Hi!

In our last lesson we started a new unit. In this unit we study the Present Continuous for future arrangements:

What are you doing this evening?

I'm meeting some friends.

We read a text where both the Present Continuous and the form going to + verb are used.

We usually use the Present Continuous when the plan is an ‘arrangement’ – more than one person is involved and we know the time and place.

However there isn't a big difference between these two forms of the verb.

http://www.englishgrammar.org/difference-present-continuous/. This a link where you can find a clear explanation betwwen the main differences in the way these two forms of the verb are used.

We also studied some phrasal verbs with the verb look:

look for
look after
look forward

These phrasal verbs ( combination of a verb and a preposition that have a different meaning form the verb itself)


Reminder:

Next Wednesday we are sharing  international Christmas dishes with students from other groups. We'll also be talking about the way they are made and the ingredients they have.

Extra Homework

Practice the phrasal verbs above making sentences with them. 2 for each.

I guess you guys decided to take a very very long weekend, because last Wednesday I only had one student.

So I wish you from here a wonderful weekend. Last Monday we worked on the conversations between a customer at the hotel and the receptionist. Students had to write their own conversation. In it the customer had a problem and called the receptionist to complain or to ask for help.
The receptionist usually answers: How can I help you? Then the customer explains his/her problem: the toilet is not flushing. The present continuous is typically used when explaining the problem in a situation like this. When the receptionist promises to do something about it she says: I'll send someone right now, using will + verb.

Let me remind you of the presentation we are planning for the end of the term. I would like to see your plan so we can discuss it. Think about it, please.

The only student I had last Wednesday needed to catch up with homework and that's what I asked him to do, so this time I won't give you any more homework. Just to say that we were working on the text The Story Behind a Photo on pg. 25.

See you next Wednesday!

Last week we practiced questions with a question word and with or without an auxiliary.

Question words are: what, who, why, which, how, whose, when, where.

The only instance in which we don't need to use and auxiliary is when the question word itself is the subject of the question:

Who wrote that book?

What happened to your friend?

Which film was directed by John Ford?


The last example above is also an example of the use of passive voice, which we mentioned in our lessons.

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
We can use any verb tense in the passive voice. Active voice can be converted into passive. Here is an example of a sentence in the Simple Present in both passive and active voice.

Simple Present	Active:	Rita	writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.

Some extra homework: do the exercises on this link: http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive/exercises

We read a text about the song Imagine and its lyrics, which were written by Yoko Ono as well as John Lennon. Students summarized the text and wrote some questions about it. 

We listened to a phone conversations between a hotel receptionist and a customer and another one between the customer and the person in room service. We role played the dialogues.

For homework write about a band or singer of your choice. Tell us about them and their story.

This time you are going to have plenty of time to check the blog.

During our lessons last Monday and Wednesday we insisted on the use of 2 past tenses: the Simple Past and the Past Continuous.

Yesterday we had short conversations such as this one:


Where were you last Sunday Evening?

I was  in a cafe.

What were you doing?

I was having a cup of coffee and talking to my friends.


We looked at some photos - or pictures - and read about what was happening when the photographer took them.
We listened to a couple, who had been photographed many years before, talk about the moment when the photograph had been taken and what they remembered about it.

Students should remember the difference between book store and library. A person who works in a library is a librarian. 

Remember also the word near, it's a preposition and when is followed by another word, we mustn't use another preposition behind it. Many students say things such us near to or near of . You must get rid of that habit.

Next door: that's where our neighbors live.

We studied the prepositions at, in and on.
We use on before a day: On Monday, on Christmas Day, on May 10th.
We use in before a year or a month: We were in 1982. I was born in June.
We use at to talk about the time: I got up at 8:30

Students wrote about a holiday answering some questions such as: Where did you go? Who did you go with? Where did you stay? How did you book your holiday? What did you do? 

When the question word is the subject of the sentence, then we don't use an auxiliary.
Examples:

Who called you yesterday?
Which country has the best beaches?
What happened after I left?

In all those questions, the question word is the subject:who, which country, what.

For HOMEWORK students need to read a text and write 5 questions about it. Also, they must make a summary of it.

Last week we were working on the topic Holidays. In this unit we study 2 of the past tenses: Simple Past and Past Continuous. We use the Simple Past when we are talking about an action which is complete. We use the Past Continuous when we are talking about an action in progress or when we want to focus the attention on the time spent on that action.

When we combine  those tenses in a text the Past Continuous refers to an action which takes longer in time than the Simple Past. The action in Simple Past often occurs while the action in the P. Continuous is going on.

Ex: We were getting ready to leave when got the news.

Getting ready to leave takes a  while, whereas getting the news only takes a moment.

