B2.1 - Past tenses

Verbs in past tenses can be regular and irregular. The regular ones have a common ending -ED which can be pronounced in different ways /d/, /t/ or /id/.
The irregular verbs have different ways of being formed but I usually recommend to learn them by patterns, as you can see in this link.

Ley's see the different ways of learning/reviewing irregular past:

• using the first letter: "Irregular verbs starting with... L" (much better if you do it as a competition with your mate, partner or a friend!)
• using topics: verbs conneted with money (spend / buy / get / steal / lose / pay); with schooling (learn, teach, read, write, speak, do...); with daily activities  (eat, drink, sleep, have, take, go, wear...) or senses (hear, see, feel, smell) and so on.
• according to the pattern: A-A-A, A-B-B, A-B-C or A-B-A (remember the photocopy I gave you in class) Here you are a video which explains the groups and it gives you the principal verbs as examples, and then this link with a list of verbs grouped by pattern.

Another problem is the rules of spelling. To review them, click here.

Just in case you lose the photocopy I gave you in class, here you are a traditional list (in alphabetical order) with the meaning in Spanish: click here or here (mind the phonetics in this last link!)

31st October: Halloween

Hi,there!
I wanted to give you some activities for this day so let's have a look to these links:

• Some explanation about Halloween: click here
• This link is about spooky stories, especially for children: click here
• But there are short stories for adults as well: click here
• Typical funny jokes for children: click here
• Why not some music? Ghost Story by Cold play: click here
• A video about Halloween in the UK: click here
• This other easy video is about vocabulary: click here
• Another video with a really different perspective: click here

                                             HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

C1 - Unit 2D: Comparisons

Although it seems to be something we've already seen hundreds of times, we should use it in a more accurate way. Here there are some examples to practise:

• exercise 1 (double comparative)  exercise 2  and exercise 3 (using as/like)    exercise 4

If you want to practise with idioms of AS ..... AS, here are you some examples:

• this is the video we saw in class    a long list to choose the ones you normally use or have a look on this much shorter list
• some exercises to work with this grammar point: exercise 1   exercise 2    exercise 3  exercise 4

If you are interested in idioms in general you can do these exercises: 

exercise 1    exercise 2    exercise 3

And for exercises on obbreviations on texting in English you have these examples:  exercise 1   exercise 2 exercise 3

That's English! - Module 7 - Unit 5: Social Classes (B1.2)

Althouhg this topic seems to be a bit difficult, we should deal with it and it has many possibilities. We are living in a society which has specific characteristics. Let's start with the general questions on this lesson:

• What does a social class mean to you? If you had to choose, which social class is yours?
• Are there events, sports or places that are popular with a particular social class in Spain? (For example: football, basketball, bullfighting, cinema, theatre...)
• What kind of discriminations are there in our country? Compare this situation with other countries such as the USA, the UK, France, Germany...
• What struggles for rights do you remember? Some ideas: against segregation, equal rights between men and women, to get a welfare state (estado del bienestar), compulsory education, healthcare for everybody, sexual discrimination, etc.

Activity 1

What makes a person change their social status: education, money, popularity and success...? Discuss with your partner and try to get an agreement on the topic.

Some people think that education or going to university is one of the best ways to change your social class to belong to upper classes. Here you are a listening comprenhension about Education. After doing it, let's talk about how important it is to rise in society. This is the exercise. 

Activity 2

Here are you a lot of questions related to discrimination. Discuss with your partner about some of them. Adapted from http://iteslj.org/questions/discrimination.html

• Have you ever been discriminated against? What happened to you? What was your reaction? Have you ever discriminated against anybody?

• Why do you think discrimination exists? Why do people discriminate?  What could you do to reduce discrimination?  What would you do to cope with discrimination? Why do we treat people differently? Is discriminating against a certain group of people ever justified? What do you think about quota or possitive discrimination?

• Do you think males and females are equal?  Do men earn more than women? Why?
• What king of sexual discrimination do you know? 

• Why is it that when children are small,they discriminate against other people that are not the same size and color as they are? Is discrimination something natural? Are our children going to live in a less discriminated world? 

