My grammar lab

Today I came across this funny video promoting the website www.mygrammarlab.com and which defends the use of correct grammar when you speak/write English. As you know, grammar is definitely not everything, but it is a very important part of the language, its bones, as it were. I'm sure you understand all of it :)

Easter holidays

Hi everyone!

Wow, so we've come to the end of the term! I can't believe Easter is already round the corner!!

I hope you've all made the most of these nearly three months of class we've had in the second term, and that you come back after Easter with renewed energy and eager to continue learning and enjoying the lessons :)

I don't know your plans for the Easter holidays, but why don't you find some time to watch films in original version or read? I've told you a hundred times in class, but I repeat it again here: reading is by far the best way to improve one's language, both in Spanish and English! It's scientifically proven that people who read a lot learn easier and faster. It might well be the magic recipe you're all looking for!

The library in the Escuela will start running very soon, and then you'll be able to borrow as many books as you want, preferably in original, unabridged version, of course. Meanwhile, why not read newspapers online? Or e-books? I'm sure many of you already have Kindles or e-book readers!

Talking about reading, click here for an article from the New York Times talking about the benefits of speaking two languages. Let's see if it boosts your motivation a little bit!

Have very nice Easter holidays and see you again on the 10th April!

Oral exams

Hello everyone,

Here you have the timetable for the oral exam.
Oral exam_Básico 2 CAL

Have a nice weekend!
Ana.

Oral exams

Hello everyone,

Here you have the timetable for the oral exam.
Oral exam_Básico 2 CAL

Have a nice weekend!
Ana.

Weeks 17 and 18

Good afternoon everyone!

Here you have the summary of the last two weeks (I couldn't update the blog last weekend).

Last week we learnt some personality adjectives and we revised them on Monday, together with (junto con) adjectives to describe physical appearance. Congratulations! You have quite a good memory! :) Then we revised the use and form of the comparative and superlative:

Comparatives and superlatives

View more presentations from Ana Bueno Amaro

Last week we also celebrated Charles Dickens's bicentenary with Leah. We learnt a little bit about his life and remembered some of his most famous novels. After that we continued with your oral presentations. They are all extremely entertaining! :)

This week we have celebrated St. Valentine's watching the film "A good year", starring Russel Crowe. It was beautiful, wasn't it?



















For homework, you need to do:

• Photocopy about comparatives and superlatives.
• Photocopy about friends and family.
• Activities about the film.

Remember that the final version of your composition is for Wednesday.

Have a nice weekend!
Ana.

Comparatives & superlatives (powerpoint presentation)

Good afternoon everyone!

Here you have the summary of the last two weeks (I couldn't update the blog last weekend).

Last week we learnt some personality adjectives and we revised them on Monday, together with (junto con) adjectives to describe physical appearance. Congratulations! You have quite a good memory! :) Then we revised the use and form of the comparative and superlative:

Comparatives and superlatives

View more presentations from Ana Bueno Amaro

Last week we also celebrated Charles Dickens's bicentenary with Leah. We learnt a little bit about his life and remembered some of his most famous novels. After that we continued with your oral presentations. They are all extremely entertaining! :)

This week we have celebrated St. Valentine's watching the film "A good year", starring Russel Crowe. It was beautiful, wasn't it?



















For homework, you need to do:

• Photocopy about comparatives and superlatives.
• Photocopy about friends and family.
• Activities about the film.

Remember that the final version of your composition is for Wednesday.

Have a nice weekend!
Ana.

Weeks 17 and 18

Good afternoon everyone!

Here you have the summary of the last two weeks (I couldn't update the blog last weekend).

Last week we learnt some personality adjectives and we revised them on Monday, together with (junto con) adjectives to describe physical appearance. Congratulations! You have quite a good memory! :) Then we revised the use and form of the comparative and superlative:

Comparatives and superlatives

View more presentations from Ana Bueno Amaro

Last week we also celebrated Charles Dickens's bicentenary with Leah. We learnt a little bit about his life and remembered some of his most famous novels. After that we continued with your oral presentations. They are all extremely entertaining! :)

This week we have celebrated St. Valentine's watching the film "A good year", starring Russel Crowe. It was beautiful, wasn't it?



















