Hi everyone! I'm really sorry but today we are not having lessons, some of you already know that I was ill last Monday, and I'm not feeling ok today, so we will have to review exams after Christmas holidays, but you can see your marks in the school next Friday.
Anyway , I hope to be better for the party on thursday, and wish you all a merry Christmas.
December 21, 2011
November 22, 2011
3 Questions with and without auxiliaries.
Hello!
I know that you want to review questions with and without auxiliaries, so here you have some practices.
Exercise 1: you have to match the sentences with the right translation.
Exercise 2 : Correct the mistakes in the sentences. (the keys are in the second page)
Exercise 3: Make questions for these answers.
See you tomorrow in the party! Do not forget your hats! :)
November 18, 2011
0 Price tag!
Hi! I promised you another song about money, and here you have!
Buuut, don't forget that you have to complete Vocabulary bank about money on page 147!!
Before you listen to the song, have a look at this vocabulary, which will help you to understand the song better:
DAMN= An emphatic word (sometimes a bit rude but not here). Here it is giving emphasis to the word "mysterious".
GOT= You have got.
SHADES= (slang) Sunglasses.
HEELS= Shoe heels, design to make you look taller (see picture)
EVERYBODY LOOK= This is an imperative form (otherwise, if it were a present tense it should be "everybody looks"). When the subject is "somebody/someone" we use the plural forms "them, they, their, themself" but with a singular meaning to avoid "he" or "she" because "everybody" can be used for male, female or both:
- Everybody look to their left
- If you see anybody there, tell them to come.
- Someone is talking to themself in that room or is it the TV?
WANNA= (colloquial.) Want to.
PRICE TAG= A little tag attached to something to show its price (see picture).
AIN'T= (coll.) The negative form of the verb to be or to have:
- It ain't expensive = It's not expensive
- You ain't no doctor = You aren't a doctor
- I ain't go no money, man= I don't have any money
CHA-CHING= The sound that a cash register makes when its drawer is closed after money has been put inside. Used in conversation to indicate that the person being spoken about is going to or already has made quite a profit at little expense. ( this is Ka-ching in Shania Twain's song, do you remember?
If you double click on any of the words in the lyrics, that you don't understand you will have the definition.
So, let's play the song!!
Click and try to complete the lyrics of the song, you have the video at the right of the page.
Leave your comments: did you like the song?was it difficult? do you think life is about money?do you think money can buy happiness?
Hope you enjoyed!
Buuut, don't forget that you have to complete Vocabulary bank about money on page 147!!
Before you listen to the song, have a look at this vocabulary, which will help you to understand the song better:
DAMN= An emphatic word (sometimes a bit rude but not here). Here it is giving emphasis to the word "mysterious".
GOT= You have got.
SHADES= (slang) Sunglasses.
HEELS= Shoe heels, design to make you look taller (see picture)
EVERYBODY LOOK= This is an imperative form (otherwise, if it were a present tense it should be "everybody looks"). When the subject is "somebody/someone" we use the plural forms "them, they, their, themself" but with a singular meaning to avoid "he" or "she" because "everybody" can be used for male, female or both:
- Everybody look to their left
- If you see anybody there, tell them to come.
- Someone is talking to themself in that room or is it the TV?
WANNA= (colloquial.) Want to.
PRICE TAG= A little tag attached to something to show its price (see picture).
AIN'T= (coll.) The negative form of the verb to be or to have:
- It ain't expensive = It's not expensive
- You ain't no doctor = You aren't a doctor
- I ain't go no money, man= I don't have any money
CHA-CHING= The sound that a cash register makes when its drawer is closed after money has been put inside. Used in conversation to indicate that the person being spoken about is going to or already has made quite a profit at little expense. ( this is Ka-ching in Shania Twain's song, do you remember?
If you double click on any of the words in the lyrics, that you don't understand you will have the definition.
So, let's play the song!!
