How to practise reading skills

Reading is very useful to enlarge your vocabulary, to fix grammar structures and to improve your English in general. As the library is not available, here you have some links to practise reading on the internet. There are a lot of levels but from my point of view these are the most suitable for you:

• http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=stories&topicID=11: very easy short readings connected to nature and environment. The good point is the audio and the exercises to improve vocabulary. For low-intermediate level.

• http://www.saberingles.com.ar/stories/index.html : Argentinean page with short stories. There is a function to translate the text into Spanish for help. Short variety but useful.

• http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/: short stories adapted for children, with audio.Not interesting but useful.
  

• http://www.eslfast.com/#A: here you have a larger list of stories (including most of the previous ones) with video. For intermediate students. American English.

• http://www.cuentoseningles.com.ar/: some practice on reading with audio and some of them with activities.

• http://esl.about.com/od/readingintermediate/English_Reading_Comprehension_Skills_for_Intermediate_Level_Learners.htm: a lot of topics. Readings with exercises.

I hope you'll find something to read. See you in class!

Using Podcasts to Learn English

A podcast is a digital audio file (it can be a video as well) that you can download as an mp3 audio so you can listen to it on your portable device (mp3, mp4, mp5 or iPod) or by using your own computer.
It usually has a topic and the ones I've chosen are related to Learning English. Here you have some of them (click on the link directly) :

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/: this is the most traditional one. It’s included in the web page of BBC Learning English.

• http://a4esl.org/podcasts/: a list of podcasts with the text (click on Read the Web Page) but without exercises, as usual; however, they are quite easy to understand. Some are longer than others and some are more difficult.

• http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/index.shtml : this is a good site with a lot of podcasts divided in levels and with activities but to use these activities you have to be a member, that is, you must pay for it. However, you can use the podcasts to practise on your own.

• http://www.ivoox.com/podcast-listen-to-english_sq_f12359_1.html : no exercises but you have the tapescript or words.

So here you have a lot of material to practise with listening. Remember there are many more listening comprehensions with proper activities on www.elllo.org, BBC Learning English or in la mansión en inglés. Have a look on the recommended links of this blog ( Useful Links the blue windows on the right).

Have a nice long weekend. See you in class!

Learning English with Music

If you want to practise English with songs I've found a site called lyrics training where you can find different videos with songs. They have a label indicating the level of English (easy-medium-hard) and if it is British or American English. Some of them are with translation into Spanish but there are some others which are with exercises of listening. The index is here.

Here you have an example with a funny song. Under the video you have an exercise of filling the gaps in 3 levels. You can practise a lot with it. Click here to listen to it. Have fun!

CAN versus TO BE ABLE TO

Both forms are very similar but there are some differences between them. Let's see them:

• CAN is a modal verb (so you can use it to express possibility, permission, ability or prohibition), an auxiliary (you use it for interrogative and negative forms) and defective (no -s for the 3rd person in singular and no infinitive or past participle forms). TO BE ABLE TO is an expression where the verb to be (the auxiliary) is followed by an adjective+infinitive with TO. See the difference:

She can't come with us, can she? but she's able to do it well, isn't she?

• You use TO BE ABLE TO whenever you need a form you don't have with CAN, that is, infinitive or past participle:

I think I'll be able to see you tomorrow or Sorry, I haven't been able to do it yet

• About the meaning there is a slight difference but if you are intereted maybe you should visit this grammar explanation here
  

If you want to practise, you can do these exercises:

• exercise 1: it's connected to the previous explanation about grammar
• exercise 2: for present, past, etc.

I hope it'll be of any help. If you can't understand the difference, please let me know in class.

See you in class.

Lesson 1: Play

Lesson 1 deals with music and this is an amusing way of learning English. Try to learn new expressions and vocabulary by using the lyrics of your favorite songs. All you need is to surf on the internet to find a video in YouTube in this way:

1. Go you YouTube
2. Look for the title of your favouvite song and add +lyrics like in this example: Can I have this dance+High School Musical+lyrics (click here for the link)
   
3. Then you'll see the video with the words so you can practise and sing the song.
4. Once you've heard the song a couple of times, look for another version without lyrics and you'll understand most of the song.
5. You can do this with hundreds of songs. Try it!

If you are interested in this kind of karaoke, you can visit this section in my wiki:

http://startingenglish.wikispaces.com/karaoke

Use whatever song you like. It's very likely you can find it in youtube. Have a try!

