Humor4u

Christmas is magic. This time of winter with short, gloomy evenings and eerie weather due to climate change, can still be transformed by the power of human imagination. An alternative Christmas commercial in the UK has caught the British people's imagination in the tough winter of 2022 and has become viral in the pre-Christmas season with a sad story, a melancholic song and a simple slogan. You can watch it here: The video has no subtitles, but, thanks to my colleague Pablo A. you can find here a lesson plan with the transcript , which was originally published by Film English , and it is suitable for C1 students and above. In the commercial, you can find interesting words like: mate , poorly , [this one]  is on me , cheers , get well soon, well wishes. Pablo A. has also passed me the script for the bacground song, Constellations by Ellie Holcomb , where you can find these words: to long for [you], underneath, a canopy [of stars], to collide , the mess [in my life], to see through ,...

The Oxford Word of the Year 2022 has been chosen by popular vote for the first time in its two decades of existence from a short list of three finalists:  1) Metaverse; 2) #IStandWith; 3) Goblin Mode. The media has reported widely on the winning word, you can watch  this video report by Al Jazeera , which is copied again below. The video is short (2:41), and you can read the subtitles, so, it can be accessible to B2 students. You will find interesting words like: metaverse, #IStandWith, goblin mode, a short list, hashtag, unapologetically, self-indulgent, greedy , slovenly , to take off, a lockdown, usage, gleeful ness, goblin , gargoyle, to burst forth, gaslighting , permacrisis , to vote with your feet , cold and miserable, pithy , thought-provoking, churros . If you are a teacher or you are really interested in this topic, you can watch the  Oxford Word of the Year Launch Event , a long video (57':56") with subtitles, where a panel of experts discuss the candid...

  A recent study has proved that the intensity of exercise matters to reduce the risk of dementia and mortality caused by cancer or heart disease, according to CNBC reports . The article is suitable for B2 students, but there are links to JAMA Neurology and JAMA Internal Medicine leading to the scientific paper, Ahmadi et al, European Heart Journal, 2022 , which is more suitable for C2 students and Medicine professionals. In the CNBC article you can find some interesting words like: a step, to go about [walking], to keep up with a pace , to lower, to be committed to [a daily walk], burst , early death, to peak at [10,000 steps each day], to drop [risk of dementia], purposeful, to review the data, [to walk] briskly , [it] proved to be beneficial, a condition , a device, to monitor [phisical activity]. Time magazine also reports  on a second study by  Dempsey et al, European Heart Journal 2022 , which also studied the intensity of the effort and the time spent. Tara Law e...

Halloween is right there, so if you are planning to go to a party and you want some ideas to dress up, you can't miss this Cosmopolitan link:  50 Cheap Halloween Costumes That You Can Easily DIY  . This article is suitable for C1 students. Halloween is an old tradition, whose origin can be traced to Roman and Celtic times, but it is deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition too, as Mary Reed Newland points out in her article, All Hallow's Eve  (for C2 level) . Halloween marks the beginning of winter, the season of cold and darkness, where misty figures stir people's imagination to inspire spooky tales of terror. You can find lots of Halloween folk stories, for example, on  American Folklore  there is a long list of creepy short stories that can be read in class to swop stories and do an information gap task. I have chosen  Jack and the Devil  and  The Lady in the Veil   , while other stories can be just played for fun, to listen to the sound ef...

El Pilar festival is in full swing after the pandemic. The streets of Zaragoza are packed with people enjoying the festive atmosphere, and relatives come to Zaragoza from miles away to celebrate October 12th and participate in the popular Offering of the Flowers to the Virgin of El Pilar , who is the patroness saint of Aragón and of the Hispanic countries.   In America there are parallel celebrations around this date, like National Hispanic Heritage Month , from September 15th to October 15th;  Columbus Day , held on the second Monday of October (10/10/22), which includes the famous Columbus Day Parade in New York City , broadcast live on ABC-7 New York, or the alternative celebration of  Indigenous People's Day , which conmemorates the history and contributions of Native Americans. If you are interested in reading further about the debate between Columbus Day and Indigenous People's Day in the USA, you can check the article What Indigenous Peoples Day is all about,...

That is the question that some BBC reporters asked a few children back in 1979 for the programme Junior That's Life. The answer is this funny video clip about the perception of wealth by innocent children that can be found on BBC Archive .  Some of the most interesting words you can come across in this video are: cabbages, lettuce, carrots, a platinum ball, a display cabinet, a pistol, miserable, a piggy bank, a booby, jolly [rich], to polish, silly me! This video with subtitles can be watched by B2 students and above. This video can be used to end a class about the topic "Money" with a touch of humour.  Here you can find a speaking task to discuss "Attitudes to Money",   and you can add a split reading task about two historical figures of Capitalism in the USA, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie , which come with a simple vocabulary matching task with a key entitled "The Birth of Capitalism (... and Philanthropy)" .  All these tasks are suitable...

