Season Greetings

Y WISHING YOU

A MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!! Y

Christmas activities

Let's put our Christmas vocabulary into practice

In the following video you will watch and listen to some British Christmas symbols





Listen,watch and learn the most important christmas vocabulary through flashcards





Read and listen to a report about a very curious Christmas issue.

Santa Claus is too unhealthy

18 December 2009
An Australian scientist writing in the British Medical Journal thinks Father Christmas is a bad role model for children because he is very fat and drinks too much alcohol.


Report
Father Christmas should get off his sleigh and walk, lay off the mince pies and go easy on the beer and brandy, says research from the University of Monash in Melbourne.
Santa Claus, it says, is one of the most widely recognised figures in the world, and it's about time he started looking after his health, because he's a terrible role model.

The traditional image of him as a jolly little man with a fat belly promotes the view that obese people are happy. The research isn't intended entirely seriously says Nathan Grills, the scientist behind it, but there's still a good point to make about public health.

Equally worrying he says is the vast amount of alcohol Santa consumes on his rounds. All the beer, brandy and sherry left out for him in a billion homes worldwide, it says, must mean he's in no fit state to drive his sleigh. In fact, says the research, he should abandon it altogether and find a healthier way to deliver presents - like jogging. If that wasn't bad enough, the study says Santa's habits warrant closer scrutiny. More research is needed, it says, before it pronounces him a true public health menace.







In order to practise some Christmas vocabulary, take the following quiz



If you are maybe interested in a different activity, like for example, taking a dictation in English, try the following two ones

1. Christmas dictation
2. New Year's Resolutions dictation


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Music Lover's corner: Beyonce

HALO by Beyonce

One of the latest greatest hits of Beyonce taken from the "I Am" CD is the song "Halo". This song is a power pop rock ballad designed especially for a diva. Its heavy atmosphere makes the song as strong as it is.

I'm including an activity for you to enjoy and sing this song at the same time you are practising your English.

Click on Listening activity to get the fill-in-the-gaps test of this song.

There are to ways to listen to the song. I recommend you to listen to the audio mp3 first, and once you have filled in the gaps, watch the video with the lyrics and song.

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Unit 2C: used to / to be used to / to get used to

Let's practise some verb forms (present and past tenses)

Before looking at the grammar stuff, listen to the following video which is about a person addicted to shopping




I'm including now some exercises to revise the usage of the verb forms containing the word used, which can be sometimes confusing. I have also graded them for you from the easiest to the least one.

Exercise 1 (easy)

Exercise 2 (medium)

Exercise 3 (medium)

Exercise 4 (difficult) Before doing this exercise, read the following explanation

GRAMMAR NOTES: To understand better how to use used to and would, I'm including the following notes
1.When we talk about past habits that are actions, we can use both, used to or would.
Example:
When we were children, we used to/would play Cowboys and Indians together.

2.When we talk about past states, we can use used to, but NOT would. Would is used only for regularly repeated actions. Used to is used to express a situation existed in the past.
Examples:
My grandfather used to be a policeman. (NOT: My grandfather would be)
My husband used to have a moustache, but he shaved it off. (NOT: My husband would have)
I used to live in California. I used to have a Volkswagen. (would cannot be used in these sentences.)




In the following audio you will listen to an English teacher explaining how to use and form the previous verb forms.(with examples and exercises)




Here are the answers of the exercises with used to that I gave out in class and you have been looking for so desperately.

Exercise 1: (option a) You will have to retake the test to get the answers, click on answers
Exercise 1 (option b): If you prefer to have the answers in a quicker way, try the following link answers

Exercise 2: answers (look down in the webpage)

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Make your own movie

Let's improve our writing skills and have fun at the same time


Are you a creative person? Do you like making up stories?
So, why don't you try this activity?



It consists of creating your own movie as I did with the help of a website.
Have a look at the one I made, and tell me what you think about it. As you will see, in this story I'm using the future continuous and perfect tenses. So, this activity can be an excuse to put what we have already studied in class into practice.



Now it's your turn. It's really simple. You just have to follow the instructions you will find in the following website www.dvolver.com.
You can choose the background, the number of characters (1 or 2) and even the soundtrack; think about your plot first, and then start writing. More than 1 scene is possible.


In the end, you can send a copy of your movie to anyone by e.mail, could you please send it to me too?. I would be delighted to watch your masterpieces.
And if it's a really good one, you can be sure I will upload it in this blog. It would be a good idea not to sign the movie with your own name; use a pseudonym. So, later I can organise a competition to choose the best one and your classmates will not be influenced by a name.


