ROBIN HOOD,THE LEGEND

WHO HASN'T HEARD OF ROBIN HOOD? HE CLAIMS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CHARACTERS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE . HIS STORY HAS BEEN TOLD AND RETOLD THOUSANDS OF TIMES. CLICK HERE AND READ MORE ABOUT HIS FASCINATING LEGEND.

RIDDLES & PUZZLES

WELCOME BACK!!! HERE ARE SOME RIDDLES FOR A GOOD START, CLICK HERE

REVIEW EXERCISES

ONE OF THE AIMS OF THIS BLOG IS TO HELP YOU PRACTISE AND IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH. IF YOU ARE TAKING YOUR FINAL EXAMS ,THESE EXERCISES CAN HELP YOU REINFORCE!

PRESENT SIMPLE , PRESENT CONTINUOUS , PRES.SIMPLE VS PRES. CONTINUOUS , PAST SIMPLE 1 & PAST SIMPLE 2 , PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOUS , COMPARATIVES & SUPERLATIVES , MODALS1, MODALS2 , WILL OR GOING TO , FIRST CONDITIONAL, PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

IF YOU WANT MORE PRACTICE, CLICK HERE

PIRATES & TREASURE ISLANDS

Thanks to Pirates of the Caribbean films once again we can enjoy adventures full of action and thrilling plots.
The Scottish novelist R.L Stevenson wrote in 1883 a fantastic book about pirates ,Treasure Island.

In Treasure Island a young boy, Jim Hawkins, tells us what happens to him and some friends when he finds a map that ,of course, leads to a hidden treasure. So he and his friends set out on the treasure hunt along a journey to a remote island...Would you like to go with him and meet dangerous and evil pirates, witness bloody fights and know secret locations? Then read the book online and find out what happens to Jim.

CLICK HERE and start your own treasure hunt!

Do you speak SPANGLISH?

Spanglish refers to the blend of Spanish and English, in the speech of people who speak parts of two languages, or whose normal language is different from that of the country where they live. For example, the Hispanic population of the United States and the British population in Argentina use varieties of Spanglish.

Sometimes the creole spoken in Spanish holiday resorts which are exposed to both Spanish and English is called Spanglish. The similar code switching used in Gibraltar is called Llanito. Spanglish may also be known by a regional name. Some people tend to believe that the "Tex-Mex" spoken in Texas, is also Spanglish, which is not the case; neither is the case of the "Ladino" spoken in New Mexico, because both are language varieties of Mexican Spanish(from Wikipedia).

Spanglish is totally informal; there are no hard-and-fast rules.Let's see a clear example:

Short dialogue in spanglish:

Anita: «Hola, good morning, cómo estás?»
Mark: «Fine, y tú?»
Anita: «Todo bien. Pero tuve problemas parqueando my car this morning.»
Mark: «Sí, I know. Siempre hay problemas parqueando in el área at this time».

*ACTIVITY: Visit Wikipedia and make up dialogues using SPANGLISH.

CLICK HERE for further information.

AND HAVE A LOOK AT THE FILM TRAILER SPANGLISH:

TOM SAWYER

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy that lived in a small town along the Mississippi River, where Mark Twain grew up. According to the author, "Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred".

The book begins with a prank. Tom, a naughty boy, is hiding from his aunt Polly while stealing jam from the pantry. When caught, he runs away and goes swimming instead of going to school...


HERE'S THE FIRST CHAPTER, I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

PLURALS

IS IT HARD FOR YOU LEARNING THE RULES WHEN USING PLURALS OF NOUNS? CLICK HERE AND YOU WILL SEE HOW EASY THEY ARE!

CRAZY about Plurals? CANNOT stop practising Plurals? HERE you are more...

KING ARTHUR

ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR FIGURES OF THE ENGLISH LITERATURE IS PROBABLY KING ARTHUR, THE HERO WARRIOR. CLICK HERE AND LEARN MORE.

TRY TO IDENTIFY THE CHARACTERS AND PLACES IN THE VIDEO!!!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO THIS EASY ACTIVITY? YOU ONLY HAVE TO MATCH.

A

1.Arthur's parents
2.Merlin
3.Arthur's foster
brother
4.A mysterious stone
5.A tournament
6.Arthur
7.Lady of the Lake
8.There is a royal palace
9.The knights of the Round
Table
10.The Holy Grail

B

a.in Camelot.
b.was Kay.
c.was a wizard.
d.were King Uther and Igraine.
e.gave Excalibur to Arthur.
f.was a religious cup.
g.were the bravest.
h.pulled the sword out and became king.
i.where the knights practised fighting.
j.with a sword with a message on it.

