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!