If you are planning on travelling to Scotland this summer, don´t miss the Fringe Festival, which takes place in the country´s capital, Edinburgh every year. Along with the Edinburgh International Festival, the Fringe is one of Scotland´s most famous festivals. It is held every August, and is a festival of the Arts, with buskers, street perfomers, theatre plays, and comedy shows. Unlike the Edinburgh International Festival, at which only professionals perform, it is not necessary to be...
The British love to talk about the weather – that is the stereotype at least, and, truth be told, it is not entirely false, particularly when it comes to bad weather. Whereas the Inuit have 50 or so words for different types of snow, the Brits have a colourful collection of expressions to talk about the rain. Below are some of our favorites… when your teacher asks you to describe the wet weather outside, don´t settle for “it´s raining”, use one of these expressions...
On 23rd April, it will be Sant Jordi in Catalonia – a day for offering red roses and flowers to people that you love. What better present could you offer someone who is studying English than an English language book? Here are Babylon Idiomas´ recommendations… Love by Design (MacMillan Graded Readers) – Elementary Level (A1) Tom has failed his exams, so he cannot study photography at art college. He is bored with his job in a library and he doesn’t know what he wants to...
I arrived in Barcelona two years ago on a stormy November evening. Unfortunately, I nearly missed my flight due to a transport strike and at the gate, I was told that my bag was too heavy! It wasn’t the best start to this new adventure – nevertheless I knew it wouldn’t be forgotten. Although I hadn’t visited this Catalan city before, many people I had met on my tour around Europe had given it glowing reports so I knew I wouldn’t be dissapointed. I spent my...
The English language is notorious for difficult spelling and pronunciation, which can make learning the language quite hard. Time and time again, frustrated students ask “why can’t you just write it as you say it?! Like Spanish!” Well, every native speaker has had problems with spelling and pronunciation at some point too. When English was first formed by the Anglo-Saxons, spelling and pronunciation were really simple. It was written as it was spoken. However, the situation changed...
¿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...
On 29th August, the London 2012 Paralympics was opened by world renounced physicist Stephen Hawking . The Games began in 1948, but it wasn´t until the 1988 Games in Seoul that the term Paralympics was first used. Let´s take a look at five prominent athletes to look out for from the English speaking world…. Oscar Pistorius The South African athlete will compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m track event. Having also competed in the able-bodied games, Pistorius has on several occasions...
As the Summer approaches and the London Olympics gets closer and closer, thousands of people will soon be packing their bags and heading for London, the capital of the England. There are many things to do, see and learn about in London… here are just a few highlights THE SIGHTS The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben Everyone calls the big clock tower in central London “Big Ben”, but this is not actually its real name. The clock tower is really called St Stephen´s Tower....
Put up with, gutted, knackered, stay up, get over, get off…… Do you know what these words mean? Do you know how they are pronounced? How to use them in context? If they have more than one meaning…. Help is on hand… with the new Babylon Idiomas Podcast! What is a podcast? A podcast is an audio clip, like a short radio show, that you can listen to online, or download onto your computer, MP3 player or i-pod. What is the Babylon Idiomas Podcast? The Babylon Idiomas Podcast is a great way to...
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...
