Egypt's salt hotel

From: Ana Isabel Sanchez Cuervo 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/06/140604_vwitn_salt_hotel.shtml

Egypt's salt hotel

The video tells about a hotel made entirely of salt in western Egypt. The building materials come from the shores of lakes.

Everything at the hotel -are +is made of salt -, +: the walls, small sculptures and even the beds. Workers at the hotel say it's resisted the rain so far, but people think this story isn't true at all.

Whales

Stranded: unable to leave a place because something prevents you from moving.

Tirelessly: working energetically non-stop.

Floating: being near the surface of the water.

No mean feat: a great achievement.

Mammals: animals which drink milk from their mothers’ bodies when young, like dogs, cows and horses







The video -[is showing] +shows us a rescue of around 70 pilot whales on the sand at Puponga Beach

in New Zealand. The -volunteer +volunteers -hard worked +hard. However, the rescue wasn’t a success -[. Because] +because only 46 pilot whales survive at the moment in the sea.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/01/140122_vwitn_whales.shtml

Camera glasses

From: ana utrilla

CAMERA   GLASSES

 The camera-glasses are a prototype which helps sight people.

 They were developed by researchers from Oxford.

 The glasses show the images in the lent and give a clear sense of reality

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/06/140618_vwitn_camera_glasses.shtml

--

Profesor: dícese por algunos del prototipo de moda de chivo expiatorio y paria privilegiadosites.google.com/site/mrmoiseseoi

Bull power

From: Dario Moyano Romero

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/01/140108_vwitn_bull_power.shtml

One of the biggest problems in the world are the greenhouse gases. The cows are +the animals that most produce global warming. +Her +Their belches -produces +produce a lot of methane and +this is an alarm to our atmosphere.

To put end to this problem, a group of -scientist +scientists have made a system to recycle these gases.  The gas is collected from the bull's stomach through a small pipe and compressed in a canister. In this way you can store gas and +use -uses it as fuel. Every day one animal produces enough fuel to drive a car one kilometre.

Many kinds of intelligence

From: Ana Belén Amores Portero

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/07/140723_vwitn_intelligence.shtml

Many kinds of intelligence

Words:

Dread: Preocupación, miedo a los resultados de los exámenes.

Soften the blow: Suavizar las consecuencias de la noticia

Thoughtful: Reflexivo

Gone viral: Tener muchas visitas en internet.

Plagiarism: Plagio, copiar en un exámen.

Students and teachers are dread of exams results. A teacher wrote a letter that said that in the exams we can only -asses +assess the content but we can not -asses +assess the values. This letter +has gone viral -in +[on the] internet but the director has been accused of plagiarism because, after +THAT, someone -was +has discovered a similar message on an American Blog.

This teacher -, downplays the exam results because they do not -asses +assess everything we know.

From: María G.S.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/03/140319_vwitn_lion.shtml

Hugging lions

There is a private zoo in Buenos Aires, where the visitors can pet and feed -to the bears, tigers, lions... and nobody is dead, yet.

The owner claims to be able to domesticate -to these dangerous animals. He says this is possible because they aren't hungry.

However people who disagree say they're calm because the animals are sedated. This situation is risky for both humans and animals alike.
It's like being into the lion's den.

Stone from the space

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/04/140408_vwitn_stone.shtml

Vocabulary.

Skydiving: Go through the sky with a parachute. (paracaidismo).

whizzes: Something that happens without explanation. (fenómeno, p.ej. meteorológico).

Fruitless: Without getting. (infructuoso).

 Indeed: Really. (realmente, de verdad). 

Stone from the space .

In this video we can see a -Man ​​+man who is practicing  skydiving in Norway . He was recording  the jump when +he saw a big  black stone  falling  from  +the sky.  After that +,  when the geologists viewed  the video on a PC  thought  that -this +these whizzes  -was +were indeed  from  space.

A little later they searched with dogs +[on the ground for the stone] -[the stone on the  ground] but  the attempt has been fruitless yet.

Thanks, Jose.

Robot Security Guard

From: Raquel RG

ROBOT SECURITY GUARD

Vocabulary: 

- Minder: cuiador

- On patrol: de patrulla

- Substitute: sustituto

- Etiquette: etiqueta, protocolo

Summary:

The video shows Bob+, a metal minder that is on patrol in +the security company G4S. This kind of robot checks if anything is missing +BY doing a scan of a room and -he +it also knows some office etiquette.

