Final Grades

 Dear students,

your grades are already available here.
Final grades will be available on the 22nd of June,

Kind regards,
r

JUNE EXAMS!!!!!!

3 JUNE

16.15: Welcome everybody

WRITING (75 min.)
LISTENING (40 min.)

BREAK (30 min + -)

READING (75 min.)


10 JUNE -ORAL EXAM

9.30  Emilia G. and Mª Ángeles G.
9.45 Emilia P. and Consuelo
10.00 Cristina and  Victoria
10.30. José Luis and Pascual
11.00 Carmen Mª and Paqui
11.15 Javier, Noelia and Miryam


12 JUNE -ORAL EXAM

9.30 Ana and Nuria
10.00 Antonio and María
10.15 Álvaro and Víctor
10.30 Isabel and Lidia
10.45 Mª José and Noelia
11.00 María M. and Caty
11.15 Dafne and María C.
11.30 Victoria and Antonio


Warning 1: You will be expected to come 5 minutes before the arranged hours. However, there might be some delay at some point (since I need to think hard before grading your exam!), so please be patient and try not to speak loud while you are waiting outside.

Warning 2:

If you have questions or doubts do not hesitate to contact me at this e-mail address: reme@eoimolina.org

Cheers!!


 

Degrees of Comparison: Revise and Check!

Dear students,

these are some sites where you can read about the use of the comparison in English:

1. Degrees of Comparison: summary + test

2. Equal, Unequal, Double Comparatives... etc. + test


After several years learning English, you must have a good grasp of the use of comparison, but I recommend you pay attention to the numbered comparatives, since they might be new for some of you.

Numbered Comparatives

Numbered comparatives can include such words or phrases as: half, twice, three times, four times, etc.

The phrase as much as is used for non-countable nouns and as many as is used for countable nouns.

The phrase more than is NOT used with numbered comparatives. It is incorrect to say four times more than, etc.

EXAMPLES:

• This rock weighs twice as much as that one.
• Ronald has four times as much money as Paul.
• The cat had half as many kittens as before.

Class Pictures!!!!

Dear students,
here we are!!!!!
(A bit blurred, but happy!)
Love,
r

Homework + key Grammar Bank 9 and 10

Dear students,

don't forget to do the last reading exercise for Thursday (pages 98-99). Also, read the rules of Grammar Banks 9 and 10 and do the exercises. I am posting the key below, since we are not doing them in class. You are welcome to ask questions, though. I will comment on them on Thursday.

HOW TO WRITE A COMPLAINT LETTER

Dear students,
this is the presentation on how to write a complaint letter. It seems some error occurred when I tried to upload the file last week. I'm sorry!
Best,
r

Listening Exercise: "Rebel Restaurant" -The Guardian

Dearest students,

this is the listening exercise we did yesterday (+key). And this is the transcript. If you feel like testing your ears, try other podcasts provided by The Guardian here.

Best regards and have a great weekend,

r

Week(end) Movies: "Confessions of a Shopaholic"

Dear students,

this weekend seems to offer the best opportunity to watch a silly film (I guess you are going to think hard about voting, hehe, and don't want to distract you too much). As shopping is one of the main topics we are approaching this year, I would like to recommend Confessions of a Shopaholic. This film deals with a shopping addict who works for a magazine. At some point, she has to overcome some conflicts, experience romance and survive her own shopping habits.

Click here and play the video!

Food and Buying Food -Vocabulary

Dear students,

this is the Presentation on Food (Healty Food, Junk Fook, Buying Food, English Food and Food Idioms!) I presented today in class. Enjoy.

Cheers!
r

Writing Exam (list of types of composition)

This is a list of types of compositions you can be asked to write. These are the formats. The contents, as you know, will be the topics we have studied this year.
I hope you find it useful,
good luck!
r

Topics For The Oral Exam

Dear studentes,

this is a summary of the possible topics that might appear in the oral exam. Of course, you will be expected to be creative and spontaneous, so you might combine ideas coming from any of them in your speech (as far as it sounds coherent and you don't lose focus).
Good luck!

PowerPoint Presentation on Shopping and Money

Dear students,
the powerpoint presentation we screened in class today is available here.
I hope you find it useful,
cheers!

