Used to versus Usually

In unit 7.1 we are working with the form USED TO + infinitive when you talk about a habit in the past you don't do any more. Pay attention to the forms:

• I used to play with my brothers (but not now)
• I didn't use to go to the theatre
• Did you use to have problems with your parents as a teenager?

Remember we use USUALLY for the present tenses: I usually go to the cinema on Sunday.

These links will help you to work with this form:

• explanation with exercises at the end; click here
• more examples; click here

If you want to revise what I explained about the other similar forms (to be used to + -ING, to get used to + -ING), you can use this link

Health Problems

In lesson 6.3 we speak about heath problems. Here you are some links to check and inprove your vocabulary:

• vocabulary with drawings; click here
• vocabulary about symptoms; click here
• vocabulary of problems
• a general link

Saint Valentine's Day

I can't help giving you some pages to know something about this special day. Let me remind you that in English speaking countries this is not just a day for lovers but for anyone who loves anybody in one way or another. Here you have some links to read about this day:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day: general info from wikipeida
• http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day: a page with a lot of topics connected to this day
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/saints/valentine.shtml: this is an article with many details; the language is a bit difficult but it's quite interesting

Happy Saint Valentin's day!

Next lesson we'll talk about health and you'll need to revise the vocabulary of the body; if you want to use the vieo we saw in class, click here

Using FOR and SINCE

The main difference between these two forms is:

• FOR is used to express a period of time while SINCE is used to indicate the starting point in which the action began; go to this exercise to see it clear; click here

If you go to this link, you'll see a good explanation of these forms and take this sentence to be learnt by heart:

Just remember this sentence "For a period of time, since a point in time."

If you want to practise with some more exercises, here you are some links:

exercise 1      exercise 2       exercise 3     exercise 4 

If you are not sure about the tenses, you should revise the difference between passt simple and present perfect, a previous entry in this blog or go to these links:

exercise 1      use of how long with present perfect or past simple; click here

To finish with, pay attention to the pronunciation of SINCE  /SINS/

Asking and Giving directions (unit 5.3)

This unit 5.3 deals with directions so let's start with the vocabulary. If you go to this link you'll find the main instructions: verbs and prepositions; click here

Here you are another link of BBC giving you some clues about how to ask for directions: typical questions and useful words.

Here you are some videos to practise. I hope you to enjoy watching them:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tRvWNld_t4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5wPc_4bfbQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGDtIRNnCyQ

Meeting People in Madrid

Here you are the information about Madridbabel, a kind of cultural association to learn languages.

Dear friends:

In February we look forward to meeting you at our usual free international language exchange encounters every Wednesday from20:30 on and every Sunday from 19:00 on at Café Galdós (Los Madrazo 10 – metro Sevilla), which maintains its special offers for the attendees, as well as free canapés for everybody. There you will practise languageswith people from all over the world, make new friends and have great fun. The coordinators will welcome you and introduce you to nice people in a very friendly and fun atmosphere. Awarded as Best Language Exchange of the Year by the European Vibe Magazine.

Furthermore, this month we will host two very special events: a greatInternational Night at Bernabéu Stadium on Friday 7, whose details you can find below, and a spectacular Wine & Arts Evening on Friday 21, about what we will inform you very soon.

MadridBabel

http://www.madridbabel.es

GREAT INTERNATIONAL NIGHT AT THE STADIUM (Friday, February 7th)

On Friday, February 7th, MadridBabel invites you to its GREAT INTERNATIONAL NIGHT AT THE STADIUM, which will take place from 23:00 to 3:00 at the Real Café – Gate 30 of Bernabéu Stadium (Concha Espina 1 – metro Santiago Bernabéu).

There will be our usual fun and friendly international atmosphere, this time at one of the most famous stadiums in the world!

The entrance will cost €5, which includes a welcome glass of wine.

Reservation is not needed, you can bring all your friends; it’s going to be an unforgettable evening in a very impressive venue.

I hope you'll enjoy, folks!

Let's Talk about ...

Many students have problems with speaking skills. The only way is to practise as much as possible and you have some possibilities:

• Have meetings with some other students and talk about a topic: choose a subject and talk about that but it's better if you have prepared the vocabulary in advance. Pay attention to the structures needed (suggestions, invitations, expressing opinion, giving advice and so on)
• Use skype to speak to other people, not only Spanish but foreigners as well.
• Try to find conversation groups in the place you live or start one on your own.

If you need topics to talk about you can find some on the internet:

• http://www.englishclub.com/esl-worksheets/conversation/index.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+englishclub+(EnglishClub)
•  http://www.esl-lounge.com/premium/pre-intermediate5.php
• http://www.tefl.net/esl-lesson-plans/worksheets-topic.htm
• http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/speaking_situations.html

Another possibility is to use a short reading and to comment about it: first you summarize the plot, then you speak about the characters and finally you may explain your point of view and if you've liked the story; maybe you could speak about what you would like to change or imagine a different ending. If you need stories, go to this link.