I think it is an amazing technology to find out what is missing, but I also think this robot would have to be in other places to warn people of their missing objects.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/07/140702_vwitn_robot_security.shtml

Ta, Rachel

Battle of the Oranges

From: Iván Rodríguez García 

The Battle of the Oranges isn´t -a +an ordinary carnival. it´s -a +an epic food fight with oranges.

This event -is +[takes place] in Ivrea in northern Italy where it is based on a legend from the Middle Ages. It started when a daughter of a miller rejected the advances of an evil lord.

There are many oranges which are thrown in three days. More or less there are several tonnes of oranges.The  clean-up operation is a battle in itself.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/03/140305_vwitn_oranges.shtml

Armchair tourism

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/02/140219_vwitn_armchair_tourism.shtml

The video shows the Taj Mahal. It is the landmark building in India. Many people visit this construction, +a symbol of love, each year. There are people who -[are not going to] +cannot visit Taj Mahal. These people could +go -virtual sightseeing -in Taj Mahal +in India +vitually with Street View. Google, with the approval of the government, is using a special camera to exhibit it on the internet.

I think it is a good idea, although all places are more exciting to visit firsthand.

Ta, Miriam

Prison Bank

PRISON BANK

This video shows an unusual story in a prison . Some might say this is the safest bank in the world.    -Is +It operates inside Peru's largest -prisón +prison and is run entirely by inmates.

+The Bank -have +has almost 120 -customer +customers and the bank manager is a convicted prisoner . +This seems to me a great idea because often the  -flights +fights are about money .The idea is to help the men save -his +their money and give it +back when they are -reliased +released.

We can send a lot of convicted -prisoner +prisoners as bank -manager +managers [.Because] -because we have many bank robbers in our country.

Video

Video

Thanks, Carmelo

Water ATM

BBC  Video

Water ATM

Commentary

In this video we can see a boy that uses a card in a machine similar to -a +an ATM (automatic teller machine) to fill a bottle of water.

This is a project launched by the city government of Delhi in India, to provide clean drinking water to residents.

The water -come +comes from local low-cost treatment plants. Residents can pay with a pre-paid card and these machines provide them +with drinking water for a small fee.

I think this project is very important because many illnesses could be -avoid +avoided -[with only] +[just by] drinking clean water but this should be done across the country.

Initiatives like this should be made in all countries without access to clean water.

Ta, Ana

Sushi Art

BBC Video

Sushi Art

Commentary

The video´s name is Sushi art. -He +It talks about Takayo Kiyato, who -IS preparing the traditional Japanese dish: rice with seaweed,

+She likes famous paintings. She has made a lot of versions of her dish. She works carefully and she -make +makes her dishes with a lot of care.

In my opinion, it´s a -video very interesting +video -[, maybe] +[. Maybe ] in the future all +the dishes which we eat +will become famous -painting +paintings, [that´s right?] +[Don't you think so?]

Ta, Macarena

Super fan

BBC Video

Football super fan

Commentary

The video happens in Brazil.

This -year's +year the wold cup +is in Sao Paulo. In the video there is a football fan. He thinks Brazil -don't +won't win the tournament. This man loves sporting Brazil's national colours. He always wears -with -clothes green and yelow +clothes, he has -your +[his own] dress code.

He has a car with a loudspeaker for playing the national anthem. He's +a lawyer and in his office green and yelow colours are everywhere.

In my opinion, this man is too -[much fan] +fanatic of +his national colours, but he's funny and -transmit +transmits -hapinness +happiness.

Ta, Mayka

Active office

Commentary

VOCABULARY
1.    Sedentary
2.    Heart Disease:  enfermedad cardiaca
3.    Habits
4.    Experiment
5.    Take a stand: tomar una postura con respecto a algo

SUMMARY OF THE VIDEO
In the video there is a man doing exercise while working on his computer.
A -british +British experiment -want +WANTS to change the habits of the people, because a sedentary -work +job -[can to be] +[CAN BE] the cause of a heart disease.
In the school of this video, we can see some pupils take lessons standing, and in the meetings at work, the -workpeople +workers are standing too. Perhaps, next time you take a stand, you should do it standing up.
I think people will continue working -sit +sitting down and children at the school -[do it] too. +IT IS VERY -TIRED -TIRING STANDING UP ALL THE TIME!

BBC Video

Active office

Ta, Caroline!

Driving change in the west bank

Commentary

This video shows a Palestinian woman. She´s the first woman in -Palestinian +Palestine licensed to drive public buses. She checks the bus engine every day. She encourages other women to compete on an equal footing with men in all professions. I like that women advance professionally and that they break with taboo. This is a start. I think we have a long way to go.

Audio comment
 

BBC Video

Driving change in the west bank

Thanks, Encarna, very nice!