Exercises about the imperative and let's

Dear students of 1º Básico,
Here you have  a link to some exercises about the imperative and let's. Please, practise during these holidays. 
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-8768.php 
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=4854
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/various/imperative2.htm
 http://www.e-grammar.org/imperative/test3-exercise1/

List of expressions where the verb 'to be' means 'tener'

Translating is not sometimes effective in English. Here you have some examples : 

• To be eighteen years old to have eighteen years old: tener dieciocho años
• To be hungry  to have hunger: tener hambre
• To be thirsty to have thirst: tener sed
• To be successful to have success: tener éxito
• To be unsuccessful not to have success: no tener éxito
• To be careful to have care: tener cuidado
• To be envious to have envy: tener envidia
• To be afraid to have fear: tener miedo
• To be right to have reason: tener razón
• To be wrong not to have reason: no tener razón/equivocarse
• To be lucky to have luck: tener suerte
• To be unlucky not to have luck: no tener suerte/tener mala suerte
• To be sleepy to have dream: tener sueño
• To be cold to have cold: tener frío
• To be hot to have heat : tener calor
• To be logical to have logic: tener lógica
• To be illogical not to have logic : no tener lógica
• To be tricky to have trick: tener truco/tener trampa
• To be in trouble/to have a problem: tener problemas
• To be in pain to have pain: tener dolor
• To be in control to have control: tener control

As seen in the previous examples, the verb 'to be' is used since we are not dealing with possession: we don't possess the age or the hunger. Spanish seems illogical in that aspect. 

The verb 'to be' in English can sometimes replace the verb 'hacer' in Spanish:

• It's cold it does cold: hace frío 
• It's hot it does heat: hace calor
• it's sunny it does sun: hace sol
• it's windy it does wind: hace viento

The verb 'to be' is also used to replace other verbs in Spanish. This is used with the structure: subject + verb 'to be' + number + measure unit + adjective (the same structure used to talk about our age):

• I am two metres tall: mido dos metros.
• This building is forty metres high: este edificio mide cuarenta metros.
• the lake is two metres deep: el lago mide dos metros de profundidad.
• my house is twenty metres long: mi casa mide veinte metros de largo.
• this car is 200 kilometres fast: este coche va a 200 kilómetros hora.
• my computer is one hundred centimetres wide: mi ordenador mide doscientos centímetros de ancho.
• the station is two kilometres far from my house: la estación está a dos kilómetros de mi casa/dista dos kilómetros de mi casa.
• my fridge is minus twenty degrees cold: el frigorífico tiene una temperatura de menos veinte grados

OK, I hope you can learn some of these expressions. 
Enjoy it.

Simple past vs. past continuous

Dear students of 2º Básico,
Here you have a link to some exercises revisiting the differences between simple past and past continuous, so if you want to practise, be my guest and enjoy the exercises ! 
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar 
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-paspro/exercises?ex07 
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-paspro/exercises?ex08 
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-paspro/exercises

Obama pardons his last turkey

Here you have the last video where Obama pardons his last turkey. Yes, Obama is very difficult to understand ! Enjoy it : 

Thanksgiving video

Thanksgiving vocabulary and exercises.

Dear students, 
Here you have an easy and quick exercise related to Thanksgiving vocabulary. Enjoy it : 
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/thanksgiving/beginners/picture-quiz.html

Now, a very easy reading about Thanksgiving :
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/thanksgiving/elementary-thanksgiving-reading.html 

And here you have the cloze test based on that reading :

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate word. There are some extra words :

a         airports           an       big                  Canada          Canadian                   cities       dinner        fourth      holiday     holidays     its        people     say       their          

Thanksgiving is a (1) ________________ and North American harvest festival and a family (2) _______________. In the USA, they celebrate it on the (3) _____________ Thursday in November, but (4) ____________ in Canada celebrate it on the second Monday in October. Thanksgiving is a (5) ________ family celebration and a Christian festival. Many non-Christians also like celebrating Thanksgiving. Roads and (6) _____________ get very busy that weekend. People travel all over the country to be with (7) __________ family on Thanksgiving. Many big ___________ (8) organize parades and other special events.

Christian families often (0) __say__ a prayer (called grace) before eating their Thanksgiving (9) ___________. Traditional Thanksgiving foods include turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, sweetcorn and sweet potatoes. (10) _______ incredibly good dessert called pumpkin pie is also eaten.

