Final exam writing advice.

Hello, everyone.
One simple way to get better, (or worse), marks is how you organise your writing. Have a look at the tips below, and think about how you can apply them to your own writing.

Writing  Advice:

·      Make a plan

·      Write in paragraphs

·      Use a range of vocabulary, even if you are unsure of the correct spelling.

·      Check tense endings, plural forms and word order in sentences.

·      Check irregular past tenses and question formation.

·      Use language that is appropriately formal or informal for the task.

·      Write clearly, so that the examiner can read your answer.

·       

DON'T

·      Don't misspell key words which appear on the question paper.

·      Don't use the exact words from the question paper too much.

·      Don't mix formal and informal language.

·      Don't use formal linkers in an informal letter.

·      Don't worry if you run slightly over the word limit.

Class 23.05

Hi!!!


¿What have we done today? 


SPEAKING: 

- Pg. 92 (2)


GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY:

- Future tenses (blog)
- Pg. 91 (4)
- Pg. 92 (1)
- Pg. 93 (5)
- Objective First application: Units 9-10 (Future tenses)


WRITING:

- Objective First application: Units 7-8 (An essay) + Units 11-12 (A review)


READING AND USE OF ENGLISH:

- "Changing Lives with a Stranger" (blog)
- "The performing arts"
































LISTENING:

- "Announcement about an evening's programmes on Radio Pearl"


HW:

- Studyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Reading technique for final exam.

For those of you who couldn't make it to class today, here's a reading practice activity for next Saturday's final exam. 

I'd like you to follow the same technique we used in class. 

Begin with the questions, underlining the key words. 

Next, read the six short texts quickly, (scan),  underlining anything that sound familiar from the questions. Don't worry about the exact answers for the moment, because that's the next step. 

When you've finished reading the texts, go back to the questions and answer first the ones you think are easiest. 

Finally, look again at the articles to answer the trickiest questions, but remember time is important, and it may be better to leave one or two unanswered for the moment. If you finish the rest of your exam, you can come back to them later.

Confusing futures made simple. (From The British Council.)

Hello, everyone. Here's a really simple breakdown of how we use all those confusing futures. Let's say a big thanks to the British Council for this one.

Timetabled events, e.g. TV programme or train departure PS

Personal arrangements (something that's already organised) PC 

Predictions (when you can see the evidence) GT

Predictions (based on no evidence) W

General future intentions (not arranged) GT

Decisions made at the time of speaking W

Promises W

Decisions already made GT

Offers, refusals W

Lesson 9th of May

Hello, guys.

 Today we did the following activities :

Listening

- Student's Book:  Page 144, exercise 1.

- Online listening.

Grammar

- Previous H/W Review .

- Review lessons 1-6 and 7-12. ( Student's book )

- CD-ROM review .

- Gerunds&Infinitives2  ( Student's book : Pages 144 and 145, exercises 3-4 . )

- Reported Speech verbs deduced by reading the sentences of the following fotocopy ,which we used later to play a game .

Vocabulary

- Student's Book : Page 145, exercise 6 ( Topic set-crime) .

Homework 

- H/W Review 1-6 , page 48-51 .

- Fotocopy , exercise 3 .

( Find and correct 10 mistakes with adjectives and adverbs in the text . An example has been done for you ) . ¡You can find them after the mark ,which is on the 5th line , before that mark there are no mistakes! 

- Recommendation!  

Keep on practising : 

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/ and

http://www.examenglish.com/

----------------------------

That's all! Have a nice week but now....

 

CSIM Summer courses.

Hello, everyone.
Summer is on the way, and what better time to do that intensive course you've been planning?
All the information you need is on the link below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/x14oawh8kubexr9/CIJ%2015%20DIGITAL%20EN.pdf?dl=0

If you think your friends might be interested, feel free to pass the information on.
See you in Summer.
Tom.

Hello, everyone.

Last Saturday we did the following activities:

-          Draw your favorite family photo, and talk about it with a classmate.

-          Review CD (units 1-4)

o   Unit 1-2 Vocabulary : Phrasal Verbs

o   Unit 1-2 Grammar: Comparative adverbs

o   Unit 3-4 Grammar: obligation, necessity and permission

o   Unit 3-4 Grammar: as and like

-          Exam Practice.

-          Alternative medicine.

o   Exercise 3 and 4 page 138 Sb

o   Grammar extra (page 138)

-          Exam listening.

o   Exercise 1 page 48 Wb

Homework

-          Sb page 139-143

-          www.examenglish.com

-          People who didn’t bring the homework last Saturday should bring it the next day we have class.

We don’t have class the 2^nd neither the 16^th of May. The exam will be the 30^th of May.

Enjoy the holidays!

