PUNCTUATION TIPS

Look at the answers to the activity I gave you last week to help you with the use of the "comma":

1. When going on a trip, I like taking my guitar with me.
2. I've been to France, Germany, China and Spain.
3. Next week, I am going to have a party, so I invited my friend, Mark and Sue.
4. There are exactly 4,897,341 people living in this city, most of whom take a train, a bas or a tram to work.
5. "Look at this", he whispered.
6. Paulina, his wife for many years, decided to live in Greece.
7. As the plane was coming to a halt on the runaway, I was beginning to feel less nervous.
8. The thief had very impractical shoes, so he couldn't run very fast.
9. "I'm warning you", said the teacher, "don't even try to cheat, or else you will be expelled from school".
10. I dedicate this work to my brothers, Jonh Smith and God.
11. Sarah, the most intelligent pupil in the class, was always late for work.
12. I said that she is intelligent, not pretty.
13. Once the storm was over, we could sail to the island.
14. Given the terrible weather conditions, it is surprising that the holiday was so enjoyable.
15. India, a truly beautiful, interesting and exotic country, is now a popular holiday destination.
16. During lunch, at the campus cafeteria, Henry noticed the dirty tables, the overworked cashiers and the high prices of food.
17. During the race, I tried to keep up with Mark, who can run 100 meters in under 12 seconds.
18. To study for the exam, Bill drank seven cups of coffee, which kept him awake all night.
19. I only earn 2,000 USD a month for my hard work, and my wife gets 12,000, which is unfair.
20. Ron, who is 15, was doing his best to win the contest, but he failed.

WRITING TASK: ANECDOTES

Last day we learned how to tell an anecdote. This is the powerpoint Kerrin used in class (Thank you, Isabel):




Remember I told you to write an anecdote, and to help you with that writing task I showed you this document.

To finish, read the following anecdote:

"Here is a good story to show why you shouldn't leave things to the last minute!. 
I'll never forget the day I had to hand my first essay in to literature teacher- what a nightmare!. "I want the 350- word essay on my desk by 10:30" he ordered at 7.30 in the morning. "Oh my God!", I thought, I couldn't believe my ears. I was supposed to write an essay, as long as the Quijite in just 3 hours! I felt like bursting into tears, but instead,  I sat in front of my laptop determined to do it. 
It was 10 o'clock, and I had just finished and was about to save it when, all of a sudden, the lights went off. I was absolutely livid and just wanted to run away from it all. Obviously, I didn't have time to prepare another essay, so I googled and just copied a report I found on the net. What a big mistake! Unfortunately, that essay had been written by my teacher himself!. 
I still feel embarrassed every time I remember that awful event."


Hope it helps!

VOCABULARY: describing disasters (answers) & KEY WORDS FOR WRITING: like and unlike (answers)

Click here to check the "vocabulary" activity on pag. 126

Click here to check "Key words for writing" on pag. 127

UNIT 7: THE WORST HONEYMOON EVER (NATURAL DISATERS)

UNIT 7: "TELL A STORY FROM TWO DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW"

USEFUL LANGUAGE

Telling a story:


"I was just having a shower when ...."
"All of a sudden/ Suddenly/ At that moment ...."
"I saw/heard that man shouting"
"In the end/ Eventually ...."

Comparing two stories:

"The man said it was midnight, whereas the woman insisted it was at one o'clock"
"According to the man, it was dark, so he couldn't see a thing"
"The old lady was absolutely certain it was a clear night"


Now, click here and here to listen again to these two people involved, somewhat, in the incident. Try to find the differences between their two stories.

Click here to check the script.

After listening to their two versions, who do you believe? Why?

UNIT 7: NARRATIVE TENSES

Hello everyone!

Here you have the power point on narrative tenses and time conjunctios:



If you feel like practising narrtive tenses a bit more, click on the links below:

• PAST SIMPLE
• PAST CONTINUOUS
• PAST SIMPLE OR CONTINUOUS?
• PAST PERFECT SIMPLE
• PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
• PAST PERFECT SIMPLE OR CONTINUOUS?
• PAST SIMPLE OR PAST PERFECT?

