Last Monday we started with an activity called: "Are you telling the truth'?" You worked in pairs and we learnt interesting vocabulary like: Oh, you're lying! You're not telling the truth, are you? Some of your stories were really good, and we discovered we had some celebrities in class!
After that, we corrected the photocopy about will and be going to and we learnt the pronunciation of the contracted form 'll. Also, remember the difference between want (ᴅ) and won't (əʊ)
Finally, we listened to the song "Imagine", by John Lennon. Here you have the original version:
On Wednesday you talked about space and the planets with Leah.
Afterwards, we continued with your oral presentations. Again, they were very enjoyable, and I truly appreciate your hard work :) However, please, be careful with the timing. If your presentations are too long, we won't have time for everybody. Remember, 10 minutes maximum.
For homework, remember to do activities 2, 3, and 4 on pages 46 and 47.
Last Monday we started with an activity called: "Are you telling the truth'?" You worked in pairs and we learnt interesting vocabulary like: Oh, you're lying! You're not telling the truth, are you? Some of your stories were really good, and we discovered we had some celebrities in class!
After that, we corrected the photocopy about will and be going to and we learnt the pronunciation of the contracted form 'll. Also, remember the difference between want (ᴅ) and won't (əʊ)
Finally, we listened to the song "Imagine", by John Lennon. Here you have the original version:
On Wednesday you talked about space and the planets with Leah.
Afterwards, we continued with your oral presentations. Again, they were very enjoyable, and I truly appreciate your hard work :) However, please, be careful with the timing. If your presentations are too long, we won't have time for everybody. Remember, 10 minutes maximum.
For homework, remember to do activities 2, 3, and 4 on pages 46 and 47.
Last Monday we started with an activity called: "Are you telling the truth'?" You worked in pairs and we learnt interesting vocabulary like: Oh, you're lying! You're not telling the truth, are you? Some of your stories were really good, and we discovered we had some celebrities in class!
After that, we corrected the photocopy about will and be going to and we learnt the pronunciation of the contracted form 'll. Also, remember the difference between want (ᴅ) and won't (əʊ)
Finally, we listened to the song "Imagine", by John Lennon. Here you have the original version:
On Wednesday you talked about space and the planets with Leah.
Afterwards, we continued with your oral presentations. Again, they were very enjoyable, and I truly appreciate your hard work :) However, please, be careful with the timing. If your presentations are too long, we won't have time for everybody. Remember, 10 minutes maximum.
For homework, remember to do activities 2, 3, and 4 on pages 46 and 47.
I take advantage of this post to tell you about a very useful link with songs in English: www.subingles.com. Here you can listen to plenty of songs with the lyrics in front of you!
You have different songs classified according to their level of difficulty (you'll see that the website is extremely updated):
When you click on a song, it starts playing and the website also suggests other subtitled songs by the same band. You also have the possibility of listening to songs with online activities.
So this is yet another possibility to listen to English outside the classroom! :)
Last week we continued with your oral presentations, which were incredibly well-prepared and enjoyable to listen to. Thank you once again for your hard work.
In Avanzado 1 A Luisa talked about South Africa, and I couldn't help but think about the 2009 film Invictus, which relates South Africa's story in the last days of the Apartheid, with Nelson Mandela becoming its president after gaining freedom from prison. Soon afterwards, the 1995 Rugby World Cup took place, and South Africa won, erecting itself as a new and strong nation where blacks and whites could life together.
It was just a sports competition, but it became a symbol meaning that South Africa was once again back in the world, and that difficulties, obstacles and injustice can be surmounted.
I watched the film not long ago, and I looked for information on the Internet to see how much of it was true. I was amazed to see how faithful it was to reality. I post a video below, which is 100% represented in the film. It might not mean much to you now, but if you watch the film, it will certainly send shivers down your spine:
Apart from your oral presentations, on Tuesday we also corrected some homework that were lagging behind and I asked you to write a complaint letter. Please, make sure you revise the expressions on pages 52 and 53.
250 words
Times New Roman 12
1,5 interlining
Deadline: Tuesday 31st January 23.59h
On Thursday we had one hour with Leah and we learnt about Mississippi's state fair. Extremely interesting!! And completely different to how we celebrate here! The food part was rather shocking, and here I post some information about deep-fried Mars, which is very typical in Scotland.Would you like to try some? :)
After that we continued talking about events, celebrations and festivals, and we learnt about extreme/strong adjectives. I post the copy below, in case you don't have it:
As promised yesterday, here you have some information about the film at Cine Club tonight. Its title is "Carnage" (in Spanish "Un Dios salvaje"). It is directed by Roman Polanski and it stars Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly. It will be in English with subtitles in Spanish.
