Connectors advanced levels
advice: http://elblogdelingles.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/4-consejos-para-reescribir-con-exito.html
http://www.eslflow.com/transitionalconnectingandlinkingwords.html lots lots lots of links!!!!
http://esl.about.com/od/writingadvanced/a/wc_opposition.htm + other links
http://www.xtec.cat/~ogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm click on exercises on the left
http://www.agendaweb.org/grammar/conjunctions-english-exercises.html lots of links
http://www.agendaweb.org/grammar/conjunctions-connectors-exercises.html (easy)
exercise online
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2163
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=5348
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-91807.php
CAE level material
http://www.flo-joe.com/cae/students/writing/linking/ 4 exercises CAE level
http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar/4g67-linking-words.php
http://www.learn-english-today.com/lessons/lesson_contents/exercises/linking-words-ex.htm
Monday, 9 March 2015
Create your own lessons with videos from youtube and ted through http://ed.ted.com/
Sign up, create your own lessons (watch tutorial). I have created a few ones but I don't quite like some of the tools there, but it looks cool and if you have a clear idea of what you aim at and have watched the video a few times, it's pretty straightforward.
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Reported Speech
REPORTED SPEECH WEBSITES and resources
engvid
http://www.engvid.com/say-tell-reported-speech/
say and tell
slideshares (many)
http://esl.about.com/od/grammarintermediate/a/reported_speech.htm
http://www.eslus.com/LESSONS/GRAMMAR/REPORTSP/Rs1.htm
games
online (search)
grammar
spectrum: pre intermediate and intermedia
new english
filesenglish grammar in use
how english works
longman grammar
domino (reward)
in company...
etc.
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Such
Such, dictionary entry for more specific examples
Such (+ adjective +) noun
That's such a good film.
It seems like such a long way to drive for just one day.
Oh Richard, you're such an idiot!
Such cruelty really is beyond my comprehension. -- notice no article here because cruelty is an abstract noun, therefore uncountable.
I'd put on such a lot of weight that I couldn't get into my trousers
such as (for example)
That sum of money is to cover costs such as travel and accommodation.
as such
There wasn't much vegetarian food as such, although there were several different types of cheese.
We don't have a secretary as such, but we do have a student who comes in to do a bit of filing.
Such (+ adjective +) noun
That's such a good film.
It seems like such a long way to drive for just one day.
Oh Richard, you're such an idiot!
Such cruelty really is beyond my comprehension. -- notice no article here because cruelty is an abstract noun, therefore uncountable.
I'd put on such a lot of weight that I couldn't get into my trousers
such as (for example)
That sum of money is to cover costs such as travel and accommodation.
as such
There wasn't much vegetarian food as such, although there were several different types of cheese.
We don't have a secretary as such, but we do have a student who comes in to do a bit of filing.
Friday, 20 February 2015
Thursday, 19 February 2015
CFE word formation links and tips
WORD FORMATION – USE OF
ENGLISH FOR FIRST CERTIFICATE
Recommendations for doing these exercises at
home.
Don’t worry if you make many mistakes in your
first attempt. You get better by repeating and repeating, but first, make sure you
understand what you’re reading as well as any attempt at producing the word. Two of the objectives are to help you become
familiar with words you didn’t know and to develop an intuition how to create
derivatives.
-
Read
the whole text once or twice and identify words you don’t understand.
-
Use
google images or a dictionary to find out what the words are or mean.
-
Read
text a second time, ensuring that you understand the meaning of words and
identify what word type you need in each gap (noun, adjective, verb, adverb,
opposite adjective?)
-
Do the exercise and check the answers.
- Added value: Cut
and paste the text onto google translate or reverso and listen to it. Make you know how to pronounce words and sentences.
-
Do
it all over again, two or three times.
-
Go
back to this text in a few days’ time and do it over again.
Further exploitation of the text: Do you understand the suffixes? Does it make sense? Do you have an equivalent for such and such word? If not, what helps you identify the idea/meaning?
If you translated the text, how different would it be from the English version? Would sentences be considerably different?
Further exploitation of the text: Do you understand the suffixes? Does it make sense? Do you have an equivalent for such and such word? If not, what helps you identify the idea/meaning?
If you translated the text, how different would it be from the English version? Would sentences be considerably different?
