Listening: Alternative medicine. St.b.p. 23. Identify the speakers, are they for or against alternative medicine?, give reasons.
Homework: Write a letter of complaint following the instructions I gave you in class.To be handed next Wednesday. Do the vocabulary exercises about health and illness ( if not all, at least one page). Speaking: St.B.p. 23 "Private or public medicine?. How to agree nad disagree. BASIC LEVEL
Homework: Workbook, section 1C
Speaking: Groups of four students ask questions: what´s her name?, how do you spell it?,where´s she from?, how old is she?
Unit 1 section 1D. Turn off your mobiles. St.B.p. 10
Vocabulary: St.B.p.10. the classroom, common objects. Listen and repeat the words. Vocabulary Bank, St.B.p. 142. Match the words and the pictures. Listen and repeat. Ask questions. what´s this? it´s a dictionary, what are these? they´re stamps. Test your partner.
Phonetics: St.b.p. 10. Sounds : horse, bull, up, boy,ear, tourist. Listen and repeat. Listen and circle the word with a different sound.
Vocabulary: Classroom language. St.Bp.11. match the phrases and the pictures. Listen and repeat. Listen and tick the phrases you hear. More expressions : What´s _____ in English?, how do you spell it?, where´s the stress?, can you repeat it?
Grammar: a/an, plurals. St.B.p.11. Complete with the indefinite article, write the plurals, complete with this,that, these,those. Grammar Bank, St.B.p.122. rules and exercises about plurals.
Homework: Workbook, section 1D, the first page of a set of exercises about plurals.
Homeork: Prasal verbs with drawings. You tested yourself and your partner with the verbs hidden.. Wk.p.4,5,6 with more phrasal verbs and a speaking about stereotypes based on St.B.p.7. Let me tell you now and again thatyou MUST work your speeches about specific topics. You should get a bank or file with all the topics, vocabulary, and expressions dealt with in the class.
EO: As I saw you hadn´t developped the topic properly ,you were given a handout about stereotypes with a reading, some vocabulary and also questions to be discussed in class. This is for homework next Wednesday.
Grammar: Unit 137. Phrasal verbs . The exercises for next day.
Vocabulary: St.B.p.144 ,sections 2 and 3. More phrasal verbs: the same verb with different particle , the meaning of the particle and separable or non separable. it took time to do this since I like you to do a great deal of practice.
1B ."The Winner Takes if All". St.B.p.8. EO: about music , the Top 20s and some basic vocabulary related to the topic.
Grammar: a handout with easy questions to be used for an interview.
CL:St.B.p.8 . You read the passage and underlined those unkown words. Mistakes were checcked and doubts solved.
CO:St.B.p.10 A son "The Winner Takes it All". Only the first part of the activity becuse we ran out of time. With the second group, we did both activities.
Homework: The handout about national stereotypes , grammar, unit 137 with the rules and exercises on phrasal verbs
NB1
Homework: A handout with a review of numbers ,greetings and the days of the week, workbook, p.4,5
CO. Bingo game with numbers, guess the number eg.is it 3? yes, it is/no, it isn´t.
Vocabulary: days of the week, next/last Monday, next/last weekend, tomorrow, today, yesterday. A calendar with the month of october to practise.
Vocabulary: St.B.p.6. Countries and nationalities. Vocabulary Bank.p. 141. Countries, nationalities and languages. Practice with word stress and pronunciation. Match the flags with the countries.Test your partner. The difference between the Great Britain and the United Kingdom in a map.
Phonetisc: St.B.p.6. Listen ,repeat and underline the stressed syllable.
CO.St.B.p.6. The World´s Quiz.
CO. St.B.p.6 Listen and number the pictures. Listen and complete the dialogues. Explain words and expressions, eg. where´s she from?
EO: Role play. Repeat the dialogues.
Grammar: St.B.p. 7. The verb to be in negative and interrogative. Complete the chart with the missing words. Grammar Bank. St.B.p. 122. Rules and activities .
