English class

Clara For most people it’s a colour of security and stability. Thirty-three per cent of the world’s leading companies have blue in their logo – companies like IBM, Samsung and Ford.

James Interesting. Is it also a popular choice for cars?

Clara Not really. White is currently the most popular followed by silver. White is perceived as a sophisticated, modern colour particularly because of Apple and the iPhone.

James I suppose it’s still traditionally the colour for wedding dresses as well?

Clara In the Western world it is, but in Asia it’s the colour associated with death.

James I see. So, what colours are worn at their weddings?

Clara In China and Japan the bride traditionally wears red.

James And is it true that a red car costs more to insure than other colours?

Clara No, that’s a myth. Red is a colour which is full of passion and enthusiasm. It’s said that a red front door brings good fortune to the people in that home. As for all colour cars, the problem is if you don’t stop at a red light.

James Yes, very true. Which brings us to green. What products are associated with green?

Clara It’s the colour we associate most with nature, obviously. It’s a very relaxing colour and stops you feeling nervous. Politically it’s linked with ecology and helping the planet.

James And that leaves just one of the primary colours. What can you tell us about yellow?

Clara Most countries in the world see yellow as a happy colour. It represents sunlight. In fact, it’s the easiest colour for humans to see. That’s why school buses and taxis use it. It’s also viewed as good value for money – rather like orange.

James Orange is good value for money?

Clara Of course. That’s why certain supermarkets or budget airlines have it as their colour. It’s also a warm colour. If you paint walls in a light orange colour, people will actually feel warmer. Tests have shown an increase of one or two degrees.

James That’s amazing. Well, we’ve covered most of the colours. Anything you can tell me about purple?

Clara It’s the second most popular colour for females, after blue. It’s a mix of red and blue and is liked by creative people. It also represents wealth and royalty in a lot of countries.

James And last of all, black.

Clara Black is mysterious. It’s not really a colour according to some people. When Ford started to mass-produce cars in the United States, he offered every colour, provided it was black! Don’t forget London taxis are black and a black cat brings good luck – but only in Britain.

James It’s been great talking to you, Clara. Thank you very much.

A, AN, SOME, ANY

If required, check the explanation once again:

Blooket:

https://play.blooket.com/play

Game #1:

https://wordwall.net/es/resource/33089490/a-an

Game #2:

https://wordwall.net/es/resource/5533740/go-getter-2/22-some-any-a-an

Game #3:

https://wordwall.net/es/resource/7647548/some-any

Game #4:

https://wordwall.net/es/resource/35015185/some-and-any

Game #5:

https://wordwall.net/es/resource/26642538/speakout-starter/unit-62-some-any-speakout-starter

PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions game #1:

https://www.gamestolearnenglish.com/prepositions-game/

Prepositions game #2:

https://wordwall.net/es/resource/54617527/prepositions-of-place

Prepositions game #3:

https://wordwall.net/es/resource/36138314/prepositions-of-place

Kahoot:

https://kahoot.it/

EMAIL

Expressions for writing and emaill

https://blog.talaera.com/business-emails-phrases

Linking words

Instructions for the email exercise

NOTE: You must keep this structure

AUDIO SCRIPTS 10A

SKILLS BOOST

B1 LISTENING 1– 6 AUDIOSCRIPTS

B1 LISTENING 1

Hi! Welcome to this week’s Guide for Globetrotters. I’m Tim Fowler and this week we’ll be taking in the sights of beautiful Krakow, one of the oldest cities in Poland.

Well, it’s a beautiful spring day here in Krakow and the sun is shining brightly – but I’ve got my umbrella with me and I’m not letting go! If you’ve ever been to Krakow on Easter Monday you’ll know why….

Phew, missed! Getting wet is an Easter tradition here. In the past, young people used to throw water at each other on Easter Monday – if you got wet you would have good luck in your marriage! This tradition continues until today, and all over the city you can see people throwing water and people getting very wet. That’s why I came prepared with my umbrella…

On a beautiful day like this there’s no better place to be in Krakow than where I am right now. The Planty are beautiful tree lined gardens which circle the city. This is the best place in the city to people watch, and from the Planty you can get to the old town where you’ll come across small galleries, explore book shops and visit churches. And the best place for a wonderful view of the city? Well, that’s a well- kept secret - the roof top café of Krakow’s music academy. Mm, amazing!

