Friday, 25 April 2014

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

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.

Monday, 21 April 2014

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)

***********************************************************

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.

Sunday, 20 April 2014

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

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Real conversation

Monday, 7 April 2014

Future tense: will

Future tense

Simple future

Future exercises

Future exercises II

Let it be by The Beatles

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

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.

Friday, 28 March 2014

English conversation 1

Monday, 24 March 2014

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

Friday, 21 March 2014

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

Monday, 17 March 2014

Saint Patrick's day

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

Friday, 7 March 2014

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

Transcript

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Have you ever heard this song?

Listen to the song by Brandy and complete the gaps with the past participles of these verbs: be, love, find, dream, have, need, search, close, try.

Present Perfect and Past Simple

Listen to this interview and pay attention to the use of Present Perfect Simple and Past Simple.

Ejercicios para distinguir el Present Perfect del Simple Past

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Present Perfect with Already, Just & Yet. Exercises

Antes de hacer los ejercicios que figuran debajo, debes leer atentamente las explicaciones del uso y colocación en la frase de Already, Yet y Since, para ello puedes revisar estos enlaces:

Gramática sobre Already, Yet y Just

Otra explicación gramatical de Already, Yet y Just

Explicación de Already, Yet, Just, For y Since

Practica el uso y la posición en la frase de Already, Just & Yet en este enlace y con estos otros ejercicios

Complete the sentences using: Just, Already or Yet

Present Perfect, Yet, Already or Just

Time expressions: Already, Yet, Just

Monday, 17 February 2014

Yet & Already

Usos de Already

Usos de YET

Comprueba este enlace para evitar confusiones con YET, ALREADY y STILL

Jaromir's Grammar Ear : The Present Perfect with Just, Yet and Already

Friday, 14 February 2014

Saint Valentine's day

St. Valentine's day exercises

Valentine's day, History, facts and videos

Valentine's day Quotations

Lyrics

Monday, 27 January 2014

Comparatives II

Comparatives

Superlatives

*** Exercises on comparative and superlative adjectives

*** Double comparatives: The more you study, the more you learn.

*** The superlative story

*** Reading Comprehension

Thursday, 23 January 2014

Comparatives and superlatives

Formation of the Comparative Adjectives

Remember that in comparative sentences the second term of the comparison is preceded by THAN, do not use that instead of than.
Peter is taller than Julian

Sonia earns less money than Sofia

Exercises I

Exercises II

Exercise on reading

Formation of Superlative Adjectives

There are lots of means of transport. The car is probably the one that most people use. However it is not the safest way of travelling. In fact, road traffic accidents are one of the most common sources of personal injury. And everybody knows that the bigger the car's engine, the greater chance of car accidents.

Exercises I

Exercises II

Exercises III

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

Parts of a story

In this page you can see the vocabulary of the parts of a story, and try this one as well.

Protagonist /hero
Plot
Setting
Index
Theme
Main Idea
Topic

Elements of a Story Lesson Plan, watch the video.

Monday, 20 January 2014

Jamie Cullum - Next Year, Baby

Check the Lyrics and practice!

Monday, 13 January 2014

Future "going to" practice

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
(Eleanor Roosevelt)

Vocabulary

Future. Going to, grammar and exercises

Future. Going to Exercises I

Future. Going to Exercises II

Future. Going to Exercises III

Future. Going to Exercises IV

Thursday, 9 January 2014

Plans and intentions 'going to'

Going-to-Future Grammar Rules and Explanations

Going to Future

Going to-future - Statements - Exercises

Exercises on going to -future- Questions

Exercises on Going to - Future- Negative

Present continuous or going to future – drag or shoot game

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

New term, new expectations

Welcome to this new term!

Let's talk and write about our holidays.

Find some connectors to help you to organize and write your story.

Most New Year's resolutions have usually gone out the window by February. So let's be realistic! We, this year and in this group are making resolutions just for the month of January.

Make your resolution now !!!

Think about something simple in order to get positive feedback before the end of January

If you just think of doing better in school is your first success! Congratulations for setting a positive goal!

Some examples: Top 40 New Year Resolutions

New Year resolutions:

In this lesson, students are introduced to and discuss the topic of New Year resolutions, while focusing on the form and use of ‘going to’ to express personal intentions.

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela, who led the emancipation of South Africa from white minority rule and served as his country’s first black president, died/passed away at 95.

Nelson Mandela's legacy: how life got better after Apartheid

Read and find out more about the Apartheid

Nelson Mandela's Release From Prison

Thursday, 5 December 2013

Past Simple again

Past simple and irregular verbs

Thursday, 28 November 2013

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 de mañana viernes, conocido como Black Friday, es muy significativo entre los estadounidenses y es semejante a nuestras compras de Navidad.

Paradógicamente este año en tres estados de los EEUU se ha declarado ilegal la apertura de las tiendas para este fin de semana, según este artículo del Huffington Post.