Writing

Writing in English - Redacciones en inglés

How to Write a Composition: 14 Steps (with Pictures)

Common Writing Problems for Non-Native Speakers of English

5 Ways To Improve Scientific Writing For Non-native English Speakers

Thanksgiving

The story of Thanksgiving

  

Hoy se conmemora en los EEUU Thanksgiving -Día de Acción de Gracias- Es una de las festividades más tradicionales en Estados Unidos y se celebra todos los años el cuarto jueves del mes de noviembre.

El primer Thanksgiving lo celebraron en 1621 los primeros peregrinos. Ellos habían viajado desde Inglaterra a América en 1620 en el barco Mayflower y desembarcaron en Plymouth. Escapaban de las restricciones de la iglesia de Inglaterra y también de la pobreza. Tras un primer año muy duro y difícil conmemoraron su primera cosecha. El presidente Abraham Lincoln inició la conmemoración a mediados del siglo XIX durante la Guerra Civil estadounidense.  

El frenesí por las compras para el día siguiente a esta celebración, viernes, conocido como Black Friday, es muy significativo entre los estadounidenses y es semejante a nuestras compras de Navidad.

Children's day

"The one thing all children have in common is their rights. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard"

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

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Understanding English tenses

Aprender los diferentes tiempos verbales en inglés requiere su comprensión también en español, mira los siguientes enlaces que te ayudarán a entenderlo.

Comparativa de tiempos verbales español / inglés.Archivo

 Verb tenses chart

Past Perfect

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Form of Past Perfect Simple

Exercises I

Exercises II

Simple Past / Present Perfect / Past Perfect, exercises

Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous I

Present Perfect Continuous II
Present Perfect Continuous III
Present Perfect Continuous IVIf you need some exercises check this link

Present Perfect

Present Perfect = Pretérito Perfecto, gramática en español

 

Video on Present Perfect tense II

Present Perfect: For and Since




Jaromir's Grammar Ear : The Present Perfect with For and Since

 
Present Perfect: Ever

Visit this page to learn about Present Perfect grammar and exercises.

If you need some exercises check these links

For & Since

For and Since II

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Halloween

Halloween History
Halloween listening
Halloween Quiz
Halloween Jokes and Horror Humor 

Welcome to a new school year

Happy summer

El curso ha terminado y llegan las vacaciones. El blog se queda para quienes han de recuperar y seguir estudiando; son muchos los contenidos, pero no olvides el:                         "First things first".

Hay que empezar por lo básico y para ayudarte, a continuación encontrarás una tabla muy completa con todos los tiempos verbales y su formación en inglés. Ya sabes que es importante identificar y reconocer los tiempos también en español. 

Bloomsday

Bloomsday is celebrated on June 16th every year in Dublin and commemorates the work of the Irish author James Joyce. The name of Bloomsday is called after the main character, Leopold Bloom, in his most famous novel - Ulysses -(which is set on 16 June 1904). 

Joyce chose the date as it was the date of his first outing with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle; they walked to the Dublin suburb of Ringsend. 

 The novel, Ulysses,  follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8 a.m. on 16 June 1904 through to the early hours of the following morning.  

Conditional sentences

Songs using conditionals (If clauses)

Exercises

2nd conditional exercises

Modal verbs

 Modal verbs grammar

Can

Could

Be able to

Must (subjective obligation)

Must not, Mustn't (prohibition)

Should (advice)

Would

Exercises I

Exercises II

Exercises III

Exercises IV

How to write a CV / Résumé

Europass Curriculum-vitae 

Example 1
Example 2

Sample phrases and suggestions

Reading:    How to write a resumé: Dos and don`ts

Get that job

Making an Application / Your CVSample CVSample High School ResumeExamples of Good and Bad CVsCVs for Students or First Time Job Hunters – How to Write a CV That Rocks! 

100+ Great Resume Examples

Job offers /vacancies

Available jobs

Read some offers for babysitting and nanies in UK

Babysitter

Waiters /Waitresses

'World's Toughest Job'

World book day

Reading for pleasure is one of the most important things one can do. Neil Gaiman

World Book and Copyright Day 2014

The history of the written word is the history of humanity.

The power of books to advance individual fulfilment and to create social change is unequalled. Intimate and yet deeply social, books provide far-reaching forms of dialogue between individuals, within communities and across time.

As Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for attending classes, said in her speech at the United Nations:

Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons.

Reading is food for the soul

On 23 April, World Book Day is celebrated all over the world. In Spain this is a day to encourage reading and the enjoyment of literature in a different way. It is also a day on which the great universal writer Miguel de Cervantes is particularly remembered with the presentation of the prize which bears his name, the most important distinction in Spanish letters.

Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare died on the 23rd April 1616.

