. The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.
1 When does the last Mayan long count calendar end?
2 When was Nibiru supposed to have crashed with the Earth?
3 Why is Nasa monitoring outer and near space?
4 What does 2012 coincide with, according to rumours?
5 What examples are given of Nasa setting rumours straight?
To check your answers you can read the transcript below.
Forget everything the Mayan calendar has told you. The world is not ending on December 21st. Here’s what you need to know.
The Mayan myth begins with the fact that the Mayans were very good calendar keepers, and they created what we call long-count calendars. This extended not just months or years in advance but centuries. As it happens the last long count calendar we have from them ends on December 21st 2012. Well, that’s fine, every calendar ends at some point, and the good thing is they start over again at zero the next year.
The explanation on the internet and elsewhere was that this must have some prophetic significance. Why would the Mayans, a brilliant and scientific culture stopped counting when they did. For the nonsense to work, the Mayan rumour mongers had to borrow something from the Sumerians. What they got was a theorized planet called Nibiru that was supposed to collide with Earth in 2003. You may have noticed that that didn’t happen, so the folks worried about the Mayans simply grabbed Nibiru, moved it forward to 2012 and combined it with the Mayan rumours. A sort of apocalyptic tuffor.
As with all hoaxes and nonsense, there are particles of truth in the Mayan rumours. One of the things that is supposed to happen on December 21st is the earth is supposed to be flipped upside down. Well not quite. There is some possibility of magnetic polarities switching on our planet or other planets every several tens of thousands of years, the idea of a planet or other bodies approaching Earth and colliding with it is a very real risk. Nasa has some very serious minds working on monitoring deep space and near space for approaching asteroids and certainly planetoids like Nibiru and we would see them coming decades in advance and we’ll be able to track them. Nasa has found none of this.
The rumours also suggest that 2012 coincides with an 11th year peak cycle of solar activities. Those cycles exist, but 2012 is not a peak year. The belief is that solar mass ejections, essentially large solar storms, would be blasted from the sun and toward Earth and either bake the planet or fry all our electrical systems. That, you’ll be happy to learn, is not going to happen either.
This isn’t the first time Nasa has had to set it all straight. Those fake moon landings, they really happened. The face on Mars, just a wind blowing sand dune. And that idea of Mars approaching Earth closely enough in 2010 that it would look as big as the moon didn’t quite happen either.
So enjoy the last month of 2012 and be assured, there’ll be a first month of 2013.
In late December, a Time explains video was devoted to the Mayan calendar and the theories of the apocalypse and the end of the world.
Self-study activity:
Watch the three-minute video and answer the questions about it. The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.
1 When does the last Mayan long count calendar end?
2 When was Nibiru supposed to have crashed with the Earth?
3 Why is Nasa monitoring outer and near space?
4 What does 2012 coincide with, according to rumours?
5 What examples are given of Nasa setting rumours straight?
To check your answers you can read the transcript below.
Forget everything the Mayan calendar has told you. The world is not ending on December 21st. Here’s what you need to know.
The Mayan myth begins with the fact that the Mayans were very good calendar keepers, and they created what we call long-count calendars. This extended not just months or years in advance but centuries. As it happens the last long count calendar we have from them ends on December 21st 2012. Well, that’s fine, every calendar ends at some point, and the good thing is they start over again at zero the next year.
The explanation on the internet and elsewhere was that this must have some prophetic significance. Why would the Mayans, a brilliant and scientific culture stopped counting when they did. For the nonsense to work, the Mayan rumour mongers had to borrow something from the Sumerians. What they got was a theorized planet called Nibiru that was supposed to collide with Earth in 2003. You may have noticed that that didn’t happen, so the folks worried about the Mayans simply grabbed Nibiru, moved it forward to 2012 and combined it with the Mayan rumours. A sort of apocalyptic tuffor.
