Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year!!!

HI, there!,

The new year can bring you new discoveries,  wonderful inspirations, love and happiness to fill your heart! Now, it's time to write a beatiful story for yourself. Best wishes and Happy New Year!


Friday, November 21, 2014

2º ESO Review - Worksheets

Hi, Guys!!!,


As I told you in class, here you can find all the worksheets that I already gave you. Just click on the following links to download them. I hope you'll find them useful.

1. Present Simple vs. Present Continuous (2)
2. Present simple vs. Present continuous (mixed sentences)
3. Past Simple (REGUALR VERBS)






Tuesday, November 4, 2014

2º ESO Present Continuous + Grammar and Vocabulary Unit 2

Hi, there!!!, 


Once again, here you are a list of worksheets ready to be printed and done!!! Now, you can click on the following links to keep on working with the Present Continuous, HOME vocabulary, and so on. 




HOME Vocabualry: La ManSióN del InGLéS



Present Cont. (ONLINE EXERCISES): web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone



"Nothing Worth Doing Can Be Done Overnight"

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Irregular Verb List + Games

Hi, Guys!!!, 


If you click on this link: Irregular Verb List, you can download a very complete list of verbs, though there are more ;). Then, you have to learn it by heart little by little. I'm sure it's going to be a great challenge for you, but at the same time, it's truly worthwhile. Let's start!!!


Have you studied all of them yet? Now, click on these links to play games and check your knowledge:

TENSES CHART

Hi, Guys!!!, 

In this post, you can find some charts to revise some English tenses, i.e. Present Simple vs. Present continuous, Past Simple vs. Past Continuous, and Present Perfect Simple vs. Past Simple. Let's keep on learning English!!!

Pres. Simple vs. Pres. Cont. CHART 

Past S. vs. Past Cont. CHART 

Past Simple vs. Pres. Perf. CHART 

Monday, September 15, 2014

HEY, BROTHER!!!, Aviccii


Hi, Guys!!!


I hope you'll enjoy this trendy song, I think it's a good way to start a new academic year! Now, let's listen to ... HEY, BROTER!, THERE'S AN ENDLESS ROAD TO REDISCOVER!!! 
Good Luck and have fun learning English!


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

HoW To MaKe OuR StuDentS SPEAK UP!

Hi, Guys!!!,



As I see it, one of the most difficult task for teachers is actually getting your students to speak up 100%  English, though ovbiously, it is not an unrealistic impossible goal, but we have to work very hard. Because of that, I'd like to share some of my motivating ideas to help our English learners speak their target language. We should take into account that when you can communicate in English, you can handle the language!


Thus, one of my new academitc year's resolution is this! And how can I get it? By means of INTERESTING RESEARCH ACTIVITIES. All students are very familiar with new technologies, internet, etc., so I'm going to ask them to prepare some oral presentations (max. 5 min.) about different cultural topics. It's going to be our English Cultural Corner at the end of the class. 

By this way, they must find some information about the following topics (I promise I'll add many more!!!). And also, they are going to learn  so much about many different cultural Bristish-American customs, traditions, historical characters, etc.


1. How many types of newspapers are there in UK?
2. What is the Commonwealth?
3. Why is the British flag called Union Jack?
4. Why are the Irish doors so colourful?
5. Where does the name "Wall Street" come from?
6.Who was William the Conqueror?
7. What is the highest building in New York city?
8. What are the origins, history and traditions of the British afternoon tea?
9. When did the Irish Famine happen?
10. What is the Act of Union 1707?
11. What do the Americans celebrate the 4ht of July?
12. Who was Lincoln?
13. Who was Charles Darwin?
14.  What is "Fish and Chips"?
15. Who was William Shakespeare?
16.  What is Halloween?
17. Who was Thomas Edison?
18. Why are London taxis called "black cabs"?
19. Who was Sherlock Holmes?
20. What is The Tube in London?
21. Who was Alfred the Great?
22. Who are the Buskers in London?
23. Who are the Beefeaters?
24. What's the meaning of "AIN'T"? 
25. Who was Robert Burns? and when is Burn's night celebrated? 
26. What is the Remembrance Sunday?
27. When is St David's day celebrated? Its origin and tradition.
28. When is St George's day celebrated? Its origin and tradition. 
29. When is St Patrick's day celebrated? Its origin and tradition. 
30. When is St Swithin's day celebrated? Its origin and tradition. 
31. What about the mystery of the Stoneghenge?  
32. What is Oak Apple Day?
33. What is the Bonfire Night? When is it celebrated?
34. What is Thanksgiving Day? When is it celebrated? 
35. Do you know what the Statue of Liberty stands for?
36. What's the meaning of  "LOL"? What about the netspeak?
37. What's the origin of St Valentine's Day? How was / is it celebrated?
38. Why is the capital of USA called Washington DC?
39. Who was Jane Austen? Where was she buried?
40. History of the Westminster Abbey. Its different parts.
41. Who was Edward the Confessor?
42. Who was Henry VIII?