Homework: Study the new vocabulary (countries and nationalities) , the verb to be and Workbook,p.6 and the pronunciation exercise of p. 7.
EO: "What´s in a name?" I expected you to do some more, in fact your speeches were too short to say something.
Grammar: St.B.p 6. Phrasal verbs. Fill in exercises, separable or not, with literal and non-literal meanings.Grammar Bank. St.B.p.130 where we saw the four different groups of phrasal verbs and did an exercise. St.B.p.144. Phrasal verbs related to topics, this time it was "The family" eg.look like, take after,be named after..
CO.: St.B.p7. National Stereotypes.
EO: National Stereotypes (Spain)
HWK: A speech about Spanish stereotypes, WK,p. 4,5,6.,and a photocopy with drawings and phrasal verbs.
NB1 A/B
EO:Review of "Saying Hello"-eg. how are you?, nice to meet you, this is Dave...
Pronunciation: St.B.p5.Fish,tree,cat,boot,train, bike. Stress on words,eg.e-mail, computer, hotel...Classify the words under food, travel, communication.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 5 Number 1-20. Vocabulary Bank, St.B.p 140. Write the numbers. Dictation number
CO: ST.B.p.5. Listen to people. Where are they?: airport, taxi, sandwich bar,hotel. Listen to a couple saying goodbye and number the words, eg: bye, goodbye, see you... The days of the week: Listen to the days of the week , complete the words and repeat.
El Torreón” is located in El Condado, in the town of Laviana, province of Asturias. It is a medieval fortified tower ROMINA ALONSO has sent us this beautiful photo. Thanks very much, Romina NB2 Homework: Only Clara did her homework and ,as a result I got angry . Write a story about "I felt awful because I couldn´t help him/her" .It has to do with this topic. I´ll collect it next Thursday.Remember that you cand send them to my mail, there´s no excuse. Speaking: Shopping. A pair work activity we started doing last week. I grew angried when I realised that some of you hadn´t done anything. Listening: A mock exam for Certificacion. Very easy I must say. Grammar: Prepositions of movement. St.B.p. 134. Rules and a couple of exercises Speaking: St.B.p. 117. Cross country . To plan a race that your partner will draw on his book. Writing: A very useful handout about linking words with many examples, writing letters and punctuation. You should keep these photocopies when it comes to writing a composition and doubs about spelling , connectos or the layout of a letter pop up. Homework : Some exercises about verbs followed by infinitives and gerunds and expressions of movement. NI2 Homework: Only Inma gave the composition you had to do for homework.Please, it´s a serious matter, do it and I´ll collect it next Wednesday. Vocabulary: Crime and punishment . some more words and expressions related to crimes and and court. Speaking: St.B.p.84. Questions about crimes, juries, judges,prison...you had to give me your opinion and support your ideas with examples. Speaking and Listening: St.b.p. 85. A photo of someone stealing from a car, car theft, to describe. Then after the listening there were a couple of questions and 10 true-false statements. Reading: a mock exam for Certificación. Homework: I distributed photos for the speaking exam. you´ll describe them on Wednesday. a reading on St.B.p. 86, about trials and also remember to study this specific vocabulary. As usual, ALBERTO PINTOS NOVO has been so kind so as to send us a beautiful song. thank you Alberto.
NI2. Homework: Grammar, unit 87,89 ,about quantifiers. Grammar: More quantifiers, grammar, units 90, 91 Speaking: For and against debate. It wasn´t a proper debate but I was quite satisfied as the three students who came did their job quite satisfactorily. Reading and vocabulary: St.B.p. 76 "It´s all in the mind", about paranormal experiences with words such as faith-healer, clairvoyant, telepathy. Speaking: St.b.p. 76 . We spoke about our experiences in the topic and I must say that some of them were a bit scary. Listening: St.B.p. 77 ,about telepathy. An experiment with a woman who has to decribe a picture she can´t see but somebody tells her what´s about. a summary of the listening, a paragraph with mistakes to correct and some questions. Homework: Reading: St.b.p.78 also about telepathy. grammar ,units 90,91 and here you have some extra exercises on quantifiers.
