NA1 - Unit 7B: Describing places

In this lesson there is an exercise of describing a photograph, which is not very frequent in our daily life. However, we usually describe places we've been to, destinations we enjoyed a lot or our own favourite sites. apart from the photocopies I gave you in class, here you are some exercise to improve your vocabulary and your writing:

• a video with adjectives for describing places: click here
• a presentation to help you improve your vocabulary: click here
• if you want to see a model of different descriptions of places , click here

I hope this entry is useful but remember to have these tips in mind when you'r describing a place:

• Start the description thinkning that the person who is reading/listening to you might not have been there before. Take into account the typical questions: where it is that place, think of relevant details for the location and don't take anything for granted.
• Use adjectives and adverbs to make the description more lively.
• Make clear paragraphs: 1) as an introduction, start with the location 2) the most important sites of that place 3) what to do there 4) why that place is important for you 5) as a conclution say why that place is so relevant.

See you after Christmas, guys!

Christmas Time

Christmas is very special in English speaking countries and you can find a lot of references on the internet. Here you are some links with videos, music and even recipes to try. I hope you'll enjoy everything. And I wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2016. Have a nice holiday!

Christmas

http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/ : this is a page with a lot of information about Christmas including traditions, history, explanations of typical things and some examples of Christmas around the world.

http://www.history.com/topics/christmas/christmas-traditions-worldwide this is a short video which explains the history and traditions about Christmas.

This other page includes videos about many topics related to Christmas:

http://www.history.com/topics/christmas

Christmas carols

This is also a worldwide tradition which is really famous. There are quite a lot of sites and videos with carols. Here you are just a few:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KG4yCPc_Tw : this is a video with some of the most famous carols with lyrics. It's a mix of them so try to see how many you already know.

http://www.carols.org.uk/index.htm : this British page has a large selection of carols with lyrics, music and some videos. As an example I've chosen these two:

• http://www.carols.org.uk/the_wassail_song.htm
• http://www.carols.org.uk/once_in_royal_davids_city.htm

But we are also used to listening the typical American carols, with more rythm. These are some of that kind:

• http://www.christmasclassics.com/american.shtml : a page with a huge amount of carols.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRqCphCjLG4 here you have the list of the 25 most heard carols.

Christmas recipes

Cookies are one of the most typical things to do at this time so try this recipe of shortbread, a delicious butter buiscuit or the traditional scones for teatime: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/shortbread_1290

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/scones_1285

But if you want to enjoy cooking something special with the most “special people” at home, we recommend you to make these funny recipes with your children:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/christmas-kids

That's English! - Module 9 - Unit 7: The future looks bright

In this unit we are talking about future plans, dreams and wishes. Apart frome the revision of future sentences, we are having a look at future continous: I'll be working on... We use tis tense when we are quite sure that something will happen in a precise future. For that reason you need certain expressions of time and here we've got some to say that something is likely to happen or we wish something to happen in the future:

• At some time in the future... I hope to be developing my career... In 10 years' time I hope to be working for a big company... This time next year I'll be living in London...

Apart from future continuous, we have perfect future. This tense is used for finished or complete asctions in the future: By this time tomorrow I'll have finished my work.

exercise 1: futuure progresive      exercise 2: perfect future

For a further explanation and to see some common expressions of time for these tenses go to these links:

• future continuous: click here or here
• perfect future: click here or here

Just to finish with, have a look about writing skills on the book and pay attention to the exercises based on your personal opinion as they'll be likely to be used in the oral exam.

NI1 - Unit 3B: Stereotypes

This is a very typical topic, especially when we talk about differences about men and women.
Here you are a video which speaks about this: click here
About grammar we've been working with articles. Here you are some exercises to practise:

• exercise 1     exercise 2     exercise 3
• the use of next/the next and last/the last: click here; for an explanagtion, click here

To finish with, here you are to songs which show the other's point of view:

• If I were a boy by Beyonce: click here
• I want to break free by Queen: click here

That's English! - Module 9 - Unit 6: As nice as pie

Tastes in food and clothe have changed a lot recently and this is the topic of this lesson. Let's start with some questions and/or reflections:

• In food: new products and new ways of cooking due to technology;  more allergies an new tendencies (celiac, vegan, Mediterranean diet, etc.) "globalization" of food such as sushi, tex-mex, couscous,  Chinese food, delicatessen stores and so on.
• In clothing: new designs and materials, people spend more time and money on going shopping; international trade marks such as Zara or Next; revivals or vintage clothes.

