I post this entry to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Espero que aprovechéis al máximo estos días y encontréis tiempo para descansar, pasar tiempo con la familia y amigos, viajar y empezar el nuevo año con energías renovadas.
I guess (and hope!) you all know the history of Christmas. I found a digital version of the story on the Internet and I wanted to share it with you. It's so good! I hope you enjoy it!
También espero que encontréis tiempo para repasar / estudiar lo que hemos visto en este trimestre. Recordad que a la vuelta de Navidad tenemos una semana de clase antes del examen, por lo que podréis preguntar todas las dudas que tengáis.
This week we only had one day of class: Monday 20th. We talked about Christmas and we saw the history of Father Christmas and Santa Claus. Then we listened to a conversation between a dad and his two children, a daughter and a son. They talked about Christmas presents and Santa Claus.
Click here to listen to their conversation again. Then do the activities below (at the end of the document you have the answers): Christmas is coming
Finally, we saw some typical Christmas dishes (Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, roast turkey, etc.) and we learnt how to make Yule log!
I post this entry to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I hope you make the most of these days, find time to relax, switch off, spend time with the family, travel, and start the New Year with renewed energy.
I guess (and hope!) you all know the history of Christmas. I found a digital version of the story on the Internet and I wanted to share it with you. It's so good! I hope you enjoy it!
I would also like you to organise yourselves properly so that you can find time to revise / study English as well. Remember that we have one week of class before the exam, so you can ask me all the questions you have.
Here you have the summary of this week and the last one (we only had one day of class - Thursday 9th).
On Monday / Tuesday we talked about fascinating festivals around the world. We saw a powerpoint presentation with three pictures (la tomatina, los san fermines and las fallas). You discussed them in pairs and then we saw them together.
Then we read the text in file 3D and we learnt how to say the dates, the months and the seasons. Remember that in English we say dates with an ordinal number: today is 19th December / December 19th. When we speak we say, "today is the 19th of December" (BrE) OR today is December the 19th (AmE).
Click here for a list of cardinal and ordinal numbers with their pronunciation.
Finally, we read an interview about a novelist's favourite times of the day, we practised in groups and then we listened to Cristina and Udom talking about this.
On Wednesday / Thursday we learnt that we can use three different prepositions to talk about time: in, on, at.
Use in with:
months (in January)
years (in 2005)
times of the day (in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening).
Use on with:
dates (on the 17th of December 2010)
days of the week (on Monday)
Use at with:
times (at half past five)
festivals / public holidays (at Easter, at Christmas)
at the weekend
at night
Click here and here for two online activities to practise this.
Finally, we saw a situation in a coffee shop. Please, study the vocabulary and expressions in these situations (on a plane, at the airport, in a hotel, etc.) because they are extremely useful and they will be in the oral exam.
I'm writing now to remind you of the two complementary activities we have at the Official Language School next week:
On Tuesday 21st December we'll have a "Latin Dancing Workshop" conducted by an experienced dancer and teacher at the We (a famous gym in Granada). The activity will start at 17.30.
At 19.00, we'll have a Karaoke with songs in the different languages taught at the school: English, French, German, Arab and Spanish.
On Wednesday 22nd December we'll watch the film "Love Actually" in original version with subtitles. The activity will start at 17.30 and finish at around 19.30. If you don't know what this film is about, read the plot here.
I remind you that complementary activities are a very good opportunity to know a little bit more about the culture of other countries and to meet people who are also interested in learning languages.
As you know, the air controllers strike has been the focus of attention during the whole bank holiday, both in Spain and abroad. I guess you've all seen the Spanish news / read the Spanish newspapers and know about the reactions in our country. But how has the rest of the world seen the strike?
Well, here you have an article by The Guardian. It was published on Sunday and it gives a full account of the whole odyssey that started on Friday afternoon. The BBC also has some videos and telephone conversations of Britons that were stranded at the airport. Click here to watch / listen to them. Finally, here you have an article entitled "Your Stories", where several people tell their experiences at the airport.
Os dejó aquí una convocatoria que ha salido en el BOE para solicitar una beca de idiomas -gracias a Antonio Morales, de Nivel Básico D, por la información-. Se trata de un curso de inmersión lingüística en lengua inglesa. Los cursos tendrán una duración de cinco días y se desarrollarán en régimen de internado de domingo por la tarde a sábado a mediodía en las distintas sedes de la Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo. BOE - Cursos de Inmersión Lingüística
How's the weekend going? :) Here you have the usual summary of the week.