Queen Elizabeth II died last Friday, September 8th, and was immediately succeeded by her son King Charles III. Her death started a mourning period in the United Kingdom , in the Commonwealth realm  -the countries where the monarch is the head of state, in the wider Commonwealth of Nations , which includes republics like India, Pakistan, South-Africa, Nigeria, Kenya or Tanzania, and in the world at large. The Queen's death has prompted a deluge of speeches and articles about the Crown. Former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, paid tribute to her Majesty the Queen in the House of Commons, with a solemn, personal and emotional speech (8:25), which describes with brilliance and a touch of humour, the feelings of the British people towards their deceased monarch and her role in the British Constitutional system.  This memorable speech can be watched with subtitles and it is suitable for C1 students. Here you can find very rich English words and collocations like [cameras] start ro...

You are going to hear Megan, a History student who works as a tour guide in the summer, talking to a group of tourists about the application process and student life in general at Oxford University. This homemade video lasts 5':35" , and it comes with a listening comprehension task for C1 students and its answer key . There is neither a script nor subtitles for the video, but you can use this list of interesting words to follow the speech, which is casual, humorous and fast at times, but also meticulous in word choice.  You should look at this vocabulary list, after you have done the listening task: application process, undergraduate study, postgraduate studies, All Soul's College, a top [university], so they say, [Oxford is] way, way [better], a college, stage one, to sit an entrance exam, unique, to my knowledge, a subject, a handful [of interviews], [it's pretty] intense, you guys, [so] rigorous, one professor, the lecturer, one-on-one learning, a tutorial, resear...

After the Lionesses, England's female football team, won the European Cup last Sunday, there has been a national celebration of soccer and female empowerment. The media have reflected the historical moment by flooding the waves with words of praise and joy for the victorious women athletes. BBC Radio 4 programme Today is a good example of this shared communal enthusiasm, and on August 1st, Today devoted several slots to cover the different angles of the the story during the 3 hour programme (that podcast is available on line for 29 days, and it is suitable for C2 students). A compilation of the different interviews can be heard on Best of Today , a podcast that is only available on line for 6 days, also suitable for C2 students. In the podcast 5 Minutes On , you can hear a short summary of the story for a whole year (C1). Below you can watch a Sky Sports News video, where the England players interrupt the press conference that coach Sarina Wiegman was giving by singing the song ...

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...

Daffodils is one of the most popular poems in the English language, it is full of beautiful images, colours and lights described with gentle, poetic words. The sounds of the English words themselves, consonants and vowels, are worth listening to, even if you do not understand their meaning.  It was composed by romantic poet William Wordsworth on  April 15th, 1802, when he was walking with his sister Dorothy around Glencoyne Bay in the Lake District after the death of his brother. It is a poem about the seductive beauty of nature, about loneliness and memory. The poem is short, but it is full of literary words, so it is recommended for C1 students.  You will find words like: to wander, to float, o'er (over), a vale, a host, golden, daffodils, to flutter, breeze, to twinkle, the Milky Way, to stretch, never-ending [line], a bay, a glance, to toss [their heads], a sprightly [dance], sparkling [waves], in glee, [to be] gay, jocund [company], to gaze, oft (often), couch, vac...

Ellen MacArthur has recently won the Princess of Asturias Prize for International Cooperation, The Majorca Daily Bulletin reported last week . In 2005, Ms MacArthur became the first woman to break the world record as a solo sailor around the world and later she started the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to promote the circular economy and design a more sustainable future for the finite world resources.  As a result of their campaign, in March 2022 the UN adopted a resolution to negotiate a legally-binding treaty on plastic pollution, which is hoped to be drawn and signed by the end of 2024.  Dame Ellen MacArthur was invited to the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs back in 2009. In this 45' interview she talks about her background, her achievement in sailing, and her charity work. Her English is a perfect model for C1 and C2 students, because it is rich, but not pompous; there are technical terms, but it is not packed with jargon; the colloquial expressions fit natur...

Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrates 70 years of service to the United Kingdom. Many stories are being written about the longest reigning monarch in the history of the U.K., but this fashion article from BBC News, "Power dressing: The Queen`s unique style" , is particularly interesting, as it analyses the role of the current queen as a fashion influencer in the 20th and 21st centuries.  The article contains many technical terms for clothes and fashion, so, it is suitable for C1 students and above. Some of the most interesting words you are going to find in the text are: trendsetting, daring, iconic, brightly coloured [dresses], to pair with [a matching hat], to be accessorised, a signature [square handbang], to be honed, to be steeped, legacy, dazzling, intricate, full-skirted dresses, a nipped in waist, couture, a [fur] stole, a [diamond] tiara, to dazzle [her way through state banquets], a royal tour, tull and satin gowns, to be embelished, seed pearls, crys...

The British Museum has recently opened the exhibition "Female Power: the Divine to the Demonic" which shows how women have been represented throughout history in various mythologies around the world. Here you can find a 3 hour lesson plan about Art , which complements unit 7B of  English File C1.1 , O.U.P.  The first lesson includes some speaking activities to discuss Art, exhibitions and Public Art; a power point presentation of local Public Art in Zaragoza and an intensive listening comprehension task, based on a clip of  Today programme on BBC Radio 4 (17/05/22) , which is more suitable for C2 students.  The second lesson is focused on Street Art and it includes some conversation questions about Art, education etc., and another power point presentation about Street Art in Zaragoza . You can access the list of key words below in Word format here and  the 5' recording of the Today radio report here . Some of the key words you will come across in the recordin...

