Thursday 20 December 2012

Christmas


Darren's talks about his feelings for Christmas season.
Listen to him and answer the following questions.
1. What does he like about Christmas?
2. What doesn't he like about it?
3. In his opinion what is the true meaning of Christmas?
4. What does he like to eat and drink at Christmas?
5. Does everybody like Christmas pudding?
6. What is it made of?

Do you agree with him?
Give your opinion. You can either write it down here in the section for comments or/and speaking on your own.

Friday 14 December 2012

Taking a gap year/taking a year off

 Have your ever taken a gap year?

 Where and what did you do?

 If you could take a gap year what would you do?

 If you could spend a gap year anywhere in the world where would you go?

 What would you like to do there?

 What problems do you think you might have?

Sunday 9 December 2012

Taking a gap year

Listen to Kate Harris talking about her gap year in Kenya

Saturday 8 December 2012

Talking a gap year/ taking a year off

Listen to four people talking about their plans for a gap year. Complete the missing information with up to three words.
1. Sarah thinks there are more ____________________________ in Rome, that’s why she’s going to try there first.

2. Adam wants to do something useful with _________________________ .

3. Adam’s going to do a training programme on _____________________.
4. Raff doesn’t ____________________________ doing much.
5. After some time on the beach Raff will probably ____________________________ the country a bit.
6. Karen thinks it’s not necessary to go abroad to do _________________________ you can do as much good in your own country.
7. Karen is going to stay at home helping the ________________ and the __________________ and people with drug problems

Listen to Sarah, Adam, Raff and Karen.

Present perfect continuous

Tim is being interviewed por a new position at a department store.



Present perfect continuous

Strong adjectives


Click here to do a game to see if you have learned strong adjectives

Thursday 22 November 2012

Homework

File 2A: Reading on page 22. Vocabulary Bank Money page 147. Grammar Bank 2A page 132.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Finance vocabulary



Present Perfect



The present perfect is a verb form which links the past and present. We use it when we talk about an action or state which started in the past and which continues up to the present time.
For example:
I've lived in London since 1994.
I started living in London in 1994 and I still live in London now.  Fatima from Iran takes on the present perfect challenge by making sentences based on the life of the actor Tom Cruise.

Listen

Can't buy me love, love


Can't buy me love, love

Can't buy me love
I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright
I'll get you anything my friend if it makes you feel alright
'Cause I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love
I'll give you all I got to give if you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give but what I got I'll give to you
I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love
Can't buy me love, everybody tells me so
Can't buy me love, no no no, no
Say you don't need no diamond ring and I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can't buy I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love



ka-ching!

20"Ka-Ching!" is a hit song by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was the second international single released from her 2002 album Up!. The song was written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Shania Twain. "Ka-Ching!" was the second release to Europe and Central American markets following "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!". "Ka-Ching!" has become one of Twain's most successful singles in Europe to date. The song deals with everyday greed in the common person. The line, "all we ever want is more" is the general theme of the song.



We live in a greedy little world--
that teaches every little boy and girl
To earn as much as they can possibly--
then turn around and
Spend it foolishly
We've created us a credit card mess
We spend the money that we don't possess
Our religion is to go and blow it all
So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall
All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store
[Chorus:]
Can you hear it ring
It makes you wanna sing
It's such a beautiful thing--Ka-ching!
Lots of diamond rings
The happiness it brings
You'll live like a king
With lots of money and things
When you're broke go and get a loan
Take out another mortgage on your home
Consolidate so you can affordTo go and spend some more when you get bored
All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store
[Repeat Chorus]
Let's swing
Dig deeper in your pocket
Oh, yeah, ha Come on
I know you've got it
Dig deeper in your wallet Oh
All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store
[Repeat Chorus]
Can you hear it ring
It makes you wanna sing
You'll live like a king
With lots of money and things Ka-ching!