See you in class!

Starting our course

Welcome to everybody. We are starting this school year and we're going to use this blog as a class diary to know what's on at class.

These first days we are revising the main contents of the previous level (NB1). We have seen:

• numbers: time, years, numbers up to a million, etc.
• letters: the alphabet
• use of the auxiliary in questions: are you ...? do you...? can you ...? did you ...?
• yes/no answers: yes, I am/no, I'm not ; yes, I do/no, I don't ; yes, I can/no, I can't, etc

Next week we're going to start with the new book. Try to get it as soon as possible. Remember the title is: English Unlimited Pre-intermediate (CUP)

See you in class!

Other versus another

Here you have a very common mistake, especially for Spanish students. You should go to this link because it's a great explanation (in Spanish) and you can do some examples to practise. Click here

If you want to practise a bit further, go to these pages:

• exercise 1
• exercise 2
• exercise 3
• exercise 4
• exercise 5
• exercise 6

You shouldn't have problems any more if you do all these exercises but to finish with you can see common expressions with "other" in another page. It could be useful and I think it's worth a visit. Click here

See you

The soud of Ouch!

If you want to practise phonetics with a difficult sound for Spanish speakers go to this link. I think it's very useful and you'll enjoy it. Let me know if you like it! See you in class.

Working with adjectives

Adjectives are very important for descriptions, to give more precised information about people and things. You have to learn some vocabulary to describe properly. Here you have some exercises to do:

• learning with drawings (dibujos): click here to practise some adjectives.
• here you have something about grammar and an exercise
• more exercises to work with adjectives here: this has a long explanation, including suffixes
• here you have a very simple example of the use of adjectives to describe Obama.
• do you want to do a crossword (crucigrama)?
  

There is a long list of adjectives in your book so you can start with that and then you can surf on internet to find more if you like.
See you in class.

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.

Working with the computer

Today I've brought some exercises to work while your mates are taking the oral exam. These are the topics I've thought you could be interested in.

• Prepositions of time


• Prepositions of place


• Simple past or past continuous
  


• Some more practice with past tenses


• Irregular verbs: flashcards to refresh with different levels:


• level 1 ; level 2; level 3


• exercises with irregular verbs; more exercises with past tenses (regular and irregular)

But if you want to practise with listening exercises, here you have some. Choose the ones you like.

Working with prepositions of place

Prepositions are very difficult no matter the language you are learning. Even in Spanish it's a nightmare (pesadilla) to work with them and they don't know anything about logic; e. g. what's the difference between montar A caballo and montar EN burro. Here you have some exercises to practise with them.

Some exercises for our Friday class

Today is Friday and I want to do something special using the computer and internet. Here we have some exercises to practise vocabulary related to family and adjectives . About this last topic, you can find some more adjective practice about personal descriptions on this video.
To practise a bit with the 3rd person in singular you can find this exercise but remember that the most important thing is to distinguish between /S, Z/ on the one hand and /IZ/ on the other (with the extra syllable). See you in class.

Starting our lessons

Here we are with the new lessons. And here I have new material for you. First of all, have a look at the text book web page in this link.
Some students say they have problems with phonetics because they haven't worked with them before and they don't understand the symbols very well. Don't worry because you'll get used (acostumbrado) to them little by little, but I've found this web page that could help you with them and especially with the pronunciation. You can download this programme to practise.

Coming back to school!

Hello to everybody. Starting classes again but this course we are preparing a higher level: Nivel Básico 2. I hope to help you with this blog so if you have any suggestions or you want me to introduce something else, just tell me and I'll do my best and as soon as possible.
To start with here you have a link to revise verbs. Enjoy the visit!
See you in class

Prepositions and furniture

If you want to practise with furniture you can use this exercise. It is quite interesting but the solutions aren't there. I'll give you the answers in a couple of days, be patience. Meanwhile (mientras tanto) enjoy the exercise. See you and have a nice weekend!

More practice with past simple

If you are interested in practising the ending of past have a look this chart and them do this exercise. It's quite clear and interesting. When you have it clear, try to do this practise with pronunciation. It's slow but you can practise with it. To finish with here you have a listening comprehension; it's a bit difficult but the questions aren't difficult. Have a look but don't worry if you can't do it perfect. See you!