In this TED Talk, linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter makes the case that English is rapidly consolidating its position as the global language, and points out how this begs an important question: if you speak English already, why bother learning another language? He then goes on to provide some brilliant answers, which can be summarised as:
If you want to imbibe a culture, if you want to drink it in, if you want to become part of it, then you have to control to some degree the language that the culture happens to be conducted in. There’s no other way.
It’s been shown that if you speak two languages, dementia is less likely to set in and that you are probably a better multitasker. Bilingualism is healthy.
Languages are just a lot of fun.
We live in an era when it’s never been easier to teach yourself another language.
Surf the net and find the answers to these questions about Dolores O'Riordan:
1. When and where was she born?
2. What was the person’s family like?
3. What was the person’s childhood like?
4. Where did the person go to school?
5. What important early experiences did the person have?
6. Why is the person famous?
7. What problems did she have to overcome?
8. Who did the person marry?
9. How many children did the person have?
10. Choose your favourite song from the ones above.
1. In Ancient Greece, doctors believed that the body and mind were controlled by four ______________, one of which was black bile, which gives us the word melancholy.
A) Elements B) Fluids C) Humors D)Vapors
Continue the listening activity in the worksheet provided by your teacher.
Miley Cyrus and Jimmy Fallon take turns singing songs, like Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You," after running the lyrics through Google Translate.
This YouTuber has translated the song Let It Go from Disney's Frozen into several languages and then she has brought it back into English. Listen and enjoy, it's hilarious!
Watch the video and answer the following questions:
Where and when did Halloween start?
Who were the first people to celebrate Halloween?
When was New Year's Day celebrated 2,000 years ago?
How did Halloween get its name? The word comes from medieval England's All Hallows' ___.
Why did people start wearing costumes on Halloween?
How did it become an American festivity?
What's the name given to carved pumpkins?
Why do people trick-or-treat on Halloween?
Watch the Jimmy Kimmel Halloween Candy 2015 video here! For each of the past five years, he has asked parents to pretend they ate all their kids' Halloween Candy and post a video of it to YouTube and here are the best of the best.
Click hereif you want to watch the 6th annual 'Hey Jimmy Kimmel I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy.' #YouTubeChallenge 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃
Travel Back in time and enter ancient worlds, meet famous people and discover fascinating facts by exploring a wide selection of historical games and activities on BBC History For Kids.
Check out this History For Kids video collection below.
Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicted something called gravitational waves. Science has tried to prove their existence for decades but failed to detect them; until now. This discovery, explained in plain English in the video below, could lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of the strangest and darkest reaches of the universe, including black holes and exploding stars.
Find out who Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) is and what he does for a living here
1916: Einstein predicts Gravity Waves. 1917: He lays the foundation for Lasers. 2016: Gravity Waves discovered using Lasers.
This well known distinguished American scientist also campaigns actively against the stupidity behind the so-called Intelligent Design. He makes his scientific point in the video below. Warning: sounds like atheism.
The video below from The Guardian explains pretty well the importance of this breakthrough discovery after a century of expectation.
The phenomenon detected was the collision of two black holes. Using the world’s most sophisticated detector, the scientists listened for 20 thousandths of a second as the two giant black holes, one 35 times the mass of the sun, the other slightly smaller, circled around each other.
Reading and Listening activities on Gravitational Wave Discovery for EFL students at Breaking News English
Are you racist? 'No' isn't a good enough answer
Are you racist? 'No' isn't a good enough answer.We can pull off being non-racist by being asleep in bed while black men are killed by police. We need to stop being non-racist, and start being anti-racist
Posted by The Guardian on Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Most of us, says Marlon James, are non-racist. While that leaves us with a clear conscience, he argues, it does nothing to help fight injustice in the world.
Open a static page in your classroom blog and create a post in which you embed your three 2015 top news stories. Add images and videos to illustrate your picks.
Share your best 2015 movie, song, and TV series on twitter. Dateline: January 21st
Grab some tissues now: Four years after 21, Adele released her new album and instantly warmed her way into the hearts of millions of people with Hello, her heartbreaking reflection on the subject of picking over the past and reconciling yourself to the failure of an old relationship. By popular demand here it is the most requested song in my classes.
Whether you're telling a joke, or telling a fairy tale, telling a story well is an important skill. While it comes naturally to some, for others this skill is a learned one. Never fear, you can learn to tell a better, more engaging story with the video above and also watching the videos on this TEDTalks playlist. Worth the time!
Children's writer Judith Kerr has revived Mog for this year's Sainsbury's advert. "Mog’s Christmas Calamity" is the first story in the series since 2002, when the stripey feline died of old age in the 16th title, "Goodbye, Mog". Watch the new Sainsbury’s Christmas Advert starred by Mog, the forgetful cat, that sets off a chain of unfortunate events which almost ruin Christmas for the Thomas family.
2015 Top Heartbreaking Christmas Adverts Revealed!
A Christmas advert released by German supermarket Edeka is melting hearts worldwide. Lots of viewers believe Edeka has trumped John Lewis' emotive Man On The Moon advert as the most powerful yet. Which advert is more heart-breaking? Cast your vote on twitter!
Finally, take a look at the products actually sold by the companies behind the ads. John LewisEdeka Feeling still heartbroken? Share on twitter your Ad Heartbroken's Pick of 2015, use #HeartbrokenAd
April Fools' Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated by many people around the world on April 1st. It's a day where people revel in playing all kinds of tricks on friends, family, and peers. Another name for April Fools' Day is All Fools' Day.
No one really knows where or when the holiday began. It seems most likely that the holiday has slowly evolved into its present form over hundreds--maybe thousands, even--of years. Both the Romans and the Hindus had holidays around the vernal equinox. So we can guess that the origins probably began with festivities held at this time of year.
In ages past, people often considered this as the New Year, because it marked a change in seasons. With the disappearance of snow and cold weather, people could prepare the fields for crops. There was the birth of livestock and other animals, too. Nature came out of its months' long slumber.
But how did ancient festivals welcoming spring get connected with playing pranks? Read more
Transcript: At Miz Mooz, we understand the importance of looking great without giving up the comfort our women on-the-go have come to love about our footwear. Introducing the Selfie Shoes. No matter where you go, you’ll always be camera-ready. Just insert your phone into the port at the front of either your right or left shoe, raise it to the perfect angle and click the internal button with a tap of your toe to take the photo. With the Selfie Shoes, you no longer have to use your arm, so now both hands are free to be in the photo.
In the next video, a really good prank that a trigonometry teacher pulled off.
