April Fools´ Day

Watch out! April 1st,  April Fools´ Day

"Believe nothing and trust no one.....Just like any other day"  :) 

April begins with a day of fun and jokes in Britain. April Fools´ Day is not a religious holiday, but it traces its origins to a pope, Gregory XIII, who decreed the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1582 and moved New Year´s Day from the end of March t January 1st. The change was published widely, but those who did not get the message and continuated to celebrate on April 1st were seen as foolish.
Fooling usually involves persuading people to do something silly. You cam only play fools on people before midday, At midday fun must stop.

      Here you have some famous hoaxes: 

BIG BEN´S CLOCK

In 1980, the BBC reported that Big Ben was going to change to a digital clock. Some people were so shocked by the announcement that they phoned in to complain.

                                                 

LEFT-HANDED BURGERS

In 1998, in the USA, Burger King published an advertisement for a ‘Left-handed burger’. The advertisement said that the new burger had the same ingredients as a normal burger, but everything was rotated 180 degrees. Thousands of customers went into restaurants asking for a ‘left-handed burger’, and some people even asked for a ‘right-handed burger’!
                                         
YOUTUBE FLIPS

But what was the reason for the turnaround? YouTube had a good one:"Our internal tests have shown that modern computer monitors give a higher quality picture when flipped upside down-kind of like how it's best to rotate your mattress every six months. But what was the reason for the turnaround? YouTube had a good one:"Our internal tests have shown that modern computer monitors give a higher quality picture when flipped upside down-kind of like how it's best to rotate your mattress every six months."And how did you view the new format? There were three methods available: turn your monitor upside-down, tilt your head to the side, move to Australia. Effective, the video giant Youtube decided to have some fun with people by flipping all the videos on the homepage upside down. It was also possible to flip any video of your choosing, simply by adding &flip=1 to the end of the URL.

                       

http://englishenglish.biz 
http://advertising.about.com/

Ecosia

How about planting trees every time you search? That is the idea behind the search engine ECOSIA, founded in 2009 by Christian Kroll, which donates 80 per cent of its income to its tree planting projects, whose aim is to plant one million new trees in Brazil Atlantic Forest.

You can use Ecosia with any web browser on a laptop computer, desktop or mobile device. There are also free Ecosia apps available for iOS and Android devices.  It also has a personalized tree counter, which is displayed on the right hand side of the page when you search, illustrating the number of trees you have helped to plant while searching.

CLICK HERE and check it out.

Our English Corners - March

4th A Secondary

                                                                    4th B Secondary

3rd A Secondary

  3rd B Secondary

Potato pizza

Are you in a hurry today? A delicious recipe that is simple, healthy, quick and easy to make.

Yummy!!

Phonemic Chart

Too many sounds in English, aren´t there?

Don´t panic!! You can learn each of them using this great tool: the British Council phonemic chart. Click on the symbols and hear every sound. Click on the top right hand corner of each symbol to hear sample words including the sounds. 

This is just a picture of the chart. Go to the link below to check how this chart really works. Download it and use it on your pc.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/phonemic-chart

Interactive English Games Online

Cuando quedan unos minutos libres en clase, siempre podemos aprovecharlos para relajarnos, divertirnos y aprender algo más. Esta página, www.englishmedialab.com, contiene juegos interactivos online que pueden resultar geniales para mejorar nuestro inglés.

Haz click aquí, selecciona un punto gramatical y descubre cómo aprender jugando.

Torrijas

Torrijas are eaten in Seville during the Holy Week. You can find them in the pastry shops, but the best ones are always one´s mother´s, no doubt. 

Ingredients:

1/2l. white wine,

1l. olive oil 

1l. honey

8 eggs

Slices of bread

Water.

Preparation:

- Cut a large loaf of bread in fairly thick slices.

- Soak the slices of bread in white wine (you can mix the wine with some water to make it softer).

- Beat the eggs in a separate dish. Dip the slices of bread in the eggs and fry in a pan with boiling    oil until golden brown. Then drain well.

- Mix the honey with some water and boil in a pan. Dip the slices of bread in the honey.

- Place the torrijas in a dish and serve cool. Pour some more honey on them just before eating    them.

HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE (4th Year Secondary)

Es muy frecuente que haya acciones, como pueden ser reparar un ordenador, arreglar un coche, cortarnos el pelo o  pintar nuestra casa, que normalmente no hacemos por nosotros mismos. Lo que hacemos es pedir que alguien lo haga o pagar por ello. Para esas acciones precisamente utilizaremos en inglés el causativo. 

La estructura es la siguiente:

*También podemos usa GET en vez de HAVE, en tono más informal.

Así podemos decir:

I cut my hair every month (lo he hecho yo mismo)

I have/get my hair cut (otra persona, probablemente un profesional, me ha cortado el pelo)

¿En qué se diferencia de la voz pasiva? 

Observad:

My car was serviced yesterday. (voz pasiva – nos interesa simplemente el hecho de que el coche ha sido reparado)

I had my car serviced yesterday. (estructura causativa – el locutor ha encargado a alguien la reparación de su coche)

Una vez están las ideas claras, resumamos en inglés las ideas fundamentales.

Practicamos?

-  Rewrite these sentences using have or get. 

1. The mechanic changed the oil in my car. 
2. The hairdresser cut my hair in a completely different style. 
3. A decorator has repainted our house. 
4. A friend of mine, who´s an electrician, is going to repair my DVD player next week. 
5. My jacket is being cleaned at a specialist cleaner´s. 
6. The town hall has just been rebuilt for the council. 

- Match a word from 1-8 with something that is done by that person or in that place. Then make sentences using all the information and the verb in brackets. You may have to change the words or add new ones. 

1. hairdresser´s                               a vaccinate dogs
2. optician´s                                    b. service cars
3. dentist´s                                      c. design new houses
4. doctor´s                                      d. cut hair
5. vet´s                                            e. take blood pressure            
6. garage                                         f. take out teeth
7. architect                                      g. do annual accounts
8. accountant                                   h. test eyes

KEY

(http://www.eoioviedo.org)


- Choose the correct option to fill in the gaps.

Q1 - I'm going ............ at the new hairdresser's

to get my hair cut
to cut my hair

Q2 - She needs to ........

have her car repairs
have her car repaired

Q3 - I really must get ....... the central heating

somebody to fix
somebody fix

Q4 - They ought to have ........ replace the broken windows

somebody to
somebody

Q5 - He ......... while he was away on holiday

had his flat burgled
burgled his flat

Q6 - I .......... my phone repaired after I dropped it

had
had to

Q7 - She didn't have time to get to the shops and .......

get her film developed
develop her film

Q8 - It took ages to get ...........

somebody do it
somebody to do it

Q9 - I'll ....... John to do it when he arrives

get
have

Q10 - She ......... on the underground last week

had her purse stolen
got her purse stolen

Q11 - He .......... tickets sent to his home address yesterday

has had
had

Q12 - You should .......... a long time ago

have it fixed
have had it fixed

Q13 - They couldn't .......... anyone to fix their burst pipes

get
have

Q14 - They had it ....... by the same person who decorated their old house

to do
done

Q15 - After winning a fortune, she ....... her family to do everything for her

gets
has

Q16 - I ......... the house redecorated if I could afford it

would have
would have had

Q17 - He got a friend ........ him at the airport

meet
to meet

Q18 - The teacher ...... him do all the work again

had
got

Q19 - He ....... his bags loaded onto the train by a porter

had
get

QUIZ KEY