Friday, September 2, 2011

September exams

Hello everyone,

As you may already know, the listening, reading and writing exams will be on the 6th of September at 16.00 in room 17. Please, come a little bit earlier so that we can start on time.

The oral exam will be the following day, on the 7th, in room 24. It is on the second floor as well, but in the other wing of the building. There will be a single call at 16.00 and then we will arrange the pairs depending on the people who come.

The marks will be published on the 13th at 16.00 and you will be able to see your exams that same day from 19.00 to 20.00.

Good luck!!!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Oral exam

Hello everyone,

Here you have the list with the time when you should come to do your oral exam.

It will be on Tuesday, 7th of June, at 15.30 in room 5:

15.30 Daniel Sánchez Alcaide Inmaculada Sánchez Garzón
15.45 Benjamín Sánchez Ruiz Tíscar Sánchez Lorigo
16.00 Rocío Sánchez Alcaide Ana Fajardo Fernández
16.15 Silvia Valenzuela Ruiz Lidia Lorenzo Fernández
16.30 Cristina Sánchez Rojas Ana Isabel Moya Martínez
16.45 Fabiola Rojas Castilla Pablo Argota Hernández
17.00 Jessyka Musso Buendía Patricia Ruiz González
17.15 Fco. Javier Briones Rodríguez José Antonio Campaña Ruiz
17.30 Natividad García Peña Mª Carmen García Plata
17.45 Francisco Iglesias Cañas Alicia López Miedes
18.00 Ana M.Nogales Nogales Eva María Pérez García
18.15 Alejandro Pérez Líndez María Dolores Raquel Pérez Líndez
18.30 Damián Pérez Pérez Juan de Dios Polo Morcillo
18.45 Mariana G. Pucheta Virginia Rojas Cabrera
19.00 Juan Román Sánchez Ignacio Ruiz Valenzuela

Good Luck!

(And I hope this time I can join you for some tapas!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Third term, seventh week

Hello everyone,

This week has been focused on the film Avatar.
We were watching an interview with James Cameron, and we were talking about its technical aspects, the cast, the director, the plot, the release date, etc. The sound quality was not very good, so you can watch it again here in the blog:


Then, on Thursday, we were studying a film review of the film with Juanma. It contained a lot of useful new vocabulary, specially phrasal verbs.
For this week you had to write a film review of your favourite film with the following sections:

Title and release date
Film director and cast (include information about them if you know some)
Setting
Plot
Positive aspects
Negative aspects
Overall impression (your own opinion)

Then, on Tuesday's class you will tell your partners about it WITHOUT READING!! and when it is corrected by both Juanma and me, we will publish it here in the blog. Then, I would like you to make a comment on at least two of your classmates' film reviews.

Let's see how it works!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Third term, sixth week

Hello everybody,

Last week we finished The Canterbury Tales. I hope you enjoyed the book. Why don't you use our C-Box and write your opinion about it? You can refer to specific tales or to the book a whole. You can explain whether you liked it or not and why, if you can understand its historic value... I don't know, anything that comes to your mind. It will be interesting!

You can watch again The Wife of Bath's Tale. I am sure with your headphones you will understand it much better. I must admit the sound quality in the classroom wasn't the best.



In our speaking revisions, we practised money,banking,shopping, and food. Next week we will revise the topic of houses and cities (Tuesday) and family (Thursday).

We also started our last unit in the programme, in which we will learn how to make film reviews. Regarding grammar, we will study the passive voice.
I gave you a lot of handouts, but you don't have to work on them yet (only if you wish)

See you on Tuesday then!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Third term, fifth week

Hello everyone,

Last week we were learning how to make questions more polite intruducing them with expressions like "Could you tell me... " "Can I know..." etc. You have more explanations, listening activities and more practice here.

We also learnt how to make question tags, and you had some activities on that. You can also practice here.

Next week, we will continue talking about films, so you can start thinking about you favourite movie. You'll probably have to tell me something about it.

Have a nice weekend and don't forget to read the Franklin's tale!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Some laughs

Who said learning English is not important?

Watch this ad.lol

Friday, April 29, 2011

Third term, fourth week

Hello everyone,

This week has been more dynamic, hasn't it?
We participated in the complementary activity with our language assitants on Tuesday. I hope you learnt some curiosities... for example:
Which leave appears in the Canadian flag?
What does "to raise the roof", "booze" or "this is not my cup of tea" mean?
Where is Jim Carrey from?
We were even doing line dancing! We certainly had a good time, didn't we?

Then, on Thursday we were roleplaying the Nun's Priest's Tale and we started talking about Jack the Ripper. Be careful if someone offers you grapes... I know the film was a bit difficult to understand, but if you watch it at home I am sure it will be much easier.