Adapted from : http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/thanksgiving/elementary-thanksgiving-reading.html

Here you have another exercise : to put the words in order.
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/thanksgiving/elementary-thanksgiving-jumbled-sentences-1.html 

Thanksgiving presentation

Dear students,
Thanksgiving takes place this Thursday and I prepared a presentation for you to learn some cultural elements. Please, have a look at it. 



Here you can have a video in which children say why they are thankful for. You can't miss it. Have a look ! 

Thanksgiving cloze

This is the cloze that we did today in class.  Fill in the blanks with the words in the boxes. There are some extra words :  aboard        arrived      at        colony         died      feast got             grow        happy         hard           ill          into land            leave       room   pleasant     strong   survived    thanks       taught         voyage      was       were

The first Thanksgiving

In 1620, a group of people decided to (0)__leave__England. They crossed the Atlantic  Ocean and (1) _____________ to America. These people (2) ________  called pilgrims. They decided to make the long journey because they wanted religious freedom.

The pilgrims crossed the ocean in a ship called the Mayflower. There were 102 passengers (3) _________ the ship. The ship had very little ______ for so many people.  At first, the weather was (5)  _________, but then the ship met storms and (6) _________ winds. During the (7) _____________, two people died and one child was born. Finally, after 65 days (8) ______ sea, they got to ___________ (9), well to an island.

The pilgrims created a (10) _____________at Plymouth. Life was ______ (11)  at the colony. At first, the pilgrims lived on the Mayflower while they built their homes on land. It was winter so they were cold and wet. Soon many of the pilgrims became _____________ (12) . About half of the pilgrims _________ (13) during the first year of diseases such as scurvy and pneumonia.

With the help of Native Americans, the colony _____________  (14) the first year. Native Americans __________  (15) the colonists how to __________  (16) corn and how to collect sap from maple trees. The colonists who survived the first year had a three-day _____________ (17) to give _____________ (18) for their first harvest.

Thanksgiving video explanation

Dear students,
Here you have the listening about Thanksgiving that we did in class today. You can also de the exercises proposed.

Thanksgiving glossary

Hi folks,

In this link, you can watch Lynnae's presentation about Thanksgiving, and here you can have a look at the pros and cons of Thanksgiving but I thought it would be a good idea to include a glossary of terms for you to understand Thanksgiving better:

Puritans : Group of people who believed in God, but were protestants, which means they were against Catholics and against King James I. They got on board a ship : the Mayflower and arrived in the city of Plymouth where they decided to establish the colony of New England. They became friends with the Indians there and prepared food for them because they had taught them to survive. 

Mayflower : Name of the ship where the Puritans got on when they decided to leave England and go to New York. A lot of people died in the ship because of the illnesses.

Plymouth : The city in Massachusetts where the  Puritans arrived.  

King James  I : An unpopular Catholic King who was a Catholic and was against the Protestants. He made the Puritans leave England. 

Indians / native Americans : The original inhabitants of America (and Plymouth). They taught Puritans to survive. 

Squanto : The leader of the Indians. 

2) Thanksgiving food

  

              Roast turkey                                  Stuffing

   

  Turducken (turkey + duck+                Pumpkin pie

                          chicken)               

 

   

   Green bean casserole                        Sweet potato

   

     Corn pudding                                 Cranberry sauce

     Turkey cookies 

Black Friday : It is the day after Thanksgiving when stores and shops offer such incredible knock-downs that some people are willing to sleep on the street the previous day or fight to get the most discounted television

Well, I hope you will have liked my glossary. Have a happy 'Thanksgiving weekend'.

5 good and 5 bad Thanksgiving traditions

Hello bloggers,

Happy Thanksgiving and happy Black Friday to everyone. A lot of things have happened since the pilgrims Puritans Protestants escaped king James I and got onboard the Mayflower to arrive in Plymouth to create New England. There the chief of the Indians, Squanto, and his friends taught the Puritans to farm the land and grow food, something essential for their survival. The next year, pilgrims prepared a feast of food to thank the Indians for their help. This banquet lasted for four days. This first Thanksgiving dinner took place in 1621 ! Can you imagine ?There is a lot of interesting vocabulary about Thanksgiving that you can see in the link provided. In this post, I intend to analyze Thanksgiving in terms of good and bad, that is, to say the positive and negative elements of the current Thanksgiving. Let's begin :

The five positive elements of Thanksgiving 

1. All families come together : It is estimated that 42 million people travel on Thanksgiving Day to meet their families. It is a four-day holiday, so most people decide to come back and have dinner with their beloved ones. People reflect on what they have; they say why they are thankful for. It is an ideal date for introspection, to think carefully about your achievements along the year and about what you are yet to achieve. 