Hello, everyone. 
Since our exam practice page, flo-joe, doesn't have listening activities, here's a site that does.

http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_listening.html


http://www.examenglish.com/


We'll be using examples from this page tomorrow.
See you there.
Tom.

Review. Units 1-6.

These are copies of material from the student's book, some of which you may already have done, so here's the chance to see them again without the answers. 

Class 18/04/2015

What we have done today:

Speaking

Page 130, exercise 6.

Writing tips / task, common mistakes (photocopy 1)

Page 21, exercise 5 (pay attention to Opinion and Linkers).

Page 63, exercises 4 (add “so” to the box), 5 and 6 (speaking).

Page 116, exercise 1, paragraph 1, as an example to how we begin an essay with an introduction that sums up the points we are going to talk / write about.

Speaking task x2

Page 130, exercises 2 and 3 (listening), and 4 and 5 (speaking).

Grammar

Present tenses + reading (photocopies 2  and 3, we have done the part of present tenses).

Advice + suggestions (unit 19)

Expression: An apple a day… keeps the doctor away.

Page 136, exercises 1, 2 and 3 (speaking).

Theory: page 196 (Modals 3: Advice and suggestion).

HOMEWORK

• Photocopy 1, exercise A.
• Use the framework writing to phrases in each gap (ideas only, you don’t need to write the hole essay), theme: page 63, exercises 5 and 6 (use the vocabulary in exercise 4).
• Photocopy 3, reading.

RESOURCES

Photocopy 1

Photocopy 2

Photocopy 3

Essay Plan

Paragraph 1: A general introduction

Paragraph 2: First idea

Paragraph 3: Second idea

Paragraph 4: Third idea

Paragraph 5: A conclusion

Interactive English from The British Council!

Hello, everyone.
Here's a page to help you get your head out of the book. 

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/learnenglish-audio-and-video

It's from The British Council, and it allows you to consult, practise, listen, read, watch videos or play games like the vocabulary game I've just been playing. You can use it on your phone too.
Try it, and let me know what you think.
Tom.

Hi everybody!
The last week we started unit 17.:
    -page 120 Difference between no defining and defindin clauses
        #Exercise 2, 3 and 4
    -page 121 Vocabulary(nouns-adjetives)
        #Exercise 7and 8:
            Attractiveness: elegant, delightful,remarkable, exceptional
            Extent: massive, substantial
            Rarity: exceptional
        #Exercise 10:
            Sustancial:challenge, amount
            Massive: amount,scale
            Remarkable: painting, scale, memory, woman
            Elegant: woman, painting
            Exceptional: woman, memory, painting,scale, challenge
            Delightful: woman,painting
      *write one sentence with this adjetive-noun combinations.

    -objective first CD room (unit 15 &16) grammar

Unit 18
   - read text on page 124 and vocabulary page 125
      # exercise 5: phrasal verbs
         Come up with
         Go ahead
         Went up
         Went by
         Came out
         Came across
         Went through
         Gone off
  *write 3 different sentences
       
   -page 126 Listening exercises 1 &2


HOMEWORK:
PAGE 121 EXERCISE 4,5 AND 6
PAGE 132-137: BRING QUESTIONS NEXT WEEK

FINAL EXAM: MAY 30TH

 

Final exam.

Hello, everyone.
Our final exam is on the last day of class, Saturday, May 30th. Results via 'secretaría'.
The exam will include Use of English, (grammar & vocabulary), 2 listenings, a writing, and just one reading. This is because the final exam includes an oral section, where I record you speaking.
Attendance is obligatory, of course.

Free English film in CSIM on Friday at 16:00!

I've seen it, and I enjoyed it. I think you will too, and it's great for your English!

Inglés — "The Sapphires"

Proyección de la película, (musical-comedia-drama, Australia 2012) en VOS en inglés. 

Durante la Guerra de Vietnam de 1968, cuatro cantantes de una remota comunidad aborigen son descubiertas por un cazatalentos. Salen del anonimato y son bautizadas The Sapphires, la versión australiana del trío The Supremes, y las contratan para su primer concierto real – entretener a las tropas en Vietnam. Incluye actividad de introducción y de conversación al final de la proyección.

Entrada libre hasta completar el aforo. Viernes 10/04 - 16:00. Aula 404 / Facultad Filología A.

Class 21/03/2015

Hi guys! I will put here the conclusion of our last class (21/03/2015). I hope to be useful for you with this post =)

1- SPEAKING: We spend a lot of time speaking in our last class. These were the issues we talked about:

-HOBBIES: activities we enjoy doing.
-MEALS: we talked about the type of food we usually have for breakfast/lunch/dinner

Remember! Whit meals we say: "I have milk for breakfast"/ I have dinner at 9:00/ We have a coffee

2- EXERCISES WE DID:

*Ex. 2-3-6, page 112 (LISTENING)

*Ex. 7, page 113: (COLLOCATIONS)

*Ex. 1-2-3, page 114 (COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE)

*Ex. 5, page 115 (FAMILY)

*Ex. 4, page 119 (LISTENING)

3- HOMEWORK:

*READING, page 112 (How sound and colour influence the taste of food)

*Ex 5, page 112

*Ex. 4, page 115

*Read the theory of articles and relative clauses in pages 194 and 195.