Activity 3

Some people say that trade unions are going to disappear in a short term. Do you agree? What are the main consequences of that fact? Discuss with your partner but you can also use this reading comprehension exercise: click here 

Activity 4

About grammar, this lesson deals with connectors. Here you are  a good explanation with an exercise at the end. Click here

Activity 5
You can practise some listening comprehension about this topic but the level is B2 not B1. This video is about Working Women in Lesotho: click here

C1 - How to write a cover lettre

This entre is to show you some examples of cover letter for a writing exams of English. If you need a real cover letter you should go to specific links that could give you a hint of how to pass the ATS control (Applicant Tracking System)
If you surf on the internet you'll find cover letters next to applying for a job letters. They're not the same but this is just a revision of formal letters in a way so you can use these examples:

• The example in the British Council: click here
• An example of formal lettre applying for a job for CAE with comments: click here
• This is a C1 for EOI: click here

Hope this post will help you.

That's English! - Module 7 - Unit 4: Modern Family

This unit is about family and how this has changed in the last decades. Let's start with the topic with general questions to discuss in class:

• What changes have you seen in families since the 1950's?
• Which of these changes is the most remarkable and why?
• What are the main problems of being a single parent? Are there any advantages?
• What is the "boomerang generation" (described in your textbook, p.43)? Could you guess other reasons for coming back your parents' home?
• Compare your parents' family and the new models of family. What are the main challenges for "modern families"?
• What is the usual family in Spain? Are there any other kinds of families?

Modern Family is a very famous TV series and here you are an interview with the principal stars. They answer their audience's questions  about their characters but also about family and many other subjects in a humorous way: click here for the video. Try to do it directly and then use the subtitles.

About grammar, there is a reference to reminding things and promising. Let's use it in oral practice with these exercises:

Activity 1
Work with your partner and think of all the things a person should do in your house to keep it in good conditions until you come back from holiday. Tell aloud these actions using:

• Don't forget to...       Remember to...       Let me remind you to....   Could  you …..?

You can watch this video to see the meaning and use of these verbs: click here

Activity 2

On p.42 you have a revision of making suggestions and how to accept or refuse them. Let's work on this point by doing exercise 8 on that page and then we'll make some suggestions for these situations related below. Before starting talking you may watch this video about suggestions:

• Your friend wants  to go on holiday for a week but she/he doesn't know where to go yet ( to the beach, a city break, a cottage in the country...)
• It's your friend's birthday and you want to prepare something special for him/her (eating out, cinema, a surprise party...)
• It's your father's or mother's birthday and you don't know what to buy as a present: a book, a jumper, a cd, a voucher for a department store..

Activity 3

On p.43 there is a current topic about living at your parents' home. Discuss with your partner about this and tell your own experience. Think about pros and cons of living with them: money, independance, rules, personal life, etc.

Activity 4

As usual, here are you an exercise of listening (filling the gaps). It's not difficult but it's a help for getting used to doing this kind of exercises for the oral and written exams. Click here

Activity 5

Here you are another listening about raising children. We'll do it in class and then we'll share our opinion on the topic. The exercise is here

In the final exam of this module you'll find an exercise of filling the gaps in the reading test. Here you have a link with two examples to practise this kind of exercise: click here

Hope this post is useful for you and see you in class!

That's English! - Module 7 - Unit 3: The Older Generation (B1.2)

Introduction
This lesson deals with the topic of elderly people, which is pretty actual. As usual, we'll do some activities to practise oral skills in class.

General questions

• Do we take care of our elderly people? What measures can be taken to make them feel confortable in our society?
• Would you live with your parents when they were unable to do it alone? Give reasons for your answer
• Have you ever lived with an eledrly person? If so, what about your experience. If not, what problems would you face by sharing your home with them?
• What are the main problems that elderly people must face? Think about money, health, relationships, etc.
• Would you like to live a long life? Would you mind being an elderly person?
• Is there anything you can do to get older in good conditions? Explain what and give reasons for your answer.

Activity 1
Discuss with your partner what means to be part of the older generation. Use the questions below:
How old should you be to consider yourself an elderly person? What means to be old? Do you know elderly people? What do they say? How do they feel? Are there any places where they prefer to live?

Activity 2
Try to work out what advantages and disadvantages you can find about being old. Share your ideas with your partner. Speak about elderly people in your country. What are their popular pastimes, their hobbies? Do they travel a lot? Where do they go? Do they help their children? How do they do it?