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.
NB2 homework: Wk. p. 37,38. Reading: St.B.p. 46. About cities , we had done it the week before but as it was the starting point of the activity we did it again. Listening: St.B.p. 47 tim Moore talking about the test he had done in London. there were 9 questions to answer. Writing: St.B.p. 49 "Describe where you live" An activity to name the paragraphs , complete the missing words and correct mistakes. Video: St.B.p. 48 "Giving Directions" Order the directions, complete the dialogue, repeat and practise the dialogue and social English Speaking: I gave you a map and you followed the directions , besides I wrote on the blackboard those expressions I thought to be useful. NI2 Homework: St.B.p.67. Some photocopies about "Have sth done" Vocabulary: St.B.p. 154. A review of animals. Grammar: Present perfect simple and continuous. As a warm up we did some activities to state the basic differences between these two tenses , infer the rules and do some exercises. Grammar ,units 9,10 with more exercises. Listening: st.B.p. 71 . A very interesting listening about a journalist and an ecologist talking about animals and people. Speaking: St.B.p. 71. We started working in a debate , the sort of "For and Against" activity, in this case we focussed on animals. Homework: Grammar, units 20,21 (future tenses). Wk. p. 44,45,46.
*For both my NB2 and NI2 students .You must register between February, 22nd and March,19th to be able to do your final tests (CERTIFICACION) . Check :www.eoilangreo.net for more details.
* For my NB2A students, on Thursday I´ll bring my camera to class and record you , so get a good smile ready and rehearse your lines.
NB2 Homework: Well, not many of you did your homework ,so we did it in class. Grammar: I carried on with the explanations of comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, grammar ,units 89,90 and also did some activities from a handout I gave you last week. If you don´t have it, please, check the blog because it here. Speaking : An activity using comparatives and the "as...as" and "not as..as" Listening: St.B. p. 45 . Four people speaking about the kind of activities the do more or less than before and their reasons. Homework: Grammar, units 89,90 exercises and workbook,p. 35,36. NI2 There were three students who hadn´t done their speaking test yet . While they were getting it ready, the rest of the class did a reading activity on St.B.p. 63 , activity B. about "Feng Shui". You had a speaking, pair work activity summarising a specific section of the reading. Prepositions on St.B.p. 62, with the difference between over-on,opposite-in front of.., then another speaking activity describing your to your partner. This was a lot of fun because you had to do it back to back. after that a listening on St.B.p. 61 "Guess which room they decorated..." A long activity which took time till the end of the class. Homework: Grammar, unit 70,71 aboyt countable and uncountable nouns and the use of the articles.
I have chosen this book because I think that it is right for my level in English and it is easy for read. The book is a police story. A policeman wants to find a murderer. The police want to find a very important murderer, the man who murderer the President. Felix is a good policeman and the Chief of Police wants Felix to find the murderer and bring him back, dead or alive. The story takes place in an imaginary country, and it is set now because the police have modern arms. But I think that the country is very small, the people know the news very quickly. The President of a country (we don´t know which) is murdered. A new President is elected, but he´s very friendly with the police and the army. A man escaped from prison. He´s Alex Dinon, he´s a writer and he knows the name of the killer. It´s necessary that Dinon doesn´t talk, so the police and the army are looking for him dead or alive!!. I like this story because I think that the author wants to mean how much corrupted the police is . The best part of the book is when the people help Alex Dinon. They don´t believe that he´s the murderer. Finally, I think the story has an effect on all readers because the principal theme of book is about the injustice. I can recommend ewverybody this book because it´s the story of a writer who wants to know the truth about a president´s murder and for that he is murderer too. JENNIFER BASSETT has been a teacher in England, Greece, Spain and Portugal. She is the current Series Editor of the Oxford Bookworms Library, and has written several other stories. Now she lives and works in Devonshire, in the south-west of England. She enjoys going for long walks across the quiet Devon hills, and she thinks of plots for stories while she is walking. KIKE SANCHEZ TRABANCO NB2
LOVE ACTUALLY
Love actually was written by Richard Curtis and it shows the real love problems between some couples.
