tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73635562929688160472024-02-21T07:12:37.588+01:00Ana Bueno's English CornerIf you want to keep your English alive and continue learning outside the classroom, this is the place for you!Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-24518400774856520202014-12-15T07:00:00.000+01:002014-12-18T17:01:47.685+01:00Learn the rules for silent letters!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNovFvt4VdeVRX6SCUzNwM3BBOhuWnkUKJyy6UXtviKa70jLCkbvW9IPEm7roKtqwvtyVePHlb415CjZcs5WH8iwaAxBpY4QrJuEM5kJ6qBoK6J6KkAp1S_NugrJfruZMTag1_Liv2lS8/s1600/Silent+letters.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNovFvt4VdeVRX6SCUzNwM3BBOhuWnkUKJyy6UXtviKa70jLCkbvW9IPEm7roKtqwvtyVePHlb415CjZcs5WH8iwaAxBpY4QrJuEM5kJ6qBoK6J6KkAp1S_NugrJfruZMTag1_Liv2lS8/s1600/Silent+letters.png" height="200" width="198" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good morning everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week I published an entry introducing <a href="http://anabuenoeoi.blogspot.com.es/2014/12/silent-letters-why-do-they-exist-and.html">silent letters</a>. Remember that they are letters that are written, but not pronounced. Today, and as promised, I post a few rules that will help you spot them!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of the entry you can find some practice to see how much you can remember!</span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: white;">LETTER <B></b></span></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B is not pronounced after <m> at the end of a word: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lamb, climb, plumber, thumb, tomb, limb, dumb, bomb.</i></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B is not pronounced before <t>, usually at the end of the word: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">debt, doubt, subtle, doubtful</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: white;">LETTER <C></b></span></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">C is not pronounced in some cases where it is combined with <s> and <sc>: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">scene, scissors, scent, science, scenery, sci-fi, scepter</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">muscle.</i></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But be careful because normally this combination is pronounced <sk>, as in <i>scorpion, scar, scope</i>.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: white;">LETTER <D> </b></span></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">D is not pronounced in the following common words: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">handkerchief, Wednesday, handsome</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">D is not pronounced in the combination <dg>:</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> pledge, grudge, hedge, dodge</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">LETTER <E></span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: white;"> </b></span></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">E is not pronounced at the end of words, and usually elongates / lengthens the sound of the vowel (check the entry on the magic E)!: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hope, drive, gave, write, site, grave, bite, hide.</i></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check <a href="http://anabuenoeoi.blogspot.com.es/2013/09/the-magic-e-pronunciation.html">the magic E song!</a></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">E can be silent in the middle of words: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">baseball, somewhere, someone, somebody, somehow, grateful, graceful, useful, useless</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: white;">LETTER <G></b></span></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">G is often not pronounced when it comes before <n>: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">foreign, sign, feign, design, align</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Exceptions</span>: <i>magnet, cognitive</i>.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTERS <GH></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">GH is not pronounced when it comes after a vowel: <i>thought, drought, through, thorough, borough, daughter, light, might, sigh, right, fight, weigh, weight</i></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Exceptions</span>: GH is sometimes pronounced /f/: <i>rough, tough, laugh, enough, cough, clough, draught</i>.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <H></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">H is not pronounced at the beginning of 4 words of French origin: <i>hour, honest, honor, heir, </i>and words deriving from them: <i>hourly, honorable.