Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Song - "Sk8er Boi"

Here is the song that I invited you to listen to during this Easter, its name is "Sk8er Boi"



And try to fill the gaps on this incomplete script.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Saint Patrick's Day (March 17th)

Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, is an annual celebration of the patron saint of Ireland. It is a national holiday in Ireland, and millions of Irish people all over the world where there are Irish communities celebrate.

This is the activity that we did in class about Saint Patrick's Day.


Friday, March 15, 2013

Listening - Joshua Jones and cystic fibrosis


Joshua Jones and cystic fibrosis


Joshua Jones was born with cystic fibrosis, a serious illness which can make it hard for some sufferers to lead a normal life. But Joshua has not allowed his condition to get in the way of all the things he wants to do. In fact, he has done all sorts of amazing things that most of us would never dream of doing!

You can download here the script.

Listening - National Gallery in London

National Gallery in London


Charles Saumarez-Smith is the director of the National Gallery in London. The gallery is home to one of the greatest collections of Western European paintings in the world.

You can download here the script.

Reading - Informal Letter

Hi Leo,

It's been a while since we wrote, so I thought I'd drop you a line to bring you up to date with what's been happening here.

I suppose the most important thing is that Jane's job is more secure than we thought. At the beginning of the year, when she got the job, we thought it might only be for one semester, but we just found that she has a permanent contract of sorts. Obviously this is great, as it means we can relax a little. I still don't have what I really want work wise, but it will happen soon. You have to stay positive, don't you?

My parents are both fine, and I think they are really happy that we've moved back. For us, it's great to be so close to family again, an extra sense of comfort and security. We see my sister quite often as she's in London, although we're not that bothered about going into the city.

So, what about you these days? Are you still stuck in that old job? Since I've been having so much trouble getting a job I understand your reluctance to change. There's nothing worse than filling in endless application forms, with no idea of what it will lead to.

Anyway, I've got another form to fill in so I'll love you and leave you.

Regards,
John

Monday, March 11, 2013

Writing about "describing your house or flat"

It would be interesting make a description about your real or imaginary house or flat.


Try to do it at home.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Reading Book - Cinderella Man

In the second term, I decided to read a book named "Cinderella Man" that tells the true story of an American boxing legend, James J. Braddock who fights against poverty and obscurity as hard as he does against his sporting opponents.


Friday, March 08, 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Grammar - "Usually" and "Used to"

We use frequency adverb "usually" and the verb "used to" to reference to an habit or a daily routine (actual or past).
  • Usually, is used in the present (I usually...).
  • Used to, is used to reference actions ended in the past (I used to...).
Next, we are going to see how they are grammatically used in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences.

*Take care using "used to" in negative and interrogative sentences.

USE OF "USUALLY" & "USED TO"
1. Use of “Usually” in afirmative, negative and interrogative sentences
  • Affirmative: I usually read at leat 3 hours a day.
  • Negative: She doesn’t usually go out during the week.
  • Interrogative: Does he usually do exercise?
2. Use of “Used to” in afirmative, negative and interrogative sentences
  • Affirmative: I used to play basketaball when I was a teen.
  • Negative: She didn’t use to drink when she was at university 18.
  • Interrogative: Did you use to play the piano.

*NOTE: Have you ever seen written "didn't used to" or "Did you used to"?
It is possible, indeed in American English Language "used to" form is used in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences. However, this is not usual in British English Language.

Vocabulary "Friendship"

Some vocabulary about "friendship":

  • argue - discutir.
  • close friend - amigos íntimos.
  • colleage - compañero.
  • get on very well - llevarse bien.
  • have a lot in common - tener mucho en común.
  • keep in touch - mantener el contacto.
  • known - conocido.
  • lost touch - perder contacto.
  • meet - conocerse.

Typical questions in dialogues:

  • How long have you known him/her?
  • Where did you meet?
  • Why do you get on well?
  • What do you have in common?
  • Do you ever argue? What about?
  • How often do you see each other?
  • How do you keep in touch the rest of the time?
  • Have you ever lost touch? Why? When?
  • Do you think you'll stay friends?
Here is a website which helps you to find out friends and lets you read what people you've lost touch with are doing now (Friends reunited).

Monday, February 25, 2013

Song "Our house"

Here is the song we have listened to today, its name is "Our house" and it was the British group Madness's biggest international hit.

