Would you like to celebrate Thanksgiving?

As you know, I'm English so I've never celebrated Thanksgiving at home but I've always seen it on American films and series and it seemed so appealing!! Everyone with their family and friends around a table full of autumn recipes in their cosy dining rooms, feeling thankful and at peace with the world, what could beat that?

As you can see I would like Thanksgiving to be celebrated everywhere! Besides I'm not the only one, take look at a post by Ellen (a British Council blogger) who has thought of five reasons to celebrate Thanksgiving:-

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/magazine/life-around-world/5-reasons-why-i-wish-we-celebrated-thanksgiving-uk

Imagine Thanksgiving was celebrated in Spain, what would happen? Let's use the second conditional to speculate, e.g.:-

If Thanksgiving were celebrated in Spain, I would like to try pumpkin pie.

OR

If Thankgiving were celebrated in Spain, it would be a great opportunity to spend time with our families.

Please write at least five second conditional sentences like these, feel free to post them in the comments below.

Use these questions to help you.

• What recipe would you make for Thanksgiving if it were celebrated in Spain?
• Who would you celebrate Thanksgiving with if you celebrated it?
• Is there anything you wouldn't like to try if you celebrated Thanksgiving?

EXTRA PRACTICE

Match these photos (from one to nine from left to right) to the definitions:-

A) They fall from trees in Autumn, they're normally red, orange and brown.

B) It's a dessert made of pumpkin.

C) We normally carve it at Halloween.

D) Squirrels eat them.

E) We can eat this in a salad, for breakfast (as cereal) and grilled with salt.

F) Men used to wear it to protect themselves from the sun or the cold.

G) It's sweet and usually red or green

H) It grows on pine trees.

I) In the UK we eat it at Christmas

Writing a Company Profile for your Company

Today we're going to talk about writing or preparing a company profile for your company. 

Let's take a look at some examples of company profiles:-


https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/examples-of-company-profile-pages

Here are some useful phrases we can use to write our own company profile:-

Geography

• We are based in
• We are located in
• We are situated in
• (Company name), whose head office is in
• The Geneva-based company, (company name)

Employees

• We employ (number) of people
• There are (number) of people on the payroll
• (Company name) boasts a workforce of (number)
• We are a global company employing (number) people

Activity

• Our firm/company/branch/division specialises in
• At (company name), we produce / manufacture
• Our company supplies (main customer name) with
• (Company name) is one of the world's foremost (type of company)
• (Company name) is a world-class (type of company)

Type

• A joint venture
• A subsidiary
• A holding company

Position

• (Company name) is the leading company in its field
• (Company name) ranks number one in the market for
• (Company name) is a major player / operates in many different markets
• (Group name) is a group ranking among the world's top 20.....
• (Company name) is a recently established / well-established company
• (Company name) is an enterprise with a long tradition success

Financial Information

• (Company name), achieving an annual turnover of $/€
• (Company name), generating profits of $/€
• (Company name), generating sales of almost €2 billion
• (Company name), with revenues of  €

Last Monday was a very special night in the UK, it was Bonfire night!

First thing's first, what is a bonfire? 

A bonfire is a fire that is started outdoors, on purpose, and kept under control (unlike a forest fire).

A BONFIRE

Here in Spain bonfires are quite typical on St John's Eve in June but in the UK, we celebrate Bonfire night on the 5th of November. I'm sure you're wondering why, take a look at the following video to find out:-

https://youtu.be/soe8Z_Ej4Ck

Like any other celebration children and teenagers actively take part. Here is another video about how young people take part in the Bonfire Night celebrations.

https://youtu.be/Wnq7aqHLCSM

Now you know all the facts about Bonfire Night, are these sentences true or false?

A) Guy Fawkes killed King James I

B) Bonfire Night is on the 11th of November

C) People make a guy to burn on the bonfire

D) Children under 18 can buy fireworks at shops

E) Children can use sparklers

F) Treason is when trees lose their leaves

Write your answers in the comments!

SPARKLERS

An outing to the butcher's... But what do I ask for???