A number of
exercises FCE level:
many (18)
exercises FCE-like:
more:
http://www.autoenglish.org/FCEUse/FCEUsePart3.htm
Upper intermediate lesson:
Lots of ways you can tackle this issue:
Compile photos of hinglish, chinglish, etc and give one sheet each with each variety of English. Elicit what this is, discuss mistranslations, etc. Show each other theirs.
Face2face upper unit 1
Jay Walker: the world's English mania
http://www.ted.com/talks/jay_walker_on_the_world_s_english_mania#t-250418
REmember you can activate subtitles and find the transcription of the whole video. Buttons are underneath the screen, on the right hand side.
2009 talk!
Who owns English?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVZpMR1QaZU
over to you
Watch the videos again and feel free to email me your conclusions of who owns English: is it native speakers, is it the BBC and the Queen or is it the millions and millions of learners?
What is "speaking a language" for you? What level of fluency or accuracy does one to have to say that "you speak a language"?
Elaborate on your answer as much or as little as you like! :-)
Vocabulary seen in class:
Drill a sentence= repeat
outnumber = be more than (in numbers)
outlive = live longer than (in number of years)
advantages outweigh ...
note that not all the words which begin with out- refer to the idea of "more than"...For example outreach, outbreak, nor outdated
Hinglish
chinglish
Manglish = malaysian + english
spanglish
...
Compile photos of hinglish, chinglish, etc and give one sheet each with each variety of English. Elicit what this is, discuss mistranslations, etc. Show each other theirs.
Face2face upper unit 1
Jay Walker: the world's English mania
http://www.ted.com/talks/jay_walker_on_the_world_s_english_mania#t-250418
REmember you can activate subtitles and find the transcription of the whole video. Buttons are underneath the screen, on the right hand side.
2009 talk!
Who owns English?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVZpMR1QaZU
over to you
Watch the videos again and feel free to email me your conclusions of who owns English: is it native speakers, is it the BBC and the Queen or is it the millions and millions of learners?
What is "speaking a language" for you? What level of fluency or accuracy does one to have to say that "you speak a language"?
Elaborate on your answer as much or as little as you like! :-)
Vocabulary seen in class:
Drill a sentence= repeat
outnumber = be more than (in numbers)
outlive = live longer than (in number of years)
advantages outweigh ...
note that not all the words which begin with out- refer to the idea of "more than"...For example outreach, outbreak, nor outdated
Hinglish
chinglish
Manglish = malaysian + english
spanglish
...
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Reading: pdf readers, different levels and tips
I found this for my low-resources. Thanks whoever posted the books on their website.
http://english-4u.net/online/Biblioteca-virtual.php
Imma and Martin have read the three easy elem ... not the one in past tense Rich Man Poor Man.
books all levels +audios! excellent
http://minhateca.com.br/pamqueiroz/audiobooks+in+english/starters
book ideas: http://english-phonics.blogspot.com.es/2011/07/rich-man-poor-man-by-tc-jupp.html
elementary: http://vk.com/doc-55395457_244503319 The New Yorkers
elementaryies: http://vk.com/pages?oid=-55395457&p=Elementary_7
Easy for beginners
http://www.bestofthereader.ca/Ebooks/EasyStories-People.pdf
For those of you with with the audio and the book, I recommend:
1- Listening to the audio of a chapter, three times (if your level or above). Focus on understanding more on every go.
2. Read and listen at the same time. Notice words that you had not understood earlier, words or expressions that you had misunderstood. Is what hear what you see? Pay close attention to pronunciation of little words, of longer words, the weak forms of be and have, for example. Look up words you don't know.
3. Try to translate a paragraph and make it sound natural in your language. You many have to make considerable changes in sentence order! You can get it corrected by the teacher or someone who can help you.
4. Listen again, a couple of times. This will help you retain vocabulary and you'll be able to understand all the text without written help!
It's a lot work and discipline but students who do that really report improving in their overall learning process.
Alternatively if you don't have the audio:
1. REad each chapter once,
2. look up words, using a dictionary and google images (can help!)
