Merry Xmas!

Music: Death Cab for Cutie

The Great Spanish Crash

I know today is not the day for this kind of post, but you can watch the video any time, when you feel like it. It's interesting to know how other countries see us, so here's the BBC documentary certain people didn't like in Spain...

Speaking was never easier

Hi again!
Today I'm feeling better and I've been searching for tools and widgets that can be interesting for us. The previous post was about using the "Lingro" dictionary while reading online, and this one is about a widget I just installed so that you can record messages and send them over to me. It's funny because you're very shy and don't even send written messages to me through the blog, so... I'm not very sure what to expect ;-) 
You just have to click on the microphone tag on the right and start recording on your computer. I'll receive the message but it won't be automatically published in the blog if you don't want to. I've already figured out ways to publish your spoken comments as well, if you want me to ;-)

Speaking exercise proposal: why don't you leave a message explaining the type of ordinary moment you love most? Here's mine
And many other beautiful ones in this video


(A good exercise with this video is to try and describe all the types of moments that are shown; that'll be good for your vocabulary building!)

Let's defend public language teaching!

¡Defendamos la enseñanza pública de idiomas! from Matthieu Davière on Vimeo.

Word order

Hi!
Here's an example of word-by-word translation from Spanish into English

Spanish allows for a freer word order than English. In English, if a verb has a direct object, the verb and the object are kept together. In the billboard, the "bike" is the direct object of the verb "rent", so the advertisers should have written "Rent your bike here"
Of course there are exceptions, like in the following passage, which is the beginning of a story I've just read:

"On the bench outside the station, I sat and waited. The station had been open when the train arrived, but now it was locked. Another woman sat at the end of the bench, holding between her knees a string bag full of parcels wrapped in oiled paper."

In this case, the direct object ("a string bag full of parcels wrapped in oil paper") is very long, 

so "between her legs" comes first and the direct object is left for the last part of the sentence.

Spanish advertising is full of incorrect English, so watch out!

The "poorest President" in the world

Watch this video and try to answer the questions below, which I have taken from Ian James' wonderful blog for English teachers:

1. How does international media refer to José Mújica?
2. Where exactly is his house?
3. How does José Mujica define poor people?
4. What does he own according to his latest declaration of wealth?
5. What does he do with his salary?
6. What is his political background?
7. What does the man interviewed say about his lifestyle and political record?
8. What do his approval ratings say about his popularity?
9. What does his main political rival accuse him of?
10. What does Mújica hope for in the future?

You can find the answers in the comments, as always ;-)

Conditional sentences

It would be funny if it weren't true

It's not so difficult...

Dumb ways to die

NB2: You may read the subtitles
NI2: Try not to read the subtitles
Both: Watch the video and try to remember as many dumb ways to die as possible (say them out loud after watching) ;-)

NB2: dumb - dumber - the dumbest (We haven't seen the comparative and superlative adjectives yet. For now, I'll only tell you: "the dumbest way" = "la manera más tonta de..."
Remember the movie "Dumb and Dumber" ("Dos tontos muy tontos")? Well, one of them seems to be dumber than the other ;-)
Ah! And don't pronounce the "b" in these adjectives (dumb, dumber, dumbest)

Announcement

Dear All, 

you can now go to class because I've been told the substitute teacher has been sent to the school.

I'm glad the classes can start again!

Keep on reading the books I asked you to read because we'll talk about them when I'm back

Big hug for everybody!

Food for thought

David Alan Harvey

Dear All,
here's a video my sister sent to me and I enjoyed watching. You should try to watch it without reading the subtitles and a second time, if you need to, checking the vocabulary you didn't understand with the Spanish subtitles.

... And thanks everybody for the get-better messages I'm receiving!

NB2 - Reading

Dear NB2,
I won't be able to teach tomorrow because I'm on sick leave. The school has already asked for a substitute teacher, but I don't know when he or she will be there. Pay attention to your mobile phones because you'll get news about all this in the next days. 
Since you told me you wanted to read something in English, I've chosen a book adapted to your level: The ironing man, by Colin Campbell (Cambridge Readers, Level 3). Read it from now until the middle of December and we'll do activities about it then.
Hope to see you soon!
C.

NI2 - Reading

Dear NI2,

here's a suggestion of something you can do while there's no substitute teacher (and continue doing when s/he replaces me): you can read an original novel, which can be challenging but quite rewarding once you've done it! 
The title of the novel I'm proposing is A Love for Life, by Penny Hancock (Cambridge English Readers, Level 6). The book comes with three CDs. I'm sure you can find it in the big stores, but also in the small ones in the neighbourhood if you order it for the whole class. 
We'll do some activities and discuss the book towards the middle of December, hopefully ;-)

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

Learn about the celebration of the fifth of November by reading the text in this page.

The following is a nursery rhyme that summarizes the events:

Remember, remember

the fifth of November,

Gunpowder treason and plot.

We see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes, guy, t'was his intent

To blow up king and parliament.

Three score barrels were laid below

To prove old England's overthrow.

By god's mercy he was catch'd

With a darkened lantern and burning match.

So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.

Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.

And what shall we do with him?

Burn him!

And here's a game for you to check the understanding of the plot while having fun!

Speaking about psychics...

Tim Burton's Vincent

Dear All,
here's the Tim Burton short movie we saw yesterday and will see this afternoon in class.

And the link to the poem

Happy Halloween!

Hi there!

Here's a video on the history of Halloween. Listen and answer the questions below:

1. The history of Halloween starts with ...................... (a diverse group of tribal societies from Europe).

2. The end of the harvest season was celebrated on .................. (date)

3. Why was it a magical night?

4. On Samhain (pronounced /sauin/), people sat around .................

5. When did the church start to appropriate the pagan festivity?

6. Both the pagan and catholic festivities had to do with ...................

7. "hallow" means .......... or ..........

8. Who brought the holiday to the United States? When?

9. Some of their customs included bobbing for apples and "playing tricks on ...........

10. The young pranksters wore ........... not to be recognised.

11. In the 1930s the holiday became dangerous because of ..................

12. What is Halloween's holiday greeting?

(The answers are in the "comments")

Present Perfect or Simple Past?

Dear NB2,

here's the link to the activity we did in class yesterday (you have to scroll down and see the video again). As I told you, this activity was designed by a Brazilian teacher who has a blog where you can practise grammar through movie fragments. It's a fun way of learning, don't you think?

Revision - Question formation

Dear NI2!
Here's some homework for the weekend!

Vocabulary - Dating and relationships

Hi there!
Here's a podcast from Culips (also in the links on the right) that teaches you more vocabulary about dating and relationships. 
Culips is an excellent source of "real English". You should listen to a different podcast every weekend. If you manage to do this, your vocabulary will be just stunning by the end of the course!

English Irregular Verbs

I posted this a couple of years ago, but I'm posting it again because it's useful for both NI2 (revision) and NB2 (revision and learning the participles well, now that we're studying the present perfect form). So here's a list of irregular verbs with the pronunciation of the three forms. Voilá!

You have six links within that page to access a good number of irregular verbs. 

"Have you ever..." questions

Hi NB2s!

Here's the complete handout we worked with the other day in class. Can you think of other "Have you ever..." questions you want to ask your classmates?

William Blake

There's an exhibition of William Blake's etchings and paintings at the Caixa Forum. My colleague Gabriel has organized a tour in English for 19th October which, in principle, is aimed at Advanced students. If you're interested, ask Gabriel if there are any vacancies. The visit will take place in the afternoon and is really worth doing.
Here's a video about the English poet and painter. Enjoy!

EOI Choir

Dear All,
if you enjoy singing, you might like this initiative ;-)

Organization and Student's Book NB2

This is the book we'll be using in NB2:

Innovations. Pre-Intermediate. Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley. Ed. Heinle. It comes with a Workbook with key.

Here's the objectives of the course you  asked for in the presentation. 
And here's a few organization sheets where you can find important information about our course. 

Organization NI2

Dear NI2,

here's the class organization sheets I told you about yesterday. 

And here's the objectives of the course

Student's Book NI2

This is the book we'll be using this academic year:

New English File. Upper-Intermediate. Clive Oxenden and Christina Latham-Koenig. Oxford University Press. The pack comes with a Workbook with key, and a Grammar Checker.

We won't do the Workbook in class, but you're encouraged to do the exercises and correct them by yourselves. Any question related to the workbook exercises can be asked in class. As for the Grammar Checker, it'd be very convenient if you could revise the grammar on your own as well and ask whatever you don't understand in class. 

See you on Monday. Have a nice weekend!

Updating and relocating

Dear visitor, former students and imminent ones ;-),

I've deleted and relocated some of the entries in this blog, so apologies if you can't find what you're looking for...  All the entries under the label "NA1" went to one of the "All - ......" sections. In each of these sections you're going to find stuff of different levels. 

I hope to be able to find time and define the levels within each entry, but I cannot promise anything. Please remember that this blog is something I've been doing aside from my teaching hours and even aside from my class preparation hours. I thank those of you who, aware of this, have been grateful for the work done. 

My groups start on Wednesday (NI2 16:30) and Thursday (NB2 19:00). See you all in Room 12! 

EOIs in the news

The EOI in today's paper: http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2012/07/23/madrid/1343076404_261848.html

and on the radio: http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/no-es-un-dia-cualquiera/dia-cualquiera-aprender-idiomas/1493556/

and here: http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/espana-directo/espana-directo-precio-estudiar-idioma-31-07-12/1495250/  (between min. 2:30-11:50)

and here: http://www.cadenaser.com/cultura/audios/educacion-afronta-curso-dificil/csrcsrpor/20120905csrcsrcul_7/Aes/ (September 2012)

Save the EOI

If you want to defend the EOI against its disappearance, please sign the petition in the following link:

http://www.change.org/es/peticiones/salvemos-la-ense%C3%B1anza-p%C3%BAblica-de-idiomas

The Ministry of Education is planning to transfer EOI teachers to Secondary Education, Vocational Training, or Bachillerato. That would eventually make EOIs disappear...

Romeo and Juliet

Here's a performance by Compañía Luna of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Congratulations to the actors and coordinator, Almudena Santos, for their hard work, sense of humor, and passion. Their beautiful message: Bring passion to whatever you do in life!

Advice

Advice: uncountable noun
Let me give you some advice
Let me give you a piece of advice

Your Book Reviews for Summer Reading

Dear All,

here's a list of book recommendations for the summer. If you click on the different titles, you'll find the book review someone in your class or in the other group wrote.

- Robert McNamara's In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, reviewed by Diana Muñoz

- Daniel Gottlieb's Letters to Sam, reviewed by Asun Martín de Frutos

- Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, reviewed by Manuel Ortiz

- Mark Haddon's A Spot of Bother, reviewed by Antonio Cerezo
- John Baxter's The Most Beautiful Walk in the World, reviewed by Ana Mª Martínez
- Paul Auster's The Book of Illusions, reviewed by Isabel Pérez 
- Ken Follet's Code to Zero, reviewed by Rodrigo Navarro
- Bram Stoker's Dracula, reviewed by Ruth Mallo
- John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, reviewed by Lara Morales
- Nick Hornby's How to Be Good, reviewed by Benjamín Mateo
- Scott Fiztgerald's The Great Gatsby, reviewed by Gerardo de Pablos
- Daniel Clowes' Ghost World, reviewed by Verónica Poyuelo
- Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, reviewed by Marga Díaz
- Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, reviewed by Sara García
- John Grisham's The Associate, reviewed by Francisco  Sánchez
- Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, reviewed by Ricardo Albarracín
- Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, reviewed by José Manuel Nava
- Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, reviewed by Marga Escudero
- Philip Roth's Nemesis, reviewed by Alicia Maroto
- Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, reviewed by Gloria Gómez
- Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, reviewed by Jorge Parramón

And here's also the list of film reviews from those of you who watched a movie instead:

- Intouchables, reviewed by Mari Galán
- The Artist, reviewed by Gloria Iglesias
- My Life without Me, reviewed by Gloria Rodríguez
- The Avengers, reviewed by José M. Martínez
- The Shawshank Redemption, reviewed by Rosa Cuppari

Enjoy your free time in English!

