Hi!

I checked that listening I promised to upload and found that it is not a real listening but a set of background noises which are supposed to help you recognize the places where the characters in the text above work: the background noise of a football stadium, and so on. I won't uploaded.

Well, today is the first day of summer and the course is coming to an end.

Last week we were practicing the construction used to + infinitive to talk about habits in the past.

For questions and negative sentences we use the auxiliary verb did. I didn't use to go out very often.

We listen to a woman talk about her school days and we talked about subjects we used to like or dislike.

One expression I want to remind you of: there was far too much, said Mick Jagger talking about homework when he was a teenager. We use the adverb far to say something is a certain way to a great extent. Another example: the house was far too big for the two of us. I don't really expect you to use this expression, but you should at least understand it.

We have also been practicing the Present Perfect tense versus the Simple Past.

For HOMEWORK I handed out a worksheet with various exercises: sentences where you have to include used to or didn't used to, then reading and interview about somebody's schooldays where you have to match the questions with the right paragraph.

If you have enough time you can also do a writing about your schooldays. You can follow the model in the book, that is, the interview you have to read: say the name of your school, say weather you were a rebel or not, talk about the subjects you used to like and the ones you didn't use to like, the teachers you used to like and the ones you didn't use to like, what you wanted to be when you grew up and finally if you learned anything important from your experience.

Hi!

You have the last listening we did in the Aula Virtual if you wish to listen to it again ( or Clara and Diana want to listen to ). It is about Sofia Coppola. Have you heard about her? She is Fracis F. Coppola's daughter and she is also a film director.
You can find it on page 79, which you all have.

In this unit we are studying the Present Perfect tense vs Past Tense. And using for and since with the Pr. Perfect.

In our last class we were trying to figure out which biographical details on pages 78 & 79 correspond to Alfred Hitchcock's life and which to Tarantino's life. It wasn't an easy task. Sometimes we knew because of the verb tense used, as Hitchcock is already dead, so information about him must be given in the Simple Past.

Homework is completing some exercises on a worksheet I handed out last Wednesday.

I hope I'll see you all next Monday.

Hello girls!

You can check the Aula Virtual for the listening we did last Wednesday. It is called Felinofobia.

You can do it too, Diana, so you don´t get behind.

Last Wedneday students read their stories about things they or somebody else is afraid of and I really enjoyed them.

A few things I want to remind you of regarding the homework you did:


The strong adjective for afraid or frightened is terrified

Nearly means the same as almost.

Remember the meaning of the verb to work when we are talking about things?


About your new homework:

How long cannot be used with a Present Simple. You can use it with either the Present Perfect or the Simple Past.



In the last class we talked about the Present Perfect tense of the verb and the words for and since to express time.
I included that  type of sentences in unit 4 when you were introduced to the Present Perfect. Now we are going to practice it again. Remember  we use for for a period of time, for example: a few days, half an hour, two years. We use since for an especific time when the action started, for example: last year, June 8, I met you.

HOMEWORK

It is page 59 of the workbook, I think you have it, Diana. 

See you next week.

Hello!

In case you didn´t look, I uploaded the listening that we did in class, 6.20. It is the last one in the list of listenings.

Last week we finished Unit 6. In this unit we have studied the Conditional 1 and 2.

The First Conditional:
(if + present simple, ... will + infinitive)
If it rains tomorrow, we'll go to the cinema.
we can't know what will happen in the future, but this describes possible things, which could easily come true.

The Second Conditional:
(if + past simple, ... would + infinitive)
If I had a lot of money, I would travel around the world.
First, we can use it to talk about things in the future that are probably not going to be true. Maybe I'm imagining some dream for example.

Second, we can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because it's not true. If I were you, I wouldn't go out with that man. If I had his number, I would call him.

We have also studied the modal verb should, which we use to give advice or to talk about what we think is desireble for us to do: I should try to finish it today. I think you shouldn´t eat so much.
The modals may and might to express how likely an action in the future is.: I can´t lent you the green dress, I may wear it tomorrow. 
Who knows? We might meet again next time you come to Spain.

If you need more HOMEWORK complete these sentences:

1: If it is sunny tomorrow _______________________________________________ 
2: If you sit in the sun too long __________________________________________ 
3: If I were you _______________________________________________________ 
4: If I were the Prime Minister ___________________________________________ 
5 If I were the opposite sex ____________________________________________ 
6: If I have enough money ______________________________________________ 

7: If you don’t wear a coat in the winter ___________________________________
8. If I were British ____________________________________________________  
9. If I go out tonight___________________________________________________ 

10: If I were on holiday today ____________________________________________ 

Hi!

Really late, right? I have been very busy deciding who to vote.

Last week there wa only Ana on Monday and Cara and Ana on Wednesday . So the first class was adapted to just one student and I did not continue with the unit we are doing. Only practicing and a lot of conversation.
On Wednesday we did a couple of listenings. They were conversations, first at a reception counter, in a hotel, and then between a customer and a pharmacist. Then we read and practiced the dialogues.

Well, I hope you can find the listenings in the Aula Virtual. I had uploaded the ones we were listening to in class. I was about to upload a new one for the last exercise on the sheet when the Internet conexion failed.

I got it. You´ll find them there.

In the conversations they talk about painkillers, backaches, headaches, a temperature, a cold, a cough. You can have a sore throat as well when you have the flu.

They also use the verb to hurt: 
Does your back hurt?

You could say things like:

Does it hurt a lot?

Anyway, I hope this is useful to you.

If you have the chance to read this, Diana, best wishes for your son, I hope he gets well as soon as possible.

This week we have focused mainly on the modal verb should and we have practiced giving advice.

On Monday we listened to a "radio programme" called What's the Problem? 3 people call the Programme to talk about their problem and ask for advice. This particular programme is about problems with friends. The first person who calls talks about a friend who is mean. They go out together and he never pays for his drinks but lets other people pay for them.
The 2nd person who calls talks about a friend who flirts with his girlfriend. And the third person, complains about  her flatmate and friend who borrows things from her without asking for her permission.
The way the programme work is that listeners are invited to write emails giving advice to the callers.

So we read the emails from 6 people and discussed their opinions saying weather we agreed with their advice or not. Students also said what they would do if they had the problems the callers had.

How do we use the modal should ? Well, it is quite simple.

Same as will or would:

He should talk to his girlfriend.

Should he talk to his girlfriend?

He shouldn't talk to his friend, but to his girlfriend.

Meaning of should:  something like it's a good idea: It is a good idea to talk to his girlfriend about it.

In the listening we also noticed that callers asked after talking about their problem: What should I do?

Yesterday, Wednesday, we practiced giving somebody advice. Students took a card with a problem, e.g. I forgot to buy a birthday present for my mother and the other student had to give her advice using either one of the following forms:

I think you should....
Why don't you...?
I think you must...

HOMEWORK
Besides some exercises on the sheets I gave out, students need to answer the questions:

1. What makes you angry? When was the last time you got really angry? Why?
2.When was the last time you got a present? What was it? Who was it from?
3.Who do you get on best in your family? Is there anybody you don't get on with?
4.What do you think is the best age to get married? Why?
5. Which problems in you country are getting better? Which are getting worse?

As you can see, in these question we use the verb get with different meanings. We'll talk about it in class.