My clothes by Pete Hobbs

 My clothes by Pete Hobbs

I don't have to worry about my work clothes. I'm a police officer and I have a uniform. I like the uniform. We wear a dark blue jacket, dark blue trousers and a white shirt. We also have big yellow police jackets to wear when we we're outside in the street. These jackets are very useful because people can see that we are police officers.

I'm not very interested in fashion. My wife, Jane, says that my clothes are boring but most of my friends' clothes are the same as mine! When I'm not at work I loke to wear comfortable clothes for example jeans and a T-shirt jumper. I don't really have favourite colour, but I try not to wear dark blue because it's the colour of my uniform. My favourite item of clothing is my old brown jacket.

I don't have many expensive clothes, but sometimes I go to special events, for example, when friends get married, and I need to wear something nice. I have a suit by the designer Tom Ford. It has dark grey trousers and a matching jacket. I usually wear this with a white shirt and tie.

I usually go shopping with Jane. We both like to go to the shopping mall in the centre of town. It has lots of shops and it's easy to find things. My favourite shop there is Marks and Spencer. Marks and Spencer's clothes are usually comfortable and they aren't very expensive. I buy all my clothes there but Jane's favourite shops are Next and Debenhams.

Source: DOFF, Adrian (2016) Empower A1 Starter Workbook. Cambridge University Press: Dubai. Page 44.

Trip to Paris by Stephen Mitchell.

 Trip to Paris by Stephen Mitchell.

When my mum told me she had to go to Paris for a business trip and suggested that I go with her, I hava to admit wasn’t that keen on the idea at first. It’s not that I wasn’t interested in going to Paris, but I just didn’t think it would be much fun with a parent! In the end, though, Mum managed to convince that we would have a good time.

We live in London so we didn’t have to fly. We took the Eurostar, which is a high-speed train that takes about two hours to get there, I thought that I might be a bit scared as the train travels through a 50-kilometre-long tunnel underneath the sea between England and France. But as we were travelling when it was already dark. I didn’t even realise that we were in the tunnel we were almost out of it.

Once we were in Paris, and apart from a couple of meetings on the first day, Mum was free the rest of the time. We did lots of sightseeing, including going to the Louvre Museum to see Leonardo da Vinci’s painting called the Mona Lisa. I’m not usually a big fan of art galleries, but Mum persuaded me to go, and it wasn’t as boring as I thought it was going to be. It was actually quite exciting to see such a famous painting in real life.

The highlight of the trip was when we visited the Eiffel Tower. This famous monument is 324 metres high and has three floors, which you get to by lift, or you can walk up 669 steps to get the first two floors! I wanted to go up to the top floor, but Mum refused. She’s afraid of heights, and said she couldn’t mange anything higher than the second floor. I was a bit disappointed – a friend had been all the way to the top and he’d told me that the view was amazing – but I tried not to show Mum that I minded. In any case, the view from the second floor was pretty spectacular.

The winner of the Young Film-maker of the Year contest shares some tips about film-making on this blog.

Firstly, you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment (1)________ make a film. If you can’t afford a video camera, then use your smartphone.

A great way to learn is by watching lots (2)_______ films. Study the characters, the acting, how the camera is used, and copy the techniques you think are the (3)______ successful.

I recommend keeping your initial film-making projects simple so use what you’ve got around you – your home, your street and your friends. Also begin with short films. A good story can (4)______ told in just a few minutes.

Get advice and ideas from people (5)_______ opinion you respect, but at the same time trust yourself  and make the film that you want.

Finally, make sure people know about your film. Easy ways to do this include posting (6)_________ social media and looking for young film-make competitions to enter!

Source: CLYDE, Laura (2019) Compact PET B1. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press: Spain.

Marnie and Kalina's email

 Hi Lexi!

We're at the Station Hotel. It isn't a big new hotel near the station - It's an old station near the beach! It's great! The rooms are small but they're very good.

Our room is on the first floor. We have beautiful flowers in the room and there are lots of pillows and blankets on the beds. It isn't cheap but we're only here for three nights.

There are lots of people here. There aren't any empty rooms! All the people are very friendly and the manager's nice. In the evenings we have dinner in the Old Station Restaurant. It's in the hotel. The food is good and an old man plays the guitar.