Our house - song

And now, here you have the mp3 song to help you fill the gaps.



Solution: 1.ʎɐpunS 2.pǝɹıT 3.sɹıɐʇsuʍoD 4.ɹǝɥʇoɹB 5.sʎɐʍlA 6.ɯnM 7.ǝʇɐL 8.ʇɹıɥS 9.looɥɔS 10.ʎddɐH

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Vocabulary - Houses

Here you have vocabulary about houses, first you have vocabulary about sorts of houses, and after, vocabulary about objects you can find in anyone's house ...




The House

And here are another words to remember:

  • airy - espacioso, aireado, ventilado
  • area - zona, area.
  • bother(to) - molestar.
  • bothered - incomodo. molesto, enfadado, enojado.
  • by the sea - cerca del mar.
  • on the coast - en la costa.
  • countryside - campo.
  • domer / garret - buhardilla.
  • domer window - ventana de buhardilla.
  • golden - dorado.
  • hi-tech flat - pisos que contienen elementos de alta tecnología (p.e. domótica).
  • penthouse - ático.
  • to run out of st - quedarse sin algo (p.e. run out of food).
  • wooden - de madera.

And here you can find more interesting vocabulary.

Describing my room

Another video about describing, this time he is describing his room.


Describing my house

Describing my house - NB1 Elementary - EOI Getafe

Mercedes describes her house. Her English is very fluent!
Thanks for sharing! 
English at EOI Getafe

Describing my house

Practising the conditional forms

Today we have been practising the conditional forms, try to answer this questions:

"If you could live in another period of time for its fashion, when would you choose and why?"

"If you could come back in another life, who (or what) would you like to be?"

"If you could change one part of your body, what would it be?"

"What would you wear if you were invited on a date by someone you really liked?"

And we have revised the grammar bank on page 136 and vocabulary bank on page 151.

Friday, February 15, 2013

People talking about different topics

In TED Ideas worth spreading you have an incredible site where listen to 
people talking about different topics.

Link to TED - People talking about many topics

You can select subtitle's language and you can also select the talk you want 
filtering, for example, by topic or length. It's amazing!!


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

List of links for learning English on the Internet

In the following link you will find an useful and complete list of links for learning English on the Internet.

List of links for learning English

We haven't tested all of the links so some of them might be broke but, 
is sure that the site where you are in will be interesting.

Steady job/ Steady phone (Vocabulary)

Lo único que tengo ahora es un trabajo estable

"Lo único que tengo ahora es un trabajo estable"

steady job - trabajo estable



steady phone - teléfono fijo

Time clauses

Time clauses

(Here you can find some exercises)

Conditional forms and exercises

We have learnt the conditional forms:

Type 0. If + Present tense + Present tense i.e.: 
  • If I press the button, the bell rings. / The bell rings if I press the button.
  • Si pulso el botón el timbre suena.
Type 1. If + Present tense + Future tense i.e.: 
  • If you study, you will pass your exam.
  • Si estudias pasarás tú examen.
Type 2. If + Past simple tense + Conditional simple i.e.: 
  • If you studied, you would pass your exam.
  • Si estudiaras pasarías tú examen.
Type 3. If + Past perfect + Perfect infinitive i.e.: 
  • If you had studied, you would have passed your exam.
  • Si hubieras estudiado habrías pasado tú examen.
Besides, you will be able to know more about this topic in the following links and have to do the exercises related to it at home:

We haven't to know anything about "I wish I knew" form so you don't need to study nothing about the part of this unit related to it.

Other ways to certificate your English level

Some people don't know that they can get English certifications by other ways so I have written this information for them.

This is a table of equivalences between English level and certifications you can get:

CEFR: 
Common European 
Framework of Reference
EOI: Escuela Oficial de Idiomas
Certificados Cambridge y British Council
C2
CPE
C1
CAE
B2
Nivel Avanzado  (5º)
FCE
B1Nivel Intermedio (3º)PET


    Moreover, you can get information related to Cambridge English exams in the links below:

    By the way, here you can obtain a table of equivalences made by U.H.U. and, if you have any doubt you can navigate throw this link to get more information about this topic.

    I really hope that this information will be useful for some of us.


