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Jun 9, 2011

BBC News

Click on the link  below and spend a little time listening and watching  news reports and breaking news bulletins from the BBC every day,  as you do in SpanishYour  listening skills  will get better and better. 


BBC News One-minute World News and more 


To find out about the BBC iplayer, which allows you to listen to the BBC radio and TV programmes on different devices, click here

Jun 5, 2011

Some handy stuff to carry on learning

Don't give up good habits during the summer, carry on listening, reading, writing and speaking English. 
  • Some speaking tips:
Click here if you' re interested in finding out  more.
  • Listening:
Click here to read some tips to improve your listening skills.
Click here to watch lots of native speakers talking on a variety of topics. 
  • Reading:
Click here for some reading tips.
Click here to read about a rare disorder. Thank you for sending the link, Mª Jesús.
  • Writing:
Different types of writing Writing tips: Essay builder
Some printable writing exercises 
Formal letters writing tips 
Try this activity.
  • Vocabulary:
Click here to check your vocabulary on different topics. 
  • Grammar:
Grammar exercises  
Passive voice exercise 1 
Passive voice exercise 2 
Passive voice exercise 3 
Reported speech 
The future tense exercise 

May 29, 2011

NI2 Listening practice to improve your listening & speaking skills.

Listen and do the quizzes, then read the transcripts, when available. You can also use some of them as models to practise for your Speaking test.






Perfect match: Listen to six people describe the type of person they would like to date.

Who is the man? : Describing feelings and reasons.



Text messaging

My favourite city

Anyway, browse this site  for more examples. 




May 28, 2011

NA1 Going through the year

Grammar:
Agreeing & disagreeing: So do I / Neither do I / I do / I don't
Revising condicional sentences, posted by Mª Jesús
Dive into The Grammar Aquarium,you'll find explanations and online exercises on anything you need to practise.
Reading:
Read the articles below  to revise and extend your vocabulary on some of the topics we've done this year. They also provide loads of examples of tenses, passive forms, reported speech, reporting verbs, conditional sentences, connectors...
Fashion:   
Air travel &  natural and man-made disasters:  
Relationships:
Cities:
Listening:
Crime:
Man accused killing daughter girl 10 poisoned.
Music:
Cities:
Globe Trekkers: " New York City: 10 things you need to know "  (Do not miss it!)
Climate change:

May 27, 2011

Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolution

One of my NA1 students  would like to share this link with you all. It's on TedTalks an amazing website where you can listen to incredibly interesting people. There's an interactive transcript you can open if you need it. 
Wael Ghonim is the Google executive who helped jumpstart Egypt's democratic revolution.
I also think  it's worth watching. Thanks to Benito for sending it.

May 22, 2011

Spain rocked by protests

Spain's `indignados´summon spirit of 1968. Click here to watch the report on Channel 4. And here to listen to and interview with a Ana Cavero, one of the thousands of young unemployed protesters, on the BBC.
Read about the 15-M movement  in Wikipedia.



 José Luis Sampedro analyses the 15-M movement.Click on the arrow, then on cc to display the English subtitles.

May 7, 2011

NA1 The press

Here you are the links to some popular British and American newspapers. Reading the press is a great way to improve your English, so why don't you make a habit of it?

Apr 27, 2011

NA1 Mª Jesús's newest posts

Have a look at Mª Jesús's newest posts. Great and useful practice, as usual.
If you need to revise how Reported speech works or need further practice, click here, here, and here.

Apr 26, 2011

NA1 Counting sheep. (File 5B)

If you're concerned about sleep disorders click here and watch some interesting videos on the topic.

Apr 25, 2011

Apr 10, 2011

How technology can affect our health.

Watch  iPaditis and find it out.
Thanks to my colleague and friend Concha Lana for sending it.

Apr 9, 2011

NA1 Gerund or Infinitive?

Click here  to find out when you have to use each form.

Mar 20, 2011

NI2 Discussing public/private medicine.

The UK NHS, the national health service, is a system that provides free medical care and is paid for through taxes. On its website you can find out plenty of information related to health issues.
As we are going to discuss public/private medicine in class, why don't you read About the NHS?  In addition to getting some information to support your opinion it will help you to compare it with our own national health service. 
You can also find lots of videos on how to prevent and cope with  some  health problems, like flu , which is worth watching.

Mar 13, 2011

NA1 How I trained my husband (File 4B)

Mª Jesús has posted a link to an interview with Amy Sutherland talking about the article "How I trained my husband" you can read in your textbook (p.57). If you are interested in listening to it, click here. There are also some  questions you can try to answer.

 I strongly recommend Equals and Four great talks for International Women's Day (don't miss Isabel Allende's talk, it's brilliant!), also posted in Mª Jesús's blog.

