The day of the Earth

Today it's the day to think about environment and what to do to protect our planet. This is a topic which is present in our book, in lesson 9.2. Let's work with this topic using some links:

• this link is the one we've just used in class, with vocabulary and listening; click here
• this link is about vocabulary but you have some other links at the end; click here
• this is a blog with an entry on enviromental issues; there are exercises at the end and it's quite interesting; click here

Exercises about environment, especially about vocabulary: exercise 1    exercise 2    exercise 3

Comparative and Superlative forms

There is an old post from 2011 about this grammar topic so click here if you want to see it and do exercises. Nevertheless, this is a short summary of what we saw in class. try to use comparatives to express preferences, give reasons, explain something or your opinion.

Comparing qualities

This is waht you do when you compare 2 things or people; you use an adjective and you should use the comparative form. Look at this chart:

1 syllable	2 syllable	3 or more syllable
You add -ER THAN Clean = cleaner than Big = bigger than yours dry = drier than	Ending in -y = -IER THAN easy = easier friendly = friendlier lovely = lovelier	You use MORE --- THAN expensive = more expensive than beautiful = more beautiful than
Exceptions: bored = more bored than	Ending in consonat = MORE --- THAN careful = more careful than boring = more boring than	Adverbs ending in -LY = MORE --- THAN easily = more easily than

Comparing quantities

Uncountable (singular)	Countable (plural)
There is more water than ice	There are more people than I thought
There is less sugar than the amount I need	There are more places to visit than expected

Subordinate sentences:

• SO + adjective + THAT = she's so nice that everybody likes her
• SUCH + (modifier) noun + THAT = she's such a nice person that everybody likes her
  • Notice the changes for singular/plural and countable/uncountable: they are such nice boys; he is such a nice boy; it's such nice bread a = 1 (not 2,3,4...)

The meaning is very similar in both sentences, but the grammar form changes. 

If you want to practise eith this grammar point, go to these exercises:

• exercise 1      exercise 2      exercise 3      exercise 4: this is a huge page with a lot of links

Using intensifiers

An intensifier is an adverb which you use to give more emphasis to adjectives or other parts of speech. When we use a noun is called quantifier. Have a look to the examples:

• Bill Gates is extremely rich (intenisfier: EXTREMELY)
• Bill Gates has so much money that he can buy whatever he wants (quantifier: MUCH)

If you want to know more about intensifiers you can go to this link
Remember we have worked in class with the problem with TOO + adjective and TOO MUCH + singular  and TOO MANY + plural, as you can see in the example:

• There were TOO MANY people, TOO MUCH noise and the music was TOO loud.

The other problem is the use of ENOUGH: you must use adjective + ENOUGH but ENOUGH + noun. Let's see the example:

• There aren't ENOUGH books for everybody but there is ENOUGH time to find them if we are fast ENOUGH to bring them from the library.

I hope you won't have no more problems with these similar words. See you in class!

Multi-word verbs

MULTI-WORD VERBS are those verbs formed by 2 or more words. Here you have some examples:

• I look forward to seeing you (3 words)

We should distinguish between two different verbs:

• PREPOSITIONAL verbs: verbs followed by a preposition
  • Look at Peter! ---- Look at HIM!
• PHRASAL verbs: verbs followed by an adverb
  • Look up the word in the dictionary ---- Look IT up in a dictionary

But what is important to know is the way they function, that is, if you must split the verb and the particle to introduce the pronoun, as you can see in the second example. The best way to learn them is in context and then keep in mind the verb used with a pronoun as you have seen above.

There are plenty of lists of multi-word verbs but I think it's better to learn by heart all those that you need in your daily life and increase your own list little by little. Then you should go through them from time to time to revise. This kind of verbs are really frequent in English and they mark the difference in your level of English.

If you want to start practise you can use the ones in the student's book or you can go to some links on the internet like these ones:

• exercise 1      exercise 2      exercise 3     exercise 4: this is a list and it's a document for teachers but you can use it to know the main phrasal verbs.

April's Fool Day

Today it's April's Fool so let's know something about it. It's the time for pranks and prankster. Go to this link to know something about this day, specially its history, click here.
But you should know some vocabulary about this day so you could go to this link; click here
I hope there aren't many prankters in my class...