</i></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">H is sometimes not pronounced in the combination <ch>. In the majority of cases, this combination has the sound in </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>ch</u>ocolate, </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but in some cases the <h> is silent and it is pronounced /k/: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">school, character, chaos, orchestra, choir, ache, stomach, anchor,, mechanic, architect, chemist's, monarchy, melancholy</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <K></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">K is not pronounced when it comes before <n> at the beginning of a word: <i>knife, knee, know, knock, knowledge, knead</i>.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <L></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L is not pronounced in <u>some very important words</u> after the vowels <a>, <o>, <u>: <i>calm, half, talk, walk, would, should, could, calf, salmon, yolk, chalk.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Exceptions</span>: <i>halo, bulk, sulk, hold, sold</i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <N></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N is not pronounced when it comes after <m> at the end of a word: <i>autumn, hun, column.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <P></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the prefixes <i>psych-</i> and <i>pneu-</i>: <i>psychiatrist, pneumonia, pneumatic, psychotherapy, psychotic, psychologist</i>.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P is also silent in <i>receipt</i>.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <S></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">S is not pronounced before <l> in the following words: <i>island, isle, aisle, précis, depris.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <T></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T is not pronounced in these everyday words: <i>castle, Christmas, fasten, listen, often, whistle, thistle, bustle, hasten, soften</i>.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <U></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">U is not pronounced when it comes between a <g> and a vowel: <i>guess, guidance, guitar, guest, guild, guard</i>.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>LETTER <W></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word when it is before the letter <r>:<i> wrap, write, wrong, wring, wreck, wrestle, wrap, wrist</i>.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">W is not pronounced in the following words: <i>who, whose, whom, whole, whoever</i>.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that you know all these rules, why don't you try and read these short fragments?? Underline the silent letters and then try to write your own paragraph!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpu59Z_3UVfMIrKCvnw_O9AjoBxrSkDcy8PCyIpWDq0Omn_-WwDz4eDNYB21NtMcoD9SAW6fHvZ8df6WBYg1GhzLdRaGMj9fP83E77TnBlTqxJ3ApRmn-WtjvWWW5cxPkFp2uGTrEkL_w/s1600/Silent-letters-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpu59Z_3UVfMIrKCvnw_O9AjoBxrSkDcy8PCyIpWDq0Omn_-WwDz4eDNYB21NtMcoD9SAW6fHvZ8df6WBYg1GhzLdRaGMj9fP83E77TnBlTqxJ3ApRmn-WtjvWWW5cxPkFp2uGTrEkL_w/s1600/Silent-letters-1.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoRkP4rp_mygyv086CPLvMsRTVbVWgb2MZMqblbYAJY9eQw2jRb22l0JvLflix0GQWAKoLFYV8TT_d9YgeO6OfeyIIx0oWIkk9Si5Q4t_vEJPeIhZSo4oVLpBtQX8j1Xoh7zFR6tt0qg/s1600/Silent-letters-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoRkP4rp_mygyv086CPLvMsRTVbVWgb2MZMqblbYAJY9eQw2jRb22l0JvLflix0GQWAKoLFYV8TT_d9YgeO6OfeyIIx0oWIkk9Si5Q4t_vEJPeIhZSo4oVLpBtQX8j1Xoh7zFR6tt0qg/s1600/Silent-letters-2.png" height="209" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5r9aPqKZzV9nv8AMIYfkYggYsEZKdNFx9ZvZz97lsx0lCp9ngMYR_w1-l6Rm6KxXqgsHJVl-X7iaR9uTeWviMPahwk_nNJ6mVf6XP8gFQ0aYio_KhzH9QI9qlCDdsRc6EjaEh9g6wMXg/s1600/Silent-letters-3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5r9aPqKZzV9nv8AMIYfkYggYsEZKdNFx9ZvZz97lsx0lCp9ngMYR_w1-l6Rm6KxXqgsHJVl-X7iaR9uTeWviMPahwk_nNJ6mVf6XP8gFQ0aYio_KhzH9QI9qlCDdsRc6EjaEh9g6wMXg/s1600/Silent-letters-3.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8wt_0Is42RvM5-Yj-hP9MdLmCGjgpYFhay0AkvJVtQGE4ihPIWzyHB8cPkfU964wuSAh_qMuuDAqNzocrk1nt3kUwx-AWmDPD_OQBRHPLqxwmitrLNJrdjEbPdehIT5IdN_pn8rV928/s1600/Silent-letters-4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8wt_0Is42RvM5-Yj-hP9MdLmCGjgpYFhay0AkvJVtQGE4ihPIWzyHB8cPkfU964wuSAh_qMuuDAqNzocrk1nt3kUwx-AWmDPD_OQBRHPLqxwmitrLNJrdjEbPdehIT5IdN_pn8rV928/s1600/Silent-letters-4.png" height="230" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Texts taken from <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/worksheet/en01soun-e3-w-reading-words-with-silent-letters">bbc.co.uk</a></span></div>
Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-44558001015667887732014-12-08T07:00:00.000+01:002014-12-18T17:03:29.102+01:00Silent letters: why do they exist and where can I find them?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi!</span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquChzwmdQiIwmHIxPzh5bo36tod8VIMS6bgKJ3NMoiqkjzvAVc23uFHrBF1BatvWQ35T0GKDq67XXLZs3WH9L0xiOIq0n1MGlvC9QeTSk8qVz0JwVfl5zQsXU8izCzgeQlv28tzGnXqs/s1600/Silent-letters.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquChzwmdQiIwmHIxPzh5bo36tod8VIMS6bgKJ3NMoiqkjzvAVc23uFHrBF1BatvWQ35T0GKDq67XXLZs3WH9L0xiOIq0n1MGlvC9QeTSk8qVz0JwVfl5zQsXU8izCzgeQlv28tzGnXqs/s1600/Silent-letters.png" height="220" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today we are going to focus on silent letters, those so common letters that are written but not pronounced, as in the <t> in <i>castle</i>, or the <l> in <i>walk</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may think they are not all that important if they're not pronounced, but actually they make a huge difference to the meaning of words and can even change their pronunciation (</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sit</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> vs. </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">site</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>But why do silent letters exist??</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, you'd be surprised to know that English used to be 100% phonemic, that is, a few centuries ago words sounded exactly as they were written, as in Spanish! However, this began to change around the 15th century because of the influence of Latin and French.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pronunciation started to evolve and continued doing so for centuries, but the old spelling was preserved by the printing press. Some authors defended that spelling should represent the sound of words, but the writers that came afterwards saw the futility of making spelling phonetic, since they realized that the pronunciation of words constantly evolved. Therefore, the basis for spelling was not pronunciation, but rather <b>custom of usage</b>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This way, nowadays English is only 40% phonemic, and around <b>60% of words contain silent letters!</b> See how important they are!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Where can I find them?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would be impossible to list all the words that contain silent letters, but below I post a picture of the most common ones. You can also check the <a href="http://anabuenoeoi.blogspot.com.es/2014/12/learn-rules-for-silent-letters.html">rules for silent letters</a> to know how to spot them:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhb5wNjTvyg0pUakCC0GnSbYKUNa6XWw0BfLZOVpoXt3eQf4a5CebuMbQ208jb3JPrXb2ofjO0pzmSPlcmUft-kpXRW6mFYqQndn80FVFJMzbmy-oqkWuwo66IIKdN0S0O5XedNVWgLk/s1600/Silent-letters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhb5wNjTvyg0pUakCC0GnSbYKUNa6XWw0BfLZOVpoXt3eQf4a5CebuMbQ208jb3JPrXb2ofjO0pzmSPlcmUft-kpXRW6mFYqQndn80FVFJMzbmy-oqkWuwo66IIKdN0S0O5XedNVWgLk/s1600/Silent-letters.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to go a bit further, go to <a href="http://mws.ust.hk/sir/silent_words.php">Silent Letter Words</a> for another complete list of silent letters. You can listen to the words by clicking on them!</span>Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-49020963999002493932014-11-13T07:00:00.000+01:002014-11-19T14:05:37.806+01:00Pronunciation dictionary for proper names - thanks to Roberto Romera<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi everyone,</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I leave you with this extremely useful website for <strong>pronunciation</strong>: <a href="http://www.forvo.com/">www.forvo.com</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you know, you can check the pronunciation of a word in a normal dictionary, but many of them aren't included, for example <b>proper names</b>. Well, in this website you can check the pronunciation <b>any</b> word.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here I include an example: "Renée Zelweger"</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhoPKa2itS0yDSKP0QlIJFyv3YoSrSDqDQiq4xu3dWefuPvj7Gjk3XH913mGZ3-2edSZAFcxqCeghYYvyF9OfPDvf7_aMAoswbW-WgFXX1UfwU0-KQtZCAvBg-2_16D4CwEN84yMQly_s/s1600/Pronunciation-dictionary.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhoPKa2itS0yDSKP0QlIJFyv3YoSrSDqDQiq4xu3dWefuPvj7Gjk3XH913mGZ3-2edSZAFcxqCeghYYvyF9OfPDvf7_aMAoswbW-WgFXX1UfwU0-KQtZCAvBg-2_16D4CwEN84yMQly_s/s1600/Pronunciation-dictionary.png" height="215" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm sure you will use this website a lot, for example in your presentations, where you include names that don't appear in the dictionary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for sharing, Roberto!</span></div>
