Grammar: Used to do/ to be used to doing. Exercises with links to work on the net.
Speaking: St.b.p. 30. Addictions : the Internet, shopping, gambling, coffee..
Listening: St.B.p. 30.Listen to four people whose ffriends or relatives are addicted to something. Say what they´re addicted to. Listen again and complete the sentences.
Grammar: Checking information. question Tags. St.b.p. 32. Listen and complete the dialogue. Grammar, unit 52.
Homework: Reading, St,B.p.30, 31 and grammar exercises ,unit 52.
Speaking: in group A two students made their speeches and mistakes were checked on the board. In group C there was a photo description activity in pairs.
Homework: Grammar, units 100, 101 about adverbs. (English Grammar in Use)
Grammar: Unit 111, adverbs: still, yet and already. Rules were seen and the exercises were left for homework (answers).
Vocabulary: Common expressions, St.B.p.17. Match the responses with the expressions.e.g.I´ve got a new job!. Congratulations!
Writing test. Write two paragraphs about Mark and Ann. personal identification.
Vocabulary: The alphabet. St.B.p.8. Listen and repeat the alphabet. Complete the missing letters under the same sounds. abbreviations. How do you spell your name?,how do you spell it?
Homework: Study the alphabet. Exercises on possessive adjetives from Essential Grammar in use
Speaking: There were no volunteers in group A to describe photos. Too bad, it´s a chance you lose. We worked with the instructions to make a speech and had some practice. Group C did it very well.
Homework: Reading. St.B.p. 14. Danger! Sense of humour failure. A joke: match the beginning of the jokes with their correct punchlines.
Listening: St.B.p. 17. Listen to a director of Studies.
Homework: Grammar, units 100, 101 the exercises (answers) and the final part of the handout about adverbs
BASIC LEVEL A/B
Homework: paragraphs using possessive adjectives: my, his,her.
Grammar: possessive adjectives review with his ,her and new possessive adjectives our, their powerpoint 1 and powerpoint 2. Grammar Bank, St.B.p. 122, rules and exercises.
Speaking: personal identification. Complete the form with your informations and tell your classmate about you, Mark and Anne.g.my surname´s ...., his name´s ...., her address is....
Writing : write a paragraph with the information of the previous exercise.
Speaking: How old are you?, how old is he?, how old are they? . I´m 43, he´s 25, they´re 60 .
The British Isles. A map with great Britain, the UK and the British Isles.
Listening: Mario is a student . Listen to the interview and complete the form. Listen again and complete the questions.
Speaking: Interview your partner with the questions of the previous exercise.
Homework: A handout with nationalities,workbook, p.8 (don´t do the pronunciation exercise). Study the possessive adjectives.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 12. Funny ha-ha?.Define a cartoon, a joke, a comedy and a comedian. Match words and definitions, words with more than one meaning.e.g. funny meaning strange or that makes you laugh. Explain the difference between funny/fun/make fun of.
Speaking: St.B.p. 13. "Have you got a sense of humour?" Talk as much as you can about the questions using the specific vocabulary.
Listening: St.B.p. 13. Listen to three jokes. What makes them funny?
Phonetics: St.B.p. 13. difference between joking and choking.
Homework: St.B.p. 14. The reading exercise: "Danger, sense of humour" and pick up a set of photos to describe them.For the speaking activity, don´t write a single word.
Writing. How to write an application letter. The exercises are in the previous post.
Video : New English File Intermediate Plus Video. A Radio Actor.
Video
Homework: Write a letter of complaint following the instructions of the exercises I gave you in class. To be handed next Wednesday
BASIC LEVEL A/B
Homework: workbook, p 6,7
Grammar: personal identification using possessive adjectives:my, your. A power point about Rafa Nadal (my), and another about Fernando Alonso and Penélope Cruz (his,her).Listen and repeat the sentences.
Vocabulary: jobs.
Speaking: pair work. Ask questions and write down your partner´s answers. Ask other students in the class.
Homework: Write 4 paragraphs using my, your, his and her. Follow the power points.
Speaking: music. questions to develop a conversation
Listening: St.b.p. 9. Abba. Listen to an interview and write down the questions asked by the interviewer . Listen for more detail. what exactly does the journalist say about?