3. re read text a couple of time to make sure the translation of words makes sense and
4. translate a few paragrpahs (get it corrected by the teacher or someone who can help you).
http://english-4u.net/online/Biblioteca-virtual.php
Imma and Martin have read the three easy elem ... not the one in past tense Rich Man Poor Man.
books all levels +audios! excellent
http://minhateca.com.br/pamqueiroz/audiobooks+in+english/starters
book ideas: http://english-phonics.blogspot.com.es/2011/07/rich-man-poor-man-by-tc-jupp.html
elementary: http://vk.com/doc-55395457_244503319 The New Yorkers
elementaryies: http://vk.com/pages?oid=-55395457&p=Elementary_7
Easy for beginners
http://www.bestofthereader.ca/Ebooks/EasyStories-People.pdf
For those of you with with the audio and the book, I recommend:
1- Listening to the audio of a chapter, three times (if your level or above). Focus on understanding more on every go.
2. Read and listen at the same time. Notice words that you had not understood earlier, words or expressions that you had misunderstood. Is what hear what you see? Pay close attention to pronunciation of little words, of longer words, the weak forms of be and have, for example. Look up words you don't know.
3. Try to translate a paragraph and make it sound natural in your language. You many have to make considerable changes in sentence order! You can get it corrected by the teacher or someone who can help you.
4. Listen again, a couple of times. This will help you retain vocabulary and you'll be able to understand all the text without written help!
It's a lot work and discipline but students who do that really report improving in their overall learning process.
Alternatively if you don't have the audio:
1. REad each chapter once,
2. look up words, using a dictionary and google images (can help!)
3. re read text a couple of time to make sure the translation of words makes sense and
4. translate a few paragrpahs (get it corrected by the teacher or someone who can help you).
Pronunciation: -ture, -dure, -sure
Most -ture endings are prononounced as -cher/-cha. Please notice it's and ending, not the adjective 'sure' as in I am sure.
Future /ˈfjuːtʃəʳ/
structure /ˈstrʌk tʃəʳ/
literature /ˈlɪtərɪ tʃəʳ/
architecture /ˈɑːkɪtek tʃəʳ/
nature /ˈneɪ tʃəʳ/
You can listen to the words in www.howjsay.com or wordreference.com.
Do notice that the phonetic transcription is how the words sounds. Notice that there is no u sound in the symbols, so please don't say / tur/ when saying the word.
The stressed syllable is usually the one before the tʃə sound, as the little apostrophe placed before the stressed syllable indicates.
Future /ˈfjuːtʃəʳ/
structure /ˈstrʌk tʃəʳ/
literature /ˈlɪtərɪ tʃəʳ/
architecture /ˈɑːkɪtek tʃəʳ/
nature /ˈneɪ tʃəʳ/
You can listen to the words in www.howjsay.com or wordreference.com.
Do notice that the phonetic transcription is how the words sounds. Notice that there is no u sound in the symbols, so please don't say / tur/ when saying the word.
The stressed syllable is usually the one before the tʃə sound, as the little apostrophe placed before the stressed syllable indicates.
The same thing applies for -dure, -sure,
Procedures is pronounced like pro- Sitges, those Catalan speakers will know Sitges being a nice seaside town.
Measure, pleasure, treasure, etc... The sure is pronounced as ge...as in genetics, je in French.
Friday, 6 February 2015
Estuve o estaba hablando?
A qué dos son son y nunca uno?
Una de los aspectos de mi trabajo que más me gusta es ir dandome cuenta de donde y debido a qué mis alumnos les cuesta aprender los verb tenses in English.
Muchos de vosotros confundís estuve con estaba cuando habláis en inglés. Veamos:
“Ayer estuvimos hablando de ella.” vs
"Ayer estábamos hablando de ella.... cuando apareció por la puerta"
"Ayer hablamos con ella"
Vale, para muchos veis el verbo, una perífrasis de dos palabras. Una “estar” y el verbo en gerundio. I was talking/speaking. Qué fácil! Claro como el agua. Pues no. Yo os pongo otra pregunta: decidme como decir en inglés “ayer estábamos hablando de ella (cuando apareció)”. También tenemos el “estar” y el verbo en gerundio. Pero es lo mismo “estuvimos” que “estábamos”? No exactamente, ¿verdad? Para más inri, hay el “ayer, hablamos con ella”. Pues la explicación es fácil pero no necesariamente de entender para nosotros. No nos podemos fiar siempre de traducir palabra por palabra y aquí hay un ejemplo. Vuestros cerebros procesan el be y el ing. Perfecto. Pero no hay bien interiorizada la idea que el past continuous (was/were+Ving) hace referencia a un momento concreto en el tiempo, especificado más o menos explícitamente en algún momento de la conversación. De ahí la famosa frase que se da siempre “I was having a bath when the phone rang”. Hay la idea de cuando una acción quedo interrumpida, de algún modo, por otra que indica este “momento concreto. Es como:
“ qué estabas haciendo ayer a las 7 de la tarde? V.
