Prepositions

Most EFL students have doubts when dealing with prepositions. With the following images, you'll never face problems with them ;)

The following represents a more complete group of prepositions of place:

SLANG

What is SLANG and how can you use it in your daily conversations?

A slang word or term is often adopted by different groups of people and spreads from one city to another. Among English speakers, there are many reasons why people use slang – and often it enriches the language. It could be used just for fun or to be witty or clever. Or it could be used as a form of expression – to be different or controversial. Although common among young people, it is used by people of all ages.

While some slang terms are making their way into the English language from the internet, others may appear as brand new words, a new meaning for an existing word, or a word that becomes more generalised than its former meaning. And it isn’t a new thing – every decade has had slang terms or phrases appear during that time. Although, because etymology (the study of the origin of words) is as much an art as it is a science, it can be difficult to accurately pinpoint the exact time that a particular piece of English slang came into use.

When using English slang, it’s important to know that some terms have become commonplace among all groups of people of all ages. These include “blimey” (an exclamation of surprise), “budge up” (move along to make some room) and “have a flutter” (place a bet).

However, some words used by younger people are the kinds of words you need to know if you want to be thought of as cool – even though it may appear a completely different language!

Here we present our guide to some of the newest English slang…

Snatched: Move over “fleek” – this is the new way to describe anything that looks really good or “on point”. Anything from your eyebrows to your clothes can look snatched.

Lit: If some thing is really good, then it’s “lit”. Again, this can refer to anything from a concert or a TV show to an outfit.

Cancel: An English word that usually means to decide that a planned event will not take place. But now you can use it to refer to anything you don’t like. “Would you like vegetables with dinner?” “CANCEL!”

High-key/low-key: High-key refers to something needing to be said out loud. Low-key is the opposite. Both can refer to an intense like/dislike.



Source: Pearson English 

April 21 - The Queen's birthday

Happy birthday your Majesty!!!! From ELS we wish you a very happy 90th birthday!!

“Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories queen, head of the Commonwealth, defender of the faith,” (to recite her full title) turned 90 last Thursday.

She was born 21 April 1926 and has been since her accession in 1952, Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and Head of the Commonwealth. She is also Queen of 12 countries that have become independent since her accession: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Elizabeth was born in London to the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and was the elder of their two daughters. She was educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. In 1947, she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she has four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.

Her longevity is remarkable. She is the longest-reigning monarch in British history and the longest-reigning queen in world history; since ascending to the throne she has known 12 prime ministers, starting with Winston Churchill, and 12 American presidents.

Typically, the queen spends her birthday working. Not many people live to 90, and those who do have long retired, but the queen had 341 official engagements last year and has given no hint of stepping down. On Friday, she and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, received President Barack and Michelle Obama at Windsor Castle.

Source: www.nytimes.com / wikipedia

YOUGLISH

Youglish is a very useful tool that shows you the pronunciation of English words in natural contexts. It's a website that uses over ten million youtube videos of natural speech from native and/or fluent speakers.

It's very simple to use, all you need to do is typing in an English word and it'll provide you with several video samples (you may select whether you want to listen to American or British English).

Try it to improve your pronunciation! ;)

http://youglish.com/

Transitive & Intransitive Verbs

A lot of students find it difficult to differentiate between transitive and intransitive verbs. With this post, I'd like you to learn about these structures and put them into practice asap ;)

Intransitive verbs: subject + verb

If an action concerns only one person or thing, you mention only the person or thing that carries out the action (the subject) and the action itself (the verb). Verbs which describe such actions are called intransitive verbs.

Many intransitive verbs describe physical behaviour or movement:

As the boys arrived, the girls departed.



Transitive verbs: subject + verb + object

Transitive verbs involve not only the subject, but also someone or something else, the object:

She has many friends, but (she) admires Victoria most.


Some transitive verbs can have two objects, an indirect object followed by a direct object:

She brought me my breakfast in bed on a silver tray.


We can also reverse the order of the objects and put the direct object first by inserting the preposition to before the indirect object:

I lent all the money I had to my younger sister.



Intransitive or transitive

Many verbs in English can be used both transitively and intransitively. The object is often not needed when it is obvious what you are talking about. But it may need to be added to clarify what is meant. Compare the following:

I asked him to come in, but he did not enter. He did not enter the room.

When he entered the room, she was reading. She was reading a book about Buddhism.


In these examples, the meaning of the verb does not change whether it is used transitively or intransitively. With certain verbs, the meaning does change. Compare the following:

She runs a bed-and-breakfast establishment in Broadstairs.