As with all hoaxes and nonsense, there are particles of truth in the Mayan rumours. One of the things that is supposed to happen on December 21st is the earth is supposed to be flipped upside down. Well not quite. There is some possibility of magnetic polarities switching on our planet or other planets every several tens of thousands of years, the idea of a planet or other bodies approaching Earth and colliding with it is a very real risk. Nasa has some very serious minds working on monitoring deep space and near space for approaching asteroids and certainly planetoids like Nibiru and we would see them coming decades in advance and we’ll be able to track them. Nasa has found none of this.
The rumours also suggest that 2012 coincides with an 11th year peak cycle of solar activities. Those cycles exist, but 2012 is not a peak year. The belief is that solar mass ejections, essentially large solar storms, would be blasted from the sun and toward Earth and either bake the planet or fry all our electrical systems. That, you’ll be happy to learn, is not going to happen either.
This isn’t the first time Nasa has had to set it all straight. Those fake moon landings, they really happened. The face on Mars, just a wind blowing sand dune. And that idea of Mars approaching Earth closely enough in 2010 that it would look as big as the moon didn’t quite happen either.
So enjoy the last month of 2012 and be assured, there’ll be a first month of 2013.
miércoles, 3 de abril de 2013
Talking point: Food
The topic in this week's talking poing is food. Here are some food-related questions you can use as a springboard to discuss the topic with the members of your conversation group.
Before your talking session, go over the questions on your own so that you can work out some vocabulary problems beforehand and ideas flow more easily when you get together with your friends.
If you were a food, what food would you be? Why?
Were there any foods you particularly loved or hated as a child? Do you still love/hate them?
What kind of food or drink would you associate with the following situations? Why?
•being in love •waiting at an airport •rainy days
•summer •your grandmother’s house
Are you worried about your diet?
Do you keep a balanced diet?
What is the most recent meal you have had today?
Do you know where the food came from?
Before your talking session, go over the questions on your own so that you can work out some vocabulary problems beforehand and ideas flow more easily when you get together with your friends.
If you were a food, what food would you be? Why?
Were there any foods you particularly loved or hated as a child? Do you still love/hate them?
What kind of food or drink would you associate with the following situations? Why?
•being in love •waiting at an airport •rainy days
•summer •your grandmother’s house
Are you worried about your diet?
Do you keep a balanced diet?
What is the most recent meal you have had today?
Do you know where the food came from?
What do you understand by the terms ‘slow food’ or ‘organic food’?
Can you explain the terms ‘sustainable organic farming’ and ‘industrial agriculture’?
Why are fast food and ready-made food (or processed food or convenience food) so popular these days?
What do you understand by the term ‘healthy drinks’?
Are school lunches controversial in your country?
What examples can you give of fraud in food?
Can fair trade products and local food suppliers be compatible?
Why are cooking TV programmes so popular?
Can you name some celebrity chefs? Why are they popular?
Have you been to any world-famous or really good restaurant?
To gain further insight into the topic you can watch the two New York Times videos below and/or read the accompanying articles Survey Finds That Fish Are Often Not What Label Says and Mediterranean Diet Shown to Ward Off Heart Attack and Stroke.
martes, 2 de abril de 2013
Real English series: More on the present perfect
In our Real English series we are showing three more videos to exemplify the use of the present perfect.
To be totally honest with you, the main benefit of the videos lies on the general revision of tenses and question forms learners are exposed to together with the listening practice, as very few of the questions in the street interviews or in the answers, for that matter, have to do with the present perfect.
The difficulty of the videos is higher than usual, so this week's videos are more suitable for intermediate students. Strong Básico 2 students will also be able to benefit from them if they read the subtitles.
In the first video, a really nice guy answers questions about his job -he is a messenger. At one stage he answers the question How long have you been a messenger for?, which shows the second use of the present perfect that we studied last week, present perfect to talk about a situation which started in the past and continues up to the present.
You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.
You can watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site here.
In the second video Michael, a policeman in New York, answers some questions about his life. The two questions in blue refer to the use of the present perfect to talk about experiences. The question in red refers to the use of the present perfect to talk about situations which started in the past and continue up to now.
What's your name?
What do you like doing in your free time?
What did you do yesterday?
Apart from New York, what other towns have you lived in?
When did you live in Hamburg?
Where were you born?
Was that a long time ago?
What's been the best year of your life?
What have you been doing in the city today?
Were you good at school?
What's the most beautiful city in the USA?
Which is bigger New York or San Francisco?
Which is the most beautiful language?
What would you do if you won 10 million dollars?
What do you hope to achieve before you die?
What are you going to do tonight?
In the third video, once again we can see the difference of usage of the present perfect to talk about activities or situations that started in the past and continue up to now (first interviewee, the juggler, who answers the question How long have you been juggling today?) and to talk about experiences (second interviewee, who answers the questions Have you travelled abroad?, Where have you been?).
However, you shouldn't miss the third interview, where Minda shows her bubbly personality and extroverted manner. In addition, she answers a battery of questions we have been studying in our Real English series and that you can also use to revise all the grammar we have been studying throughout the series.
To be totally honest with you, the main benefit of the videos lies on the general revision of tenses and question forms learners are exposed to together with the listening practice, as very few of the questions in the street interviews or in the answers, for that matter, have to do with the present perfect.
The difficulty of the videos is higher than usual, so this week's videos are more suitable for intermediate students. Strong Básico 2 students will also be able to benefit from them if they read the subtitles.
In the first video, a really nice guy answers questions about his job -he is a messenger. At one stage he answers the question How long have you been a messenger for?, which shows the second use of the present perfect that we studied last week, present perfect to talk about a situation which started in the past and continues up to the present.
You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.
You can watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site here.
In the second video Michael, a policeman in New York, answers some questions about his life. The two questions in blue refer to the use of the present perfect to talk about experiences. The question in red refers to the use of the present perfect to talk about situations which started in the past and continue up to now.
What's your name?
What do you like doing in your free time?
What did you do yesterday?
Apart from New York, what other towns have you lived in?
When did you live in Hamburg?
Where were you born?
Was that a long time ago?
What's been the best year of your life?
What have you been doing in the city today?
Were you good at school?
What's the most beautiful city in the USA?
Which is bigger New York or San Francisco?
Which is the most beautiful language?
What would you do if you won 10 million dollars?
What do you hope to achieve before you die?
What are you going to do tonight?
In the third video, once again we can see the difference of usage of the present perfect to talk about activities or situations that started in the past and continue up to now (first interviewee, the juggler, who answers the question How long have you been juggling today?) and to talk about experiences (second interviewee, who answers the questions Have you travelled abroad?, Where have you been?).
However, you shouldn't miss the third interview, where Minda shows her bubbly personality and extroverted manner. In addition, she answers a battery of questions we have been studying in our Real English series and that you can also use to revise all the grammar we have been studying throughout the series.
What is your name?
Would you spell that for me?
What are you doing right now?
Where do you live?
Where do you work?
How long does it take you to get to work?
How do you get to work?
When were you born?
What have you been doing in the city today?
Have you been to Europe?
What are you going to do tonight?
What are you going to do on your next holiday?
What do you like to do for fun?
Can you play any musical instruments?
What time is it?
What’s the weather like today?
Would you spell that for me?
What are you doing right now?
Where do you live?
Where do you work?
How long does it take you to get to work?
How do you get to work?
When were you born?
What have you been doing in the city today?
Have you been to Europe?
What are you going to do tonight?
What are you going to do on your next holiday?
What do you like to do for fun?
Can you play any musical instruments?
What time is it?
What’s the weather like today?
lunes, 1 de abril de 2013
Auckland city guide
Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand. Find out more about it in this Lonely Planet city guide and have a taste of New Zealand accent in the meantime.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.
1 What distinctive geographical feature characterises Auckland?
2 What kind of weather can you find on a typical Auckland day?
3 How many different cultures can you find in Auckland?
4 What's the national sport in New Zealand?
5 Who did they inherit it from?
6 How tall is the Sky Tower?
7 How many volcanoes can you see from the tower's deck on a good day?
8 What kind of establishments can you see on Karangahape Road?
To check your answers you can read the transcript below.
