Have you ever really loved a woman? by Brian Adams

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I know that Women's Day was just a few days ago and I wanted to post this video and song in which Brian Adams sings about how to love a woman and I agree with him on most of what he says (lyrics in English and Spanish). I also like this video because we can also see and listen to the wonderful Spanish guitar "maestro" Paco de Lucía (RIP). The video was recorded in Málaga, very near to where I live.

It also uses the structucture "Have you ever + past participle?" that we are currently learning at the 3rd of ESO, so I did not want to miss the opportunity to use it as a preamble for my next (and I hope it comes soon) post of Present Perfect.

You might think I am being lazy because I haven't been writing on the blog lately, but I do have been blogging, you can check my Spanish and teacher education topics at Formación docente (fuera de horario), my other blog.

Do you like the song? and what do you think of the video? 

Typical Spanish, isn't it?

Starting the course with Katy Perry, 'cause baby YOU are a FIREWORK.

Katy Perry "Firework" Official Lyrics Video por VitellaroNicolas

I like to start the school year with a motivating song that reminds students that they can do whatever they want if they try hard enough. This song by the American artist Katy Perry talks about how you have to show the best of you to shine, and the melody is also very inspiring.

I hope you like it and it inspires you as I wish it inspires my students this year, that is five groups (four of ESO and one first of Bachillerato). You can read the lyrics as you watch the video which is the music and photos from the official video.

Do you like the song? Don't you think it is inspiring?

If you are a new student, feel brave enough to leave a comment!

Modern Classics: Paul Anka?

Have you heard the famous song My way? Well, maybe you have not heard about Paul Anka, but he is the songwriter of this famous song and many others. This Canadian artist knew since he was very young that what he wanted to be was a singer and songwriter, so he started to do so as soon as he was 13 years old. 

His first hit Diana is a very well-known song and many others followed, the first few sung by him, the rest sung by others. His most famous hits are Put your hand on my shoulder, , Lonely Boy and Hold me till the Morning Comes, great love songs. He also wrote a song together with Michael Jackson which was released after Jackson's death, it is called This is it.

If you like melodic music, you will like him, give it a try and tell me what you think!

More Modern Classics: The Beatles, Elvis Presley and The Beach Boys.

Modern Classics: Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley (Mississipi, 1935) was, and still is, one of the most famous singers in the USA and in the whole world. He revolutionised the music in all the world in the 1950s and onwards, until his death in 1977 with a short stop of 18 months to serve military duty. You can see an interesting timeline of Elvis life here.

He recorded more than 150 albums and singles, many of them number 1 hits; and starred in 33 films which were widely heard, bought and watched because apart from his great voice and ways of moving his body, he was very good-looking and attractive and had many fans that followed him everywhere.

He was a very special person, his musical influences (gospel, among others) taught him to love and respect African-American people and, with his example, he promoted equality of rights for  them too.  He was also a bit eccentric and he bought a great mansion, called Graceland, where he lived and died, probably of drug abuse.

If you want to know more about the  so-called King, you can download an activity book.

Did you know Elvis Presley? Do you like his music? 

Modern Classics: The Beatles.

Modern Classics: The Beach Boys.

Modern Classics: The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are a Californian group that started back in the 19690s. They are famous for being one of the first rock vocal groups. They talked in their lyrics about the beach, surfing and having fun, so their songs made people have a good time and forget about their problems. Just like the Beatles, they are part of those modern classics that changed music into what it is today.

They were so famous at their time that groups were created in Spain to sing their songs in Spanish, these are called tribute bands, such as The Summer Boys. They even have their own official fansite in Spain called The Beach Boys Spain. The Beach Boys are actually celebrating their 50th anniversary singing on tour.

Did you know them? Do you like them? 

The Beatles

Close your eyes and listen to the song. Have you ever heard  it? Yes! It's on TV! This is one of many of the songs that The Beatles sang; probably you have heard many more without knowing it.

The Beatles revolutioned the world with their music, but not only the music world, they influenced many other aspects of life, especially in the 1960s, that changed some of our world. To start with, apart from music, they created new styles in clothing and hairstyles: men had not worn long hair for a very, very long time. Something that they really changed was how people behaved at concerts, that is, the fan phenomenon started with them: many security and first-aid  people had to be hired because women shouted and did not want to sit down while listening (as they usually did in concerts before then) and many even fainted.

They were called Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon and started as a group in the British city of Liverpool before their twenties; the last one to come into the band was Ringo Starr. Each of them had a strong personality and lots of creativity, not only in the musical field, but also on other grounds. Together, they composed and sang up to 17 albums and featured in more than seven films. But when the 1960s ended, the band took separate ways too.