Patricia Cornwell led an investigation to find out the identity of Jack the Ripper. Next week we will learn somthing more about this theory, which is different from the one underlying the movie. If you want, you can have a look at this website which shows paintings by the 19th century artist Walter Sickert. Don't open the website if you are very sensitive.

And then, have a look at this article. (Just a curiosity)

Well... for next Thursday, you have to work on indirect questions on page 143. Read the Pardoner's tale as well, and try to practise telling it aloud. You don't know if you will be the narrator!

We will also practice one topic of oral production and interaction: money, banking, quality of life, social relationships, shopping...You could speak about aspects such as people who are too materialistic, retail therapy, having quality of life even though it means not so much professional success, what you would do if you had a lot of money, online shopping, saving money, bank loans... or anything you might want to say. And don't forget that now you know a lot of new structures and vocabulary which I hope to hear you use!

Well... enjoy the long weekend, but don't forget about English! We only have one month left!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Third term, third week

Hiya!

This week we have continued practicing reported speech in different contexts. We role-played a situation in a clothes shop and in a restaruant in which there had been a problem and you had to complain. In the end, you had to fill in a complaint form, which I hope you can hand in after Easter.

On Thursday we interpreted The Knight's Tale, with Lady Tíscar Emily, Palamon-Daniel and Arcite-Paco. (It sounds like a soap opera!) Thanks to our great narrator, The knight Inma. Then, we focused on the for and against discourse (either in oral speech or in writing), and you have to write a for&against essay (or advantages-disadvantages).

As for the key to handouts 42, 43 and 44 (Reported Speech and Shopping vocabulary), you can download the key here.

As for the use of "thus", it can be a synonym of "in this way", and at the beginning of a sentence, it is like "therefore". In any case, it introduces a consequence of the previous action:
These are some examples from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary:
The universities have expanded, thus allowing many more people the chance of higher education. (Thus = in this way)
He is the eldest son and thus heir to the title (Thus = Therefore = Hence
We do not own the building. Tus, it would be impossible for us to make any major changes to it. (Thus = Therefore = Hence)
There is an expression: "thus far", which means the same as "so far".

Well... have a nice Easter, enjoy with your family and friends and see you on the 26th at the meeting hall. Don't forget the language assistants have prepared a talk for all of us.

See you then!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Third term, second week

Hello everybody,

Not many people came to class last week, and I am worried because we studied a new and important topic: reported speech (Unit 6A)

We were practicing how to report what other people said, asked or told.
We will practice some more this week, but it would be a good idea that you revise how to do it.

I gave you a couple of handouts about this, but here you have a website with more activities to practice.

We were also learning the differences between some shopping establishments.

Tomorrow you will tell me your opinions, advantages and disadvantages, arguments for and against the following:
- shopping in big supermarkets or small local shops.
- getting into debt.
- keeping up with the latest fashion trends.
- retail therapy as a cure for unhapiness or stress.
- buying expensive designer brands.
- wasting money.

I hope you can revise the vocabulary related to these topics (Remember that some months ago we studied the topic of money and banking, and this vocabulary could also be useful)

And don't forget to finish reading the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. I hope Daniel can tell us about it.

See you tomorrow!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Third term, first week

How are you doing?

What did you do last Thursday? Did you enjoy the theatre? I hope you could come.

On Tuesday we did two different things: one was a role-play of a job interview. Previously we were reading about some pieces of advice which should be taken into account when being interviewed for a job.

As homework you had to write a cover letter to apply for one of the four jobs advertised.

Then, we were having a look at your exams and we were revising some mistakes you made in your exam. Click here to download the document and try to correct them yourselves.

If you want to come and see you exam in more detail, email me so that I can tell you the time on Thursday.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Second term, tenth week

Hi there!

Last week we were practicing convesations to rent a house/flat and we continued with our topic: jobs.

Here you have an interesting video about job interviews. Focus not only on the answers, but also on the way they make questions politely.



About flats... Do you know The Flatmates? Watch these two videos:
What is Khalid's problem to rent the flat? Which is the word he uses for "expensive" (of course, informal)








Changing topic: we have received information about CEGRI. I am copying it here:
El Centro Internacional de Estudios Superiores, CEGRÍ, es una organización que se dedica, ya más de 20 años, a la enseñanza de la Lengua y Cultura españolas a estudiantes universitarios norteamericanos. Una de las actividades que ofrecemos a nuestros estudiantes es un intercambio lingüístico de conversación (inglés - español) gratuito. Les ponemos en contacto con estudiantes españoles (en la edad de 20 - 25 años) que quieran mejorar su inglés y así ambos estudiantes pueden practicar y mejorar su lengua extranjera. Quedan una o dos veces por semana y hablan en inglés y en español.