I have chosen this book because I know that there is a film which is based on this book, I have to recognize that, although it´s a very famous film, I have never seen it, but of course, I have heard about it, so the title wasn’t something new for me. I knew that it tells a romantic story and I like reading this kind of books.
In this book, there is a connection between many of the characters; they are relatives, friends, work colleagues or they are in love; and the author wants to tell us their story
Everything takes place in different places of London.
The book begins with the story of a rock star who is recording a new song and he has some problems because he has got a peculiar personality.
In another part of London, Jamie and Katya have an excellent relationship, but one day, Jamie comes back home and discovers that his girlfriend has a romance with his brother Chris; so he decides to go to his farmhouse in France, where he falls in love with a young girl from Portugal: Aurelia.
The Prime Minister, David, few minutes after meeting Natalie (a member of his group of employees), falls in love with her. Although he knows that they will have some problems, finally he decides to talk to Natalie and confess her his feelings.
The day of the weeding between Peter and Juliet, Peter’s best friend Mark, is recording all the time with his camera. When Juliet asks him for the video, he doen’t want to show it to her because in the video it only appears Juliet. Actually, Mark is in love with his best friend’s wife.
Daniel is really sad because his wife Jo has died and now, he is the responsible of his stepson Sam. Daniel thinks that Sam is living a really bad moment for Jo´s recent death , but Sam (who loves her mum, of course), is really disappointed because he is in love with a girl who is very popular at school, Joanna. Daniel tries to do everything to help Sam.
Finally, in an office in London, Harry (the boss), is trying to help Sarah, because she is in love with Karl, her work colleague. At the same time, Mia Harry´s secretary is in love with him, and this situation affects Harry’s wife Karen.
In conclusion, I have to say that Love Actually was a really good choice. The book is easy to read, because there’s not a complicated vocabulary, and it is very amusing. It tells the typical love story but it isn’t relating like other love stories. There are a lot of love stories inside only one.
Now, I definitely have to watch the film, because I’m sure that it will be fantastic.
I would like to recommended this book to all my friends (especially girls), but I know that they have already watched the film and I don´t believe that now, they want to read the book. I can try it anyway.
ROSA MARIA PALICIO ARBESÚ
NB2
Homework: We checked the exercises from the first set I gave you,present perfect with just, yet and already.
Grammar: We went on to do some more exercises from the second set , also dealing with the preseent perfect.
Speaking: A pair work activity to practise the grammar seen before. " haven´t done it yet"
Grammar: The difference between the present perfect and the simple past. Grammar, unit 20 : rules and exercises.
Speaking:"Have you ever been to Italy?" when?,who with? ... and other questions with the simple past.
Writing: I asked you to write a definition of friendship for Saint Valentine´s contest.
Reading: St.B.p.44. Section 4C ,"Faster, Faster".We only had time to read the introduction, ckeck the pessimistic mood and coross out the comparative forms that were wrong.
Homework: Finish in the second set of exercises those related to the present perfect and the simple past, and in the first set ,do sections 43 and 47.
READING, WRITING AND LISTENING TESTS FOR MONDAY,8th
NI2
Homework:Grammar, unit 37 ,requests, offers,invitations. Wk.p. 33,34,35
Grammar: comparative and superlative adjectivesand adverbs. Grammar, units: 105,106,107,107. You should know what it is about, so I consider it as a review.
Speaking: St.B.p. 55. appearances in men , women, money, designar clothes...
Listening: a song by Shania Twain "That don´t impress me much" with gap filling exercises and finding synonyms.
