Humor4u

Playa de los Cristianos (Tenerife) has been named the best winter sun holiday destination in Europe by Holydo , a holiday rental search engine in the UK. Spain tops the list of winter sun destinations, but other featured destinations are Agios Nikolaos in Greece, Siracusa in Italy, Luz in Portugal and Cala Rossa in France. A list of the sunniest cities in Europe  has also been published by Holydo Magazine , and, surpisingly enough, Zaragoza ranks number 12 in Europe! In this article, which is suitable for B2 students, you can find descriptive adjectives and other interesting words like: average , whopping , dreamy, charming, a coastal [town], to beat , to check out, waterfront [restaurants], nearby [abandoned castles], stunning [streescapes], breathtaking [beaches], impressive [cliffs], turquoise [waters]. If you are already looking for ideas to travel in 2023, or you just want to do a little bit of online travel while it is cold and foggy outside, you can read this article f...

Travel + Leisure magazine  has just published the  50 Best Places to Travel in 2022 , for their affluent American readers, featuring Alaska (left) among other national and international destinations.  C1 students can do some virtual travel with the article 50 Best Places to Travel in 2022 , they can look at the beautiful pictures and pick up English words galore, as the text is packed with descriptive adjectives, nouns and verbs like: a far-flung destination, a thrill, travel restrictions galore, albeit, to cross off [destinations], the hospitality industry was hit hard, downtime, to venture, to reap [the benefits], valiant [efforts], to teem with [fresh-air activities], to be raring, to make up for, splashy, hard-hit destinations, buzzy, stateside, to hold back, wellness, farm-to-table living, to stretch, overlooked, unspoiled [villages], picturesque, stunning, sleepy, underdog, harbinger, an eco-lodge, glamping, a [food] hotspot, local produce, an eager [traveler], vast...

Professor Genevieve Bell is a cultural anthropologist, a technologist and a futurist. She is the head of the 3A Institute (3Ai) , at the Australian National University, where she is building a new branch of engineering to explore the impact and the management of artificial intelligence, data and technology on human behaviour . She previously worked for 20 years at Silicon Valley, leading a team of 100 scientists at Intel, as The New York Times reported in 2014 .  Genevieve Bell has recently presented the line of research in the 3Ai, which brings together experts in the fields of culture, technology and the environment, with the TED Talk below, entitled " 6 Big Ethical Questions About the Future of AI" . In this 14':48" video with subtitles, professor Bell speaks with a vey clear, educated, Australian accent and she uses academic words which might be transparent to a Spanish learner, but the cultural and engineering concepts she explains make the talk suitable for C1 ...

Mother's day is celebrated on May 10th in USA, India and Australia, on March 22nd in the UK and Ireland and on May 3rd in Spain. Here you can read three stories related to the topic. The first story is Kate Middleton's virtual visit to a new mother in a hospital in South-West London, where she has a friendly conversation with the astonished new mother, who describes the experience as "surreal".  Kate's goal was to raise awareness about the mental health issues that can affect new mothers.  The story comes from "The Daily Mail", a royalist tabloid in the UK, and it is suitable for B2 students. The second story comes from The New York Times, and it reports on how florists are preparing to deliver bouquets of flowers for Mother's Day in the USA during confinement.  The language in the article is very descriptive -precise nouns and adjectives- which can be challenging, so the text is suitable for C1 students, but the pictures, of course, can be enjoyed b...

Coronavirus isolation is creating new couples.  This BBC report tells the love stories of 5 couples around the world whose relationships have been rushed by the coronavirus lockdown. The article contains some very interesting colloquial language, like "to juggle" (to deal with and balance two important things), "to have a blast" (a great time), "to cuddle" (to hug, to embrace), "to wrap up" (to conclude), "to grab" (to take), "to hang out with" (to go out with), "to shack up with somebody" (to cohabit), "a craving" (a strong desire), "to latch on to" (to get hold on to) etc. C1 students should be able to read the article without too much trouble. And, in addition, here you can find a link to the BBC Reel video "How I Became Obsessed With a Stranger", where a Spanish young woman tells a compelling story of love, grief and Instagram obsession. The video has subtitles and half of it is in S...

Song lyrics can stir the imagination of the learner. Rhythm & criptic allusions can immerse the listener in a hazy atmosphere in which eyes must be open wide to try to catch a glimpse of the meaning of the lines. Undestanding song lyrics is always a challenge.  Listen to this song by Lorde, try to guess its message and discuss your guesses with your partner, if you can talk to someone. Here, there is a the gap-filling exercise to help you follow the song . Your guess may be right or wrong initially, when you are learning a foreign language, that is not too important.  What is really important is that you have activated your guessing skills in your brain, which are essential to reconstruct fragmentary understanding of the flow of speech and the fact that you have produced some sentences to discuss your guesses with a partner.  Here, you can find a link to a Wikipedia article that gives some insights into the lyrics of the song . In short, the song expresses "detailed d...