If you are interested, you have to go to that school:

CEGRÍ INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF HIGHER LEARNING
Sacristía de San Matías 12
E-18009 Granada, Spain

There you will have to fill in a form and give a copy of your ID.

Changing topic again, the Department of Equality and Coeducation is making an online survey about the conciliation of personal life and job. If you want to do it, click here.

Next week we will be doing our second term evaluation. Please revise and practice speaking as much as you can! And I hope to see you all there.

Good luck!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Second term, ninth week

Hello everybody,

I can't express how I feel about the situation in Japan. It is so appalling...

Click here to watch a video about the situation.

There are more videos and news on the BBC News section on the right.

Anyway, last week we were dealing with houses again and Benjamín taught us a little bit more about architecture. Cristina organised a trip to Inverness and showed us a detailed plan of what we could do and what we could visit there. Thanks both of you!

We also were decorating a room according to the rules of Feng-Shui. I included here two videos in case you want to learn a bit more about it.



Sunday, March 6, 2011

Second term, eighth week

Hi there,

Last week was a short one; after the bank holiday we only had one class.

In that class we practiced conditionals with a role play (Thanks Dani and Rocío!!) and we started talking about houses and architecture. I am sure Benjamín will have a lot of things to teach us. So far, we now know what a loft exactly is. We also learnt some more new vocabulary like penthouse, utility room, lounge, "all mod cons", among others.

We also learnt how to make wishes, for example "I wish my house didn't have a dome", or "I wish I had brought my coat". You have a handout to practise all that. For extension, click here.

Next week we will continue dealing with houses, furniture, decoration and architecture. Don't forget to do the activities on page 151 and to choose a house from the link I gave you (click here) to describe it. We will also check the handout "Describing places", as that will be your next writing activity.

Did you like Charlie and Lola? Watch this!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Second term, seventh week

Hello again!!

Well, I am here again to describe what we have been doing in class this week...
We started with the topic of Education and conditional sentences on Tuesday.


Jessyka was talking about a new proposal by the British Government regarding Education: they might raise the age when students can choose to do vocational studies to 14. We were also saying our opinions about it.

Then, on Thursday, we continued revising giving opinions about some aspects of education and school organisation, which you can find on unit 4A. We were also revising conditionals and we learnt that we can have mixed types. Here you have some more practice, if you want, though I will give you some handout to practice conditionals next week. Last week we listened to a song, and this week Daniel has recommended us another one, which is beautiful (well... a bit sad though). You can find it in the comments to the previous blog entry.

We will start describing places next week too, so I gave you three handouts dealing with that topic. Have a look at them try to learn any new vocabulary.

Well, to finish, I would like to share with you a cartoon series which I am a fan of. Do you know Charlie and Lola? :-) Have a look at it and revise city vocabulary.

Don't forget to prepare your roleplays!

See you next Thursday...

Monday, February 21, 2011

second term, sixth week

Hello everybody,

This week we have been dealing with mobile phones and revising relative clauses. Chanelle proposed a discussion about the nature of St. Valentine's day which was rather interesting. I discovered there are not many romantic people in our class...

Here you have the answer key of handout 31.

We were also learning the features of informal letters, and you have to write one. The deadline is next Thursday.

To finish, we listened to a song illustrating how to give advice with conditional clauses. Dani gave us the link in a comment (Thanks Dani!), but here you can watch it again. I hope the song is not in your head the whole week!!


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Second term, fifth week

Hello everyone,

Last week we were dealing with cultural problems (cultural shock, cultural gaffes...) we might encounter when we travel abroad. Paco was also talking about some foreigners' conceptions about Spanish people. Thanks Paco!

You have the activity Cultural Gaffes in the School Virtual Library, with the code 0000000293, but you can also find it by its title Cultural Gaffes. There, you will be able to watch the video again and check the answers to the activities.

We finished with a review of modal verbs, which I hope you can now understand and use more and more.

We were also doing some vocabulary activities on mobile phones (or cell phones as Benjamín would call them... you know why!. You can also find the activities and the listening in the Virtual Library, title Cell Phones or code 0000000294.I hope the sound is better in your computers; I must apologize for the technical problems we had in class. Next Thursday, Ana Fajardo will speak about her experience with mobile phones. She is expected to use that vocabulary as well as modal verbs,and the grammar we have been studying so far. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Someone else could also speak about the same topic too

Then we started with relative clauses. You have some handouts to do and I will soon upload the answer key.
An advanced topic was raised, and it was about the difference between Cleft sentences and relative clauses. It is a topic even linguists don't agree on. If you want more information about it, click here and look for "Structural Issues", in the fourth paragraph, but I insist: you will study this point next year or even more likely in Avanzado 2.

