(More) Make and Do

For everyone who's not taking a holiday from English (shame on the rest of you!), but especially for Mónica: more on MAKE or DO:

Some theory:

• http://eleaston.com/pr/verbs-make-do.html
• http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/doormake.htm
• http://esl.about.com/od/vocabularyreference/a/a_makeordo.htm

More practice:

• http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blmakedo1.htm
• http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/domake1.htm
• http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words/make_do.htm
• http://www.better-english.com/vocabulary/makedo.htm
• http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz-center/makedo.htm

What do you make of this? Can you make do with it, or would you like to do more? :)

Language games

My language games list was a bit short, so I've been hunting out new ones.

I haven't found anything particularly fantastic but some interesting ones are:

Do or make?

Suffixes and prefixes (very rudimentary game but ok for practice)

On this page there are several spelling and word formation games: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html#9 Scroll down the the "spelling and activities bit". Also, the prefixes and suffixes bit. Eg: Prefixes . Again, rudimentary page design, but good revision practice.

An assortment of crosswords, matching games, etc: http://www.englishclub.com/esl-games/

More crosswords

The Swap Game. You have to register to use this page, but it's free. The game is good practice for word order in sentences.


If anyone knows any good ones, please pass them on.

Naked girls plough fields in India for rain

Farmers in an eastern Indian state have asked their unmarried daughters to plough parched fields naked (read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idINDEL67952820090723)

I'm not a great fan of local customs and traditions at the best of times, and this one, like many, comes across as plain silly. I'm pretty sure some of you will disagree, though.

My question would be whether the daughters really were "asked", or there was some kind of insistence involved.

And another question of course would be if the believers keep their eyes on the skies for rain, or get distracted...

Spot the ISS

I suppose many of you are following the work on the International Space Station. ;)

Work schedule: http://www.nasa.gov/tvschedule/pdf/tvsked_revk.pdf

Shuttle mission coverage on NasaTV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

And if you want to try and spot the ISS with the naked eye, here you have the sighting information for the Barcelona area: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=Spain&region=None&city=Barcelona

I haven't been able to spot it yet because I've got a whopping great big hill (Montgros) in the way (North/North-west), but maybe you can.

Swiss manufacturer creates the perfect chocolate

Low-calorie and melt-resistant, apparently.

Read about it here.

Some people are not too convinced, by the looks of it; their comments here.

What do you think?

Do you speak man-speak?

Do you understand what men really mean when they say "those things"?

Test your man-speak translation skills here.

Passed that one. I got "Native speaker". :)

Test your emotional intelligence (EQ)

"Emotional intelligence is a person's ability to understand their own emotions and those of others, and to act appropriately using these emotions."

Test your emotional intelligence (EQ) here.

I failed with a 45%. So much for honesty!

The truth about Michael Jackson's death

Was he murdered, or did he die a natural death? Or was it an unfortunate overdose? Was he gay (talk about opportunist!)? Was he healthy enough to perform or was he going to have to call off all those concerts anyway? Are really they planning a future Jackson 3 with his children?

Read all the theories here.

Or maybe he's still alive?

Add your own theory in the comments, if you have one. :)

Hunch

Mónica (from ex-4S) has sent me the link to this page: Hunch.com

Firstly, you should know that "hunch" means "presentimiento", "corazonada".

This page asks you some questions about your preferences, and based on your answers it suggests other things that you may also like.

It introduces itself like this:

Hunch is a decision-making tool, built by its users. In ten questions or fewer, Hunch gives you its best hunch of what you would like. Read the FAQ for help, post to the forums for questions or suggestions, and let us know how we can make Hunch help you. We're glad you're here.
Now go make some decisions!

Last night I was playing around with it and answering questions, and after I'd finished 20, I decided to see what British comedy shows it recommended for me.

And surprise surprise: its first recommendation was precisely my absolute favourite series (Peep Show). Incredible! So I decided to create an account so that it can keep my results and give me more recommendations.

Not all the questions are interesting, and some don't really need much research. For example the answer to "Which Tom Hanks movie should I watch?" is obviously "why on earth would anyone want to watch a Tom Hanks movie?". But there are others that will probably spark your curiosity. Eg:

Should I cheat on my spouse?
Which kitchen knife should I get?
Which foreign language should I learn? (Maybe a bit late for that one)
Which philosopher should I read?

Etc.


Well, thanks Mónica!

How many tapeworms could live in your stomach?

This is the kind of silly information we didn't know we needed before the internet.

How many tapeworms could live in your stomach? Do the mini-quiz:

Created by The Oatmeal

The Eyeballing Game

Test your feeling for geometric accuracy in this game, helpful for construction workers, but fun for anyone.

Instructions

The Eyeballing Game