"que hiciste ayer?"
El “estuve hablando se refiere a un momento super concreto o no? No, verdad? Pues no va con “be+ing” sino como un simple past simple. Yesterday I spoke to her. Como el “Ayer hable con ella”. Believe it or not. ¿Por qué los dos iguales?, porqué en inglés no se diferencia este matiz que en castellano sí. El “estuve hablando” da la sensación de hablar más relajado, menos al grano. Si se quiere indicar esta cualidad pondríamos el “away” detrás del verbo pero esto merece otra entrada. Todos los verbos “past” ya sea simple o continuous indican una acción acabada en un momento del tiempo ya acabado. Todos. Es igual si es past simple o continuous or perfect for that matter. Esto hay que tenerlo claro. Luego, distinguimos entre la idea de en un momento concreto o en general. Si es general, si nada interrumpe a nada o al menos no lo mencionamos... usamos el past simple que tal como indica...es simple porque solo tienen una sola palabra. También podríamos hablar del hábito.. "antes hablaba mucho con ella" pero aquí pasamos un poco al “used to” porque puede referirse al hecho que ya no. I used to speak to her often - aquí no me voy a meter hoy, though. Si no es el caso, este “hablaba” también es un simple past simple. O sea que para el past simple inglés tenemos: estuve hablando, hablé y hablaba. Vaya tela, no?
En catalán la cosa se complica más porque el equivalente del past simple inglés tiene dos palabras: vaig parlar (hablé / I spoke), tres palabras del vaig estar parlant (estuve hablando/ I spoke), estava parlant (quan va arribar) ( estaba hablando / I was talking...when she arrived )...
Resumiendo, la idea es que a veces se puede confiar en traducir palabra por palabra y otras no. Hay que saber cuándo, y creo que es importante ser consciente de las similitudes y diferencias respecto a nuestros idiomas.
Una de los aspectos de mi trabajo que más me gusta es ir dandome cuenta de donde y debido a qué mis alumnos les cuesta aprender los verb tenses in English.
Muchos de vosotros confundís estuve con estaba cuando habláis en inglés. Veamos:
“Ayer estuvimos hablando de ella.” vs
"Ayer estábamos hablando de ella.... cuando apareció por la puerta"
"Ayer hablamos con ella"
Vale, para muchos veis el verbo, una perífrasis de dos palabras. Una “estar” y el verbo en gerundio. I was talking/speaking. Qué fácil! Claro como el agua. Pues no. Yo os pongo otra pregunta: decidme como decir en inglés “ayer estábamos hablando de ella (cuando apareció)”. También tenemos el “estar” y el verbo en gerundio. Pero es lo mismo “estuvimos” que “estábamos”? No exactamente, ¿verdad? Para más inri, hay el “ayer, hablamos con ella”. Pues la explicación es fácil pero no necesariamente de entender para nosotros. No nos podemos fiar siempre de traducir palabra por palabra y aquí hay un ejemplo. Vuestros cerebros procesan el be y el ing. Perfecto. Pero no hay bien interiorizada la idea que el past continuous (was/were+Ving) hace referencia a un momento concreto en el tiempo, especificado más o menos explícitamente en algún momento de la conversación. De ahí la famosa frase que se da siempre “I was having a bath when the phone rang”. Hay la idea de cuando una acción quedo interrumpida, de algún modo, por otra que indica este “momento concreto. Es como:
“ qué estabas haciendo ayer a las 7 de la tarde? V.
"que hiciste ayer?"