If you’re in Krakow for any time at all, the Museum of Contemporary Art is an absolute must -see. It’s a fascinating place. Have you seen Steven Spielberg’s famous movie Schindler’s List? Well, you might be interested to know that this museum was built on the site of Oskar Schindler’s factory. There’s some amazing art works here – with exhibitions which change all the time so you’ll always see something new. Then there are film rooms, video boxes – something for everyone…

All this walking around has got me feeling pretty hungry! So it’s lucky for me that I’m here in Krakow, also known as cake city! There is an amazing choice of cafés and cake shops in Krakow - I’m at one now, tucking into some absolutely delicious apple cake! Mmmmmm. This really is just melt in the mouth stuff…

I’ve just put my umbrella back in the hotel. I was feeling a little bit silly carrying it around on such a sunny day and I don’t think I’ll be needing it any more…haven’t seen anyone throwing water for a while now. Well, I’m now strolling along the cobbled streets of Ulica Kanonicza: a gorgeous lane of fourteenth century townhouses. You can feel the history oozing out of this place - over there was, for a long time, a popular meeting place for many of the most famous Polish writers and… Aagh!

Where was my umbrella when I needed it?

B1 LISTENING 3

Interviewer Hello and welcome to this week’s instalment of Food Bites. I’m Anita Cole. Now if you haven’t been living in a kitchen cupboard for the last month I’m sure you will have heard of Home Chef – the eat-out-at-home craze that’s so very popular in Mexico and the USA at the moment. Yup, Home Chef is the website which puts you in touch with professional chefs who will come out to your house and cook dinner for you and your friends. Tonight I’ll find out more by talking to Pedro Cambra, chef and founder of the website. Welcome Pedro – wonderful to have you on the show.

Pedro Hello, Anita. Good to be here.

Interviewer Now, tell me – why did you decide to set up Home Chef?

Pedro Well, I’ve always wanted to set up my own business. I trained as a chef, and I was working at a restaurant at the time. A few years ago, I was annoyed, because almost every weekend people were asking me to come to their houses and cook for them. If friends were having a dinner party they always invited me, but to cook! I didn’t get to relax, so it wasn’t much fun. So I said to my friends, if you like my food so much why don’t you come to the restaurant and eat with your friends there?

Interviewer And why do they prefer eating at home?

Pedro Well, you know, there are a lot of reasons why people don’t want to eat out. Maybe smart restaurants aren’t so convenient for parents with young children, for example… and then some people live in neighbourhoods where there aren’t many places to go out and eat.

Interviewer And people don’t enjoy cooking for their friends?

Pedro A lot of people just don’t want to have a dinner party at home because they don’t want to cook for their friends. If you’re not an experienced chef, it can get pretty stressful trying to cook a three course meal and enjoy your friends’ company at the same time. People want to spend time chatting and relaxing, not stuck in a hot kitchen working hard!

Interviewer Was it difficult to set up Home Chef? What were the challenges?

Pedro Actually, I’ve found it pretty easy. When I told my friends about my new business idea they were pretty happy. They told all of their friends, and I got a load of business real quick. The challenges: well I had to be really organised. When I was cooking in my friends’ kitchens it was pretty easy, pretty relaxed: I knew them and I knew their kitchens – where they kept their garlic, where the knives were…all that kind of thing. The problem with cooking for strangers was that I would go to their house and they would tell me, ‘Actually we always eat out so we don’t have any pots and pans.’ No pots and pans! So that was… yeah… That was the biggest challenge. Now I have a big van which is full of kitchen equipment, and when I arrive at a house I can take everything I need.

Interviewer I hear Home Chef is getting bigger and bigger…

Pedro Yeah, well, a lot of customers started asking me about different types of food. My style of cooking is quite traditional Mexican food, so I decided to hire two Japanese sushi chefs. These chefs go to the customer’s house and show the dinner party guests how to make sushi. So everyone gets really involved and the food becomes the centre of the occasion.

Interviewer A sushi making party! Now, that does sound like fun… And all in the comfort of your own home.