WEEKLY PICKS - 8

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

Article from BBC CULTURE: The world’s most beautiful libraries, Cameron Laux. If like the writer Jorge Luis Borges you believe that Paradise is a library, fasten your seatbelt and prepare to be transported to heaven on earth. (Continue reading)

Article from BBC FUTURE: The ‘quiet eye’ of elite concentration, by David Robson. The way in which athletes can maintain their focus even under high pressure can help doctors, and it is of increasing interest to the military. (Continue reading)

🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS:

• Why English is so hard to learn: adjective order (2:49 minutes) ⇒ See also: Grammar Pills: Order of Adjectives
• Learners' Questions: Adjective order (2:17 minutes)
• Why do we feel nostalgia? - Clay Routledge (4:08 minutes)
• London | Tower of London (4:02 minutes)
• Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? (1:25 minutes)
• 5 American Words That Are Rude In Britain (3:48 minutes)
• Can You Erase Bad Memories? (3:32 minutes)
• Are You Normal? (3:17 minutes)
• Goleman Six Leadership Styles (3:54 minutes)

5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:

• Where do superstitions come from? - Stuart Vyse (5:10 minutes)
• The benefits of a bilingual brain - Mia Nacamulli (5:03 minutes)
• The 71 Most AMAZING Innovations of All Time (6:41 minutes)
• 6 Minute Vocabulary: How to use linking words (6:06 minutes)
• Telling someone what to do - 52 - English at Work shows you the ropes (6:06 minutes)
• Top 10 Best Airports in The World (9:29 minutes)
• The myth of Icarus and Daedalus - Amy Adkins (5:08 minutes)

A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!

• Visit Las Vegas - 10 Things That Will SHOCK You About Las Vegas (11:32 minutes)
• British Accents: MANCHESTER / MANCUNIAN (11:15 minutes)
• Humor and culture in international business | Chris Smit | TED x Leuven (14:42 minutes)
• How to stay calm when you know you'll be stressed | Daniel Levitin (12:20 minutes)

💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:

• Idioms - exercise 4
• Idioms - exercise 5
• Health and Medicine - Words
• Health and Fitness - Collocations
• Collective Nouns (List of official names of groups of things) ⇒ Collective Nouns Game
• Synonyms Matching 1
• Antonyms Matching Worksheet 5
• Health Problems (List of common types of health problems)

💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:

• EITHER/OR, NEITHER/NOR, TOO 1
• ARTICLE or NO ARTICLE? 1
• Articles with idioms 1
• First or second conditional? 1
• GERUND or INFINITIVE? 1
• Tag questions 1
• Quantifiers: More, most, the most 1
• Adjective or Adverb? (Are these sentences correct?)
• Time Prepositions 1
• Little / Few - Exercise
• A Little / A Few - Exercise 4
• Verb 'To Be' - Phrasal Verb Quiz (Choose the correct definition for each phrasal verb.)
• Quiz: Phrasal Verbs - Bring (Choose the correct answer.)

MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!

WEEKLY PICKS - 7

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

Article from BBC TRAVEL: A country that doesn’t want to be happy, by Kate Leaver,
Finland came out on top in the 2018 World Happiness Report, but what if its people don’t agree? (Continue reading)

Article from BBC CAPITAL: The secret advantage of aiming low, by David Robson
Sports stars show us that it can sometimes pay to be a big fish in a small pond.
Watching nail-biting sports dramas play out this summer, you may struggle to see any parallel with your own career. What could a teacher, lawyer or engineer possibly learn from elite sports stars like a Raheem Stirling or a Simona Halep?
Yet some organisational scientists believe the rise of certain athletes – and footballers in particular – can offer success strategies for everyone, with some particular insights into a phenomenon known as the “Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect”. (Continue reading)

Article from BBC CULTURE: Five countries that set world culture, by Lindsey Galloway
Global influence is often measured by military, political or economic might. But for these countries, it’s their food, fashion or entertainment that most strongly impacts the wider world. (Continue reading)

🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS

• Plato’s best (and worst) ideas - Wisecrack (4:48 minute)
• You're Not What You Think You Are (3:15 minutes)
• The history of tea - Shunan Teng (4:57 minutes)
• Amazing Facts to Blow Your Mind Pt. 2 (2:23 minutes)
• Amazing Facts To Blow Your Mind Pt. 3 (2:19 minutes)
• BBC Masterclass: Formal and informal English (4:07 minutes)
• BBC Masterclass: Be polite - how to soften your English (4:25 minutes)
• Customs at PQ International Airport (2:49 minutes)
• English: At the airport (1:42 minute)
• You Have Arrived (4:14 minute)