*Ex. 6, page 119

4- NEW VOCABULARY:

These are new words which I learned the last class day (I put a personal definition because I know Tom doesn't like translations).

-CRAMPS: the following day you have done a lot of sport you have cramps. All your body hurts!

-POISONOUS: the adjective of "poison".

-A CAN/TIN: It's a container where you preserve tomato or something like that.

-REINDEER: It's an animal who goes always with Santa Claus on Christmas.

Perfect tense time-lines.

If you're having trouble sorting out your perfect tenses, this link will clarify everything.

Scroll down to the perfect tenses, and compare the visuals with the explanations. It's soooo good!

1. http://www.eslcharts.com/verb-tenses-chart.html.

Thanks a lot, www.eslcharts.com

Class 14/3/15

Hello everyone!

Today in class we have studied pages 102 and 106-109.

SPEAKING:

Compare photos. SB p.106 Ex.1

How environmentally friendly are you? SB p.107 Ex. 6

Questions about numbers. SB p. 107 Ex. 8

 

LISTENING:

The Grand Canyon National Park Service. SB p.106 Ex. 2

Practise saying numbers correctly. SB p.107 Ex. 7

GRAMMAR:

Perfect tenses. SB p.102

Countable and uncountable nouns. SB p.108

VOCABULARY:

Topic set - the natural world. SB p.106 Ex. 3 

Expressions of quantity. SB p.109 Ex. 4&5

REVIEW: we have seen our progress test.

 

HOMEWORK:

-       Write 6 sentences that are true for you using a variety of perfect tenses + one simple past (Send Tom by Wednesday).

Examples:

                       I will have been living in Madrid for 30 years next September.

                       I had studied Spanish before I came.

-       CD-Rom Units 13&14: Reporting verbs and Perfect tenses.

-       Word formation: Polluting the environment. SB p.107 Ex 5

 

 

Reported speech update. Ex.10, p.97.

Hello, everyone.

In answer to our questions about Ex.10, p.97, here's the explanation. I hope you find it useful. 

Read it slowly, with the exercise in front of you.

There are two ways of reporting speech:

1) following the tense change rule; present to past, past to past perfect etc. and,

2) using reporting verbs which require certain verb forms like infinitive or gerund after them - this is the case for your example Q.4.

 We have both forms of reported speech in Q.4, using the reporting verb denied …ing  + the tense change - had not wasted. 

In Q.1 we change direct speech ‘put', (simple past), to reported speech, using the reporting verb accused + of.
So, in Q.1 we have to use the correct verb form to follow accused of so it’s “Sally accused Charlie of putting a frog….” - for the purposes of this exercise. However, if you weren’t required to use ‘of' you could also report it as “Sally said Charlie had put a frog….”

THE BEST ROMANTIC FILM

Hi!!!


I would like to recommend this romantic film to everybody. I've found the film in English with subtitles in English too and I think if you haven't seen it, you will enjoy it. Its name in Spanish is "Todos los días de mi vida".

Here, you have the film online:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPPlveo4TB4 

See you soon!!

The natural world.

The natural world.

Canal

Dam and reservoir

Floods

Lake

Pond

Rapids

River

Stream

Waterfall

    Hi everybody and welcome to the big weekend!!!

    First of all, an important news,  next Saturday progress test unit 11 and 12( more or less 20/25 minutes).
    Besides, it would be a good idea to download a free aplication for improving our listening: 6 Minute English (BBC).  

    Speaking:   page 82 exercise 1.
                       page 86 exercise 1, using the vocabulary of exercise 2
                       page 94 exercices 1,2 and 3
   Listening: page 94 exercise 4
   Grammar: The pasive voice and the backshift ( it´s a change of a tense in the indirect speech).

   Tom recommended me to remember these important points in the reading:
   1- Read all the questions + underline important words.
   2- Skim the test + underline information related to questions.
   3- Answer the easy questions.
   4- Read in more detail for other questions. ( questions in same order as test and max 15/20 minutes)

  Homework: 
 Reading: pages 82-83
 Page 84- it´s an difficult and optional exercise.
 Page 85- exercise 8
 Page 94- exercise 3
 Pages 90, 91, 92 and 93 would be useful to prepare next progress test.
Have a great week!!!!
 

Reported speech: Theory and practice.

Here are two useful pages which will help you understand and practise reported speech.

We'll be using them in class.