Passive voice

The passive voice in English is formed in this way:

TO BE (tense)   +   PAST PARTICIPLE (meaning)

We've seen in class that this form is much more frequent in English than in Spanish because it's used instead of impersonal sentences in Spanish. Take into account it's not possible to have a verb without its subject in English so when this subject is not important, not known or not said we should use passive voice. Have a look at these examples:

• Most people say...   =   It is said ...     (Se dice que....)
• We can speak English here   =   English is spoken here   (Aquí se habla inglés)
• They opened a new exhibition yesterday  =  A new exhibition was opened yesterday (Ayer se abrió una nueva exposición)
• Someone sent an email yesterday   =   An email was sent yesterday   (Se envió un email ayer)
• Someone has sent a letter to Susan   =   Susan has been sent a letter  (A Susan le han enviado una carta)

Some other typical expressions or examples of passive voice are:

• This book was published in the UK 
• The conversations are being held in secret (Las conversaciones se están llevando en secreto)
• America was discovered in 1492 (América fue descubierta / se descubrió en 1492)
• The film is directed and starred by G. Clooney 
• I've been told you're getting married next Monday (Me han dicho que te casas el lunes que viene)
• John was given the job after the interview (A John le dieron el trabajo después de la entrevista)

Here you have a very easy page which explains the use of passive. If you want to have a look go to this link: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/activepassive.html

To finish with here you are some exercises to practise:

• http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/passiv.htm : this is the exercise we did in class
• http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive : here you have a really good explanation of passive and then you can find exercises at the bottom. The level is not too high but quite useful.
• http://www.e-grammar.org/passive-voice/ : again exercises and explanation
• http://www.autoenglish.org/gr.pas.i.htm: very easy but quite complete
• http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive/exercises?05
• http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl-passive-voice-exercise2.html

Infinitive or Gerund? (NI1 y NI2)

The use of gerund or infinitive is rather hard for Spanish speakers although we have a similar construction. Pay attention to the difference in meaning between these two sentences:

Vi a tu hermano jugar al futbol           ------            Vi a tu hermano jugando al futbol

The problem is that after certain verbs we use infinitive (with or without TO) or gerund. And there are some which can be followed by both, with or without change of meaning. 

It’s difficult to explain the rules for using one or the other but in general you might say that infinitive has a certain idea of future, potential action while gerund is usually referred to present or past ; e. g.: Remember to buy some bread but I remember buying some bread at the baker’s when I was a child.

Here you have a link which is quite useful to understand how to use these two no personal verbal forms: http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/part_1.htm and then you should see this http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/part_2.htm; but if you want to have a larger explanation you can go to http://www.e-grammar.org/infinitive-gerund/ 

Apart from the links above, there are many lists of verbs you can find on grammar books or on the internet. This page is another example :  http://www.iei.uiuc.edu/structure/structure1/gerinfvbs.html

It’s hard and difficult to learn ths list by heart so you’d better do some exercises with a context to practice with this. Some possible exercises are about filling in the gaps or multiple choice. There are quite a lot if you use the internet like these ones:

• http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/gerund_infinitiv.htm
• http://a4esl.org/q/h/9801/el-to-ing.html
• http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/index.htm with different levels of difficulty
• http://www.e-grammar.org/infinitive-gerund/test1-exercise1/
• http://www.e-grammar.org/infinitive-gerund/test1-exercise2/
• http://www.e-grammar.org/infinitive-gerund/test1-exercise3/
• http://www.e-grammar.org/infinitive-gerund/test2-exercise1/
• http://www.e-grammar.org/infinitive-gerund/test2-exercise2/

If you want to do something different to learn this prompt of grammar, go to

http://anasuarezingles.blogspot.com/2009/04/infinitive-vs-gerund.html : you have two videos about the use of infinitive or gerund.

Someone like you

One of my students asked me about this song and I must say it's one of my favourite ones so here you have an exercise to practise:

•  Go to this video and try to understand the conductor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qemWRToNYJY . Try to do this exercise of filling the gaps with the introduction of the conductor of the programme:

"There's nothing quite like the ___________________ when you listen to the song ___________ by someone you don't know, you've never met but ______________ she's managed to _______________ exactly how you've felt in a _______________ moment in your ____________ -

This next artist has __________ able to do this ___________ after ___________. And it's for that ______________ she's carrying number one in astonishingly ________ counties. If you've ________ had a broken heart, ..... (sorry, but I don't understand the last sentence)

• This link is with the lyrics on top of the video and subtitles with the translation into Spanis at the bottom, just in case you want to know the meaning:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5w5v6jzU0Y&feature=relate

I hope you'll have a good time with this exercise.