Journalist Oliver Bullough has recently published the book "Butler to the World" where he describes how the City of London has become a safe laundering machine for the Russian oligarchs, who stash their fortunes in "Londongrad" with the help of bankers, lawyers, accountants and public relations managers and with the complacency of the British "hilariously under-funded" law-enforcement agencies. In this 44-minute "Fresh Air" interview, Terry Gross discusses with Mr Bullough the ins and outs of the banking and legal system that allows the so-called Russian "kleptocrats" to enjoy a luxury life in the financial heart of Europe.   Although the interview can be followed with a full script, the description the financial and legal procedures to protect the oligarchs' dodgy business transactions from public scrutiny, will raise the level of this task to C2. An "extended listening" exercise can be set for homework with a simple spe...

Kimpton, Hertfordshire, claims to hold "the biggest village festival in the country". Here you can listen to a short radio interview (2':54") to Emma Rice-Oxley, one of the top organizers of the 2022 festival, on  Today , BBC Radio 4 .  And here you can find a lesson plan for B2 students . The interview has no script, but with this list of interesting words as a guide, it can be suitable for B2 students and above:  live events, to host [a village festival], to raise the flag to mark the start of the festivities, blessed [with the weather], brilliant, [quite] a claim, to proof your credentials, [a two-year] hiatus, the highlights, the procession, to parade, [up] the high street, moving, dressed up, floats, a Jubilee related [float], a cannon, to fire, rainbows and brownies dressed up as fireworks, a scout group, to bang pots and pans, theme, the UK Garrison , a charity group, Darth Vader , stormtroopers , Maypole dancing , a fun run, a hog roast , you name it. You can...

Professor Wolf Reik from the Babraham Institute in Cambridge , has led a group of scientists to find a technique that rejuvenates skin cells by 30 years. BBC News recently reported about this breakthrough, a step forward in regenerative medicine research, which eventually might help in the treatment of diabetes, heart disease or neurological disorders, although there is still a great deal of work to be done, because some of the chemicals involved in the process of cell reprogramming can cause cancer, and clinical application are still "a long way off" , according to Prof. Robin Lovell-Badge of the Francis Crick Institute in London .   The BBC News article and the video below are suitable for C1 students and above.  You will find interesting words like: to tackle, ageing, tissues, age-related disease, disorders, to build on [a technique], to clone, super [exciting], to stress that, [scientific] issues to overcome, a critical step forward, to stem from, embryo, [human emb...

BBC Culture  publishes the list of the 20 Best Movies of 2021 , which includes Almodovar's first film in English, "The Human Voice".  In this dense article, which is full of simple and composed adjectives and adverbs you will find interesting words and expressions for C1 students like: "[a] suspenseful, action-filled [film], wiliness, the film's themes [...] resonate profoundly with social justice movements today,  to feature, damsels in distress, [a] dreamlike film, a callow knight, to behead, to stroll, to gasp, bewildering, a smart-mouthed comic sidekick, swirl, stunningly shot, to blur the boundaries between fact and fiction, to reel back, to capture [the novel's] nuance, an entrancing work of art, over-the-top entertainment, giddy,  to mess up, a spellbinding drama, endless grievances and yearnings, grief, barrage, bone-crunching violence, grip, to boast, strait-laced, brooding, creepy, sprightly, chilling, a grief-racked, a pared-down drama, a s...

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first black African to win the prize for almost two decades.   He was born in Zanzibar (Tanzania) but he migrated as a teenager to the UK, escaping from ethnic persecution and eventually became a professor of Post-colonial Literatures at the University of Kent in Canterbury. His novels talk about the experience of colonialism, refugees, migration and individual dignity.  In this three minute interview NPR's culture reporter Neda Ulabyis talks about his life and works.  You will come across interesting words like: shortlisted, fate, to flee, civil unrest, scholarly work, to be batted around, to track, marquee names, overdue, sprawling, to reconcile cultural chasms with their dreams, a clip, linen, a chubby face, uprooted [people]. Below, you can also watch a 6 minute BBC interview to Mr. Gurnah himself after he learnt he had won the Nobel Prize, which can be heard with subtitles. Both reco...

Pedro Almodóvar released a short (30') film in English, " The Human Voice " in 2020 which was acclaimed by critics all over the world.  It is a free and personal adaptation of Jean Cocteau's classic " La Voix Humaine ", where a barroque Almodóvar is interested in showing the boundaries of artifice and the connection between cinema and theatre, deceit and sincerity, lies and truth.  The movie is, basically, a monologue, where Scottish actress Tilda Swinton , in a riveting performance, displays her vocal versatility to disclose all the feelings of a woman who has been abandoned by her ex-lover and receives a last telephone call to sort out the last mundane details of their separation: she pretends to be cool and casual at the beginning of the call, until she can't stand her own lies any longer, loses controls and admits to her ex-lover -who is a "dweeb", in Tilda's words, ("an idiot", in Spanish "un memo, un baboso"), that...