If you want to have a look at some of your classmates' materpieces, click on the following links:

Movie 1 Title: elf
Movie 2 Title: I have a dream
Movie 3 Title: An impossible
Movie 4 Title: questions

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Unit 2C: adjective + preposition combinations

Let's improve the use of the prepositions after some adjectives


Are you mad about prepositions? Are you looking for some more practice of those adjectives that are always followed by a specific preposition?

Here you have some extra exercises that I hope you enjoy.

Exercise 1 & 2 (think about your answer first, and then click on the box to check if you are right. Don't look at the answer before thinking, ok?)

Exercise 3 (choose one preposition among the 6 possible ones)

Exercise 4 (write the correct preposition in each gap)

Exercise 5 (choose one preposition among the 3 ones shown)


For a very complete list of adjectives + preposition, don't miss the following webpage. Click on here

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Unit 2B: WORD FORMATION

Let's practise the word formation in English

Word formation is one of the major mechanisms for the expansion of the vocabulary. This kind of exercises facilites vocabulary acquisition.
For that reason, I'm including several word formation exercises for you to practise. I hope you enjoy them.



In the following quizzes, there are 10 questions with multiple choice answers.
Use the word in brackets to form a new word with which to fill the gap. While doing this exercise, look for clues which tell you what kind of word is missing (adjective, noun, verb, adverb).

Word formation Quiz 1

Word formation Quiz 2

Word formation Quiz 3


If you want to go on practising, try the following quizzes where you will have to fill in a chart with the correct missing noun or adjective

Noun - Adjective quiz 1
Noun - Adjective quiz 2

Verb - Noun quiz 1
Verb - Noun quiz 2


If you still need some more practise, take the following test which is very similar to the one you will have in the final exam.

Mock test: word formation


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Unit 2A: swine flu (audio and video activities)

All you need to know about swine flu


I'm including some activities that may interest you about one of the most fashionable topics nowadays: swine flu





AUDIO ACTIVITY 1: listen to the following audio about the symptoms of the swine flu. Check if the following symptoms are mentioned or not.

tempeture / feeling cold / blocked nose / headache / feeling thirsty / your nose runs / cough / ache in the muscles / neckache / sneezing / sore throat / lots of appetite






AUDIO ACTIVITY 2: listen to the following audio and find out how you can protect yourself and others against swine flu. What hygiene rules should be followed when you cough or sneeze?







VIDEO ACTIVITY 1: If you want to see a video with subtitles in English broadcasted by the NHS in the UK where it's shown how to protect yourself and others from being infected of swine flu, click on here What type of conditional is used at the beginning of the video? Why? Is the situation described in the video real or ficticious?






AUDIO ACTIVITY 3: fill in the gaps listening. Listen and complete the text with a word. Remember that you cannot write on the blog. If you want to check your answers, click here and then on the solutions button.


Hand washing is a powerful way to 1._________ the spread of disease.

The World Bank, the United Nations and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine did a 2.________to urge hand washing around the world. They found that one million lives could be saved each year if people 3. _________ their hands with soap often. They said that programs to increase hand washing with soap could be among the most effective ways to reduce infectious disease.

Doctors say many diseases can be prevented 4.______ spreading by hand washing. These include pinworms, influenza, the common cold, hepatitis A, meningitis and infectious 5.__________.

Hand washing 6.____________ germs from other people, animals or objects a person has touched. When people get bacteria on their hands, they can infect themselves by touching their 7.__________, nose or mouth. Then these people can infect other people.

The experts say the easiest way to 8.________ a cold is to touch your nose or eyes after someone nearby has 9.________ or 10.__________.

Another way to become 11.________ is to eat food prepared by someone whose hands were not clean.The experts say that hand washing is especially important before and after preparing food, before eating and after using the toilet. People should wash their hands after handling animals or animal waste, and after cleaning a baby.

The experts say it is also a good idea to wash your hands after handling 12.__________and after sneezing or coughing. And it is important to wash your hands often when someone in your home is sick.The experts say the most effective way to wash your hands is to rub them together while using soap and 13._________water.

They say you do not have to use special 14.__________ soap. Be sure to rub all areas of the hands for about ten to 15._________ seconds. The rubbing action helps remove germs. Then rinse the hands with water and 14.______ them. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are rubbed into the hands and do not require soap and water. Experts say these products must contain at least 15._________ percent alcohol to be effective 16.___ killing most bacteria and viruses.
Experts also say that people who use public bathroom and dry their hands with a paper towel should use the towel to 17._______ off the water. Then, before throwing it 18._____, use the same paper to open the bathroom door.