People were crazy about them, so crazy that one of them even killed John Lennon at the entrance of his house, next to Central Park where there is a mosaic ordered by her widow Yoko Ono, just across the street. I visited it this summer while in New York City, there was a rose on it; many people still remember not only John Lennon but all of the members of the band with real love. There is even a Beatles Day (10th July) which is celebrated  mostly in Liverpool and Hamburg -where the Beatles worked at the beginning of their career.

Do you know the ad I am talking about? Do you like the Beatles?
Tell us!! Leave your comments!!

Beginning the summer holidays...

The summer holidays are here!!! Even though many of you will be resting yourselves right now, the human being gets tired of everything (I think that is why our civilization has developed so far...) Therefore, although I know that these days you are all doing what Bruno Mars in his The Lazy Song, I'm going to leave you some recommendations to keep up with English during the holidays:

• Follow me in the blog, of course!!! (Even though I may be off  for some days, I need a  rest after the course). I will be posting if it is possible from Canada and New York and will be telling you what I see, so you review your English and increase your culture!!
• Listen to songs in English reading the lyrics at the same time. I know you like Maxima FM a lot, but they don't play much music in English, try others such as Kiss FM and Los Cuarenta.
• Try to watch the TV in English, it is possible now with the TDT; it is difficult at the beginning, but try to stay at least 15 minutes, then you will start getting used to it, maybe watch a TV series you have already watched?
• Many tourists come to where you live or the beach you go to, it is a good idea to meet new people and practice your English at the same time.
• On the internet, you can play funny and interesting games (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation...) at ESL Games World.

I'm sure there are many other things you can do - read books in English (comics if you prefer) or practice the exercises we have seen in class- but I think this is enough;  if you have interesting ideas,
 leave them in a comment!

Collaborative music quiz with Google Docs

 We have been working on types of music and musical instruments  in the class of 1st ESO. The idea came up to me to make a quiz similar to  the one we had in our Swith 1 by Oxford University Press classbook; so my students wrote a question each and I used Google Docs to do the quiz you can see here.

I hope they like how it came out in the end and send the answers and enjoy their own music quiz.I dedicate this post to my students of 1st of ESO C, they are the ones I am tutoring this year and I really appreciate all of them. This is for you!!!

What would happen if bees disappeared?

Bees have lived for 80 millions of years and their population is decreasing alarmingly even up to 50% of the  bees are disappearing. I have heard lately that Einstein said something like: "Should bees disappear, the human race wouldn't outlive them more than four years". There would be no pollination, some vegetal species would not survive, therefore, some animal species would vanish as well and all our food chain would be altered.
 We have been working on conditionals and this post is written in the second conditional because it is an unreal or improbable situation. Let's see a quick review:

Types:	Form:	Use:	Example:
Zero type	If present simple, present simple.	Habitual results.	If you heat water up to 100º, it boils.
Type I	If present tense, will+infinitive.	Probable results.	If it's sunny, we'll go to the beach.
Type II	If past tense, would+infinitive.	Improbable, unreal situations. Also advice.	If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world.
Type III	If past perfect, would have+ past participle.	Impossible situations because they refer to the past.	If I had listened to my mother, I wouldn't have been so miserable all my life.

 You can practice a little bit at English Grammar 4U online or at Perfect English Grammar.

What do you think? What would you do if bees disappeared?
Leave your comments and tell us!!!Use the second conditional type!!
Just in case you get too negative, you can listen to this song by Beyoncé which is one of my favourite songs, especially because of the lyrics. (it is written using the second conditional because she talks about how she would behave if she were a boy)

Beyoncé's  If I were  boy:

You can learn more about conditionals in this other post of the blog.

ADELE: Someone like you.

Adele is a great British singer and song-writer.Born in Tottenham (north of London) lived with her young mother alone. She had a talented voice since she was very young and, even though her economic circunstances were not very good, she went to the Brit School for Performing Arts & Technology. She was discovered by a record company because a friend of her posted a demo by her on MySpace.

I like this song very much and I think that this video is perfect for class use. First, the lyrics can be seen paying attention to the tenses or even filling gaps to use the different tenses (present simple, past simple, past perfect, "will"  future, and also, the imperative or conditional); there are many different tenses and also time lines can be used to explain time referencies and how they are organised in a text. As the video also has the lyrics on, we can enjoy a karaoke version with the whole class or even have the class divided and make competitions between the two groups!!

If you want to know more about Adele, visit her official website.

What do you think? Do you have any other ideas?

Please, leave your comments!!!