25 ACTS OF KINDNESS

Merry Christmas, dear readers!
I suppose you are spending relaxing and happy days with your friends, family or your books ;)

As Christmas is time for being better than ever (I do not totally agree with this statement but that is what society tries to make me believe), I want to give you 25 acts of kindness. They are mostly free and easy to do. Take a glance and decide if you would like to carry out these situations. 

Some of them may seem strange, but you know that several people, probably American ☺, are capable of doing these types of stuff.
Enjoy and try them and, above all, tell me if you decided to do them.

Have a nice Sunday! ♥

TRANSLATING

Have you ever thought that we can't translate all the words from one language to another? 

Every country has a specific culture and customs, so they may use only one word to express and action that in Spanish, for instance, seems impossible. 
I have a picture for you to understand this better. Have a look and enjoy yourselves with the magic of languages ♥

Positive thinking ♪♫

Sunday is my favourite day of the week. My Sundays involve:
♥ Lying on the sofa.
♥ Preparing a good meal.
♥ Watching a film or a sitcom in good company.
♥ Blanket+hot tea+sofa = Perfect combination.
♥ Preparing my week lessons in a relaxing way.

Sunday is the day when I work harder and I search many interesting things on the Internet. 
Positive thinking posters are something that I'm really into. I'd like to print all of them and wrap all my walls with them.
I have selected five for you. I hope you agree with their message ;). Happy and relaxing Sunday!

LET'S GO TO...PHILADELPHIA!!!

Hi everyone!
I haven't had enough time to update my blog, I beg you pardon. I'm happy when you write some comments :) Keep on doing that!!! ♥

Perhaps you already know, but I have some news...I'm travelling to Philadelphia!!!It'll be in March and I feel so lucky. I am travelling with my friend Sara and...12 students from school. It'll be an unforgettable trip.

The USA has always been a dream. Everyone would like to travel there, at least, once in their life. People say it's so different from our European culture that you get shocked from the very beginning. I'll be able to tell you :D

Philadelphia is located in the East of the USA, next to New York, city that we'll visit for sure. One of the most important touristic attractions is the Liberty Bell. Philadelphia was the place where The Declaration of Independence took place.

And, when you say Philadelphia, everyone thinks of the film ROCKY BALBOA. Did you know? It's a good example of self-motivation. He, Rocky, did big effort to achieve his goal. His most important scene takes place in Philadelphia, running upstairs. In case you don't know, you have the video here.

To finish, remember that everyday can be the best day and that good things can happen unexpectedly. Live your life!!!

Have a nice weekend ♥

Creativity

One of the most important goals in my life is to be creative. For me, this word has got a deep meaning. It's not just to create paintings, pictures or models. You can use creativity in all aspects of your life.
I couldn't live without innovation. 

Being creative is easier than you think. 

Do you consider yourself a creative person? When people see a simple object, do you see an opportunity to create something? Have you got lots of ideas in your mind? For me, new technologies and social media have contributed to the development of creativity - at least, to mine.

Have you got a tennis ball? Some cardboard? How about an old broom? If the answer is affirmative...you could use them to create. Wow!

I find them so funny and useful, at the same time. Would you like to try? Tell me about your creations! I'm looking forward to reading your comments. I love them!

HAPPINESS! ☺

What makes you happy?

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Happiness is not easy to achieve but when you feel happy, the world is happy too. Life is short and we must enjoy it.
I want to show you something that you could print and hang up in your room, or perhaps we can do it in class :)

Personally, things that make me feel happy are...

♥ My friends 

♥ My job

♥ Love

♥ Eating chocolate :)

♥ Receive text messages

♥ The nice smell of my favourite parfum

♥ People smiling

♥ My students passing their exams

♥ Good news

♥ Books

♥ English

♥ Gifts

♥ Learning new things

♥ All of you reading my blog ☺

... to be continued...

Sweet video for a sweet Sunday

Hi!
I suppose you are happy today because you have slept more ;). I have decided to make profit of this "extra hour" to work and prepare things for the week.

After breakfast, I've come across a video that seems so nice!!! I want to share it with you. It'll make your day sweeter. 
It shows the evolution of twin pandas in 100 days. At first, they may be disgusting...but they end up being cute :).

This video was taken in Atlanta Zoo. I give you the link to the zoo in case you want to have a look at the different species you could find. You never know if some day you will travel there ☺

http://www.zooatlanta.org/   (zoo webpage)

DELICIOUS!

Hi everyone!
This week, at school, we are working on the delicious topic of food. It's my favourite ;)

I guess you know how different meals in the UK or the USA are if we compare them with Spain. We are famous for our Mediterranean Diet...that is supposed to be healthy.

♦Can you cook well?♦
I love cooking new dishes and learning recipes every day. If you want to add one, I'll be so glad!