Saturday 27 October 2012

How to use play, do, go and go for


We use the verbs play, do, go and go for with sports and activities.
Play
Play is used with ball sports or competitive games where we play against another person:
'How often do you play tennis?' - tennis is a ball sport.'I play poker with my friends on Friday night.' - poker is a competitive game. We play to win.'I don't like playing computer games.' - again, computer games are competitive so we use play.
do
Do is used for a recreational activity or a non-team sport that does not use a ball:
'I heard that you do karate.' - karate is a non-team activity.'I do crossword puzzles in my free time.' - crossword puzzles are not competitive.
go
Go is used with activities that end -ing. We go somewhere to do something:
'I'm going fishing on Sunday.''Are you going skiing this winter?''She said she was going swimming.'
go for is used with nouns
go for a swim, go for a bike ride, go for a walk, go for a drive.


Practice
http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blsport_doplaygo1.htm
www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/417.html

Which Equipment Do You Use To Play Various Sports?



We use many various types of equipment and clothing to play different sports.
You can learn some of this vocabulary here.

Where Do You Play.........?


 Sometimes it's difficult to remember the name of the place where you play certain sports, click  quiz 1 and you'll find some useful vocabulary about the topic.

 Here are the answers to the previous quiz

Monday 22 October 2012

Homework

Reading on page 9 and exercise f

Sunday 21 October 2012

Past simple/Past perfect

Click here to do some exercises  with past tenses

Monday 15 October 2012

Maradona and the 'Hand of God'


Click here to listen to the story "Maradonna and the Hand of God"
and say if the following questions are true or false. Then read the text and check your answers.
1. Argentina and England have been enemies on the football pitch for a long time.
2. In a famous 1986 match everyone thought a goal had been scored.
3. Maradona, who is small and well-built, scored a goal by punching the ball.
4. Maradona said at the time that God had told him to score the goal.
5. That goal helped Argentina to become World Champions and England fans have been annoyed by that since 1986.
6. The coach of the losing side, Bobby Robson, said that Maradona's second goal in the 1986 match was very badly played.

David Elleray - Referee

David Elleray is a House Master at the well known Harrow School in London. He has been a teacher all his working life. But he is probably better known for his part-time job as one of England's top football referees.
Listen to the interview

Sunday 14 October 2012

My favourite restaurant

Alex talks about his favorite place to have a nice meal back home in Australia

What qualities do I like in a restaurant?

What qualities do I like in a restaurant?

What's your favourite kind of food?

Healthy eating

Burgers could be as 'addictive as drugs'

Quiz: Healthy eating

Food in Britain

Food in Britain


Carmen looks at the different food that people in Britain enjoy eating and talks about how food in Britain comes from all over the world.



How To Make Spanish Tortilla

How to make Spaghetti Carbonara

Dieting



http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1615_6min_extra/page4.shtml

I can talk about diets

I never go on a diet; it's a waste of time. Diets list all the food that is good for you, but few people can keep them up. I haven't put on weight in twenty years. Here's why:

  • I eat almost anything, but I don't eat a lot. And I don't eat junk food.
  • I drink plenty of water. It's better for you than fizzy drinks, and cheaper too.
  • I avoid snacks between meals because most of them are fattening.
  • I've cut down on the amount of food I eat in the evening.
  • I do/get plenty of exercise.
From Oxford word skills intermediate. OUP

Where to Eat

Six people answer this question:

Do you prefer to eat out or cook at home?

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Homework

From the pack of photocopies handed out in class from  English File :
Communicative 1A
From student's book file 1A: page 4 Reading exercise Food: Fuel or pleasure
From workbook: page 4 reading exercise Taking our diet more seriously

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Slow city movement


Click here to read about the slow city movement.

Monday 7 May 2012

The "zero" article

The omission of the article "the"

