Some web pages we used in class

This week we have started with our classes but we've been working with the introduction. I told you there were plenty of material to work with English and here you have the ones we've seen:

• the dictionary wordreference: http://www.wordreference.com
• about grammar: http://esl.about.com/od/grammarstructures/a/pres_simple.htm 
• more grammar: http://a4esl.org/q/h/lb/psv.html
• about reading with audio :http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/

Nevertheless, when you want to look for something on the internet you can go to google and click what you want and then add +ESL

Do you like Spongebob?

This is one of my children's favourite cartoon and I found this video with one of the songs of Spongebob. It has the subtitles and I think it's queite easy to understand. If you want to have a good time with your children, have a look with this video but remember there are many more in youtube. Have fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5g2HtEDJVU

Peace in the world

Surfing on the internet I've found this video made by a person from Israel; I think it's pretty good for the message so when someting is interesting it's much better to do some listening practice with it.
The first link is the video itself in the original version, without subtitles. Although he's not a native speaker of English I think it's quite correct and it can be understood quite well. This is the link:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mYjuUoEivbE

This second link is the same video with subtitles in Spanish, just in case you want to know the exact meaning of the message

• http://www.youtube.com/embed/I6sPCSJu31U?rel=0

If you want to hear some other messages of peace, go to this famous song: Imagine

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yseQLDzf-rk

I hope you'll enjoy this post. See you.

Stress in a sentence

One of the most difficult things we have while learning a new language is to change the way we pronounce, especially the stress (acento/golpe de voz). Have a look in your English books and you'll see it's something quite common in the pronunciation section.

If you want to "sound natural" you should pay attention to where the stress of the sentence is. The general rule is that you stress on those words which are really important in meaning within a sentence or the ones you want to emphasise; e.g.: What are you doing?   I'm working at my office   At your office?It's my office

If you're interested in knowing some more details and some oral examples, go to this link of Hablar mejor en inglés; click here to go directly.

There is also a long but useful explanation on BBC Learning English. Click here to visit the page

Hope it'll be useful. See you at school soon!

Revising modals and some idioms

Here you are a page with a good explanation of the difference between the most common modals: CAN - COULD - MAY - MIGHT. It's in Spanish and it's also quite clear, with a few examples, so you can have a look to check your knowledge of English modals. There is a list of idioms or common expressions which are quite interesting as well. To go to the link, click HERE. Once you've read this, try to do some exercises like the ones you can find here:

• exercise 1 : quite easy but it's some practice
• exercise 2 : some more exercises
• exercise 3 : this page is to go further in your practice and more modals are included. There is a tutorial and exercises. It's quite useful. 

As you can see the level is not so high but it's worth revising simple things from time to time to check you still do them properly.

See you in short time!

PD: this post is also available on the other blog I have for intermediate students: 

http://english-goingon.blogspot.com.es/

Practising some listening activities (NB1-NB2)

I've found some links with exercises from an interesting blog. The activities are easy and simple but I think it's good to refresh easy things to check you've already known them. The level is for NB1, but students of higher level might do them as well.Enjoy the exercises and click HERE

Coming back

Hello to everybody!

Here we are again after holidays, with new projects and trying to refresh our English. Although I haven't done too much on holiday I'd like to give you some links to start with:

• Pronunciation: in this link you have some tips (pequeños consejos) to pronounce English better. It's in Spanish but it's quite useful. Click here

• Writing: how to write an e-mail in English. This link is not for learning English eaxactly but it's for learning how to do it properly. The tips are very useful even if you write e-mails in Spanish, and it gives you clues (pistas) to do it better. The page is in English but I think you won't have problems to understand it. Click here

• Music: here you have the song "Someone I used to know" with lyrics. It's quite useful to refresh your past tense and a good example of the expression "used to", something you did in the past but you don't do any more in the present, like the meaning of this song. Click here

I hope to see you at school. Remember we start class in October.

More practice for listening

Here you have a page for listening. It has some exercises which can be useful as you have vocabulary, true and false exercises and filling the gaps, although I haven't checked how it works and the level properly. Have a look and you'll tell me if you like it or not.
http://www.carolinebrownlisteninglessons.com/
I'll give you more material for summer holidays.

Some tips for preparing the oral exam

Remember you are going to take the exam in groups of 2 or 3 people and there are two taks:

• TASK 1 : an interaction with the examiner so you should anwer his/her questions, but remember to explain everything you say. Be active and don't use just monosyllabel answers
• TASK 2: you should get an agreement about a topic. Don't be too pushy and let the other people speak. Address to the others to ask for information, explanations, opinions, etc. When you say something try to explain your point of view in different ways, giving examples, talking about your experience and so on.

Take into account not only grammar but entonation and fluency; don't rush but don't be silent, either. Try to use a variety of structures, tenses and vocabulary to enrich your speaking part.