Homework

Please, do the reading activities on page 84 and the Vocabulary Bank on page 162 (Business, Bank, etc.)
Cheers!

Homework for tomorrow

Hey guys,

remember you had to complete the "Revise and Check" section, and do the reading exercise on pages 84-85.

See you soon!
r

Listening Resources: Learn English Through Films

Dear all,

remember that the more you practise listening, the more you open your ears. And, of course, the more you open your ears, the easier it will be for you to pass your listening exam. Thus, please take advantage of all the listening resources available on this blog. As I have told you before, you need to work hard at home because our time in the classroom is quite limited. All this said, here you are a new resource that will help you to learn English through films. Enjoy!

Listening Resources: ESL-LAB

Dear students,

are you prone to find American accent difficult to understand? If the answer is afirmative, if you are nodding your head, then YOU NEED TO TRAIN YOUR EARS. This listening exercise about job hunting is really recommendable to review some vocabulary related to the topic of jobs and to get familiar with American accents. Moreover, I recommend doing as many listening exercises with American accent (and others) as possible (just in case...). ESL-LAB is full of them. Just try!

Keep studying!

r

Listening Resources: The News

Dear students,

if you are interested in doing listening activities related to the news, this is a great resource: News in Levels!

I hope you find it useful,

r

Homework

Dear students,
please do the grammar exercise on page 78, and the grammar bank on page 147 (Reporting verbs). And remember you are supposed to read the text on page 80 too : -)

Cheers!
r

Homework

Please,
check/finish the photocopies 85 and 86 (Passive Voice) and do the activities on pages 76 and 77.
See you soon!
r

Homework

Dear students,

please, remember to read the text on page 74 (and do the activities); then, have a look at the "have something done" section (Mini-Grammar, p. 75) and, finally, do the activities of the photocopy I delivered in class today (Passive voice).

See you soon!
reme

A Book Every Week: The New Yorker

The New Yorker is one of my favourite magazines. This is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. I love the fact that they pay a lot of attention to modern fiction by the inclusion of short stories and literary reviews. Many great writers publish their brief texts here. Jonathan Franzen or Zadie Smith, for example, are two of The New Yorker contributors. I suggest you browse the web and find articles and short stories you like, and read them. Here you are a selection of texts to start with (but you'd rather find your own style, of course):

Zadie Smith, "Moonlit Landscape with Bridge"

Jonathan Franzen, "Farther Away"

David Sedaris, "Leviathan"

LISTENING: TED TALKS

Dear students,

as you might have already realized, you need to develop your listening skills as much as you can before June. And... what's the best way to achieve this? The answer is simple: listen to people speaking English (at a certain speed and with a variety of accents). Watching films is one good option (and this blog provides you with many films); listening to the radio is also a good idea (and there are lots of radio stations you can access for freee. Just click here!), and, of course, taking advantage of the proliferation of amazing Ted Talks on the Internet is highly recommendable: www.ted.com is a site full of talks by people with great ideas. You can watch the videos with subtitles. Come on, try and enjoy the experience of learning English ; -)

Weekend Movies: "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen

This week, I would likt to recommend "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen. The main characters of this film are Gil and Inez. They travel to Paris as a tag-along vacation on her parents' business trip. Gil is a successful Hollywood writer but is struggling on his first novel. He falls in love with the city and thinks they should move there after they get married, but Inez does not share his romantic notions of the city or the idea that the 1920s was the golden age. When Inez goes off dancing with her friends, Gil takes a walk at midnight and discovers what could be the ultimate source of inspiration for writing. Gil's daily walks at midnight in Paris could take him closer to the heart of the city but further from the woman he's about to marry...

Parts of the Body: IDIOMS

Dear students,
please, do this activity at home: IDIOMS RELATED TO PARTS OF THE BODY

Reading!!

Dear students,
as you know, reading is an activity by which you "magically" learn much English. Then, please, try to read as much as possible in order to improve your vocabulary (and not only that, your writing and oral skills will also improve). Something which I find useful and motivating is to read opinion articles. Browse, for example, The New York Times and find texts that you consider interesting. There are many perspectives, trendy topics, and discussions published by The New York Times. Besides, if you feel like watching a documentary about this famous newspaper, just click here: "Inside The New York Times". Enjoy!