The bull was chasing him so he ran as quickly as he could.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv244.shtml

Tu-be or not Tu-be: a new map of the London Underground

And here it is, another tribute to William Shakespeare for the 400th anniversary of his death. I really like it!!! :) :)

A special edition Tube map has been produced in which station names have been replaced with characters, plays and modern adaptations of William Shakespeare's work to mark the 400th anniversary of his death.

Among the changes from the real-life London Underground are Westminster as tragedy King Lear, St Paul's as Lysander from A Midsummer Night's Dream and Cannon Street as history play King John.

The map also shows three of the capital's theatres where Shakespeare's plays were performed – the Globe Theatre, Blackfriars Theatre and the Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch.

Dr Farah Karim-Cooper, head of higher education and research at Shakespeare's Globe, said: "What this wonderful keepsake reveals is that Shakespeare's work, his characters and themes intersect with each other in fascinating ways.

"To think about navigating the plays in the same way we think about getting around the Underground reminds us that as complex as they are, the works of Shakespeare are entirely accessible to everyone."

Shakespeare is believed to have died on his birthday, April 23, in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616.

The map will be available to buy from Monday online or directly from London Transport Museum and Shakespeare's Globe.



Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Becas para deportistas - International Doorway to Education and Athletics

ISEP es una organización que ayuda a deportistas amateurs a prepararse física y técnicamente para después viajar a Estados Unidos y participar de eventos en los que son observados y evaluados por entrenadores de más de 70 universidades. De acuerdo al nivel de rendimiento de cada participante, las universidades definen el porcentaje de beca de estudio (parcial o total) que ofrecerán a cada aspirante. Por su parte, los elegidos se comprometen a representar a la universidad en la liga del deporte que practican. Los estados donde se encuentran las universidades sedes del programa son Georgia y Missouri. Una vez seleccionados como becarios, los participantes pueden comenzar o continuar sus estudios en agosto del mismo año o en enero del año siguiente.

Durante la estadía en Estados Unidos, los participantes residen en campus universitarios y tienen libre acceso a todas las instalaciones académicas y deportivas, que incluyen laboratorios de computación, biblioteca y piscina. Además, cuentan con cobertura médica permanente.

Requisitos:

- tener entre 16 y 26 años de edad.

- ser deportista amateur en las siguientes disciplinas: fútbol, tenis, golf, básquet y baseball para los hombres; o fútbol, tenis, golf, vóley, hockey sobre césped, básquet y softball para las mujeres.

- estar cursando los dos últimos años del colegio secundario, ser graduado secundario o estar cursando una carrera universitaria y tener hasta 26 años de edad (las universidades norteamericanas aceptan transferencia de materias)

- tener pasaporte y visa de turista (la visa de estudiante se tramitará luego de haber obtenido la beca)

El conocimiento del idioma inglés no es un requerimiento excluyente.


Duración:

El viaje se realiza entre el 15 y el 31 de julio de cada año.

Información: Para más información, contactar a: 

1616 P Street NW
Suite 150
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202/667-8027
Fax: 202/667-7801
info@isep.org

Lugar: EE.UU. - U.S.A.

Más información:

http://www.isep.org

Source: http://www.becas.com/beca-Becas-para-deportistas---International-Doorway-to-Education-and-Athletics_14422.html

WHO or WHOM - what's the difference?

A lot of students struggle with Who and Whom; they usually confuse them and use them incorrectly. The following image explains it very well, in a clear and concise way:

Positive and Negative Responses

When you want to say in English that you also like something or that you can also do something, that is to say that you agree in a response, you can express it in different ways, using both formal & informal English. It's the same with negative expressions. The above picture shows this perfectly, so now you have no excuses to be able to express positive or negative responses ;)

April Fools' Day

April Fools' Day (sometimes called All Fools' Day) is celebrated every year on 1 April by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes. The jokes and their victims are called April fools. People playing April Fool jokes expose their prank by shouting April Fool. Some newspapers, magazines, and other published media report fake stories, which are usually explained the next day or below the news section in small letters. Although popular since the 19th century, the day is not a public holiday in any country.

Source: Wikipedia

APRIL - National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month, which takes place each April, is a celebration of poetry introduced in 1996 and organized by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.

You can learn more on this month here: https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/home

If you want to have resources for poetry month, click on http://www.edutopia.org/blog/16-resources-national-poetry-month-marc-anderson