5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:

• The myth of Cupid and Psyche - Brendan Pelsue (5:32 minutes)
• The great conspiracy against Julius Caesar - Kathryn Tempest (5:57 minutes)
• BBC 6 Minute English - "Brain Training" with English Subtitle (6:05 minutes)
• DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRITISH AND AMERICAN CULTURE (UK VS USA) (5:06 minutes)
• How Did You Get Here? (5:55 minutes)
• The Four Love Types: Explorer, Builder, Director, And Negotiator (6:16 minutes)
• Visit Denmark - 10 Things That Will SHOCK You About Denmark (10:20 minutes)

A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!

• London Accents: RP | Cockney | Multicultural London English (12:10 minutes)
• The Economics of Airline Class (11:37 minutes)
• 20 MORE Words Brits and Americans Say Differently (12:43 minutes)

💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:

• Vocabulary related to education (List of vocabulary items related to education) ⇒ Practice: Education
• Idioms - exercise 2
• Idioms - exercise 3
• Vocabulary Fill in Exercise 2
• Someone / Anyone
• Something / Anything
• Somewhere / Anywhere

💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:

• Prepositions of time Exercise 9
• Prepositions of time Exercise 10
• Articles with Geographical Names Exercise 1
• Articles with Geographical Names Exercise 2
• have to/must Quiz
• Relative Adverbs
• Participles
• Infinitive and Gerund
• Verb 'To Do' - Phrasal Verb Quiz – 1 (Choose the correct definition for each phrasal verb)
• Quiz: Phrasal Verbs – Do - 2 (Choose the correct preposition or particle for each phrasal verb)

• Random Phrasal Verb Quiz (Test your understanding of phrasal verbs with these random phrasal verb quizzes. Each time you 'start again', it will show you a new quiz generated from a phrasal verbs database.)

MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!

WEEKLY PICKS - 6

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

📜 READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

Article from BBC TRAVEL: The Mysterious origins of Europe’s oldest language
When Francisco Franco banned the use of the ancient Euskara language, residents of the Basque Country fought to keep it alive. (Continue reading)

Article from BBC FUTURE: The people who cannot smile, by Neil Steinberg
Smiling is a fundamental part of how we interact with other people, but what if you were not able to do it? (Continue reading)

Article from BBC CULTURE: The Hitchcock film tooshocking to be made, by Nicholas Barber

Inspired by a real-life serial-killer case, Hitchcock’s vision for Kaleidoscope was deemed too gruesome and sexually explicit for its time.

For all of his phenomenal achievements, Alfred Hitchcock is probably best known for Psycho, and in particular the scene in which – spoiler alert – a man dressed in his dead mother’s clothes stabs a naked woman in a motel shower. Audiences in 1960 were traumatised. In a recent documentary about that one scene, 78/52, Peter Bogdanovich remembers the “sustained shriek” that filled the cinema when Psycho premiered in New York. But Hitchcock had an even more shocking film planned just a few years later. It would have been called Kaleidoscope. (Continue reading)

🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS

• Learn ways to say... it's very hot (0:43 seconds)
• Everything Wrong With Android, Explained (4:07 minutes)
• You Are Not The Majority (3:20 minutes)
• The Science of Love (2:53 minutes)
• Can Money Buy Happiness? (2:49 minutes)
• Where did English come from? - Claire Bowern (4:53 minutes)
• How to COOK in ENGLISH (4:51 minutes)
• Why can't you divide by zero? - TED-Ed (4:50 minutes)

5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:

• Customs & Border Protection - Entering the U.S. (7:06 minutes)
• Travel English: How to go through customs at the airport (8:21 minutes) ⇒ Then, take a free quiz HERE
• How to Order Food in an American Restaurant - Travel English (9:35 minutes)
• Lithuanian Superstitions -Superstitions from Around the World (5:57 minutes)
• Learn to talk about broken hearts in 6 minutes! (6:36 minutes)
• BBC 6 minute English   Coffee addiction transcript video (6:08 minutes)

A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!

