The Terminal

If you travel by air, even occasionally, there are chances you have been stuck in an airport terminal at one time or another. Airports have become small microcosms of society. If you are going to be stuck somewhere, an airport can be a fascinating place to be. They are places of high emotion, people are either saying goodbye or saying hello. There are intense reunions or the anticipation of absence. You get to see a cross-section of humanity parading through, and if you look at it that way, it's not the worst place to spend a few hours.

That being said, most people still view getting delayed at the airport for a few hours as an inconvenience. But try to imagine those hours stretching into days, weeks and even months. That incredible circumstance is the premise of "The Terminal".

"The Terminal" tells the story of Viktor Navorski, a visitor to New York city from Easter Europe, whose homeland erupts in a fiery coup while he is in the air en route to America. Stranded at John F. Kennedy International Airport with a passport from nowhere, he is unauthorized to actually enter the United States and must improvise his days and nights in the terminal's international transit lounge until the war at home is over.

As the weeks and moths stretch on, Viktor finds the compressed universe of the terminal to be a richly complex world of absurdity, generosity, ambition, amusement, status, serendipity and even romance with a beautiful flight attendant named Amelia. But Viktor has long worn out his welcome with airport official Frank Dixon, who considers him a bureaucratic glitch, a problem he cannot control but wants desperately to erase.

English Learning Videos

(Intermediate level)

Watch some English learning videos about people discussing the following topics:

- Wacky Fashions Debate
- Chatting About The Shining
- What's Your Favourite Cocktail?
- Plastic Bag Debate
- British Food
- Extreme Weather
- PR Disasters
- Cheating In Sports Debate

Link: http://www.hotenglishmagazine.com/videos-dec09.php

Enjoy them!

Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Watch this video and fill in the gaps of the song with the words in the boxes.

Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
The kinks

They seek him here, they 1 _________ him there,
His clothes are 2 ________ , but never 3 ___________.
It will make or 4 ___________ him so he's got to buy the 5 __________,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.

And when he does his little rounds,
'Round the 6 __________ of London Town,
Eagerly pursuing all the latest 7 __________ and trends,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
He thinks he is a 8 ____________ to be looked at,
And when he pulls his 9 ___________ nylon panties right up tight,
He feels a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
There's one thing that he loves and that is 10 ____________ .
One week he's in polka-dots, the next week he is in 11 ____________ .
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.

They seek him here, they seek him there,
In Regent Street and Leicester Square.
Everywhere the Carnabetian army 12 ___________ on,
Each one an dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
His world is 13 ___________ 'round 14 ______________ and parties.
This 15 ______________ individual always 16 ____________ his best
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
He 17 _____________ from shop to shop just like a 18 _____________.
In matters of the cloth he is as 19 ______________ as can be,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.
He's a dedicated follower of fashion.
He's a dedicated follower of fashion.

Adjectives fickle loud pleasure-seeking square frilly

Nouns best flower boutiques stripes butterfly discotheques fads flattery

Verbs break built flits looks marches seek

Now watch the following video and check your answers.




Enjoy it!

Thanksgiving

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national

Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, which this year (2010) is November 25th.

Links: http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/
http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa110800a.htm
http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl-thanksgiving-quiz.htm
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/holidays/a/thanksgiving.htm
http://christianity.about.com/od/holidaytips/a/thanksgivingtra.htm
http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/unitssubjhol/a/thanksstudy.htm










Have a great Thanksgiving Day!

Oceana- Cry Cry

When she was a young girl
She used to play with me
I was her best friend
We were inseparately
We loved to ride our bikes
Playin’ hide and seek
Sneeking all the night
Dancing in the street
I look back at the time
Now I realise
She loved to play with fire
I should have seen it in her eyes
I should have seen it in her eyes

CHORUS
Deep inside, you cry cry cry
Don’t let your hopes,die die die
Deep inside, you cry cry cry
Don’t let your hopes,die die die

Na,na,na,na,na,na,na
Na,na,na,na,na,na,na

She fell in love for the first time
He was older than her
Then he made her do things
First she wouldn’t dare
She left everything behind
Couldn’t find a place
Running through the night
Loosing all her faith
She throws away the pain
Turning off her lies
But still he makes her see like everything’s alright
Like everything’s alright

CHORUS
Deep inside, you cry cry cry
Don’t let your hopes,die die die
Deep inside, you cry cry cry
Don’t let your hopes,die die dïe… (x2)

Gender-based violence

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
25 November

One in every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to United Nations statistics. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, on 25 November, serves as a reminder of the pandemic proportions of this problem and the terrible consequences for individual health and well-being, as well as social and economic development.