Homework: Grammar, units 105,105,107,108
READING, WRITING AND GRAMMAR / VOCABULARY (UNIT 3) TESTS FOR MONDAY,8th
ROMINA ALONSO ALONSO has sent us this beautiful song. Thanks a lot, Romina
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
San Franciscois a major city in California , well-known for its liberal community, hilly terrain, Victorian architecture, scenic beauty, summer fog, and extreme ethnic and cultural diversity. These are only a few of the aspects of the city that make San Francisco one of the most visited cities in the world.
San Francisco is located on a small seven-by-seven mile (11x11km) square of land at the tip of a peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific coast. It has a population of almost 800,000, but is the center of a metropolitan area of millions. San Francisco is just one of the cities which makes-up the entire San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco's neighbors, cities and towns to the east of the Bay Bridge, north of the Golden Gate Bridge, and south of it are all in separate counties, each with their own city government and local public transportation systems.
What to see:
Golden Gate— Fashionable neighborhoods with expensive views, historical landmarks - The Presidio and Fort Mason, and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
Fisherman's Wharf— A waterfront neighborhood which encompasses Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square and the ferry launch to Alcatraz Island, as well as a plethora of seafood restaurants and souvenir stores.
Nob Hill-Russian Hill— Two ritzy neighborhoods with upscale hotels, cable cars, panoramic views and steep inclines.
Chinatown-North Beach— Two vibrant immigrant communities, stylish laid back 'Little Italy' next to the crowded and largest Chinatown outside of Asia.
Union Square-Financial District— The center of shopping, theater and art in the city, next to the many skyscrapers of downtown.
Western Addition— A historic neighborhood with many Victorian homes that was once a hotbed of African-American culture. Within the area is also Japantown, the center of San Francisco's Japanese population.
Haight— Famous for being the home of the Hippie movement, this once bohemian area, although gentrified, is still an eclectic treasure.
Twin Peaks-Lake Merced— Covering most of southwestern San Francisco, this area is home to many of the taller hills of San Francisco and the large Lake Merced park which contains the San Francisco Zoo.
Castro-Noe Valley— Colorful and cohesive, the Castro is historically known for being the cultural center of the city's LGBTQ community.
Southeast San Francisco— A mostly residential area, this district contains several bay-side neighborhoods, many nice parks, and Monster Park, home of the 49ers NFL team.
San Francisco has a mild climate, with wet, mild winters and dry summers. In most months, you can expect the temperature be between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius. Be prepared for cool humid weather, even in the summer (except September), when persistent fog often envelops the city.
English is the dominant language spoken in San Francisco. Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese is also widely spoken by San Francisco's large Chinese population. Spanish is also commonly spoken in San Francisco, especially among the Hispanic population, located in the Mission District.
From:www.wikipedia.com
NB2 Grammar: St.b.p.31 "Are you a positive thinker?" with the expressions: I hope so, I hope not, I don´t think so, probably... Reading: St.B.p. 32 "I´ll always love you" with Will used for promises offers and decisions. Read and write the correct promise on top of the paragraph. Phonetics: St.b.p.32 Word stress in two-syllable words like secret.forget,e-mail. Grammar: St.B.p33. Complete the bubbles with "I´ll/shallI?" section b. Complete the sentences with a verb. section c. Study the sentences and classify then according to offers, promises or decisions. Vocabulary: St.B.p.33 Verbs with back such as go back, give back. Listen and check your answers. Speaking: Communication, p.117 . Write in the bubbles "Shall I or I´ll" Listening: Song. White Flag by Dido. comple que lyrics with a verb and then answers questions. Homework: workbook,p. 24,25,26,27 NI2 Homework. Grammar, chapters 6,15,16 Grammar:Conditionals, a review on the three conditionals and words such as unless, provided... Speaking: Most of the time was devoted to this activity. - Finish sentences written on the blackboard about the second conditional -Chain of events about the third conditional - Complete sentences with the third conditional - A game also about the third conditional. Reading: St.B.p. 40 . A story about two mountain climbers. Read out and check mistakes Listening: St.B.p. 41 . About the end of the story. First some questions to aswer and then true-false statements. Vocabulary: St.B.p. 41. Strong adjectives.such as big-huge, angry-furious, tired-exhausted... You were announced a reading, listening and speaking test for this week. Homework: Wk.p. 27,28,29 and the last section of the photocopy about unless..
