English Invasion

Hi! I'm an English teacher and this blog is my way to communicate with my students' planet! English is the official language in...

martedì 29 ottobre 2019

Culture Invasion_Halloween





HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Watch the video to check the real story of Halloween!!


How Halloween Began

Nearly 2,000 years ago, an ancient people called the Celts lived in Ireland. Every year around the time of Halloween, the Celts held a fire festival called Samhain (pronounced 'sah-win'), which means 'summer's end.' They were celebrating the end of the harvest.During the time of Samhain, the ancient pagans took stock of supplies and prepared for winter.

Legend has it that Samhain was the time of year when spirits were most likely to pass into our realm and visit the living. The spirits of loved ones were invited to come home, and people prepared food for both the living and the dead. People wore masks and lit bonfires to ward off evil spirits.

As Christianity swept through Europe, the Celtic traditions spread across Europe but changed slightly to adopt to Christian principles. Rather than celebrating Samhain, Europeans celebrated All Saints' Day, otherwise known as All Hallows' Day, on November 1. But the celebrations actually began the day before on October 31, the holiday when people dressed in masks known as All Hallows' Eve.

The ancient Celts from Britain and Ireland observed the start of the new year on November 1, All Souls Day, marking the end of summer and harvest time. People came to believe that on October 31, the worlds of the living and dead overlapped before the start of the new year. October 31 became All Hallows Eve, when ghosts of the dead could return to destroy the harvest that was stored for winter. People set bonfires on hilltops to ward off the evil spirits before the start of the winter season. The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows’ Evening also known as Hallowe’en or All Hallows’ Eve.

Trick-or-Treating

Trick-or-treating may have also become a part of Halloween history thanks to Celtic tradition. Poor children in Britain and Ireland went door-to-door on All Hallows Eve and received food in exchange for the promise of praying for the giver’s dead relatives on All Saints Day. This practice was known as “going-a-souling.” While that may be the start of it, that tradition didn’t make its way to America. Here, trick-or-treating may have started with children trading songs for treats in the 1910s, according to old newspaper texts. The tradition didn’t really take off until after World War II, when many children’s magazines featured it and the idea entered popular culture.

Jack-o’-Lanterns

This tradition began with people believing that carving scary faces onto turnips would frighten away evil spirits. The tradition turned to pumpkins in America because pumpkins were more plentiful—and much easier to carve.

There are many legends surrounding the Jack-o’-Lantern (sometimes also spelled Jack O’Lantern) and where the name comes from. In Irish folklore, a lazy yet shrewd farmer named Jack uses a cross to trap the Devil. One story says that Jack tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree, and once he was up there Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that the Devil couldn’t get down.

Despite the colorful legends, the term Jack-o’-Lantern originally meant a night watchman, or man with a lantern, with the earliest known use found in the mid-17th century.

What to do on Halloween?

1. Decorate your house like an haunted house, carve pumpkins and make Jack-O'-Lantern



2. Plan an Halloween Party


3. Ask your guests to wear costumes and have a contest "Which is the scariest costume of 2019?"


4. Bob for apples. 
Bobbing for apples is a beloved Halloween tradition, and a never-ending source of entertainment. Fill a large bucket or wash tub with water, dump in a few apples, and challenge your guests to try to pluck them out using only their mouths. Win or lose, you can bet that there will be no shortage of laughs.



5. Screen a selection of scary movies. 
Turn your home into a theater of terror with a private showing of some hair-raising fright flicks. Stick with timeless classics like HalloweenNight of the Living DeadThe Exorcist, or House on Haunted Hill, or scare the living daylights out of your guests with chilling new offerings like ITGet OutThe Nun, or the Pet Sematary remake. Only show movies that are appropriate for the average age of your guests. The last thing you want to do is give some poor child nightmares! If you're looking for some kid-friendly titles, try Beetlejuice, The Adams Family, Hocus Pocus, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Frankenweenie, or Hotel Transylvania.



6. Eat a lot of candies!! 
Check out the Best and worst candies for Halloween!! (video link)


Grammar Invasion_Adverbs of manners





In English grammar, an adverb of manner is an adverb (such as quickly or slowly) that describes how and in what way the action of a verb is carried out. 
You always put it AFTER the verb or the object of the sentence.
HOW DO WE TRANSFORM AN ADJECTIVE TO AN ADVERB?Easy peasy lemon squeezy

GENERAL RULE:
you add -ly to the adjective
Ex: Slow → slowLY
If you speak SLOWLY I'll understand you.

EXCEPTIONS:
1. If the adjective ends in with ‘y’, replace the ‘y’ with an ‘i’ and add ‘-ly’.
Ex: happy → happILY             easy → easILY


2. If the adjective ends with ‘-le’, replace the ‘e’ at the end with ‘y’.
Ex: gentle → gentLY         possible → possibLY


3. If the adjective ends with ‘-ic’, add ‘-ally’.
Ex: automatic → automaticALLY     basic → basicALLY


4. If the adjective ends with '-l', add '-ly'
Ex: careful → carefulLY


Pay attention! THERE ARE ALSO SOME 'IRREGULAR' ADVERBS:

Some adjectives do not change form at all.

