Colours - listening comprehension exercises

           Learning how to say colours in English is very important as it’s basic vocabulary. This English colours vocabulary list will help you memorise these basic English words. Remember that colours is the British English spelling and colors is the the American English spelling.

Open your eyes to the killer in the kitchen

Nearly two million people die each year as a result of inhaling lethal smoke from kitchen stoves and fires. Most of these deaths are a result of respiratory infections. Most victims are women and children under five. Smoke is the killer in the kitchen.

More than three billion people - half the world’s population - depend on fuels such as wood, dung and coal for cooking, boiling water and heating.Burning these fuels on rudimentary stoves or three-stone fires creates a dangerous cocktail of pollutants that can kill. It is the poorest who have to rely on the lowest grades of fuel, and are the most vulnerable. Every year smoke kills more people each year than malaria.

True to their mandate, Practical Action is seeking support to solve this problem with modern technology, providing ventilation and cleaner cookstoves to affected families.

Talking About Your Daily Routine in English - video

Gobble Gobble - Turkey Song - Thanksgiving Animated Video Song

Shake your left hand Gobble

Shake your right hand Gobble

Shake your tail now Gobble Gobble Gobble

Shake your left foot Gobble

Shake your right foot Gobble

Shake your tail now Gobble Gobble Gobble

Gobble Gobble the Turkey goes

Gobble Gobble the Turkey goes

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Gobble Gobble the Turkey goes

Gobble Gobble the Turkey goes

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Can I have a beat

Can I move my feet

Can I have a Turkey to eat

It's Thanksgiving

Let's all go in

Where we have a Turkey to eat

There's pumpkin Pie

There's stuffing oh my!

And the people that I love are near!

Shake your left hand Gobble

Shake your right hand Gobble

Shake your tail now Gobble Gobble Gobble

Shake your left foot Gobble

Shake your right foot Gobble

Shake your tail now Gobble Gobble Gobble

Gobble Gobble the Turkey goes

Gobble Gobble the Turkey goes

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Gobble Gobble the Turkey goes

Gobble Gobble the Turkey goes

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Sesame Street video - Jerry O'Connell Explains the Word "Observe" ...

Seasons - online puzzle

20 words that once meant something very different

Words change meaning all the time — and over time. Language historian Anne Curzan takes a closer look at this phenomenon, and shares some words that used to mean something totally different.

Words change meaning over time in ways that might surprise you. We sometimes notice words changing meaning under our noses (e.g., unique coming to mean “very unusual” rather than “one of a kind”) — and it can be disconcerting. How in the world are we all going to communicate effectively if we allow words to shift in meaning like that?

The good news: History tells us that we’ll be fine. Words have been changing meaning — sometimes radically — as long as there have been words and speakers to speak them. Here is just a small sampling of words you may not have realized didn’t always mean what they mean today.

1. Nice: This word used to mean “silly, foolish, simple.” Far from the compliment it is today!
2. Silly: Meanwhile, silly went in the opposite direction: in its earliest uses, it referred to things worthy or blessed; from there it came to refer to the weak and vulnerable, and more recently to those who are foolish.
3. Awful: Awful things used to be “worthy of awe” for a variety of reasons, which is how we get expressions like “the awful majesty of God.”
4. Fizzle: The verb fizzle once referred to the act of producing quiet flatulence (think “SBD”); American college slang flipped the word’s meaning to refer to failing at things.
5. Wench: A shortened form of the Old English word wenchel (which referred to children of either sex), the word wench used to mean “female child” before it came to be used to refer to female servants — and more pejoratively to wanton women.
6. Fathom: It can be hard to fathom how this verb moved from meaning “to encircle with one’s arms” to meaning “to understand after much thought.” Here’s the scoop: One’s outstretched arms can be used as a measurement (a fathom), and once you have fathoms, you can use a fathom line to measure the depth of water. Think metaphorically and fathoming becomes about getting to the bottom of things.
7. Clue: Centuries ago, a clue (or clew) was a ball of yarn. Think about threading your way through a maze and you’ll see how we got from yarn to key bits of evidence that help us solve things.
8. Myriad: If you had a myriad of things 600 years ago, it meant that you specifically had 10,000 of them – not just a lot.
9. Naughty: Long ago, if you were naughty, you had naught or nothing. Then it came to mean evil or immoral, and now you are just badly behaved.
10. Eerie: Before the word eerie described things that inspire fear, it used to describe people feeling fear — as in one could feel faint and eerie.
11. Spinster: As it sounds, spinsters used to be women who spun. It referred to a legal occupation before it came to mean “unmarried woman” – and often not in the most positive ways, as opposed to a bachelor …
12. Bachelor: A bachelor was a young knight before the word came to refer to someone who had achieved the lowest rank at a university — and it lives on in that meaning in today’s B.A. and B.S degrees. It’s been used for unmarried men since Chaucer’s day.
13. Flirt: Some 500 years ago, flirting was flicking something away or flicking open a fan or otherwise making a brisk or jerky motion. Now it involves playing with people’s emotions (sometimes it may feel like your heart is getting jerked around in the process).
14. Guy: This word is an eponym. It comes from the name of Guy Fawkes, who was part of a failed attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605. Folks used to burn his effigy, a “Guy Fawkes” or a “guy,” and from there it came to refer to a frightful figure. In the U.S., it has come to refer to men in general.
15. Hussy: Believe it or not, hussy comes from the word housewife (with several sound changes, clearly) and used to refer to the mistress of a household, not the disreputable woman it refers to today.
16. Egregious: It used to be possible for it to be a good thing to be egregious: it meant you were distinguished or eminent. But in the end, the negative meaning of the word won out, and now it means that someone or something is conspicuously bad — not conspicuously good.
17. Quell: Quelling something or someone used to mean killing it, not just subduing it.
18. Divest: 300 years ago, divesting could involve undressing as well as depriving others of their rights or possessions. It has only recently come to refer to selling off investments.
19. Senile: Senile used to refer simply to anything related to old age, so you could have senile maturity. Now it refers specifically to those suffering from senile dementia.
20. Meat: Have you ever wondered about the expression “meat and drink”? It comes from an older meaning of the word meat that refers to food in general — solid food of a variety of kinds (not just animal flesh), as opposed to drink.