Correcting mistakes

Here I've got some links to correct typical mistakes made by Spanish speakers. Be careful to correct them and write them correctly several times to fix the right structure. These are the ones for elementary level:

• http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ommistake/elementary/mistakes1.htm 
• http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ommistake/elementary/mistakes2.htm
• http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ommistake/elementary/mistakes3.htm
• http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ommistake/elementary/mistakes4.htm
• http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ommistake/elementary/mistakes5.htm

If you feel really confident you could go to the intermediate level; click here: http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ommistake/contenidotematico.htm

To finish with, here you have a link to a blog for a Spanish secondary school where you have the most typical mistakes related by the teacher Miguel Sánchez:

• http://englishiesmediterrania.wordpress.com/miguel-sanchez/

I hope this will help you

Some exercises that may help

Here you have some exercises to practise with very simple conversations but they could help you to get confident:

• http://www.eltpodcast.com/archive/bc : habitual present; very basic
• http://www.eltpodcast.com/archive/ic : this is the following level; have a look; maybe too high for your real level but if you want to try it (something to do on holidays)

I've also found this link joining grammar and functions, that is, what point of grammar you use in each situation. This could help you to understand grammar and how it works:

• http://www.elt-heaven.com/Functions.html : be careful because some items are not included in our level such as ought to
• http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/ : a list of grammar points with exercises

Practising listening comprehension

Here you have some examples of PET exams; I've chosen the parts which are more similar to the ones you have in your own exams. I hope this helps you:

• http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part2.htm : multiple choice exercise
• http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part2.htm : filling the gaps exercise
• http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part4.htm : true/false exercise

Here you have some more practise:

• http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0070082278/student_view0/unit13/activity_2__listening_exercise.html  : true/false exercise but I'm not sure about the level
•  http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0070082278/student_view0/unit13/quiz_2__listening.html : multiple choice
• http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0070082278/student_view0/unit14/quiz_2__listening.html : matching questions with answers but there aren't extra ones

Practising with reading

Here we have some pages with graded reading exercises but be careful because they're not the same as the ones we have for the exam:

• http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/marketing/sfesl/practicereading.html here you have answer key
• http://www.miguelmllop.com/practice/intermediate/readingcomprehension/readingcompindex.htm : a lot of readings but without answer key
• http://www.usingenglish.com/comprehension/: with on line exercise and 3 levels (beginner, intermediate and advance)
•  http://www.5minuteenglish.com/apr1.htm : a ture/false exercise; a bit simple

Improving your speaking

The only way to improve your speaking is to practise. If you are lucky and you can do it with native speakers, tha's great but most of you can't so you should do it on your own or with your mates.
Here you have some tips to work alone:

• Prepare your speaking before: pay attention to the structures required and the vocabulary (suggestions, advice, explanations, etc.)
• Record yourself while speaking: watch the time and then you'll be able to correct yourself, no only the mistakes but the entonation, fluency, richness, etc.
• Once you've done that, do it again to improve the first performance. You'll see you've done it better.

Here you have a link which has a performace of a student of nivel básico 2. It gives you a clue about what to do to practise on your own:

• https://sites.google.com/site/speakingactivities/basico-2-test-tasks

Improving your writing

When you want to improve the way you write, you should pay attention to the following problems:

• structure of the composition: think that the person who is reading the paper doesn't know what you want to say. Write to be read and understood at first.
• following the line: guide the reader so use linkers, references, examples and so on to let the reader follow you throughout your writing.
• variety: try to avoid repetitions, use synonyms, contraries, different types of sentences to make your writing more interesting
• mind the mistakes: especially with spelling, tenses, adjectives and nouns, singular and plural forms and so on.

To practise with that last part, remember to leave some minutes in the end to check and correct your mistakes. Use these links to help you:

• http://tonigarcia-iesmbv.blogspot.com.es/2011/07/most-common-errors-when-writing-english.html: especially target for Spanish speakers
• 
  

Preparing the certificate exams

Here you have all the sites you can use to prepare the exams. You should look for the language and your level within the page:

• Comunidad de Aragón: http://www.educaragon.org/arboles/arbol.asp?sepRuta=Sistema+Educativo%2F%3Ca+href%3D'%2Feducacion_no_uni.asp'%3EEnse%F1anza+no+Universitaria%3C%2Fa%3E%2F&guiaeducativa=&strSeccion=PPI02&titpadre=R%E9gimen+especial&arrpadres=$Ense%F1anzas+de+Idiomas&arrides=$113&arridesvin=$&lngArbol=1786&lngArbolvinculado
• Comunidad de Cantabria:: http://www.educantabria.es/ensenanzas_de_regimen_especial/ensenanzas_de_regimen_especial/ensenanzas-de-idiomas/pruebas-cer-idiomas-09-10