Mar 11, 2011

NA1 Japan massive quake

Click here to watch the BBC coverage of Japan earthquake and here if you want to watch a CCN report Mª Jesús has posted.

Feb 28, 2011

And the Oscar goes to...

If you couldn't stay up late last night and missed the ceremony, click here to watch Oscars 2011 highlights and   here to find out all the details as well as to revise  and expand your vocabulary on cinema.

Listen to a special English report on the ceremony and this year's nominees here. ( Don't read the script the first time you listen. Take notes of any vocabulary item or useful phrase you want to learn and use).
 

Feb 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day , guys!

 Here you are a selection  of Valentine's Day trailers and video clips. It's my gift to you all to celebrate this day. I hope you enjoy it!

Feb 9, 2011

NA1 Don't miss Mª Jesús's latest posts! Great stuff for File 3C.

 Click here and   here to check out. It's excellent listening practice on  the topics of fears, risky situations and children's safety  we're dealing with in File 3C. Make the most of it to expand your vocabulary on the topic.

Feb 8, 2011

"Death at a Funeral" Wednesday 9th February, 19.00 (Salón de Actos)

Click here to watch the trailer and read the film review. See you there. Thank you Juanma, for posting it.

Jan 27, 2011

NA1 Describing the weather...Watch the weather forescast.

  •  Do you usually watch the weather forecast in the news? Train your listening skills and expand your vocabulary on the topic watching the latest weather forecasts for UK and Europe and a news report called `Snow causes travel chaos in US´on Sky News and on the BBC


  • Watch the video below to revise and learn ways of answering the question "What's the weather like?" from real people interviewed in the street...

Jan 19, 2011

NI2 What's your shopping pet peeve?

A pet peeve or pet hate is something that you dislike very much, or that makes you extremely angry. For example, my shopping pet peeve is struggling with my packed trolley through the aisles, because, as everybody knows, they tend to turn right when you just want to go straight on to reach the long queue at the checkout.
Click here to watch Paul talking about his shopping pet peeve. On the right, there are links to do a quiz and to check the transcript.
Paul's told you his shopping peeve and so have I. How about you? Leave your shopping pet peeve in Comments.

Jan 18, 2011

EOI NEWS


    • For my NI2 students: As you know, you are sitting your B1 Certificate Exam in June. I think it is really important that you are aware of what you will be asked and expected to do, therefore take your time to read La guía del candidato carefully. Focus on the information about your level: Nivel Intermedio B1.

    Jan 14, 2011

    NA1 How To Secure Your Home (Home Security)

    Yesterday we were learning some tips to prevent our homes from being burgled. I've found this video providing further information.  
    Watch  How To Secure Your Home (Home Security) once, then watch it again while you read the script below to check how much you understood.

    NA1 File 3A Extra Practice

    •  Vocabulary
    Do this listening comprehension activity to get  familiar with Some legal terms. I took it from   ELLA English Language Lab Asturias, a site where you can do activities on-line. I strongly recommmend it.
    Mª Jesús has posted some links to revise and extend vocabulary of Crime & Punishment in her blog. Click here to see them.
    • Grammar
    Revise the Passive Tenses and Active Equivalents and practise here and here
    Passive Voice: Forms, Uses & Exercises

    Jan 7, 2011

    New links...Browse the right column, you might find something useful, interesting, enjoyable...

    I've recently added some new links, I hope you find them helpful and take advantage of them to improve your English.
    Be practical and sensible, I mean, don't try everything- you might get lost and waste your time. 
    For example, if  your weakness is pronunciation browse the pronunciation  sites, bookmark / add to favourites those providing the practice you need and visit them now and then.
    • Grammar:
    • Pronunciation:
    • Listening:
    • English through music:

    Jan 6, 2011

    NA1 Telling stories


    Do you like reading stories?  I've found a great website where you can read and listen to American stories written by well-known authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Jack London, Mark Twain... 

    • Would you like to improve your reading, listening and pronunciation while you enjoy a good story?

    • Stories are normally told in the past tense, so it's really important that you pronounce the past forms correctly.

    Practise with some of the verbs in this Regular Verbs List


    • Mini-saga competition: (Textbook p.28)
    Are you a good story teller? Could you write a story in exactly 50 words?
    Why don't you try writing your own `incredibly short stories´and leave them on comments?

    The readers of the blog can vote for their favourites. Let's make this blog a lively and interactive place!

     

    Jan 2, 2011

    New Year Resolutions

    A new year has just begun and people all over the world have made their new year resolutions. You can read some of them in the links below.
    Have you made any? Would you like to share them with us? Write them down on Comments.