C1 students: persona, candid, sugar-coated, staff, to groom... Great words, uh? Well, they came up the other day and I was wondering if you jotted them down at all or simply chose to only understand them. By the way Mª Jesús was kind enough to share with me a link to an interesting video that shows a TED presentation by linguist John McWhorter. I happen to have read two of his books and I must say that he's a refreshing voice in the ever-growing world of linguistics. I actually think you will enjoy this...Enjoy!

Hello, my dearest Intermediate students. I just wanted to let you all know that we're dealing with wildlife issues and you are expected to handle the vocabulary that we have presented in the classroom. Terms such as die out, kill off, environment, conservationist, etc. are expected to be used in the debate we are going to stage. So read up on all that and do make sure that you can at least voice your own opinion on the matter.

As for you, C1 students, I thought it would be nice of me to inform you that we're going to (briefly) tackle the tricky art of graphs and trends. So that you are not caught off guard, here's the heads-up: I suggest you should take a glance at this website, which will show you the most basic vocab you will need.

Regarding the gadgets, gizmos and contraptions we discussed yesterday, I thought you might want to read the plotline of that episode of "Black Mirror" (the Channel 4 TV series I told you about). This is how the wikipedia article puts it:

Set in an alternative reality where most people have a 'grain' implanted behind their ear which records everything they do, see or hear. This allows memories to be played back either in front of the person's eyes or on a screen, a process known as a 're-do'.

Not bad, eh? To the point, articulate, compact. It's all very C1-ish don't you think? Anyhow, if you should like to know more about this episode just click here and scroll down to "The Entire History Of You". Apparently Robert Downey Jr. (a.k.a. Ironman) was so impressed with that episode that decided to make a motion picture out of it... I dread to think what Hollywood hacks might to that near-flawless script.