Our dearest fuddy-duddies in Avanzado 1 jog their past childhood memories and provide a nostalgic reminder about how much fun they had playing all time childhood games a few years ago (or rather a few decades ago for some of us, I’m afraid).
Let this month’s issue inspire parents and grandparents to encourage their children and grandchildren to get out and play the old-fashioned way.
Attached, there is a quick and easy guide for children to find fun games to play, have a nice read!
Sport is a reliable topic for good debates. There is always something in the news to make the issues topical, and even people who don’t usually like debating will want to give their opinion.
We are using this topic to practice our ability to debate and support our arguments. Check this tutorial on conversational strategies to help your English sound more natural.
When dealing with a controversial topic, you have to think of arguments and counter-arguments before giving your own point of view. Have this information taken from debatepedia as an example:
0. Is sport really good for us?
YES
NO
Sport is a great way to stay fit and healthy.
Most sports involve teamwork and teach us how to get along with others, how to work together to achieve a common goal, and about trust and responsibility.
All sports teach us about dealing with success and failure.
Sport is competitive because life is competitive.
Sport encourages a sense of belonging and identity, bringing people together in our fragmented society.
Sport gives us role models to look up to and try to copy.
It is important to keep fit, but sport is not the only way to do this.
Eating well is a big part of a healthy life, and many people prefer to exercise in other ways, for example jogging, working out in a gym, dancing, or even gardening.
Sport does teach children lessons, but not always good ones. Many children are not naturally talented and only come across failure and embarrassment on the sports field.
Sport makes people too competitive and encourages the worst sides of human nature.
Sport also encourages tribalism and an us-against-them attitude. The unity of the group depends on feelings of aggression and hostility towards other groups.
Now, it’s your turn; the arguments below run on the particular sporting issues we dealt with in class. These are some of the ideas that came out in our class discussion. Read more…
By now you know the sports which have Olympic status but, did you know there are ex-Olympic sports? Click here for more about some of the sports which have fallen out of Olympic favour.
The Telegraph newspaper was wondering what sports its audience would like to see included in the Olympic games; click here to see its readers’ selection.
Now. please take a moment to think which of the following you would promote to the next Olympic games
It seems that children games transcend national borders and all over the world children play very similar games with almost identical toys.
Glossary
Hide and seek
Escondite
Jump rope or skipping
Saltar a la comba, la cuerda
Catch
Pilla pilla
Marbles
Canicas
Hopscotch
Rayuela,teyo
Cops and robbers
Polis y cacos
Scissors, paper, stone
Papel, piedra, tijera
Stickers
Cromos
Dolls
Muñecas
Spinning tops
Peonzas
Cat´s cradle
La goma elástica
When I was a little girl, I had the most beautiful plastic dolls house so I would set up a whole parallel universe with pretend food and shops. My dolls and I used to have a fabulous time. Then I discovered comics and I would spend my pocket money on them.
Every summer we would go to my mother’s country house and there we had never ending days playing hide and seek and fooling around with our bikes and picking up fruit from the neighbours trees. Oh, happy days, no worries and all play!
Modal verbs are special verbs which behave very differently from normal verbs. Here are some important differences:
1. Modal verbs do not take “-s” in the third person. Examples:
He can speak Chinese.
She should be here by 9:00.
2. You use “not” to make modal verbs negative, even in Simple Present and Simple Past. Examples:
He should not be late.
They might not come to the party.
3. Many modal verbs cannot be used in the past or the future tenses without changing form. Examples:
He will can go with us. Not Correct. He will be able to go with us. Correct
She musted study very hard. Not Correct. She had to study very hard.
4. All modal verbs except ought to and used to are used with the bare infinitive without to. Examples
I must finish my homework.
I ought to finish my homework.
Common Modal Verbs
Can
Could
May
Might
Must
Ought to
Shall
Should
Will
Would
For the purposes of this tutorial, we have included some expressions which are not modal verbs including had better, have to, and have got to and some others. These expressions are closely related to modals in meaning and are often interchanged with them.
The English modal verbs are often challenging for learners of English. This happens for many reasons, including both grammar and meaning. In this post, we’ll take a look at the different modal verbs and their usage. Have a look at this interesting and detailed tutorial.
A lot of idioms in the English language come from the world of sport and have become so embedded in the English language that most people have probably forgotten that
” to throw the towel in” comes from boxing
“to give it your best shot” was originally used in the context of hunting
to mention but two examples. In this American video you can learn a few more
That was a nice tutorial, didn´t you think? If you wish to practise further, click on the following links
We live in a world obsessed with celebrities. The media and the immediate access to information provide us with images and words that would have remained part of people’s private lives time ago.
Consequently, we tend to forget why we admire or respect some of the top sports important figures, is it their top sports performance or more than that? Do we expect them to lead an exemplary life too? It seems so, as sponsors will readily withdraw their support if their chosen sports personality does wrong.
Check here some famous apologies from the world of sport:
“I engaged in behaviour which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgement. I’m 23 and, despite the successes I’ve had in the pool,I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way. For this I am sorry”, Michael Phelps after images showed him smoking a marijuana pipe.