Last week we talked about stress and we did a test to see how stressed we were. In class, some people were relaxed, but some of you are completely stressed out!!! We also revised some daily routines (please, study the Vocabulary Bank on page 147) and did some phonetic transcriptions on the board. Congratulations, you did them really well! :)
Then we read Louisa's story and we saw that she had a very stressful life. Then we listened to Simon (p. 31): his life is even more stressful!!
On Thursday we talked about the American festival of Thanksgiving, which is a very important celebration in the United States and in Canada.
Finally, we watched a video about traditional festivals in Britain. We talked about Guy Fawkes' Night (5th November), Pancake Day (sometime in February), St Valentine's Day (14th February) and Halloween (31st October). We'll continue watching it another day.
As you know, next week we start with your oral presentations (5 minutes maximum). Remember to choose a topic you feel comfortable with and make it as interesting as possible for your classmates!
I know speaking in public is difficult, especially if it's not in Spanish. But, hey, it's the first presentation we do and everybody's going to feel nervous, everybody, so don't think you're the only one having a hard time. Try to relax as much as possible and enjoy your presentation. I'm sure you've devoted a lot of time to it, so don't let nerves spoil it: feel enthusiastic about your work and show us!
Here you have a presentation I've prepared for you. I hope it helps you out a little bit. (To see the presentation better, click on play, then "more" and then "full screen". Advance the presentation by clicking on the arrow).
Here you have a summary (resumen) of what we did last week: On Monday / Tuesday we did a test of Units 1 and 2. After the test we listened to the song Oh Pretty Woman, which inspired the title of the film starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.
On Wednesday / Thursday we corrected Grammar Bank 3A and we learnt more adjectives to describe people (revise the Vocabulary Bank on page 146). Remember that we can use very and quite before the adjective:
A: How old is your brother? B: Oh, he's very young. He's only 14.
A: How tall is your father? B: Oh, he's quite tall, around 1.80 m.
Then, individually, you wrote the description of a famous person and the rest of the class had to guess the person. I think it was quite fun! We also learnt adjectives like angry, happy, sad, thirsty, tired, etc.
Finally, we revised how to tell the time and and we listened to Vicky's morning (very stressful!!). Here you have a clock that can help you remember the times:
Pd: By the way, do you remember the colours in English? Yes? Are you sure? Well, what colour is the following words??
Here I leave you with two links for listening practice:
Click here to listen to Kevin talking about women. You have some online activities and you can also have a look at the transcription.
Click here to listen to a women who is running a business in Tanzania, Africa. Again, you have some online activities and you also have the possibility of listening with the tapescript.
As some of you might already know, this week the School library has started to run. In order to borrow material from it, you need to make an online reservation on the library's website (www.biblioteca.eoidegranada.org):
Your username is your ID number without the letter; you'll soon receive your password in an e-mail. If you haven't received your password after one or two weeks, then fill in the online form (formulario de alta). It's the icon right above "administración".
It's essential that you read the information about the use of the library (the icon in the middle) before you start borrowing material. It's also recommendable that you watch the video, where you have a step-by-step explanation of what you have to do to make a reservation.
In reality, it's as easy as looking for the book, CD, film, etc. according to some descriptors (language, level, subject matter, etc.). Once you have chosen it, click on "SÍ" on the column called reserva. A pdf document will generate; you have to print it out (or copy it entirely by hand) and give it to me in class. The following day I'll give you the material. That's it; as simple as that.
There's incredibly good material in the library, so use it and make the most of it. Why not take a DVD from time to time? What about a reading book? I remind you that your success in learning languages lies primarily in the time you devote to it outside class. So... go ahead! :)
Numbers: leed la explicación (está muy detallada) y luego pinchad en el ejercicio que aparece al final de la página. Activad que os salgan números aleatorios (get a randomized number, all through to 1.000.000, cardinal numbers). Os saldrá un número que tendréis que escribir; la misma aplicación os lo corrige.
The verb to be: aquí tenéis una explicación muy completa en español. Parad de leer cuando lleguéis a "Pretérito".
The present simple: en este enlace os vienen explicados el presente simple y el continuo. Leed sólo lo referente al presente simple -no hagáis los ejercicios puesto que aparecen ambos tiempos.
Family: un juego de memoria y de pronunciación sobre los miembros de la familia.
Sería conveniente que le echárais un vistazo aunque sea rápido a los distintos enlaces. It will help you to consolidate things.
I'm writing today to post a very useful link to practise listening at home: www.cuevana.com. There you have all the films and tv series you can think of in original version. The website is very updated: sometimes you can watch films that haven't even been released in Spain!