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 141. Countries and nationalities.eg. Ireland, Irish.
Speaking. St.B.p.7. Where´s it from? It´s Chinese, it´s from China. where are they from? They´re Japanese, they´re from Japan. some pictures to ask questions with these words.
Speaking: Pair work activity.To be questions and short answers . e.g. Is Martin Scorsese Italina?. No, he isn´t, he´s ameriacan. where´s he from? He´s from New York.
Homework: The other side of the photocopy from the grammar activity. they are dialogues to complete with the verb to be , short answers and contractions.
Homework: Review of the phrasal verbs seen last Thursday. Reading, true-false statements St.B.p5 and vocabulary, write the words for the given definitions. St.B.p.6.
Listening: St.B.p. 7. National stereotypes. Adjectives related to Germans .Answer the questions.
Homework: Reading : a photocopy about national stereotypes. True-false statements, adjectives to describe nationalities and topics for discussion.Workbook, p, 4,5,6 and write sentences with the phrasal verbs of page 144, section A and St.B.p.6
BASIC LEVEL A/B
Homework: a photocopy about the verb to be
Speaking: St.B.p.4 . Practice the dialogues introducing people. Saying hello.
Phonetics: St.B.p. 5 . Underlined the stressed syllable.e.g. hotel.
Vocabulary: Write the words from the previous exercise under the headings: food, travel, communication.
Vocabulary. St.B.p. 5. Numbers 1-20. listen and repeat. Listen and write the numbers your classmate dictates. Vocabulary Bank. St.B.p. 140. part 1. Listen and repeat, match the words with the numbers.
Listening: St.B.p. 5. Where are they? Order the dialogues. Complete the sentences with a number.
Vocabulary and listening: St.B.p. 5. Listen and number the words. bye, see you, see you tomorrow.... Days of the week, tomorrow, today, yesterday.
Homework: study the numbers, days of the week and workbook, p. 4,5
CO: St.B.p.32 Checking : Question tags. . Listen and complete. speaking activities about the grammar item.
Grammar. Unit 52 . Questions tags.
EO:St.B.p. 33. The uses of "Sorry, excuse me, sorry?".The ways of apologizing and their responses.
CO:St.b.p. 33. Match the dialogues to the pictures. Complete the ways of apologizing and their responses.
EE: A set of activities to write a "for and against" essay. To be finished next Wednesday.
Homework: St.B.p. 31 , the reading activity, Grammar, unit 52, St.B-p. 35 ,the activities that summarize the unit.
NB1A/B
Grammar and vocabulary: We spent the whole class reviewing what we had done the previous term: mainly, the simple present for habits and routines, making affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences ,the use of the auxiliaries Do/does and the verb to be,eg,are you French?, do yo study French?.and activities related to jobs.
EO: With a photocopy of daily routines, you made a speech using expressions like : have a shower, have a break, get to work, leave home, catch the bus and so on.
EE: A composition about the previous activity.
Homework: finish the composition at home and get it ready for next Tuesday.
Watch and listen to this video. It´s really impressive.
Phonetics: St.B.p.9 Sounds like in her, first, surname and sounds like in how, now, owl our.
EO: St.B.p. 9 A dialogue with the following questions: What´s her/his name/surname? çhow do you spell it?, where´s he/she from?, how old is he/she?
EE: Write a paragraph with the information of the speaking activity.
Grammar: possessive adjectives. A couple of activity with a lot of speaking practice.
EE. Write six statements using the possessevive adjectives of the previous activity.
Vocabulary: St.B.p.10. The classroom, common objects. What of these objects can you see in your clasroom?
CO. Listen and repeat the words related to the classroom.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 10. match the objects with the words: coins, mobile phone, purse. Pronunciation of these words. Vocabulary Bank: St.B.p. 142. Match the pictures to the words. Pronunciation of words.
EO: What´s this? It´s a ____, what are these? they´re _____s, is this a ___? yes, it is/no, it isn´t. are these _____s? yes, they are/no; they aren´t.
Grammar: A handout which Herminio gave me. It´s about question formation and we saw it in detail.