What to do this week

As I told you in class, this week you should work on the blog in order to prepare the final exam. Here you have a link to practise with the exam of NB2 in Durango; click here. Notice that the writing part is shorter than in Comunidad de Madrid; the composition should be longer: 80 words for the first writing and 125 for the second.
The other model you can do is the one from Comunidad de Canarias; the link is here
Try to work on your own and remember to organise your writing before starting it.
See you soon!

Money!

This is a very typical topic and you've got a lot of vocabulary on the book, as well as the one I gve you in class. Here you are some songs which deal with money:

• The Beatles: All I want ; click here
• Cabaret: Money; click here
• Pink Floyd: Money; click here
• Mickel Jackson: click here
• Jessie J: Price Tag; click here

I hope you'll enjoy this but there are more examples, I guess.

Using relative pronouns

In lesson 8.1 we are working with relative pronouns WHICH, WHO, THAT and WHERE; we are going to start with  WHOSE as well.

A relative clause is introduced by a relative pronoun and it is used to explain or give detail about something mentioned before (the antecedent). But let's see how it works.

• This is the flat where I live and Peter is the person who lives with me and whose car is parked outside.

The most difficult part of this grammar point is, as usual, when it isn't the same in Spanish:

• Kerry is the mate I work with: here the relative pronoun has disappeared, something that/which doesn't happen in Spanish. 

Let's see some pages to work with this grammar point:

• another example; click here
• an exercise of rephrasing: use relatives to join clauses; click here

To finish with, here you are the two songs about the lemmon tree:

• Lemon tree by Peter, Paul and Mary
• Lemon tree by Fool's Garden

Healthy Habbits

To keep fit is really important and we all should be very careful with the things we do or we eat. Here you are an article which explains how to keep healthy; click here

Saint Parick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! This is the national feast in Ireland but it's an important date for many places where the Irish are present, like the States, the UK or Australia. Here you have some information about this feast; click here or here
But if you want to get a general idea about this typical feast, here you are some videos:

• a typical parede in Dublin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuaAGewaXeY
• the parade in New York: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPX7lPWJRyU 

Some very accurate advice to prepare the listening exam

I found a blog with a long answer for a problem that an adult student of an EOI had to pass the certificate exam for NB2. This teacher gives some clues about how to prepare the listening skills and I've cut and pasted her tips here; the comments between brackets are mine:

"Si tienes este nivel (NB2), o un nivel superior, debes seguir la misma estrategia y practicar con los AUDIOS DE TU EOI LOCAL (o con los de otras comunidades autónomas, aunque el nivel no tiene que ser el mismo exactamente, pero sí muy parecido).

Este, por ejemplo, es el examen de comprensión oral del nivel básico de 2011 de la EOI de Oviedo.
Como podrás comprobar, el audio que utilizan está en internet. Es este. 
Lo he encontrado poniendo en Google  "6 minute English Rob Ivonne Families". 
¿Qué hay qué hacer entonces?
Evidentemente, escuchar más audios de este tipo, que además, están en internet. Imagínate que haciendo esto, te sale en el examen precisamente el audio que tú ya has estudiado.

Este el examen del nivel básico de 2012 de la EOI de Oviedo. 
El primer audio es este.- Yo lo he encontrado poniendo en Google "We British love tea", que es la primera frase que dice el "speaker".
El segundo audio es el número 76 de esta lista. Lo he encontrado poniendo en Google "Podcast Penela". Fíjate como en el examen está la referencia de la página. Así que más fácil no puede ser.
El tercer audio es este. Lo he encontrado poniendo en Google "podcast britishcouncil.org favourite time of the day was night adam rob"
Taken from: http://elblogdelingles.blogspot.com.es/2013/08/como-aprobar-el-listening-para-un.html

Practising listening skills

Alghough this level is higher than the one you have, I think it's more accurate to the one you could find in the official exam of certificate. Use them to prepare your exams but don't get panic if you aren't as good as you thought at doing these listening exercises.

