Black Friday vs Buy Nothing Day

What is Black Friday ?

The day After Thanksgiving (Friday) is known as Black Friday. This also is unofficially or officially start of holiday shopping season. Almost all stores come out with Doorbuster Sales with early bird special to attract consumers to their stores. People stand in line hours before store is opened, to grab the bargain of the year. Almost every store has something that interests every one. For bargain hunters, if there is a biggest festival in a year, that would be, no doubt, the Black Friday. To read more about Black Friday click here.

                                                                                
 What is Buy Nothing Day?

Buy Nothing Day is a simple idea, which challenges ourconsumer culture by asking us to switch off from shopping for a day. Its a global stand off from consumerism - celebrated as a holiday by some and street party for others! Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending! Click here to read more about BND.

Watch a video reporting on last year's BlackFriday

WHAT DO  YOU THINK?
WOULD YOU GO SHOPPING TO SAVE A LOT OF MONEY  EVEN IF IT'S STRESSFUL AND PERHAPS DANGEROUS?  WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO JOIN THE BUY NOTHING DAY? . LEAVE A COMMENT.

Women's Day

More on the financial crisis

It's been a while since we talked about this topic in class, but here's a very interesting video shared by Salva. It shows a Canadian 12-year-old girl explaining the reasons for the crisis in her country and suggesting how to solve it. Although she is talking about Canada it could certainly apply to the whole world.

Travelling by plane

Let's revise  some vocabulary related to air travel. To do so, try this crossword. The definitions come from the Macmillan online dictionary. Have fun!


What was your score?  I'm sure you did very well. Now you'll be ready for the following challenge to improve your listening skill. Let's listen to a young man from Canada describing his flight to Brussels.

• The first time you should relax, enjoy de video, try to recognise words and get a general idea of the story.
• The second time complete the sentences below. Choose the right option. 
• If you like the song in the video you can  listen to it and see the lyrics by clicking  here.

RECIPES

As you know, we are having a Christmas party this coming Thursday and one of the highlights will be the cooking contest. You can take part with a local speciality or  with a typical dish from any country where English is spoken.  There are photocopies in the libray and in class, but why don't we share videos (or just the recipe) of  typical dishes from the English-speaking countries?

Here's one for Brownies, the list with the ingredients and written recipe is here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-brownies/detail.aspx

You can leave the URL for your recipe as a comment.

The Spanish Crisis from a Different Point of View

We recently talked about big isssues in class. Things such as poverty, domestic violence, debt, unemployment, pollution, divorce rates, obesity, etc. No wonder  we  also tackled the topic of the current economic crisis, as this is probably our main concern nowadays.  Prospects are rather pessimistic but Carlos found this video which focuses on the positive features of Spain and brings a gentle  breeze of optimism.

So, what do you think about this video?  Which new vocabulary did you  learn thanks to this video?
What do you know about the companies mentioned in the video?

Post your comment. 

My favourite photo

Here's a short video about my favourite photo. I made it with a programme called Movie Maker  which you'll probably have on your computer.
You can watch it and see how much you understand - check the  transcript by clicking here - or watch  it on youtube to activate subtitles.

Here are 2 tasks for you:
1) Write a comment talking about your favourite photo briefly.
2) Make your own video (1 minute 30 seconds maximum) (We will upload it during the next lesson)