The city of San Francisco has been the theme of many popular crooners of the 50s , here you have an example by Tony Bennet ."I Left my Heart in San Francisco"
This photo was taken in Italy three years ago, I went with my husband.
I took this photo when we visited Rome. In the middle of the photo you can see Constantino's Arch and on the right a piece of The Coliseum. There were a lot of people there.
I can remember this day, it was sunny and we had walked very much.
I would like to return because I didn’t visit some places.
VANESA MARTINEZ VEGA
NB2
One of my favourite photos was taken in Niagara Falls.
I went to USA last year for a week and one of those days, we flew to Canada.
In the foreground of this photo, my husband and me are wearing a blue waterproof jacket. We look happy because we were about to begin an exciting trip.
Behind us you can see a boat called “Maid of the mist”, which has two floors, flags from Canada and United States and a funny crew.
On the dock, there are a lot of people waiting to get on the boat.
In the background you can see one of the marvellous Niagara Falls, the American one.
It was sunny day but there were some clouds.
I hope to return one day, although there are fantastic places to visit in the world.
CLARA HUERGO
NB2
I love this photo because I am with my wife and my son. A waiter took us this photo when we went to Palma de Mallorca last summer. We are having a drink and we are very tired because we were playing in the swimming-pool almost every day. Normally, weto the beach in the morning while the afternoon we stayed at the hotel. At night we enjoyed walking, There were a lot of people, above all German. It was a fantastic week and we are thinking where we are going in our next holiday.
LEANDRO CURTO
NB2
ALBERTO PINTOS NOVO has sent me this song which isn´t easy to follow; however he says it has hit the charts and you´ll probably like it. So here you are.
This is a photo of my last Easter holidays. I went to Huelva with my parents, my aunt, my uncle and my cousin. This photo was taken one of the days we went to visit Gibraltar and my father took the photo.There were a lot of people walking across the long street. In the middle of the photo my mother and me are holding hands. On the left we can see my aunt and a part of my cousin. In the long street we can see many different shops: of clothes, food, and a lot of things. There, we knew a shop assistant who said to us that normally there aren´t many people in the street but on holidays there are many tourists.It was a sunny, warm day. I would like to return because the visit lasted only one day and I think the place is very nice. I would like to stay there for more days.
ANA SUAREZ PULGAR
NI2
- Speaking: Picture description with mark for the first term.
- Speaking: St.B. p.28 "Hooked on Caffeine" with some questions to discuss and a quiz. then another pair work speaking activity about caffeine. You had to memorize some information
and tell your parter whether the statments are true or false and why. - Reading: St.B.p.29 ."Confessions of a Coffe Addict" dealing with the grammar aspects of habits in the present tense (usually) , past tense (used to) and to be/get used to doing. Grammar Bank,pg 132 with the rules and exercises. Two photocopies about the same topic we didn´t have time to finish. - Homework: Some more students have to describe a photo. Grammar, unit 18 and the exercises we didn´t finish in class.
Biologists think pufferfish, also known as blowfish, developed their famous “inflatability” because their slow, somewhat clumsy swimming style makes them vulnerable to predators. In lieu of escape, pufferfish use their highly elastic stomachs and the ability to quickly ingest huge amounts of water (and even air when necessary) to turn themselves into a virtually inedible ball several times their normal size. Some species also have spines on their skin to make them even less palatable.
A predator that manages to snag a puffer before it inflates won’t feel lucky for long. Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to fish. To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote.