By resolution 54/134 of 17 December 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and invited governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities designed to raise public awareness of the problem on that day. Women's activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981. This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961). On 20 December 1993 the General Assembly, by resolution 48/104, adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Links: http://www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday/
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/

Countries and nationality

(Intermediate level)

Hi folks,

This is a link to a chart that lists many of the countries or nations in the world, with the following information:

• Name of country
• Adjective used for that country (also describes nationality)
• Noun used for a person from that country

Look at these example sentences:

She comes from France. She is French. Her nationality is French. She is a Frenchwoman. She drives a French car. She speaks French.

Link: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/world-countries-nationality.htm

Englishman in New York

This song was written and recorded by the British singer Sting in 1987.



Enjoy it!

National stereotypes: truth or myth?

'The Perfect European'-which nationality in The Happy Family that makes the European Union has got the ‘it’. That question does arise every now and then.

The Perfect European Should Be…

Cooking ... like a Brit
Available ... as a Belgian
Flexible ... as a Swede
Sober ... as the Irish
Talkative ... as a Finn
Famous ... as a Luxembourger
Humble ... as a Spaniard
Generous ... as a Dutchman
Humorous ... as a German
Patient ... as an Austrian
Organised ... as a Greek
Driving ... like the French
Technical ... as a Portuguese
Controlled ... as an Italian
Discreet ... as a Dane

Fields of Paper Poppies

Every year about this time, millions of people in Britain wear red paper poppies in recognition of Armistice Day, and in support of their country's armed forces. Jennifer Glasse reports for VOA from London.

Poppies and Remembrance

November is the time of the year when we wear a red poppy in memory of those who sacrificed their lives for us during wars.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of the Armistice, on 11th November 1918, to signal the end of World War One.

Remembrance Day is on 11th November. It is a special day set aside to remember all those men and women who were killed during the two World Wars and other conflicts. At one time the day was known as Armistice Day and was renamed Remembrance Day after the Second World War.

Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, which is usually the Sunday nearest to 11th November. Special services are held at war memorials and churches all over Britain.

Throughout the world the poppy is associated with the remembrance of those who died in order that we may be free, but how many of us are aware of the reason of how and why the poppy became the symbol of remembrance and an integral part of the work of the Royal British Legion? On this page you can learn why the poppy is used as the symbol of remembrance.

Link: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/remembrance/poppy.htm

The Gunpowder Plot

This is a BBC documentary in 6 parts:

An introduction to the 5 main figures behind the 1605 Gunpowder Plot that almost destroyed England's political elite.



A closer look at the religious laws of the time and the oppression of Catholics in Protestant England, circumstances that all led up to the Jesuits' decision to attempt treason.



Historians discuss how terrifyingly simple the gunpowder plot was and what a narrow escape the government of 1605 had.



Documentary examining just how close conspirators came to blowing up the House of Lords. An unexpected housing opportunity creates the perfect store for the barrels of gunpowder.



Fascinating documentary examining the downfall of one of Britain's most infamous plots.



Telling the Jesuits of his plan to blow up the House of Lords doesn't exactly get Catesby the support he predicted. Guy Fawkes is continually tortured until he reveals his true identity.

Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night

For 400 years, bonfires have burned
on November 5th to mark the failed Gunpowder Plot.

The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving. As years progressed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.

Soon, people began placing effigies onto bonfires, and fireworks were added to the celebrations. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and sometimes those of the Pope, graced the pyres. Still today, some communities throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire (and even those of a contemporary politician or two), although the gesture is seen by most as a quirky tradition, rather than an expression of hostility towards the Pope.

Preparations for Bonfire Night celebrations include making a dummy of Guy Fawkes, which is called "the Guy". Some children even keep up an old tradition of walking in the streets, carrying "the Guy" they have just made, and beg passersby for "a penny for the Guy." The kids use the money to buy fireworks for the evening festivities.

On the night itself, Guy is placed on top of the bonfire, which is then set alight; and fireworks displays fill the sky.

The extent of the celebrations and the size of the bonfire varies from one community to the next. Lewes, in the South East of England, is famous for its Bonfire Night festivities and consistently attracts thousands of people each year to participate.

Bonfire Night is not only celebrated in Britain. The tradition crossed the oceans and established itself in the British colonies during the centuries. It was actively celebrated in New England as "Pope Day" as late as the 18th century. Today, November 5th bonfires still light up in far out places like New Zealand and Newfoundland in Canada.

Watch this video telling the story of Guy Fawkes and why we celebrate November 5th.