(THERE WILL BE MORE QUESTIONS TOMORROW ;) AND IF YOU LIKE THIS IDEA, YOU CAN SHARE YOUR QUESTIONS WITH ME. Thanks! )

Then, every student chooses one of the topics. After that, they have to prepare their oral presentations making a power point, showing some pictures, posters, real objects, music, what they consider more attractive and entertaining... They must explain the topic, they have to be careful with their English, make the other students involved, ... and so on. 

At last, once again, I'd like to emphasize ENGLISH IS ALWAYS FUN!!!!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Tips to teach English to children (who are less than 3 years old)

Hi, Guys!!!!, 

Nowadays, we are deeply concerned about the importance of learning English, but there are always some questions: "When should children start learning English?, How?, What would be the best methodology?, Who should teach them English? Native speakers or English speakers? and then, what about the experts' oponions?".

Well, as far as I am concerned, I prefer learning and approaching English in a very natural enjoyable way. In other words, we can stimulate some parts of the brain that control language, that's all for now! since they are very young. We'd better arouse their children's curiosity and desire of knowledge. Because of that, I'd like to give some easy tips to make them start learning English. 

1. ENGLISH SONGS: I recommend you to buy or download from iTunes these funny albums: Bilingual Songs or Kids Songs, and then, what do we have to do? Sing them aloud with our children! Sooner or later, you would be surprised by your kids singing them alone!!! ;)



2. FLASHCARDS: there are plenty of webs where you can download and print flashcards, they are really functional for children!! Not only you can teach them English with these flashcards, but also your mother tongue, they will learn many new words (animals, sports, colours, numbers, ... and so on).



3. READING AN ENGLISH FAIRY TALE: Everyday before going to bed, you can read them bilingual or English fairy tales, don't worry too much about your pronunciation, try to do it as best as you can! Your children only want to get relaxed and see the pictures of the book. Little by little, they will discover new words.



4. PUZZLES: there are many puzzles whose pieces can be used as flashcards. Even more, you can say that new word in both languages: English and your mother tongue.



5. TV PROGRAMMES: Fortunately, we can easily find many TV programmes which can help our children learn English. So, watching TV can be a really functional way of learning English! And it's also very simple, just change the language of your TV. So, don't waste time and make them watch their favourite episodes in your target language.

6. ROUTINES:
Every morning, when you wake up your children, you can sing an English song, such as: "Good morning, my friend, it's time to wake up!!!".  Besides, you can say some common routine instructions in English, for example: "Come on! Hurry up!"; "it's time to go to bed"; "it's time to brush your teeth"; or teaching them to say: "thank you", "hello, hi!", "bye, bye", "see you later, alligator".

7. Avoid asking them questions as if they were being examined, for example: "How do you say that in English? Come one!" If we do that, children may not dare to speak any English word. So, we can't forget our main goal: learning Enlgish is always fun!!!! It needs to be a natural learning!


I hope you'll find this post interesting!!!

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

CoMeDy CluB: "all Spanish speak an intermediate English level"

Hi, Guys!!!!, 

Some days ago, my friends and I were talking about what the Spanish people's real English level is. Some of them stated that they could understand English, read or write it, but not all of them could speak a good level of English, except when they were abroad, in other words, in extreme occasions. Luckily, that situation is changing, these days, there are many people studying English, but above all, now they are more worried about their oral skills.

At that moment, a fun monologue from the Comedy Club came to my mind. It is starred by the Spanish actor, Luis Merlo, and he deals with the Spanish people have an "intermediate" English level. I hope you'll enjoy it!!!


Tuesday, June 24, 2014

1st Upper-Secondary - Full Year Review

Hi, Guys!!!,

That's the end of this academic year!!! Though some of you need to go on working if you really want to pass English. Because of that, I've just prepared for you a great variety of exercises, links and worksheets which you can download.  I hope you'll find these useful! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

2nd Upper-Secondary - Full Year Review

Hi, Guys!!!!,


That's the end of this academic year!!! Though some of you need to go on working if you really want to pass English. Because of that, I've just prepared for you a great variety of exercises, links and worksheets which you can download.  I hope you'll find these useful! 




1. TENSES

2. TENSES (2)

3. CONDITIONALS

4. SOME, ANY & NO, Inf., Gerund

5. MODALS

6. MODALS (2) 

7. Rephrasing Modals 

8. TENSES (3) 

9. Reported Specch 

10. RELATIVES 

11. USED TO, BE USED TO and  GET USED TO 

12. PASSIVE 

13. LINKING WORDS 

14. HAVE + STH + DONE 

15. IT IS SAID THAT (Passive) 

16. TOO and ENOUGH 

17. SO and SUCH 

18. LINKING WORDS (2) 

19. LINKING WORDS (3) 

20. PHRASAL VERBS 

21. ADJECTIVES (Word Order) 

22. 2nd-term-revision-for-upper-secondary 






Thursday, June 19, 2014

SAT Exams - PAU Andalucia June 2014

Hi, Guys!!!, 

Some students took the following PAU exams last week, and some of you asked me some questions about the texts, lexicon, ... Well, here you are the exam papers and answers! Let's see now!!!


