This blog has been designed to share interesting materials with my secondary EFL students (14-17) but you are welcome if you also find it useful to improve your English.

Showing posts with label time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time. Show all posts

Saturday, 29 February 2020

What is a leap year?

February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2016, 2020, and 2024. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in most of the world. Lunisolar calendars (whose months are based on the phases of the Moon) instead add a leap or intercalary month.

In the Gregorian calendar, years that are divisible by 100, but not by 400, do not contain a leap day. Thus, 1700, 1800, and 1900 did not contain a leap day; neither will 2100, 2200, and 2300. Conversely, 1600 and 2000 did and 2400 will. Years containing a leap day are called leap years. Years not containing a leap day are called common years

Sunday, 23 September 2018

Resolutions for this New School Year

September is a great time to reflect on the changes we want to or need to make in our studies. This is a good set of ideas for you to improve your results:
Keep a calendar

  1. Stop procrastinating. Don't postpone  the work you have to do. Do it as soon as possible as tasks usually take longer than expected.
  2. Commit yourself to getting good grades. Good grades are essential for  any student. They will help you get to your favourite "instituto", faculty, etc. so make your mind up and start right now.
  3. If a subject is too difficult, ask your teacher outside school, study for the subject with other classmates but don't leave anything that looks too difficult for the end of the term when you won't have much time for everything.
  4. Don’t do it all. It’s better to concentrate on a few things and excel in them than if you join every sport, activity and club that you comes accross. Just do a couple of things and make sure you have plenty of time for your studies.
  5. Keep a calendar. Deadlines creep up quickly. And the closer the date, the more you’ll feel the pressure. You can use a traditional paper diary or use an online calendar, such as Google Calendar but all exams and deadlines should be written down.
  6. Take your exams seriously and study for them on time. Waiting for a second chance is not a good idea as you will be losing opportunities
  7. Don't forget handing your school reports on time and remember that a percentage of your final qualification depends on them so don't underestimate their importance.
  8. Try something new. Secondary school is a great time to spread your wings. It’s about new experiences and self-discovery. You can try a new sport, learn a new language, find new topics of interest or join an NGO. Just try.
  9. Explore your possibilities for the future, consider what you would like to study and find information about those studies, where they can be carried out, etc.
  10. Banish the self-doubt. Doubting your own abilities only holds you back from achieving what you want to achieve. Just say no to these thoughts and others like them:
    • “I can’t do this.”
    • “I’m not as smart as my classmates.”
    • “I’ll never get better than a 2.7 grade-point average.”
    • “I’ll only get into a community college anyway”
    • “There’s no point in thinking I’ll get into my first choice college.”

Friday, 18 October 2013

How to tell the time in English

If you want to know the time there are some ways of asking it:
  • What's the time?
  • What time is it?
  • Can you tell me the time?

And this is how you can tell what time it is:
from http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/vocabulary/time
  • 03:00 - It's three o'clock.
  • 03:05 - It's five past three
  • 03:10 - It's ten past three
  • 03:15 - It's quarter past three
  • 03:20 - It's twenty past three
  • 03:25 - It's twenty-five past three
  • 03:30 - It's half past three
  • 03:35 - It's twenty-five to four
  • 03:40 - It's forty to four
  • 03:45 - It's quarter to four
  • 03:50 - It's ten to four
  • 03:55 - It's five to four
  • 04:00 - It's four o'clock
If you have to tell other times you will have to mention "minutes"
And this is an exercise for you to practise telling the time.
  • 02:24 - It's twenty-four minutes past two