The following videos are two adverts that show how to prevent the spread of swine flu.









Did you learn something new about this disease?

Unit 2A: HEALTH (vocabulary & tests)

HOW HEALTHY ARE YOU?

Do you ever wonder how healthy you really are? It's a question worth asking because taking stock of your health helps you stay well. "Doing a quick inventory from time to time brings potential problems into focus,"

All of us want good health. But many of us don't know how to be as healthy as possible. Health experts now describe lifestyle as one of the most important factors affecting health.

Better lifestyle habits can help you reduce your risk for heart attack.

It is said that you Are What You Eat. A healthful eating plan means choosing the right foods to eat and preparing foods in a healthy way.

If you want to take a test to find out about your lifestyle, click here. The purpose of this questionnaire is simply to tell you how well you are doing to stay healthy.

I'm also including some exercises retated to this topic to practise the vocabulary and listening skills.

1. Vocabulary quizzes: Quiz 1 and Quiz 2

2. For a listening comprehension exercise, click here

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Unit 2A: Conditional lessons

Let's learn a bit more about the conditional sentences

Here you have some good video lessons about the conditionals (type 0 & 2) which I highly recommend you to watch and listen to.

Zero Conditional (lesson 1)




Zero Conditional (lesson 2)




Second Conditonal





In the following video you will find some people saying what they would do if they had ten million dollars. Watch it and try to get what the following people would do:

Deborah, Karen, Sybil, Sheri, Ada, Michael, Preston, Jed, Daina and Jim & Robin





Now it's your turn, why don't you tell me what you would do if you won 10 million euros?
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Unit 1C: some funny cartoons (class competition)

Let's have a laugh and improve our writing at the same time!!

I suggest you an easy, amusing and very useful activity to improve the usage of adverbs in your writing.

As you can see some of these cartoons don't have a text. Why don't you write the story of what is happening in the comments section?
After some days, I will finally choose the most original one and place it next to the picture for everyone to read it. It will be as a kind of competition!

Joke num.1

Joke num.2

Joke num.3

Joke num 4

Joke num.5

Unit 1C: British humour

Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?

The British humour is very funny, but funny ha-ha or funny peculiar? Which one do you think the clown is using in this cartoon?

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Here you have several videos that are a good example of what British humour is like.

Tell me what's your opinion about this topic after watching them.

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Monty Phyton's sketch about a mattress




Monty Phyton's sketch about a dead parrot




Another Monty Phyton's product: Fawlty Towers (a really funny series)




A legendary British TV comedy that has been internationally popular: The Roper




Which one did you like most? Did you know all of them? Did you laugh a lot? Write a comment on these or other English comedies that you know.

Question formation (revision)

Let's revise the question formation

As a kind of revision, I'm sending you some links where you can find useful exercises to practise how to make questions in English.

Exercise 1 : Finish the question

Exercise 2: Fill in the gaps with question words


How was it? Most of them, right? So, congratulations!!!
If not, don't give up and go on practising.

Music Lovers' Corner: ABBA

Let's sing an ABBA's song

Do you like singing? Why don't you try it with one of the most famous songs of ABBA: the Winner takes it all? Here you have the karaoke version





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Saturday, 31st October 2009 (All Saints' Eve)

Let's learn some new vocabulary

IT'S HALLOWEEN!!!!

Halloween is a special night for everybody! Here you have some vocabulary that you can use to talk about this scary holiday.

1.Halloween (N) a holiday celebrated on October 31 in which people dress in scary costumes
2. to carve (V). to cut with a large knife
3. pumpkin (N). a large, orange vegetable associated with Halloween
4. jack-o-lantern N. Americans traditionally cut out scary faces in pumpkins and put a candle inside. These pumpkins with faces are called "jack-o-lanterns." Jack-o-lanterns are made to scare away evil spirits on Halloween.

5. costume (N). scary clothing on Halloween
6. trick or treat On Halloween, children go from house to house and say "trick or treat." This phrase means "give me candy or I will play a trick on you." Families usually give the children candy. If the children don't get candy, they sometimes play mean tricks like breaking the house's jack-o-lantern or putting soap on its windows.
7. a costume party (N). a party where everyone dresses in scary costumes

8. a mask covering for all or part of the face, worn to disguise the wearer's identity.

9. bobbing for apples This is a traditional Halloween game. You put apples in a barrel of water, and people try to take the floating apples out of the water using only their mouths.