Times: 20.00 and 22.00 Place: Teatro Apolo (Almería) Price: 3,5 € Duration: 79 min.
You have all the information plus a trailer at http://www.lafactoria-almeria.com. Below I post a review by the newspaper The Guardian:
I'm writing today to post some information about the film at Cine Club tonight. Its title is "Carnage" (in Spanish "Un Dios salvaje"). It is directed by Roman Polanski and the actors/actresses are Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly It will be in English with subtitles in Spanish.
Times: 20.00 and 22.00 Place: Teatro Apolo (Almería) Price: 3,5 € Duration: 79 min.
I'm writing today to post some information about the film at Cine Club tonight. Its title is "Carnage" (in Spanish "Un Dios salvaje"). It is directed by Roman Polanski and the actors/actresses are Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly It will be in English with subtitles in Spanish.
Times: 20.00 and 22.00
Place: Teatro Apolo (Almería)
Price: 3,5 €
Duration: 79 min.
On Monday we talked about retirement and some people's plans for when they retired. With this activity we revised the future (remember, will for predictions; be going to and the present continuous for plans). After that we did the test on the book Dracula... Congratulations! You all passed!
On Wednesday we had one hour with Leah and you did two speaking activities to practise the future. After that we had your oral presentations, which we all terribly enjoyed. Thank you very, very much for your time and effort.
For homework, I asked you to choose a song you liked and prepare an activity with it. After all of you give me your songs (in class or via e-mail), I'll put a survey/questionnaire on the blog so that you can vote the songs you like the most. We will do those songs in class :)
On Monday we talked about retirement and some people's plans for when they retired. With this activity we revised the future (remember, will for predictions; be going to and the present continuous for plans). After that we did the test on the book Dracula... Congratulations! You all passed!
On Wednesday we had one hour with Leah and you did two speaking activities to practise the future. After that we had your oral presentations, which we all terribly enjoyed. Thank you very, very much for your time and effort.
For homework, I asked you to choose a song you liked and prepare an activity with it. After all of you give me your songs (in class or via e-mail), I'll put a survey/questionnaire on the blog so that you can vote the songs you like the most. We will do those songs in class :)
On Tuesday we talked about ideal jobs and we practised the vocabulary on page 44. After that, we watched a Sky News video about what some people called "the best job in the world" (I'm afraid you can listen up to second 56; there's no sound afterwards).
Here you have a video about the people that submitted their applications to the official website and managed to get to the final:
Eventually, the winner was Ben Southall. For all the information about him and this project to take care of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, please click here. Finally, if you want to check Ben's weekly blog and photo gallery, visit the official website www.islandreefjob.com. I strongly recommend you to have a look around!
On Thursday we had one hour with Leah. You played a game called 'telephone', and it was real fun! After that you read a text about gliding and you did an interesting exercise in groups to check your pronunciation. I hope you learnt how to pronounce quite a few of the difficult words!
In my hour, we starting correcting the photocopy about modal verbs in the past. I know the handout is a bit dense, but don't worry; we'll practise more in class. For the moment, here you have a straightforward explanation of modal verbs, and you can do an online exercise here.
On Friday we started with your oral presentations. Thanks very much for all the effort and time you've put into it. We all enjoyed what you had prepared, and we learnt quite a few things as well!
Juanjo (Avanzado 1 A) talked about Iceland and he mentioned the famous volcano that made most European airports close. Can anybody remember the name of that volcano? I guess you don't! It was "Eyjafjallajökull". Many journalists had problems pronouncing it, and I remembered a CNN video called "Name that Icelandic Vocano". Check it out below:
After that we continued correcting some homework from the previous day, and we listened to the song "What makes you beautiful", by One Direction:
Here you have the activity we did in class (to correct it, simply click here to have the complete lyrics)
All the films are in original version with subtitles in Spanish, so why don't you get your wife / husband / a few friends and do something different for a day? :)
All the films are in original version with subtitles in Spanish, so why don't you get your wife / husband / a few friends and do something different for a day? :)
All the films are in original version with subtitles in Spanish, so why don't you get your wife / husband / a bunch of friends and do something different for a day? :)
I've been having a look at the news today, and I've found one you were commenting on in class last Thursday. We talked about bungee jumping, and someone mentioned the case of a girl whose rope had broken. Click here for the report and video from BBC news.
As promised, here I post some information about podcasts.
In case you have never heard of podcasts, it's a digital media which consists of an episodic series of files (audio or video) to which you can subscribe. This means that every time there is a new podcast, they will tell you. Normally they last between 2 and 10 minutes, although there are some which are longer.