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Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-47942055515903751772013-09-28T18:03:00.000+02:002014-12-04T19:35:37.277+01:00The Magic E<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today's entry is devoted to the "<strong>magic E</strong>"! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "magic E" is that silent <e> that is not pronounced, but it magically lengthens the previous sound!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See the difference that the <e> makes in the following pairs of words:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitVMae8TcrKzbCgN9aTZBoab6ADVQb9lER54ckMK0BQz3hBaivwSE9Hwnqm9F-dJBCrUrdUsIyW6FYLXzu4qhfZWiL57b9LXFnvjMWH1tcadGGFA1_GNumjqYIzvrnTRvjWx8mtYUx9Ic/s1600/Magic-E.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitVMae8TcrKzbCgN9aTZBoab6ADVQb9lER54ckMK0BQz3hBaivwSE9Hwnqm9F-dJBCrUrdUsIyW6FYLXzu4qhfZWiL57b9LXFnvjMWH1tcadGGFA1_GNumjqYIzvrnTRvjWx8mtYUx9Ic/s1600/Magic-E.png" height="176" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here you have</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">song</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> which is used in schools in English speaking countries to show the pronunciation effect of </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">silent <e></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at the end of words.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a song for children, I know... But it's really catchy, you'll see! And it can help you too! :)</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bZhl6YcrxZQ" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br />Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-84010115850932693762012-11-11T20:34:00.000+01:002013-09-26T18:27:40.719+02:00Some pronunciation practiceHi again! <br /><br />Do you remember that at the end of unit 1 we saw the differences between the sounds /<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="fonetica" style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 10pt;">æ</span></span>/ and /a:/? Well, here you have two videos to revise those sounds, and practise with some words!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxE_QbWxTKLvCQyHe_1s-x5ReH-uGY8QRXEIt1x_ZPVbab4EyY5MX3UItxsLVEOxVPv9Hgy_BNuXIi1NKryEw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyz_HBolIRXLMSO9hJhwAf0FItcOtkHztV5tTxxS5894w2GKuxEIUDiGqMojNuy61tSsfhNsqz7REcsZp_ECg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-20211155408942369532012-05-05T13:08:00.000+02:002014-01-23T12:33:44.730+01:00Pronunciation of -ed ending; used toHello everyone!!<br />
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I hope your weekend has started well!! Although the weather is miserable... I hope the wind goes away soon! :)<br />
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In the last two weeks we've finished Unit 9, where we talked about everyday problems, problems with neighbours, adjectives of feelings, how to make invitations, etc. We also revised how to pronounce <i>-ed</i> at the end of words. Remember the rule:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><b>/t/: PoKaSH FiCHaS</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><b>/id/: Te Doy</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><b>/d/: the rest</b></span></div>
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If you want to improve your <b>pronunciation</b>, you can check <a href="http://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/preint/c_pronunciation/?cc=global&selLanguage=en">this link</a>.<br />
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On Wednesday we started Unit 10 and we talked about fashion and shopping. We saw some differences between men and women and we also learnt the structure "used to".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YpkTng-DWeUjALmVeAkyRcAuWDTLDJbArQx7zMPLOw3g_AeJPp-uto_rN4BlztxUqVa8Pd3k53npYMy3anvx6FgLEmyqIYK7UR0iTDZu8TT058ubOOz1ubcDBCW8RoP4ujRlkky4hzz6/s1600/Captura+de+pantalla+2012-05-05+a+las+13.00.16.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YpkTng-DWeUjALmVeAkyRcAuWDTLDJbArQx7zMPLOw3g_AeJPp-uto_rN4BlztxUqVa8Pd3k53npYMy3anvx6FgLEmyqIYK7UR0iTDZu8TT058ubOOz1ubcDBCW8RoP4ujRlkky4hzz6/s400/Captura+de+pantalla+2012-05-05+a+las+13.00.16.png" height="175" width="400" /></a></div>
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(Taken from <a href="http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/menu.php">www.englishgrammarsecrets.com</a>)</div>
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If you want to practise a bit more, here you have a variety of exercises:</div>
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<a href="http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/exercise1.swf">Exercise 1</a>: matching.</div>
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<a href="http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/exercise2.swf">Exercise 2</a>: put the words in the correct order.</div>
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<a href="http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=252">Exercise 3</a>: I've also found this exercise which uses a song by Madonna called "This used to be my playground". It's a bit old, but it's good for listening and grammar practice! :)</div>