2. Yummy yummy ! Delicious food ! : On Thanksgiving Day, Americans have the opportunity to be full up all the weekend ! They can eat roasted turkey with stuffing, green bean casserole, corn soup ... Perfect timing to put on some extra kilos !

3. Enormous parades : Macy's huge parade is organized every year. These parades are amazing : huge balloons, music, famous people, ... I wish we had some of this in Spain ! 

4. Black Friday and its incredible discounts : In Spain, shop owners offer limited discounts or no discounts at all. However, in America, there are outrageous discounts. You can buy articles for ridiculous prices. You can even buy movies, songs, apps for one dollar or even less ! Amazing ! 

5. No school : Scholars will be happy since they have a four-day holiday, which doesn't happen so often in America. However, the day before Thanksgiving it is celebrated at schools. Children dressed up as Indians and Puritans and have a Thanksgiving food at school ! 

The five negative elements of Thanksgiving

1. Millions of turkeys die every year : Believe it or not 45 million turkeys give their lives to be on the American's dinner table on one single day (Thanksgiving) and 22 million of them on Christmas Day. There is a tradition whereby one turkey is publicly pardoned by the president every year. How hypocritical ! One turkey is entitled to live whereas 45 million of its 'peers' are doomed and condemned to die. Besides, to prepare and fatten the turkeys, they are overfed prior to the Thanksgiving Day. It is not a surprise that Thanksgiving Day is also known as the Turkey Day.

2. Watching football : On Thanksgiving, families are supposed to spend time together.  In general all the families gather together and spend a nice time watching American football. However, some people will let their families aside to watch American football on TV.

3. Aggressive consumerism  and pollution : As mentioned before, tons and tons of food are eaten this day. American people stuff themselves with food, whereas in other parts of the world other people starve to death. In addition, as it is one of the busiest days of the year, a lot of people hit the road, which means more pollution released to the environment. 

4. Black Friday and its unpleasant incidents : This day makes honour to its name. On Black Friday, there are incredible bargains, which means that thousands of people sleep on the street, queue up and behave soullessly. Lots of supermarkets and stores have been closed by the police. People tread on each other, push and even hit others to get the best article. The previous day those people were praying to God and being thankful... Isn't it strange ?

5. Grief for your losses : Such a familiar day will certainly bring memories of your dear ones that are gone. Thanksgiving may sometimes become a gloomy day, wallowing in our grief.  

Are you a fan of Thanksgiving or not ? I'd love to be able to enjoy some turkey with stuffing, hehe. Anyway, keep in mind that after Thanksgiving, Christmas officially begins ! 

Complete the songs with the simple past

Now that we are facing a long week, I thought it would be a good idea to practise our English with songs. I propse three songs :

Level 1 : Easy
This one I selected an easy one: Cold Play's Paradise. The exercise I propose is simply that you fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Are you ready ?

Complete the song using the verbs in the box in the SIMPLE PAST AFFIRMATIVE

be    can     close    dream   expect fly    run   say

Coldplay’s Paradise

When she ______ (1)  just a girl
She __expected__ (0) the world
But it _______ (2)  away from her reach
So she ______ (3) away in her sleep
________ (4) of para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
Every time she ________ (5) her eyes
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh

When she ______ (1)  just a girl
She expected the world
But it _____ (2)  away from her reach
And the bullets catch in her teeth

Life goes on
It gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear, a waterfall
In the night, the stormy night
She _____ (5) her eyes
In the night, the stormy night
Away she'd fly.

And _______ (4)of para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh (repeat)

La lalaLa
Lalala

So lying underneath those stormy skies.
She ________(6) oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh.
I know the sun must set to rise.This _______(7) be para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradiseWhoa-oh-oh oh-ooohohoh-oh. (repeat x5)  

Here you have the lyrics of the song so thatyou can correct it by yourselves. 