Writing an email

The introduction

In this section we use opening expressions and the reason of our email. We can also thank or answer a previous email which we received.

A veces nos cuesta empezar una carta o email. Una buena forma es mencionar la razón por la que escribimos después de un “opening expression”. Esto ayuda a que el compositor y el lector entiendan el propósito principal de la carta o email. El párrafo de introducción solo consta de algunas líneas. 

§   Opening Expressions: How to start an email / letter

How are you?
How have you been?
How’s everything going?
I was glad to hear from you.
I hope things are going well with you these days.
I hope you are doing fine.
Hope you are well.
What’s new?

§  Reason one is writing:

I am writing because …
The reason I am writing is because …
I wanted to …
I would like to …

§  Opening Expressions when we answer an email / letter

Thanks for you email / letter
It was great to hear from you
It was so nice to hear from you.
Sorry for not writing earlier
I hope you and your family are well
 

§  Responding to news

Sorry to hear about…
Glad to hear that you’re all well
Good luck with …
Hope you feel better soon.

Body

This is the most important part. Here we talk about the main subject and expand with details about the reason of writing the email. If we talk about two different things it is best to write another paragraph.

Intenten ordenar sus ideas en el cuerpo principal para que puedan desarrollar un patron lógico para ordenar sus ideas.  Cuando tienen mas de una idea podrían empezar con:  “First, I wanted to let you know…”  Esto ayuda a que el lector pueda entenderlo mejor.

Then if you need to ask for something I suggest the following expressions:

§  Asking for something

Can you please…?
Is it ok if you …?
I want to …
Would you mind …?
I was wondering if…

Conclusion

§  Closing expressions

 
Anyway, / Well that’s all for now
Hope to hear from you soon / Looking forward to hearing from you soon
Send my regards (love) to…
Take care / Best wishes / Regards / (Lots of) love from…
Sincerely,
Stay in touch / Keep in touch
Bye for now
See you

PS Please send me the photos of our last trip

Antes de mandar el email o carta asegúrense de leerlo completamente para ver si hay algún error ortográfico. También analicen si cumplieron con el objetivo de mandar el mensaje que querían y que tenga un patrón lógico.

From http://www.inglestotal.com/como-redactar-escribir-emails-cartas-informales-ingles/
Examples: (images from carmenlu.com)

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Descripciones: otros ejemplos

Santiago Fernández. 

 DESCRIPTION.

My name is Santiago Fernández but my friends call me “Santi”. Santi is short for Santiago. I am 26 years old and I come from Spain. I was born in “El Borge” a small town near Málaga. I came to Britain in 2005 and I have lived in Bristol since then. I love cycling and swimming. I am an ordinary person, nice and polite and reliable. I am quite tall and my mother says that I am handsome. My hair is neither short nor long , it is fair and wavy. My eyes are light brown (chestnut) and I like wearing a jacket and tie. I work in a Estate Agency. In the photograph I am wearing a red tie, a dark blue jacket and a blue shirt and a pair of camel trousers.

Margaret Woodat. 

DESCRIPTION.

My name is Margaret and my surname is Woodat. My friends call me Maggie, Maggie is short for Margaret. I am 45 years old and I come from Britain. I was born in Chichester, a historical village in the South of England. I came to Spain in 2002. I love playing golf and tennis. I am very friendly and hardworking. I am quite tall and slim. My hair is long, light brown and very straight. My eyes are dark brown and my mouth is big. Some people say I am very polite but I just try to be kind to everyone. I work in a Bank in Algeciras. In the photograph I am wearing a brown and yellow dress. I love casual wear, I do not usually wear formal dresses or suits.

My life is very easy here in Spain; I love the Spanish way of life and the Spanish weather. 

The date

How to write the date - Fill-in Exercise

How to say the date - Fill-in Exercise

The months - Crossword

Days of the week - Crossword

Days of the week, months

The clock

Real conversation

Future tense: will

Future tense

Simple future

Future exercises

Future exercises II

Let it be by The Beatles

April fool's day

April fools' day or All fools' day is celebrated today in many Anglo Saxon countries, it is similar to our "Día de los inocentes". People usually pull pranks and jokes on each other.

English conversation 1

Pronouns and Adjectives

                              Personal Pronouns         Possession

Grammar Exercises - Possessive Pronouns.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS/ADJECTIVES 

Subject and Object Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns

Pronouns and possessive adjectives  

Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives, reading

Customize

How to Customize a Bike

How To: Neon Bike Rims Using Duck Tape

8 Ways to Cut Up T-Shirt Sleeves & Off the Shoulder

How to Customize Leather Shoes

Saint Patrick's day

Today Irish people celebrate Saint Patrick's day, the patron saint of Ireland

International women's day

• 1909   The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on 28 February. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.

And another wonderful example of spirit of self-improvement: Maysoon Zayid. You can, can

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