The Simpsons Halloween episode

https://moviesdrive.org/episode/the-simpsons-22x4/?watching=MCUuRxXnWr

The History of Halloween

http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_high_intermediate.php?id=9377

The history of Halloween

http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_intermediate.php?id=6053

Jack-o-lanterns self-correctable video

Dear students,
To improve your listening comprehension, here you have a video about Jack-o-lanterns, the spooky Halloween pumpkins. Watch it and do the exercises provided. Enjoy it : 
http://www.eslvideo.com/eslvideo_quiz_lowint.php?id=24461

I told my children that I ate all their Halloween candy

Hi everyone,

Now that Halloween is right here , I think it is a good idea for you to read something about Halloween and get to you its most representative symbols (symbols that we have already seen in class). You can get to know about these symbols in this link. Do it. It's a good opportunity to practise your  reading skill and learn some culture at the same time. In addition, as the title of the post suggests, here you have a funny video from an American late-night show. In this video parents lie to their children and tell them that they have eaten all their Halloween candy. What is the children's reaction ? Watch the videos. I'm sure you're gonna love them. 

Did you enjoy the videos ? Then, post a comment.

Halloween food... yummy yummy !

Hello there,
It will soon be the night of the dead today and not only spirits come back from the dead to have fun and scare us, but also to taste delicious food.So, are you ready to eat with your eyes ? Let's begin:

  

               Pumpkin pie                                 Roasted pumpkin seeds

    

                  Candy corn                                       Eyeball tacos

   

        Oreo Spider cookies                       Candy ghost lollipops

    

  Candy apples (pumpkin mode)                   Skull cake

       

Chocolate pudding mixed                       Halloween cookies         

with crushed Oreo and 

gummy worms.

Which one is your favourite Halloween treat ? Post a comment.

Top 10 Halloween symbols

The Halloween night is close upon us, so I decided to write this post about the American festivity that has spread all over the world. It has become more and more popular in Spain, although some people criticize for being a mere copy of an American festivity. Anyway, it's a festival, right ? Why not learn something about it and enjoy it as much as possible ? Let's start with some of the Halloween symbols: 

10. Black cats : You are alone at night in a lonely alley and you see some bright eyes looking at you and you hear screeching howl. Scared ? Our perception of cats have changed over the centuries. They were considered sacred animal in the Egyptian culture and they were even considered a token indicating that a marriage was flourishing. However, in the Middle Ages they were closely associated to witchcraft, wickedness and death. Do not cross a black cat in Halloween, Friday, 13th or Tuesday 13th hehe. Last trivia fact about cats: in Spanish they are said to have seven lives, but in the English culture, have got nine lives. Cats seem difficult to kill, don't you think ?

9. Skeletons and skulls: These bony depict dead people that on the night of Halloween come back to life. They belong to the spirits realm. The Celts believed that the soul could be found in the skull, which is the head of skeletons. In fact, Hamlet holds a skull while he reflects upon the human existance. For me, skeletons are funny characters and one of the best Halloween costumes. 

8. Witches flying on a broomstick and casting spells using a cauldron: Witches are the most characteristic female characters in the night of Halloween. As you know, alleged witches were often burned because people were afraid of their powers. What is characteristic about them ? Well, they wear pointed hats, they have hideous warts in their faces, the can fly using a broomstick and they cast their spells in cauldrons using odd ingredients such as frogs, spiders or more 'loathsome' animals. The most famous film about witches is probably Hocus Pocus (El Retorno de las Brujas). Why not watch it during the Halloween night ?

7. Spiders and cobwebs : Spiders usually produce disgust and loath among people (with the exception of Spiderman he he ). Spiders weave cobwebs, which are associated with the passage of time and fate. Spiders and cobwebs are necessary elements in haunted houses, so watch your eyes if you happen to be in a haunted house ! 

6. Bats and vampires : Who hasn't seen a bat at night ? Bats are nocturnal animals  They suck the blood of their preys and they are said to be able to communicate with the devil. Vampires can transform themselves into bats to escape and so can witches. There are a lot of famous vampires, Count Dracula being the most famous one. If you want to kill them, stab them with a stake in their heart while they sleep in their coffins, use silver or wear garlic wherever you go. 

5.Ghosts in haunted houses : Dead spirits with unfinished business in our world, spirits that can walk next to us and we cannot even touch them. The spirits that are released in Halloween frequently take the shape of ghosts, spooky creatures that dwell in haunted houses and scare us to hell ! 