Grammar, unit 49. More questions and exercises for homework.
EO. Interview with a celebrity. ST:B:Student A.p.114, St:B.p. 119. a role play : one is a journalist who wants to take out personal information and the other is the celebrity who refuses to give out any details.
Vocabulary: ST.B.p. 145. The media (2) TV and radio. word pronunciation, meanings, differences e.g. channel ,station, and passage to be filled in. Test your partner.
EO: St.B.p. 11 TV and radio. Interview your classmate . Use the specific vocabuly of the topic.
CO. St.B.p.11. Listen to six speakers and tick the topics that are being discussed. Rank them in the order they appear and also say whether the speaker agrees or disagrees with the statement.
Homework: Grammar, chapter 49, study the new vocabulary, wk, p. 8.
1NB
Homework: review of short answers. A photocopy :what´s his/her name?, what´s his/her address?...
The difference between his/her, he/his, she/her. whith examples on the whiteboard.
EO: Identities with names and nationalities to practise :what´s your name?, what´s his name, where´s he from?
CO : A video in which students from different countries introduce themselves to other students. Complete a grid with names and nationalities.
EO. A powerpint with a drawing of an open air party with 11 people . More practice about names and nationalities.
Book, Section 1C." His name, her name". St.B.p. 8. CO. Mario goes to ireland to study English . He´s interviewed . Write down the answers and complete the form. CO: Listen again and write the receptionist questions.
Homework: Study the contractions: I´m, You´re, he´s ... and the new vocabulary.
I have had hardly any time to write a post for the blog because going to hospital everyday is more than exhausting and I´m afraid ,there´s still time left to finish with it. Well, by now you must have done the written part of the exam and you´ll be appointed for the oral one. I wish you all the best and I´m sure your performance will be outstanding. If by any chance you happen to do some activities and exercises,you have older posts and the specific labels (on the right hand side) dealing with various skills and tests.The "Learning English" label has very good exercises related to your text books: File Pre Intermediate and File Intermediate Plus.
NB2 Homework: wk. p. 39. grammar, unit 93 (word order) Speaking: Directions with a map and the structures at sight on the blackboard. Pair work and a lot of practice. Listening: More directions you had to follow to reach a final point on the plan. More oral practice. Reading: St.B.p 64. "If sth bad can happen, it will" about the first conditional. The beginning of the reading titled"Murder on the orient Express?" and complete the story bu adding a condition to the sequence Grammar: St.B.p. 136. Grammar Bank. rules and exercises. Reading and speaking: St.B.p. 65 "Murphy´s Law". an activity about Murphy´s Laws you had to complete , a sort of matching exercise.eg. If you wash your car...it´ll rain . Vocabulary: St.B.p. 64. confusing verbs. such as lend-borrow, meet-know... Homework: St.B.p. 50,51, Wk.p 49,40. * Don´t think this level is far too easy for you, your speaking and writing skills have to improve a lot and , besides they show your command of the language as they´re the most active and creative skills , try and speak and write more and better.