Exams of Comunidad de Madrid

This is the last therm and we should take into account how short time we've got left before the exams so let's practise with them. Here you have the link to the official sample for the exams. You can take the exams on your own and remember the key is within the document so you can correct almost everything by yourself. The link is:
http://www.educa2.madrid.org/web/eoi/nuevas-pruebas-de-certificacion;jsessionid=694AA4E350AC057E102A0B86D440B147
Nevertheless I'd like you to do the first task of writing ( the short one) on the official sheet you can find on this link. Please print it and give it to me as a class exercise of writing. I'll mark it as if I were in the exam so do it in the recommended time and pay attention to what you're asked to do.
Bring it to class for the following week, please. See you!

Quantifiers (NI2)

In lesson 5b we're dealing with quantifiers. You can go to these links to have a further explanation:

• http://www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_grammar/quantifier.htm : you'll find the explanation and some exercises at the very end.
• http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-quantifiers.php : here you have a very easy exercise to start with
• http://www.grammarbank.com/quantifiers-grammar.html : a bit more difficult
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFxECbqhEjI : a very easy video explaining quantifiers
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23l0gFmVifQ : this is a continuation and explains the use of determiner/quantifier + OF . Quite interesting
• http://www.ihbristol.com/learn-online/exercise-general/advanced/vocabulary/containers-and-quantifiers/152/ : this exercise is related to containers better than quantifiers but it's practice
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv129.shtml  : the difference among a quantity, an amount and a number of
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv203.shtml : this is for another problem with similar forms such as a little/little, a few/few, etc.

Working at computer room

Today we'll work with the computers while I'm testing the oral skills. Here you have some exercises to do and some pages to visit:

• http://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/intermediate/?cc=hu&selLanguage=hu : the official web page of your text book.
• http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/phrases.html : here you have different levels and topics for typical conversations. With audio for the sentences (a bit static but useful)
• http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omaudio/contenidotematico.htm : in different levels you have some short conversations to practise situations. Many topics.
• http://esl.about.com/od/intermediatelistening/Intermediate_Level_English_Listening_Comprehension_Exercises.htm : a traditional page for listening. For other skills or grammar go to  http://esl.about.com/od/intermediateenglish/u/continue.htm 
• http://www.dailyesl.com/ : a basic list of listening. 
• http://www.english-4u.de/grammar_exercises.htm : if you want to practise traditional grammar exercises go to this link.

Apart from these web pages remember you have the usuful links such as BBC Learning English or you can practise with some other songs. Here you have some of my favorite ones recently:

• Adele: Someone like you  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AW9C3-qWug
• This version of Israel Kamakawiwo of a classic: Somewhere Over the Rainbow  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAzEhjooP3s
• Coldplay: The Scientist  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z2wTU8PONg

Grants for students

Last week I told you there was a link to get some grants to learn or to practise English in Europ. Here you are the information I have:
There has been published some news about seminars in English on the noticeboard of the class (you have a copy below). They are partly paid by the European Union and if you want to know more about it you should go to the links or ask at Vicedirección at school:
TALLERES Y SEMINARIOS EN EL EXTRANJERO SUBVENCIONADOS POR EL PROGRAMA EUROPEO DE ACCIÓN PERMANENTE GRUNDTVIG ( 2011-12) PARA PERSONAS ADULTAS.

PARA QUIÉN	NOMBRE DEL PROGRAMA	FECHA INSCRIPCIÓN	DURACIÓN	FINANCIACIÓN
Personas adultas ( * 18 años) *Consultad bases.	Seminarios Grundtvig sobre cualquier tema: arte, salud, lenguas, etc.	Fecha límite propuesta por el oragnizador.	Entre 5 y 10 días. Fechas según organizador, entre el 1/09/12 y el 31/08/13	La ayuda se ingresa a la institución organizadora, y cubre viajes, alojamiento, manutención y costes del seminario.

 No hay límite en cuanto a número de seminarios o talleres a solicitar.

 No hay que solicitar subvención. Los interesados presentan solicitudes directamente a la institución organizadora.

Prioridad a personas de grupos sociales desfavorecidos.

El Catálogo de talleres y seminarios está por publicar (Catálogo´12) no obstante se puede consultar el del año pasado porque todavía hay talleres que se pueden realizar en el 2012. En el enlace:http://ec.europa.eu/education/grundtvig/doc/catalogue11_en.pdf 

Consultar todas las bases en: http://www.oapee.es/dctm/weboapee/documentacion/2012/parte-iii.pdf?documentId=0901e72b81091ae7

Para más información dirigirse a Vicedirección en esta Escuela Oficial de Idiomas en horario de tarde Miércoles de 18.00 a 18.30 y de mañana Jueves de 11.30 a 12.00 h o al personal de Programas Europeos en la DAT ESTE (Calle Alalpardo s/n).

Another link I wanted to give you is about grants for students who are already becarios to learn foreign languages (English, French and German). If you are interested click HERE