Category Archives: Seasonal

It’s Freezing Out There! Useful Cold Weather Vocabulary

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Are you enjoying the cold snap? With the thermometer diving towards zero across the UK, it’s time to think about winter weather vocabulary. There are many ways to describe a cold day – certainly useful when living in a northern climate!

From cool to chilly to freezing, whether the wind is breezy, blustery or gale-force – with or without a downpour – cold weather vocabulary is always handy at this time of year. Read on to explore the English vocabulary you need to talk about the cold weather. Continue reading →

Exploring Remembrance Day

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Remembrance Day, also called Armistice Day, is an important day in British culture. November 11th is the day everyone remembers the sacrifices made by the service men and women during the world wars. Traditionally there is a two-minute silence on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – the moment in 1918 when the armistice became effective in Britain.

The main ceremony of remembrance takes place on the nearest Sunday and this day is called Remembrance Sunday. People wear red paper poppies at this time of year to show their support. Read on to learn more about this important day in British culture and explore new vocabulary in our Remembrance Day EFL lesson through two famous war poems.
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Do the Monster Mash This Halloween!

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Monster Mash Halloween Halloween is an exciting holiday occasion and the perfect time to learn some new vocabulary – so why not learn with a classic song! Monster Mash is a fun Halloween-themed pop song by Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett and the Crypt Kickers, recorded in 1962. It contains lots of spooky vocabulary and is a great way to expand your knowledge of idioms – and enjoy some Halloween-flavoured language fun. This is great listening material for the EFL class. Will you do the Monster Mash?     Continue reading →

Jump on Stage for the Eurovision Song Contest!

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Eurovision is the colourful, over-the-top, cheesy and fabulous international music competition that is broadcast every year across Europe, Asia, the US and Australia to millions of fans and ironic supporters! The Eurovision Song Contest Final always offers an evening of fun and excitement, packed with wacky musical delights.

The Eurovision Final 2022 airs on Saturday 14th May. Come along and explore the ballads, pop songs and other tuneful entries from some of the hopeful nations right here. Plus, we’ll explain how the competition works and consider how the Eurovision Song Contest can add a melodious edge to your next EFL lesson! Continue reading →

Cinco de Mayo – Join the Fiesta!

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Cinco de Mayo EFL Lesson - Mexican dancersCinco de Mayo (5th May) is a celebration day in the US and Mexico when people celebrate Mexican culture, heritage, food and music with street festivals and parades. The day commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. This is an ideal time to think about using this seasonal event in a vocabulary and culture lesson. So come and spread some guacamole on your tacos while you enjoy our Cinco de Mayo EFL lesson, complete with gap-fill exercise. Olé! Continue reading →

Pancake Day EFL Lesson Ideas

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Pancake Day EFL Lesson ideas - pancake with berries

Pancake Day is just around the corner, which means everyone in the UK will be preparing to make delicious crispy pancakes! The proper name for Pancake Day is of course Shrove Tuesday. This is the day when people traditionally used up all their luxury foods – milk, sugar and eggs – to make pancakes before they began fasting for Lent.

In 2024, Shrove Tuesday falls on Tuesday 13th February. Read on to find out all about this mini celebration day and its religious origins. We’ve included an easy pancake recipe, plus we have some great ideas for Pancake Day EFL lessons!   Continue reading →

Raise a Glass to the Haggis – it’s Burns Night!

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Burns Night EFL Lesson - Rabbie BurnsBurns Night is a celebration dedicated to the life and works of the great Scottish poet Robert (Rabbie) Burns. On 25th January, many people will be throwing a Burns Night supper, featuring all the traditional elements. The classic celebration includes a piper to welcome the guests, speeches, prayers to bring in the food, a special address and toast to the haggis, lively entertainment, a ‘toast to the lassies’ and many other fun elements.

How will you be celebrating Burns Night in the EFL class? Read on to discover more about this fascinating Scottish tradition and how you might use it to create a fun, Scottish-themed EFL lesson.

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New Year’s Resolutions for Language Learners – Part 2

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As we move through January, it is easy to lose a bit of motivation for our language-related New Year’s resolutions. The buzz of freshness has dissipated a little as we get back into our normal routines. But wait! Stay strong and focus your goals. If you keep on practising and stay true to your resolutions, you will continue to improve your language skills and see big changes in 2023.

We have some more interesting ideas for effective New Year’s resolutions for EFL which can help you push into new territory this year with your language learning. Whether you want to focus on your speaking or writing skills this year, or aim to improve all your areas of knowledge, there is a resolution perfect for you. Read on as we continue with the second part in our series of New Year’s resolutions for EFL learners! Continue reading →

New Year’s Resolutions for Language Learning

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New Year’s resolutions are at the forefront of everyone’s mind at the start of January. Learning a language is a popular New Year’s resolution but those of us already learning can also benefit from a January boost. Setting some realistic New Year’s resolutions for language learning can give you a sense of renewed vigour and can help you redefine your long-term and short-term goals.

When learning a new language, it’s easy to lose motivation. New Year is a perfect time to remind yourself why you started learning English in the first place and rekindle your passion for the language. Read on for the first part in our series of blog posts about New Year’s resolutions for language learning. Continue reading →

Happy St Andrew’s Day! Exploring Scottish Traditions

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Saint Andrews Day falls on 30th November each year. This special day is marked in Scotland by many traditional events celebrating all things Scottish, such as dancing, playing the bagpipes and eating traditional Scottish foods, such as haggis.

St Andrews Day is a voluntary public holiday in Scotland. It is always fun to mark national events in the EFL classroom, so we are using St Andrews Day as a spring board to look at the Scotland’s flag, its national emblem, the Scottish accent and various legends and traditions associated with Scotland. Continue reading →