How to use acronyms

Do you know what an "acronym" is? I'm sure you already use a few. Tell us how many more you learnt after listening to this podcast.

Christmas in the UK

Photo credit: waldopepper / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Source: Oxford Culture Mania

December 7, 2015 By Mark

One famous department store on Oxford Street in London started selling Christmas products on the 4^th of August this year, but December 1^st is when a lot of people begin the countdown to Christmas by hanging up their advent calendars. These have 24 little doors, one to open each day, with a picture, or a chocolate behind them.

Many houses are decorated, with the Christmas tree, which can be real or imitation, the most important element. This custom was introduced from Germany in the 19^th century by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. Around a billion cards are also sent and displayed – no other country in the world has such a tradition – and one of the most popular images is a bird, the robin (because in the 1800s postmen wore red uniforms and their nickname was robins).

credit: johnb/Derbys/UK. / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

During the month of December a lot of people meet to sing carols at schools and churches, and sometimes they go from house to house knocking on doors and collecting money for charity. Schoolchildren dress up and perform special Christmas plays, although nowadays these are often much less religious than they used to be.


December 24^th – Christmas Eve – is very exciting for boys and girls waiting to see what  Santa is going to leave in their stockings or under the tree, but the “big day” is Christmas Day. One study says that the average family gets up at 8.00, starts opening presents at 8.19, has breakfast at 9.02 and the first argument at 9.58! Lunch is at 3.24 pm, with 85% of people eating the typical roast turkey with all the trimmings.

Boxing Day, December 26^th, is also a public holiday in the UK, but a lot of shops open and the sales begin. There is also a lot of sport, including Premier football and rugby and a very important horse race.


So, have you done any Christmas shopping yet? The average person in the UK will spend €700 on presents, and 45% of people will buy these on the internet. However, 10% of the population leave it to the last day, and probably have to look for something in the nearest petrol station!  A survey by the Post Office last year showed that two thirds of people receive unwanted gifts but are too polite to say anything, choosing to give (or throw!) them away or sell them online. What do you prefer: a surprise (that might be good or bad) or something that you have asked for?

Anyway….wherever you are, and however you celebrate, have a very Merry Christmas!

World Approves historic Paris agreement to address climate change

Negotiators from nearly 200 countries reached an agreement Saturday on what they say signifies the most important international pact to address climate change since the issue first emerged as a political priority decades ago.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who headed up the United Nations conference, commonly known as COP 21, said the final deal successfully resolved points of contention that had taken negotiations into overtime and called the agreement “the best possible text.” “We have come to a defining moment on a long journey that dates back decades,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon before passage of the agreement. “The document with which you have just presented us is historic. It promises to set the world on a new path to a low emissions, climate-resilient future.”

Source: Time.com

Tricky prepositions

This infographic will help you review some prepositions:

Today's headlines

Listen to the headlines and learn some new vocabulary:
ceasefire: agreement to stop fighting
ringleader: leader of a criminal group
allegations: statements that haven't been confirmed.

Source:  BBC Learning English Lingohack

Pierre Bonnard

Hi,
I suggest visiting Pierre Bonnard's exhibition at Maphre Exhibition Hall on Recoletos. It would be nice to get an audioguide in English and practice some English as well.

Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) was a key figure in the birth of modern art and at the same time an artist whose profoundly individual work is difficult to categorise. A founder member of the Nabis, his output can be located between a type of symbolism and an overt enthusiasm for decoration and the splendour of colour. Influenced by Gauguin’s painting and by Japanese prints, Bonnard evolved a unique, dynamic and profoundly original style in which the everyday fuses with the dreamlike in a natural manner.

Man on the Moon

Watch the new John Lewis Christmas TV advert with The Man on The Moon.

This is the story of a young girl called Lily. Looking at the moon through her family telescope one night, she is amazed at what she finds, a man on the moon. Lily watches on as our man goes about his chores, all alone up there. She becomes determined to get something to the moon, to send him a message and show him that someone down here is thinking of him. The music is ‘Half the World Away’ performed by Aurora, the original song was by Oasis.

Forgetfulness

Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate and one of America's best-selling poets, reads his poem "Forgetfulness" with animation by Julian Grey of Headgear.

Nature is speaking

Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Kevin Spacey, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford and Ian Somerhalder all join forces to give nature a voice. Watch the films and take action at http://natureisspeaking.org

VOCABULARY:
Thrive: to grow or develop successfully; to flourish or succeed

Shakespeare festival

Shakespeare festival:  free performances for schools in Madrid.  19 to 22 April 2016.  British Council School.