• Comunidad de Murcia:  http://www.educarm.es/admin/webForm.php?ar=637&mode=visualizaAplicacionWeb&aplicacion=ARTISTICAS_IDIOMAS&web=92&zona=PROFESORES&menuSeleccionado=
• Euskadi/País Vasco:  http://www.eoieuskadi.net/es/pcertificacion.php?pag=modelos
• Comunidad Valenciana:  http://www.eoivalencia.es/es/ultima-convocatoria.html  
• Comunidad de Navarra:  http://irati.pnte.cfnavarra.es/einadisw/examenes.php?conte=exmodelosin&ver=2%20(ingl%C3%A9s)
• Comunidad de Castilla-La Mancha:  http://www.educa.jccm.es/educa-jccm/cm/educa_jccm/tkContent?idContent=60113&locale=es_ES&textOnly=false
• Comunidad de Galicia:  http://www.eoidevigo.org/images/stories/certificacion/2011-2012/probas_eeooii.pdf

Web pages to learn English

The following are some websites that may help you with your process of learning English in a more autonomous manner. I found them at EOI Salamanca and I think they could be useful for you. Let me encourage to check them out in order to see which ones are best for you, althoygh there are many you've already known because we've use them in class or on the blog.
National Public Radio (US) http://www.npr.org
BBC (UK) http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml
CBC (Canada) http://www.cbc.ca
Dave’s ESL Café http://eslcafe.com/
English for Internet  http://www.study.com/
The Internet Public Library http://ipl.org/
Grammar and Writing http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Agenda Web http://www.agendaweb.org
English at Home http://www.english-at-home.com
E.L. Easton’s Page http://eleaston.com
Learn English – British Council http://britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
BBC Skills Wise http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise
Curso inglés http://www.curso-ingles.com
World English  http://www.world-english.org
English learner http://www.englishlearner.com
Auto English http://autoenglish.org
English exercises online http://www.smic.be/smic5022
Vaughan radio station http://www.vaughanradio.com
Online dictionary http://www.wordreference.com
Videos and games http://www.eslvideo.com
Others:
http://www.learning.english.com
http://better-english.com
http://manythings.org
http://mansioningles.com
http://englishclub.com
http://a4esl.org
http://englishaquarium
http://letssingit.com
http://www.stuff.co.uk/english.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com

Official certificate exams in Asturias

These are the certificate exams of Asturias. Have a look and try to practise with them but remember they could be differente from the ones we've got in Madrid.

• http://www.educastur.es/media/publicaciones/apoyo/innovacion/modelos_pruebas_eoi.pdf : this is the link for the exam paper but all the languages and the levels are here so you should look for your basic level (if you feel confident, have a try with the intermediate one)
• http://www.educastur.es/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2708&Itemid=54: this is the previous page and at the end you can find the audios.

Revision of pronouns - introducing relative pronouns

Sometimes it's good to revise things we already know to check we don't have problems. That's the reason why I've seen this presentation really useful. But it introduces something we haven't seen very well and we should revise in class next week: relative clauses using relative pronouns as linkers. Here is the presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/Marimerry/relative-clauses-6131978
Once you've seen this, go to this other presentation about the relative clauses (oraciones de relativo) but don't worry too much if you can't understand everything because we'll see it in classs next week. About relative clauses go to:
http://www.slideshare.net/mluisavm/relative-clauses-10934852
If you've been able to understand most of the explanation, go to these links to practise but remember you should practise these sentences by saying them aloud to get used to them:

• http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/pronouns/relative_pronouns.htm : to revise relative pronouns
• http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?02 : more about pronouns
• http://www.eflnet.com/grammar/relpronoun.php: and some more
• http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?07 : how to join sentences; this exercise is more useful for preparing your writing exam
• http://www.esltower.com/GRAMMARQUIZ/intermediate/relative%20pronoun.htm : similar to the previous one but simpler and faster. Good for revision
• http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?08 : another one for revision

I hope this entry will help you but I'll revise this in class. However, if you've alredy seen all these explanations we'll do it very quickly. See you.
PD: for those who love exercises here you have a huge amount with different levels
http://www.agendaweb.org/grammar/relative_pronouns_clauses-exercises.html

Someone like you

One of my students asked me about this song and I must say it's one of my favourite ones so here you have an exercise to practise:

• First go to this link as a karaoke:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AW9C3-qWug 
• Try to do this exercise of filling the gaps with the conductor of the programme:

"There's nothing quite like the ___________________ when you listen to the song ___________ by someone you don't know, you've _____________ met but somehow she's managed to _______________ exactly how you've felt in a _______________ moment in your ____________ -

This next artist has __________ able to do this ___________ after ___________. And it's for that ______________ she's carrying number one in astonishingly ________ counties. If you've ________ had a broken heart, ..... (sorry, but I don't understand the last sentence)

• Once you know the lyrics, go to this video and try to understand the conductor and to recognize the words of this song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qemWRToNYJY
• This link is with the lyrics on top of the video and subtitles with the translation into Spanis at the bottomh, just in case you want to know the meaning:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5w5v6jzU0Y&feature=relate

I hope you'll have a good time doing this exercise. See you in class.