List of Topics Second Term

Unit 3C: In the context of success and failure: Have you ever tried successfully or unsuccessfully to learn something.
Unit 4A: Schooldays
Unit 4B: Your dream house/ the place where you live.
Unit 4C: Friends
Unit 5B: Work-life balance
Unit 5C: My ideal job/ advantages and disadvantages of different jobs/personality and types of jobs.
Unit 6A: Shopping
Some tips :
In your student's book you have questionnaires in each lesson. Don't forget to revise those parts of speaking.
 In the workbook, you have a listening exercise. In most of these listening exercises you can listen to somebody talking about the subjects in the lesson.
Listening to them can help you improve your speaking, grammar and pronunciation.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus (published in May 1992) is a book by John Gray offering manysuggestions for improving men-women relationships in couples by understanding the communication style and emotional needs of the opposite gender. It spawned a series of follow-on books expanding on specific situations The book, as suggested by the title, asserts the notion that men and women are as different as beings from other planets. Gray adopts this metaphor as the central theme of all his books and seminars, likening men and women to the classical Roman god Mars and goddessVenus as ideal types.In contrast to some psychologists and feminists who emphasize similarities between the sexes, Gray writes almost exclusively about differences. Gray says that his "Martians" and "Venusians" are only stereotypes and cannot be applied blindly to individuals.An example of the theories it offers is that women complain about problems because they want their problems to be acknowledged, while men complain about problems because they are asking for solutions. Other concepts in the book are the difference between women and men's point systems and how they react under stress.

Adjective + preposition

Click here to find some of the most common adjectives with prepositions.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3

English prepositions and verbs

This list will help you remember English verbs and prepositions. Practise using them as much as possible to feel more confident.
Exercise 1

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Are you addicted to work?


Quantifiers, the article, ing/infinitive forms


Click here to do some exercises on these grammar points.

Quantifiers
The article
The ing form/ the infinitive

Sunday 15 April 2012

Alanis Morissette - Ironic


An old man turned ninety-eight

He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
Isn't it ironic, don't you think

[Chorus]
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought, it figures... (ES LƓGICO)


Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well, isn't this nice."
And isn't it ironic,l don't you think

[Chorus]

Well, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face
A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic, don't you think
A little too ironic, and yeah I really do think

[Chorus]
Well, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
And life has a funny way of helping you out
Helping you out.

LA VIDA TIENE UNA FORMA GRACIOSA DE PASAR INADVERTIDA

LA VIDA TIENE UNA FORMA, UNA FORMA GRACIOSA DE SOCORRERTE
SOCORRERTE

Friday 16 March 2012

My dream house


Various people describe what their dream house would be like, what it would have and where it would be.
Click here to listen to them.

The place where I live.


Click here to listen to 6 people talking about the place where they live.

Lesson A: first conditional■Lesson B: second conditional

Conditionals 1 and 2

Revision Second conditional

A place to live

Listen to the interview with Kevin Moll, an estate agent in a small town in Britain talking about housing in Britain. Is it the same in Spain?

Answer the following:
-Which types of homes are the most expensive?
- Do British people prefer to rent or buy their home?
-What type of house do different people tend to choose? Why?
- What is Kevin's ideal house?


Friday 9 March 2012

Revision Time Clauses and first conditional

Are A-levels getting easier?

Time clauses

Complete each sentence with the correct tense of the verbs given.

First Conditional

Click here to practice sentences with the first conditional.

Future time clauses


As soon as you get your exam results, call me.

We'll have dinner when your father gets home.

I won't go to bed until you come home.l

I'll have lunch before I leave.

After I finish university, I'll probably take a year off and travel.


Use the present simple (NOT the future) after when, as soon as, until, before, and after to talk about the future.

as soon as= at the moment when, e.g.
I'll call you as soon as I arrive.

More 

Sunday 29 January 2012

News English lessons

To practise listening and mainly exercises to fill in gaps you can listen to news on this website.

http://www.newsenglishlessons.com/

On the top left you have an entry that says mp3, click there to listen.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Modals of Obligation

Learning English - Quiznet

Today's topic: Modals of Obligation

Talking about appearance


Click here and you will listen to some people talking about how much thought they put into their appearance.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Acceptable Behaviour in England


Manners are Important

DOs and DON'TS (Taboos) in England. Click on the picture to find out.

Politeness,etiquette and manners

One of the most common words people around the world use to describe British people is 'polite'. In this edition of Weekender, Jackie explores politeness, etiquette and manners. Are the British becoming less polite? What is good etiquette?

Listen to the programme
Doug and Jackie talk about mobile phones. Is having a mobile phone important? Could you live without your mobile?

Listen to the programme