Click and try to complete the lyrics of the song, you have the video at the right of the page.
Leave your comments: did you like the song?was it difficult? do you think life is about money?do you think money can buy happiness?
Hope you enjoyed!
November 15, 2011
0 FUTURE
Hello!!!
Remember that in 1C we saw future forms with will, be going to and present continuous, so here you have a small presentation to review them.
here you have some exercises to practice.
More exercises soon!
Remember that in 1C we saw future forms with will, be going to and present continuous, so here you have a small presentation to review them.
here you have some exercises to practice.
More exercises soon!
November 10, 2011
0 Describing personality
Good morning!
Yesterday I enjoyed a lot the class. Thank you for singing! You did it quite well!
Remember that you have to answer the e-mail on page 17, please remember to use vocabulary bank, page 146.
By the way, I forgot to tell you about Lyricstraining and Lyricsgaps which are two great opportunities to work and learn English with songs!You also have the link in the USEFUL PAGES Section of the blog.
Have a good weekend!
Yesterday I enjoyed a lot the class. Thank you for singing! You did it quite well!
Remember that you have to answer the e-mail on page 17, please remember to use vocabulary bank, page 146.
By the way, I forgot to tell you about Lyricstraining and Lyricsgaps which are two great opportunities to work and learn English with songs!You also have the link in the USEFUL PAGES Section of the blog.
Have a good weekend!
November 8, 2011
0 Past simple vs Past continuous
Hello!
We will go back to our 2nd year book soon, so I don't want you to forget that we were talking about Past simple and Past continuous. Here you have a little story about these two tenses.
And if you want to read more, click here.
Now that you know a lot of things about the past it's time to practice!
Exercises!
October 30, 2011
October 25, 2011
0 Tenses
Hi again!
Some of you have told me that you need to review some of the tenses, but TAKE IT EASY (relax), we will review all of them but step by step.
You can start having a look at present simple and present continuous and after that you can do some exercises using both tenses.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
and finally a little test just in case you have more free time!
More tenses soon!
See you tomorrow!
Some of you have told me that you need to review some of the tenses, but TAKE IT EASY (relax), we will review all of them but step by step.
You can start having a look at present simple and present continuous and after that you can do some exercises using both tenses.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
and finally a little test just in case you have more free time!
More tenses soon!
See you tomorrow!
0 RELATIVE CLAUSES
Hello!
Here you have some material to review defining relative clauses. There are some things that we haven't seen in class (WHOM) but I think it is explained in a clear way and you can practice with some exercises.
Click here to review grammar and...
...here you have some exercises:
Exercise 1 (Can the relative pronoun be omitted or not?)
Exercise 2 (If you think that the pronoun can be omitted you have to choose the pronoun in parentheses)
Tranforming sentences (Join the two sentences using a relative pronoun)
Another exercise (You have the key in the second page, so, do not cheat!)
Leave me your comments if you have any suggestion or doubt!
See u in class!:)
October 18, 2011
0 Express yourself!
“As vocabulary is reduced , so are the number of feelings you can express, the number of events you can describe, the number of the things you can identify! Not only understanding is limited, but also experience. Man grows by language. Whenever he limits language he retrogresses!”
Sheri s. Tepper, A plague of Angels
Sheri s. Tepper, A plague of Angels
Hello everyone!
I'm so happy to be with you in Almonte and I think it is a good idea to share with you this blog because it is another way to keep in touch with you and also a possibility to help you to keep on (continue to do something) learning English outside the classroom.
I hope you find the blog interesting and useful, and start using it frequently! Please, feel free to leave comments.
Last day in class we were talking about food habits and vocabulary of food, and that's why I would like to give you 5 tips to expand your vocabulary in English.
1. Context and Exposure
See or hear the vocabulary used in context
Sometimes you can guess meaning from the situation. What type of word is it (noun, verb, adjective)?
Look at the words around it.