For homework, you need to do:

• Photocopy about comparatives and superlatives.
• Photocopy about friends and family.
• Activities about the film.

Remember that the final version of your composition is for Wednesday.

Have a nice weekend!
Ana.

Ways to look; "Falling slowly" (song)

Hello everyone!

Last week we did an interesting photocopy with idioms of comparison (e.g. as fresh as a daisy; as deaf as a post; as blind as a bat, as hard as nails, etc.). Make sure you revise this vocabulary!

We also did a little game in pairs to revise some of the phrasal verbs we have seen so far. As a word of advice, have a separate section for phrasal verbs in your notebook. Apart from the translation (if you use translations), try to think of another synonym verb (e.g. give in - surrender) and always, always include a example to see the phrasal verb in context.

We also continued with the book and corrected the exercises on pages 68 and 69. The one about "ways to look" was a little complicated, so I gave you a handout with their explanations.
















On Thursday Leah talked about alternative ways to travel: WWOOFing and Couchsurfing. What do you think of them? Would you consider practising them?











Finally, we corrected a photocopy about words easily confused, such as journey, trip, travel, etc. Here you have it in case you didn't come to class:

This week we celebrated Valentine's Day watching the film entitled "Once". It has received numerous awards, specially because of its original soundtrack. Below I leave two of the more famous songs, one of them called "when your mind's made up"



On Thursday you worked with Leah on some sayings and proverbs about love. In my hour, we revised modal verbs in the past and corrected the exercises on pages 70 and 71. And today... I can't wait for your oral presentations! :)

For homework, please complete the photocopy about inversion and question tags.

Have a nice weekend!
Ana.

Week 16

Hello everyone!

Last week we had three days of class (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

On Monday we corrected one exercise that we had left (que nos quedaba) about be going to (ex 6 page 45) and we listened to two possible pronunciations: /gəʊiŋtə/ and /gᴅnə/. Remember that the second is used when we speak at a natural rhythm in English.

After that we celebrated the School Day For Peace and Non-violence. First of all, we learnt some expressions to make suggestions, requests, offers and to respond to offers (make sure you revise them on page 48 in your books). After that we suggested 4 possible problems you could have in your classrooms and in groups you designed a plan to solve them. Well done! :)



During the break, we had a small tea party and I told you about the typical English Cream Tea. Here you have a picture of a scone which, remember, you fill with butter, marmalade and whipped cream... Yummy!!!

On Wednesday you did an activity about Gandhi with Leah and at the end of the class you played "Telephone"... Some of your sentences were really funny!!

Then we correctd Unit 5C in your books and we did a listening that I collected. The activity you had to do was the same as the first exercise in the December exam.

Finally, Raquel and Rosa did their presentations. Thanks for your effort! :)

On Friday we also had oral presentations, and we also learnt some real English sounds!! Here you have the handout, in case you don't have a copy:
Real English Sounds

Finally, I wanted to tell you that I have just found a very useful website with videos adapted to our level. Here I leave you the first video of the series. I'm sure you can understand a lot!!

English cream tea; real English sounds; Inside Out videos

Hello everyone!

Last week we had three days of class (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

On Monday we corrected one exercise that we had left (que nos quedaba) about be going to (ex 6 page 45) and we listened to two possible pronunciations: /gəʊiŋtə/ and /gᴅnə/. Remember that the second is used when we speak at a natural rhythm in English.




After that we celebrated the School Day For Peace and Non-violence. First of all, we learnt some expressions to make suggestions, requests, offers and to respond to offers (make sure you revise them on page 48 in your books). After that we suggested 4 possible problems you could have in your classrooms and in groups you designed a plan to solve them. Well done! :)



During the break, we had a small tea party and I told you about the typical English Cream Tea. Here you have a picture of a scone which, remember, you fill with butter, marmalade and whipped cream... Yummy!!!