We listened to a radio broadcast where people told their horror story about a holiday. We learned some words and expressions:

going abroad: travelling to a foreign country.

nearly: almost

We need to study the past form of most irregular verbs. Here is a list of verbs you should make sure you know:

Say - said
Tell - told
Pay - paid
Buy - bought
See - saw
Make - made
Spend - spent
Put - put
Let - let
Sit - sat
Stand - stood
Understand - understood
Break - broke
Catch - caught
Can - could
Take - took
Come -came
Bring - brought
Drive - drove
Ride - rode
Mean - meant

I meant to write 20 verbs and I ended up writing 21. I guess it doesn't matter.

For Homework, as I asked you last Wednesday, please write about a holiday you took in the past. It may be your last holiday or another one. Answer the questions on pg. 17, Ex. 6. but connect all the answers to the questions to make a unified text.

This week we started working on a new unit. The topic, so far, is Going on a holiday. In this new unit we are studying the past tenses. We have started with the Simple Past and the Past Continuous.

We read the stories of a few people who went for a holiday and it did not turn out the way they would have liked. Students summarized the stories. In order to write a story about something that happened in the past we need to be able to use a variety of past tenses: Simple Past, Past Continuous, and Past Perfect.

Here are some examples of sentences that use both the Simple Past and the Past Continuous.

      While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.

        What were you doing when the earthquake started?

I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm.

You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off.

While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car.

Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.

We studied the pronunciation of regular past forms. We have 3 groups:

-       Infinitives with a voiced  ending sound: the added –ed is pronounced /d/.

Ex: played, answered, listened..

-       Infinitives with a voiceless  ending sound:: -ed is pronounced /t/.

Ex: walked, talked, danced.

-       Infinitives which end with the sound d or t: -ed is pronounced /id/

If you want to listen how these different verbs are pronounced in the past go to the following link  and click on listen for each group. http://www.englishw.com/PastPronunciation.php.

You may also check this video if you have the chance and would like to practice listening questions and answers in the Simple Past.

Extra Homework 

You may also check this video if you have the chance and would like to practice listening questions and answers in the Simple Past.

http://www.real-english.com/reo/46/unit46.asp

 If you do, you may answer the questions:

1.What did Dina do yesterday?

2 What did Asker do this morning?

3.What did Charles do yesterday?

4. What did Mathew do this morning?

5.What did Roberta do today ( before now)?

Last week we reviewed parts of the body and prepositions of place. Then we were talking about a painting by the French painter Toulouse Lautrec.We listened to a recording and identified the people in the painting.

We also talked about travelling and airports and watched a video where a passenger checks in his suitcases. Students practiced the conversation between the flying assistant and the passenger. Useful vocabulary for the airport: arrivals, departures, check in, gate, window seat, aisle seat, hand luggage, flying assistant, departure lounge, passport, ticket.

We did another listening and found out how Mark and Ally met. Then we practiced question asking, which is always useful, as we need to think which verb tense we are using and which is the necessary auxiliary verb to make the question. Verb tenses that students should understand and use are: the Present Simple: do you work in Madrid?, Pr. Continuous: Are you working right now?, Past Simple: did you pack the bags yourself? Present Perfect: how long have you been here?

If you couldn't come to class and wish to watch the video about the airport, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCyWGjDNPnY We only did the check in part.

I am sorry I am a bit late with the blog this time.

Last week we studied relative clauses and did a lot of definitions. The relative pronouns that we are using are who, which and where.

We also continued practicing adjectives to describe character or personality and insisted on the questions What is he like? and what is she like?

These are possible beginnings for relative sentences that you use to explain something:

It's somebody who...

It's something which...

It's somewhere where...

It's a person who...

It's a thing which ...

It's a place where...

We were listening to a recording of a TV contest. The participants in a contest are called contestants. Before listening to the actual contest students had to listen to the presentation of the contest by the host of the program. Then they had to exsplain in their own words what the contest was about.

HOMEWORK

Choose 3 or 4 of these topics and write a paragraph about each one of them.

A person that is very important to you.
A famous person who you like a lot.
Something that you couldn't live without.
A thing which you often lose.
A place where you would like to go for a special evening.
A place where you very happy when you were a child.

If you were not in class or you wish to listen again you can find the Listenings we did in class in the Aula Virtual. In order to log on the Aula Virtual you need to go to lenjoy.es and click on the muddle. Then, you'll need to write your DNI as a user and the password, which you should know (should have been told). If you cannot log in, please call the school and ask.

See you Monday. .

This week we have started a new unit. But we mustn't forget what we have learned in the last one: especially the use of the Present Perfect, which we use when something has started in the past but it's still going on.

