Valentine´s Day 2019

The Odds Of Finding Love: 

Here is the introduction to the video: Love is a complicated combination of brain chemicals and behavior that scientists are only just beginning to figure out. And it's remarkable that in every society that we have looked at on Earth, romantic love exists. So if love is so universal, and there are 7 billion other people out there looking for it, why can it seem like it's so hard to find? I

In this video, we'll look at what we can learn about the search for love from the search for extraterrestrial life. We'll start with Enrico Fermi's paradox of why we haven't been contacted by any extraterrestrials yet, and then at Frank Drake's equation to estimate the number of civilizations that might exist in our galaxy (updated with current numbers). Finally, we'll meet a young lady named Ann and see if we can calculate how many special someones there might be out there for her. It's a cosmic love story! 

Childish Gambino's `This is America'

Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino won the record of the year and song of the year awards at the 61 st Grammy Awards 2019, celebratrated yesterday

Click here if you want to read an explanation of the images and content of this video which addresses gun violence, racism and apathy.

Super Bowl Commercials 2019

These are some of the commercials that will be airing at the Super Bowl tonight. Click to get the subtitles if you need/want them.
Pay attention to the use of humor, celebrities and social messages in this selection of ads

Serena Williams´message about the power of women:

Microsoft Commercial:`We All Win´, showing how technology empowers everybody

 

Here is an ad encouraging the use of renewable energies:

Food for Thought: A Poem

Read this poem and follow the instructions at the end

Pronunciation of "s"

Who & Whom

Here is one more video of the series  `Simple English Videos´ by Vicki Hollett. 

Jay and Vicki will help you understand the difference between the pronouns who  (a subject pronoun) and whom  (an object pronoun). Here is a list of the parts of this video:

• how who and whom work  
• a test to see if who or whom is correct  
• when it's appropriate to use whom in formal writing  
• when it's not appropriate to use whom (Whom can sound pompous) 
• how we use whom in constructions with prepositions

One More Speech: Natalie Portman´s at Harvard

This is a video from a series called "English Speeches with Big Subtitles"; they are excellent videos to practice listening and reading comprehension while listening to people who have a lot to share with the world. In this case, the speaker is Natalie Portman Harvard Commencement Speech in 2015

Natalie Portman is an Academy Award-winning actress, film actress, producer, and director with dual Israeli and American citizenship. “It’s a cliché because it’s true — helping others ends up helping you more than anyone. Getting out of your own concerns and caring about someone else’s life for a while reminds you that you are not the center of the universe.” - 

Watch with big English subtitles.

Controversial Commercial

This Gillette commercial has been quite controversial ever since it was released last week. These are the introductory words from the company: 

Bullying. Harassment. Is this the best a man can get? It's only by challenging ourselves to do more, that we can get closer to our best. Instead of excuses, we need to make a change.

Click to get the subtitles - if you need them

Click here to read about the controversy before you make up your own mind.

The Killers´"Land Of The Free"

There is so much talk about the U.S.-Mexico wall on the news these days, what with President Trump´s government shutdown, the migrant caravan....and then The Killers said "enough is enough" and released the song "Land Of The Free", whose video has been directed by Spike Lee.

"Land Of The Free" is a politically charged song that condemns the border wall and institutional racism at the same time that it confronts gun violence.

Read a reflection on this song from the magazine RollingStone: click here.

Phonetics: Practice

Practice your pronunciation and phonetics with this puzzle: