All I want for Christmas...

Cute...

Merry Xmas!

THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY

Hillarious  ! :)

Listening Activities with MOVIES

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/esl_trailer9.html

Hi there,
this is the site I showed you in class, when the sound was not too good. If you try it at home with your speakers/headphones, I'm sure you can make good use of it.

Enjoy

100 Fantastic Blogs For Language Lovers + Blogs in Plain English

100 FANTASTIC BLOGS FOR LANGUAGE LOVERS

100 Fantastic Blogs for Language Lovers (click here)

You don’t have to speak several languages to love it. Whether you just want to brush up on your main language, learn another, or even choose which to learn, there is tons of help on the internet, especially in blog form. To make the most of it, check out these 100 fantastic blogs for language lovers who enjoy vocabulary, grammar, linguistics, and much more. They are written by professors, students, and language lovers alike.

David Cameron: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Cartoon: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

This cartoon by Andy Davey from The Sun is a visual representation of the difficult position UK prime minister David Cameron finds himself in following his refusal to agree to a new EU treaty. He's wading in the English Channel whilst being attacked by Britain on one side (his coalition partner Nick Clegg has lashed out at Cameron over the latter's use of the veto) and France and Germany on the other (it was the Franco-German refusal to accept Cameron's insistence on safeguards to protect the City from EU financial regulations that led him to use the veto).
COMMENTS
1. The words 'rock' and 'hard place' on the map refer to a common idiom. If you are stuck between a rock and a hard place, you are being faced with two difficult choices. A dilemma; either option you choose will lead to unsatisfactory results. In Cameron's case, he could either have agreed to sign up to the treaty, which would have infuriated the eurosceptic Tory MPs (not to mention the right-wing press), or use his veto and risk alientation from the other 26 EU members. In the end, he chose the latter course.
2. The arrows are inspired by the of the  opening titles of the popular seventies BBC TV sitcom ' Dad's Army.
ALSO SEE
• Britain Opts Out of EU Crisis Plan (Newsy video)
• After David Cameron's EU treaty veto: seven key questions Britain must face (The Guardian).

Source: The English Blog (www.englishblog.com) Check it out! Great site.

Teach in USA or Canada

 FYI in case you're interested...

The General Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Education, through the Visiting Professor Program in the United States and Canada, in collaboration with the Departments of Education and the States School Districts, facilitates the recruitment of Spanish teachers in compulsory education, to develop their teaching experience for a period of one to three school years.

The vacancies for the 2012-2013 year are in the Resolution of November 23, published in the Official Gazette (BOE) of 30 November 2011. The deadline for applications is December 20, 2001.

On the website  www.educacion.gob.es/usa

you can access the announcement.

For more information write to: visitantes.usa@educacion.es


Have a good week,
Inma.

More on Health! Managing Stress...

Seizure First Aid Training Video

Longer video and listening comprehension questions, under " Homework" (up above).

Grammar Tip # 3: Present Perfect Simple vs. Continuous

Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Grammar rules for the present prefect tense:Subject + Auxiliary verb (has/have) + Auxiliary verb (been) + Main verb (past participle) The main verb uses the verb form past participle/V3. Negative sentences - "not" is added between the Auxiliary Verb and the main verb Questions - the auxiliary verb comes before the subject.	Grammar rules for the present prefect continuous tense:Subject + Auxiliary verb (has/have) + Auxiliary verb (been) + Main verb-ing The auxiliary verb "to be" always stays in the V3/past participle form (been). - ing to added to the base form the main verb. Negative statements - add "not" between the auxiliary verb "have" and the the auxiliary verb "been". Questions - the order is change the order the auxiliary verb "have" comes before the subject.
The result is more important than the activity itself e.g. I have walked the dog.	The activity is more important than the result. e.g. I have been walking the dog.
To state the amount of times an action took place e.g. She has won this competition every year since 1999.	To state the length of time or to state "how long" the action took place. e.g. I have been walking the dog all morning.
Used for actions that are naturally instant e.g. Oh no! I’ve broken a glass.	Used for actions that naturally have a duration e.g. I have been walking the dog all morning.
Used for past actions that happened recently and are still in the news e.g. She has won a medal.	Used for actions that continue into the present e.g. I have been walking the dog all morning.
Used to emphasize completion of an action e.g. I have walked the dog.	Used to emphasize the action, not the completion e.g. I have been walking the dog.
Used to express that an action is completed or to emphasize the result. e.g. I have walked the dog.	Used to emphasize the duration or continuous course of an action. e.g. I have been walking the dog all morning.

Exercises for further practice:
Englishpage exercises
Autoenglish exercises
Englishgrammarsecrets exercises

Enjoy!

Health & Present Perfect Tenses

Hi all,
As I mentioned the other day, I'm posting what we covered in class last Wednesday:

1. LISTENING COMPREHENSION:

http://esl-lab.com/sick1/sick1.htm#top


2. PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE + CONTINUOUS PPT:

Uploaded on SlideServe by Inma | Upload your own presentation



3.  STATIVE VERBS LIST:

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/stative-verbs.html


4. One of VOA (Voice of America) English Health Reports FYI:




5. Mr. Duncan HEALTH  & EXERCISE lesson:



Plus this last video.
Even though we didn't watch it in class, it refers to the subject matter...

And a few more links that might be interesting for you to work on this:
Picture Stories for Adult ESL Health Literacy
ESL Lessons for (public) Health Literacy
Health Vocab. in Pictures


Stay cool,

Inma.

Shared Talk

Hi there!
Prof. Nacho just shared this great site. You can have a real time conversation with speakers of other languages all over the world. And it's actually a serious one, no other purpose than just practising language oral skills...
 http://www.sharedtalk.com/

Have a nice weekend :)
Inma.

Agree or Disagree?

So let's start the thread...

Oscar Wilde once said:
 -" I live in fear of not being misunderstood"
-So do I.
-" I can't resist anything but temptation"
-Neither can I.

So do I, Neither do I

Here's a video with fragments of different series (Big Bang Theory, Star Trek, etc...) for you to see REAL conversations with So/Neither...
Enjoy!

Halloween History

I'm posting this for those who didn't have the chance to finish watching this video and completing the listening comprehension, after the sound device failed in class. Sorry again about those inconveniences...Unfortunately, this is the situation at the moment, but we're hoping for it to change soon, and  we're doing our best for it!

Cheers and happy listening :)

HALLOWEEN VIDEO (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)

 LISTENING COMPREHENSION

1. Halloween tradition started in Ireland with the Celts…how long ago?

a. 1000 years ago
b. 2000 years ago
c. 200 years ago

2. October 31st was when the Celts celebrated…

a. The end of the harvest season
b. The end of the year, a magical time when the ghost of the dead walked the Earth.
c. Both (a&b) are correct

3. In order to avoid pagan celebrations, the Catholic Church established "All Saints Day" on November 1st, which century?

a. 7th century
b. 11th century
c. 15th century

4. Irish immigrants brought this tradition to America, together with their costumes and pranks (playing tricks to neighbors). Why did this become a problem with time?

a. Because they removed gates in the front of houses
b. Because they wore masks not to be recognized
c. Because over the years these tricks grew into vandalism

5. How did the traditional "Trick or Treating" start?

a. To entertain children
b. To celebrate a feast
c. As an alternative to avoid vandalism and extortion



*Answers on "Homework" (page up above)

Grammar Tip# 2: Word Formation

The following list does not include the adjectives derived from participle forms of verbs e.g.(verb) interest (adjective) interesting /interested nor does the list include the adverbs derived by adding suffix "-ly" at the end of adjectives. eg.(adjective) deep (adverb) deeply.

Notice that this chart shows word formation starting with the letter "A". If you click on the following link, the chart will continue alphabetically WORD FORMATION CHARTS.