The best way to find podcasts is using the programme iTunes. Click here to download it. Once you install it in your computer, open it and on the left side you'll find something similar to this:
Click on iTunes store, and then select the option "podcast". You'll find a screen similar to this:
There you have a very complete list of podcast you can choose from. You can also search according to category, if you want video or audio podcast, you can look for a specific one, etc. When you find a podcast you like, click on it and then on "subscribe/subscribirse". Everytime there is a new one, it will automatically download to your iTunes.
To listen to your podcasts, simply click on Library --> Podcasts (left column):
Some podcasts I recommend to you:
Ask about Britain
6 Minute English
British Council - Learning English
English Grammar HELP
Speaking English podcast
Any other specialised one you like: Discovery Channel, BBC news, BBC radio, TV documentaries, science reports, history, etc.
I'll try to show this in class on Tuesday. It's not difficult at all, and it's incredibly, incredibly helpful. Besides, you can learn English while listening to something of your interest. You can also copy the podcasts to your iPod, MP3 player, a CD, etc.
As promised, here I post some information about podcasts.
In case you have never heard of podcasts, it's a digital media which consists of an episodic series of files (audio or video) to which you can subscribe. This means that every time there is a new podcast, they will tell you. Normally they last between 2 and 10 minutes, although there are some which are longer.
The best way to find podcasts is using the programme iTunes (You can download it here). Once you install it in your computer, open it and on the left side you'll find something similar to this:
Click on iTunes store, and then select the option "podcast". You'll find a screen similar to this:
There you have a very complete list of podcasts you can choose from. You can also search according to category, if you want video or audio podcast, you can look for a specific one, etc. When you find a podcast you like, click on it and then on "subscribe/subscribirse". Everytime there is a new one, it will automatically download to your iTunes.
To listen to your podcasts, simply click on Library --> Podcasts (left column). You can also copy the podcasts to your iPod, MP3 player, a CD, etc.
Some podcasts I recommend to you:
Ask about Britain
6 Minute English
British Council - Learning English
English Grammar HELP
Speaking English podcast
Any other specialised one you like: Discovery Channel, BBC news, BBC radio, TV documentaries, science reports, history, etc.
I'll try to show this in class on Tuesday. It's not difficult at all, and it's incredibly, incredibly helpful. Besides, you can learn English while listening to something of your interest.
As promised, here I post some information about podcasts.
In case you have never heard of podcasts, it's a digital media which consists of an episodic series of files (audio or video) to which you can subscribe. This means that every time there is a new podcast, they will tell you. Normally they last between 2 and 10 minutes, although there are some which are longer.
The best way to find podcasts is using the programme iTunes. Click here to download it. Once you install it in your computer, open it and on the left side you'll find something similar to this:
Click on iTunes store, and then select the option "podcast". You'll find a screen similar to this:
There you have a very complete list of podcast you can choose from. You can also search according to category, if you want video or audio podcast, you can look for a specific one, etc. When you find a podcast you like, click on it and then on "subscribe/subscribirse". Everytime there is a new one, it will automatically download to your iTunes.
To listen to your podcasts, simply click on Library --> Podcasts (left column):
Some podcasts I recommend to you:
Ask about Britain
6 Minute English
British Council - Learning English
English Grammar HELP
Speaking English podcast
Any other specialised one you like: Discovery Channel, BBC news, BBC radio, TV documentaries, science reports, history, etc.
I'll try to show this in class on Tuesday. It's not difficult at all, and it's incredibly, incredibly helpful. Besides, you can learn English while listening to something of your interest. You can also copy the podcasts to your iPod, MP3 player, a CD, etc.
I hope your weekend is off to a good start!! (= I hope your weekend has started well)
On Monday we had our first class after the Christmas holidays and we did a speaking activity in groups. You had to ask your partners about:
The best people last Christmas
The best place last Christmas
The best moment last Christmas
After that we asked if it was important to be with the family at Christmas and we watched a video about new technologies and communication at home. The BBC programme "Panorama" did an experiment at a Primary School in Manchester: they took away the telly (TV), video games, mobile phones, etc. and analysed the children's and parents' reactions. Very interesting!!
On Wednesday we had one hour with Leah and you worked with the book Dracula. You revised the vocabulary with a game called "taboo" and then you discussed the main characters in the story. Remember that we have the test next Monday, 16th January. If you have read and understood the book, you won't (will not) have any problem :)
Then we started unit 5 and we talked about robots and things they can do. I gave you a photocopy about the future: please, complete it for next Tuesday.
On Friday we did a speaking activity with information about yourselves. Then you changed your papers and you had to explain the other person's answers. It was very funny!
