PICK ENGLISH WITH TICs

Hi everyone,
Today is the first day of autumn. The autumn equinox usually falls 22 or 23 September but in 1931 it fell on 24 September.
The word Equinox is derived from Latin, meaning equal night, although days are still longer.
Google has created a new animated doodle on its homepage to mark the occasion. It shows a little squirrel hiding behind some autumnal squashes.

Image: The Mirror

What happens in the southern hemisphere?
What is the difference between the autumn equinox in the North and South Pole?
How do people celebrate the autumn equinox?
How is the full moon nearest the equinox often called?
When will the next lunar eclipse happen?

Click The Independent to answer these questions.

Stonehenge Autumn Equinox Celebration 2014

Druids meet at Stonehenge to greet the equinox with song and music.



If want to get more information about Stonehenge you must watch "Secrets of Stonehenge".

If you want to travel click Telegraph

Hello everyone,
The Spanish national basketball team lifted their third European trophy in the last four championships yesterday night at Lille's Pierre Mauroy stadium in France.
Spain beat Lithuania 80-63 led once again by Pau Gasol, who notched up 25 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

Highlights Final Game

Hi everyone,
The 2015 Rugby World Cup has started today in England.
There are twenty teams competing.

Cardiiff castle looks awesome with this rugby ball crashed into it.
Image: The Mirror

Hello everybody,
Let's continue with basketball. Yesterday Spain defeated France in Eurobasket 2015. France beat Spain in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Spain last year. Yesterday Spain took revenge for that defeat.
Spain is now 6-3 against France in major tournaments over the last seven years

Spain will play the winner of today's semifinal between Serbia and Luthania, in the gold medal game on Sunday.
The Spanish team has also qualified automatically for the Olympics, which will be celebrated in Rio de Janeiro next Year.
"We came here to win the gold and now we have the opportunity to do it", Pau Gasol Said. He was the game hero. He finished with 40 points and 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.

He had a colossal performance. He also said: ""It was an incredible game, so hard-fought by both teams and an extremely difficult game to win here in France against a big team, I am very happy and proud for our team"

Here you can watch part of the post game press conference. Gasol  answers some questions (minute 22:30).

You can get more information EUROBASKETBALL 2015

Hello everyone,
Do you like sports? What is your favourite one?
Do you play tennis? If so, who is your favourite tennis player?
Do you do judo?

And what about basketball? Do you know Kevin Durant?

He is an American professional basketball player. He was born on September 29 in Washington, D.C,.
He plays for Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He is a very generous man and he's popular for his kindness toward the community of Oklahoma.

Last year he won  the Most Valuable Player award 2014 and he gave his mum this touching and poignant tribute during the ceremony.

These are some of the words Durant said to his mum, Wanda Pratt.
"We weren't supposed to be here", "You made us believe. You kept us off the street. You put clothes on our backs. You put food on the table. When you didn't eat, you made sure we ate and you went to sleep hungry. "You sacrificed for us. You're the real MVP."

"I'm just kind of emotional about this day because he just worked so hard," Pratt said. "He started working at this early, when he was 9 years old. To see it all come together for him, I'm just excited for him.

Attendees gave both Durant and his mother a standing ovation




You can get more information here.

Hello everybody,
A group of teachers and students have made this video to express gratitude to Greek contribution to European culture.
They use Greek words to refer to Medicine,  History, Music, Astronomy, Sports, Mathematics, Philosophy, Politics,...  in the touching video.
They all together say: "Thank you, Greece".

Hello everyone,
Did you listen to this piece of news yesterday? I was baffled after watching this video.
Mick Fanning, three-time world surfing champion was very lucky and he could escape when a shark attacked him in South Africa.

Here you can watch Mick Fanning shark attack.

Hello everyone,
Malala Yousafzai celebrated her birthday yesterday. She was born in Pakistan,  12 July in 1997. Then she's 18 years old now. Happy birthday Malala.

This is what she said to BBC yesterday: "I promised to help people". She's a brave girl.



She is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.

Do you want know more about her? Read this comic about Malala's life.

Hello everybody,
Do you know Jackeline Kiplimo? She was born in 1984 in Kenya. She started athletics when she was in primary school. She normally runs half marathons and marathon races. Her husband is also an athlete and he is Jackeline's coach and manager.

This story happened in China on March 28, 2010. Jackeline saw a Chinese man calling upon his countrymen and fellow athletes to give him water.

They just looked at him and passed. Jackeline was at ten kilometre mark and was leading.


 The weather was hot and humid and even the most able athletes were getting dehydrated.
"I have never regretted helping the man. To me, he was not a stranger, but someone who needed my help. Said Kiplimo!". She got the second position in the race. Her countryside Emily Samoei won the race.

She started running in 2004 while she was in primary school.
But she used to run a 1,500 metres race. She also took  long distance running in 2007 and She now run 21 and 42 kilometres.
She is married to Fredrick Kiplimo who is also a runner and they have got a child. They train together most of the time.
I have faced many challenges in my running career, but the major one is financial problems.
Her role models are her fellow Kenyan athletes Lydia Jerome, Moses Kiptanui and Sharon Jerop.

Remember: "Winning is not everything".

Hello everybody,
Are you having a good time? I hope so.
Here you can find a lot of easy exercises to brush up your English a little bit during your summer holidays.
Visit these  pages:
1. Saber inglés. Do these grammar exercises.

2. Basic English course. Here you have got some audio files and dialogues.

3. Idioms. Here you can find some easy idioms.

4. English short stories.

5. Games.

6. Some English famous songs. Find the lyrics and watch the videos.


Do you like reading? Here you can find some books which contain a CD to listen to the story at the same time you read it. You have to buy them.

Level 1

Level 2

These are some of my favourite quotes about reading:

"Reading give us some place to go when we have to stay where we are".

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body".