• What British People REALLY MEAN with Joel and Lia (13:24 minutes)
• British Accents: MANCHESTER/ MANCUNIAN (11:15 minutes)
• How To Speak English Better| 10 Great Tips (11:46 minutes)

💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:

• Adverb Verb Collocation Games set 1 ⇒ Which adverb best goes with which verb? (When you finish, click on “Next Game” and get a full new set of pairs! There are 10 games.)
• Adverb Verb Collocation Games set 2 ⇒ Which adverb best goes with which verb? (When you finish, click on “Next Game” and get a full new set of pairs! There are 10 games.)
• Vocabulary Fill in Exercise 1
• Synonyms Matching Exercise 1
• Opposites Matching Exercise 1

💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:

• Countable and uncountable nouns
• but vs. and
• Either/Or and Neither/Nor
• Prepositions Exercise 4
• Phrasal Verbs with GET
• Phrasal Verbs with the verb GET – Exercise
• Test on Relative Clauses
• Infinitive or Gerund after verbs
• Preposition collocations exercise 1
• Quiz on Prepositions
• Gerund or Progressive

• Random Phrasal Verb Quiz (Test your understanding of phrasal verbs with these random phrasal verb quizzes. Each time you 'start again', it will show you a new quiz generated from a phrasal verbs database.)

MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!

WHAT DO THEY REALLY MEAN?

From Friday: The Experiment, BBC Learning English - [Images: GETTY IMAGES]

'What They Really Mean' shows how misunderstandings can be caused when people say things indirectly.

Each of these 5 episodes shows you how to avoid these misunderstandings.

🎬 EPISODE 1 ⇒ QUESTIONS AS WARNINGS 
Mark can't understand why Chloe is asking about his hat. She's trying to warn him about something - but he just doesn't understand. Watch the video and learn how to tell when someone's questions are trying to warn you.

(For a full transcript, a quiz and much more, CLICK HERE)

🎬 EPISODE 2 ⇒ SUGGESTIONS AS INSTRUCTIONS

Mark can't understand why Chloe is annoyed. She had been giving him instructions - but he just didn't realise. Watch the video and learn how to tell when someone's suggestions are really instructions.

(For a full transcript, a quiz and much more, CLICK HERE)

🎬 EPISODE 3 ⇒ EUPHEMISTIC FEEDBACK

Emily didn't like Mark's ideas. She tried to tell him, but he didn't realise. Watch the video to find out why. It shows you how to identify euphemistic feedback. This is where people try to say to something negative without causing offence.

(For a full transcript, a quiz and much more, CLICK HERE)

🎬 EPISODE 4 ⇒ SARCASM

The British summer's fantastic, isn't it? Mark thinks Chloe is trying to trick him. Watch the video to find out why he got it wrong. It shows you how to identify sarcasm. This is where people say the opposite to what they mean.

(For a full transcript, a quiz and much more, CLICK HERE)

🎬EPISODE 5 ⇒ DISGUISED REQUESTS

Olivia's had a house party. It's late at night and now she just wants everyone to leave so she can go to bed. She uses disguised requests to let Mark know she wants him to leave. But he doesn't realise.

Disguised requests are questions people ask to gently suggest that another person should do something. Olivia says "Is it 10 o'clock?" but what she means is, "go home." Watch the video to find out how to identify disguised requests.

(For a full transcript, a quiz and much more, CLICK HERE)

WEEKLY PICKS - 5

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

Article from Mind Tools: Beating Self-Sabotage: Recognizing and Overcoming It
"You can't do that!" "That's way too difficult!" "If you try, you'll probably just fail anyway." These statements sound as if they're coming from a tyrannical and cruel person with a mission to destroy self-confidence. Unfortunately, all too often, we can be the tyrant and our target can be ourselves. (Continue reading)

Article from BBC TRAVEL: The end to a French cheese tradition?

After years of lobbying, industrial producers are now allowed to make camembert with pasteurised milk. As a result, one of France’s beloved cheeses may be disappearing for good. (Continue reading)

Article from BBC CAPITAL: Why suppressing anger at work is bad

How faking your feelings at work can be damaging – We all put on a front a work, but researchers have found that burnout can relate closely to how employees manage their emotions during emotional or stressful interactions. (Continue reading)

🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS

• Why English is so hard to learn: words ending '-ough' (1:15 minutes)
• Solstice superlatives! (0:53 minutes)
• Learn some luck-related expressions (0:48 minutes)
• Keywords and phrases: critically endangered, wiped out, rearing in captivity, sanctuary (4:03 minutes)
• What Would Happen If America's Internet Went Down (3:02 minutes)
• Immigration Airport (2:35 minutes)
• What Happens In One Minute? (1:00 minute)
• What Does Your Accent Say About You? (3:25 minutes)

5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:

• Talk about gaming in 6 minutes! (6:12 minutes)
• How do your hormones work? - Emma Bryce (5:03 minutes)
• BBC News Review: US child-separation policy debate (8:20 minutes)
• The science of hearing - Douglas L. Oliver (5:16 minutes)
• What is sustainability? with Hank Green (7:59 minutes)
• Learn to talk about microadventures in 6 minutes! (6:24 minutes)
• How to… say goodbye (6:15 minutes)
• 10 Essential Phrasal Verbs | Fashion and Clothing (7:44 minutes)
• What Do You Call People From...? | English Vocabulary (6:03 minutes)

A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!

