NOTHING SUITS ME LIKE A SUIT!!

You know I'll never get tired of telling you about the benefits of V.O films and TV series. There are so many things you can learn just by watching TV in English! For example, a while ago, I was watching one of the latest episodes from one of my favourite TV series, How I met your Mother, and when they started singing in a kind of musical style I couldn't but take some notes of the different aspects of the English language that a teacher can develop in a lesson. I can't see a film without thinking of the possible uses in a language class and honestly, I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse but I can't help it.

Anyway, How I met your mother is a love story in reverse. It's the year 2030 and Ted Mosby is telling his kids how he met their mother at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. The story starts in the year 2005 and by 2009 (season 5) we still don't know who his wife will be but, in the meantime, we are witnesses of incredibly hilarious stories performed by Ted himself and their best friends: Marshall and Lily (already a couple), Robin (Ted's former girlfriend) and Barney (I just can't describe him, you have to see the series because you wouldn't believe me).

Well, for the 100th episode, the series creators decided to make a kind of musical scene. Barney, whose favourite sentences are 'Suit up' and 'Wait for it' is a recognised womaniser. However, in this episode (titled "Suits versus girls") he has to choose between a hot girl and wearing suits. If you want to know how this ended up, you have to watch the following video:

And what can you learn from this song? You have examples of the second conditional, the use of past modal verbs (could've (coulda) gone), the use of I'd rather go, colloquial expressions such as that lady cop who's kinda cute, expressions like casual Friday or it's moot, informal vocabulary such as dude, chick, bro or cuz and the pronunciation of the word "suit" /su:t/ and its two meanings as a noun and as a verb.

Now, the lyrics:

For more online episodes, click here.

LISTENING + SCRIPT

My dear students, here you can find different websites where you can practise listening on your own. Some of the websites include exam practice exercises. Others, however, only provide the videos but you can read the script at the same time, which, as you all know, it's good practice for your learning. Just click on the words TRANSCRIPT, SCRIPT, TEXT or something similar and get ready to improve your listening skill! PBS NewsHour (American English) ABC The World Today (Australian English) CNN Students News (American English) NPR (American English) Click on TOPICS VOA News (American English) Future Radio (British English) BBC Learning English (British English) Here you have a link to a list of British radio stations . Before choosing one, please have a look at the information about the location so that you can have a go at different accents. Listening + script + exercises: http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/ http://www.instant-practice.com/ http://w

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Christmas traditions: Santa Claus, Christmas tree, Mistletoe, the Candy Cane, etc. Christmas around the world (or here ). By the way, do you know that Santa Claus is known as Father Christmas in the UK? And have you ever heard of Christmas crackers ? If any of you is planning on talking about Christmas crackers on Thursday's speeches, you should know that I'll take one to the school so that you can show other students how it works. For previous posts about Christmas, click here . Now, check part of an episode about Christmas from Are you being served? , a 1970s British comedy. You'll find all the British Christmas traditions here. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! Snow is falling all around me children playing having fun it's the season love and understanding merry christmas everyone Time for parties and celebration people dancing all night long time for presents and exchanging kisses time for singing christmas songs We're gonna have

SMART GOAL SETTING AND LANGUAGE LEARNING HABITS

Why learning a language is a daily commitment. 7 ways to develop good habits in language learning. How to set SMART goals in language learning . 7 Ways to Develop Good Language Learning Habits from Transparent Language, Inc. Top ten reasons to learn a language. Fawlty Towers (tv series). Top ten Fawlty Towers moments (watchmojo.com video) Hilarious!!!