From: National Geographic
NB2 - Homework : I collected the compositions you had for homerwork. Let me remind you that if that particular day ,you can´t come to class, just send it to me through the "contact" section in my blog. - Grammar:St.B.p. 17 simple past tense . Grammar Bank p. 128 with the rules and exercises and p. 155 with the list of irregular verbs. We read them out and checked their meanings. Then I gave you some photocopies about SIMPLE PAST and we did many of the exercises. - Phonetics: The correct pronunciation of the simple past can only be reached by listening to songs or watching TV. We saw some basic rules on St.B.p. 17 and practised the most common regular verbs. - Listening: St.B.p. 17 "A holiday where everything went wrong". you had to correct the wrong statements . Remember that you have the CDs ,so you can listen to these class activities whenever you fancy. - Homework: Grammar, unit 10 "was/were". Workbook.p. 13,14 and do the remaining exercises of the photocopies about the simple past.
NI2 - Homework: Phrasal verb exercises . - Grammar: St.B. p. 146: adverbs which are often confused, e.g. specially -especially. late-lately. St.B.p. 15 .Writing: Joke where you had to insert adverbs to make it more vivid and interesting. Grammar, units 99,100 about adverbs. We saw the rules and the activities were left for homework. - WritingSt.b. p. 156. How to make a composition more lively by using adverbs and intensifiers . - Reading: ST.B.p. 16 with true-false statements and a vocabulary exercise. - Listening: Meeting people using different registers , and a listening of a speech given by the director of Studies to students starting a summer course. Remember that you all have the CDs to listen to these activities . - Reading: St.B.p. 17 Understanding signs and some very common daily life expressions you must learn so as not to seem rude. - Homework: Revise and check. St.B.p 19. Grammar, unit 99,100.
This is where I will be in July with some good friends : The Red Sea , not very far and beautiful.I can´t wait to get there .
For our last class we had a mock exam and afrer checking the mistakes I gave you the marks, which aren´t definite, only for you to know your progress . You´ll have to sit the CERTIFICACION EXAM to pass to the next course. All the information os in the EOI web page.
TIPS AND INFORMATION FOR THE EXAMS
- Come to the EOI with time in advance , don´t wait to the very last minute. - Take your IDENTITY CARD, otherwise you´ll have to rush home to get it. - Do as you´re told in the exam , follow the teacher´s instructions . - Write with a pen in black or blue ink. Never use a pencil . - Read the questions VERY CAREFULLY . Don´t rush , you must know what you´re doing . - The written part will take place : Basic Level : 1st June, Intermediate level: 4th June . At 16,00 Reading comprehension: two exercises and 45 minutes - Writing: two exercises with 75-100 words for the Basic Level and 180-200 for the Intermediate Level.Timing: 90 minutes. - Listening: two exercises with 20 questions . Timing: 35 minutes for both Basic and Intermediate level. - Speaking : You must check the list in the EOI board when you come for the written part. . Basic Level:10th June, Intermediate Level: 11 and 15 June.
- Marks: 23th June and 22nd September.
GOOD LUCK ,YOU ALL DESERVE TO PASS
Quick Yogurt Cake
This is a quick and easy cake to make. You could make your own strawberry yogurt if you add some strawberry jam to some plain yogurt. Ingredients 150 Gram Strawberry yogurt 175 Gram Self raising flour 150 Gram Sugar 25 Gram Butter, melted 2 Eggs, beaten 65 Gram Mixed peel, chopped 15 Gram Flaked almonds Method Makes 14 slices
Mix together the yogurt, flour, sugar, butter and eggs until smooth. Stir in 50g mixed peel and pour into a 900g greased and lined loaf tin.
Sprinkle remaining peel and almonds over the top of the loaf and bake at 180 °C Gas 4 for 45 minutes. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out. Serve cut into slices.
THIS BLOG IS GOING TO HAVE A REST , SO SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAYS!!!!
Albert ,I sincerely thank you for your contribution with the songs . This blog wouldn´t be the same without your music.
