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.

Hi


First,  You need to know that I can't upload the listening I promised because I don't have it. There was some kind of mistake when the Audio was recorded and there are 3 or 4 tracks missing. And the one for this exercise is one of them. I apologize for it.

Here is link to a listening so you practice the second conditional:http://www.audio-lingua.eu/spip.php?article1709&lang=fr

In this listening you will notice that she only uses the second part of the sentence, the one that includes would. The first part is assumed: If I went to a desert island... 

As an exercise you may write why she would take a the things she mentions: Example: why she would take a friend: so that she would have some company.

In our last lesson we started studying the modal verbs may and might.

To learn about those verbs you may read the explanations in this website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv162.shtml

Read the joke, it's funny and you can get the sense of all those words: maybe, perhaps, may and might.

Hello!

I hope you are having a nice weekend.

Last week we practiced the Second Conditional. Just like in Spanish we use it to talk about events that are possible but not likely to happen. In the main cloze we use the Simple Past:

If a bear attacked me

For the result we use would + verb:

I would scream.

In our last lesson we listened to an expert giving advice on  what is the best thing to do if we are attacked by various wild animals. Don’t forget you have the listening in the Aula Virtual. It  is a long listening and the speaker speaks rather fast so it is not a bad idea to listen to it several times.

We did a comprehension exercise: about the reading on page 67. So now we know a little bit about the life and habits of Australian crocodiles.

HOMEWORK

I gave out a worksheet, so you know the exercises you  have to do. I’ll reproduce here the last questions you have to answer ( for Ana )

1.       Where would you go on holiday if you could go anywhere?

2.       What would you do if you won the lottery?

3.       What would your family think if you decided to live abroad?

4.       What would you do if you saw a fire?

5.       What would you do if you lost your mobile?

Hello!

Last week we studied the First Conditional: if + present simple, ... will + infinitive.
We use it to talk about things which are likely to happen in the future when a condition comes true.

We usually start sentences with the word If, but we can also use when and other words which we haven't studied yet.
When you finish your soup I'll give you some ice-cream.

Something in a movie I was watching reminded me of you and our lesson last Wednesday.
A man and a woman are talking at a party. They have just met. He asks her to run away with him, he says he is in love with her. "But you don't know me" she replies. "We have just met". I think that is a good example of the difference between know and meet.
Other two verbs that are a bit confusing for Spanish speakers are borrow and lend:

May a borrow your green blouse, please? I haven't got anything to wear for the party.

I'll lend it to you if you promise to be careful and not to spill anything on it.

Well, here is a video to practice the conditional. Watch it ( it may be difficult to understand at first, but you'll understand better if you listen 2 or 3 times). Anyway, in the second part of the video there are subtitles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSDxMaC0QYc

Hi!

You already have the listenings in the Aula Virtual so you can do your homework.

Last week we practiced shopping vocabulary: if you shopping for clothes, you remember the words: size, try on, fitting room. Other words related to shopping are exchange, refund, receipt, order, discount, sales tax.

We did an information gap activity. Students had to ask each other questions:

What did he buy at ______ ?
How mach was or were the_______?
How much was the total?
How did he pay for it?

We also read and role played a conversation.

We have got to the end of the unit. Grammar points we have studied are.

- Verbs followed by either an infinitive or the -ing form of the verb.
Le me remind you that after I would like you must always use an infinitive.
After verbs such as like, love, hate, prefer, enjoy, you use the -ing form.
After a preposition you always  use the -ing form.

We have studied and practiced modal verbs to express obligation: have to and must. We use the auxiliary verb do to make questions and negative sentences with have to. Not to have to is not the same as  must not. 

We have also studied modifiers such as a bit, quite, really, very, incredibly.

So that's what your homework is about.

Hello everybody!

Last week we practiced some modal verbs that express obligation: have to and must.

You have to be on time  and You must be on time  are very much the same. You can use either verb as you please.

You need to be more careful with the negative form of these verbs:

You mustn't  open that door: it means that you are not allowed to open that door. It's a rule.

You don't have to open that door: nobody is telling not to open that door, only that you have no need to do it.

In our last lesson we spend most of the time working on a listening about an English woman who travels to Poland to demonstrate how much Polish she's learned in a one month course.

You can check the listening again in the Aula Virtual. It's called Anna in Poland. I also uploaded another listening. This one is very short, the title is Buying clothes and if you have the time you can listen to it at home and answer the questions on your sheet under the same title.

Remember that for homework you have to do the writing on page 61: a formal email asking for information about a course you would like to enroll on.

Hello!

In our last lesson we were working mostly on verbs in the -ing form, present participle of the verb, just as we had studied before the infinitive form of the verb.

