Pen spinning

Some of my former students (you know who I'm talking about) had the strange habit of doing tricks with their pens while listening - to help their concentration, they said. By chance, I just found out that this is called pen spinning, and there are thousands of experts at it out there. In fact, there are so many that BIC, the pen company, is organizing a competition!

If you are good enough at it, why don't you try and enter the competition? The prize is a trip to Japan! More details at pen pinning academy. You'll need to hurry up: the deadline is July 31st!

If you're not good enough yet, here's a tutorial:


For extra practice and tricks, type pen spinning in YouTube and you'll find over 6000 more examples and tutorials!

Independence Day

July 4th is Independence Day in the USA. It commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence (on July 4th, 1776), in which 13 American colonies declared they were no longer a part of Great Britain, thus marking the birth of the United States of America.

It's a national holiday marked with a patriotic overtone. It usually takes place outdoors, with parades, barbecues, picnics in the park and fireworks being held all over the country. Decorations take the colour of the American flag (also known as Stars and Stripes): red, white and blue. Read a more detailed description of the festivity by the US State Department.

It's typical of this day to sing patriotic songs such as the national anthem (The star-spangled banner) or Stars and Stripes Forever. If you don't know them, here's a very funny version made by The Muppets:

Happy Father's Day!

Father's day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in the UK and the US. It's quite a recent tradition which dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. Learn more about it at The Holiday Spot.

Do you get on well with your father? Read these quotes about fathers and decide whether you agree with them:

• By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.~ Charles Wadsworth



• Becoming a father is easy enough, but being one can be very rough.~ Wilhelm Busch



• One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters. ~ George Herbert



• I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection. ~ Sigmund Freud



• Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad.~ Anonymous



• The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them.~ Confucius



• A father is a banker provided by nature.~ French Proverb

And listen to the song Father and son by Cat Stevens, probably one of the most beautiful songs ever written:

Selectivitat

Glubs! Selectivitat is finally here! Ahead you have three days of nerves, but also the opportunity to show your worth, so go for it and THE BEST OF LUCK!



Good Luck Comments by Crazyprofile.com

Train your ears!

The Selectivitat exams are approaching, and maybe the listening comprehension part offers the most difficulties. Listen and read the texts in these websites to help you train your ears.

• Breaking news English. Read an article from the press and listen to it (click on Downloads - Listening). If you want further practice, you may do an incredible number of comprehension exercises (with answer keys at the bottom of the page). A great site!



• Podomatic. Listen to news articles read at a very slow pace.



• ESL Podcast. Excellent. Short fragments from everyday conversations. You can download the audio file and listen to it anywhere on your iPod or mp3 player.

Conditionals

Now that the exams are round the corner, and since we didn't have much time to practice the conditional sentences, I recommend that you do a few more exercises online:

• Conditional Sentences / If-Clauses Type I, II and III Some exercises and tests


• Conditional sentences - if A long list of exercises.

And a little joke:

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,
If you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
THEN YOU ARE PROBABLY THE FAMILY DOG!

Animal idol

Operación triunfo, Popstars, Factor X, Tienes talento, Tú sí que vales... or their English equivalents, Pop Idol, The X Factor, Fame Academy... all of them are talent shows, that is, a mixture of reality show and school where the contestants are looking for fame and stardom. You probably have seen some (or all) of them. Here's another one: Animal Idol.

What do you think of it? Would you watch it if it was on TV???