The time...early 5th century. As the Roman hold on Britain got progressively weaker and the Roman Empire tottered on into a creaky old age, England was subject to a fresh influx of settlers from the area of modern Germany. These settlers, tribes of Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians, may have first come to England as mercenaries in the Roman army. In the wake of the Roman withdrawal British leaders, perhaps under a powerful overking, Vortigern, hired these mercenaries for protection. Mercenaries can be helpful as long as they are paid, but when the money ran out the Germans rose in rebellion.
The Anglo-Saxons. These Germanic tribes are the "Anglo-Saxons" to whom we owe much of our tradition, language, and physical heritage.They poured in upon the Romanized Celts of Britain much as the Normans would do to them in later times, pushing the inhabitants of the island back into the hills of Wales and Cornwall, creating pockets of Celtic culture and language.
At first the British inhabitants fell back to the heights of the old Iron Age hill forts. There is evidence that many forts were reoccupied in the late 5th century. Gradually, however, even this struggle proved in vain, and the Germanic invaders settled throughout much of south, east, and northeast England.
The Roman warrior. It is during this push for settlement that the next and greatest British hero was born, the legendary King Arthur. Was King Arthur real? Not in the sense of the wonderful medieval romances popularized by Thomas Malory. There were no knights in shining armour searching for the Holy Grail in Arthur's company. In all likelihood there was no Round Table or Sword in the Stone. What there was instead was a very brave warrior, who may not even have been named Arthur, leading the remnants of romanised British resistance against a steady onslaught of foreign pagan invaders.
Conflicting claims. In researching this material I found definitively that Arthur was Welsh, Celtic, or Breton. That he fought the Saxons in the north, in the south, or in Wales, around the year 450, or 500, or 525. That he was and wasn't a king, who was or wasn't named Arthur. That he was a figure of imagination and a real person.
The real Arthur (maybe). It seems that there was a war leader, whose name we do not know, who defeated the Saxons, checking their advance temporarily. In later years people remembered this leader with longing; "Oh, if we only had ... to lead us now". Eventually the name Arthur adhered to this folk memory, and his list of accomplishments grew. Arthur is in many ways greater because we do not know the truth; it can't get in the way of peoples' need to create a saviour who is waiting to come to their aid when times get tough.
The real Arthur may have been a man named Ambrosius Aurelianus, or perhaps his war leader, who defeated the Saxons in a major battle we know as Mount Badon, (which may possibly be South Cadbury, in Somerset) halting their advance for as long as forty years. In the end, however, the superior might and numbers of the Saxons and their allies were too much for the islanders, and Arthur's efforts became little more than a historical footnote. A terrifically romantic and exciting footnote though, for Arthur and his deeds were woven like a silk thread into the fabric of myth and legend in which Celtic storytellers delight.
NB2ºA/C -Homework: The compositions applying for a job were collected and workbook pg 73,74 - Reading: a reacding activity similar to the one you´re going to have in the exam. - Speaking: St. B. pg 95 "so and neither" and a game with cards pracctising the same structures. - Listenig: As I don´t have the video the activity was focussed as a listening . The title "On the Phone" . Allie is going back home . Making telephone calls and social English, that is, common expressions. - Writing: St. B. Pg 97 How to state an opinion with the advantages and disadvantages. This is very important as it can be both a speaking activity or a writing one. - Homework: A composition title Do you like christmas holidays? , and if you have tiem pgs 98,99 of your St. b.
NI2ºE - Homework: Grammar, units 47,48 and 50 about Reported speech and questions about the set of exercises . - Listening: St. b. pg 91 Private Investigation. To spot the wrong words and write the correct ones. - Reading: St. B. pg 92 , a passage with true-false statements. - Listening: the story of the real Barbie. Questions and true-false statements. - Grammar : Clauses of contrast, is spite of, despite, although...Grammar Bank pg 140 with the rules and exercises - Homework : Grammar ,unit 113. Watch this video abloth King Arthur. It great! and very good practice, indeed.