El “estuve hablando se refiere a un momento super concreto o no? No, verdad? Pues no va con “be+ing” sino como un simple past simple. Yesterday I spoke to her. Como el “Ayer hable con ella”. Believe it or not. ¿Por qué los dos iguales?, porqué en inglés no se diferencia este matiz que en castellano sí. El “estuve hablando” da la sensación de hablar más relajado, menos al grano. Si se quiere indicar esta cualidad pondríamos el “away” detrás del verbo pero esto merece otra entrada. Todos los verbos “past” ya sea simple o continuous indican una acción acabada en un momento del tiempo ya acabado. Todos. Es igual si es past simple o continuous or perfect for that matter. Esto hay que tenerlo claro. Luego, distinguimos entre la idea de en un momento concreto o en general. Si es general, si nada interrumpe a nada o al menos no lo mencionamos... usamos el past simple que tal como indica...es simple porque solo tienen una sola palabra. También podríamos hablar del hábito.. "antes hablaba mucho con ella" pero aquí pasamos un poco al “used to” porque puede referirse al hecho que ya no. I used to speak to her often - aquí no me voy a meter hoy, though. Si no es el caso, este “hablaba” también es un simple past simple. O sea que para el past simple inglés tenemos: estuve hablando, hablé y hablaba. Vaya tela, no?
En catalán la cosa se complica más porque el equivalente del past simple inglés tiene dos palabras: vaig parlar (hablé / I spoke), tres palabras del vaig estar parlant (estuve hablando/ I spoke), estava parlant (quan va arribar) ( estaba hablando / I was talking...when she arrived )...
Resumiendo, la idea es que a veces se puede confiar en traducir palabra por palabra y otras no. Hay que saber cuándo, y creo que es importante ser consciente de las similitudes y diferencias respecto a nuestros idiomas.
Advanced lesson: Middle East
Middle East conflict, key players interactive map
Understanding the Middle East
Elicit or pre-teach:A rump state is the remnant of a once-larger state, left
with a reduced territory in the wake of secession, annexation, irredentism,
occupation, decolonization, or a successful coup d'état or revolution on part
of its former territory. Source:
Wordreference.com
Elicit info on the conflict, make notes on the board or paper
Elicit info on Islam if possible
As it's an advanced group I don't often pre-teach vocab. There are few words worth doing though for weaker advanced groups.
BBC Newsnight: 5 reasons why the ME is in crisis
The 5 reasons explaining why the Middle East is in Crisis are listed
clearly. Can you give a brief summary of each of them?
Pause and play, discuss meaning with others.
Up to reason 3:
How was the Middle East
formed?
When Europeans were there, was
the region as unstable as it is today?
Wha has ME failed in?
Islamism is the gateway
for...what?
Finish the sentence... The new
wave of Islamic politics is a threat.....
Arab springs are achieving
results
What’s the issue about borders?
What do Kurds want?
What’s the role of colonial
powers here?
How is Israel defined in point
3 (3.48)?
Who sells weapons to the
Middle east? (one word – you can expand)
Phrases to help students follow the video and learn words they might be unfamiliar with. In chronological order, from left to right.Also, some may be new words or unfamiliar to them. Check pronunciation.
Design sat on the
foundations Ottoman empire ministries that did provide be
in turmoil is
in crisis
chaos
caused by mutation in political Islam (0:40) first
point in understanding this.
Arab
regimes... failed on the security front prosperity absent of some form of channel get
involved Islamism as the only gateway ideologies
embodied caliphate sweep new
wave is a threat to elites and states
across the region
There’s-.....
Drop another western construct liberal democracy in the current caldron this so-called Arab springs is going nowhere
......Be
trumped by
the politics of identity old authoritarian ottoman model ruled by .... resilience
in the strong men swept away fragmentation has followed borders
coming into question erasure of border by Isis proclaims its new Kurds go in the act too pushing forward historic quest for statehood Libya in danger of fragmentation
ancient .... largely separate are states contrived...doomed leaders who aspire to
control some rump state state as a prime of identity state survived hangover of British rule 100-year argument about its existence and
borders conflict can inflame the
whole region
New alliances forces come into play outsiders are happy to power brokers regional players are key made itself the guardian of the Shia forming a power block the rump state of Iraq SA
champions...pouring resources into cash
?? cash a client of the Arab fighting
over control over the middle east the
US disengaging binary conflict Qatar
...Makes
its own rules too Take sides ally with the Saudi block
steer well clear deeply
worried turmoil likely
to stay that way for foreseeable future trouble of turning leading
to the birth of Al-Qaeda transnational
jihadi a charter
flight bite Europe specially hard
growing chaos in Libya
could raise energy prices hit
economic recovery refugees in Syria flee to airspaces becoming unsafe in big chunks of the region ungoverned space that is also opening
up in potential home for piracy, extremism
and perhaps even the next 9/11
follow up: use the phrases above to complete the sentence,
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