It is on page 54 (Clara, you have the sheet, it is the one we started last Monday). Here you can see 3 cases when you use the present participle (-ing). I had already mentioned them on Monday: when we use the verb as noun, after some verbs (e.g. enjoy, hate, love) and after a preposition.

We practiced questions and answers using the verb in the -ing form: for instance questions starting with: Do you mind (always followed by a verb in the ing form) doing your weekly shopping?
and did Ex. b under Vocabulary and Speaking on pg. 55.
Students answered the questions on 5.b, and then we listened to the recording to find out ( Why am I using and infinitive here?) weather our answers were correct or not. The listening has been uploaded to the Aula Virtual and it's called SingingCourses.

HOMEWORK

1. Write about a short course you  have done sometime. Say what the course was about, how long it lasted, what and how much you learned (or improve), what you did in the course.

2. On page 53, choose 5 of the questions under 5c and write an answer them. Each answer should take about a paragraph.

Ex. Do you find it difficult to remember people's names? 
I don'd usually find it difficult to remember people's names  although I usually need to ask them twice before I memorize them.I always learn a person's name after asking a second time, probably because I know that I would be very embarrassed if I had to ask them a third time.

Hello!

I uploaded the listening Conversations Party.  In this listening you'll here several conversations of people who have just met at a party. In each conversation one of the participants says "the wrong thing" to say to somebody you have just met. It goes with an exercise on your sheet. Diana, as you don't have that sheet, what you can do is listen to it and try to decide what it is they say that the other person does not feel happy about.

The advise we are given before is that when we meet somebody for the first time and we get to know what is their job or profession we should not make any comments about it or ask for their professional help. Nobody likes to work when they are at a party or hear unfriendly comments about their jobs.

Hi!

This week we practiced - among other things - giving directions to get somewhere.

A question you may ask when you are in a new place and you need to get somewhere is:

How can I get to the _____(bus station)?

As you can see, the verb to use is get, do not forget.

Other questions you may ask are:

Is there a shopping center nearby?

Other important questions are:
Is it far? (A possible answer:It's only a few blocks from here, it's just a few minutes away)
Can I walk from here? 

Giving and following directions is not easy. It's easy to get mixed up. Some terms you need to know are:

Walk straight on, walk up the street, walk down X.
to the end
turn right, turn left on the (1st, 2nd, etc.) street.
go past (a church)
go over the bridge
it's on your right or left.

HOMEWORK

Just to let you know that the listenings have already been uploaded to the Aula Virtual, so you can do the exercises.

Hi Diana, I hope you get better. I missed you this week.

In our last class we listened to a conversation between Allie - the British woman who is in San Francisco for a conference - and the hotel receptionist.

We had to complete the conversation on the worksheet. In the conversation the receptionist tells Allie how to get to the SFMOMA, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

I supposed you have already studied vocabulary  or basic instructions to give directions:

go straight on
go down the street
turn left or right on the first (or second, third, etc.) street
go to the end of the street.
go past the church
go over the bridge
it is on your left or on your right.

I'm uploading one of the listenings on the same page. It is called Social English4 and it is the last exercise on the same page as the conversation above.

Sorry I am unable to upload the worksheets I gave for homework.

See you Monday.

Welcoma back, Ana!

This week I was still a little sick so don't be surprised if you detect some lack of memory.

Lack: something is missing, something is not there.

We have studied the comparative form of adjectives and also the superlative. This is something fairly easy to study. The difficult thing is to remember it later on -  weeks and months after studying them - and use them.

We studied some adjectives we can use to talk about a city and its inhabitants:

Friendly/ Unfriendly
Beautiful/ Ugly
Cheap/ Expensive
Quiet/ Noisy
Exciting/ Boring
Dangerous/ Safe
Rude/Polite

And practiced this type of sentence:

It's the most dangerous place I have ever been to.

In our last class we practiced making relative phrases as in:

The man who was talking to your mother is my boss.

The relatives that we use for these sentences are which or that, who, where and when.


For Clara or anybody else who is interested I am uploading a listening which you can use to complete Ex. 4. p. 45. You probably did it with Chus the week before, but I am sure you'll appreciate it listening to it again. Unfortunately I can't upload the page.

See you Monday.

Hi!

Sorry I'm a bit late. The listenings have been uploaded to the Aula Virtual, Clara, so you can work with them on the weekend.

In our last lesson we practiced the Present Perfect and the Past Simple. We also talked about buying clothes. Words that you should learn regarding this topic, besides the names of the clothes themselves are:

try on, fitting room, size, fit, cash register, shop assistant

Remember that for homework you need to write 3 short conversations using both the Present Perfect and the Past Simple.

Example:

Have you ever been to the Prado Museum?

Yes, I have.

When did you go?

Last year, when I went to Madrid for a conference.

Did you go by yourself?