4. Graveyard or cemeteries, tombs and gravestones: Apart from a haunted house, what is the spookiest place of all ? A cemetery, of course. This is the palce where all the dead rest. However, in Halloween, they all come to life (either as ghosts or as zombies). You wouldn't like to be there on October, 31st ! 

3. Pumpkins : This orange plant is the Halloween symbol per excellence. It is said that witches can turn you into pumpkins, much like they did in Cincerella where a fairy transformed a pumpkin into a carriage.Anyway, other than using pumpkins for decoration, American use it for food, pumpkin pies and roaster pumpkin seed being two typical Halloween dishes. 

2. Trick-or-treating : As you know, in this tradition, children go door to door asking for candy, pronouncing the words "trick or treat". They are just saying that if they don't receive candy, they will play a prank, for example, thwy will throw eggs to your house or they will cover your house in toilet paper. This tradition goes back to a Gaelic festival, the Samhain, where people offered some food to the spirits to calm them down. 

1. Jack-o-lantern : This is probably the most representative element of house decoration. This is how it works. You take a real pumpkin, you empty it, you carve it to look scary and you put a candle in it. Perfect, right ? The origins of this object is a man named Jack, an unrepentant sinner, who managed to trick the devil and trapped him into a tree surrounded by crosses. He let the devil go on ly when he promised he will never reclaim his soul. When Jack died, he couldn't go to Heaven because he had been a sinner and he couldn't go to hell either. He had to wander eternally and the devil sent him a flame from hell. He put it into a turnit and used it to light his way. 

Did you enjoy the Halloween icons ? I hope you did. To finish this post, here you have a funny video about Halloween, a video in which parents tell their little children that they have eaten all the Halloween candy. You must watch it. Their reaction is priceless. 

In my educational blog, I have also written an entry about Halloween food. Click on the link to watch it. 
I'll be in touch.

Halloween presentation : learn some trivia facts about this festivity

Dear students,
Here you have a Halloween presentation prepared by a former coworker presentation of mine, Alexis. It's a perfect presentation for you to learn a lot of things about Halloween.
Enjoy it :

Halloween is here !

Dear students,
today we'll learn vocabulary related to Halloween ! We'll have a good time. Have a look at the presentation and then listen to the song : This is Halloween and try to write down all the Halloween elements appearing on the video. 
Enjoy it.



Here you have the video to revise the vocabulary :

This is the video with English subtitles in case you would like to sing the song.If you want to see the Spanish translation, click on this link.

Have something done exercises

Dear students,
Here you have some exercises to practise the structure 'have something done' (normally when you pay someone else to do something for you).
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/participles/exercises?08
https://elt.oup.com/student/solutions/int/grammar/grammar_09_012e?cc=global&selLanguage=en
https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-76121.php
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/causatives-exercise-1.html
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18GH0CeIlVy9FWdYSsDcHq3KXRqK0Gk4ZRLUbYunZvVs/edit?usp=sharing

Modern Family funny video

Hiya students,

Now that we're dealing with the topic of families in class, I thought it might be a pretty good idea to learn some English with a video of yet one of the best sitcoms in the US, no other than Modern Family. Have a look at this amazing video and enjoy it and then try to answer the questions. 

Questions :

1) Why does Lily think she can't mention the soup's name ?

2) What does Mitch say to justify his words about gays ? What does Cam recriminate him ?

3) According to Gloria, what's the problem of Americans ? What's Gloria's real problem ?

4) What does Gloria say about the Spanish language and her kids ?

5) Why does Lily want to be gay ? What other thing does she happen to have in common with her parents ?

6) Why does everybody stare at them at the end ?

I hope you have liked and enjoyed this wonderful video. 

Revision !

Dear students of 2ºAvanzado,
Now that we're back to class, it's time to revise some vocabulary and expressions that we say during our first week of class. Ready ?

a) A person who is captivating and attractive at the same time is m_____________.
b) The v_______ majority of scientific papers today are published in English.
c) English-language academic papers o____________ publications in the country's own language.
d) It is very difficult to g______ a good reputation.
e) The scientific vocabularies of many languages have failed to k_____ p_____ w____ new developments and discoveries.
f) The English language p______ a dominant role. 
g) I hate dogs s__________ all over me (spilling their saliva).
h) Nowadays you can find a h______ of different self-help books
i) Self-help books can, to some e__________, be taken seriously.
j) I don't speak English very well but I g_____  _____.
k) Education today is c____________ in English.