ACTIVITY 1
Discuss with your mate what changes in food have you notice in the place you live: supermarkets, restaurants, ways of cooking at home, products which are reduced and some others which have become familiar, etc.

Talk about your favourite food now and the one you loved as a child. Has your taste changed a lot?

ACTIVITY 2
In the book they talk about soul food. What's your favourite soul food? How do you make itor where do you get it? Ak your partner about this and give reasons and details with your answers.

ACTIVITY 3

Has your way of dressing changed a lot since you were a teenager? Talk about the main changes and try to explain why you've changed. What would you like to wear if you could afford it?

A good way to see how fashion has changed is to compare your dressing as a child and nowadays. What are the main differences?

ACTIVITY 4

Food an dressing are part of our own culture and both show a personal taste. Try to compare what you've learnt in the book about British style and Spanish style. Try to see the good points and the drawbacks of both.

In addition to these activities, remember you have some exercises in your textbook to practise your speaking. Go to them with your partner.

About grammar, this unit deals with quantifiers; here you are some exercises to work on this:

• exercise 1        exercise 2      exercise 3      

The other topic is relative sentences. remember this kind of clauses are used to improve your writing, to give more detail about something mentioned before and to have a more lively description. Here you are some exercises as well:

• exercise 1      exercise 2 with a list of exercises for advance level

Although this listening is not about the topic, it might be helpful to work with it; click here

NA1 - Unit 8A: Beat the Robbers... and the Burglars

This unit deals with passive voice; if you want to see a previous post from this blog you can click here. But the most important thing is to use it in a natural way as these tenses are much more usual in English than in Spanish. Let's remember some examples we saw in class which are really different from Spanish:

• I was given this parcel for you. It was left at my desk yesterday.
• Mr. Jonhson is said to be the new headmaster but I think he will be asked to change a lot of things at school.
• I was fined and my car was taken away by the crane

To keep on working on the topic, here you have some listening comprehension about crime: click here or here

As an example, here you are a piece of news from BBC to see how often it is to find passive voice; click here. But as it is the time of Thanksgiving and this article will give you some information about that.

That's English! - Module 9 - Unit 5: Fish for a compliment

This unit deals with body vocabulary, and it includes some idioms with parts of the body. Here you are a couple of links with a long list like this or this. It's very difficult to learn them all by heart so I think you should start with the ones which are similar to Spanish or which catch your eye and then you go on with the rest. Here you are some:

• to cost an arm and a leg; to use strong-arm; brain drain;to slip of the tongue; over my dead body; keep your chin up; to be all ears; to keep an eye on sth/sb; to keep your feet on the ground; to have a big mouth; to be a pain in the neck...

The previous week (and post) we saw the use of purpose sentences and modals to give advice. Let's practise orally in class with these activities; then you can repeat it at home:

ACTIVITY 1

Work with your partner and think about the typical problems you have at work (you needn't be sincere; it's just an activity). Then, try to give advice and try to get a solution saying. the purpose for it. As an example:

    I have a lot of arguments with my boss.  -----   You should try to be more assertive so that he has less chance to argue, don't waste your time arguing  in order to keep calmer, if I were you I'd try to avoid him as much as possible so as not to have so many rows, you could look for another position in the company in order not to deal with him any more.
You can also use this pdf to work with this topic; click here

ACTIVITY 2
Imagine you have to choose 5 changes in your life. Once you've don it, explain to your partner your choice and the purpose of that. When your mate is doing this exercise, try to ask questions and give some advice from your poin of view.

ACTIVITY 3
Purpose structures are really useful to describe objects; for instance, you explain what a tin opener is by using this form: a tin opener is a tool you use to open tins. think about some other examples like a camera, a computer, an ipad and so on.

To work with grammar, here you are some exercises: exercise 1 explanation and an exercise at the end here