LAST POSTS

30 Jan 2011

"Can"

Hello everybody,

Last week we corrected the First Term Revision and we started Unit 4. On Monday / Tuesday, we talked about things we can do and things we can't do; we talked about our abilities.
  • I can swim
  • I can drive a car
  • I can't take good photos
  • I can't play the guitar
We also learnt that can and can't also mean possibility (I can go to your party on Saturday; I can't go to Madrid at the weekend) and permission (Can you open the window, please? Can you come here a minute?)

Click here for an online exercise with the verb can.

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15 Jan 2011

CNN news: smoking ban in Spain

Hello everybody,

This week we mainly focused on revising several basic aspects for the first evaluation session, which will take place next week. We also did a mock oral exam, so that you could get an idea of what is expected from you in this part of the test. Finally, we had one lesson with Chanelle, where we compared cities and their means of transport.

With Intermediate E we had time to watch a CNN report on the new Spanish law which bans smoking (up to 1'20'' only). I post it here, with the exercises and their answers.

(The following video is from youtube, but you can access the original item of news here).




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9 Jan 2011

How to make your homework less work / how to improve your study habits

Hi everyone,

Here I post a video about how to make your homework less work , and how to improve your study habits.

Click the play button in the center of the video to begin; click the pause button is you need to make notes at any point; click the re-wind button to go back to the start of the video and watch it again.

  

Think about the suggestions made in the video and write down any tips you could use to improve your study habits.

Task reflection:

Do you plan to change your study habits after doing this lesson? Why/why not?
Did you learn any new vocabulary?
If so, what new words did you learn? Make a note of any new vocabulary you have learnt in this lesson.
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5 Jan 2011

Stories of Suspense


Hello guys,


This entry is related to the first reading book of the course: Stories of Suspense, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. As we saw in class, it has three short stories:
  • "Young Goodman Brown"
  • "The Birthmark"
  • "Dr Heidegger's Experiment"
It also has comprehension activities and two cultural sections: New England and witchcraft; The magic of alchemy.

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Preparation for the exam: oral expression & interaction; listening practice ("men are the weaker sex"; families")

Good afternoon everyone,

Today I've started sending off my feedback on your oral presentations (if you haven't received it yet, you'll receive it shortly, don't worry).

Two of the most common comments are (i) that you didn't include enough information (the presentation was incomplete) and (ii) that you didn't use the grammatical structures and/or vocabulary we've seen in class.

As you know, in two weeks' time we have our first evaluation session. As regards speaking, you will be asked to talk about one of the topics we've covered in class:
  • Food, eating habits
  • Ordering at a restaurant
  • Families and relationships
  • Stereotypes and differences between men and women
  • Money, stress, quality of life
  • Changing your city (Slow cities)
  • Comparing cities and means of transport

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