OPTION A: MARRIED AT ELEVEN


Possible answers:
A. COMPREHENSION:
1. Lines 2-4: "Nada Al-Ahal ... posted a video on YouTube explaining why she ran away to a void a forced marriage...I'd rather die than be forced into an arranged marriage".

2. Line 5: "The girl said she would not accept it, and went to live with her unlce, potentially risking her life".

3. Lines 11-13: " I did all I could to prevent that marriage. I called the groom ... Nada was not suitable for him ...".

4. FALSE Lines 5-6 "Some children decided to throw themselves into the sea, and they're dead now".

5. TRUE Lines 7-8 "Nada's uncle ... said it was the second time he protected his niece from being married ...".

B. USE OF ENGLISH
6. remain

7. escape, get away

8.  groom

9. prevent from

10. Nada asked if / whether they didn't have any compassion.

11. People / They force children to get marred at an early age all over the world.

12. What did you do to prevent that marriage?

13. Nada, who lives in Yemen, must also have an opportunity to live her own life.



OPTION B: CASH RAINS DOWN FROM SKIES






Possible answers:
A. COMPREHENSION:
1.  Lines 7-8 "Lewes police were aware fo the planned event and had sent an officer to the area ...".

2. Lines 9-11: "This bizarre act of kindness came courtesy of a Lewes resident ... had died the year before ... his last will ... money should be dropped from a helicopter flying over the marina ... ".

3. line 11 "Over the marina, which he apparently used to visit at least once a day".

4. TRUE Lines 5-6: "... he saw people swimming to grab the notes that had landed in the water".

5. FALSE 12-13 "Unfortunately, no one got any pictures of the event ...".

B. USE OF ENGLISH:
6. gift (l.12)

7. flight

8. ran out of

9. crowd (l.3)

10. What did he sprint for with about 50 other people?

11. He may have hidden some of the money.

12. It is useless to wait for the bus.

13. People believe that Leonard Mull was crazy.

 I hope all of you will pass!!! GOOD LUCK

 

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

All TenSeS ReViSioN for Secondary and Upper-Secondary Students

Hi, Guys!!!, 



Here you are! If you want to review all English tenses, it's very simple, click on the following link: All Tenses Revision to download the worksheet. Then, you have to look at these two images to check your answers, ok? Ready, Steady, GOOO!!!! ;)




Sunday, June 1, 2014

Final Project - RoLe PLaY

Hi, Guys!!!,




Every year, I ask you to make a final Project to get an extra point in your final mark. So, this year, I am going to ask you to write a role play, since it is one of the best ways to learn English, to use the target language in a real context, and it is also a good way to encourage you to speak up and practice your English in real situations. It is very simple, you must follow these steps:

 1st step: You have to work in pairs. By email, you must send your English teacher, me,  your dialogue and your role play cards of your characters. Deadline or final date: 17th June.


2nd step: Choose on the following situations:
1. Taxi driver – passenger.
2. At a hotel: Receptionist – Customer.
3. At a restaurant: waiter – customer.
4. At home: mother – child.
5. At school: teacher – pupil.
6. At the airport: flight attendant – passenger.
7. At the supermarket: shop assistant – customer.
8. At the computer shop: shop assistant – customer.
9. At the disco: two friends (casual talk and using slang words).
10. Telephone conversation: boss – wrong person.
11. Job interview: employer – employee
12. At the hospital: doctor – patient.
13. At a soccer stadium: opponent supporters.
14. A celebrity interview: TV host – famous person.
15. Holidays – two strangers on a train.
16. Finding a roommate: owner – new possible mate.
17. Sport interview: a popular sport man/woman – a TV journalist.

3rd step: Briefly, introduce and describe your two characters in two different cards. Then, add some ideas for the conversation. See the examples below.

A taxi driver (a middle aged man/woman driving a cab in London)
A passenger (a young teenager who is visiting London for the first time)

1. Greet the passenger and ask him / her where he / she wants to go.
2. Say the price. Make some comments on the weather. Ask the passenger if he / she likes this weather.
3. Answer the passenger's questions. Boast that your son has recently travelled to Spain to learn Spanish.
4. Say what places and monuments the passenger should go and see.


1. Greet the taxi driver and say where you want to go. Ask what the price will be.
2. Answer the taxi-driver's question and ask what kind of weather he/she  likes.
3. Say that you like travelling and make some comments about the importance of learning languages.
4. Ask the taxi-driver what places to visit in London.


4th step: Write down a dialogue between these two characters. Underline the most relevant sentences or key words for these different situations.


5th step: Perform the role play in class as best as you can (in 5 -10 min). You must take into account your English pronunciation, you must learn and study your dialogue, you can add some gestures to make your role playing game more believable and funnier. Enjoy it!!!


“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players".
- William Shakespeare, As You Like It