Activity 3
Read these statements with your mate and say what you think about that. Give reasons for your answers or the pros and cons of each sentence:

• Younger people don't respect the older generation or they should do it at least.
• Elderly people should be looked after by their own family.
• When you get older you can't do many things. You should accept it.
• You are as old as you feel. You can do whatever you like, no matter your age.

Activity 4
Have elderly changed a lot in the last 50 years? In what way? Think of your grandparents' life and elderly people nowadays. What are the main differences between them?

Activity 5
Let's practise with the third conditional, also called "impossible conditional". You use them as a complaint or a regret about a past event. Here you are a link with some third conditional sentences to finish: click here. You can do it alone (at home) or with your partner (in class).

• Regrets from your past: If I'd studied/practised more, I'd have got better grades/qualifications
• You missed your frined's birthday party. Think about possible sentences such as: If I'd been able to go, I would have met Peter's new girlfriend
• Complaints: use the 3rd conditional to finish the following sentences sentences
• If I'd known you were coming...
• I would have told you the truth if ...
• If I'd had the money...

* Although this is the gammar point for this unit, we'll revise second conditional, that is, improbable conditional: If I knew you were coming...

Activity 6
In this unit it's explainded how to pronounce perfect conditionals and perfect modals (page 35, exercises 3 and 4). To help you with this, here you are a video with an explanation and examples on this: click here. The other video we'll see in class is this: click here

If you are interested in this topic about elderly people and aging here you are an article from the BBC: click here

Listening practice

Listen to this podcast about Aging Population from BBC Learnin English. Besides, here are you an exercise of multiple choice from ESL: click here; and this one is another post (take the fast option).

REMEMBER: The more you practise listening skills, the better you'll do it in the exam; but also you'll be able to speak much better if you do listening exercises regularly.

Don't forget to bring your compositions next week!

B2.1 - Unit 2B: Present simple and present continuos

This is a difficult issue for Spanish speakers as we have the same tenses in our language but we don't use them in the same way, especially when we use present continuous for future actions like Tomorrow I'm having dinner with Susan.

These videos may help you to revise this grammar point:

• this simple one
• this is a comparison between present simple and continuous

Some exercises you could do are these: exercise 1   exercise 2   exercise 3  exercise 4    a list of exercises to choose.

Pay attention to the verbs which are dynamic or static (which are not usually used in progressive forms) and the spelling of the -ING form (when to double the consonant and ending in -Y). As I told you in class, I'd rather speak about permanent actions (habitual present o present simple) or temporary actions (present continuous)

VERB	PRES. SIMPLE  (permanent actions)	PRES. CONTINUOUS (temporary actions)
HAVE	I´ve got/have a car (possession)	I’m having a shower (taking)
THINK	She thinks he’s nice (opinion)	We’re thinking of going away next (planning)
SEE	I see quite well (sense)	I’m seeing Peter (meeting)
FEEL	I feel sorry for you (habitual feelings)	I’m feeling sick (getting)

If you need more help, please let me know in class. See you!

C1 - Verbs followed by infinitive and/or gerund

In this lesson we'll have to practise with this grammar issue. You can find thousands of lists of these Verbs and I recommend learning them by doing exercises but also by hearing in mind useful exemples.

The other difficulty is to remember that TO may be a preposition as well so in those cases TO is followed by gerund as in the example of the book and some more:

• I don't get round to phoning you yesterday
• I look forward to seeing you soon
• My sister objected to spending more money on that

This is a link which shows you this problem: click here

To finish with, remember that many verbs followed by gerund and infinitive are related to indirect speech: 

• Followed by gerund: suggest, recommend, propose, admit, deny, etc.
• Followed by infinitive: accept, promise, agree, revise, offer, etc.

Just in case you need some help, you can have this list and do these exercises to practise a bit:

• exercise 1 (easy, as a warming exercise)
• presentation about reported verbs
• a kind of rephrasing to see how to improve your writing
• another exercise and this one as well

See yuo in class!

That's English! - Module 7 - Unit 2: Good science, bad ethics? (B1.2)

Introduction
In this unit we are going to speak about how development can be something good or something to be aware of. About grammar, we'll see purpose clauses. Besides, there is a review of connectors and how to use them to join and connect all the ideas expressed in a text.