Do you still need more practice? Click here, here and here and complete the activities
proposed. 

Click here to check your answers

See you on Wednesday.

UNIT 7: EXTREME WEATHER AND NATURAL DISASTERS

Click on the "National Geographic" web to see pictures, read texts and listen to some pieces of news about "extreme weather and natural disasters"

You may also click here to complete some online activities to revise the vocabulary learnt about that topic.

Here you also have a powerpoint showing different natural disasters:

And to finish, a video dealing with the "Top ten infamous natural disasters in the last 100 years"

UNIT 7: VIDEO-ACTIVITY "POLAR VORTEX IN THE USA"

Hello everyone,

This is the piece of news we watched last day in class:





Do you feel like listening to some other news about that extreme cold weather? If so, listen now to some people experiencing this extreme weather conditions in Chicago and complete the gaps with a word or phrase. Click on comments to check your answers.

• The Mayor of Chicago advices citizens to (a) ______________.
•  Lynn (b) ______________in Canada. 
• For her and Lina what you have to do is dress in (c) ______________
•  Paul carries (d) ______________ in his gloves.
•   Christer is from (e) ______________ so before leaving he’s going to do (f) ______________. He describes this  (g) ______________ weather as (h)_______________.

WRITING TIPS: PUNCTUATION

Have a look at these two documents which may be very helpful to you when dealing with punctuation:

"A guide to punctuation"
"Punctuation tips"   (extract taken from UCHSK Writing Handbook 2011)

Hope they help!

UNIT 7: WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE?

Let's start with the video I showed you in class today:



Here you are some links to help you with  The Weather.

• weather vocabulary 1 
• weather vocabulary 2
• words in weather reports 1
• words in weather reports 2 (a quiz)
• weather idioms 1
• weather idioms 2

 Now, click on the links below to listen to some weather forecasts and conversations about the weather:

• Everyday English conversations: It is said that if it wasn't for the weather, English wouldn't have anything to talk about!
• Weather forecast: the four seasons
• Friday's weather forecast
• The Weather channel (US English!)
• BBC weather

Finally, have a look at this nice video. You can learn a lot from it:



Enjoy yourselves,

Ana

UNIT 6: ACCOMMODATION "DISCUSSION QUESTIONS"

Upps! I nearly forgot!

These are the "Discussion Questions" for you to prepare the topic in unit 6:

UNIT 6: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS “ACCOMMODATION”

• Which type of accommodation do you prefer (a tent, a camping van, a hotel, …)? Why?
• What’s the best/ worst place you’ve ever stayed in? Why?
• Have you ever had any problems with …

-          hotels?

-          renting accommodation?

-          sharing a room/ flat?

-          any other kinds of accommodation?

           What happened?

           Did you manage to solve the problem? How?

• List advantages and disadvantages of different types of accommodation. 

Hope it helps.

MID-COURSE REVIEW FEBRUARY 2015

Hi everyone!

It's time to stop and revise everything learnt from the beginning of the course till now. To help you, last day I gave you this kind of board game to revise grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, ...:





To check your answers click here

See you next day!

UNIT 6: TO HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE

                                              


Are you one of those people who wax their legs or do you prefer to have them waxed?










I wax my legs every two weeks  / I have my legs waxed every two weeks


Here you have the powerpoint presentation we saw last day in class when talking about the passive structure "HAVE/GET something DONE":

FEBRUARY TEST 2015

Next week we'll start with our February tests. The different written parts will be at the usual time of the lesson and for the oral test you'll be called in pairs on a particular day and time:

9th February
* CE: 9:20 to 10:30 (approx.)
* CO: 10:45 to 11:15 (approx.)

11th February
* EE:  9:30 to 10:45 (approx.)

16th and 18th February
Oral tests

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Now that your February tests are round the corner, it might be a good idea to have a look at the following document containing the assessment criteria used to mark your writing and speaking tests.

Ana