We’re human. We love to play with words in creative ways. And in the process, we change the language. In retrospect, we often think the changes words undergo are fascinating. May we transfer some of that fascination and wonder — some of the awe that used to make the words awful and awesome synonymous — to the changes we’re witnessing today.

Andrew Solomon: Love, no matter what

Face - vocabulary in english

Time

This video lesson is an alluring way to teach your child the common terms associated with time and how to read and calculate time on a normal clock. Through this video, the student will be able to know the concepts of AM and PM, the 24 hour clock, the 12 hour clock, etc.

Dead Poets Society: "What will your verse be?" - video with subtitles and videoscript

«We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?»

Present Simple - all forms - 3rd person singular | 15 interactive exercises

Write the plural - two interactive exercises for you...

Band Aid 30 - Do they know it's Christmas? - 2014 (video, lyrics and information)

Band Aid 30 is the 2014 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. The group was announced on 10 November 2014 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. As in previous incarnations, the group covered the track Do They Know It's Christmas?, written in 1984 by Geldof and Ure, this time to raise money towards the Ebola crisis in Western Africa. The track has re-tweaked lyrics to reflect the current Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa with all proceeds going towards battling what Geldof described as a "particularly pernicious illness because it renders humans untouchable and that is sickening".

The song was recorded by some of the biggest-selling British pop acts, including One Direction, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sandé and Ellie Goulding. Bands Bastille and Mercury prize-winning Elbow have also confirmed they are on board, along with Coldplay and Bono – the third time the U2 frontman has contributed to a Band Aid recording.

Recording

The song was recorded on 15 November 2014, with all contributions going towards battling the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. The song was recorded in Sarm West Studiosin Notting Hill, London, the same studio used for the original track. Organiser Bob Geldof said he addressed the participants "like the headmaster" before they sang the chorus. "I explained the situation in West Africa, I explained what the UN were saying, explained what we could do, and just geed them up,".

Footage of the recording of the session was streamed live on an official app, with the footage forming the basis for the music video. The record was produced by Paul Epworth, who has masterminded hits by the likes of Adele and One Direction.

The track has re-tweaked lyrics to address the current climate within Africa, and the ongoing Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. Instead of the line "Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears", the new version will have the line "Where a kiss of love can kill you and there's death in every tear". Furthermore, the line "Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you" has been changed to "Well tonight we're reaching out and touching you".

Release

The official music video for Band Aid 30 was first shown on the results show of The X Factor on Sunday 16 November, with Geldof suggested that the song and video shown on X Factor may not be the finished versions. "We'll have a rough edit on the X Factor and we'll have a rough edit of the film," he said. The video was introduced by Bob Geldof, who described the new recording as a "little bit of pop history". He said the video - which began with shots of victims of Ebola - was "harrowing and not meant for an entertainment show" but was something the X Factor audience should see.

Following this, the song was available for digital download on Monday 17 November 2014, just 11 days short of the 30th anniversary of the release of the original version of the track. The physical version of the song will be released three weeks later on 8 December, and will feature cover artwork designed by artist Tracey Emin. The download costs 99p, while the CD single will retail for £4. The song will not be made available on Spotify and other music streaming services until January 2015. There will be remixes of the track by Underworld and Disclosure.