• VLOG| Canberra Renting Nightmare! | House & Renting Vocabulary | Everyday Australian English (15:49 minutes)

💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:

• Adverb Adjective Collocation Games set 1 ⇒ Which adverb best goes with which verb? (When you finish, click on “Next Game” and get a full new set of pairs! There are 10 games.)
• Adverb Adjective Collocation Games set 2 ⇒ Which adverb best goes with which verb? (When you finish, click on “Next Game” and get a full new set of pairs! There are 10 games.)
• Adjectives
• Plurals (1)
• Plurals (2)

💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:

• Dependent prepositions
• Phrasal Verbs: Over
• Definite Article or Zero Article?
• Zero article or The?
• Zero or Definite Article
• All & Every
• Past simple and present perfect
• Active or Passive Quiz
• Tag Questions Quiz
• Infinitive/-ing Quiz
• Conjunctions

❓ QUIZ ⇒ Random Phrasal Verb Quiz (Test your understanding of phrasal verbs with these random phrasal verb quizzes. Each time you 'start again', it will show you a new quiz generated from a phrasal verbs database.)

MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!

GRAMMAR PILLS: ORDER OF ADJECTIVES

By Georgina Jacobs

First things first… 

What’s an adjective?

An adjective is a word or a structure that describes, qualifies or modifies a noun (= NOMBRE / SUSTANTIVO) or pronoun. 

¿Por qué es necesario estudiar el orden de los adjetivos en inglés? 

Porque los adjetivos se colocan normalmente en un orden en particular según el tipo de adjetivo que sea (por ejemplo: opinión: interesting/beautiful, forma: square/round, material: wooden/gold, etc.). 

Básicamente, los adjetivos se colocan en 2 posiciones: 

1) ATTRIBUTIVE ⇒ BEFORE THE NOUN (as an attribute):
→ [That blue car] is mine.
    adjective + noun

2) PREDICATIVE ⇒ AFTER THE VERB (in the predicate):
→ My car [is blue].
           verb + adjective

💡Tip: La mayoría de los adjetivos pueden usarse en ambas posiciones, pero algunos pueden usarse solo en 1 de las 2 (attributive or predicative):

✅ It was our main problem. [‘main’ ⇒ attributive = before the noun]

✅ The children were alone at home. [‘alone’ ⇒ predicative = after the verb]

These sentences, on the other hand, are not correct:

❌ Our problem was main. [‘main’ cannot be used in the predicative position]
❌ Some alone children [‘alone’ cannot be used in the attributive position]

🔗 Click here for more examples

Además, hay una 3ra posición: 

3) POSTPOSITIVE ⇒ AFTER THE NOUN:
→ All candidates present on the test day...
              noun + adjective

🔗 Click here for more examples + an exercise

ORDER OF ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES

Cuando colocamos más de un adjetivo en attributive position, debemos seguir un orden: 1ro van los adjetivos que expresan opinión (lo que pensamos de algo, nuestra percepción subjetiva, como beautiful, interesting or cute) y luego, los que expresan un hecho (fact), es decir que son objetivos, como el tamaño, la forma o el color.

Según Cambridge English Grammar Today, el orden más común en el que colocamos attributive adjectives es el siguiente (esto podría modificarse en frases enfáticas):

Source: Cambridge English Grammar Today

Source: Cambridge English Grammar Today

💡 ALSO READ 1: Adjective Order (Englishclub) ⇒ Check out the Table! ⇒ Then, take the quiz ⇒ Adjective Order Quiz

💡 ALSO READ 2: ADJECTIVE ORDER - TEST ENGLISH (Explanation + 3 exercises)

🎬 VIDEOS:

ORDER OF ADJECTIVES (It only takes 2:17 minutes!)

Never Break This Grammar Rule - Adjective Order (3:34 minutes)

💡 Further Practice:

• Adjective order in English 1
• Adjective order in English 2
• Adjective order in English 3
• Adjective order in English 4
• Adjective order

Georgina Jacobs