Exchanging conversation in Alcala and Madrid

I was sent this link about exchanging conversations and experiences with other students in Madrid and some student asked me about the topic. I'm not sure they are still in use or active. They have events and some meetings to talk to other people. I don't know much but abut it but you can have a look into it and then you'll tell me how it works.

• http://www.bemadrid.com/

Another possibility is here in Alcalá but just for university students I gess but I don't know if it works well. The links are:

• http://www.uah.es/servicios/servicios_ayudas_prestaciones/asociaciones/erasmusnetwork/bolsa_idiomas.shtm
• http://www.uah.es/estudios/otros_estudios/idiomas/clases_conversacion.shtm#clases

There are also some places for exchanging conversation in English in Alcala:

• THE GREEN IRISH PUB  C/ Empecinado nº 7. 
• WHELAN'S is another Irish pub where you can meet foreigners to exchange conversation and I think they meet on Tuesday evening.

In Madrid there is a group for exchanging conversation called Multilinkual. . They meet on Tuesdays at O'Neill's (c/ Príncipe 12 - metro Sevilla o Sol) and on Thursday at Beer Station (Cuesta de Santo Domingo - metro Callao). The group is open so you can go whenever you want and if you need help you can ask David, the responsible there, to help you. You'll find people from everywhere and you can exchange English or other languages because many people are foreigners.

Peace in the world

A friend of mine sent me this video about a citizen form Israe talking about what Iranian people mean for him. I thought it was very interesting because of the message and because you can see a non-native speaker using English as a foreign language. The link doesn't have subtitles but I think you'll be able to understand it pretty well:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYjuUoEivbE

Connected to this topic, I found this other video with the typical speech of Charles Chaplin in the film The Great Dictator. His English is perfect but I've used the link with subtitles because the message is fantastic as well.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBpX0pkWKDY

To finish with, I'd like to share this link with the song Imagine by J. Lennon. I hope you'll enjoy this post; my intention was to show you that no matter you use to learn English but from my point of view it's much more attractive when you use things that mean something to you.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yseQLDzf-rk

See you at school.

An example of how to pronounce Perfect Conditional

Some time ago I explained how difficult  it was the ponunciatiion of the perfect conditional due to the contractions, that is, WOULD HAVE DONE is pronounced /wudv/. There is a good example of how to pronounce it in this link of Hablarmejoringles. If you click here you'll revise it.
However, I think it'll be funnier if you listen to Adele'S in song Rolling in the Deep, especially when she says: We could have had it all. You have two links to see what I try to show you but the second link is interesting because you have the lyrics in English and the subtitles in Spanish in the same version, but it's a bit fussy to read both at the same time so here you have both links:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3bzXdW-7AQ : just the lyrics, as a karaoke, to start with
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSokMPNiums : this is the version with lyrics and translation into Spanish

Enjoy this wonderful song! See you at school.

Modal verbs and idioms

Here you are a page with a good explanation of the difference between the most common modals: CAN - COULD - MAY - MIGHT. It's in Spanish and it's also quite clear, with a few examples, so you can have a look to check your knowledge of English modals. There is a list of idioms or common expressions which are quite interesting as well. To go to the link, click HERE. Once you've read this, try to do some exercises like the ones you can find here:

• exercise 1 : quite easy but it's some practice
• exercise 2 : some more exercises
• exercise 3 : this page is to go further in your practice and more modals are included. There is a tutorial and exercises. It's quite useful. 

As you can see the level is not so high but it's worth revising simple things from time to time to check you still do them properly.

See you in short time!

Tips for the speaking exam

Remember you are going to take the exam in groups of 2 or 3 people and there are two taks:

• TASK 1 : a short speech about a given topic. Pay attention to all the points you have to deal with. While preparing the speech, think about what grammar points you should use and revise the vocabulary you need there. Mind the entonation to avoid being boring.
• TASK 2: you should get an agreement about a topic. Don't be too pushy and let the other people speak. Address to the others to ask for information, explanations, opinions, etc. When you say something try to explain your point of view in different ways, giving examples, talking about your experience and so on.

Take into account not only grammar but entonation and fluency; don't rush but don't be silent, either. Try to use a variety of structures, tenses and vocabulary to enrich your speaking part.

Correcting mistakes

Here you can go to a link where you may see most of the typical mistakes mede by Spanish speakers; they have three levels so you should go to the intermediate or advance level:

• http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ommistake/contenidotematico.htm

If you want to check how similar Chinese is to Spanish, go to this link: 

• http://www.englishdaily626.com/c-mistakes.php : typical mistakes in Chinese and the right form in American English.

Practising listening comprehension

Although the format is not the same as the exam you'll sit at school, these exercises of listening comprehension for FCE could help you to practise:

• http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_listening_part1.htm: a multiple choice exercise
• http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fcelistening.htm : a true/false exercise (yes/no answer)
• http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_listening3.htm : matching exercise (just only 1 extra headline)
• http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_listening4.html : multiple choice exercise

Other exercise:

• http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0070082278/student_view0/unit13/activity_2__listening_exercise.html  : true/false exercise but I'm afraid I'm not sure about the level
•  http://esl.about.com/library/listening/bllis_job1.htm : you should write a short answer on a piece of paper and the click on the window to check the right answer.

I hope they'll be useful.