Speakup Blog

THE BRITISH ISLES Dear Speak Up, I have a question regarding your video about the rain in UK. The speaker says: “The British Isles has so much of it”. Shouldn’t it be “the British Isles have (not has) so much of it?” Antonella Well spotted! “Isles” is plural so the verb should be in the […]

Nell’articolo di gennaio del British Council ti parliamo di cosa mangiano a pranzo i britannici. Ecco la ricetta del famoso club sandwich. A club sandwich is a triple decker sandwich ready to eat in just ten minutes, and so easy to make. Grab the original recipe and give it a try!

Nel titolo di questa canzone c’è un phrasal verb con il verbo to give. Completa il testo con le parole mancanti. A perfect example of the phrasal verb give up: Peter Gabriel, year 1986. Look for it on YouTube and complete the missing words.

SOME ENGLISH LANGUAGE FACTS – The word SWIMS (with all capitalized letters) will be SWIMS even if turned upside down. It’s called an “ambigram”. – A “pangram” sentence is one that contains every letter of the English alphabet. Here’s an example: THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG. This sentence is commonly used […]

Sul numero di gennaio trovi un interessante articolo sull’Antartide, il continente ghiacciato scoperto nel XIX secolo. Leggilo e scopri se queste affermazioni sono vere o false. SOME FACTS ABOUT ANTARCTICA • If you stand at the South Pole, every way you go is North. • The South Pole is colder than the North Pole. • […]

La protagonista di questo mese è Simone Biles, la giovane ginnasta che ha già vinto più medaglie d’oro. Dopo aver letto l’articolo, prova a fare questo esercizio. Find an adjective that means the opposite of: tiny, easy, fragile, cowardly, weak, past, distracted, unstable, cheerful, innocent, insignificant, elderly 1) extraordinary 2) immense 3) guilty 4) young […]

Ecco un esercizio sui phrasal verbs formati dal verbo to give + preposizione. Fill in the gaps using the words in the box. in / out / up / away / back / out / up / away 1) The sparkling wine gave ____ long before the end of the dinner. 2) I gave ____ […]

Dopo aver letto l’articolo tratto da The Guardian di questo mese, fai questo esercizio di lessico. What do these words mean? 1) out of tune aloud / not in the correct musical key / unexpected 2) cheesy of low quality / inaccessible / greedy 3) overwhelming obese / very intense / worldly 4) trophy shrine […]

Ecco la ricetta di un dolce tipico neozelandese e australiano, la pavlova, qui nella versione con kiwi. This dessert was created in honour of Anna Pavlova, a famous Russian dancer who toured New Zealand and Australia around the 1920s. It’s typical of both countries’ cuisine and it’s usually served during the holiday meals.