No, I didn't, I went with a couple of colleagues.

I already uploaded the listenings to the Aula Virtual. The names of the files are: Ordering a meal, Mistakes and Social English. The last one is new, we didn't listen to it in class. It goes with an exercise at the end of the page 36.

Remember this week we have been talking about food and meals.

Some cooking methods are:

boil
fry 
bake

When we eat dinner we usually have a starter, a main course and a dessert.
In Britain and in the USA the main course is usually a combination of  meat or fish, potatoes and vegetables.
In most restaurants they'll give you a choice of potatoes:Fries or baked potato? (Very often they will also offer you mashed potatoes.)
If you are eating meat they will ask you: How do you want your steak? Rare, medium or well done?


Yesterday we started a new unit. The grammar focus in this unit is the Present Perfect tense of the verb. We had already studied it at the beginning of the year, but it's not easy to use so it's not a bad idea to go over it.
We use the Present Perfect (this is the main idea) when an action started in the past and it's still going on.
We use it to talk about experience as at the beginning of the unit: Have you ever been to a Zara store?

We can say things like: Have you ever tried Mexican food? Have you ever played an instrument? And so on.

HOMEWORK
Complete test on page 38.
Answer questions about the article: 1b
Write 4 questions about the article.

Clara: if you have the time you can do the writing ( a reply letter) on page 37.

Hello!

I already uploaded the listening to the Aula Virtual. It's called Dream Interpretation. It's just below the other listenings.

Yesterday we listened to a psychoanalyst asking a patient questions about a dream. Then we matched the images in the dream to possible interpretations. The tenses used were the Past Simple (for completed actions)  and the Past Continuous (when we want to focus the attention on the time spent in an action).

Some new words the we studied are:

Success (n)
Successful (adj)
Succeed (v)
Owl
Nightmare (a bad dream)

Students talked about their own dream and nightmares.

Clara had made her own horoscopes for some of the astrological signs. She made her predictions using verb + will. Here is a the video with the interviews about astrological signs. http://www.real-english.com/reo/7/unit7.aspThe main questions asked are:

What's your astrological sign?
What are ......(a specific sign) like?

HOMEWORK

Do the Grammar exercises on p. 35. Ex. 2, a & b.
Do the Vocabulary exercise on p. 35. About is a very common preposition. It is used with verbs like: talk, think, ask, dream, write. 
The verb think can also take the preposition of, mostly when the object is a person.

These ones are not phrasal verbs, because the meaning of the verb remains the same.

Write about an interesting dream you remember.

Listen to the Dream Interpretation and write down the most interesting parts.

Last week  we continued practicing will +infinitive for a number of purposes.

The first purpose is making predictions:

Example: You won't get the job


We also use it to make promises:

Example: I'll pay you back.


To make an offer:

Example:  Shall I clean the windows?


To make a sudden decision:

Example: Ill call him right now.
  

In our last lesson we read about promises people usually make but find it very hard to keep. Promises like I won't tell anybody, I'll pay you back or I'll always love you. 

Remember we say:

make a promise
and
keep a promise

We studied other words: , research, injection, journey, to mean (be sincere, have the intention to do what we say), to swap, whole.

Verbs + back: pay back, call back, came back, take back, give back.

HOMEWORK

Read the horoscopes in Workbook sheet I gave you (You have it, Diana) and write 3 more horoscopes for other astrological signs. Make up the predictions and imitate the style.

Finish the exercises in the sheets I gave you.

Happy New Year 2015!

Let's hope it's a good one

Without any fear.

(Happy Christmas by John Lennon)

In our first lesson this term we studied  will + verb for predictions.

For instance, when you say:

I am having a job interview tomorrow. (We use the present continuous to talk about the near future. Remember? That's the last thing we studied last month.)

And somebody, who is a bit pessimistic tells you:

You won't (will not) get the job.  That is a prediction, which may come or not come true.

We practiced conversations like that one, then we practiced the pronunciation of  the contractions: I'll, you'll, he'll, she'll, it'll we'll, you'll, we'll, they'll. Also the difference between the words want and won't.

We listened the presentation of a Radio Program. In this program they talk about how important it is to have a positive attitude in life: to be optimistic as opposed to pessimistic.

You can find that listening plus 2 more in the Aula Virtual: Remember that in order to log in you must use your ID number + letter as a user's name and a password, which is the same for everybody. Call the school if you don't remember it.

The names of the files for listening are: Want & Won't, Radio Program and Tips.  We didn't do the last one in class but I suggest you listen to it at home and then write 4 tips given in the program to stay positive.

HOMEWORK

Write 10 statements as the example above followed by a  negative predictions using will + verb or won't + verb.

I am having a job interview tomorrow.   

You won't get the job.

You can also do the listening exercise written above.