To finish with you should use English in a natural way such as going shopping, have a drink, talk about your family, your job or use the things you are interested in (sports, reading, art, politics, etc)

Verbs Followed by Infinitive or -ING form

In Unit 5 we are working with verbs followed by infinitive or -ing form. In class, we've seen that there are not many rules to say which verb goes with each form. In general, we have these three big groups:

• verbs indicating likes and dislikes go with -ING form: like, love, hate, don't mind, fancy, feel like, can't stand...
• after prepositions: -ING form
• verbs inidicating desire and/or command go with infinitive: want, hope, decide, expect, need, ask, choose, etc.

There is a general tendency to distinguish between -ing form and infinitive:

• Infinitives are usually referred to future actions
• -ing forms are usually connected to past or present actions

Let's have these two sentences:

• I like playing tennis (first I play then I like it; playing tennis is reffered to a past action which comes up to now)
• I'd like to play tennis (first I like, I want to do something and then I do it; to play is referred to a future action)

This link gives some clues (pistas) about when you use gerund or infinitive; click here

Here you are a list of adjectives followed by prepositions so you must use -ING like in this example: she is good at playing chess. click here for the list

Another way of learning the verb pattern is to use synonims and the contrary. Let's see an example:

• finish / stop / give up + -ing form  -----  continue / keep on / go on / start / beguin  + -ing form

But the best way to learn this grammar point is by doing many exercises. You can use these:
exercise 1     exercise 2     exercise 3    exercise 4

To finish with, here you have some videos with songs using gerund or infinitive: click here

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

We've already seen these two tenses in class and I reminded you that it's similar to Spanish tenses but we have more tenses in our language. Compare these sentences:

• Llovía cuando llegué a casa: It was raining when I got home
• Estaba lloviendo cuando llegué a casa: It was raining when I got home
• Llovió mucho ayer: It rained a lot yesterday
• Estuvo lloviendo todo el día: It was raining the whole day

If you see the grammar section it's said that it's quite usual to find simple past and past continuous together, especially when you use when or while:

• She was working at the office when I phoned her
• While I was watching TV, Susan phoned

However, sometimes you can use it in a different way:

• While I was cleaning my husband was making dinner

Remember we use past continuous to make the action sound more interesting, more lively.

If you want to practise, use these links with exercises:

• exercise 1, exercise 2, exercise 3: with a long explanation and exercises at the end
• a video with an explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mG6wOcof44

Revising Present Perfect and Past Simple

Spanish speakers have a lot of problems to distinguish between these two tenses because both are pretérito (past) in Spanish. Let's revise them:

• PRESENT PERFECT (up to now)
• we use it with typical questions such as Have you ever been to...?
• with ever / never
• with expressions such as once / twice / many times
• with already (+) and yet (- and ?)
• with for and since

• PAST SIMPLE (past reference of time)
• last _______
• __________ ago
• when I was young...
• in ______ (year)

Here you have some exercises to practise:

• http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-preper/exercises?ex03
• http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs5.htm
• http://www.curso-ingles.com/ejercicios-test-ingles/present-perfect-past-simple.php
• http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=1496
• http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/ppvpast1.htm

Coming back after Christmas+lesson 4

Happy New Year! Here we are again after Christmas holiday. Are you ready to go on with our classes?
We've revised most things in class but we haven't finished yet. There were problems with the difference between BEEN TO and GONE TO so here you have a couple of links:

• http://esl.about.com/od/grammarintermediate/a/cm_gone.htm: here you have a good explanation
• http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2541: here the exercise we did in class

We've seen how to give advice and we've worked with these forms:

• should / shouldn't  (ought to+infinitive)
• need to
• could
• I think it's a good idea if ...
• why don't you ...

If you want to revise this go to this link: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/fl-giving-advice.htm
You have a video here to see how to give advice called "What's the matter?" (health problems); click here. Thia is another typical way of using advice.

To finish with, I gave you some suggestions to improve your listeninig and here you are the links we saw in class:

• http://www.esl-lab.com/: listenings with exercises and different levels
• http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/index.shtml: podcasts in English
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/081222_download.shtml: videos with the tapescript

Videos about Education

If you want to practise listening comprehension you can use these videos about education:

• an introduction of Suzuki method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1-LcxNdccI
• about Steiner system: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhHQwihcOfY
• Why Education in Finland Works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntdYxqRce_s
• A piece of news frm BBC News: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlYHWpRR4yc

If you wnat to practise reading here you have two articles:

• This is about Steiner system: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/education/4633601.stm

This is an article about education in Spain, just in case you want to expain it to other foreign people

Modal Verbs of Obligation

A modal verb is the one that gives you the clue of what the speakers want to say, I mean, it's a way of saying something; in this case, haow to express obligation or necessity:

• I have to lose some weight  --- I have a necessity of losing weight

Sometimes the modal is also an auxiliary verb but sometimes it isn't as it happens with HAVE TO; besides, a modal can change its meaning depending if you use it in afirmative, negative or interrogative form:

• I can play here (I'm allowed)    I can play the piano (I know how to do it)   I can't play the piano here (It's forbidden-prohibition)   Can I play here? (I ask for permission)

Here you are some links about modals of obligation and some of them also have exercises at the end: here you have one of them with a chart so click here; this one is with the form ought to, a form that is not very used, click here; or this one in which other modals are included, click here

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

• exercise 1    exercise 2       exercise 3

For those who want to improve their English in the future, you can use this site with many more possiblilities, but it's for a much higher level; click here.