10. a skeleton (N). a body of nothing but bones
11. a ghost N. the spirit of a dead person which appears again
12. a vampire (N). a legendary being, often said to be a revived corpse, that preys on people in order to suck out their blood.

13. a monster (N). an imaginary or mythical creature, often with features of two different animals or of animals and humans.
14. a witch (N). a woman with magic powers (usually evil)
15. a warlock (N). a man with magic powers (usually evil)



Vocabulary in practise. Now, try to fill in the gaps of a text about Halloween using the previous vocabulary. Click on the following link: fill in the gaps text


Halloween Adjectives

1. cackling......to make an evil, witch-like laughing sound
2. evil...........very bad in thought and behavior
3. gruesome...terribly shocking and sickening (often describes an act or event)
4. haunted.... inhabited or visited by evil spirits or ghosts
5. hideous .....describes something which is so sickening and ugly that you can't look at it
6. horrified ....very shocked and scared
7. howling .....making a long, loud cry like a wolf or a dog
8. possessed ..controlled by an evil spirit or ghost (usually describes a person)
9. shrieking ....sounding like a high-pitched, terrified screaming
10. wicked .....very bad or evil (often associated with witches)

Halloween traditions: a little bit of history

Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. When the Celts lived in Ireland, Britain and France over 2,000 years ago, they had a pagan agricultural festival on this day. They believed that the dead came back, so they used to light large bonfires to ward off evil spirits. Irish, Scots and other immigrants brought this tradition to North America in the 19th century.

The word "Halloween" is a shortened form of "All Hallows' Eve", meaning the evening before "All Hallows' Day" or "All Saints' Day", which is November 1st.

In the past, poor people went around asking for food in exchange of a prayer for the dead. Nowadays, this tradition was changed. In Ireland and the United States, children dress up and go door-to-door collecting candy. This is called "trick or treat", meaning that if they don't receive candy they will make a trick or a spell.

The carved pumpkin has become the symbol of Halloween. It's called "Jack-o-lantern", from an Irish legend about a man called Jack. He was a lazy farmer, who tricked the devil and refused to free him unless he agreed to never let Jack go into hell. So, Jack started to wander the Earth looking for a resting place, carrying a carved turnip with a candle inside.

Halloween in different countries
If you want to know how Halloween is celebrated all around the world, clik on the following link Halloween around the world (they also mention Spain)

A superstition of Halloween: Did you know that on Halloween, journeys must be finished before sunset?

Thursday, 29th October 2009

Let's talk about TV

Television vocabulary

Let's practise the TV vocabulary. Put each of the following words or phrases in the correct gap. *You will find the answers at the end of this entry.

program, channel, commercials, quiz shows, subjective, documentary, media, viewers, soap operas, watch, *couch potato, series, network, cable

TV is an incredibly varied 1.___________ which goes from awful to fantastic. Of course, what you consider worthwhile is a very 2.__________ matter.

Personally, I think that 3.________ such as The Bold and the Beautiful are the very worst! There is nothing worse than being a 4.________, sitting there surfing from one 5. __________to the another.

The major 6.____________ are having quite a lot of competition from the 7._____________ channels. I really like these channels as they often offer 8.___________ that I really enjoy.

Nature shows and other informational 9._________ are wonderful. One thing I like to watch during the evening, the so called primetime, are the question and answer shows called 10.__________ and a newscast. I also like a few of the 11._________ , such as Friends.

The worst thing about television are the 12.__________ . Even worse are the infomercials, which can last up to 30 minutes! I usually switch channels and 13.___________something else.

One of the strangest things about television are the talk shows. I don't really understand what 14. ___________ like about these shows. Oh well, what a world we live in!

*definition of couch potato: someone who spends most of their time watching television, and does not exercise or have any interesting hobby.

If you watch this video, you will listen to a very clear explanation of what a cough potato is. Later you can play the game that is below the video as a kind of listening comprehension exercise.

Let's practise the listening now.

Listen to an expert explaining what a drama is. Below I have included a link where you can read the text.



What is a TV 'drama'?

Another video where you are told about the different kinds of dramas. For the text, see the link below.


What are the various types of dramas?


This is the last video about dramas. Here the expert talks about how long a drama episode lasts. See the text below


How long is a TV drama episode?
Although it is considered an hour-long, a TV drama doesn't really run an hour. We've had a lot of change in that, so the answer I would have given you a little while ago is roughly 52 minutes or a 58 page script. This is no longer usual on TV networks which are now having more commercial interruptions than ever and breaking their shows into more act breaks. We now, I am sorry to say, have shows that are running for as little as 44 minutes of actual dramatic material out of a sixty minute hour.