Remember that there are many pages on the internet to practice listening skills. Here you are some of them taken from a page which gives you examples of two types of exams: PET and IELTS. The ones we need to prepare our exams are these but maybe the level is a bit too high:

• http://www.examenglish.com/IELTS/cbIELTS_listening.htm --- multiple choice
• http://www.examenglish.com/IELTS/IELTS_listening_part1.htm --- fill in the gaps+business
• http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part3.htm --- taking notes
• http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part4.htm ---T/F or yes/no questions
• http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_test2_part4.htm --- T/F or Y/N
• http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_test2_part3.htm --- taking notes
• http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_test2_part2.htm --- multiple choice

Hope it'll help you, guys!

Carnival and Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday, also called Mardi Gras or fat Tuesday is a famous festivity in Carnival time.
It's on the day before Ash Wednesday and it represents the end of the carnivals because the following day is when Lent starts. It will last 40 days.
Here you are some curious videos about carnival in different places:

• Mardi Gras in New Orleans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo5ClQDKnqk
• The Pancake Race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlo3yuhOSlI this is another example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRunuhmmwsg
• The Carnivals in Venice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z766I4d6oK8
• Winter Carnival in Quebec: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSNLydguFl8

 Happy Shrove Tuesday! Enjoy the last day of carnivall because tomorrow it's over.
See you in class.

Purpose, Cause and Reason clauses

As the own name indicates, these clauses are used to express the purpose, why the action is done.

• I went to the market to buy some fruit

There are some possible forms to introduce purpose clauses:

• TO + infinitive / IN ORDER TO + infinitive (SO AS TO + infinitive)
• IN ORDER NOT TO + inifinitive / SO AS NOT TO + infinitive
• SO THAT + Subject + Verb

Look at these examples:

• I visited the doctor to lose weight
• I visited the doctor in order to lose weight
• I visited the doctor in order not to have health probles for losing weight
• I visited the doctor so that he could give me some advice to lose weight

Notice that FOR+ -ing form is also possible but the infinitve form is much more common. 

If you want to get a further explanation you can go to this link; click here

For practising, you can do these exercises:

• exercise 1         exercise 2

In unit 7.2 the book deals with purpose, cause and result clauses so you can go to this link to see a long explanation and an exercise at the end but it's of a much higher level; click here

Remember there is a link between the three kinds of clauses and it depends on you and what you want to say to use one or another.

• I went to the pub to meet my friends
• I went to the pub because I wanted to meet my friends
• I wanted to see my friends so I went to the pub

To finish with, let's see the different forms and meanings of SO:

• SO + adjective: She's so nice
• SO MUCH + singular/uncountable nouns  and   SO MANY + plural: I don't have so much money but I have so many coins
• SO THAT+S+V: I bought some medicine so that she could have it
• SO .... THAT .... : She was so tired that she went to bed
• Some expressions: and SO on; I think/hope SO; Do you like it? SO,SO
• You can also go to this link; click here

To finish with, here you have this song to see the use of infinitive of purpose: what can I do to make you love me?

Verbs followed by preposition

There are verbs which are followed by prepositions like in Spanish but sometimes it's different:

• I work with my computer      but      I listen to the news every morning

These prepositions may be dependant (you usually find them with that verb) or not as you could see in the previous examples. To see more details about this point you can go to this link. But if you want to see the main differnces between prepositional and phasal verbs, these are:

• I gave up smoking - I gave it up        I looked after the children - I looked after them

In the first example you use an adverb, the meaning is really different to just GIVE and the pronoun must be between the verb and the particle; in the other example the meaning is very similar (you look after the children to check they are OK) and you can't separate the particle from the verb. If you need more information, go to this link.

Most of these prepositions are fixed and there are no clear reasons for using one or another so the best way is to learn them by heart. You should practise a lot with exercise to learn them. Here you are some links to do exercises:

• exercise 1        exercise 2 (a long explanation and a list with exercises at the end)
• exercise 3        exercise 4         exercise 5        exercise 6        exercise 7

Apart from doing exercises you should practise these forms orally, that is, say aloud 2 or 3 examples of each of the verbs with preposition; for example, THINK ABOUT: Have you thought about what I told you yesterday? I'm thinking about going on holiday to Mallorca.

To finish with, here you are the links to practise how to write pargraphs; click here and then here

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