You have two possibilities to watch the film/series:
You can watch it online: in this case you can activate or deactivate the subtitles -normally they're in Spanish, but sometimes you have more than one option-. And the best of all, there is no time limit, so you can watch the entire film or tv series without stopping.
You can also download it to your computer with the subtitles. If the subtitles are not in the language you want, then go to www.tvsubtitles.net (subtitles for tv series) or www.opensubtitles.org (subtitles for films) or simply write "name of the film English subtitles" in google, e.g. Django English subtitles. When you play the film, the computer will automatically take the subtitles, but it's essential that both files have the very same name, e.g. TheKarateKid.mp4 (this is the video), TheKarateKid.srt (these are the subtitles).
Some classmates have asked me if it's better to watch the film with or without subitles and if the subtitles should be in English or Spanish. First of all, forget the idea that watching films with subtitles is "bad". It is not. Quite on the contrary, it is very good practice because you associate spelling and pronunciation which, as you know, does not always coincide in English. Therefore, the ideal thing would be to watch films in English with English subtitles until your level is high enough to eliminate subtitles completely.
Now, very important: choose something that you like. This way, the language will unconsciously become something secondary and you will enjoy what you're watching. This is essential. Nobody likes picking up a CD with listening practice on a Friday evening; it's not natural and you get bored quickly. That doesn't happen with films.
So, what film are you watching this weekend? :)
Ps: It would be a very good idea to leave a comment with the films you've watched in original version recommending it (or not) to your classmates.
I've just learnt that there's a season of comedy films in the cultural centre of Caja Granada every Tuesday at 20.00h. The films are in original version with subtitles and the entry is completely free. Here you have the link with all the information. I also post the complete programme below:
As usual, here you have a summary (un resumen) of what we did during the week :)
With Basic Level D, we finished the unit about Natasha and Darren. Was their date (cita) a disaster or a success??
We also corrected some exercises to form questions in the present simple. Then we started the topic about jobs. We learnt vocabulary about jobs (please, see Vocabulary Bank page 144) and we read Annabel's interview: she's an artist and a musician, but she thinks her job is stressful and sometimes lonely...
Then we listened to an interview where three people guess a person's job. Can you remember his job? ... That's it: a footballer! With the questions in the interview, we played a game where we had to guess our job: do I work in an office?, do I earn a lot of money?, do I wear a uniform?, am I a politician? etc.
Click here for an activity where you can practise the vocabulary about jobs. Some jobs are new, for example mechanic, photographer, vet, farmer and shopkeeper.
Finally, we started the unit about family: "relatively famous". We talked about some famous people and discovered some of their relatives: JK Rowling's husband, Hugh Grant's brother, Will Smith's father, Kate Winslet's sister, Naomi Campbell's mother and Antonio Banderas's ex-wife.
We also learnt the possessive 's: remember, we use it with relatives (family) and possessions:
This is Danny's sister (NOT the sister of Danny);
This is Jenny's bag (NOT the bag of Jenny).
Also remember that we always use 'sexcept with regular plurals (el plural regular se forma añadiendo una -s), where we only use ' (apostrophe): e.g. my parents' house. (For a complete explanation, please see the Grammar Bank on page 124).
With Basic Level E we also learnt vocabulary related to the family (Vocabulary Bank page 145).
Finally, here you can see the video of our Halloween Party!! Do you recognise some of your classmates? :)
You can repeat your English vocabulary, do your homework together and help each other with English grammar. Studying with friends simply is much more fun.
It’s also a good oportunity to exchange ideas on studying in general. Maybe your friends have found out about a good way of studying more effectively. Or, who knows, maybe you can advise your friends on this?
I hope you've had a great, great bank holiday! :) I'm sorry I haven't uploaded the class record before. Anyway, here you have it!
With Basic Level D we only had one day of class (Tuesday), and we talked about meeting people (where and how can you meet people? - at school/university/work; in a supermarket; on the Internet, in the street...). Then we read the story of Natasha and Darren, who met on the Internet and had a date. Unfortunately, they are very, very different (they have nothing in common!) and they do not make a good couple... :(
With their conversation, we learnt how to make questions in the present simple (remember: QUASI - QUestion word + Auxiliary + Subject + Infinitive). In the present simple, the auxiliary is do or does (for he / she / it): what do you study?; where does he live?; do you have a pet?
We worked with a photocopy to practise a little bit more and then we did an activity to find classmates (compañeros de clase) that were similar to us. For tomorrow, you have to prepare the last two exercises of the photocopy, and do the grammar bank 2B on page 125.