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For <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b>homework</b></span>, please do exercises 2 and 3 on pages 88 and 89, and the copy about the passive. Thank you :)</div>
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I hope you have a great weekend!</div>
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Ana.</div>
Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-3217759321593296672011-11-20T13:26:00.000+01:002014-10-23T12:53:08.336+02:00Strange jobs; /g/ vs. /d3/<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello everyone!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How's the weekend going? Last week we had three days of class: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Monday we did a short activity to guess the meaning of some jobs (<i>midwife, masseuse, tailor, plumber</i> and <i>trashman</i>) and then we did a listening about some people with some very strange jobs! Then we did an exercise about word-formation with the suffixes <i>-ion, -or, -ant, -er</i> and -<i>ment.</i></span></div>
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Finally, we listened to three different conversations where people had to apologise, give reasons and finally make a promise: <i><u>I'm sorry I can't</u> meet you tonight because <u>I have to</u> work, but <u>I'll </u>see you next Saturday</i>. You practised these expressions with Leah on Wednesday.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With her you also talked about safety at work and we corrected the text on page 32, which was a bit difficult for some of you. Finally, we listened to Kevin, who offered Lara a job as an aider. That wasn't very difficult, was it?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLH4SwwByc0bjwoRSop8rrFEJHUy3SaDrwlXou_cOYtn1Tl7tTTJxpE3lls6uXGKvruqoFMKYE956Zcb0mZ5vf56NMRHZnPB33lE-K3wVL00b1o1bKyfEG8rE5dB8Y0RisHfUNlbLgycTc/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-11-20+at+13.19.52.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLH4SwwByc0bjwoRSop8rrFEJHUy3SaDrwlXou_cOYtn1Tl7tTTJxpE3lls6uXGKvruqoFMKYE956Zcb0mZ5vf56NMRHZnPB33lE-K3wVL00b1o1bKyfEG8rE5dB8Y0RisHfUNlbLgycTc/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-11-20+at+13.19.52.png" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Friday we corrected the review on page 31 and we saw the difference between /s/ and /<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">ʃ</span>/. You didn't have many difficulties, but some of you still confuse /g/ and /d3/. Click <a href="http://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/preint/c_pronunciation/ef_5050?cc=global&selLanguage=en">here</a> for a "game" where you can practise this difference.</span></div>
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<br />Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-12792167720504675642011-11-20T12:31:00.000+01:002014-01-22T23:26:43.738+01:00English and American EnglishHi everyone,<br />
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How's your Sunday going? Here you have the usual summary after each week, plus some extra material. On Tuesday we corrected the unit on <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">Indirect Speech</span></b> -only two exercises left to correct-, and we worked with a handout about the differences between British (BrE) and American (AmE) English. We saw two different phenomena:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9TQmbhSLp9sP4DeySCPAdx1rEI4lZD2LhithCoE4lR8wDMGNr8nz3oRPNydN1MbZaeEdhiKMQdq9ZouGHpAgRKzbbyWP8Q1aKs8_cX9u8FLqG-f9kFmBdRJFfJO2QNPx7f5mbtBWOYN8/s1600/BrE+and+AmE.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9TQmbhSLp9sP4DeySCPAdx1rEI4lZD2LhithCoE4lR8wDMGNr8nz3oRPNydN1MbZaeEdhiKMQdq9ZouGHpAgRKzbbyWP8Q1aKs8_cX9u8FLqG-f9kFmBdRJFfJO2QNPx7f5mbtBWOYN8/s200/BrE+and+AmE.png" height="105" width="200" /></a><br />
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<li><u>Two words, same meaning</u>: <i>underground</i> vs. <i>subway</i></li>
<li><u>One word, different meaning</u>: <i>bill</i> exists both in AmE and BrE, but the meaning is different. </li>
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Finally, I gave you a copy on the use of punctuation. Make sure you read it carefully at home, and, most importantly, check it if you have a doubt when writing a composition.<br />
