MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

MY BEST WISHES FOR YOU AND THE BEST FOR 2014, I HOPE ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.

CURIOSITIES: THE HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH

The word sandwich that we use today was born in London during the very late hours one night in 1762. It was named after John Montagu, the Fourth Earl^[1] of Sandwich, an 18th century English aristocrat (1718-1792). As the story goes, in 1762, during a 24 hour gambling streak he instructed a cook to prepare his food in such a way that it would not interfere with his game. The cook presented him with sliced meat between two pieces of toast. Perfect! This meal required no utensils such fork or knife and could be eaten with one hand, leaving the other free to continue the game. The nobleman was able to continue his gambling while eating his snack and because Montagu also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!". It is said that Lord Sandwich was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue playing cards, particularly cribbage, while eating without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands.

From that incident, we have inherited that quick-food product that we now know as the sandwich. Sadly, the name of real inventor of the sandwich (be it inventive cook or the creative consumer) was not recorded for posterity. Besides the more obvious meaning of sandwich, "something edible between two or more slices of bread", metaphorically speaking, it also means "to squeeze in between two other people, places, things, materials, etc. "For example: Her car was sandwiched between two other cars in the parking lot. 

Earl^[1]= it's a title of nobility from Great Britain that means "count", like Count Dracula.

TEST YOUR LEVEL

Do you want to know your level of English? Check  the following website and do the two level tests (grammar/vocabulary and listening) . It is also a good website to practise for the CEF levels exams (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2)

Note: Take this test as a reference. It can't be 100% reliable as it doesn't contain any reading, writing or speaking assessment

http://www.examenglish.com/leveltest/index.php

2nd BATX - GERUND & INFINITIVE

Do you need more practice? This link contains a tutorial of Gerunds and Infinitives and many exercises to check your progress. 


http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

"Searching for Sugar Man" is a documentary about the unknown and mysterious singer Sixto Rodriguez. A true story that was awarded an Oscar as best documentary in 2013. It is an inspiring story that will make a difference! Here is "I wonder" one of the soundtrack songs. Hope you like it too