Finally, we watched an episode from The Simpsons: "The Lemon of Troy" (season 6, episode 24). If you want to watch it again, you can download it here. And click here for the subtitles in English.
Con esta actividad quería haceros ver que sabéis mucho más de lo que créeis. Este capítulo era 100% original, tal y como lo emiten en EEUU y el Reino Unido. ¿A qué sienta bien cuando uno ve que puede entender frases enteras? Con la ayuda de subtítulos, vale, pero aún así lo estáis entendiendo. Espero que esto os haya animado a ver películas y series en versión original.
I hope your weekend is off to a good start!! (= I hope your weekend has started well)
On Monday we had our first class after the Christmas holidays and we did a speaking activity in groups. You had to ask your partners about:
The best people last Christmas
The best place last Christmas
The best moment last Christmas
After that we asked if it was important to be with the family at Christmas and we watched a video about new technologies and communication at home. The BBC programme "Panorama" did an experiment at a Primary School in Manchester: they took away the telly (TV), video games, mobile phones, etc. and analysed the children's and parents' reactions. Very interesting!!
On Wednesday we had one hour with Leah and you worked with the book Dracula. You revised the vocabulary with a game called "taboo" and then you discussed the main characters in the story. Remember that we have the test next Monday, 16th January. If you have read and understood the book, you won't (will not) have any problem :)
Then we started unit 5 and we talked about robots and things they can do. I gave you a photocopy about the future: please, complete it for next Tuesday.
On Friday we did a speaking activity with information about yourselves. Then you changed your papers and you had to explain the other person's answers. It was very funny!
Finally, we watched an episode from The Simpsons: "The Lemon of Troy" (season 6, episode 24). If you want to watch it again, you can download it here. And click here for the subtitles in English.
Con esta actividad quería haceros ver que sabéis mucho más de lo que créeis. Este capítulo era 100% original, tal y como lo emiten en EEUU y el Reino Unido. ¿A qué sienta bien cuando uno ve que puede entender frases enteras? Con la ayuda de subtítulos, vale, pero aún así lo estáis entendiendo. Espero que esto os haya animado a ver películas y series en versión original.
I hope your weekend is off to a good start!! (= I hope your weekend has started well)
On Monday we had our first class after the Christmas holidays and we did a speaking activity in groups. You had to ask your partners about:
The best people last Christmas
The best place last Christmas
The best moment last Christmas
After that we asked if it was important to be with the family at Christmas and we watched a video about new technologies and communication at home. The BBC programme "Panorama" did an experiment at a Primary School in Manchester: they took away the telly (TV), video games, mobile phones, etc. and analysed the children's and parents' reactions. Very interesting!!
On Wednesday we had one hour with Leah and you worked with the book Dracula. You revised the vocabulary with a game called "taboo" and then you discussed the main characters in the story. Remember that we have the test next Monday, 16th January. If you have read and understood the book, you won't (will not) have any problem :)
Then we started unit 5 and we talked about robots and things they can do. I gave you a photocopy about the future: please, complete it for next Tuesday.
On Friday we did a speaking activity with information about yourselves. Then you changed your papers and you had to explain the other person's answers. It was very funny!
Finally, we watched an episode from The Simpsons: "The Lemon of Troy" (season 6, episode 24). If you want to watch it again, you can download it here. And click here for the subtitles in English.
Con esta actividad quería haceros ver que sabéis mucho más de lo que créeis. Este capítulo era 100% original, tal y como lo emiten en EEUU y el Reino Unido. ¿A qué sienta bien cuando uno ve que puede entender frases enteras? Con la ayuda de subtítulos, vale, pero aún así lo estáis entendiendo. Espero que esto os haya animado a ver películas y series en versión original.
On Tuesday we had our first day after the Christmas holidays and you told me a bit about what you had done. After that, we talked about New Year's Resolutions and how long people normally stick to them. Let's see how you manage this year! :)
Below I post the photocopies we worked with. Make sure you revise the expressions on the last page!
After that, we watched a video from the BBC entitled: "50 things to do before you die". I haven't been able to find the exact same video online, but I have found the clip corresponding to the NUMBER 1 thing to do: swimming with dolphins. Check it out below (you'll see that what we saw in class was only a summary of the entire video!).
On Thursday we had one hour with Leah and you worked on The Thirty-Nine Steps. You revised the most difficult vocabulary playing "taboo", and Advanced Level 1 A also revised the main characters and events in the story. Remember we have the test next Tuesday 17th January. You won't have any problem in passing if you have read it conscienciously.
Finally, we corrected the text on pages 43 and 44 and together as a class we revised the grammar/vocabulary part of the December written exam. Remember that an exercise of that sort is what you'll also find in the exams in March and June.