Weekend Movies: "My Fake Fiance"

Well, this romantic comedy isn't exactly a work of art BUT it might be a bit entertaining and, of course, very useful to train your little Spanish ears. This is about a sham marriage that leads to genuine romance for a woman who lost everything and a guy who's in debt to a vicious loan shark. Her moving van stolen, Jennifer (Melissa Joan Hart) is left with nothing but three throw pillows and a cardboard box. Meanwhile, thirtysomething charmer Vince (Joey Lawrence) has racked up a rather serious gambling debt...

THE EXAM: DATES

Hello again!

The date of the June exam has been already published: the 3rd of June (Wednesday) at 16.30. That day, we will be doing the Reading, Writing and Listening exercises. We need to fix a date for the oral exam.

You can check the dates here.

Best regards!

LAY OR LIE?

Dear students,
as you've realized, the verbs TO LAY and TO LIE  can be a bit confusing, even for a person who has spent much time learning English. Therefore, we need to make an effort and try to memorize, once and forever, how these verbs need to be used.

The verbs lay and lie confuse people because:

• their meanings can be similar
• one of the verbs (lie) has two completely different meanings
• they vary between regular and irregular according to sense
• they vary between transitive and intransitive according to sense
• the present tense of lay is the past tense of the irregular lie

The following table summarizes these similarities and differences:

	lay	lie	lie
basic meaning	to put something down in a horizontal position	to recline; to be in or to take a horizontal/resting position	to say something untrue
regular?	irregular lay, laid, laid	irregular lie, lay, lain	regular lie, lied, lied
transitive? direct object?	transitive (must have direct object)	intransitive (no direct object)	intransitive (no direct object)
3rd person s	lays	lies	lies
present participle	laying	lying	lying
past tense	laid	lay	lied
past participle	laid	lain	lied

lay (transitive = you need a DIRECT OBJECT)

lay, laid, laid, laying
The main meaning of the verb lay is "to put (something) down in a horizontal position".
The important thing to remember with lay is that it is transitive, so it MUST have a direct object. You cannot just lay. You have to lay something. Look at these examples. You see they all have direct objects.

subject	verb	direct object
Something	lays	something	(somewhere).
Chickens	lay	eggs.
Our chickens	lay	their eggs	on the ground.
The nurses	laid	the wounded man	on the bed.

Here is a table of conjugation:

	present	past	present perfect
I	lay	laid	have laid
you	lay	laid	have laid
he, she, it	lays	laid	has laid
we	lay	laid	have laid
you	lay	laid	have laid
they	lay	laid	have laid

Here are some example sentences:

• The policeman told him to lay his gun on the ground.
• The police usually lay a sheet over dead bodies.
• This chicken lays three eggs every day.
• He opened the books and laid them on the desk.
• I have laid the carpet. You can walk on it now.
• The phone rang just as she was laying the new clothes on the bed.

lie (irregular, intransitive)

lie, lay, lain, lying
The irregular, intransitive lie means "to be in, or to take, a horizontal/resting position". This is what we do on a bed, for example. We lie on our bed when we sleep.
The important thing to remember with lie is that it is intransitive, so there is no direct object. Look at this examples. You see there is no direct object.

subject	verb
Something	lies	(somewhere).
My dog	lies	on this mat.
Mary	is lying	on the sofa.

You also need to remember that the past tense of this lie is "lay", which is the same as the present tense of to lay. Look at this table of conjugation:

	present	past	present perfect
I	lie	lay	have lain
you	lie	lay	have lain
he, she, it	lies	lay	has lain
we	lie	lay	have lain
you	lie	lay	have lain
they	lie	lay	have lain

Look at these example sentences:

• I feel sick. I want to lie on the bed.
• Usually I lie on the sofa and watch TV.
• My dog always lies on this mat.
• He loves this mat. Yesterday, he lay here all day.
• She has lain in bed since she got ill.
• After the aircrash, wreckage was lying all over the place.

Typical mistake

• I always lay on a bench to do this exercise. (should be lie)

Lie is something that we do to ourselves. Lay is something that we do to other people or things.

