No I didn't! Yes you did! The Fabulous Monty Pythons

As I promised, here you have the sketch by the Monty Pythons to practice question tags and short answers: The Argument Clinic. 
This is just a sample of the fabulous, marvellous, and unique humor displayed by this British surreal comedy group, whose comedy sketches were first aired in the BBC in 1969. 
The group's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music, and, personally, I couldn't agree more.
 Please, don't miss the argument versus contradiction discussion, you're definitely going to have a laugh! 

To help you understand the jokes, here follows the script of the sketch:

The Argument Clinic Script

By the way, don't you think this type of argument clinic could be a fantastic way to avoid arguing with our family, friends, and workmates in these stressful times? We should all get a voucher for Christmas!

Exam practice for Xmas: Writing

And last but not least, feel free to complete the writing assignment below, it's been reproduced from a real NI2 exam. To be handed in in class the first week of January.

Writing a letter to a friend

Exam Practice for Xmas: Listening

And here goes your listening exam practice.

But before you rush into it, please listen to this first: it is very very important that you fully understand the instructions to complete the exercise, and all the words and phrases in each of the questions. Do not start the audio until you understand all the information in the exam sheet, will you? Thanks.

Listening exam practice: Fill in the gaps. On Greenpeace

Audio on Greenpeace

Listening exam practice: On TV

Audio on TV

Exam Practice for Xmas: Reading

Here goes your exam practice on Reading. Good luck!

Reading Exam NI2: Cloze

Reading Exam NI2: Multiple Choice

Required Reading before Xmas: Roald Dahl's Short Stories

Most of you are already acquainted with this very famous Welsh author, there is actually quite a few books by him in our library. He's written very many different things (novels, poetry, scripts for films...), but he's best known for his children's books, and short stories. Dahl's short stories are known for their unexpected endings, and his children's books for their unsentimental, macabre, and often darkly comic mood. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.

Before the end of this year you are required to read five of his very famous short stories: The Umbrella Man, The Landlady, Lamb to the Slaughter, The Hitchhiker, and The Way Up to Heaven. Here they are, for you to download. A total of 45 pages that you are asked to read by December 12th/13th (you have two weeks for that).

After that, we will do plenty of things with what you've read, but for the time being concentrate on reading the five stories, and understanding all they say, will you? The rest of the instructions will be delivered in class by Ignacio.

Enjoy the read!

Roald Dahl's five short stories

President Obama's Getting Ready for a New Job Interview

President Obama is gettting booted from the White House soon... After 8 years of no job interviews nor internal promotions, he probably needs some tips to help him find the right answers at a job interview, don't you think?

Read this first

PS: I'd like to thank my friend and fellow English teacher Michel for sharing this with us. Thanks again, bro!

Extreme Interviews You Said? Check This Out!

Jobs have become harder and harder to get in this 21st-Century-Western World. That's probably why HRM (Human Resource Management) has come up with this new version of "extreme interviews" that we just started to address the other day in class. Check out what the Heineken Company did, to see how serious this can get...

PS: I'd like to thank my friend and fellow teacher Michel, for showing me this reality...