Past Simple vs. Past Continuous; stative & dynamic verbs; -ed ending

Hello there!

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! :)

Sports idioms

Hi everyone!

How is it going?

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!

Present simple; everyday activities; negative sentences; phonetic symbols

Hello everyone!

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:



Stand_by_me

With Nivel Básico E we also started Lesson 2B. Nivel Básico D will start it tomorrow.

That's all for now!

See you in class! :)

Grammar reviews (2)

Hi again,

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.

• Review 7
• Review 8
• Review 9

If you have any doubts or questions, please leave a comment below.

See you in class!

Halloween Party!

Hello guys!

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!

An Introduction to Pronunciation

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!

Grammar Reviews (1)

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).

• Review 1
• Review 2
• Review 3
• Review 4
• Review 5
• Review 6

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.

Stereotypes

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!



Have a good weekend!

Numbers & dates

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.

That's all for today!

See you all next week! ;)