• I lie on the sofa when I'm tired.
• Mary lays the baby in its crib when it cries.

lie (regular, intransitive)

lie, lied, lied, lying
The first one above is easy. In the sense "to tell a lie, say something that is not true", lie is a regular verb and has no direct object. The past tense is always -ed. Look at these examples:

• Some people lie about their age.
• John lies about everything.
• "I'm forty-nine," he lied.
• We have all lied a few times in our lives.
• That's not true! You're lying!

	present	past	present perfect
I	lie	lied	have lied
you	lie	lied	have lied
he, she, it	lies	lied	has lied
we	lie	lied	have lied
you	lie	lied	have lied
they	lie	lied	have lied

The verbs lie and lay can have other meanings too. Only the most common are shown here. There are also several phrasal verbs made with lie and lay. They follow the same basic rules as shown on this page.

 

 

 Source: English Club

 

 

Homework

Please, do the reading exercise on pages 70-71

HOMEWORK (to do at Easter)

Remember we will be having an exam the 14th of April (vocabulary, grammar, reading), and the 16th (listening). So, please, review everything, from the beginnin to the end, photocopies, handouts and powerpoints included.

Apart from that, you should do some homework:

- Photocopy (past modals and verbs of the senses)
- Grammar Bank 7B (verbs of the senses)
- p. 158: Vocabulary Bank (Verbs often confused)
- A composition: Describe the person you admire most. (Have a look at the presentations available in the previous post).

Take care!

r

Personal Identification - Extra vocabulary //WRITING EXERCISE

Dear students,

as you already know, writing the description of someone you really admire is part of your homework at Easter. Here you are the materials I mentioned in class today. I hope you find them useful to complete the topic on personal identification/description.
Cheers,
r

GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES: REVIEW!!!!

Here you are some extra resources to study the use of gerunds and infinitives in depth.
FOLLOW THIS LINK!

Health // Alternative Medicine - listening

Dear students,
I suggest listening to this at home so that you get familiar with some vocabulary related to alternative medicine. "Breaking News in English" provides you with answers too.

In addition, you might like the following TED TALK about homeopathy and fraud. This talk is really thought-provoking and has had a great success on ther Internet.

Good luck!
r

Music and Emotion - Belén's PowerPoint Presentation

Dear students,

If I were you, I would click here and get our PowerPoint on "Music and Emotion", and study the vocabulary (feelings).
Cheers!

GIVING ADVICE + ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Dear students,

please download the grammar and vocabulary powerpoint we studied today in class:

CLICK HERE!

And here you are the speaking activity proposed by our native lecture: click here to download it.

Homework

Please, complete the "Revise and Check" section Units 5-6 and the first Reading exercise of Unit 7. Remember to study a lot too.

Best,
r

Weekend Movies: "Wrong Cops" by Quentin Dupieux

Dear students,

remember to do some extra listening whenever you have a bit of free time, and especially during this long long weekend, because a couple of didactic listenings per week won't be enough to train your ears before June. You need more. As you know, I have alredy posted some interesting links to this blog. You can find some of them on the right column of your screen. In addition, watching tv series and films is always a good option to get used to listening to different accents and jargons, so you will also find lots of options on this site.

This week, I would like to recommend a comedy. This is a film consisting of absurdist vignettes in which assorted officers of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) do everything except police work—selling drugs on street corners (packaged inside of dead rats to “avoid suspicion”), harassing pedestrians, refusing to investigate a crime scene, and listening to lots of house music. Rules of space, time, and mortality are ignored... and the result is an hilarious film which I hope you enjoy a lot.

I am sorry there were no English or Spanish subtitles available. Anyway, I hope you undersand most of it and laugh until your belly hurts.

LOL

r

A Book Every Week: "Mathilda" by Roald Dahl

You can either watch the film I have linked to the previous post before reading this marvellous book or the other way round: read the book and see if you like the screen adaptation. I think I'd rather read the book first, because I love it (is it a bit childish?). Anyway, I hope you find a bit of time to do some reading and listening, I am sure that practice is the key to develop your skills and pass the final exams.
See you soon!

Click here if you want to read Roald Dahl's text!