Ex: fast → fast

    early → early



    late → late


    high → high


    hard → hard


Some others change completely.Ex: good → well



venerdì 18 ottobre 2019

Grammar Invasion_Imperative


The Imperative is used to give order, instructions and suggestions.

How do we build the imperative?


  • First rule NO subject expressed, 
  • Second rule it correspond to the base form of the verb (infinite without to) and it doesn't change, 
  • Third rule to do the negative form just add Don't at the beginning.
Let's have a look and don't forget the exclamation mark!!!!

Positive:

Look!
Be quiet!
Listen!
Open the window!

Negative:

Don't talk!
Don't be late!
Don't walk on the grass!

EXTRA HOMEWORK:

Over and out.

Vocabulary Invasion_Sports and Olympic games






Did you know that five new sports will debut at 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo?



Five new sports will make their first appearance at 2020 Olympic Games. 
Here there are the 5 new sports nominated: 


  • Surfing
  • Sport climbing
  • Karate
  • Skateboarding 
  • Baseball and Softball

Who are you rooting for?

Let's have a look to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Sports List.

https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/sport/olympic/

REMINDER:

















EXTRA HOMEWORK:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wkzm5CbVqimICsZhYQD0khuXTHUhjZEy/view?usp=sharing

Over and out.

Vocabulary Invasion_Housework

What do you know about Housework?
Check it out! 









EXTRA VOCABULARY!!

Grammar Invasion_MUST and HAVE TO





  • MUST is a modal verb, that means that if follows the 3 rules!

If Positive: It express a strong obligation. It is a personal obligation, it express what the speaker thinks is necessary and it is a subjective obligation.

How to build a sentence?
Subject + must + infinitive without to
You MUST work hard to get a good mark.

If Negative: It express a prohibition, something that is not allowed.

How to build a sentence?
Subject + must not/mustn't + infinitive without to

You MUSTN'T smoke at school.

There is no question form.


  • HAVE TO is NOT a modal verb, the verb have in have to is not an auxiliary verb. Use don't/doesn't and didn't in negative sentences in present and past and Do/Does or Did in questions in present and past.
  • REMEMBER: Only have to has a past and a future form. Must does not have a past or a future form.

If Positive: It express a strong obligation, but it is an external obligation. The obligation doesn’t come from the speaker’s opinion; another person thinks it’s necessary.

How to build a sentence? 
Subject + have/has to + infinitive without to

I HAVE TO get up at 6 a.m. on school days. (because the bus leaves at 6.40 a.m.)




If Negative: It express NO obligation. It is not necessary or required to do something, especially if you don't want to.

How to build a sentence? 
Subject + don't have to/doesn't have to + infinitive without to
You don't have to drink that juice.
He doesn't have to tidy his room today.

If Question: 

How to build a sentence? 
Present simple: Do/Does + Subject + infinitive without to? 
Do you have to get up early tomorrow? (NOT Have you to get up early tomorrow?)
Past simple: Did + Subject + infinitive without to?
Did you have to buy a new card?

No contraction!The verb have in have to cannot be contracted to ‘ve.

I have to study for the exam tomorrow. (NOT I’ve to study for the exam tomorrow.)


REMINDER:
Must vs Have to | Must Not vs Don't Have to

EXTRA HOMEWOORK! CHECK IT OUT!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fFzw0n9jviLM5zEzvIhyx8eOURfOeynH/view?usp=sharing

Over and out.

Grammar Invasion_Modal verb_CAN




CAN is a modal verbs, that means that it follows the 3 rules!

We usually use CAN and CAN'T (abbreviation of CAN NOT/CANNOT):
  1. to talk about the ability or inability to do something at a specific time in the present or future.I can play volleyball, but I can't play tennis.
  2. for requests.Can you help me?
  3. for permissions.Can I use your calculator?
How to build a sentence with CAN? Easy!

POSITIVE:

SUBJECT + CAN + BASE FORM.

She can speak English.

NEGATIVE:

SUBJECT + CAN NOT + BASE FORM.
SUBJECT + CAN'T + BASE FORM.

I can not draw pictures. 
I can't draw pictures.

QUESTION:

CAN + SUBJECT + BASE FORM?
Yes, Subject + can
No, Cubject + can't

Can you swim?
Yes, I can.
No, I can't.

REMINDER:
Conjugation
Positive
I can sing
You can sing
He/She/It can sing
We can sing
You can sing
They can sing

Negative
I can't dance
You can't dance
He/She/It can't dance
We can't dance
You can't dance
They can't dance

Question
Can I swim?
Can you swim?
Can he/she/it swim?
Can we swim?
Can you swim?
Can they swim?




Over and out.