ARCHITECTURE

/ˈɑː(r)kɪˌtektʃə(r)/

Impossible Photography

Erik’s first real passion was _____[1]_____.

His passion for photography started when he got his _____[2]_____.

Unlike traditional photography, Johansson wanted to explore what happens to photography _____[3]_____ the trigger.

The common goal of Johansson’s pictures is to have _____[4]_____.

When creating an image, his three principles are that photos combined should have the same _____[5]_____, _____[6]_____, and be _____[7]_____.

Johansson’s planning process consists in _____[8]_____, _____[9]_____ different photographs, and following _____[10]_____.

The only thing that limits us is _____[11]_____. 

Find the answers in the comments

And here's the slides we saw in class yesterday. As I said, Johansson does not object to teachers using his pictures for educational purposes. Thanks, Erik! We enjoyed them very much ;-)

Language Learning Site

Morning!


Here's a language learning site a friend has recommended to me. It's a kind of social network where everybody wants to learn a language (supposedly) and people support each other (in whatever different ways). 
Maybe a good tool for keeping up your language skills during the summer! ;-)

Punctuation

A beautiful text about the importance of punctuation marks.

The UK vs. Spain

Here's an interesting suggestion from your classmate Ana Mª, for you to compare countries. She also suggests practising second type conditional sentences while you make those comparisons. Thanks a lot, Ana!

The English teachers don't teach in class... In this link

International Book Day

Hi there!

Here's a great video my colleague Míchel created. I'm embedding it for three reasons: It's very well-done (congrats, Mitch!), today is International Book Day, and this year, we're celebrating the bi-centenary of Charles Dickens' birth. Enjoy!

CHARLES DICKENS : A BIOGRAPHY from MIGUEL A SANCHEZ on Vimeo.
And here's a short story, "A Brave and Honest Boy, Oliver Twist", for you to read (in case you don't have time for the longer works)...

Marking the oral expression is being very difficult as well...

Can anybody explain cat behaviour to me? He's sweet, yes he is, but sooooooo affectionate he sometimes gets on my nerves!

Adopt a banker

Feel like dancing?

A bit of rock'n'roll in the morning...

Thanks little sis!

How to revise for the written expression

Please revise the compositions you've done so far and that you and I have corrected together. Analyze your mistakes in the first version of your texts and see how you managed to correct them in the second version, or how I corrected them if you didn't know how to do it.

Before you write, remember that planning is paramount:

1 - Understand the task well: Which type of text is it? Who is your reader? What is/are the function/s of your text (convince, explain, arrange something, compare, give your opinion, etc.)

2 - Make an outline of the text (how may paragraphs you're going to write and what info you're going to put in each)

3 - Think of the exam as an opportunity to show your teacher how much you've learnt (vocabulary and grammar) and show off (as long as you do that in a pertinent way)

3 - Revise the verb tenses and forms (past - present perfect - present / singular - plural, etc.)

4 - Revise your spelling (there are many mistakes you can avoid by simply carefully revising)

In other words, successful writing is about clear planning, good writing, and careful revision. Easy, isn't it? ;-)

Lamb Curry

Here's a video of one of the cooks mentioned below. How many ingredients, cooking verbs and kitchen utensils can you understand?

LAMB CURRY GIVE IT TO ME HOT!
Words & music by Leigh Haggerwood
Performed by Jamie Oliver
Back vocals by Haggerwood / Brannan

Get yourself a pan and get it hot,
Get your lovely lamb and slice it up,
Whop in with some mustard seeds, two teaspoons will do
Wait until they pop and they spit at you.