Manta Ray (Manta birostris) Mantas are found world-wide in tropical to warm temperate seas. Like sharks and other rays, Mantas are fertilized internally. During courtship, one or more male Mantas chase a female for prolonged periods. Eventually a successful male grasps the tip of one of her pectoral wings between his teeth and presses his belly against hers. Then, the male flexes one of his claspers and inserts it into her vent. The fertilized eggs develop inside a mother Manta's body for a lengthy but unknown period that may be 9 to 12 months or more. One to two pups are born per litter, but no one knows where or when Mantas give birth. Based on the smallest free-swimming members of this species, newborn Mantas are about 1.2 metres across. Records of giant Mantas are notoriously difficult to verify. The largest reported in the scientific literature measured 6.7 metres across and there is one report of an individual 9.1 metres across. But most Mantas encountered by people are about 4 metres across. No one knows how long Mantas live. Based on known lifespans of closely related (but much smaller) warm-water rays, Mantas may live up to 25 years or so. There are numerous reports, mostly anecdotal, of harpooned Mantas leaping on small vessels and smashing them or their occupants. Some of these cases may have resulted in the death of one or more people due to crushing or drowning, but it must be born in mind that the animal was simply trying to defend itself. Divers have sometimes been injured accidentally while trying to ride or photograph Mantas from too close. But there is no record of an unprovoked Manta attacking or injuring a person. Only large warm-water sharks, such as the Tiger Shark , are known to prey upon Mantas. This flattened body form is advantageous for hiding in the bottom sediment, making it difficult for predators to see partially buried stingrays. During the course of their evolution, Mantas lost the stinging barb and their pectoral fins developed into graceful, flapping wings, but their flattened body shape remained .Given the scattered nature of their planktonic food, it is very likely that Mantas migrate. But little is known about where they travel and when. In vertebrates (backboned animals), sleep is characterized by a profound change in brainwaves. This has never been demonstrated experimentally in Mantas or any other elasmobranch (shark or ray). Actively swimming sharks and rays, such as the Manta, are believed to swim constantly, never stopping from birth to death. Although it is feasible that some parts of the brain shut-down while the parts of the brain responsible for coordinating swimming movements stays awake, this has not been demonstrated experimentally. Apart from courtship and mating (which is quite elaborate, see above), Mantas do not appear to be particularly social. Mantas frequently aggregate at rich feeding sites and cleaning stations, but there is little evidence of social interaction among them. Mantas are most commonly seen during daylight hours because that's when most observers are most active. Mantas may feed most actively at night, when many planktonic creatures rise surfaceward, providing a rich bounty on which Mantas may feed. Divers have observed Mantas as deep as 30 metres, but no one knows how deep they can swim. The forward-pointing, paddle-like organs at each corner of a Manta's mouth are termed "cephalic lobes". Mantas have been observed using their cephalic lobes like scoops to help push plankton-bearing water into their mouths. In the 1990's, targeted harpoon fisheries in the Philippines and off the Pacific coast of Mexico decimated resident populations. Due to the scarcity of catches, Mantas are rarely targeted in these locations today. Mantas are valued commercially for their tasty meat, sandpapery hide, and oil-rich liver. A Manta in captivity is worth a small fortune to any public aquarium with the facilities to display it, a reality that drives a small but recurrent harvest in Japan and possibly other areas. Mantas seem to be fairly abundant in some areas, rare or absent in others. Until we understand the extent and dynamics of Manta stocks, there is no way to assess their conservation status. Based on their low birth rate, Mantas are probably highly vulnerable to sustained fishing pressure and habitat degradation. This likelihood would seem to favor a cautionary approach to Manta exploitation and management until such time as we have the sound scientific data to make a more informed assessment of this species' risk of extinction. So little is known about the basic biology and life history of Mantas, little can be said about their importance from a scientific or ecological standpoint. It can be argued that Mantas are important because they add to the beauty, diversity, and mystery of our world. Without Mantas, our planet would seem a significantly poorer place. www.elasmo-research.org NB2 The class took place in the laboratory downstairs. Homework: The photocopy about questions was corrected. Look, many of you don´t do your homework. I must say that it is up to you to pass your exams or to fail them. My duty is to provide you with the necessary knowledge in the four sills (listening, reading, writing and speaking) , However, if you don´t study enough , you´ll have to be responsible of your exam results, not me. St.B. p. 38,39 and Wk.p. 28,29 Listening: Three videos of units 1,2,3. With questions, useful phrases and interaction activities. Homework: Wk.p. 30 and ST.B.p. 40 The reading about Zara and exercises a,b,c. NI2 Homework: St.B.p.46 and exercises c,d,e .About Henry VII and his wife Katherine Howard. Listening: St.B.p. 47 .Aboyt Henry VIII´s other wives. a chart to be filled in. Listening: video of unit 1 ,about a radio actor. I´m afraid I can´t post this activity because of license problems. The exercises were of two kings: questions and true-false statements. Homework: St.B.p.50. The writing activity. Read the story, understand it and fill in the the correct expressions given. a compositions has to come out of this activity.