“I just really wanted to apologise sincerely because I’m a very prideful person and I’m a very intense person and a very emotional person. I wanted to offer my sincere apologies”, Serena Williams on verbally abusing line judge at the US Open last year.
However, it seems that the worst sin you can commit is a sexual scandal, namely, adultery. There are many sporting stars who have fallen for it: David Beckam, Boris Becker and, most recently, Tiger Woods. The presumption is that their stories were about to be leaked to the press and they had to own up and go public.
Here is a clip of part of his recent speech where he apologised publicly in front of a small audience made out of family members, sporting colleagues and sponsors.
Please let us know your opinion, should we be concerned with sports personalities’ private lives or just with their sporting ability?
You were able to guess the sport because there were key words which helped you so, such as laps for Formula 1, set for tennis and so on. Each sport has a very wide range of vocabulary specifying place, equipment, people and verbs.Try first these exercises to expand your vocabulary. Check the key if in doubt.
Yesterday in class, you all chose a different olympic sport to explain to your mates. Find below some useful links to find specific vocabulary on your sport. Remember that you’ll have to explain details of your sport (history, equipment, sportspeople, venue, etc) in just 1.30′, so choose relevant information. Don’t tell us the name of the sport when explaining it, we’ll have to make a guess! it’ll be more exciting.
These will be the venues for the London 2012 Olympic Games; some of them are really interesting because, where do you think they will play beach volleyball? at the Horse Guards Parade!!! and triathlon?…in Hyde Park!!
So, that’s the deal, I don’t know the first thing about most sports and I’m sure I’m not the only one, aren’t I? so let’s all get a bit wiser as far as sports is concerned… I am looking forward to hearing your presentations!
Last Wednesday 6 July 2005, London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic games, beating the long-term favourite, Paris, at the finish line to secure the world’s biggest sporting event.
As a candidate city, London managed to actively involve many well-known celebrities in taking part in these videos to promote the city of London showing its highlights and proving the general public support. Enjoy your viewing and try to figure out which sports you can see there:
and this is the one we watched in class (with some advertising though)
The catchy song is ‘Proud’, by Heather Small, the official anthem of London 2012 Games. These are the lyrics of this great feelgood song…tell me, what have you done today to make you feel proud?
When it comes to sport I always feel a bit out of my depth regarding vocabulary. But I would like to strike a deal with you: I will provide some fun ways of learning and testing sports vocabulary and we will touch base in a couple of weeks.
If you click in the name of the sport you will find an interesting page with the key vocabulary and a quiz to test your understanding.
Usain St. Leo Bolt, /juːˈseɪn/;born 21 August 1986, is a Jamaican sprinter and a three-time Olympic gold medalist. He holds the world record for the 100 metres at 9.58 seconds , the 200 metres at 19.19 seconds and, along with his teammates, the 4×100 metres relay at 37.10 seconds. He also holds the Olympic record for all three of these races. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Bolt became the first man to win three sprinting events at a single Olympics since carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man to set world records in all three at a single Olympics. In 2009 he became the first man to hold the 100 and 200 m world and Olympic titles at the same time.
Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan shows his skill during an exhibition match in Hong Kong, August 30, 2008. Although originally from the UK it is a very popular sport in China.
China’s Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan is a celebrity in his country.
Basketball A very popular game in the USA where it originated in 1891.
At the professional level, most male players are above 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and most women above 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m). Guards, for whom physical coordination and ball-handling skills are crucial, tend to be the smallest players.
Almost all forwards in the men’s pro leagues are 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) or taller. Most centers are over 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 m) tall. According to a survey given to all NBA teams, the average height of all NBA players is just under 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m), with the average weight being close to 222 pounds (101 kg). The tallest players ever in the NBA were Manute Bol and Gheorghe Mulesan who were both 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m) tall.
The tallest current NBA player is Yao Ming,who stands at 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m).
No doubt one of the most controversial sports. If you haven´t seen it yet I recomment you watch Million Dollar baby a great film directed by clint Eastwood where the boxing world is depicted in an unbiassed way.
Alberto Contador Velasco (born 6 December 1982 inPinto, Madrid) is a Spanish professional road bycicle racer for UCI Pro Team Astana. He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the Discovery Channel team, and the 2008 Giro dÍtalia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, and the2009 Tour de France with Astana. He is the fifth racer in history, and the first Spaniard, to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling.
Contador has been referred to as the best climbing specialistand stage racer in the world. Contador has become a more accomplished time trialist, with several victories in the discipline. He has earned a reputation as an all-rounder, a cyclist who excels in all aspects of stage racing which are needed for high places in the general classification
Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer. He has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian, and is often cited as the greatest swimmer and one of the greatest Olympians of all time. As of August 2, 2009, Phelps has broken thirty-sevenworld records in swimming. Watch him here getting the world record 200m Fly
A triathlon is a multi-sport endurance event consisting of swimming, cycling and running in immediate succession over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed “transitions” between the individual swim, bike, and run components.
Now you can practise all your newly acquired vocabulary by clicking here and playing all these games
World football coming our way soon. There is a chance you can join the crowds in South Africa.
By now you know the sports which have Olympic status but, did you know there are ex-Olympic sports? Click 
.