On Saturday 15 November it was confirmed by Geldof that the Chancellor George Osborne would waive VAT on the record, with all the money raised by the track going towards the cause. He also confirmed in interviews that ITunes are not taking a cut of the 99p download cost.

Participants

The line up for Band Aid 30 confirmed so far: Organisers and producers:

• Bob Geldof – organiser
• Midge Ure – organiser
• Paul Epworth – producer

Instruments:

• Roger Taylor (from Queen) – Drums

Vocals:

• Bastille
• Bono (from U2)
• Clean Bandit
• Disclosure
• Elbow
• Paloma Faith
• Fuse ODG
• Nick Grimshaw
• Ellie Goulding
• Angelique Kidjo
• Chris Martin (from Coldplay)
• Olly Murs
• Sinead O'Connor
• One Direction
• Rita Ora
• Emeli Sande
• Seal
• Ed Sheeran
• Sam Smith
• Underworld
• Jessie Ware

Remixes:

• Underworld
• Disclosure

Lyric and artists

Unlike Band Aid II and Band Aid 20, where lyrics were almost identical to the original, the lyrics to 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' for Band Aid 30 have been substantially altered to address the current situation in Western Africa, with the ongoing Ebola epidemic. The following table shows the lines of the new track, and which artist(s) sing each of the lines.

Lyrics	Artist(s)
'It's Christmas time, and there's no need to be afraid'	One Direction
'At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade'	Ed Sheeran
'And in our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy'	Rita Ora
'Throw your arms around the world, at Christmas time'	Sam Smith
'But say a prayer; Pray for the other ones'	Paloma Faith
'At Christmas time it's hard, but when you're having fun'	Emeli Sande
'There's a world outside your window, and it's a world of dread and fear'	Guy Garvey (Elbow)
'Where a kiss of love can kill you'	Dan Smith (Bastille)
'And there's death in every tear'	Angélique Kidjo
'And the Christmas bells that ring there, are the clanging chimes of doom'	Chris Martin (Coldplay)
'Well tonight we're reaching out and touching you'	Bono (U2)
'Bring peace and joy this Christmas to West Africa'	Seal
'A song of hope, when there's no hope tonight'	Ellie Goulding
'Why is to comfort to be feared'	Sinead O'Connor
'Why is to touch to be scared'	Sinead O'Connor
'How can they know it's Christmas time at all?'	Bono (U2)
'Here's to you'	All
'Raise a glass for everyone'	Olly Murs
'And Here's to them'	All
'And all their years to come'	Sam Smith
'Can they know it's Christmas time at all?'	Rita Ora
Feed the world, let them know it's Christmas time again	All
Feel the world, let them know it's Christmas time again	All
Heal the world, let them know it's Christmas time again	All
Feed the world, let them know it's Christmas time again	All
Feel the world, let them know it's Christmas time again	All
Heal the world, let them know it's Christmas time again	All
Feed the world, let them know it's Christmas time again	All
Feel the world, let them know it's Christmas time again	All (fading)
Heal the world	All (fading)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Little Mermaid - Animated Video Story

Idioms About Food with Examples and Explanations (infographic)

Using these 8 funny idioms about food will make you a big cheese. You will find the examples and explanations of idioms under the infographic.

Provided by Kaplan 

1. “Egghead” – a very studious person, intellectually gifted in the field of academics, a very intelligent person

- I think Jane will do well in her finals. She has always been a kind of egghead from elementary school all the way through college.

2. “Big cheese” – an important and influential person

- Do you know Peter? He’s a big cheese at the company, he may help you to get a good job there.

3. “Couch potato” - a very lazy person who watches too much TV

- My uncle is a couch potato, you never see him without the remote control in his hand.

4. “Tough cookie” – a very determined person, durable and robust person, a person who is difficult to deal with

- There is a tough cookie on the phone, he insists to talk to the manager, shall I put him through?

5. “Top banana” – leader, boss, the chief person in a group, the head of a project

- I don’t know when we’ll finish, ask Jack, he’s the top banana here.

6. “Bad apple” – troublemaker, criminal

- He’s a real bad apple. If I were you, I wouldn’t let my daughter go out with him.

7. “Sour grapes” – pretending to dislike something that you can’t have

- The losers say they don’t mind that they couldn’t win the cup, but I’m sure this is only sour grapes.

8. “Lemon law” – an American law that protects those who buy defective cars or other consumer goods

- Unfortunately, his new car had an engine defect, but he received a complete refund in accordance with the lemon law.