Today, let’s talk about how May Day is celebrated in some parts of Europe. For many, it is a traditional workers' holiday.
In Greece, one of the more popular activities on May Day is fire jumping. This is done after the sun sets. Women dance around the lit fire. The children wet their clothes and hair, before jumping over the fire. It is a symbolic act, to keep away winter and disease. Another popular tradition is picking flowers, and creating a May Day wreath, to hang on their doors. It is meant to bring people closer to nature.
In France, May Day is really a day off for its workers. French people like to give family and friends little sprigs, bouquets, or even whole plants of lily of the valley, for good luck. The more bell-like the flower, the better the luck.
Today, we are going to talk about the extraordinary news story, of an airline passenger, who was dragged, yelling, off a United Airlines flight in America. Three other passengers, on flight 3411 from Chicago, were also ejected, so four-crew could take their seats, to connect them onto other flights.
Dr David Dao, 69, was forcibly ejected from the plane he was on, in Chicago. His crime? To book a seat with United Airlines, sit in it, and expect them to honour its side of the contract. When no one agreed to give up their seats, four passengers were randomly selected to be removed.
Today’s English lesson, about doors, is inspired by one of my students, who happened to be looking at a door, when asked for a topic of conversation.
You’d be surprised what you can say about doors. For starters, there are several different shapes of door. Most doors are rectangular. Some are double-opening doors. They can be made of glass, wood, wood panelling, plastic, or uPVC. A good joiner can make a handmade door, though, many doors today are manufactured in a factory. There are also aluminium and steel doors. Wooden doors can be painted, stained or polished.
Today, we are going to talk about spring. It is one of the four seasons. Spring follows on from winter and precedes summer. The other season being autumn. Spring starts when the equinox is 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. In the UK, and Europe, spring is when the clocks go forward one hour.
Originally, spring was called Lent. In the 14th century that time of year was called springing time. This being a reference to plants springing from the ground. In the 15th century, it got shortened to spring-time. In the 16th century, it got further shortened to spring.
Thousands of British teenagers are to be taught a new cyber curriculum. Training will be given in cyber security. The idea being, that it will help boost British defences against the rising threat of online hacking attacks.
The new cyber curriculum scheme is led by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It is aimed at teenagers between 14 and 18 years of age. An initial target of 5,700 students will be selected for the scheme. Older teenagers will be allowed to join the scheme, if they meet the right criteria. A pilot launch will begin in September.
Score 10 points for every correct answer – Score 5 points if half right! Play a JOKER in one round and get DOUBLE points in that round. Show it before you start the round. There are 12 rounds with 6 questions in each round.
Classic Christmas Music / Santa / International Xmas / Christmas General / More Classic Christmas Music / The Nativity Story / A Christmas Mix / Christmas Pot Luck / A UK Christmas / Christmas History / Famous Carols / Another Christmas Mix
Have lots of fun - good luck!
Merry Christmas!
Today, let’s talk about meals that children should be able to cook by the time they are 11. These include scrambled egg on toast, cheese on toast, sausage and mash, as well as porridge.
There are many other easy meals that kids can prepare. These include roast chicken, meatballs and a stew. By the age of 11 children should also be able to prepare desserts, such as fairy cakes, sponge cakes and apple crumble.
When faced with the challenge of preparing their own meal, most 11 year olds might just head for McDonald’s. It could also be a 3 minute ready meal in the microwave or a take away.
Today let’s talk about good housekeeping. These are the little jobs that need to be done around the house and garden once a year, every few months, or on a more regular basis.
The windows in your house or flat need washing. Many people employ a window cleaner to clean the outside of windows. But how often you do wash the inside of them? When did you last wipe down the window or for that matter the doorframes? Many people forget or are lazy to wipe down the skirting board.
Washing the curtain netting and curtains, periodically, makes all the difference, especially if you live in a city, where the dirt soon makes your netting rather black. Likewise, wiping down lightbulbs might brighten the room up.
Today, let’s talk about how the internet is affecting the way we speak and learn English. Perhaps a good example is this British English lesson that stems from the internet.
The World Wide Web today offers people many ways to learn and speak English. Web pages include news, movie clips and social networking sites. All offer a fast instant learning process.
Category: Language / English / Internet
Norway this weekend was recovering from what has been described as its greatest tragedy since World War II. The tragedy started on Friday 22 July when a massive bomb detonated in the centre of the capital Oslo shattering buildings all around. Then about two hours later a lone gunman went on the rampage on an island about 60km from the capital killing 85 students who were attending a youth summer camp, for youths aged 14-21, run by the ruling Labour party.
So far 93 people have been killed in the attacks. Another 96 have been injured and some are still missing. The tragedy has rocked the nation and the world. A lone Norwegian gunman has admitted he did it. The question is why?
On Sunday Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told mourners at a memorial service at the city’s Lutheran cathedral in Oslo that since the attacks the last two days felt like an eternity. Norway’s King Harald V and his wife were also there laying single white flowers as they entered the cathedral.
Category: Norway / Oslo / Youth Camp