DID YOU KNOW THE AMERICAN WRITER MARK TWAIN WROTE IN 1889 A BOOK TITLED A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT?

"The novel explains the tale of Hank Morgan, a 19th-century resident of Hartford, Connecticut who, after a blow to the head, awakens to find himself inexplicably transported back in time to early medieval England at the time of the legendary King Arthur..."
(to know more ,go to wikipedia)

THERE ARE ALSO SOME FILMS ABOUT THIS CHARACTER. THIS IS A FUNNY ONE, BLACK KNIGHT.

Extr@ ,episode 2

LET'S HAVE A LOOK AT THE SECOND EPISODE OF EXTR@,OUR FAVOURITE WAY OF LEARNING ENGLISH.







NOW TRY TO DO THESE TWO EASY ACTIVITIES BASED ON THE VIDEOS ABOVE:

1. COMPLETE THE SUMMARY WITH THE WORDS BELOW.

Hector Goes Shopping

Hector needs some new (1).................and Bridget, Annie and Nick offer to help. Each has a different idea about how he should look. They teach him some (2).................phrases, but eventually they go off to buy some clothes for him. Hector is left in (3)....................and decides to do the food shopping on (4)................... Unfortunately he gets the numbers all wrong and far too much (5).................is delivered. When (6).....................and Nick return they have each bought him a different piece of clothing … in a different style. The results are disastrous, so Hector decides he’ll go and try for himself. He returns with a stylish (7)........................that surprises them all. Then they get a call from (8).......................: why is the lobby filled with cases of (9).................food?

OUTFIT-DOG-CLOTHES-THE GIRLS- THE FLAT-THE LANDLADY-THE INTERNET-SHOPPING-FOOD.

2. CHOOSE THE CORRECT SENTENCE.

1. a. Annie is watching TV; b. She is doing sport; c. she is chatting on the Net .
2. a. Annie has a cold; b. She has a broken leg; c. She has a broken arm.
3. a. Hector is sleeping; b. He is going shopping; c. He is doing the washing up.
4. The girls like Hector’s pyjamas; b. The girls don’t like his pyjamas; c. The girls like Hector’s clothes.
5. When the girls want to talk they go to…
a. the kitchen; b. their bedroom; c. the bathroom.
6. Nick thinks…
a. Hector looks good; b. Hector doesn’t look good; c. Hector needs a shower.
7.The girls thinks Hector’s clothes are awful and old fashioned, so…
a. Bridget wants to take him shopping; b. Annie wants to take him shopping;
c. The girls want to take him shopping.
8. Nick is going to shop…
a. some shoes for Hector; b. some shirts; c. some trousers.
9.The tarantula is…
a. Bridget and Annie’s landlady ; b. Hector’s landlady; c. Bridget’s mum.
10. What does Hector buy?
a. 400 melons ; b. 400 tins of dog food; c.400 eggs.

Remember: channel4learning

ANNABEL LEE & PAST SIMPLE

LET'S IMPROVE OUR PAST SIMPLE with ANNABEL LEE ,a beautiful poem by the American writer Edgar A. Poe

1. It was many and many a year ago,
2. In a kingdom by the sea,
3. That a maiden there lived whom you may know
4. By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
5. And this maiden she lived with no other thought
6. Than to love and be loved by me.
7. I was a child and she was a child,
8. In this kingdom by the sea;
9. But we loved with a love that was more than love-
10. I and my Annabel Lee;
11. With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
12. Coveted her and me.
13. And this was the reason that, long ago,
14. In this kingdom by the sea,
15. A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
16. My beautiful Annabel Lee;
17. So that her highborn kinsman came
18. And bore her away from me,
19. To shut her up in a sepulcher
20. In this kingdom by the sea.
21. The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
22. Went envying her and me-
23. Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
24. In this kingdom by the sea)
25. That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
26. Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
27. But our love it was stronger by far than the love
28. Of those who were older than we-
29. Of many far wiser than we-
30. And neither the angels in heaven above,
31. Nor the demons down under the sea,
32. Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
33. Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
34. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
35. Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
36. And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
37. Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
38. And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
39. Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
40. In the sepulcher there by the sea,
41. In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Answer to check if you understand the poem, TRY IT! IT'S FUN!