Weekend Movies: "Mathilda"

Have you read Roald Dahl's amazing book Mathilda? This is the story of a truly intelligent and talented girl born into a stupid family. Her parents neglect and mistreat her, but she holds the line and tries to live her own life. She discovers a local library and spends most of her time reading, while her parents are at work. One day, she starts developing super-powers... CLICK HERE AND SEE IT WITH YOUR OWN EYES.

The film doesn't come with subitles this time, but I am sure you will be able to understand almost everything, since this is a comedy both for adults and children. I hope you like it.

Have a great weekend!

Listening: Getting to Know Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury has a wonderful British accent. I suggest that you watch the following interview if you want to get to know him a little bit:

Listening to Music: The Show Must Go On

Did you enjoy this song today?

 Now you can listen to Queen at home while reading the lyrics and singing...

Empty spaces, what are we living for
Abandoned places, I guess we know the score
On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for
Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime
Hold the line, does anybody want to take it anymore
The show must go on
The show must go on, yeah
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on

Whatever happens, I'll leave it all to chance
Another heartache, another failed romance
On and on, does anybody know what we are living for?
I guess I'm learning (I'm learning learning learning)
I must be warmer now
I'll soon be turning (turning turning turning)
Round the corner now
Outside the dawn is breaking
But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free
The show must go on
The show must go on, yeah yeah
Ooh, inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on

Yeah yeah, whoa wo oh oh

My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die
I can fly, my friends
The show must go on (go on, go on, go on) yeah yeah
The show must go on (go on, go on, go on)
I'll face it with a grin
I'm never giving in
On, with the show

Ooh, I'll top the bill, I'll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the show
On with the show
The show, the show must go on
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on
Go on, go on

Homework

Please, do the activities related to the use of gerunds and infinitives (photocopy and grammar bank).
Have a nice weekend!!

Homework

Dear students,
remember we are going to correct the Grammar Bank devoted to gerunds and infinitives tomorrow. You also had to do the reading exercise of unit 6B (about sleeping).
See you very soon,
r

Music -RADIOHEAD and British Council podcast

This is the activity we did in class today: TALKING ABOUT MUSIC: RADIOHEAD. You can listen to the podcast at home whenever you want. And, if you enjoyed the music by this band from Oxford, don't miss the album Ok Computer:

 

And this is one of Radiohead's best-known songs. You can read the transcript below:

When you were here before
I couldn’t look you in the eye
You’re just like an angel
Your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You’re so fucking special

But I’m a creep
I’m a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don’t belong here

I don’t care if it hurts
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul

I want you to notice
When I’m not around
You’re so very special
I wish I was special

But I’m a creep
I’m a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don’t belong here, oh, oh

She’s running out again
She’s running out
Run, run, run, run!
Run!

Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want
You’re so fucking special
I wish I was special

But I’m a creep
I’m a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong here

Weekend Movies: "Elephant" by Gus Van Sant

Do you feel like living a terrifiying experience based on actual events? The film that I recommend you watch this weekend shows the terrible tragedy of a fictional high school (based on the Columbine High School massacre) where students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent...

GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES -HOMEWORK

Dear students,
please read the Grammar Bank 6A on page 142 and do the grammar activities A and B.
Kind regards,
r

Read more about "suggest/demand/insist/recommend" that + infinitive

Dear students,
remember these rules.
Regards,
r

Homework

Dear students,

please, remember to do the Reading activities on page 55.
You can also do the composition we discussed in class for Thursday.
Thanks!
reme

IMPROVE YOUR WRITING SKILLS

Dear students,

some of you asked for some extra samples and ideas to learn to write correctly. Well, your wish is our command! Here you are some resources to improve your writing skills:

1. 50 resources that will improve your writing
2. A bunch of writing samples
3. For and Against -some tips
4. How to write an informal e-mail
5. How to write a formal e-mail
6. How to write a narrative essay

ORAL EXAM -schedule

Dear students,
this is the schedule we are going to follow:

19th February

 9.30: Emilia & MªÁngeles
 9.50: Victoria & Cristina
10.00: Victoria & Antonio
10.10: María & Caty
10.20: María P. & Antonio
10.30: Rosa María & Mª Ángeles
10.40
10.50: Ana & Nuria
11.00
11.10
11.20: Álvaro & José Victor

24th February

 9.30: Consuelo & Emilia P.
 9.50: Isabel & Lidia
10.00: Paqui & Carmen Mª
10.10: Pascual & José Luis
10.20: María José & Juan Antonio
10.30: María C. & Dafne
10.40: Javier, Noelia & Miriam Lorena
10.50
11.00



Good luck!!