Have a look at this webpage to learn collocations. I hope you enjoy it and I hope this revision has helped you to come back to class in a better mood !

The verb 'have' in seven stages

The verb 'to have' is probably one of the first verbs you come across when you start learning English. Simple though it may seem, it may, in fact, indicate your English level ! The verb 'to have' will accompany you during your learning process in all the stages: from the lower level, the intermediate level and, even, the advanced level. Let's have a look at them !

Stage 1: have = possess

At this stage, you are in a basic level. The verb 'have' is used to express possession. 'Have' is more used in American English, whereas 'have got' is generally used in British English. At this stage, we need to take into account the differences between both verbs and avoid mistakes as the ones in red down below. Take into account that 'have got' is only used to express possession and that it can only be used in THE PRESENT TENSE (not in the past): 

Have (Am. English)                   Have got (British English)

I have                                         I have got

I don't have  I haven't                 I haven't got

Do you have ? Have you ?         Have you got ?

I had                                           I had got

I didn't have  I hadn't                 I hadn't got

Stage 2: have = eat + drink

At this stage, you are still in a basic level. The verb 'have' here is followed by either food or drink and it means 'tomar' in Spanish. Have you ever heard a foreigner saying: "¿puedo tener un vaso de agua, por favor?". Well, he or she is certainly mistranslating the verb 'have' as 'tener' and not as 'tomar'. This use is quite useful in restaurants when you order for food, for example, in the sentence; "I'll have fish and chips."

Stage 3: expressions with have

Here you are in an upper low level. There are several expressions with the verb 'have' with different meanings. These expressions are widely used by English speakers, so you need to know most of them. Here you have them:

• Have breakfast = desayunar
• Have lunch = comer
• Have dinner = cenar
• Have a shower  (in American English 'take a shower) = ducharse
• Have a bath = darse un baño
• Have a swim = nadar un rato
• Have a walk/have a stroll = dar un paseo
• Have fun / have a good time = divertirse
• Have a bad time/have a rough time = pasarlo mal    
• Have a siesta = echarse la siesta
• Have a party = ir a una fiesta
• Have an X-ray= hacerse una radiografía
• Have a chat/have a talk (with someone) = hablar con alguien
• Have an argument with someone = discutir con alguien
• Have feelings for someone = sentir algo por alguien

Stage 4: have to/have got to/don't have to

Here you start to move towards an intermediate level. The verb 'have to' (or have got to) followed by an infinitive indicates obligation, as in "I have to work tomorrow". Here you have other possibilities such as 'I have got to work tomorrow,' or 'I gotta work tomorrow' in informal English. The negative of 'have to' is 'don't have to' and it indicates the absence of obligation, something which is not necessary, as seen in the sentence; "I don't have to get up early tomorrow because it's Saturday".

Stage 5: Perfect tenses

You are still in an intermediate level. Hadn't you noticed that the verb have is similar to the verb 'haber' in Spanish?  have = haber . Here 'have' is an auxiliary verb that must be followed by a past participle to express duration, among other notions as in "I have studied a lot today" or "Paul hasn't finished his homework yet". 

Stage 6: Causative have I: to pay someone to do something for you

It is here where you journey towards the advanced level begins. You use this structure to indicate that you have paid someone else to do a job for you. The structure is: personal passive subject + verb have conjugated + object + past participle. You have examples of this structure below:

I'm going to have my hair cut tomorrow = I'm going to pay the hairdresser to cut your hair.

I will have my car repaired by the mechanic = I will pay the mechanic to repair your car.

I had my house painted last year = I paid a painter to paint your house.

You can use this structure at the hairdresser's, at the dentist, at the mechanic,...

Stage 7: Causative have II: to make other people  do something (imperative)

This is probably one of the most complicated structures with the verb have. It's similar to the previous structure but instead of using a past participle, a bare infinitive is used:

subject + verb 'have' conjugated + direct object (person) + infinitive (without 'to'). Here you have some examples:

- If you are not a good boy, I will have you clean up your bedroom all day = I will make you clean your bedroom all day if you are not a good boy.

- I will have my friends pick up my stuff = I will make my friends pick up my stuff.

Conclusions
1. In most cases, the verb 'have' needs an auxililiary verb like 'do' to make the negative and interrogative (except in 'have got' and in perfect tenses)
2. 'Have got' only means 'possess' and it can only be used in the simple tense. You can't say I have got a shower, for instance. 

