Guy Fawkes' Night - November 5th

Remember, remember
the fifth of November
gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason
why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.

November 5th is celebrated in England as Guy Fawkes' Night. It is named after a member of a group of Catholic conspirators who, in 1605, plotted to blow up the English Houses of Parliament with gunpowder. Let's find out more about this special date:

Guy Fawkes Night & the Gunpowder Plot
Guy Fawkes & the Bonfire Night
British History: What if it had succeeded?

What about watching how people celebrate that night?

Well, let's check if you've learnt something after all this information, I'm sure you did!

Listening & Reading
Bonfire Night Puzzle - BBC
Guy Fawkes Night Quiz (easy)
Guy Fawkes Night (tricky)
Chants & Rhymes
Planning for this Night

Fawlty Towers

It was in 1975 when this comedy series, or sitcom, made a whole nation laugh. At that time, everybody in Great Britain started to raise their eyebrows and say "¿Qué?" in Spanish imitating Manuel, the hotel's bellboy and waiter, who is from Barcelona. In case you want to know more about it, here you have the official webpage:

Fawlty Towers Webpage
Episodes Guide
Fawlty Towers in Wikipedia

If you enjoyed the episode we watched the other day in the class called "Communication Problems", you are going to love this small sketch where there are more misunderstandings between Mr. Fawlty and Manuel. Enjoy!

And now, would you like to watch the characters back together nowadays?

/rɪˈvɪʒən əv fəˈnetɪks/

Improving our pronunciation is not an easy task, but it doesn't mean it cannot be a funny one. Watch this video, is it familiar for you?

Well, now... do you feel like improving your own pronunciation? Yeah... I think so, here you have some links to practise English phonetic symbols and sounds. Hope you all enjoy it! Remember, it is essential to be able to read the symbols in order to improve your listening and speaking so, what are you waiting for?

English Phonology: 1-7.

English Phonetics (vowels, consonants, BrE vs AmE...)

The Sound of English & the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Phonetic Symbols & Sounds

Pronunciation Tips from the BBC

Phonetic Exercises & Quizzes

Minimal Pairs & Instant Sound

Dictionary with Instant Sound

And now, enjoy even more with this video about punctuation. It's great!

HALLOWEEN TIME

Hi everyone! As you all know next Friday we' re going to join the rest of the students at EOI Villaverde to listen to some spooky legends. Don't forget you can also take part in the Halloween Quiz where you and your partners will show how much you know about it. Come on... don't be shy and join us! Here you have some quizzes and more activities so that you can practise a bit and have fun!

Quiz on Halloween 1
Quiz on Halloween 2
Halloween Origins Quiz
Halloween Costumes Quiz

Interactive crossword
Scary Webquest
Idioms & Proverbs for Halloween



If you feel like learning a bit more... don't stop and carry on...

Listening: "A Halloween Journey of the Night I Chickened out"
The 5 Most Haunted Places in the UK
Hookery Cookery

KARAOKE TIME!

It seems some of you enjoyed this song in the previous session so if you feel like having some more fun... watch this video and don't forget to sing along! Remember you also have the lyrics inside the music section on the right hand side.

And now it's time to see how much influence ABBA still have in our time, watch Benny and Bjor being interviewed about the Mamamia Movie.

Don't you think maybe it's time to see how much you remember or already know about ABBA? Let's try some of the following quizzes...

ABBA Facts Quiz
ABBA in Fun Trivia (different levels)

Come on, come on... don't worry if your score was low... what about learning a bit more for the next time?

ABBA in Wikipedia

I know... I know... I promise this is the last thing I ask you to do related to ABBA! Have you ever watched these movies? Here you have the trailers of these two famous films related to ABBA.