Happy Halloween!

Hallowe'en (derived from "All Hallow's Eve," so called as it is the day before All Saints day) is celebrated on the night of October 31, usually by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets.

Here you have a series of activities related to Halloween:
History.
Vocabulary.
Games: Haunted House, Haunted House II, Costumes, Matching Game, Paint It!, Spelloween.
Quizzes: Quiz I, Quiz II,
Trivia.

This is Halloween: The Night Before Christmas.



Main source: British Council.

Perceptual ambiguity

What do you see in this picture?

Do you see an old woman or a young woman in this illustration? They are both present, but you will not be able to see both of them simultaneously. Once you perceive both figures, see if you can get them to fluctuate back and forth between the two interpretations.

What's going on here? For an explanation and the history of this illustration, click on this link.

This is another version of the figure illustrated above:

Gomaespuminglish VII

Family

Family is very important. Let me tell you about my family. What are my children like?

Find out by doing these four exercises:

Exercise one: Pre-listening: Vocabulary.

Exercise two: Click on the words you hear.

Exercise three: Complete the text.

Exercise four: Listen and match up the expressions.

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Source: Caroline Brown Listening Lessons.

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Every breath you take, The Police

If you like this song, you can practise your listening skills by clicking on this link. You will find the song lyrics and you'll have to fill in the blanks with the words you hear. Subingles.com is a very useful site for learning English with songs.

English is all around

Why is English all around? Let's see:

English is an Indo-European, West Germanic language originating in England, and is the first language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the Anglophone Caribbean. It is used extensively as a second language and as an official language throughout the world, especially in Commonwealth countries and in many international organizations. (Wikipedia).

This map shows the countries in which English is an official or de facto official language (red areas). Click here to see a detailed listing.

For more information, click on this link and on the Wikipedia.

This link also offers interesting and detailed information about the countries where English is spoken.

Finally, take this quiz: Where did the English language come from?

Test your level of English

If you want to test your level of English, click on this link.
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