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On Thursday we had one hour with Leah, where we talked about going to the doctor's -below you have the handout she worked with, in case you don't have a copy-. Surfing the Internet I've found this <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b>listening</b></span> about making an appointment at the doctor's. Click <a href="http://www.esl-lab.com/office/offrd1.htm">here</a> to listen to it and do a multiple choice exercise. If you prefer completing gaps, try <a href="http://www.esl-lab.com/office/officefra.htm">this exercise</a> instead. Finally, I leave you with the <a href="http://www.esl-lab.com/office/offsc1.htm">transcription</a> and a <a href="http://www.esl-lab.com/office/medicaladvice-match.htm">vocabulary exercise</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/73257632/Going-to-the-doctor-s" style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto; text-decoration: underline;" title="View Going to the doctor's on Scribd">Going to the doctor's</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.707514450867052" data-auto-height="true" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_43928" scrolling="no" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/73257632/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-20adgv902h7rrreyz84q" width="100%"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })(); </script><br />
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After that, we did a listening about differences in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b>tipping</b></span> in the US and the UK and we saw some <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">pronunciation</span></b> features of both accents -click <a href="http://www.multimedia-english.com/phonetics/bre_vs_ame.php">here</a> for a revision of the aspects we commented on in class-. Sometimes, it might be a bit difficult to calculate a 15% tip in your head, but I found this easy trick to do it relatively quickly (click on the image to enlarge it):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUp2OkYCOLWhzSS54BiRKYOjO1HRyCbM53A7UT-Zi5SDvR7RXb-4vAzb-6ZZfbGnUQzUD4w5Sr6UwRQ6r71yAN28eEz6hXL4kDKo7lHYt9yVGoEHNIVWJo8F6KzqxphubwO6JuzQNwFkzy/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-11-20+at+12.26.32.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUp2OkYCOLWhzSS54BiRKYOjO1HRyCbM53A7UT-Zi5SDvR7RXb-4vAzb-6ZZfbGnUQzUD4w5Sr6UwRQ6r71yAN28eEz6hXL4kDKo7lHYt9yVGoEHNIVWJo8F6KzqxphubwO6JuzQNwFkzy/s400/Screen+shot+2011-11-20+at+12.26.32.png" height="210" width="400" /></a></div>
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Does any of you have any better ideas?<br />
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In 4ºA, Leonor and Mª Carmen did their presentations about eating disorders and vegetarians, respectively. Thanks both of you for your effort.<br />
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For <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b>homework</b></span>, I'd like you to do exercises 1, 4 and 8 on pages 36 an 37.Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-18931479030133169122011-03-05T13:20:00.000+01:002014-01-23T12:02:33.223+01:00The past simple / -ed pronunciationGood afternoon everyone,<br />
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I'm sorry I didn't update (<i>actualizar</i>) the blog last week, but I didn't have Internet access during the bank holiday... So here you have the summary of weeks 21 and 22!</div>
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First of all, we talked about travelling, and we read a story of two friends who wanted to fly to Sydney, Canada, but they arrived in a different place...! We also listened to a couple filling out a complaint form because their holidays were not good. In fact (<i>de hecho</i>), they were awful!</div>
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About grammar, we saw the past simple of the verb <i>to be</i>, regular and irregular verbs. Click <a href="http://www.saberingles.com.ar/curso/lesson14/04.html">here</a> for a very complete and clear explanation of the past simple. We did a lot of practise, but here you have some more. You can do all the exercises, or select the most interesting for you:</div>
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<li><a href="http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simple-past/exercises?03">Was or were?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simple-past/exercises">Exercise on past simple</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simple-past/exercises?06">Exercise on questions</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simple-past/exercises?07">Exercise on interrogatives with a question word</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/countries/usa/tour/chicago#exercises">Text about Chicago</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/countries/uk/tour/oxford#exercises">Text about Oxford</a></li>
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Remember that in regular verbs, the pronunciation of the <i>-ed</i> is very important. Raquel Marín, from Basic Level E, gave me this <a href="http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/esl/grammar/simplepast-pronunciation.html">link</a> (thank you). I hope it helps you!<br />
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We also read and listened to the stories of three girls that had a night out in Moscow, Beijing and Rio. Was your last night out similar to theirs? Would you like to post a comment telling us about your last night out?? :)</div>
