Good morning from bright yet chilly Morsum.

Although it's below freezing there are quite a few flowers to be seen in our garden; here's some vocabulary to help you:

http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/springFlowersTopic.htm

http://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/lists/c/words.php?f=gardening_verbs


For serious gardeners you can't beat the RHS:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/

and The National Trust:
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/gardens-and-parks

Or download the Podcast of BBC R4's Gardeners' Question Time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qp2f


It's a big week ahead for me... just so excited!

Let's talk about Europe!

Here's the history of the borders of European countries - 6013 years in three minutes. Keep your eye on those islands at the top left, which from the Middle Ages stay remarkably untouched by all going on over on the Continent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxDyJ_6N-6A

So now the Brits have to decide what they want, and it's an emotional Argument.

Here Channel 4  clarifies some facts:

http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/


One Europe has a collection of interesting facts and infographics:

http://one-europe.info/

(I always wanted to know which countries in Europe are best at washing their Hands after using the WC.)

And here's an online quiz of European trivia:

https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/english/esl/activities_and_quizzes/quizzes/daily_life/europe

Good morning everyone and welcome, albeit February already, to The Penguinet in 2016!

I expect you are all bursting with good intentions to learn loads of English  this year,  and I will do my best to assist.

Here's a good place to start:

http://www.5minuteenglish.com/

Scroll down a bit and you will find a section on intonation, stress  and emphasis. You can click on the phrase to hear it being spoken, by an American voice.

This site also has a 'Daily Word'  and a "Q & A" section.

And for some fun (if you like crosswords) here you can find a load of online vocabulary-building crosswords:

http://www.eslgamesplus.com/interactive-crossword-puzzles/

It's Valentine's Day today so here's a quiz - are you a true romantic?


http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/love-sex/76824580/quiz-valentines-day

Have a great Valentine's Day and see you all soon.

You all know how much I love TED talks, and would like to use more of them in our lessons. But they sometimes speak SO FAST and the topics are sometimes tricky...

So wow what a brilliant idea, here you can find TED talks according to language level:

http://lingorank.com/talks/


Well here we are second Sunday in Advent already. Some of us have been looking at the magnificent Canterbury Cathedral this week. Here's more info:
 http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/

And that famous murder...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtJX0430bQw


And just in case you have time this week here's an online phrasal verb  quiz:

http://www.stuff.co.uk/phrasal.htm

Good morning and welcome to this week's slightly late Penguinet. Yesterday I was so caught up in pine branches and candles etc that I completely forgot I should be writing to you here.

So maybe this is a chance to consider different ways of apologizing:

http://esl.about.com/od/smalltalk/a/Apologizing-In-English.htm

http://www.engvid.com/ways-to-apologize-sorry/

http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ii064/esl-test.php


Now that I hope you have forgiven me, let's continue.

Today is St Andrew's Day, St A being the Patron saint of Scotland.

To whet your appetite about the country:


http://www.visitscotland.com/

More about St Andrew:
http://www.scotland.org/features/the-history-of-saint-andrew-of-scotland/


Braveheart:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIpwE8_-tWs

And the lovely Amy MacDonald and the People of Glasgow at the opening of the Commonwealth Games (look out for old Rocker Rod Stewart at the end!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyrcQCYcn08

And our very own Pipes and Drums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5q6odMvtJU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5q6odMvtJU

Happy Advent!

Good morning and welcome to our Thanksgiving Special.

The last Thursday in November is Thanksgiving in the USA. We've talked about this often in our lessons, but here's some extra info:

History of Thanksgiving Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsdzjdT_LkY


Here's a tiny online quiz - choose the correct words:
http://a4esl.org/q/j/vm/m-thanksgiving.html

And a longer quiz involving (among other things) prepositions. Yaaaay!
http://www.manythings.org/voa/011119tia2.htm

And we can always count on National Geographic, this time from National Geographic Kids:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/history/first-thanksgiving/


Last but not least, let's watch what Charlie Brown has to say about it all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ961y0VKEk

How the world can change in a few seconds...

We are all thinking about France this weekend, so let's take the opportunity to look at French words in English:
http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/frenchinenglish_2.htm


It all started with the Normans of course:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7SX3ulV_tk
(This is part one, other parts are available on YouTube)


A Battle of Hastings Game:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/launch_gms_battle_hastings.shtml

And everything in England changed for ever:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/

Things went from bad to worse between our two countries:

All about Agincourt:
http://www.agincourt600.com/
and
The Battle of Trafalgar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muxsFSRQgbg

But sooner or later along came the the 'Entente cordiale'
http://www.guizot.com/en/politics/entente-cordiale/


Well, it's a blustery day here in Ahsen-Oetzen, so I will leave you with a weather vocabulary game:
http://www.eslgamesplus.com/weather-vocabulary-esl-interactive-board-game/