On Wednesday you did an activity about Gandhi with Leah and at the end of the class you played "Telephone"... Some of your sentences were really funny!!

Then we correctd Unit 5C in your books and we did a listening that I collected. The activity you had to do was the same as the first exercise in the December exam.

Finally, Raquel and Rosa did their presentations. Thanks for your effort! :)

On Friday we also had oral presentations, and we also learnt some real English sounds!! Here you have the handout, in case you don't have a copy:
Real English Sounds

Finally, I wanted to tell you that I have just found a very useful website with videos adapted to our level. Here I leave you the first video of the series. I'm sure you can understand a lot!!

Week 16

Hello everyone!

Last week we had three days of class (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

On Monday we corrected one exercise that we had left (que nos quedaba) about be going to (ex 6 page 45) and we listened to two possible pronunciations: /gəʊiŋtə/ and /gᴅnə/. Remember that the second is used when we speak at a natural rhythm in English.

After that we celebrated the School Day For Peace and Non-violence. First of all, we learnt some expressions to make suggestions, requests, offers and to respond to offers (make sure you revise them on page 48 in your books). After that we suggested 4 possible problems you could have in your classrooms and in groups you designed a plan to solve them. Well done! :)



During the break, we had a small tea party and I told you about the typical English Cream Tea. Here you have a picture of a scone which, remember, you fill with butter, marmalade and whipped cream... Yummy!!!

On Wednesday you did an activity about Gandhi with Leah and at the end of the class you played "Telephone"... Some of your sentences were really funny!!

Then we correctd Unit 5C in your books and we did a listening that I collected. The activity you had to do was the same as the first exercise in the December exam.

Finally, Raquel and Rosa did their presentations. Thanks for your effort! :)

On Friday we also had oral presentations, and we also learnt some real English sounds!! Here you have the handout, in case you don't have a copy:
Real English Sounds

Finally, I wanted to tell you that I have just found a very useful website with videos adapted to our level. Here I leave you the first video of the series. I'm sure you can understand a lot!!

Verb + -ing; English cream tea; creatures in the ocean

Good morning!

Last week we started talking about the ideas we have of different countries (stereotypes) and we saw that more often than not they are overgeneralisations that do not correspond to reality. You worked in groups and thought about the stereotypes we have of the British, the Americans, the Germans and the Spanish. Then we worked with a text called "What every visitor to England should know".

After that, we learnt the different uses of the -ing form of the verb and we practised with several exercises:

Uses of verb in -ing

During the break we had a small tea party and I told you about the typical English Cream Tea. Here you have a picture of a scone which, remember, you fill with butter, marmalade and whipped cream... delicious!!

On Thursday you watched an awesome video with Leah and you talked about the incredible creatures living in the ocean. Here I post the video, in case you want to watch it again:

You can go to the original website to watch it with subtitles.

In my hour we learnt some idioms of comparison, e.g. as deaf as a post. Hope you remember some of them next week!!

In Avanzado 1 A María del Mar did her presentation about her year in the USA (thanks!), and at some point she talked about Halloween and Halloween candy. That reminded me of a video I watched last Christmas: there's a famous TV presenter in the States at the moment called Jimmy Kimmel and he always asks people to do something strange or funny, record it and send it to the programme.

During Halloween, he asked parents to tell their kids they had eaten all the Halloween candy and video-tape their reactions. Here you have the results! (the recordings start at second 38):

He did something similar during Christmas: this time he asked parents to give their kids a terrible present... some of the children are absolutely hilarious!!

Talking about oral presentations, last week I forgot to post a video I had in mind. Ana Belén Muñoz, from Avanzado 1 A, talked about New Zealand and she mentioned the dance that All Blacks do before every match (Haka War Dance). Here you have it in case you've never watched it. It also includes some information about the dance and the translation of what they shout!

Amazing! I feel bad for the opponents though!

Week 15

Good morning everyone!

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.

See you later today!

Planets; "Imagine", by John Lennon

Good morning everyone!

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.

See you later today!

Week 15

Good morning everyone!

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.

See you later today!