MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

Hope you enjoy your Christmas time with all your family and people you love.

Here you have a very nice Christmas song "All I want for Christmas is you" which is one of the songs in the really beautiful film "Love Actually", which I think is a very nice film to see at Christmas.




Also, the powerpoint we saw this morning to talk about Christmas:

(based on a Christmas presentation on www.busyteacher.com)

The Christmas songs in the powerpoint presentation:





See you next year!!!

Your teacher,
Ana

UNIT 4: SO & SUCH

Do you need more practice on "so and such"?

Click on the following link where you'll find both a bit of theory and an online activity.

Hope it helps!

UNIT 4: "COMMON WEALTH ECONOMICS FOR A CROWDED PLANET" (PG.30)

Hello everybody,

click here to check the answers to the reading activities on page 30.

UNIT 4: BBC NEWS

Hello!

These are the two pieces of news, about Spain and reported by the BBC, we watched and listened last day in class:





For more newstories visit the BBC website

WRITING BANK: REPORTS

Last day I gave you a document with information on how to write a report in English and told you to write a report on "The use of the Media in Spain". For more information and samples of reports, have a look at this really interesting site where, apart from helpful advice on reports, you can also find writing help for other different pieces of writing (letters, essays, ...):

WRITING REPORTS

UNIT 4: WHAT WORRIES YOU?

Extra listening on "Social Issues"

* THE DOLE

* WELFARE 


Click here to learn some phrases and vocabulary to talk about current social issues (very difficult, don't panic!!!)

UNIT 4: SUBJECT - VERB AGREEMENT

Last day we spoke about nouns and expressions which are always followed by singular verb, always by plural verb and by either singular or plural verb:

Remember:

ALWAYS SINGULAR:

* Subjects and Science: politics, statistics, physics, gymnastics, maths, ...
* Diseases: measles, shingles, mumps,...
* Games: dominoes, billiards, darts, draughts, ...
* The news
* A large amount of ../ A great deal of ... (+ uncountable words)
* Amount, weight, height, distance ..: Three dollars is not that expensive!

ALWAYS PLURAL:

* Binary words: glasses, scissors, trousers, jeans, ...
* Aggregate words: police, staff, people, cattle, poultry, offspring, ..
* Other words: fireworks, troops, clothes, headquarters, valuables, ..
* Adjectives as nouns: the poor, the rich, the homeless, ...
* A large number of ... (+ plural countable nouns)

EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL:

* government, team, council, media, means, series, species, committee,    
   family, ...

UNIT 4: SOCIETY (Vocabulary)

Are you interested in politics?

Click on the links below to complete some online quizzes to learn more vocabulary on politics:

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/vocabulary/esl-politics-elections-voting1.html

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/vocabulary/esl-politics-elections-voting2.html

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/vocabulary/esl-politics-elections-voting3.html

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/vocabulary/esl-politics-elections-voting4.html


This link will take you to a list of terms related to the topic:

http://www.saberingles.com.ar/lists/politics.html


Some listening practice:

Campaign Speech

Japanese Economy

UNIT 4: NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

After talking about what the language of headlines is, do you feel like editing your own newspaper? Click on one of the links below and follow the instructions. Later on you can print your own story and hang it on the wall in class. Don't forget to use some of the ideas on the powerpoint for an effective headline in English:

 
The Newspaper Clipping Generator

Your Good News

UNIT 4: HOW DO YOU GET YOUR NEWS?

Here you have the video we saw last day in class:

PRONUNCIATION HELP: SOUND AND SPELLING

Hello!

English is said to be very difficult because what you write is not usually the same as what you read, for example, we write KNEE but say /ni:/, quite different, isn't it?

Believe or not, there are some common spellings which match to certain sounds, for example, _ee_ is commonly pronounce /i:/. It might be useful for you to learn these "rules" so as to be able to "predict" how to pronounce a word.

Click here to download a document dealing with the correspondence between sound and spelling.

Remember, there are always exceptions!

You my also find some useful advice on the BBC learning English website.


Hope it helps,

Ana

WRITING HELP: SENTENCE LENGTH AND USE OF PARAGRPHS

 




 Last Monday I gave you back your reviews after checking them. If you remember, I told you about the use of paragraphs and appropriate sentence length. 

Surfing the net, I have come across some useful sites to help you writing good sentences and combining them into good paragraphs.

Click on the different links below:



1. SENTENCE LENGTH: SHORT - LONG SENTENCES

2. MORE ON SENTENCE LENGTH (with audio)

3. PARAGRAPHS

4. PARAGRAPH LENGTH

5. WRITING TUTORIALS (to help you write good paragraphs)


Checklist for creating well-written paragraphs: 

· Does the paragraph cover one main idea?
· Is this main idea clearly presented in the topic sentence, or at least very clear?
· Does each sentence in the paragraph support the point made in the topic sentence?
· Is the paragraph organized in a logical way?
· Do the sentences flow smoothly from one to another?
· Is the main idea sufficiently developed with examples, details, arguments, statistics and/or facts? 

Hope it helps you improve your writing skills,

Ana

WRITING ACTIVITIES (pag. 121, 122)

Click here to check the answers to the writing activities on pag. 121 and 122 I told you to complete.

If you find it difficult to understand the different meanings of the conjaction "OTHERWISE", read the information provided here.

Examples:

I studied a lot for my mid-term exams. Otherwise, I wouldn't have passed them all! (IF NOT)

The concert venue was overcrowded. Otherwise, it was fun. (APART FROM THAT/ EXCEPT FOR THAT)

UNIT 4: THE MEDIA

Last Wednesday, with the great help of Kerrin, you dealt with the Media.

First, these are the two videos we watched. The first dealing with the Media in Briatain, and the second is the one that Kerrin played about the Media in the USA:



Click here for the script




Test your "media vocabulary": Click here to try an online quiz to check the vocabulary you know on the media.

 Do you like reading newspapers? Click here to access some of the British and American newspapers available online.

You may prefer watching and listening to the news, if so, click on the links below:

BBC news
SKY news
CNN
NBC news 

We'll continue with the topic next Wednesday.

Nice LONG weekend!