Do you trust first impressions?

Do you trust first impressions or do you need more time to get to know a person and then decide what kind of relationship you are going to have with him/her?

Listening exercise to do: Faces and first impressions (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

Which verb does the adjective 'trustworthy' come from? What does it mean?   

 

What does the expression 'to go with your gut' mean?

 

 

Article to read about the issue:

First Impressions: what can babies see? (The Guardian)

 

 

What does 'a drill' mean? It has got mainly two meanings. Here's one from the point of view of teachers:  DRILLING TECHNIQUE (The teachers' room, BBC Learning English)

Is Television helpful or harmful for our society?

Here are some articles to read about the issue:

• Television – not in front of the children? (The Guardian)

• Watching too much TV in your 20s may impact how your brain works in mid-life, study suggests (The Washington Post)

• How soap operas changed the world (BBC)

• Television isn't a bad influence on society after all (The Guardian)

 

Crossword on TELEVISION (BBC Learning English)

Vocabulary and Listening exercise to do: Language to use in research (English at work, BBC Learning English)

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 170419 / 19 April 2017   >>>  Expressions presented: tunnelling, put a spin on & camaraderie.

 

 

Travelling to Ibiza and Dronies

Do you like travelling and making photographs?

Here's a Selectivity exam the University of Granada proposes to do: Welcome to Las Dalias Hippy Market (you can find a link to download the exam in my site: 2º Bachillerato) and here are some articles related to the issue you can read:

• Holiday guide to Ibiza: the best beaches, clubs, hotels, bars and restaurants (The Guardian)

• Mini-guide to rural Ibiza (BBC)

• Ibiza: Far from the clubbing crowd (The Daily Telegraph)

• The hippy is back: not so cool if you remember it the first time round (The Guardian)

  
  

  

  And when travelling, photos are just essential. However, there is a new trend these days that you can read about in this proposed Selectivity exam (Dronies: a new trend to replace selfies  >>  again you can find a link to download a copy of the exam in my site: 2º Bachillerato  ) and in these related articles:

   

•   Forget selfies - how 'dronies' could be the next big photography trend (The Daily Telegraph)

• ‘Dronies' may become new trend to replace selfies (New York Daily News)

Discovering Veracruz in Mexico taking dronies, selfies.. Just amazing!!

 

It won't wash

Sometimes we find that politicians, or anyone else, are not telling the truth, and nothing but the truth, so you use this expression. Read about what it really means.

The English we speak: It won't wash (BBC Learning English) 

Articles related with the issue:

• FBI chief James Comey fired by Trump (BBC)

• Trump fires FBI director Comey, raising questions over Russia investigation (The Guardian)

• White House ‘systems failed’ with Comey firing, but Trump pushed the buttons (The Washington Post)

Listening exercise to do: How much food do you waste? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 170510 / 10 May 2017   >>>  Expressions presented: condition, draw & is down to.

 

Shorter attention span, a problem for our students?

Lately, teachers are always complaining of how difficult it is to keep students' attention in class to what is being done. Here may be the cause.

 

 

Listening exercise to do: Goldfish, brain and phones (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 Some articles to read about the issue >>> 

• Say it quick, say it well – the attention span of a modern internet consumer (The Guardian)

• Is technology and the internet reducing pupils' attention spans? (The Guardian)

• You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish (Neuroscience, Time Health)

• Humans have shorter attention span than goldfish, thanks to smartphones (The Telegraph)

And talking about another problem that affects us these days, here we have some articles concerning attacks that we have suffered:

• Ransomware cyber-attack threat escalating - Europol (BBC)

• Manchester attack: What we know so far (BBC News)

What does 'foyer' mean? Which language does it come from? Can you give me a synonym?

We should all be really happy!!!!

I don't know if happiness is genetic or not, but something is for sure there are some people that are naturally more cheerful than others. As well, babies tend to be happier than adults (probably due to all the problems and concerns that we have in mind). Another interesting fact is that grandparents also tend to be happier than parents. It may be due to the fact that they have fewer responsabilities in life. 

Read these related articles and to the listening exercise later, and then give me your opinion about the issue:

• Happiness linked to a gene that comes in long and short versions (The Guardian)

• ‘Happy gene’ may increase chances of romantic relationships (The Guardian)

• Genes 'play key happiness role' (BBC)

Listening exercise to do: Is happiness genetic? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English) 

 

English with Lucy: 6 ways to STOP translating in your head & THINK in another language!

 English with Lucy: 10 English LOVE expressions

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 170614 / 14 June 2017   >>>  Expressions presented: set off, the wild & volunteers.

Veganism and climate change

Do these two concepts have anything in common? Read this post about the issue and do this Selectivity exam:

Eating less meat could save 45,000 lives a year, experts claim

Articles related to the issue which are interesting for you to read:

• Eat less meat to avoid dangerous global warming, scientists say (The Guardian)

• Go vegan, save the planet (CNN)

• Is a vegetarian diet really better for the environment? Science takes aim at the conventional wisdom. (The Washington Post)

  Here there is the URL of a video:

 https://cdn.theguardian.tv/mainwebsite/2015/07/07/150707Vegan_desk.mp4

Listening exercise to do: Could you go vegan? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

What does 'vegan' stand for? Can you give me a definition?

English with Lucy: Oxford English