Weekend Movies: "The Secret of Nichola Tesla" by Crsto Papic

Have you heard the latest news on the development of a new battery that might power our homes in the future? It is said to require solar energy but it might free us  from our current electricity providers and, most important, from their extremely expensive electric bill (read here if you want to know more about it). If you feel curious about the inventor of such a thing, Nikola Tesla, you are welcome to watch the film The Secret of Nikola Tesla, directed by the Croatian director Crsto Papic in 1980, and starring a bunch of good actors, Orson Welles among them. Warning: the first minutes are an introduction in a different language: English starts at 1:20 and the movie starts at 7:42. Youtube provides subtitles if you click on one of the buttons below.

I hope you enjoy the film!

January test -KEY

Dear students,
those of you who didn't come to class the day we corrected the January grammar test can download the key from this link now.
: -)

Grammar Review (Conditionals) - KEY

Hey guys,
these are the correct answers of the photocopied activities I delivered in class (REVIEW of conditional sentences). You were supposed to do them on your own to review what you have learned.
Good luck!

ONLINE resources to practice SPEAKING

Dear students,

some of you have asked me about resources to practice speaking... Well, I have good news for you: there are many sites on the Internet where you can find people to share your love of English and, maybe, teach a bit of Spanish in return. So, here you are 10 language exchange communities you might find interesting and useful:

 

1. MyEnglishTeacher.eu

We have open discussions on our forum, where you can find people to practise English with on Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook and Google+.
Feel free to use these pages:

• Practice English on Skype
• Practice English on WhatsApp
• Practice English on Facebook
• Practice English on Google+

2. Speaky

Find and meet native speakers from all around the world.
Practice via online video chat. It is free. For anyone. From anywhere.

3. HowDoYou.Do

A great language exchange website. You can quickly sign up with your email address, Facebook or Google+ account.
This is what you see when you are inside. You can chat, video talk or simply voice chat. There are usually at least 10 people in the chat rooms. Very easy to use. A fantastic website to put your knowledge of the English language into practice.

4. Coeffee.com

The friendly language exchange community. Their website is absolutely amazing. Beside the main purpose of the site (language exchange), you are also able to play games to improve your vocabulary and pronunciation. Test yourself and, of course, share the results with your friends.

5. Easy Language Exchange

Easy Language Exchange makes language learning easily accessible and free for all. They provide all the essential tools to make languages easy for you. Practise how to read, write and speak with natives.

Although the website is new, it is growing very fast and you will find many people there. The founders are nice people and you will be in good company.

6. LingoGlobe

LingoGlobe.com is a free Language Exchange Community. Learn and practice foreign languages with native speakers. Discuss on the Lingo Globe language forum or even through live chat.

7. italki

italki is a language learning social network that connects students and language teachers. You can find language exchange partners, practise speaking a foreign language, ask questions, find free online language resources and get help from an international community of language learners.

italki has been around for a while and is becoming one of the most popular language exchange communities in the world.

8. Verbling

Verbling lets language learners instantly connect with native speakers around the world through live video.

Right now on Verbling, you can learn languages like English, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Russian.

9. busuu.com

Busuu.com is one of the biggest language exchange communities out there.

10. Language Exchange Project

This particular project was created by a polish guy, Greg. @LangExchange. His website works really well. The community is live, and personally, I loved his other projects as well.

http://www.um.es/

Read more...

Homework

Dear students,
please complete the activities related to "I wish", "If only", "it's time..." that I delivered in class today (unit 58, photocopy), and read the text on page 50.
See you soon,
reme

Revision: TRAVELLING

Here's a nice compilation to refresh and enlarge your vocabulary on the topic. To download it, click here.