With Basic Level E we talked about jobs and professions: what do you do? I'm a lawyer; I'm a doctor; I'm a teacher; I'm an architect. (Remember that we always use a/an before the job!) We listened to an interview and guessed the job according to the answers: do you work with your hands? Yes, I do / No, I don't; do you work in the morning? Yes, I do / No, I don't, etc. We also played a game: you had to discover your profession!
On Wednesday we talked about Halloween. We read a text and then we saw it together on a powerpoint presentation:
I hope you know the history of Halloween now!! :) Finally, we did a crossword (crucigrama) with vocabulary related to Halloween. Make sure you have a copy.
In the second hour on Wednesday we met Lauren, our American language assistant. She talked about her family, her city (New Jersey), her hobbies and her interests. I'm sure you terribly enjoyed her class! :)
Here I leave you with some interesting material from the Internet to revise some of the things we covered in class last week. First of all you have an episode from The Flatmates, a series by the BBC where they focus on different aspects of the English language.
Click on this link and you'll be able to listen to it (you'll see that you can listen either with or without the tapescript in front of you). After you listen, click on the "language point", where you have an explanation of how the past simple and continuous are used in the same sentence. Then you can practise doing the "quiz".
We already know that the past simple and the past continuous are used for different purposes. However, remember also that some verbs cannot be used in the continuous form... can you remember which ones they are? ... That's right! Stative or non-action verbs! If you don't remember this, or you simply want to revise, click on the following link.
To end with, a final note on pronunciation. Last week we saw that regular verbs in the past simple end in -ed. However, these two small letters can be pronounced in three different ways: /id/, /t/ and /d/:
Here you have a listening where we find out about these three pronunciations and we also listen to Sebastian, a student from Colombia, producing the correct sounds.
As you can see, in order to pronounce the -ed ending correctly it is important to know which sounds are voiced and which are voiceless/unvoiced, but... how do we know? I hope this video helps! :)
In this entry I leave you with two videos about idioms related to sports (you can play them with or without subtitles). Remember that idioms are expressions whose meaning is different from the meaning of the individual words put together, e.g. "to smell a rat" doesn't mean that you're smelling a rat (!!!), but rather that you're suspicious about something.
In the first video you have idioms related to athletics ("a false start"; "to jump the gun"; "the front runner");
in the second video the idioms are related to balls ("keep your eye on the ball"; "it's a whole new ball game"; on the ball").
Idioms might be difficult to learn in the sense that they have to be learnt by heart (you cannot guess the meaning). However, if you manage to use them in everyday conversation, you'll sound a lot more natural in English!! The best thing to learn them is to use them in sentences and remember the examples. Here you have one by a student from Nigeria:
Seyi, Nigeria The girl of my dreams is a front runner in terms of beauty; when I asked her out I thought I jumped the gun... I just hope we don't have a false start! Do you think you could build a similar sentence? Go ahead and post it as a comment!
I'm sorry I took so long to update the blog this week (perdonad que haya tardado tanto en actualizar el blog esta semana). But, as we say in Spanish and in English... better later than never! :)
Last week we revised the contents of Unit 1 with pages 13 and 14 from the Student's Book; we also looked at vocabulary we can use on the plane and at the airport (workbook page 12 - para Nivel Básico D, subiré las respuestas del ejercicio esta noche).
We also learnt how to pronounce the 3rd person singular -s: /s/, /z/ or /iz/. Remember that in the present simple we add an -s to the verb if the subject is he / she / it. This -s changes to -es if the verb finishes in -x, -s, -sh, -ch or -o (esta regla también servía para la formación del plural). Todo esto lo tenéis explicado en el Grammar Bank 2A (page 124).
We also learnt some vocabulary for everyday activities (actividades cotidianas) like get up, have a shower, go to work, etc. We also learnt how to tell the time (esto también lo veremos en la unidad 3), and some adverbs of frequency (esto también lo veremos más adelante).
We also learnt how to make negative sentences in the present simple with don't (I, you, we, you, they) or doesn't (he, she, it): I don't like football; he doesn't drink coffee. I gave you a photocopy with some explanation and a few exercises.
Finally, we revised some phonetic symbols: /ei/, /i:/, /e/, /ai/, /əʊ/, /u:/ and /a:/. These are the sounds of the alphabet. After revising them, we listened to a song: "Stand by me", by Ben E King. Here you have the video (sorry, I couldn't find the official one) and the exercise we did in class:
I'm writing now to leave you with some more reviews. I had already posted reviews from 1 to 6. Here you have three more (there are 12), so that you keep doing them when you find the time. I'll upload all the keys shortly.
Here I post the information about the Halloween Party we'll have at the School next week! It'll take place next Thursday, 28th October, from 18.00 till 20.00.