                                           -A-

VERBS	NOUN	ADJECTIVE	ADVERB
enable	ability	able unable	ably
	absence absentee	absent
	accident	accidental
accommodate	accommodation
acknowledge	acknowledgement
act	action activity activist actress actor	active inactive
activate	activation
add	addition additive	additional additive
	adequacy inadequacy	adequate inadequate
admire	admiration	admirable	admirably
	advantage disadvantage	advantageous disadvantageous
advertise	advertisement advertiser
admit	admission admittance
adopt	adoption
advise	advice advisability	advisable inadvisable	advisably inadvisably
	affection	affectionate unaffectionate
affect	effect	effective ineffective
agree disagree	agreement disagreement	agreeable disagreeable	agreeably disagreeably
	alcohol	alcoholic	alcoholically
allow	allowance
	ambition	ambitious
amuse	amusement
annoy	annoyance
excite	excitement
	anxiety	anxious
apologize	apology	apologetic	apologetically
appear disappear	appearance disappearance	apparent	apparently
applaud	applause applauder
apply	application applicant	applicable	applicably
appoint	appointment
appreciate	appreciation	appreciative
approve disapprove	approval disapproval
argue	argument argumentation	arguable argumentative	arguably
arrange	arrangement
arrive	arrival
assist	assistance
associate	association
assume	assumption
astonish	astonishment
attend	attendance
	attention	attentive
attract	attraction attractiveness unattractiveness	attractive unattractive
avoid	avoidance	avoidable unavoidable	avoidably unavoidably

Source: http://www.bedavaingilizce.com/advanced/index.php Good site.

These links below are great reading about Word Formation:
-BRIGHTHUB_Back Formation and Derivation. Also Conversion, Compounding, Clipping and Blending.
-Assets.cambridge.org Pdf. Article by Ingo Plag on Word Formation.
-WORD BUILDING LIST. Compiled by Tomasz Szczégola, Poland.


EXERCISES TO PRACTISE
Flo-Joe.co.ukflo-joe.co.uk
Englishexercises.org
International House, Bristol

Have a good week,
Inma.

This Is Halloween (lyrics) Tim Burton's Nightmare before Xmas

>*<
>*< >*<
Happy Halloween! >*<
>*<
>*<

Grammar Tip # 1: Adjective Order

In English, it is common to use more than one adjective before a noun -- for example, "He's a silly young fool," or "she's a smart, energetic woman." When you use more than one adjective, you have to put them in the right order, according to type.

THE BASIC TYPE OF ADJECTIVES

OPINION
An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you). Examples: silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult

SIZE
A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. Examples: large, tiny, enormous, little

SHAPE
A shape adjective describes the shape of something. Examples: square, round, flat, rectangular

AGE
An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is. Examples: ancient, new, young, old

COLOR
A color adjective, of course, describes the colour of something. Examples: blue, pink, reddish, grey

ORIGIN
An origin adjective describes where something comes from. Examples: French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek.

MATERIAL
A material adjective describes what something is made from. Examples: wooden, metal, cotton, paper

PURPOSE
A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with "-ing". Examples:sleeping (as in "sleeping bag"), roasting (as in "roasting tin").

THE ORDER: OPINION, SIZE, SHAPE, AGE, COLOR, ORIGIN, MATERIAL, PURPOSE

FOR EXAMPLE:

"a SILLY SMALL OLD ROUND RED ENGLISH LEATHER SLEEPING pillow "



 Practise a bit with an online EXERCISE here. (click)

And remember, apart from these posts on Grammar Tips, you can always check the GRAMMAR PAGE (up above section, underneath the heading of the Blog).

Enjoy.

Hello World!

"Hello World !"  It's how a new blog is usually started. It's also used in many introductory tutorials for teaching a programming language, though this is not the case here. We are going to learn about the English language. Not just 'the' language, but 'about' it and how to use it.  My approach to second language acquisition (or third, or fourth) has always been considering it a vehicle, not just the goal itself; there are so many things to absorb throughout the process. Some call it Content Based Instruction (CBI), others Language for Specific Purposes (LSP)...What do you wanna call it? How about leaving terms aside and just enjoy with 'Our Favourite Things...?'  (check out Pomplamoose's Sound of  Music version viedo below).

So, let's introduce ourselves and Welcome to our space!