See you in class!

Present Perfect versus Past Simple

The main difference between these two tenses is the reference of time:

• Present Perfect: no clear reference (twice in my lifetime) or anything referred to UP TO NOW.
• Past simple: this tense needs a reference to past (last summer, 3 week ago, in 2012, when I was young, etc.)

Exercises:  exercise 1    exercise 2     exercise 3

Surf on your own on the internet by using past simple versus present perfect and you'll find plenty of exercises. Enjoy your surfing!
If you want to practise present perfect/past simple orally you can use these sentences we saw in class:

• Have you seen a good film recently?
• Has a friend of yours ever been to Africa?
• Have you bought a present recently?
• Have you ever been abroad?

To solve the problem with GONE or BEEN go to these links: explanation and exercise
but if you need more help remember how to translate it: she has been to NY (ha visitado, ha estado en NY) she's gone to NY (se ha marchado a NY)

DO versus MAKE (lesson 4.1)

"To DO or to MAKE... that's the question" Seriously, this is a difficult problem to solve, especially for Spanish speakers. As a general rule, MAKE is more connected to actions related with constucting, building or using your hands, while DO is more general and you use your brain. But there are a lot of exceptions and the best way is to do a lot of exercises. Let's start.
Exercises:

• http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/doormake.html (grammar and an execise at the end) 
• a long exercise
• explanation in Spanish + an exercise
• another exercise
• some more: exercise 1   exercise 2  and this link with plenty of exercises; click here

To finish with I think you should practise using a context such as:

I do my homework every day. Then I do exercise and when I finish I make lunch; meanwhile my friend is making the bed because we share the housework: I do the cooking, the ironing and the cleaning and he makes the bed, does the dishes and the laundry. We both do the shopping.

A Day in Alcalá de Henares

At the end of lesson 3 we are asked to write about a day out in our town and here you have a video about Alcala; click here. To have some model sentences you can watch this video with photos and some comments (no audio); click here.
If you want to see more examples here you have some videos about other cities:

• Toledo
• Madrid

To finish with here you have the videos about Christmas in British Council; click here and here

Improving your writing

I've just found a link with some help for writing. The author is a teacher called Jennifer, who has a blog and a webpage for learning English, and I think it's worth a visit but be patient because it takes time to see all the videos. If you are interested, go to this link by clicking here

Another long, deep explanation about how to write in English is in the following site but I think it's too difficult for your level of English; click here

This last web page has quite a lot of information about rules for writing (spelling, capital letters, etc) but it's rather extended; anyway, if you are interested here you have the link

Don't worry too much about these links. I think it's better to write little by little, hand out compositions regularly and keep them to see what mistakes are the most common ones when you write and try to avoid them.

Remember I'm there, in class to help you so ask me as much as you like.
See you!

Making a phone call

Speaking on the phone is very difficult when you are learning a new language but sometimes it is very useful, especially when you want to call home from abroad, to book a table in a restaurant, to check your flight tickets and so on, but it's also really useful for business. You have some models in Unit 3.3 and here you have some links with useful vocabulary or videos to practise:

• phone call vocabulary; click here
• a chart with typical sentences; click here
• if you work with English, this link gives good advice about how to speak on the phone; click here
• here you have a simple example for starting with business phone calls; click here
• this video is with a higher level but the quality is not great and the end has Arabic subtitles but it's a good example; click here
• this video gives you some examples of phone calls, in informal and formal style; click here

See you in class!

Invitations (unit 3.1)

There is an exercie on the book about how to make invitations. It is for writing skills but I think it's more usual when you speak. Nevertheless, if you do it well when you say it, you can do it when you write it.
If you want to see some typical expressions to invite, go to this link. Then you can do this listening comprehension here.

As a curiosity here you have a video about Pollock and how he used to paint; click here

About grammar, here you are a clear video with an explanation (click here) and then try to do some exercises to work with questions without auxiliaries:

• exercise 1        exercise 2         exercise 3         exercise 4
• watch this video of The Beatles and pay attention to the questions; click here
• but maybe you prefer something funnier and more modern; click here

See you in class!

Unit 3.1: London for free

In this unit we are working with future wit two similar forms: Present continuous or GOING TO.
As you can see from the grammar section (p. 132) the difference is rather small and it's only depending on the inner meaning:

• I'm going to have dinner with my parents next weekend (your plans, your intention, NOT arrenged yet or not fixed but something I want to do in a close future)
• I'm having dinner with my parents (everything is arranged, with a fixed time/place)

On the book they say that GOING TO is more common when other people are not involved in the action but I prefer to explain that this form is connected to WANT TO, which indicates your intention, what you want to do in a close future.

If you want to practise you can do these exercises: exercise 1    exercise 2    exercise 3

To know something about London and practise with listening you can watch these videos:

10 popular sights in London    10 things to know about London    London (with subtitles)

You can also go to this link with a lot of material about London for English students; click here