I have just come across a photo that you'll really like. It is easy and funny. If you are tired of eating common sandwiches...here you've got the solution!

Why don't you try and take a photo? 

How about an orange becoming a snail? I'm not crazy. Have a look!

It's sooooo nice!♥

And to finish, I want you to see this video from the BBC. It shows a strange restaurant where there are no waiters. Everything is done by technologies. It's so amazing! Try to understand as much as possible. As they speak British English, perhaps it's not big problem for you.

      CLICK HERE!!!!

I hope you have a delicious weekend! See you soon!☺

THANK YOU!!!!

Imagine this situation:

- I bought you some chocolate biscuits for breakfast!

- Really? Thank you!

We usually use the common expression "Thank you" but... did you know that there are lots of more ways to thank something? Here you've got some...

                                                            YOU ARE WELCOME ;) 

DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR BRAIN?

How well do you know your brain? I want to show you a nice picture where you will discover new information about your brain. It's amazing!

Enjoy it!♪♫♪

♠USEFUL PROVERBS♠

Not only could we find proverbs in Spanish, but also in English. By means of proverbs, we may know more about a country, since they are related to their culture. Today, I want to teach you three. You should use them ☺ (I write in brackets my particular meaning)

ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS (Menos hablar y más hacer)
No matter how much or how well you speak . What is really worth is what you do. I totally agree.

SHE/HE IS LIKE A CHATTERBOX (Es como un loro)

This is used to refer to a person who speaks a lot. For me, this is perfect. I am a chatterbox!

ROLL OFF LIKE WATER ON A DUCK'S BACK (eso me resbala, me da exáctamente igual)

I love this peculiar proverb. It is really graphic, hehe. When you don't care about what others say, you say that it rolls off like water on a duck's back. Of course, this is rather informal. 



Have a nice Monday!♥♥♥

WAYS TO LEARN ENGLISH

Hi everyone!
Today I want to recommend you different ways to improve your English. My 1 ESO class must do some of these tasks for homework. I am sure that on Tuesday they will have their work done. Meanwhile...here you've got some possibilities.
Enjoy your weekend and remember to take an umbrella. It's about to start raining a lot...

See you!!!♥ 

Different ways to learn English. ourbritishcorner.

TYPICAL DAY IN CLASS

Does this situation sound familiar to you?
Which type of student are you?  Student passing notes is really common...do you think I don't realize? ;)

I totally agree with this picture. And you? ☺☺☺

Thanks Pinterest for this image. I'm hooked on you!♥

◘◘◘KEEP CALM!!!◘◘◘

Keep calm and read this post. You'll enjoy!
This week, we have been working this famous quote at school. Students have invented a sentence according to their likes and preferences. 

Some of the posters. There are more!

But...do you know "Keep calm and..." origins? They began many years ago...

It was created more than 70 years ago by the British Information Council, when the Second World War started. Their aim was to encourage the British army in case there was a nazi attack. Bear in mind that "Keep calm" means "Mantén la calma", so it was a kind of "support" to the soldiers.

The poster had to be simple, colourful, with a clear typography and with the crown on the top. This crown belonged to King George VI.

There were three different posters that came to light:

1. Your courage, your cheerfulness, your resolution will give us victory. (Tu valor, tu ánimo, tu resolución nos llevarán a la victoria)

2. Freedom is in peril. Defend it with all your might (La libertad corre peligro. Defiéndela con todas tus fuerzas)

3. Keep calm and carry on. THIS ONE IS THE MOST FAMOUS!

Wow!The origins are really interesting! In case you want to create your own poster, I'm giving you a webpage to try. You could show me your creations!

http://www.keepcalmandposters.com/

And now, some funny keepcalm posters for you to enjoy for a while.
See you!!!♥

STEREOTYPED NATIONALITIES

Stereotypes are sometimes really funny! We should not believe in them, since each person is unique buuut...you can't deny that people from a specific country share some common characteristics. ♦ Have a look at the chart and enjoy yourself with it! ♦

Welcome September!

After two short summer months...here comes September! This month has contradictory feelings. School and work begin, summer ends, routine appears, sun tanning is impossible...BUT it's also the month when autumn begins (my favourite season, by the way ♥) and we meet our friends again.

For you to know more about this month I have some facts that will arise a smile on your face. I promise ☺

♠ September comes from the Old Roman word "Septem". It means "siete" or seven. The reason is that in Roman calendar September is the seventh month of the year. For us, it is the ninth.

♠ September is one of the most popular months for births (nacimientos) (together with July and August). Amazing! ☺

♠ The Zodiac signs of people born in September are Virgo and Libra. My Zodiac sign is Libra, but my birthday is in October.

♠ In Australia and New Zealand, Father's Day is the first Sunday of September.