    Monday, February 11, 2013

    Exercise about writing informal letters

    Today, We have done a exercise about writing an informal letter, you can download it on the link below:


    Here is some vocabulary about the text:
    • secluded  /sɪˈkluːdɪd/ - apartado.
    • greenery /ˈgriːnərɪ/ - vegetación.
    • marshmallows /ˈmɑːʃˈmæləʊ/ - merengue, nube, malvavisco.
    • hilarious /hɪˈlɛərɪəs/ - divertidísimo.
    • boast /bəʊst/ - presumir.

    Thursday, February 07, 2013

    Free English UNED courses

    They are available a couple of free courses relative to English Language 
    at 's online platform:


    I think It would be good for us and so I publish it here.

    Monday, February 04, 2013

    Vocabulary about Education

    Homework

    Today we have been talking about topics related to Education (N.E.F. on page 52 - Back to school, aged 35), and in the following link you will find homeworks for next day:

    Revising modal verbs


    Homework

    Exercises for revise modal verbs:

    · Must, have to, should
    · Must, may, might, can't
    · Can, could, be able to

    Monday, January 28, 2013

    Lesson 3 homework for next monday

    Do all exercises about:

    • "An informal letter - Writing" on page 49, 
    • "What do you remember?" on page 50 and 
    • "What can you do?" on page 51.

    Song "You can get it if you really want"

    Here is the song we have listened to today, its name is "You can get it if you really want" (Jimmy Cliff version)

    Solution: 1.ʇsnɯ 2.pǝǝɔɔns 3.ʇsnɯ 4.uıW 5.ǝsol 6.ʇǝƃ 7.ʇǝƃ 8.ʇlınq 9.ǝɯoɔ 10.ǝǝs

    Formal and Informal Letters

    How to write formal and informal Letters...

     
    Part onePart two

    Tuesday, January 22, 2013

    Writing about "A nightmare journey you've had".


    In the Unit 2 we have to make a writing about "A nightmare journey you've had (or invent one)", it will be done about mid-February.



    Maybe interesting try to do it at home.

    Wednesday, January 16, 2013

    Don't you remeber - Complete the gaps

    To improve our listening skill we are going to listen a song sometimes in class, so you can send your prefered lyrics to Lola in such a way that she will be able to show it to all.

     

    This is the song lyric where you can try fill the gaps

    Judging by appearances, describing people

    Try to describe people in the photos and judge them by their appearance using look, look like, must, may, might and can't.

    Use "What does he / she look like?" for appearance
    , and "What is he / she like?" for personality.

    I
    You
    He/She/It
    We
    You
    They
    look(s) + an adjectiveHe looks tired
    look(s) like + a nounShe looks like a doctor

    You can use age adverbs as mid-, early, about, late and forties. For instance:
    • He is about nineteen.
    • She is in her thirties.
    • She is in her early fourties. / mid fourties / late fourties.

    You could use height and build adjectives, adjectives about hair or general adjectives like:
    • slim, thin, tall, short...
    • well built, medium height, overweight...
    • fair, blonde, grey hair...
    • short, shoulder-lenght, long...
    • wavy, curly, straight...
    • fringe, ponytail, beard, bald, wig, moustache...
    • plain, pretty, ugly, handsome, good-looking, atrractive...

    Note that it is important to distinguish between seem, appear, and look.

      Wednesday, January 09, 2013

      Modal verbs


      Today we have learnt the use of modal verbas, you can review them and do the exercises for tomorrow in the following links:

      There are some many forms of use of (be) able to:

      • would love to - I'd love to be able to do it. (Me encantaría ser capaz de hacerlo)
      • won't be able to - I will not to be able to do it. (No seré capaz de hacerlo)
      • have never been able to - I have never been able to do it. (Nunca he sido capaz de hacerlo)
      • hate not being able to - I hate not being able to do it. (Odio no poder hacerlo)


      Remember the use of the modal auxiliary verb "ought to" , it expresses duty, necessity, desirability and similar ideas. It is often used to advise people – to tell them that they have a duty to do things. The meaning is similar to should
      • You ought to attend office regularly. (Duty) 
      • We ought to help the needy. (Moral obligation) 
      • We ought to buy some furniture. (Necessity) 
      Ought is not as forceful as must.


      Moreover, we have watched two videos about modal verbs today:


       
      First oneSecond one