_______________________________________________________________

*ANSWERS (Tv vocabulary text)

1.media 2. subjective 3.soap operas 4. couch potato 5.channel 6.network 7.cable
8. programs 9. documentaries 10.quizshows 11. series 12.commercial 13. watch 14.viewers

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Let's go on practising the listening.

For an extra listening about TV (How good or bad TV is?) with multiple choice questions, click on the following link listening comprehension exercise Once you are in, click on each person to listen to their opinions about tv. You will find comprehension questions at the end of each listening.

Test yourself about your addiction to TV now.

Click on the following link: online survey, and you will find a questionnaire about this topic. Take the test and later check your score on the same page

Did you learn something new about YOU or the TV? Would you like to share it with your classmates?

Wednesday, 28th October 2009

Let's improve our pronunciation skills

Do you want to speak English clearly and confidently?

Everybody wants to be able to speak English like a native speaker, but English pronunciation is always a big problem.

Bad English pronunciation may confuse people even if you used advanced English grammar. We can use simple words and simple grammar structures that make people understand you, but we cannot use "simple pronunciation".
On the other hand, good English pronunciation will make people understand you easily

So, how to speak English clearly and confidently?
There are three ways: practice, practice and practice! First practice speaking each word clearly, then practice speaking each sentence clearly.


If you watch the folllowing videos , you will listen to an original lesson about English pronunciation. I hope you like it.

PRONUNCIATION LESSON: INTONATION (part 1)

PRONUNCIATION LESSON: INTONATION (part 2)

Someone would like to give you an advice. Try to follow it if you want to succeed in speaking better English

Did you enjoy the lessons? Do you think this is an interesting way to learn the pronunciation of the English language?

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Tuesday, 27th October 2009

Let's talk about ABBA

UK TV INTERVIEW with BENNY & BJORN about MAMMA MIA the movie



UK TV INTERVIEW with AGNETHA - BBC (1988)



If you are a big fan of this group and want to know something else about them, click on the following links to watch some documentaries about the story of ABBA and get ready to enjoy with their music

video 1 (part 2)

video 2 (part 3)

video 3 (part 4)

video 4 (part 5)



Did you understand most of it? Did you find out something new about such a famous band?

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Monday, 26th October 2009

Let's improve our writing (list of connectors)


Here it is a list of linking words for you to use in your essays, reports and any kind of writing. They are classified according to their meaning.

Listing
firstly, secondly ...
to begin / start with ..., to conclude with
in the first place, in the second place
next , then , finally, last(ly)
to conclude ...
last but not least ...
to summarise , to sum up

Adding information
also, too, then
furthermore ...
moreover ...
in addition to that ...
above all ......
what is more ...
additionally

Comparing
equally, likewise, similarly, in the same / a different way
compared to / with, in comparison with
as ... as , both ... and ...
you can´t compare it with ...

Concluding
all in all... / in conclusion ...
to sum up ...
I draw the conclusion / arrive at the conclusion that ...
I conclude ...
consequently ..

Exemplifying
for example (e.g.), for instance
that is to say
... such as ...

Expressing result
consequently
therefore
thus
as a result
because of that ...-
that´s why ...

Expressing contrast
on the contrary
in contrast to that
but , yet, however
nevertheless ...
whereas ..., while ...
neither .... nor ...
on the one hand ..., on the other hand ...

Expressing concession
besides, however, still, though,
in spite of that, despite that
admittedly
if , unless

Giving one´s own opinion
In my view; To my mind, In my opinion, As I see it,
I think that , I believe that , I have come to the conclusion that,
I would not say that ..., Therefore I cannot agree with ...,
I am doubtful whether / certain that ...
According to the text ...
It seems to me that ...
Another argument is that ...
As far as I am concerned, ....
One reason is that ...
I would say that ...
As we have seen, ...
As we know from ...., ...
For all these reasons I would support the view that ...
As a result ...
In short ...
With regard to ...
It is for this reason that I think ...
I am convinced that ...
I feel that ...

I'm also including a link where you will find lots of connectors in English with their translation in Spanish connectors glossary. I recommend you to visit it.

If you watch the following video, you will listen to a practical explanation of the use of the linking words in English

Here you have two exercises to practise the use of the connectors

Exercise 1: in this one, you will have to combine two sentences to make one through connectors

Exercise 2 : this is a multiple choice exercise where you will have to choose the connector that fits best in each sentence

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