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Black Friday + Cyber Monday

Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday.

One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.

The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

Every year in November, people look for bargains on Black Friday. But did you know that the same day is also Buy Nothing Day?

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the day after the American holiday of Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Because it is a holiday in the United States, it has long been a popular day for consumers to start shopping for Christmas. Over the last 20 years big retailers have started to offer discounts and bargains on this day, and it has become more and more popular.

Is Black Friday out of control?

Many of us love to get a bargain, but some feel that events like Black Friday encourage people to buy things that they don’t really need and can’t afford. Many people seem to completely lose control of both their spending and their tempers. It is easy to find video online of customers physically fighting each other over bargains. It is also argued that Black Friday is bad for small shopkeepers, who cannot afford to offer the kinds of price cuts that the big companies can.

What’s the alternative to Black Friday?

Instead of taking the opportunity to buy as much as possible on Black Friday, you could do the opposite and buy absolutely nothing. Since 1997, Buy Nothing Day has been held on the same day as Black Friday. The rules are simple. Just don’t buy anything at all for 24 hours. Many people are surprised how difficult this actually is. The aim is to make people think more about their spending and to make better decisions about what they buy and where they buy it from.

Ethical spending

As well as spending less and not buying unnecessary items, Buy Nothing Day aims to raise awareness of how to be a more ethical consumer. For example, you can avoid buying ‘fast fashion’, that is, very cheap clothes that are worn a few times before being thrown away. Or you could decide not to automatically upgrade your mobile at the end of a contract. These kinds of decisions can help to protect the environment as well as saving you money.

What else can you do on Buy Nothing Day?

Some people carry out protests at shopping centres. Others avoid the shops completely and go for a walk in nature instead. Another alternative, the Buy Nothing Coat Exchange, is an idea which is spreading. People donate winter coats throughout November and anyone who needs one can come and take one on Buy Nothing Day.

CYBER MONDAY

Today is Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States. The term "Cyber Monday" was created by marketing companies to persuade people to shop online. The term made its debut on November 28, 2005 in a Shop.org press release entitled "'Cyber Monday Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year". Cyber Monday has become an international marketing term used by online retailers in Canada, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, Chile, Colombia, Ireland, Japan, and China.

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Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of November. The month of November comes in autumn, the main season for harvesting crops. Thanksgiving is an autumn harvest festival like those found in many cultures.

Today the holiday is a time of family reunions, parades and watching football games on television. And, oh, yes, food! For millions of Americans, Thanksgiving is a day spent cooking, eating and spending time together.

The writer Oliver Henry called Thanksgiving the one holiday that is purely American. It is not a religious holiday. But it does have a spiritual meaning.

Some Americans travel long distances to be with their families. They eat a large dinner, which is the main part of the celebration. For many people, Thanksgiving is the only time when all members of a family gather together. The holiday is a time of family and family reunions.

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Halloween is coming!

HALLOWEEN

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Try the link below to have fun while learning lots of useful vocabulary related to this celebration!

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Alternatively, you can also continue practising, playing and learning Halloween related content clicking on the image below.

Wanna know more about its origins? Click on the video below to find out.

Even more clicking HERE

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Welcome!

VIDEO PRESENTATION

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Back to the grind!

Summer is over and it's time to get back to the grind, a very useful expression to refer to the moment in which we return to our daily routine, to work.

I know it is going to take some time before we get used to it again but this is how it goes, right? That's common place, it has to be this way so, the sooner we start, the better!

An unusual year, full of new challenges, new ways of work, new skills to develop...

Probably, many people will see this Covid era as a real problem we should be the whole day complaining about. Our health is at risk, and that's for sure, we need to make efforts to protect us and the people around us. This is our personal concern and we need to be very careful not to lower our guard.

However, we'll try to focus on the bright side of it, that is, let's see it as an opportunity to develop our versatility, the way to adapt ourselves to this new situation. Let's work on new tools, new working methods, new ways to get to both students and teachers, new communication strategies...

I'm sure that if everybody does their bit, we'll cope with the situation and will accustom to living with it.

I've already started working on it. As you can see, this post is full of interesting vocabulary (in bold) to learn and improve our English.

I'm ready then! What about you? Can I count on you?

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Páginas

Black Friday + Cyber Monday

What is Black Friday?

Is Black Friday out of control?

What’s the alternative to Black Friday?

Ethical spending

What else can you do on Buy Nothing Day?

Thanksgiving!!

Halloween is coming!

Welcome!

Back to the grind!

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