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Finally, last Wednesday/Thursday we read a story about a murder... Can you remember who the murderer was?? I still can't believe it!! Then, in Basic Level D we played a very funny game called "Alibi". Basic Level E will play it next week!!</div>
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I hope you have a great weekend!</div>
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Ana.</div>
Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-61409469610330560252011-02-13T11:58:00.000+01:002014-01-23T12:02:45.288+01:00/i/ vs. /i:/; possessive adjectives & pronouns; at a clothes shopGood morning (almost afternoon!)<br />
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As usual, here you have a summary of last week:<br />
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On Monday / Tuesday we continued talking about films and you read your summaries (which were very good!!). Then we did an exercise on pronunciation to learn the difference between /i/ and /i:/. For some of you this exercise was a bit difficult, so click <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/unit1/start.shtml">here</a> if you want to practise a little bit more.<br />
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About grammar, we revised object pronouns and we learnt possessive pronouns. We worked with a photocopy to revise how to express possession in English: possessive 's, possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns. Click <a href="http://mansioningles.com/gram08_ej1.htm">here</a> and <a href="http://mansioningles.com/gram28_ej1.htm">here</a> to do some more activities related to this. Remember to visit <a href="http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/elementary/">New English File online</a> too and to complete the workbook :)<br />
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On Wednesday / Thursday we listened to two film critics talking about 5 different films. I know it was a bit difficult, but you did very well! So... congratulations!! :) We also learnt expressions to use in a clothes shop. Click <a href="http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/elementary/d_phrasebank/ef_elem_practicaleng04/">here</a> if you want to revise this.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">Remember to bring the book </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">England</span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"> to class on Monday / Tuesday. Thank you.</span></span></b>Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-39296475473065683102011-02-06T20:30:00.000+01:002014-01-23T12:03:48.782+01:00Consonant sounds; clothes; songsHello guys!<br />
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Last week we talked about the differences between men and women related to shopping and we learnt the <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">pronunciation</span></b> of the sound /<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">ŋ</span>/ - click <a href="http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/elementary/c_pronunciation/pronunciation04/">here</a> to revise some of the consonants we know. We learnt vocabulary about clothes and how to say what we are wearing. You can revise <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">clothes</span></b> <a href="http://mansioningles.com/ejer_voc10.htm">here</a>.<br />
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On Wednesday / Thursday we started to talk about films. We read a summary of the film <i>Ghost</i>, and we learnt "object pronouns", which are used to substitute nouns and after prepositions. Revise Grammar Bank 4C and practise with the Workbook.<br />
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Por último, dejo aquí tres canciones con un enlace al videoclip subtítulado y actividades para hacer online. Elegid la que más os guste, o haced las tres! :)<br />
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<li>"<a href="http://subingles.com/ejercicios:ejercicio_cancion_330">Change the world</a>", by Eric Clapton</li>
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<li>"<a href="http://subingles.com/ejercicios:ejercicio_cancion_400">Sick of Love</a>", by Robert Ramírez</li>
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<li>"<a href="http://subingles.com/ejercicios:ejercicio_cancion_230">1973</a>", by James Blunt</li>
