- Listen to this short video everyday for a week and you'll learn all these structures and vocabulary without an effort.
Monday 28 February 2011
Essentials 10
Tuesday 22 February 2011
WORD OF THE WEEK: WEIRD
Ever wondered about weird noises in the middle of the night or encountered a bit of a weirdo on the bus? Tim Bowen explains the history of this wonderfully weird word of the week.
This word has an interesting history. In medieval English it meant ‘controlling the destinies of men’ and was related to the German verb werden, meaning ‘to become’. It appears in Nordic mythology as the representation of fate. One possible explanation for its radical change in meaning to ‘mysterious’ or ‘uncanny’ is its appearance in Shakespeare’s Macbeth in the form of the Weird Sisters. Perhaps later audiences of the play simply interpreted them and their actions as strange or mysterious and the modern-day use of weird stems from this.
Today it can have associations with strange or even supernatural events, as in ‘I heard some weird noises in the middle of the night’, but is more often used to mean ‘unusual’ or ‘odd’, as in ‘What a weird thing to say!’ or ‘This wine tastes a bit weird’. This meaning has also given rise to an associated noun weirdo, used to describe a strange or eccentric person, usually with a negative connotation, as in ‘Watch out for him. He’s a bit of a weirdo’.
This word has an interesting history. In medieval English it meant ‘controlling the destinies of men’ and was related to the German verb werden, meaning ‘to become’. It appears in Nordic mythology as the representation of fate. One possible explanation for its radical change in meaning to ‘mysterious’ or ‘uncanny’ is its appearance in Shakespeare’s Macbeth in the form of the Weird Sisters. Perhaps later audiences of the play simply interpreted them and their actions as strange or mysterious and the modern-day use of weird stems from this.
Today it can have associations with strange or even supernatural events, as in ‘I heard some weird noises in the middle of the night’, but is more often used to mean ‘unusual’ or ‘odd’, as in ‘What a weird thing to say!’ or ‘This wine tastes a bit weird’. This meaning has also given rise to an associated noun weirdo, used to describe a strange or eccentric person, usually with a negative connotation, as in ‘Watch out for him. He’s a bit of a weirdo’.
Monday 21 February 2011
Essentials 9
- Listen to this short video everyday for a week and you'll learn all these structures and vocabulary without an effort.
Saturday 19 February 2011
Listen & learn - with Mercedes and Richard 2
This is the second part of the interview with Mercedes Milá and Richard Vaughan. Get fun and learn with them!
Monday 14 February 2011
ONE LOVE,U2
HAPPY ST VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL THE FOLLOWERS
Have a wonderful day and enjoy one of my favourite songs
Mary J. Blige, U2 - One
Have a wonderful day and enjoy one of my favourite songs
Mary J. Blige, U2 - One
Essentials 8
- Listen to this short video everyday for a week and you'll learn all these structures and vocabulary without an effort.
Saturday 12 February 2011
Listen & learn - with Mercedes and Richard 1
Have you ever heard Mercedes Milá speaking English? Here you can listen to her and learn with Richard Vaughan. Enjoy it!
Tuesday 8 February 2011
Monday 7 February 2011
Word of the week: Freak | Onestopenglish
Ever encountered something unnatural or out of the ordinary? Well you may just have witnessed a freak show! Let our resident language freak, Tim Bowen, freak you out with this Word of the week!
The word freak is said to derive from a Middle English adjective meaning ‘quick’. Its current use, both as a noun and an adjective, appears to have little or no connection with its origins. The underlying meaning of freak in modern use generally relates to ‘out of the ordinary’ or even ‘unnatural’, as in ‘He was regarded as a freak at school because he took no interest in sport’. In this sense freak was also used to refer to people with physical deformities, people who appeared in freak shows at circuses or funfairs, for example.
The idea of something out of the ordinary also applies to the adjectival use of freak as in ‘a freak snowstorm in the middle of July’ or ‘she was injured in a freak accident when her dog chewed through the electric cable’.
A relatively new use of freak is to refer to someone who is obsessively interested in a particular subject or activity, as in ‘She’s a fitness freak’ or ‘Alan’s a bit of a health freak’. The verb to freak (often freak out), meaning to be so angry, surprised, excited or frightened that you cannot control yourself, is also a fairly recent, and probably unrelated, use: ‘I just freaked when I saw the police coming’. All in all, quite a freaky (strange and possibly a little frightening) word.
By Tim Bowen
The word freak is said to derive from a Middle English adjective meaning ‘quick’. Its current use, both as a noun and an adjective, appears to have little or no connection with its origins. The underlying meaning of freak in modern use generally relates to ‘out of the ordinary’ or even ‘unnatural’, as in ‘He was regarded as a freak at school because he took no interest in sport’. In this sense freak was also used to refer to people with physical deformities, people who appeared in freak shows at circuses or funfairs, for example.
The idea of something out of the ordinary also applies to the adjectival use of freak as in ‘a freak snowstorm in the middle of July’ or ‘she was injured in a freak accident when her dog chewed through the electric cable’.
A relatively new use of freak is to refer to someone who is obsessively interested in a particular subject or activity, as in ‘She’s a fitness freak’ or ‘Alan’s a bit of a health freak’. The verb to freak (often freak out), meaning to be so angry, surprised, excited or frightened that you cannot control yourself, is also a fairly recent, and probably unrelated, use: ‘I just freaked when I saw the police coming’. All in all, quite a freaky (strange and possibly a little frightening) word.
By Tim Bowen
Essentials 7
- Listen to this short video everyday for a week and you'll learn all these structures and vocabulary without an effort.
Saturday 5 February 2011
UNIT 3B: STORMY WEATHER
Si la Candelaria llora, el invierno se marcha;
si la Candelaria ríe, el invierno permanece.
This is what we say in Spain, but in the USA,do you want to know how they forecast if spring is coming soon?
Just watch this funny video called GROUNDHOG SAYS SPRING IS COMING, and you will find out
Click on the link
http://blogs.elpais.com/trending-topics/2011/02/diez-cosas-que-no-necesitabas-saber-sobre-el-dia-de-la-marmota.html
How to improve your videos 4b - Mac
Step 4: Editing Details
Do you want to learn more about editing your videos? If you've shot a video on your camera but have no idea where to go from there, then open up your eyes and ears and prepare to be enlightened! This lesson is for Mac users.
Do you want to learn more about editing your videos? If you've shot a video on your camera but have no idea where to go from there, then open up your eyes and ears and prepare to be enlightened! This lesson is for Mac users.
Editing with iMovie
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Manolo from New Mexico
What a surprise! Here is Manolo’s song: ‘Mad World’. Listen to him speaking about it.
And here is the song:
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