PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOUS

Students answer 10 multiple choice questions to practise the past simple vs the past continuous tense. Scene summary: an animated silent film in which a lady receives a parcel by post. It turns out it's a magical vinyl record that ends up messing up her life.

BONFIRE NIGHT

This is a British festive day which is celebrated on November 5th. The tradition started to celebrate the failure of a plan to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament in 1605. Watch the following video  co-produced by the BBC and The British Council and find out all about it.
After watching the video, there are some suggested activities: reading comprehension and vocabulary exercises. Besides, the page provides you with worksheets and downloads together with the transcript. This is the link:  Bonfire night activities .

THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Today, we have seen the following video to talk about Halloween.
For further information about Halloween origins, traditions, superstitions...    I recommend seeing this link:
History of Halloween

PRESENT PERFECT VS PAST SIMPLE

In this English lesson, you will find easy and clear explanations of when and how to use the present perfect (I have done) and past simple (I did):

IDIOMS FOR THE NEW YEAR

January is a great month to concentrate on new goals for the year that has just started. So, I am devoting this post to learning new idioms related to new resolutions.
The video I am about to show was published on 31 December 2014. Let´s apply all the comments made to this new year 2016.

THANKSGIVING DAY

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in the United States as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.
 Several other places around the world have similar celebrations.
Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious and cultural traditions. For further information, you can visit the following link: This day in history Thanksgiving
The following video shows the history of Thanksgiving:

REMEMBRANCE DAY

Florespedia.com

Armistice Day or Remembrance Day is celebrated on November 11th every year. It commemorates the end of World War I on 11th November 1918.
 Armistice Day is observed all over the world. In many countries, people stop what they are doing for a two-minute moment of silence at 11:00 a.m. This is a sign of respect for those who died. In Britain, there is another name for Armistice Day - Remembrance Sunday. In 1939, the British government moved Armistice Day to the Sunday nearest November 11. In America, the day is also called Veterans Day. Children in Commonwealth countries know these days by another name – Poppy Day. People wear poppies and donate money to charities for soldiers injured in wars. Poppies are a symbol of the blood that filled the trenches. Poppies also bloomed across some of the worst battlefields during the War. Source link: http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/11/armistice_day.html
 For further information you can visit the following links:
What is remembrance day ?
Armistice day in pictures.
ESL Holiday Lessons. This page contains activities you could do with students to practise vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension exercises about this topic.

Finally I will include a short video about Remembrance Day:

PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS ( ENGLISH )

I am devoting this post to comparing the past simple and past continuous.
I will include two videos. The first one explains how to use both tenses together in the same sentence.
The second one provides some exercises to practise the use of both tenses.

PAST SIMPLE VERB TENSE ( ENGLISH )

Past simple tense.

This post is devoted to explaining the the use and and form of the past simple in English.
I have chosen two video clips.
The first video is for students with an elementary level of English. The second one is for those with  an intermediate level.

IDIOMS

New English Centre.

"Beat around the bush" means "Andarse con rodeos"

 Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally.  In other words, when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary.  Every language has its own idioms.  Learning them makes understanding and using a language a lot easier and more fun!

 For example the idiom " to run the show " is equivalent to the Spanish expression " tener la sartén por el mango", " to hit the ceiling " means " subirse a la parra ".

I recommend spending one minute a day to learn an English idiom and then try to use it in your everyday conversations.

This post is devoted to learning the idiom: "beat around the bush"

The following video will explain the idiom to be used in context, which is the best way of learning.

PRESENT SIMPLE VERB TENSE ( ENGLISH )

Present simple tense.
 This post is devoted to explaining the the use and and form of the present simple in English.
In order to do that, I have chosen two video clips.
The first video is for students with a more elementary level of English. The second one is for those with  an intermediate level.

PRESENT SIMPLE VS PRESENT CONTINUOUS ( ENGLISH )

Present simple vs Present continuous.

The webpage Anglo-Link shows a brief and simple video to explain the differences between the present simple and continuous verb tenses in English. The explanation includes information about their form, usage and common mistakes. It is all taught in English including the examples.
After watching the video, students have the option of doing some exercises to practise these verbal tenses.