Practising with the 3rd person in singular

I have this link to practise with the pronunciation of the 3 forms of the 3rd person in singular but remember I'm interested in the difference between these 2 groups:

• GROUP A: you add -s or-es and the number of syllables doesn't change; e.g. works, plays, studies, loves
• GROUP B: you add -s or -es and you pronounce an extra syllable /IZ/; e.g. finishes, fixes, practises

The difference between the pronunciation within the group A is not so important and to do it simpler remember to pronounce /s/ when the verb ends in /p/ or /k/, (like asks or stops) but most of the verbs have the pronunciation /z/.

New link for the exams

Isabel, one of my students of NB2, has sent this link of the exams in Valencia. Once you are here you have to click on Anglés and you'll unload the zip files. You have time to do some more practice if you want.

The oral marks are published tomorrow June, 15 and I'll be at school on June, 16 from 9,30h to 10h if you need anything.

Go on preparing the exam and mind these basic rules for the writing part:

• Be careful with the topic and the number of words; read the taks several times and think of what you are expected to do
  
• Take notes to organise your writing but don't write it twice; you'll waste time
• Leave a couple of minutes at the end to revise the final writing
• Mind these typical mistakes:

1. every verb must have a subject; be careful if it's 3rd person in singular of habitual present: Is a beautiful place; it have a cathedral
2. mind modals without to+infinitive; don't write I can't to go or I must to do it
3. no plural for adjectives (things are differents) and remember to use adjectives before nouns (they are children very intelligent)
   
4. revise the correct form between singular and plural: that people, she work, this cars, the childrens are, our lifes
   
5. be careful with possessives and personal pronouns: his husband, ours children, he's Sylvia, it's my, I work with she
   

Remember you have to be accurate and varied, not original or creative. Try to show what you can do not what you can't or what you would like to do.

To finish with,remember that even if you failed the oral exam and you're thinking of trying to pass it in September, come to the rest of the exam next Friday. You'll have a better idea of what to expect in September.

See you and good luck

A blog to have a look

I've found a blog which is really interesting for Spanish speakers. The explanations are in Spanish but it deals with typical problems with learning English such as grammar, pronunciation, etc. Go to this link as an example and you'll tell me your opinion.
The blog is http://www.hablamejoringles.com/ . The only problem is that everything is in Spanish so you don't practise English too much but it's quite useful to solve doubts and the examples are very clear. It's worth a visit from time to time.
See you in class.

To exchange conversation in English

One of your class mates told me about this site of Multilinkual in Madrid, which is a group of Spanish and people from other nationalities who meet to exchange conversation.
On Internet I've found this site with information about conversation exchange. In this page there is an interesting section in Resources related to survival phrases. Have a look.
In Alcalá I think there are some other places to exchange conversation, but it's a bit difficult to find them for free, without paying. If someone knows any place, let me know and I'll write it down in the blog for all of you.
See you in class

Practising oral and speaking exams

I'll try to find as many conversations as possible about general topics which are included in the oral tests such as "Going to a restaurant". Here you are some examples of listening comprehension which can help you when you take the oral test (and you'll practise listening at the same time).

• exercise 1: this is a model of conversation. Do the reading exercise and then do the listening comprehnsion ( if you don't see it or you want to use it repetedly, use this link)
• exercise 2: this exercise is much more difficult but you can try it. Onece you've done the listening comprehension, go through the script to see the vocabulary and practise the dialogue. This is a good example of American English.
• exercise 3: this is quite simple but with a strong American accent. Good to practise orally.
• exercise 4: this exercise is more difficult, also in American English and the quality of the sound is not really good but it's very natural and real, with a lot of vocabulary. Have a try.
• exercise 5: if you are not tired, try this. A higher level although it's supposed to be pre-intermediate. Again, American English. Enjoy the video included in this page.
• exercise 6: this link is a complete section. You've got a text (with audio) and then you have some exercises to do (one of them is the previous exercise so it's done)

I know it's a lot of work. Take your time and do your best.

See you in class.

A new grammar web page

Hello to everybody.
Here you are a new link for grammar. You can find plenty of exercises, explanations and a lot of things to do. What is a point in this page is that the exercises are thought in a context, not just isolated sentences, so you can see beter how to use tenses in particular. Have a look and tell me what you think of it.
See you in class

Present Perfect versus Past Simple

We've already seen in class the difference between these two tenses:
I've known Peter for 20 years, since we were at school
I met his at primary school, when we were small children
If you want to extend the explanation given you can go to this link about present perfect; you'll find a large grammar reference and some exercises at the bottom of that page.

Here you are some links to practise just in case you still have problems (I'm afraid two of these are repeted from the previous link; check it, please) :

• exercise 1
• exercise 2
• exercise 3
• exercise 4
• exercise 5 : here you have to do it on a sheet of paper

I think you've got quite a lot of practice here but you can try to find more on the internet on your own. Good luck!

See you in class.

Verbs+prepositions

I've tried to find some exercises about verbs with prepositions and this is what I've been able to get on internet:

• exercise 1
• exercise 2
• exercise 3

Some other exercises about prepositions in general are:

• exercise A
• exercise B : very simple
• exercise C : quite simple
  

See you in class.

Lots of listenings!

I have found this link with a lot of short listenings. The good thing is that you have the tapescript, some exercises and they are really short, with a great variety of topics (in alphabetical order). The problem is that some of them have some difficult words but this is a good way of improving your level. Have a look and you'll enjoy it. I'll take this web page to the permanent links (the ones on the right of the blog).

See you in class.