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Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-25932991924158189002010-10-26T13:09:00.000+02:002014-10-18T18:32:29.322+02:00Past Simple vs. Past Continuous; stative & dynamic verbs; -ed ending<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here I leave you with some interesting material from the Internet to revise some of the things we covered in class last week. First of all you have an episode from The Flatmates, a series by the BBC where they focus on different aspects of the English language.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWiUDem8vVfavnOtwca_R4kMLhhTBzIfqfGXaXxg7n6tvZR_IMnaKJVSViUYd6DscWP2Ew9o2HAN2PdsFNwrDDK1igjxXmrGwKnU4LYW-SLrEi2biO1TBFkZGmQX1EhNncqSDR1ZvgFRE/s1600/Captura+de+pantalla+2010-10-26+a+las+10.01.27.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWiUDem8vVfavnOtwca_R4kMLhhTBzIfqfGXaXxg7n6tvZR_IMnaKJVSViUYd6DscWP2Ew9o2HAN2PdsFNwrDDK1igjxXmrGwKnU4LYW-SLrEi2biO1TBFkZGmQX1EhNncqSDR1ZvgFRE/s1600/Captura+de+pantalla+2010-10-26+a+las+10.01.27.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click on this <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode70/index.shtml">link</a> and you'll be able to listen to it (you'll see that you can listen either with or without the tapescript in front of you). After you listen, click on the "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode70/languagepoint.shtml">language point</a>", where you have an explanation of how the past simple and continuous are used in the same sentence. Then you can practise doing the "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode70/quiz.shtml">quiz</a>".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We already know that the past simple and the past continuous are used for different purposes. However, remember also that some verbs cannot be used in the continuous form... can you remember which ones they are?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's right! Stative or non-action verbs! If you don't remember this, or you simply want to revise, click on the following <a href="http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/what-are-state-verbs">link</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To end with, a final note on pronunciation. Last week we saw that regular verbs in the past simple end in -ed. However, these two small letters can be pronounced in three different ways: /id/, /t/ and /d/:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTUlNvam_TJn_QGT97vaZej8WSnawzxaOaHe-EziQRRBRfQ3_uvM_Gm8YkRJo7Q2XCEFkFtYOWgGuJqAcAQAfkAcWG79zhZmLa1M8PFBfxc28Aw9hHiAbg56YXvZpWnnElkPDz6vIMeDYq/s1600/Captura+de+pantalla+2010-10-26+a+las+10.19.43.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTUlNvam_TJn_QGT97vaZej8WSnawzxaOaHe-EziQRRBRfQ3_uvM_Gm8YkRJo7Q2XCEFkFtYOWgGuJqAcAQAfkAcWG79zhZmLa1M8PFBfxc28Aw9hHiAbg56YXvZpWnnElkPDz6vIMeDYq/s400/Captura+de+pantalla+2010-10-26+a+las+10.19.43.png" height="155" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here you have a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1413_gramchallenge26/">listening</a> where we find out about these three pronunciations and we also listen to Sebastian, a student from Colombia, producing the correct sounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see, in order to pronounce the -ed ending correctly it is important to know which sounds are voiced and which are voiceless/unvoiced, but... how do we know? I hope this <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/features/voicing/">video</a> helps! :)</span></div>
Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363556292968816047.post-14223092759704507262010-10-17T12:45:00.000+02:002014-10-18T18:34:47.264+02:00An Introduction to Pronunciation<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week I asked some of you to try and transcribe a few words... I was utterly amazed when you told me you had never seen phonetic symbols in your lives! Well, we have to put a solution to that! In class, we'll see symbols little by little, normally in pairs or triplets. However, just for you to have a general idea of how pronunciation works in English, here I leave you with two videos I've found on the Internet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two main ideas in the first video are that:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good pronunciation is very important but... what do we mean by good pronunciation? Well, you don't have to sound like a native speaker. The only important thing is that your pronunciation doesn't impede communication. In other words, your pronunciation has to be clear enough for other people to understand.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the second video you have a general overview of phonetic symbols and the International Phonetic Alphabet: what are they? why are they necessary? Are there the same number of letters and phonetic symbols? Do they coincide?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You have the complete list of phonetic symbols on pages 158 and 159 of your Student's Book. You also have a really useful list of the usual spellings for each sound. Please, have a quick look at it. And remember that you have plenty of practice for pronunciation, as well as grammar and vocabulary, in your multiROM!</span></div>
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Ana Buenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08401439195588360652noreply@blogger.com0