Try to read or listen to as much English as possible
2. Pictures and associations
Sometimes seeing groups of related words and images can help you to remember
3. Understand Word Parts (prefixes, suffixes, roots)
Example: Prefix: Sub-/Meaning: under/Example of word: Submarine, Subordinate
4. Recognize collocations (words that go together)
Some words are commonly used with other words
Example:-agree with (someone)
-argue with (someone) about (topic)
5. Consider connotations and multiple meanings of words
Some words carry special or emotional meanings
Example: house vs. home
Some words can have many different meanings
Example: play, set, run
Here you have some links you can use to practice and learn vocabulary, you can check pronunciation and spelling.
-Spinandspell.com where you can practice spelling and pronunciation.
-Learningchocolate.com is a Vocabulary learning platform where you can find plenty of vocabulary of many different topics, and you can improve pronunciation and spelling with the different exercises they have to practice vocabulary.
-Freerice.com: In this page, apart from practicing vocabulary and grammar you can have a gesture of solidarity because they donate 10 grains of rice for each right answer you give through the World Food Programme.
See you in class!:)
July 11, 2011
0 Listening affairs
"Know how to listen, and you will profit even of those who talk badly"
Plutarch
Hello everyone!
Some of you have asked me to write about how to improve (make or become better) listening comprehension. It is true that this skill is most of the times one of the most difficult ones when learning English. I completely understand you because I still remember the first time I went to England, I could say that the very first moments that I spent in Nottingham (UK)were really frustrating, I couldn’t stop thinking that I had lost all my life studying and loving something that in that moment was completely useless for me.
If you are feeling like that, right now...Don’t panic! There are several things you can do to stop feeling this way.
If you think about how a baby learns to speak his or her native language, from the very beginning he/she is listening to people speaking around him all the time. He is receiving an input (the process of putting something in) which will help him to learn. That’s why is so important to be in touch with the language you are learning.
As I said before my first experiences in England were a little bit frustrating but I received some advices (recommendations) in Nottingham Trent University that I would like to share with you. This will not be the last time we talk about the listening skill but I hope that you find it useful!
The way we listen to something depends on our reason for doing so. If we have the radio on in the background, we are not probably listening very carefully; we just want to get a general idea of the topic. If we have asked for instructions on how to get somewhere, we should listen with more attention. It is because of this that we have to distinguish between different types of listening:
GLOBAL LISTENING:
This is when we simply want to get the main point of what we are listening to. We might only want to know the topic of a conversation, radio or TV programme. Native speakers do this type of listening frequently and automatically because they need to pay little attention to get the general idea. You that are learning the language may find it more difficult. You may feel the need to understand every word, and give up (stop doing something) completely if you don’t, and you may be disturbed by distractions such as noise and poor sound quality which are not generally a problem for native speakers.
Listening Strategies
How to improve your GLOBAL LISTENING:
Remember that it is not necessary to understand everything! Many words are not essential and you can get the message without getting all the words. Often what is important is emphasized or stressed, so try concentrating on that. You could try to predict or guess (suppose) what the words you are unsure of mean.
Prepare yourself before you start listening. Think about what about you expect to hear. Use the context or the situation, the intonation of the speaker and if you are watching a video/the TV, the expressions and body language of the people involved.
There are also clues in the language which help you predict what is coming: signals such as “There is one point I’d like to make.....” ; “ I’m afraid that....”(signals something negative will follow)
LISTENING FOR DETAIL:
We do this when we need to understand practically everything- public announcements at airports, for example. However, even here, it may not be necessary to understand every word. Did you know that approximately 40% of the words used in spoken language are non-essential? You just need to be able to separate the essential information from the non-essential.
Listening strategies
How to improve your LISTENING FOR DETAIL
The best way to improve this kind of listening is to take notes
- Use either linear or mapping techniques to organise your notes.
- Use symbols and abbreviations.
- Pay attention to signal words.
- Recognise examples.