See you soon,

Marnie and Kalina

Meals in Italy

Meals in Italy

My name is Maria and I'm Italian. In Italy, people eat different foods. We like pasta and pizza, but we don't eat them every day. We like a lot of different meat and fish. And we eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.

In my family, we have three meals a day. Breakfast is at eight o'clock. We eat fette biscottato, a type of breakfast bread, and have coffee with milk. Italian people usually drink a lot of coffee!

On work days, my lunch is always at one o'clock. I never have lunch in my office. I usually have a panino (that's a sandwich) or a slice of pizza with my friends in a café near the office. At the weekend I have lunch at home with my family.

Dinner is the big meal of the day for a lot of Italians. In my family, we always have dinner at half past eight. We have rice or pasta, then fish with vegetables. We don't eat a lot of meat. After dinner, we usually have fruit and coffee, but at the weekend we sometimes have cake.

From: GODFREY, Rachel (2016) Empower A1 Starter. Cambridge University Press.

Student Adam Brown talks about growing up in a tiny house

 Student Adam Brown talks about growing up in a tiny house

 

I was nine when my parents first had the idea of moving from a normal-sized flat in the city to a small place in the countryside, and I was eleven by the time we actually did it. And when I say small, I mean really, really small. Our new home was about the size of a typical garage. Compared to the car-park-sized flat where we used to live, it was tiny.

 

We built our tiny house ourselves on a piece of land about two hours’ drive from the city. We used to go there every weekend and during holidays to work on it, but, even so, it took nearly two years to finish. My mum designed the house to include all the basic things that a normal house has but fitted into a much smaller space. My ‘bedroom’ was built in a space under the roof that I could reach by ladder.

 

My parents were very happy with our new life. They enjoyed being able to grow our own fruit and vegetables and keep chickens to provide us with eggs. They were particularly pleased about not having to pay for power and fuel because we could produce our own electricity from the sun. We also collected wood from the land around us to burn for heat.

 

I remember that I took me a few months to get used to living in such a small place. At first, I missed having all my favourite toys and books around me. Before we moved from the city, we had had to give away most of our things because there wasn’t enough room for them anymore, but now I don’t mind having fewer things. And one thing I love about our tiny home is being able to spend so much more time outside – something I didn’t do in the city very often. And I do a lot more things with my parents, which is great.

 

I’m away at university now, and share a flat with other students, where my bedroom is about the same size as my whole family home! When I go back to see my parents, I find it hard to manage now in such a small space. I don’t think I’ll choose ‘tiny living’ for myself in the future, but I’m glad that I’ve had the experience of it.

Summer camps

 Summer camps

A.- If you like the idea of spending time at the beach while finding out more about the ocean, the Sealife summer camp is perfect for you. On this two-week camp, you will learn science about the sea. You'll also have plenty of opportunities to do water sports. Sign up now!

B.- Do you enjoy playing games on screen? Have you ever thought about designing one yourself? On this one-week camp, taught by the designer of the popular game Tennis Tournament, you will work with a partner to create a new video game. Sign up for this course and build the game you've always dreamed about!

C.- Are you interested in Spanish food and cooking, but don't know where to start? On this two-week camp for beginners, you will learn basic skills in the kitchen, as well as how to cook tasty dishes using fresh, healthy ingredients.

D.- On this four-week camp, you'll practise speaking and listening to Spanish from when you get up in the morning to when you go to bed at night. You'll have language classes, go on trips and practise playing football. You'll even get some tips and practise playing football. You'll even get some tips from a star footballer. This camp is for beginner students who want to improve quickly!

E.- Would you like to explore the world of movie-making by writing a screenplay, choosing the actors, directing, filming and acting? On this two-week camp, you'll spend the first week trying everything involved with making a film. In the second week, you choose a role and, in groups, make a film!

F.- For all young chefs out there, this is the course for you! Taught by qualified cookery teachers, you will spend a week learning how to make different dishes from all over the world, as well as inventing your own new ones. The course ends with a session given by the celebrity cook Margot McMar.

G.- Improve your Spanish and do sport at the same time on our two-week course by the sea. Taught by professional Spanish-speaking trainers, you will get the chance to play teams sports such as volleyball, basketball, football and hockey, as well as individual sports like windsurfing and horse-riding.

H.- On this summer camp, you can improve your skills on a musical instrument, or learn how to play a new instrument of your choice. In one-to-one and group lessons with a professional musician. Drama classes are also offered, as well as classes in different types of dance.