♠ In India, the 5th of September is TEACHER'S DAY. I love this day ♥♥♥!!!!

♠ September 9th Day is National Teddy Bear's Day.

♠ 12th September is CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE'S DAY. I have just found my favourite day of the year!

I hope you begin this new month with a big smile and ready to face everything.                              Welcome SEPTEMBER!

Terrific image ☺

I was searching some info about different stereotypes of Brits and Spanish people and I have seen this wonderful image. There you can have a look at the map of the UK and different words that represent every part. It's so funny!♥ 

Could you imagine such a complete map in Spain? You know that each community has different customs, ways of using the language and even different mentality. I hope you enjoy reading all the words. 

Have a nice Thursday! (School beginning is coming...♪♪♪♫)

Aujourd'hui c'est le tour du français ♥♥

Bonsoir mes amis!

Yesterday, I showed you a chart with many benefits of learning different languages, apart from ours. French is another language that may become really useful. 

♣ The good news is that it is similar to Spanish in many ways. 

♣ The bad news is that pronunciation and the use of the accents are horrible!

So, today I have decided to show you a nice picture in French. It is about ce que j'aime manger. In my case, I love everything but, above all (sobre todo), NUTELLA. J'aime manger du Nutella. It's delicious!

And what about you? 

BEING BILINGUAL NOWADAYS ☺☺☺

Being able to speak, at least, two languages will make you more attractive, more intelligent, more successful and even a better person. Can't you believe it? Have a look at this chart from Pinterest ♥♥♥

Do you agree? It's time to make an effort and learn languages. They are really useful!

♣ By the way, have you seen that they use "traveling" with only one "L"? That's because it is American English. In British English, we must duplicate that "L": TRAVELLING. 

Have a nice Sunday! ♥

WILLIAM ARTHUR PHILIP LOUIS

These last months there have been lots of news related to the British Royal Family. The fact is that Prince William's son has just been born! I suppose you know about William. If not, I am giving you some facts.

First, he is Queen Elizabeth's grandson and Prince Charles and Lady Diana's son. People always repeat that he is very similar to his mum. He cares about others, he helps different institutions and he is a kind of polite and responsible guy. I take it for granted that this is said because he is the counterpart of his brother Henry. Henry loves parties so much :)

I remind you that Lady Di(ana) was an important figure some years ago not only in the UK but worldwide. She was really into helping the poor people and raising funds for some institutions. Actually, she was a close friend of Teresa of Calcuta. That's a good reason why everyone loved Diana.
Unfortunately, on the 31st of August 1997, she died on a tragical car accident. It was a schock around the world. It seemed impossible...but it was true.

William is the second in line to the British throne. The first is his father, Charles. But, I'm sure that Charles won't want to reign. He is not the kind of monarch Great Britain expects. 

He is a qualified helicopter pilot.

He graduated in Scotland with a degree in Geography. At university, he met his current wife Kate Middleton. It's so lovely :).

After some years together, they decided to get married in 2011. This wedding was an important event all over the world. 

And now...their last unforgettable event was their child's birth, George Alexander Louis. I knew that if the child was a boy one of the possible names would be George. It's got a lot of history in it.

And that's William, a husband, a father and the future king of Great Britain.

TECHNOLOGICAL TERMS

Technologies surround us. It's a fact. We can't run away from them. Luckily, you were born with a computer, more or less. This is the reason why, frequently, we come across new words that seem strange. They are technological words, and very often abbreviations. I am here to explain the meaning of some of them :)

APP: Application. Both on the computer and on our mobile phones we've got lots of apps: Whatsapp, Line, Facebook, Instagram, Apalabrados....

APPLEPICK: This is really funny. This verb is coined to express when someone steals somebody's IPHONE. Incredible!!!

AVATAR: Graphical image that represents a person on the Internet, for example. I'm sure you've seen the film, so you should know what an avatar is.

FAVICON: It means "favourite icon". Yu can change the icon of some apps, did you know?

FLOG: False Blog. I promise ourbritishcorner.blogspot.com.es is not a flog ;)

CAPTCHA: The sharp meaning is : Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart.

A captcha is the common chart that appears when you enter some webpage and that asks you to write the letters you see on the top. They want to be sure that you are not a computer, but a human! 

CHATROOM: The place where you can chat with other people by means of the computer. It may also appear when you are playing video games.

IT GIRL: This term refers to a girl who has become a celebrity because of the mass media. Some models, singers or actresses are usually it-girls. People like them so much.

GEEK: A person who is obsessed with technological devices. They are supposed to be on the net all the time, they know everything about computering and they tend not to have good social relationships.

After reading this, you are a more technological type of person. I hope you liked this useful lesson. 

Have a nice weekend!!!

50 AMAZING FACTS!!!

We know many things, but the ones I'm leaving you now perhaps seem incredible. Read and think. 

They are awesome!!!

PREPOSITIONS ARE...EASY!

There are parts of the English language that seem difficult for Spaniards since they have nothing to do with our language. Prepositions may be one of them. Sometimes, they coincide, but mostly they don't. 
I give you a chart with a useful summary with prepositions. I hope it helps you. 

You are welcome ;)

(Spaniards: españoles
 Chart: tabla
 Summary: resumen)

LAUGHING AND LAUGHING

Hi, people!
How is your summer going? It's only some days left to begin school...are you ready? If not, don't worry. There is enough time to get psyched up (mentalizarte) for it. Meanwhile, I want you to practise some English. It is always useful :)

Last week, I came across a video on youtube that I really liked. It was a baby laughing a lot. It was contagious and...I think it seems interesting to show you and laugh for a while.


But, first of all, do you know the meaning of the verb LAUGH? It's a common verb that people usually mispronounce. Click here and hear how to pronounce. It's something like "laf".

Laugh means REÍR(SE) in Spanish. Do you like laughing? I love it! It's the best therapy for our problems!
It is a regular verb (laughed-laughed) but it can also be a noun and its meaning is RISA.
In English, there are hundreds of expressions that contain this verb. I show you three for you to learn:

* A belly laugh: this happens when someone tells you a very funny joke and you can't stop laughing. "Un ataque de risa" could be the proper translation into Spanish. How often do you have a belly laugh? I always have a belly laugh if someone tickles (hace cosquillas)my feet.

* A laugh a minute: when something or someone is very funny and entertaining. "This actor is, for me, a laugh a minute"

* Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep (llorar) and you weep alone: I like this expression so much. If you laugh, everyone is with you and shares your happiness. If you are sad, everyone is far from you. 

I invite you to learn and use them. You will be a master on expressions. 
And to finish...do you want to have a belly laugh? If so, have a look at the video I told you before. The baby is a laugh a minute ;)
Enjoy it and don't forget to laugh today!!!

MAYBE YOU LIKE THIS SONG

Good morning everyone!
I hope you are having fun these hot and stormy days. I am sure you have found a way to enjoy yourselves :)

Last week, one of my followers asked me the difference between MAYBE and PERHAPS. It's a good question, since we continuously use both without taking into account if one is better than the other.
The answer is that the difference is really slight (pequeña). Perhaps is more formal and we may use it when writing. Maybe is less formal and it is used in conversation. 
However, perhaps is accepted in conversations, too. So, both have the same meaning and we could even use the same way. If you want to write something formal, use PERHAPS. If not, it's your choice!

Yesterday, I came across a song by Bruno Mars that I really loved. Do you know Bruno Mars? He's one of my favourite singers. I will tell you about him soon. This song is called COUNT ON ME (Cuenta conmigo) and the lyrics are fantastic. I want to leave you a videoclip where you'll listen to the original song but you'll see the translation into Spanish. It's a good activity to relate the languages.

I hope you like it!

TRIP OR JOURNEY?

An eternal question is: 
What's the difference between trip and journey?

In Spanish, we say "viaje" without taking into account if the "viaje" is long or short.
Well, in English, TRIP is used when we travel short distances. It is usually used when travelling  the same day. Imagine you are at a hotel and they organize a trip to see something around. For example: "The trip to El Monasterio de Piedra was amazing!"

JOURNEY describes travelling long distances. Example: "The journey from Spain to Germany is a three-day journey. Don't you prefer the plane?"

And TRAVEL is the general word used to say "viajar".

And you, are you travelling somewhere this month?

NICE POEM TO MAKE YOU SMILE.

SUMMER IS HERE!

Welcome summer!

It's been so many months working, studying, writing, reading, listening to the teachers...Now, it's time to enjoy and travel somewhere. 

Have you decided your destination? 

Perhaps your village, the beach, mountain, another city...I know some people who are travelling abroad (al extranjero). 

When summer comes, there is always a song coming to my mind. It belongs to a Danish band group, which became really famous in the 1990s. Their name is AQUA and I love their songs! Around the World is a song about travelling to different places around the world.





But, the most famous and important song from this group is, without any doubt, BARBIE GIRL. I recommend you to listen to it and watch the video. You'll have good time :). I promise.




And...if you are travelling abroad, remember that ENGLISH IS EVERYWHERE and you'll need to use it all the time. HAPPY JULY!

Where's Wally?

Have you ever tried to find Waldo in a picture? It's really common. I remember myself spending hours with a book of Waldo and getting quite nervuous if I didn't find him among (entre) the people.

By the way, do you know that Waldo is Wally? Waldo is the original name. In France, for example, he is called Charlie. It's funny, don't you think?

As today is the beginning of summer, I offer you a summer picture of Waldo. Can you find him quickly? ;)