General Questions

• Do you think there is a "good science" and a "bad science"? Give reasons for your answer
• Do governments and/or society should set boundaries to science? Which ones?
• Can you think of a dilemma connected to science or medicine, such as the use of stem cells, palliative cares, who is worth being save or what to do with terminal ill people?
• Taking drugs should be legalized? Under what conditions or in what cases drugs might be allowed?
• What technical advances would you like to see in the future? Explaqin how those improvements would affect our lives.

Activity 1
Which advances mentioned below do you think are more necessary? Discuss with your partner and give reasons for your answer.

• Advances in biotechnology, especially the use of stem cells.
• Safer, faster transportation
• Improvements in information technology: is it a necessity or an addiction?
• The use of IT: new devices and how to use them
• Space travel, as the last frontier and even as a touristic destination

Activity 2

The use of purpose is very usual in spoken English. Let's work with some examples. Find some sentences which express the meaning given below:

• To say the use or purpose of something:  A hammer is a tool for .... (-ING); a camera is something you use to .... (INFINITIVE); an umbrella is something people use so that they ...... (followed by A SENTENCE); we use medicines in order not to ..... (INFINITIVE)

• To say the reason for doing something: I started doing exercise to feel better. The doctor told me to do it little by little in order to avoid health problems. I trained more and more so that I could take part into a competition. I did it hard for geting the first price.

Try to do the same with your partner. Share your examples. This link will give you some examples as well: click here.

If you want to see a good summary of how to express purpose, go to this link. At the end of this page you've got a chart about purpose.

Activity 3 (use of conditional sentences)

In this unit there is a review of zero conditional or general truth conditional sentences (if-clause with present simple and main clause with present simple as well). Let's work with second conditionals or hypothetical/conditional sentence (simple conditional - simple past). Here you are some questions to work with your partner:

• What happens when you want to lose weight?  If you need to be slimmer you can do exercise; if I were overweight, I'd try to eat less
• What can you do to learn a language?
• Professional athletes need to take drugs to boost their performance.

Activity 4 (listening comprenhension)

Listening comprenhension exercise. You'll here some news about cloned animals. Fill in the blanks with a missing word. Click here
This other exercise is very useful to review passive voice. Although it is not in this unit I think it'll be a good help to refresh your grammar with this exercise: click here

Activity 5

See you in class!

10th October: Erasmus Day

I guess you've seen some posters and photographs about Erasmus programmes and projects. You know that our school is involved in an Erasmus KA-1 project called Retos, which deals with Blended Learning, Mediation and Level C1-C2. You can read about it on the posters exhibited on each floor of the school.

We joined the event promoted by the EU all around Europe and if you go to the web page of the Erasmus Day you'll see this:

Let me remind you that there is a contest among all of you who want to share your opinion about being European or your experience about Erasmus projects. If you take part in it, you're likely to win a 20-euro cheque to spend on books. The rules for the contest are at the hall of the school and on our web page. Join us and good luck!

B2.1 - Lost properties

Here you can see the videos we watched in class:

• the short animation film: click here
• the one about the lost property office in London: click here

C1 - Starting to prepare de exams: Mediation

This is very clear explanation of what mediation is and it gives you a sample to show you how to do it. Let's start with this: click here. Comunidad Castilla-La Mancha has this link about mediation but remember we use other charts for assessment.

If you want to know how it's measured, here is it a summary of the chart we usually use as examiners: click here

B2.1 - Unit 1B: Comparatives and superlatives

We've already seen this grammar point in class, but I want you to do some more exercises to practise so here are there some:

• Filling the gaps: click here 
• Using the pronoun one as well: click here

In the class we also saw expressions with double comparative such as The sooner, the better or The more, the merrier. If you need further explanation about this grammar point, go to this link (although it's a bit thick for your level). After checking the grammar, do these exercises to practise a bit more: first click here and then do this one and this other exercise.

Another use for the double comparative is just emphatic like in this sentence: she has more and more friends so she´s happier and happier

Apart from comparing qualities, we may compare quantities. In that case we use:

• MUCH / LITTLE / LESS / THE LEAST for uncountable (singular) nouns: much sugar, little money, less effort
• MANY / FEW / FEWER / THE FEWEST for countable (plural) nouns: many people, few books, fewer pens

We may need some practise with less and fewer so here are you some exercises: exercise 1,  exercise 2,  exercise 3, exercise 4, exercise 5; for useing much and many you can go to: exercise 1, exercise 2, exercise 3, exercise 4.