Level 2 : Intermediate 

We can't deny that all of us listen to songs in English by American, English and other English-speaking singers. We end up learning their lyrics by heart, humming them, and even singing them in the shower. Songs have proved to be quite a motivating method to teach - and learn - English. This is why, from now on I will be posting some songs to this blog. You will be able to listen to the song and do some exercises designed by me. Then you will be able to check the answers by clicking the link down below. Ready ? Well, the first song in my list is Gotye's Somebody I Used to Know. This song is ideal to practise simple past tenses (both regular and irregular), as well as the structure 'used to + infinitive'. Besides, it tackles the topic of love relationships and their difficulties. Well, are you ready ? Let's have a go at this song. Here you have  the Youtube video to listen to it carefully to do my exercises:

1. Listen to the video above and fill in the gaps of the song by using the simple past of the verbs in the box

be (x4)     can          feel           not have(x2)   happen    say (x2)    tell

"Somebody That I Used To Know"
(feat. Kimbra)

[Gotye:]
Now and then I think of when we _______ (1) together
Like when you _____ (2) you felt so happy you could die
______ (3) myself that you were right for me
But _____ (4) so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember.

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we felt  that we _____(5)  not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I _____ (6)  glad that it was over

You ________ (7) to cut me off
Make out like it never _________ (8)  and that we _____ (9) nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you ________ (10) to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now you're just somebody that I used to know

[Kimbra:]
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it ____(11) always something that I’d done
But I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You ______ (12) that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know

Chorus

Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you're just somebody that I used to know)

(I used to know)
(That I used to know)
(I used to know)
Somebody 

2) Explain the meaning of the words and expressions in bold:

a)      Now and then

b)      That feels so rough

c)       We could not make sense

d)      You screwed me over

e)      Hung up on somebody

     3) Transform the following expressions of the song using ‘used to’

    a)      I think of when we were together:

    4)  Can you explain the structure: have +someone+ infinitive in the sentence: have      your friends collect your records…? What does it mean? Can you say it in another    way?

5)  What is the meaning of ‘though’ in I guess that I don’t need that though. Can you replace ‘though’ for a different marker?

  6) Look at the lyrics of the song and write down all the vocabulary and expressions    related to relationships 

     

      Answers:

  1) Check the lyrics of the song in this link: 

    2) a) From time to time /  sometimes

      b) it is hard, it is difficult to accept

      c) we couldn't make the relationship work; we couldn't be together

      d) you did something really annoying to me (it can also mean 'to cheat' hinting at an   infidelity)

      e) feel in love with somebody; be hooked on somebody

   3) I think of when we used to be together

   4) It is an imperative. It is when you force somebody to do something. A possible rephrasing of the sentence would be 'you made your friends collect your records ...'

    5) 'Though' is similar to however. 'However, I guess I don't need that...'

   6) 'together', 'right for me', 'love,' 'we couldn't make sense', ' we could still be friends', 'it was over', 'cut me off' , 'be hung up on somebody'
     
      Level 3 : Difficult
        
      Fill in the gaps of this song with the appropriate verb in the simple past :

Set fire to the rain

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate verb in the simple past :

I let it fall, my heart,

And as it fell you rose to claim it

It was dark and I was over

Until you ____________ my lips and you __________ me

My hands, they're strong

But my knees ___________ far too weak

To stand in your arms

Without falling to your feet

But there's a side to you

That I never _________, never _______________

All the things you'd say

They were never true, never true

And the games you play

You would always win, always win

But I set fire to the rain

___________ it pour as I touched your face

Well, it burned while I cried

'Cause I heard it screaming Out your name,

Your name

When I lay with you

I ____________stay there

Close my eyes

Feel you here forever

You and me together nothing gets better

'Cause there's a side to you

That I never _________, never ___________

All the things you'd say

They were never true, never true

And the games you play

You would always win, always win

But I set fire to the rain

_________- it pour as I touched your face

Well, it burned while I cried

'Cause I heard it screaming out your name,

Your name

I set fire to the rain

And I ____________ us into the flames

Well, it felt something died

'Cause I knew that that was

The last time, the last time

Sometimes I wake up by the door,

That heart you _________ must be waiting for you

Even now when we're already over

I can't help myself from looking for you

I set fire to the rain

___________ it pour as I touched your face

Well, it burned while I cried

'Cause I heard it screaming Out your name,

Your name

I set fire to the rain,

And I threw us into the flames

Well, it felt something died

'Cause I knew that, that was the last time

The last time

Let it burn

Let it burn

Let it burn

      Here you have the answers :

      

<   I hope you have enjoyed learning English with songs.