Now we are practicing .the present tenses: Present Simple and Present Continuous, focusing particularly in the way to ask questions, which always follows the same formula in English: auxiliary verb + subject + verb. In the Present Simple the auxiliary is do or does (depending on the person) and in the Present Continuous is the verb to be: am, are, is.

We have been working on how to describe character or personality and have learned a number of adjectives to do this: hard-working and lazy, friendly and unfriendly, shy and extrovert, generous and mean, boring and interesting, serious and funny, talkative and quiet and some other words.

Remember that when you want a description of a person the question to ask is:

What's he/she/name like?

The word like in this question is a preposition and you must differentiate it from the word like in the question:
What do you like? or What does he/she/name like? In these questions the word like is a verb.

We also studied a little bit about relative clauses. We used the relatives who - for people- which -for things, where - for places. We may also use that instead of which or who. 
Students had to define some words using relative clauses such as: a cinema is a place where you can watch films. A waiter is a man who works in a restaurant and serves the food on the tables. A fridge is a machine which keeps food cold.


Homework

As I promised, here is a link to a video so you can train your ear. Listen to the video on top first (without subtitles). Then, if you find it necessary watch the video at the bottom, the one with subtitles.http://www.real-english.com/reo/40b/unit40b.asp
Answer the questions:

How does Tyler describe his girlfriend?

Who uses the following words to describe their loved ones? Caring, gorgeous, charming, easy going, handsome, embarrassing.

Example: Who uses the word determined?

Tyler uses the word determined when he describes his girlfriend.


Enjoy yourselves!

Hi everybody!

Last week we practiced the Present Perfect and a little bit of the Past Simple. Remember that when we talk about an action that is completed we use the last tense: the Past Simple:

What time did you get up this morning? I got up at 8:00 o.clock.
What did you have for breakfast? I had a cup of coffee and some cereal
Did you do your homework? No, I didn't.

We read the text about the Bull Run in the San Fermin festival and had to study some new words like: length, gate, injure, bullring, handkerchief.

This construction was new for most students: The bulls are kept in the Corral of Santo Domingo.

In that sentence the verb is in the passive voice. That means we are more interested in the action that in the person or agent of the action. It's formed with the verb to be + past participle of the verb we are using: in this case keep. Students who are interested in finding out more about this construction and practicing it may click on the following link:http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive. You may read the explanation at the beginning and start with the exercises in the Present Simple and the Past Simple, which are the firs ones listed under the heading Exercises.
I insist, this is only for students who are in a hurry lo learn English.

We also practiced telling the story of the San Fermin Festival using the Present Perfect: The festival has happened nearly every year since 1941 (I don't remember the exact year). We use the present perfect because it is still happening.

We listened to Peter talk about Christmas in the UK. Peter is an English teacher in Mexico and was making a presentation for his students. He divided the topic into two main points: preparations for Christmas and the day of the celebration itself. Then, he divided each one of those points into some other points. For instance, when talking about the preparations for Christmas he mentioned: Christmas cards, decorating the house and shopping. This is a good way to organize a presentation. You first make a kind of map of what you are going to say.

The picture above is an example of a very simple mind map. each one of the branches, like Family could be divided into other points, for example: how many people in my family and what each person does (their occupation) and things we do together.
You can do the same thing when you prepare your writing about a festival or celebration.

Here is a link for people who would like to do some extra Listening. http://www.real-english.com/reo/81/unit81.asp  Here they use the Present Simple, Presents Perfect and Past Simple. Enjoy it!

Welcome everyone,

This week has been a bit awkward with different students everyday. I guess we'll settle dawn little by little.

We started talking about celebrations like Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, birthdays, weddings, etc.

Some words we have studied are: bride & groom,best man, Christmas carols, New Year's Eve and New Year's day, resolutions, cards, decorations, fireworks. Verbs like deliver, send, guess.

The grammar point in this unit is the Present Perfect. We are studying it by itself and also in contrast to the Past Simple.

As I cannot download documents onto this blog I'll copy one about the Present Perfect, so you can check it out:

Use of Past Simple

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

Use of Present Perfect

ñ puts emphasis on the result

Example: She has written five letters.

ñ action that is still going on

Example: School has not started yet.

ñ action that stopped recently

Example: She has cooked dinner.

ñ finished action that has an influence on the present

Example: I have lost my key.

ñ action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking

Example: I have never been to Australia.

Words that often go with each one of theses verb tenses Past Simple
ñ yesterday ñ ... ago ñ in 1990 ñ the other day ñ last ... Present Perfect ñ just ñ already ñ up to now ñ until now / till now ñ ever ñ (not) yet ñ so fa ñ lately / recently Homework

To add to the printed exercises I gave you last Wednesday, please write 2 sentences with each one of the verbs I wrote down above: deliver, send and guess.

Don't work too hard. I'll see you Monday.