3. The verb 'have' is an extremely important verb that will be with you all along your English-learning process. 
4. Sometimes, the verb 'to be' is preferred rather than the verb have (revisit my entry Lost in Translation for more details)
In which stage are you? Feel free to comment.

         

Food idioms

Hi customers ! Do you feel like having a bite to eat ? Lucky you, 'cause the main course in today's blog entry consists of a great deal of idioms of food and drink ! Here you have some pictures having to do with some idioms of food. Why don't you have a look at them and try to guess the idiom ? Too difficult ? Give it a try. You know you have to crack some eggs to make an omelette.  Then have a look at the answers down below. Let's get started ! I hope you will enjoy the menu:

+

        

                    

              

1. If something is a piece of cake, it is super-easy, like, for example, the English Language ! However, if something sells like hot cakes, it means it is purchased by a lot of people. For instance, ice-creams in summer sell like hot cakes. 

2. When you butter someone up, you praise someone to gain his or her favours, e.g. you can butter your teacher up in order to get better marks. Nonetheless, if something is your bread and butter, it means it is your only income, the only thing that provides you with money, as in 'my job is my bread and butter. I can't give it up.' 

3. One apple a day keeps the doctor away stands out the importance of eating fruit -especially apples- for your health. Notwithstanding, if someone is the apple of your eye, that person is one of the most important person for you. 'Daughters are usually the apples of their father's eye.'

4. If something is not my cup of tea, if means that thing is not my preference because I am not interested in it or I am very bad at it, as you can see in the sentence 'I fail the exams because studies and books are not my cup of tea.' Now, when you say the squeaky wheel gets the oil, you refer to the fact that if you complain a lot, you will receive attention: 'after calling the nurse three times, she finally came. You know, the squeaky wheel gets the oil.'

5. If you are a bad egg, you don't practise fair play, you are not trustworthy. People think politicians in Spain are bad eggs. However, if you put all eggs in a basket, you risk everything in one move. You put all eggs in a basket at the casino when you bet all your money on one number.

6. Let's move on to deal with vegetables. When two people or things are like peas in a pod, if means they resemble a great deal, they are really similar (for instance two brothers). But if you are as cool as a cucumber, it means you act in a calm way. 'Although everybody laughed at him, he kept as cool as a cucumber.'

7. 'One man's meat is another man's poison' means that the same thing can be good for one person and bad for another. 'I don't like romantic movies, but Sarah loves them. You know, one man's meat is another man's poison.' 'In a nutshell' is a synonym for 'to conclude' or 'in a few words', an ideal expression to conclude your essays ! 

8. When someone is a big cheese, we are talking about a really important and powerful person. 'He is the big cheese of the town.' If something cheeses you off, it makes you very angry and upset (in colloquial language), for example, 'Spanish lack of punctuality cheeses me off.' Last but not least, when someone says that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, that person means that you need to experience things to know how they really are. You may know a lot of English grammar, but it is important for you to actually speak it. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. 

Well, did you enjoy the menu or did you get a heavy indigestion of idioms ? Are you hungry now and in need for food ? What is your favourite idiom of food ? Do you know any others ? Please, share. 

P. S. I'll write down all the full idioms down below for you to remember them. 

Something is a piece of cake (very easy)

Something sells like hot cakes (it sells a lot, in Spanish we use 'churros' instead of cakes)

You butter someone up (to gain something in return: 'dorar la píldora')

Something is your bread and butter (your only income)

One apple a day keeps the doctor away

Someone is the apple of your eye (your most beloved person: 'la niña de mis ojos')

Something is not your cup of tea (your preference)

The squeaky wheel gets the oil (to attract attention)

Someone is a bad egg (a distrustful person)

You put all eggs in the basket (you risk everything: 'to put all the meat in the grill' in Spanish)

They are like peas in a pod (very similar, 'two droplets of water' in Spanish)

Someone is/behaves as cool as a cucumber (calm, 'as cool as a lettuce' in Spanish)

One man's meat is another man's poison (everything is subjective and depends on each person)

In a nutshell (to conclude / as a conclusion /in a few words)

Someone is the big cheese (the most important and power person; 'the big boss' in Spanish)

Something cheeses you off (something upsets, disturbs or infuriates you)

The proof of the pudding is in the eating (practice is necessary, not only theory)

You have to crack/break a few eggs to make an omelette (something is likely to be broken when you do certain activities).