EASY (Levels A2/B1) When we think of Easter, we think of painted eggs, the Easter bunny, and chocolate. But what are the origins of Easter? The festival of Easter is a Christian adaptation of a pagan ritual. Pagans believed that eggs represented fertility and rebirth and the Christian Church also made the eggs a symbol of religion. At Easter they painted eggs, and gave these as presents – a ritual that still exists today. The Easter Bunny, like Santa Claus at Christmas, is a...
One of the best ways to learn the English language is to watch films. It helps you to understand different dialects and accents, helps with pronunciation and allows you to hear how some words are used colloquially. You are able to see how people use the English language in different situations and you begin familiarise yourself with ‘slang’ terms. Now is arguably the best time of the whole year for film watching as it’s the award season. We have already had the Golden Globes and on the...
A Cultural Guide to England Everything you need to know when you visit England by Babylon Idiomas Barcelona teacher Patrick Butterworth This summer I returned home to a cold, wet English summer. While I was trapped in my parents house due to heavy rainfall I thought about the strange rules and cultures of my home country. If you’re thinking of visiting, studying or even working in England one day there may be a few surprises for you. English culture can be a maze of rules and social...
¿Cómo sería tu vida con un mejor nivel de inglés? ¿Cómo cambiaría tu vida profesional o personal? ¿Qué cosas podrías hacer que aún no has podido? ¿Por qué quieres estudiar inglés? Saca una foto que representa tu futuro ¨yo¨ con un mejor nivel de inglés y compártela en nuestra página de Facebook de tu ciudad. A continuación haz un comentario en tu foto con una descripción de máximo 100 palabras en inglés o castellano. Haremos 4 competiciones paralelas, una en cada página...
Es hora de renovar nuestros marcapáginas divertidos que contienen refranes en inglés y español y nos gustaría saber vuestros favoritos y publicarlos en la próxima edición. Publica refranes en inglés con una traducción o frase correspondiente en español durante el mes de mayo y el día 1 de Junio nuestros jefes de estudios de las cuatro escuelas elegirán los 10 mejores para publicar en nuestra marcapáginas. Si eligen el refrán que has publicado tú, recibirás una clase particular...
Think green. Think shamrocks. Think Guinness, folk music and the lush rolling hills of the Fair Isle they call ‘Emerald’. Thoughts such as these can only mean one thing: Ireland. And every year on 17th March the world looks to Ireland in the wake of ‘St. Patrick’s Day’. The one day of the year when pubs are filled to the rafters (that’s an idiomatic expression meaning “full” or “overcrowded” for all you English language learners!) and drinking copious amounts of alcohol is...
Del 1 al 29 de Febrero haremos una competición entre los fans de nuestras páginas de Facebook en Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla y Valencia. Si eres el top fan de tu ciudad, la persona que más contribuye o interactúa con contenidos relevantes al aprendizaje de inglés, ganarás uno de los siguientes premios a escoger: - 4 horas de clases particulares en una de nuestras escuelas de inglés de Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla o Valencia - Un tarjeta regalo para ir al cine a ver películas...
This month in Babylon Idiomas Valencia: take a look at our new list of books in our English Library. We have books and short readers for all levels, from elementary to advanced. This month´s feature book is GULLIVER´S TRAVELS by Jonathon Swift. This book is a classic in English Literature. Swift is famous for his potilical and social satire in his writings, commenting on the culture of his time. SUMMARY – Reader level 2 (pre intermediate-intermediate): Gulliver travels...
Happy New Year! Welcome back to all our existing students, and welcome to our new ones! We hope you had a great Christmas and wish you all the best for 2012. New courses We have many options of timetables and levels so don’t hang about! Many of the courses are starting very soon and if you sign up in January you receive a free study pack! Find out more information here: http://www.ingles.babylon-idiomas.com/esp/promociones.htm Film of the month! The Ghost Writer A ghostwriter hired to...
Tongue Twisters are short rhymes or a collection of words that are hard to articulate. There are many different kinds of tongue twisters. Some are short and friends will often say to you, ‘says these words as many times as you can as fast as you can’. This often results in you saying something silly much to your friends’ amusement. The most famous examples of this are: ‘Red lorry, yellow lorry’ And… ‘A proper copper coffee pot’ Many of the tongue twisters that I remember...