- Use non verbal communication and context for meaning of unknown words
Songs are a great way to practice the listening skill and also to improve pronunciation. Check lyrics training, where you will find lots of songs classified by their level of difficulty.
You can also look for PodEnglish user on Youtube, in this channel you have lessons from beginner to advanced level, and can be interesting to get used to listening to people speaking in English.
More articles and new links soon!
Have a good week!
June 26, 2011
1 Useful pages
Hello!
As you can see, I have added a new section in the blog called useful pages where you will find links to pages I find interesting or useful for your learning. When you start learning a language it is very important to be in touch with that language and the Information and Communication Technologies are the most important tool to facilitate that.
Today I'm going to analize two webs that I use:
-The first one is TED. In this page you can find speeches and videos about hundreds of different topics. What do I like in this site? I really like the huge variety of topics, so you can choose what interests you, and you can find subtitles for the videos in more than 50 languages.
-The second page I want you to know is busuu. Now, we are living the social networks craze, languages are in too.
Busuu is a social network where you can learn 7 different languages.It is absolutely free, although they have some contents that can be only used by those who have a premium account.You create your profile where you say the languages you speak and the languages you want to learn, choosing your level in all of them. In this way, you can correct the exercises of the people who are learning your native language and you are corrected by natives too.
The social aspect of this web is very important because you have the possibility to chat and interact with natives of the language you are learning. Here you have a couple of videos where you can see how it works.
More pages soon!!
Now a small quotation as a gift!
" I speak two languages, Body and English" by Mae West
June 22, 2011
2 Follow me on twitter!
You will be the first to know about new articles in the blog!
And that's not all! I will share with you useful idioms, phrasal verbs, strange words, music, videos, and much more!
Today we have "LIKE A MOTH TO A FLAME", which means to be strongly attracted to something regardless of likely negative consequences.
Shakespeare referred to this idiom in The merchant of Venice in 1596:
"Thus hath the candle singd the moath."
I feel quite identified with this idiom, so I always try to keep flames away!;)
See you soon!
June 21, 2011
0 First steps!
So... you have decided to learn English!Congratulations!your "window" is a little bit nearer!But the question is why?
Why do you need to learn English?Do you need it for your job?or perhaps you want to speak English because you love travelling? Maybe you need English because it is the way to have a wider access to information.
The answer to that question is very important because it will influence a lot your way to the acquisition of the English language.Once you have answered and found out what is pushing you into the English language, there are some steps that you should take:
1.- Try to identify your necessities and stablish clear and real goals to achieve.
2.- Find the strategies to reach those goals
3.- Be honest! You should recognize your strengths and your weaknesses.
4.- You should take advantage of your environment. That is, if you are going to lessons, take advantage of your teacher, your school, Tv, internet, mates, friends etc.
5.- If you don't have a proper teacher or you want to go faster, be careful when selecting , and using the right materials when you are searching for them on the internet for example. But don't worry I'm here to help you!
6.- Open your mind for the new culture and for the new experiences that learning english will bring you!
Once you have taken these 6 steps you are ready for your travel! I will help you to be residents in the language, not tourists!;)
June 18, 2011
2 Hello!
I'm sure you are wondering what is "living in English". LIVING IN ENGLISH is the final aim of this blog.
I did not create this blog only as a support for my learners to improve their acquisition of English, I did not create this page, only to keep in touch with you, I did not create this, only to bring closer to you a different culture, but I did decide to open this space because of all of these reasons, and because I am convinced that when you decide to learn a new language, in this case English, you are opening a window to a new language, a new culture, and to a new way of thinking that bursts into your life and captures you forever. It will modify your own way of thinking, and will help you to see and understand the world and people from a different perspective, with a much more open mind.
As I experienced it, when you start learning a language and open that window, there is a turning point when you stop studying English to begin to LIVE IN ENGLISH, and that is what I try with this page, we will open that window together, I will be a mediator, to help English to capture you.
Welcome everyone!
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