Friday, May 15, 2009

CLOWN FISH



Confusing Words
There are many words that sound similar but have different meanings and are spelled differently. Then there are other words that even sound exactly the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Here are some examples:

1) custom vs. costume:
Custom refers to repetitive, traditional activities e.g.
The celebration of the Day of the Dead is a typical Mexican custom.
A costume is something that you wear e.g.
The costumes in Shakespeare in Love are very well made.
2) loose vs. lose:
Loose is the opposite of tight. It's an adjective. Imagine Michael Jackson in Pavarotti's clothes.
Lose is a verb and refers to objects that have disappeared. Example:
"I can't find my wallet, I have lost it."
3) guy vs. gay
This one can cause a lot of confusion. The mistake normally occurs in writing only, because students know the difference in pronunciation between guy and gay. They also know the difference in meaning:
guy = boy/ young man as in: he's a very nice guy.
gay = homosexual (it used to mean something like: lively or bright, but that's old fashioned and common in the works of, say, Charles Dickens.
4) earn vs. win
The problem with these two is that they are both translated into Spanish with ganar. Thus, you get questions like: "How much do you win?" when referring to your salary. However, you win money in the lottery and you earn (or make) money at your job.
5) I am agree
A common error among Spanish speakers is the translation 'I am agree" for Estoy de acuerdo. One should keep in mind that agree is a verb, whereas de acuerdo, as in estoy de acuerdo, is an adjective. Therefore, one should say:
- I agree
- He agrees
- We agree
And in past for example:
- I agreed

NB2ºA/C

-Homework. Units 91,91 from your grammars were checked , only with group A, then I collected the compositions , a kind of sample exam.

- Speaking: We worked a lot picture descriptions and the topics realated to them .The more you practise, the better results you´ll get in the exams.

- Grammar and speaking:Grammar books ,units 67,68 about countable an uncountable nouns , then an exercise with quantifiers : a little, few, enough, much ,many, too much...

- Reading: An exercise similar to the ones you might find in the exams.

- Homework: grammar units 67 ,68 . finish the exercises

NI2ºE

- Homework: Opinion compositions were collected.

- Speaking: Expressing an opinion with controversial topics . An interesting activity we were all involved .

- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Bank, pg 155, a review of the first exercise and then we made the second about judges, trials , defendants ...

- Grammar: St.B. pg. 84 about gerunds and infinitives . Grammar bank pg 140 , rukles and exercises, that is verbs followed by infinites or gerunds.

- Homework: workbook, pg 53,54,55,56