NB2 Speaking: A test in which you had to talk about a specific topic. Grammar: A photocopy with questions Reading: St.B.p. 34 Section 3d "I was only dreaming" WE read some statements and dicussed them . Listening: Put the sequence of a dream in order and then complete the dialogue between the patient and his psychoanalyst.After that, you had to match the dreams he had with the possible interpretations . Listen and check what Dr. Muller says aout them. Grammar: St.B.p.35 Review of tenses, examples and their uses. Grammar bank: St.B.p. 130 Rules and a couple of exercises.
LISTENING AND READING TESTS FOR TOMORROW, THURSDAY
NI2 Homework: An exercise about unlees, provided, suppose... used instead of if. Vocabulary: A review on the adjectives of St.B.p41. To my surprise nobody had studied them, so I let them a few minutes to study and I checked them again. Remember that you must make a serious effort to pass your exams. Phonetics: St.B.p. 45. About silent letters in words such as sould, foreign,islanf, listen... We practised them and their transcriptions. Grammar and speaking : Modal verbs : might/could do, must do, can´t do . An exercise called "Can it be True?" , then we put into practice the tenses with a murder case which took us longer because we had to study the chacters ,where they were and their alibies. homework: Grammar, units 28,115
LISTENING AND READING TESTS FOR TOMORROW, THURSDAY
Holidays Last summer, Iwent to Portugal with my parents, we went by plane and I stayed in lisbon,in a hotel with a swimming pool and a lot of gardens. I visited a lot of places. I saw the centre of Lisbon and other cities I saw museums, scultures, parks,squares... I learned many things because Lisbon is a very cultural town and it has a rich history and many legends. I went for ten days, there ate the traditional food of Lisbon and only drank water because I don’t like anything else. I had good luck because the weather was good :every day was sunny. I went shopping just to buy too many things I love, I bought clothes an d souvenirs. For my friends and family I bought postcards of the places I had been. I drove back to see Galicia, which is very beautiful, and also to see family and friends I have there. I hope this year is similar to or better than last year.
This photo is “Boca do inferno”, Cliff is a very famous and is in Cascais near Estoril where is a famous casino. There are many people lose all their money and decide to commit suicide by jumping off this cliff. IRENE ARROYO GARCIA NB2
NB2 - Homework: Grammar, inits 47 about questions and 97 about linking words. - Speaking: With photos with the handout I gave you to state your ideas and follow a logical order.This activity took us a great deal of time. - Book Review: In spite of being posted in this blofg since October, nobody didn´t even have a look at the rules and ideas . I made copies and we went thorugh them in detail. Here you have the BOOK REVIEWS.
NI2 -Homework: Grammar, unit 24. Wk.p. 17 - Speaking: Photo description and mistake correction. - Vocabulary: St.B. p. 148. Science and Technology with very useful words of today´s life like modem, memory stick, a book mark and so on. We did the activities and then you tested your partner´s memory. - Speaking: St.B. p. 27 Science and computers. - Phonetics: St.B.p. 27 the "Y" sound which can be pronounced in several ways . Listen to some statements and check your pronunciation mistakes. - Homework: Speaking: Describe a photo .
Thank you Alberto for your song.Your contributions are always welcome. I wish my students did the same!
NB2 - Homework: Grammar, units 45,46 about questions - Grammar: Grammar, unit 47 , more questions: what colour, what size, how tall.. - Grammar: Linking words: and, or, so because. Unit 97. A story to complete with linking words and unfinished sentences with a linking word given. - Phonetics: St.B.p. 23. Letter "a" e.g: panic, later, saw dance, along. Listen repeat and classify. - Speaking: Retell the story of Hannah and Jamie following the drawings. - Listening: St.B.p. 23. End of Hannah´s story. complete the blanks and then listen to the end of the story making guesses about what´s going to happen. - Homework: Grammar, units 47,97 and speaking
NI2 - Homework: Workbook . two readings, one on page 12 and the other on page 16. - Grammar: futer perfect and continuous. Grammar Bank,p. 132 ,we saw the rules and the exercises, and also in your grammar ,unit 24 where we saw the rules with more detail. - Practice : a handout with the future continuous and another with mixed future forms: simple, perfect, continuous ,going to, present continuous.. - Homework: Grammar, unit 24, about futures and workbook p. 17 Romina, thank you again for the songs you send me. they´re of a great help.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