Auckland may not be the capital of New Zealand but it’s by far the largest and most multi-cultural of the country’s cities. Located on a narrow strip on the North Island, Auckland is a city of volcanoes with ridges of lava flows forming its main thoroughfares and its many kinds providing islands of green park lands within the sea of suburbs.
The city’s maritime climate ensures that temperatures never go to extremes, but a typical Auckland day might consist of all four seasons: rain, hail or shine the locals love the outdoors, whether it’s strolling across the green parkland, digging up clams along the Cox’s Bay, rolling around in a zorb or abseiling along the Haruru falls, Auckland offers in every spanning selection of outdoors fun.
Auckland is identified with around thirty different cultures. The Maori, Europeans, and Asian communities rub shoulders with the biggest Polynesian population of any city in the world. The mixed result is a cosmopolitan city with a respect for nature underpinned with mythology and (…).
Rugby plays a special part in the nation’s consciousness. The All Blacks dominated International Rugby Union for most of the 20th century and taking over this pastime from the British upper class did wonders for their national identity, with the game now interwoven with the country’s history and culture.
Head to a game in Eden Park and watch the players proudly perform the Haka Ka Mate before a rugby test match. It’s an orange sparring war dance that involves chanting, vigorous body movements and bucana.
The impossible to miss Sky Tower is the pinnacle of the Sky city complex. The 328-metre high tower is the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand, with its main observation deck offering 360-degree views of the sprawling city. On a good day you can even count around 20 of the city’s 48 volcanoes. Take the plunge from the country’s highest base-jumping platform, it’s sure to give you an adrenalin rush.
Back down on street level, the city’s Boho hot land is Karangahape Road, lined with cafés, boutique shops and night clubs, the strip’s solid role of edifices represent the gammit of architectural styles prevalent during the 16-year range as the busiest shopping hub.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.
1 What distinctive geographical feature characterises Auckland?
2 What kind of weather can you find on a typical Auckland day?
3 How many different cultures can you find in Auckland?
4 What's the national sport in New Zealand?
5 Who did they inherit it from?
6 How tall is the Sky Tower?
7 How many volcanoes can you see from the tower's deck on a good day?
8 What kind of establishments can you see on Karangahape Road?
To check your answers you can read the transcript below.
Auckland may not be the capital of New Zealand but it’s by far the largest and most multi-cultural of the country’s cities. Located on a narrow strip on the North Island, Auckland is a city of volcanoes with ridges of lava flows forming its main thoroughfares and its many kinds providing islands of green park lands within the sea of suburbs.
The city’s maritime climate ensures that temperatures never go to extremes, but a typical Auckland day might consist of all four seasons: rain, hail or shine the locals love the outdoors, whether it’s strolling across the green parkland, digging up clams along the Cox’s Bay, rolling around in a zorb or abseiling along the Haruru falls, Auckland offers in every spanning selection of outdoors fun.
Auckland is identified with around thirty different cultures. The Maori, Europeans, and Asian communities rub shoulders with the biggest Polynesian population of any city in the world. The mixed result is a cosmopolitan city with a respect for nature underpinned with mythology and (…).
Rugby plays a special part in the nation’s consciousness. The All Blacks dominated International Rugby Union for most of the 20th century and taking over this pastime from the British upper class did wonders for their national identity, with the game now interwoven with the country’s history and culture.
Head to a game in Eden Park and watch the players proudly perform the Haka Ka Mate before a rugby test match. It’s an orange sparring war dance that involves chanting, vigorous body movements and bucana.
The impossible to miss Sky Tower is the pinnacle of the Sky city complex. The 328-metre high tower is the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand, with its main observation deck offering 360-degree views of the sprawling city. On a good day you can even count around 20 of the city’s 48 volcanoes. Take the plunge from the country’s highest base-jumping platform, it’s sure to give you an adrenalin rush.
Back down on street level, the city’s Boho hot land is Karangahape Road, lined with cafés, boutique shops and night clubs, the strip’s solid role of edifices represent the gammit of architectural styles prevalent during the 16-year range as the busiest shopping hub.
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