Reported Speech

REPORTED SPEECH WEBSITES and resources

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/reported-speech.html

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/reportedspeech.html

engvid

intermediate  http://www.engvid.com/english-grammar-reported-speech/

http://www.engvid.com/say-tell-reported-speech/  say and tell

advanced  http://www.engvid.com/grammar-reported-speech-indirect-speech/

slideshares (many)

http://www.englishlearner.com/tests/report.html

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/reported.html

http://a4esl.org/q/h/9901/tm-reported1.html

http://a4esl.org/q/h/9807/lm-reported.html

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech

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 files
english grammar in use
how english works
longman grammar

domino (reward)

in company...

etc.

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.

download CAE and CPE books

http://cae-cpe.blogspot.com.es/

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? 

A number of exercises FCE level:

http://www.flo-joe.com/fce/students/strategy/p3pt5a.htm

many (18) exercises FCE-like:

http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/first-certificate-word-formation.php

more:

http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_use_of_english_part3_test2.htm

http://englishaula.com/en/use-of-english-part-3-word-formation-exercise-exam-2-fce-cambridge-first-certificate-english.html

http://www.tinyteflteacher.co.uk/learning-english/FCE/word-formation-verbs.html

negative words: http://www.tinyteflteacher.co.uk/learning-english/FCE/word-formation-negatives.html

https://etornauta.wordpress.com/category/word-formation/

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
...

listenings levels

http://english-4u.net/online/Listening-Program.php

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).

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.

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. 

http://english-phonics.blogspot.com.es/2011/01/level-2-picture-to-remember.html

http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/June2004/20-New-Word-Delia.htm

http://www.onestopenglish.com/esol/absolute-beginners/unit-1/ 

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.

Advanced lesson: Middle East

Middle East conflict, key players interactive map

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/30/middle-east-explained_n_6056786.html

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                   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjgfnS7qKCI

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,