Going to the butcher's is something that not all of us do, maybe for several reasons; a family member usually goes, we buy meat at the supermarket in trays or perhaps you don't even eat meat. 
Although it's not normally something we can skip at Christmas, especially with family coming for lunch or dinner.
I'm sure a lot of you know the basics, such as:-

PORK CHOPS

SAUSAGES

But what about some meat for a roast dinner? 

Here's a chart for different cuts of beef:-

Or perhaps you prefer pork?

You will probably need other vocabulary such as:-

• I would like a small / medium / large pork (shoulder/loin) joint please.

This is a pork joint:-

• Can I have a lean (with as little fat as possible) tenderloin steak, please?

Here is some more information about lean beef cuts:-

https://www.mypricechopper.com/recipes/cooking-tips/cuts-of-beef

Now you've got your meat it's time to do something with it, here is a recipe for roast beef with some useful vocabulary:-

https://www.learnenglish.de/recipe/roastbeef.html

Enjoy!

All Hallows' Eve - Halloween

In the past people didn't use to celebrate Halloween in Spain but nowadays it's really popular. Do you know why Halloween started? Take a look at this great summary from the British Council:-

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine/halloween

What do you normally do for Halloween?

In the UK going trick or treating is very typical however I didn't use to go very often. When I was a child I used to go to a Halloween party at a campsite where my parents had a caravan, there was a fancy dress competition and prizes for the winners. There were also party games like musical chairs, musical statues, apple bobbing and karaoke.

Here is some entertaining homework for you for Halloween:-

https://es.lyricstraining.com/en/play/the-nightmare-before-christmas/this-is-halloween/HYNA9pBZXY

You can watch the music video "This is Halloween" and click on the words you hear that are missing from the lyrics underneath. It gives you four level options so it's appropriate for your level. Enjoy!

You want to watch something in English, but a film or a series can be a bit too challenging? There are other options...

When you watch something that's not in your native language it's very understandable that it's not always enjoyable! Maybe it's too long and you get tired, or they speak too quickly.... Perhaps their accents are difficult to understand.... Don't despair! There are other options. 

What about a mini-series aimed at learning English? It's at a reasonable speed, the episodes are shorter and maybe there are even exercises to do after watching:-

Extr@

Extr@ is a light comedy about a Spanish guy, Hector, who decides to stay with some friends in London and learn some English. You can find it on Youtube:-

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=extr%40+ingles

If you search on Google you can even find a workbook in PDF with exercises to do some related homework.

You're Hired! (The British Council)

You can learn job interview skills by watching this business orientated mini-series:-

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/es/youre-hired

Perhaps you get bored of watching the same thing every time, as they say variety is the spice of life. Try:-

BBC Learning English 

There's something for everyone; vocabulary, phonetics, dramas, short podcast videos (1 to 6 minutes), etc.

https://www.youtube.com/user/bbclearningenglish

Video Zone (The British Council)

An entertaining selection of videos in English. this is great if you're tired of hard study:-

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/es/video-zone


What do you watch when you want to practise English? Feel free to share your links in the comments :)

Classic Novels and learning English, incompatible? Not at all

I've always loved reading, in any shape or form. As a child and teenager I would read anything, anywhere... I had a lot more free time on my hands back then. I liked most genres but reading classics had a special ring. I suppose it was due to the historical setting, you could read a good novel and learn a great deal about that period of time, all in one!

Well, in today's post we're going to take that a step further, reading (or listening to a classic) and learning English (and some History) at the same time. 
Where we would find that type of material, you're probably thinking... On the BBC languages website, of course!

I was born in Exeter in Devon (England) but I lived, for the last years of my life in England, in Cornwall. So I've chosen a classic novel, set in Cornwall, about a tavern called the Jamaica Inn, here are some pictures:-

The typical English tavern / hotel, what you probably don't know is the legend says it's haunted (full of ghosts).... I invite you to research that online, there are even videos...

Anyway, back to the point, here is the first episode of the Jamaica Inn, you can read it or listen to it as a podcast and I'm going to put a short comprehension quiz in the comments. Enjoy!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/drama/jamaica-ep-01