There will be a very interesting pumpkin workshop where we'll learn how to make "Halloween pumpinks". For this activity you have to bring a pumpkin -you can buy them in practically any supermarket, but there are special offers in Lidl-, a knife, a spoon and a lunchbox to put the inside of the pumpkin -the pulp-. We'll also give you recipes to cook with that pulp so that nothing is wasted!
There will also be a costume contest: the best costume will get a dictionary for free! If the idea of getting dressed up doesn't convince you very much, then bring at least a hat, a mask, a candle, Halloween make-up... at least one thing related to Halloween! But, of course, if you have the full costume, you'll have a lot more possibilities of winning the prize!
It's going to be a very interesting activity, completely different from what we normally do in the lessons. Everyone in the school will be invited, so it's also a chance to meet other people who are interested in learning the language and culture of another country! Be sure it's going to be great, great fun! I wait for you all!
Last week I asked some of you to try and transcribe a few words... I was utterly amazed when you told me you had never seen phonetic symbols in your lives! Well, we have to put a solution to that! In class, we'll see symbols little by little, normally in pairs or triplets. However, just for you to have a general idea of how pronunciation works in English, here I leave you with two videos I've found on the Internet.
The two main ideas in the first video are that:
Good pronunciation is very important but... what do we mean by good pronunciation? Well, you don't have to sound like a native speaker. The only important thing is that your pronunciation doesn't impede communication. In other words, your pronunciation has to be clear enough for other people to understand.
There are many English accents, and any model is as valid. I personally have a British accent, but if you prefer the American, Canadian or Australian, to cite but a few, that's perfectly fine!
In the second video you have a general overview of phonetic symbols and the International Phonetic Alphabet: what are they? why are they necessary? Are there the same number of letters and phonetic symbols? Do they coincide?
You have the complete list of phonetic symbols on pages 158 and 159 of your Student's Book. You also have a really useful list of the usual spellings for each sound. Please, have a quick look at it. And remember that you have plenty of practice for pronunciation, as well as grammar and vocabulary, in your multiROM!
Here I post the reviews that I handed out last week. Remember that we'll correct Reviews 1 and 2 in class; for reviews 3 to 12, I'll upload the key to the blog so that you do them at your own pace and self-correct yourselves (if you have any question or doubt, ask me).
I've said this in class, but I repeat it here: it's important that all of you do these exercises to consolidate knowledge, but especially those who haven't studied English for a long time (for example, people entering the EOI through Bachillerato) - it's essential that you do these reviews in order to keep up with the rest of your classmates.
This week we have seen the present simple and vocabulary related to everyday activities (watch television, do the housework, go to the cinema, etc.). We have also watched a video of two situations: on the plane and at the airport. We will continue with that next week.
Finally, we have also talked about what is typically British. We brainstormed the topic and then we saw some English customs and traditions. Do you think it is all true or are there clichés/stereotypes? For example, do all English people have tea at 5 o'clock? Do all Spanish people dance flamenco?
Have a look at the following video. What do you think? Is it a reflection of reality? I wait for your comments!
This week we have continued with numbers: We revised numbers from ONE to TWENTY and continued from TWENTY to ONE MILLION. We can combine those numbers to say any quantity.
Remember that we say dates in pairs: 1980 - nineteen eighty; except when we have double 0 at the end (1700 - seventeen hundred; 800 - eight hundred) and from 2000 to 2009 because we say the full number (two thousand, two thousand and one, two thousand and two...). When we have a 0, we say 'oh', like in telephone numbers: 1904 - nineteen oh four). In football, we say 'nil' (3-0: three nil); and in tennis we say 'love'(15 - 0: fifteen love).
We also did a Numbers Quiz and we revised countries, nationalities and useful questions with Mario Benedetti, an Italian student who went to Ireland.
On Wednesday/Thursday, we learnt possessive adjectives (my, your, his, etc.), vocabulary related to classroom objects and some more phonetic symbols. Remember: don't panic with pronunciation - we will see it little by little (poco a poco). And, please, if you find it difficult, do extra practice with your multiROM.
Éste es el blog para Nivel Básico 1, creado con la intención de que estemos en contacto fuera de clase y compartamos ideas, impresiones y material que nos pueda servir a todos. También intentaremos mantener un registro de lo que vamos haciendo en clase cada semana.
This is the blog for the Intermediate group. I intend it to be a place where we can all communicate and share ideas, impressions and materials that may be useful for all of us. We'll also try to keep a record of what we do in class every week.
I post this entry to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Numbers Quiz and we revised countries, nationalities and useful questions with Mario Benedetti, an Italian student who went to Ireland.