Weekend Movies: "Citizen Kane" by Orson Welles

Brief analysis:

The fresh, sophisticated, and classic masterpiece, Citizen Kane (1941), is probably the world's most famous and highly-rated film, with its many remarkable scenes and performances, cinematic and narrative techniques and experimental innovations (in photography, editing, and sound). Its director, star, and producer were all the same genius individual - Orson Welles (in his film debut at age 25!), who collaborated with Herman J. Mankiewicz on the script (and also with an uncredited John Houseman), and with Gregg Toland as his talented cinematographer. [The amount of each person's contributions to the screenplay has been the subject of great debate over many decades.] Toland's camera work on Karl Freund's expressionistic horror film Mad Love (1935) exerted a profound influence on this film.
The film, budgeted at $800,000, received unanimous critical praise even at the time of its release, although it was not a commercial success (partly due to its limited distribution and delayed release by RKO due to pressure exerted by famous megalomaniac publisher W.R. Hearst) - until it was re-released after World War II, found well-deserved (but delayed) recognition in Europe, and then played on television.
The film engendered controversy (and efforts at ruthless suppression in early 1941 through intimidation, blackmail, newspaper smears, discrediting and FBI investigations) before it premiered in New York City on May 1, 1941, because it appeared to fictionalize and caricaturize certain events and individuals in the life of William Randolph Hearst - a powerful newspaper magnate and publisher. The film was accused of drawing remarkable, unflattering, and uncomplimentary parallels (especially in regards to the Susan Alexander Kane character) to real-life. The notorious battle was detailed in Thomas Lennon's and Michael Epstein's Oscar-nominated documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996), and it was retold in HBO's cable-TV film RKO 281 (1999) (the film's title refers to the project numbering for the film by the studio, before the film was formally titled).

Source: http://www.filmsite.org/citi.html

Homework

Dear students,
please complete the activities of the photocopies I delivered in class last week (Sections 56 and 57 -Conditionals).
Kind regards,
r

Weekend Movies: "The Virgin Suicides" by Sofia Coppola

Dearest students,
here we are a new film for the weekend: The Virgin Suicides by Sofia Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's daughter, have you heard of her before?). This film is a 1999 American drama starring Kirsten Dunst and Kathleen Turner, among others. IBased on the homonymous novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, the film tells of the events surrounding the lives of five sisters in an upper-middle class suburb of Detroit during the 1970s. After the youngest sister makes an initial attempt at suicide, the sisters are put under close scrutiny by their parents, eventually being locked as birds in their own cage, which leads to increasingly depressive and isolated behaviour... Would you like to know more about their misadventure? Well, watch the film! (no subtitles this time, sorry! But I am pretty sure you will understand the plot quite easily).
Enjoy!!!

Homework

Dear students,
please do the Vocabulary Bank (feelings)  on page 157, as well as the Grammar Bank on page 140 (Unreal  Conditionals).
Have a great weekend!
reme

How to Improve your Fluency: CHUNKS

Dear students,

do you know what chunks are and how they can help improve your fluency in English?

Knowing the meaning of a word is useful, but knowing how to use it in context is vital. Words aren't used in isolation and will often form part of an expression or fixed set of words. Being able to call on these 'chunks' of vocabulary will help you to improve English fluency skills. READ ON BY CLICKING ON THE LINK ABOVE.

Homework

Please,
do the "second conditional" activities I photocopied for you.
Regards,
reme

Compilation of Useful Phrases and Connectors For Writing

This thorough compilation is only meant as a source of useful material to help your writing become more organized and varied, so make use of it as it suits your needs and the type of task you have to carry out. Keep in mind that the register is mostly formal.

 Click here to download the file

Practice Reading

I recommend books every week, but I am pretty sure you didn't have time to read all of them. Therefore, I would like to suggest new ideas today. Do you feel you have to read more texts in English but you don't really have time to read literature? Why don't you try reading short articles like the ones provided by this webpage? They come with activities and quizzes that might help you improve your reading skill. Good luck!

Too easy? Try these texts instead!!!

Weekend Movies

We won't be having a class on Thursday, so I have decided to find a film for you today. The movie we are going to watch this week is Vicky Cristina Barcelona and was directed by Woody  Allen in 2008. This is the story of two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain who fall in love with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture...

WATCH THE FILM HERE!