1.HOW LONG AGO?... 2.WHERE IS THE KINGDOM?... 3.WHO LIVED THERE?... 4.WHAT IS HER NAME?... 6.WHO LOVED HER?... 7.WE WERE WHAT?... 8.WHAT WAS BY THE SEA?... 9.WHAT KIND OF LOVE?... 10.WHO?... 11.WHAT KIND OF LOVE WAS? 12.WHO WAS COVETED?... 15.WHAT CAME OUT OF A CLOUD? 16.DESCRIBE ANNABEL LEE?... 17.WHO CAME?... 18.AWAY FROM WHOM?... 19.TO SHUT HER UP WHERE?... 20.WHERE IS THE KINGDOM?... 21.WHERE ARE THE ANGELS?... 22.WHAT DID THE ANGELS DO?.. 23.WHO KNEW?... 25.WHEN DID THE WIND COME? 26.WHAT DID THE WIND DO TO ANNABEL LEE?... 28.OLDER THAN WHO?... 30.WHERE ARE THE ANGELS?... 31.WHERE ARE THE DEMONS?... 33.WHO IS BEAUTIFUL?... 34.BRINGING WHAT?... 35.DESCRIBE ANNABEL LEE?... 36 WHAT DO I FEEL?... 38.WHERE DO I LIE DOWN?... 40.WHERE IS THE SEPULCHER?... 41.WHERE IS THE TOMB?...

(CONTRIBUTED BY: Marcy Trinidad in English-zone.com)

READ THE RAVEN, SURE YOU'LL LIKE IT TOO!
AND NOW ENJOY THIS SONG BASED ON POE'S POEM BY ENRIQUE BUNBURY

THE HEARTLESS GIANT

WHO DOESN'T LIKE A GOOD STORY?

HERE'S THE STORYTELLER BY JIM HENSON COMPANY

"When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for the storyteller." - John Hurt as The Storyteller.



A heartless giant who terrorizes the land is caught by the good king and imprisoned. Many years pass and the youngest prince, Leo, goes to the place where he is not supposed to and finds befriends the giant. Now the giant plots and plans. Using Leo, the heartless giant gets him to get the keys to his chains...

MORE GOOD STORIES IN THE STORYTELLER

A FUNNY WAY TO LEARN ENGLISH

LET ME INTRODUCE BIDGET,ANNIE,NICK AND HECTOR.




"THIS IS THE STORY OF BRIDGET AND ANNIE WHO SHARE A FLAT IN LONDON.THEY HAVE A NEIGHBOUR,NICK.
NICK FANCIES BRIDGET,BUT ANNIE FANCIES NICK...UNTIL BRIDGET GETS A LETTER FROM ARGENTINA..."
(If you want to know how this little soap opera continues, go to youtube Extr@ by channel4learning).

NOW CHECK IF YOU CAN ANSWER THESE EASY QUESTIONS.

1. What is Bridget doing at the beginning of this first part?.............

2. What is Bridget doing when she receives a telephone call?................

3. Who is Charlie? What does it carry?..............

4. What does Bridget receive from her mother?............

5. What is a pen pal?...............

6. When does Hector come? Where is he from? ............................

7. Who is Nick? ...................

8. Does Nick like Bridget? ..................

9. What does Hector look like? ..................

10. Does he speak English well?...................

Remember : Extr@

HAPPY ST VALENTINE'S DAY

ENJOY THIS SONG AND THEN COMPLETE IT WITH THE WORDS BELOW.



wind x2-toes-end x2-face-promise-fingers-way x2-bed-things

I feel it in my (1)................. ,I feel it in my (2)...............
The love that's all around me ,and so the feeling grows
It's written on the (3)............ ,it's everywhere I go
So if you really love me, come on and let it show
You know I love you, I always will
My mind's made up by the (4)............ that I feel
There's no beginning, there'll be no (5)..............
'Cause on my love you can depend
I see your (6)............. before me ,as I lay on my (7)..............
I cannot get to thinking, of all the (8).............. you said
You gave your (9)................ to me and I gave mine to you
I need someone beside me in everything I do
You know I love you, I always will
My mind's made up by the(10)............. that I feel
There's no beginning, there'll be no (11).................
'Cause on my love you can depend
I got to keep it moving
It's written in the (12)...............
Oh everywhere I go
So if you really love me
Come on and let it show
Come on and let it,
Come on and let it,
Come on and let it,
Come on and let it show