Wel... that is all for now...
See you on Tuesday with Chanelle.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Cultural gaffes

Hello everyone,


Here is the link where you can find the video to do the activity on Cultural Gaffes. I hope tomorrow you can see it in the Virtual Library with the key of the activities. Look it up by its title Cultural Gaffes.

See you tomorrow!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Second term, fourth week

Hello everyone,

Last week we were learning many new and interesting aspects. First, we revised how to convey how certain we are about something with modal verbs of possibility. Then, we also revised how to convey ability with can, could and be able to in all verbal tenses and we finished with modal verbs analysing how to convey obligation, lack of obligation, advice, stronger advice and prohibition with must, have to, don't have to, should, had better, mustn't and can't. Next week we will continue practicing modal verbs and we will also learn some cultural aspects about different countries.

I strongly recommend you to (you'd better) do the activities in the workbook in unit 3A. There is also some vocabulary related to mobile phones, which we will also revise next week. Meanwhile, if you have time, have a look at this link and this one.

We were also learning the difference between adjectives ending in -ing and those ending in -ed.
Click here for more practice.

Feelings alphabet
And now... let me remind you of your homework:
- Don't forget to read the links about the symbols and characters in The Birthmark. Ana Moya will be talking about that on Tuesday.
- Handouts: revision of modal verbs, phonetic transcriptions of adjectives, reading: "Do the right thing"
- Workbook unit 3A (and complete 3B and 3C if you haven't yet).

By the way... only Jessyka commented on your future teacher!! I am waiting for your comments...

See you on Tuesday!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Second term, third week

Hi there,

Last week we were learing how to make guesses, either when we are pretty sure from the evidence we can see or when we are not so sure.
We have been making guesses about people's personality from their appearance. But don't forget that looks can be deceiving!

Why don't you add a comment below and say what you think about your next teacher? Imagine this is a picture of him: :-P



Don't forget to use modal verbs...






Do you like Oasis? Here is a song by them. Do you understand the title? Why do they use "might"?

Click here for the lyrics

We were also introducing modal verbs which can be used to speak about our ability, not only present ability, but also past, future, "always/never in my life", etc. and you had to think about examples of your past, present, future and ever-in-your-lives abilities.

As homework, you had to read the text on page 43, and I recommend you to complete unit 3B in the workbook.

You also had to read the links to understand Young Goodman Brown better. On Thursday we will have an oral presentation about it.

See you!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Second term, Second week

Hello eveyone,

Last week we were doing our first evaluation tests. I hope the results are good (I am actually finishing the corrections)

On Thursday, we started with physical descriptions and learning the differences between "look" and "look like". I gave you one page in Harry Potter and the Philosofer's Stone to illustrate their use. Here you can download the complete book in pdf. The page I gave you was number 12.

For homework, you had to read the text on page 40 in the student's book and do the activities.
To practice and revise descriptions, CLICK HERE. It is a funny listening activity.

Next week we will start our oral productions. Download this document where you can find the links to the topis we are going to talk about in each class. You can choose the best for you. Remember it doesn't have to be a very long exposition. JUST 5 MINUTES. (OK, or 7)

Everybody has to read the information planned for every day. If the person assigned for one day cannot come to class, I will choose a different student to speak about that topic that day.

IMPORTANT: if you prefer to speak about a particular topic but you find an article which is more interesting than the article you find in the schedule, email everybody with the link to the article you are going to comment because we have to read it BEFORE you speak about it in class.

This is going to be very exciting!!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Happy New Year!!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are having the most splendid holiday!!

If you click here you can listen to this week Six Minute English, which is about families. You will be able to revise what we learnt. It should be a good idea if you subscribe to this podcast.

We have to get down to work soon, so here you have the key to handout 21.

In our first week after holidays, we are going to revise speaking. We will revise these topics:

  • Stress
  • Money and banking
  • Families and relationships 
  • Changing your city 
  • Stereotypes (men and women) 
  • Money, jobs, quality of life, happiness 
  • Ordering at a restaurant 
  • Travelling, visiting a new city 
  • Life experiences 
  • Comparing cities (means of transport, facilities…) 
  • Food, eating habits 
  • Road safety

 You could start thinking about what you know about them, what you can ASK about them, as well as about your opinions regarding some aspects of them. Don't forget you are expected to use new grammar and vocabulary, so we will start planning all this next week.
As Xmas has not ended yet,click here to do two listening activities (OUP).

Then, watch and sing along (I recommend you to watch till the end; it is worth it)




By the way, how is "Stories of Suspense" going? :-)

See you in a week.