Some webs to practice LISTENING at home

Dear students,
as you know, learning English is a slow process which requires lots of work and motivation. Four hours a week are not enough to reach a high level. What can we do? Well, don't forget to work on your own. Read books, magazines and blogs (I recommend some texts every week!), watch films in English, and try to collect new words and use them. Besides, this week, I would like to provide some webpages to practice listening at home. Hopefully, you will find them useful:

1. "SABER INGLÉS" - American English
2. ESL LAB - American English
3. BRITISH COUNCIL -PODCASTS -British English
4. ORORO TV - Watch Series online
5. LEARNING THROUGH MUSIC! (LYRICS!)

Future Perfect

Some of you asked me to suggest some extra exercises related to the use of the Future Perfect. Well, here you are some FUTURE PERFECT ACTIVITIES.

Homework

Please,
start completing the handouts I delivered today in class. First, we are going to revise the first and zero conditionals (and equivalent expressions), and then we are going to start studying the second, third and mixed conditionals. Do the first page of the photocopies.

best,
reme

A Book Every Week: Poetry Foundation and Dorothea Lasky

Dear students,
as you know, reading is one of the best ways to learn a language. I usually recommend my students to read short stories, or other forms of narrative such as novels. However, today I would like to refer to the following American webpage: POETRY FOUNDATION. This is a literary organization committed to "discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience"- they say. Well, you can just browse the web and try to discover something you like.

I like reading poems by Dorothea Lasky, for instance. You can see her HERE. But, of course, you might find some other poets to read, enjoy, and even identify with.

Weekend Movies: "Million Dollar Baby"

Hey guys! Today I am going to recommend a superb movie that shows the dramatic life of a survivor, Maggie, a girl who decides to become a great boxer. Here you are a brief synopsis of the film:

Hillary Swank's character, Maggie, is a white-trash 31-year-old waitress in a diner. Clint Eastwood is Frankie Dunn, a boxing gym owner who has trained many promising fighters but has never been able to take them all the way to a title/money bout. Maggie decides to pursue her dream of becoming a boxer once she realizes she's in a real dead-end situation. Frankie is skeptical about women fighters, tells Maggie she's too old to start training, and tells her he won't train her... (read more...)

Homework

Dear all,

remember to finish the "Revise and Check" section on page 43 (we will watch the video in class). Then, read the text on page 45 ("How to Eat an Elephant") and do the related activities. Finally, move on to activities on page 115 ("Writing For and Against"). You can write the composition after we have corrected them in class.

Cheers!

r

Revise and Check: Time Clauses Exercises

Dear students,

here you are some extra activities regarding the use of time clauses such as "after", "as soon as", "while", etc. I hope you find them useful:

Follow this link for a brief explanation.

Follow this link to do some grammar exercises.

A Book Every Week: "The Picture of Dorian Gray", by Oscar Wilde

Did you enjoy The Happy Prince? Well, now you have a new chance to read Oscar Wilde. The book I would like to recommend today is The Picture of Dorian Gray. This is the only published novel written by Oscar Wilde. The basic theme is of a man whose portrait ages while he remains young, leading him to debauchery. If you feel like reading something good while listening to an actor at the same time, follow this link. Notice that there is a pdf available for each chapter.

You can also watch a recent film adaptation here!!!

Have a great time!

 

Weekend Movies: "Under the Skin" by Jonathan Glazer

Dear students,

this weekend, I would like to recommend a new and intriguing film: UNDER THE SKIN. This is a 2013 science fiction thriller art film directed by Jonathan Glazer, and written by Glazer and Walter Campbell as a loose adaptation of Michel Faber's 2000 novel of the same name. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress who preys on men in Scotland. Just click here if you feel like discovering what might be hidden behind Scarlett's beautiful appearance...

Homework!!

Dear students,
please do the following exercises before Tuesday:

- Grammar Bank 4B, on page 13 (activity B)
- Vocabulary activity on page 41: Expressions with "take"
- Revise & Check activities on pages 42-43 (except for the listening exercise)

REMEMBER: as I announced today in class, we will be having the grammar and vocabulary test next Thursday (15th January).There will be a listening "exam" too.
Please study hard.

Best,

reme

HAPPY 2015!