Schools in Madrid are invited to special performances by Young Shakespeare Company.   The shows are suitable for pupils from 4º Primaria to 3º ESO .  If you are interested in booking free places for your school please contact Silvia Prado.

Today Dec 3rd is ...

Disability Day, or the International Day of People with Disability, is a day that has been promoted by the United Nations since 1992. The aim of Disability Day is to encourage a better understanding of people affected by a disability, together with helping to make people more aware of the rights, dignity and welfare of disabled people, as well as raise awareness about the benefits of integrating disabled persons into every aspect of life, from economic, to political, to social and cultural. Disability Day is not concerned exclusively with either mental or physical disabilities, but rather encompasses all known disabilities, from Autism to Down Syndrome to Multiple Sclerosis.

To improve our listening skills, how about listening to the most stupid questions not to ask to a disabled person. Can you list them?

The best inventions of 2015

Every year, Time picks the 25 best inventions of the year. Here are five of them. To see the full list of the 25 Best Inventions of 2015, click here. How about you? Which one is your favourite?

 

Story

As today Dec 1st is the World's AIDS Day, let's listen to a story of frustration, but also of understanding.

Roger and Christine Bessey were married for 27 years and the parents of six children when they were both diagnosed with AIDS in 1988. Two of their children, Claudia Anton and Diana Keough, came to StoryCorps to remember what it was like to lose both of their parents to the disease in the early 1990s.
 

 
     Source: Story Corps

What's the best way to learn vocabulary?

BBC 6 Minute English – 100 Women (listen & read)

100 Women 2015

The schoolgirl who changed 'sexist' music syllabus
25 November 2015 Last updated at 10:31 GMT

 

A UK student who lobbied to change the A-level music syllabus after spotting it featured no female composers has spoken to the BBC's 100 Women about her campaign.

Jessy McCabe, 17, says Edexcel, one of Britain's biggest exam boards, contacted her to apologise and pledged to change its course for next year.
"They gave me no clear reason why there was an omission of women," says Jessy, who is one of the BBC's 100 Women 2015.
"Yes - there were fewer female composers but it doesn't mean to say there weren't any," she tells the BBC's Joe Inwood.

Pilgrims in America

As today Thanksgiving is celebrated in the USA, let's go back to how it all started. The first Pilgrims in America were nearly defeated by the harsh conditions they faced when they arrived in New England.

Exploring English: Magna Carta

Hi,
 
This is a free online course, also called "mooc" about the influence of the Magna Carta in the English history. It'll start on Nov 30th and will last 3 weeks. If you are interested in history, it may be a nice way of improving your English as well.     
  

                  

Improve your English language skills while exploring the Magna Carta - the 800-year-old "great charter" that shaped the world.

Thingy

Summary

Feifei and Finn are going to present a programme – but before they begin, Feifei wants Finn to pass her the… thingy. What does she mean? Listen to the programme to find out.

Play 

Source: BBC Learning English, The English we speak

An Autumn Reverie by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Through all the weary, hot midsummer time,
My heart has struggled with its awful grief.
And I have waited for these autumn days,
Thinking the cooling winds would bring relief.
For I remembered how I loved them once,
When all my life was full of melody.
And I have looked and longed for their return,
Nor thought but they would seem the same, to me.

The fiery summer burned itself away,
And from the hills, the golden autumn time
Looks down and smiles. The fields are tinged with brown—
The birds are talking of another clime.
The forest trees are dyed in gorgeous hues,
And weary ones have sought an earthy tomb.
But still the pain tugs fiercely at my heart—
And still my life is wrapped in awful gloom.

The winds I thought would cool my fevered brow,
Are bleak, and dreary; and they bear no balm.
The sounds I thought would soothe my throbbing brain,
Are grating discords; and they can not calm
This inward tempest. Still it rages on.
My soul is tost upon a troubled sea,
I find no pleasure in the olden joys—
The autumn is not as it used to be.

I hear the children shouting at their play!
Their hearts are happy, and they know not pain.
To them the day brings sunlight, and no shade.
And yet I would not be a child again.
For surely as the night succeeds the day,
So surely will their mirth turn into tears.
And I would not return to happy hours,
If I must live again these weary years.

I would walk on, and leave it all behind:
will walk on; and when my feet grow sore,
The boatman waits—his sails are all unfurled—
He waits to row me to a fairer shore.
My tired limbs shall rest on beds of down,
My tears shall all be wiped by Jesus’ hand;
My soul shall know the peace it long hath sought --
A peace too wonderful to understand.

What does autumn mean for the writer?