IRREGULAR VERBS

Let's be honest - practicing irregular verbs is not very exciting. Yet, you really need to know them through and through, or you will keep struggling with English grammar. There are so many other things to have under control when making English sentences that you need to make these verb form choices practically automatic. 

In order to make practicing a bit less tedious and boring, I am placing a link to a website where you can take a few online quizzes. Have a go to see if your irregular verbs in English are as good as you need them to be. Here it is: Irregular verbs practice.

400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death

This year Britain and theatre lovers around the world are celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. The institution that is most strongly connected with the Bard is the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. Watch the video below to find out how they are going to celebrate the anniversary and how they want to involve the public in their projects.

The second video shows some kids who became involved in the RSC's educational project. Listen to them to see how excited they are about what they did there, and how Shakespeare's work is still very much alive in British culture.

The third clip, which I have just added, is a BBC Radio 4 voice recording of what Shakespearean English really sounded like. Interestingly, the actor is Ben Crystal, our favourite linguist's son. Then David Crystal discusses the differences between present day English and 16th and 17th century English. I'm sure it's worth your 5 minutes' attention :)

Very British problems at Christmas

Here is a video which shows some unique characteristics of Christmas the British way. The  film uses the typically British self-deprecating style, but don't be misled: they are very proud of their traditions and their social awkwardness. I'm sure you will find some of the situations familiar, but others will clearly baffle you. 

Take a look! 

Very British Problems by alexgonzalezactor

Merry Christmas!

Feliz Navidad
"Feliz Navidad" en una guitarra con cinco personas. :) <3
Posted by Spanish with Profe Kemp on 10 Dec 2015

John Lennon once again

I know that for you the events of 35 years ago are distant history. But for me this is one of the earliest really traumatic memories, something that had a great impact on me, then (and now) an avid Beatles fan. Here are a few words from John and Yoko about love. They'd been through a lot, but they worked hard on their relationship, which was at its best when John was shot.

And here is Imagine performed on rue Richard Lenoir, ten meters from the Bataclan, the day after the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Thanksgiving

Today I went to a meeting with a very wise man, Professor Wiktor Osiatyński. He is a renowned lawyer, sociologist, activist and human rights expert. The event was quite long (three hours!) but it was so engaging and inspiring that I didn't even notice how the time had passed. One of the things Professor Osiatyński said was how wonderful Thanksgiving is as a holiday, and that we should practice being grateful for things in our lives as it may help us live better and more fulfilling lives.

He actually said that one of the assignments that he often asks his students to write is "Write five sentences about what you are grateful about in your private life, five sentences about your life in your community, five more about being grateful for things in our society, etc.". He says that they find it most difficult to write about their local communities, which is quite revealing about our way of life.

Next, everybody in the audience was invited to close their eyes and think of five things they have been grateful for within the last week. It was quite an interesting experience: even though these are quite disturbing times, and there are so many things that annoy or upset me in our public life, I had no problems finding those five things which make me feel good about my life and the world in general.

So go ahead, join the experiment: close your eyes and give yourself a minute to think of those five things that have made you feel grateful and for which you can thank whoever you believe should be thanked for your good fortune. I hope you haven't had any problem making the list. Isn't that a great feeling?

Same questions, again and again. How many times, indeed?