Then a teaspoon of Fenugreek is nice,
You need three hot chillies; red or green,
De-seed them and finely slice, give a stir once or twice,
Oh my god its so nice, so nice!

I’ve found this new revelation its called curry leaves,
Get yourself a handful and throw them in with ease,
Got my friend ginger just give him a peel,
Its so damn juicy, the flavour is unreal,

Skin three sweet onions and give them a chop,
I use the food processor saves time a lot.
Whack ‘em in, throw ‘em in,
Give it a shake; we start to make great curry, why ay ay ah.

CHORUS

Lamb Curry, you give it to me hot,
Ain’t no worries when you cook it from your heart,
Lamb Curry, you give it to me hot,
Ain’t no worries when you cook it from your heart.

Gonna give it to my brothers and sisters,
Gonna give it to the Mrs and the Mrs,
Gonna give it to my brothers and sisters,
Why ay a yeah.

Now back to the pan where all the action happens,
Just one teaspoon of chilli powder for a little extra passion,
One teaspoon of turmeric that lovely yellow stuff,
Using the same processor add six ripe tomatoes

Give ‘em a pulse to make some sauce, lovely lovely sauce
Now find a tin of coconut milk and open it up,
But mind your bloomin’ fingers they’re so easy to cut!
You can smell the sweet aroma as it hits your face,
With a good pinch of salt you should season to taste,

Throw ‘em in, whack it in,
Give it a shake, we start to make great curry,
Why ay ay ah.

CHORUS

Kitchen utensils

Anticipating your funny questions in class, here's a picture of some common kitchen utensils ;-)

It's been taken from this online visual dictionary which you might find interesting

Mystery Quests

Hi there!

Here's a link to a webpage where you can do fun mystery quests. Enjoy!

PS. I'm on my way to Valencia on the AVE. Aren't the new technologies just great (when they work)?

Ways of seeing

You can see a small exhibition of Chema Madoz's pictures in Gallería Moriarty until 29 Feb

Find more videos like this on EFL CLASSROOM 2.0

The Law of Love

Another performance by Luna Company. Click here for more info

Highly recommendable

Last weekend I saw "Katmandu: a mirror in the sky", the new film by Icíar Bollaín, and I cannot recommend it enough. Here's the trailer (of course you have to see the film in English), and some exercises for you to learn a bit about the woman who inspired the movie: Vicky Sherpa.

Various exercises (You have to go to "Index" to access all the exercises)

What's important in life?

Here's a recommendation by Ana Mª, a video related to our last topic: material and non-material values.

Thanks a lot, Ana Mª!

Idioms

Hi there!

Here's a little exercise on idioms that have to do with books: match the phrases from 1 to 8 with the meanings from A to H below. And remember: try to use the new vocabulary in a personal context that you can remember well!

1. to speak volumes of somebody/something

2. to be an open book

3. to do something by the book / to go by the book

4. to have one's nose in a book

5. not in my book

6. judge a book by its cover

7. not to crack a book

8. one for the books

A. not according to my views

B. a record-breaking or remarkable act

C. easy to know what they are thinking and feeling

D. to read a book

E. not to open a book to study

F. as the rules demand

G. prejudge the worth or value of something

H. to make a situation very clear without the use of words

The key is, as always, in the comments.

The Joy of Books

What kind of reader are you?

Readers read for a variety of reasons and every reader has his own individual style of reading. There are efficient readers who read efficiently and with great speed and then there are inefficient readers who read too slowly. According to J.A. O'Brien, an expert in the field of reading instruction, there are essentially three types of readers. In this article, we will identify different kind of readers.

Motor Readers- Motor readers are lip movers or vocalizers. Such readers are extremely slow readers as they accompany their reading with various movements of the muscles of articulation. As a result, their speed of reading slows down because they artificially keep their speed down to the rate at which they can pronounce words. Moreover, since there is so much muscular activity involved in their reading, motor readers tire quickly. Motor readers make frequent regressions, for their eyes tend to rush ahead and their voice stays behind. These readers often take the help of their finger to keep a track of their reading and to stay where on the word where there voice is. All this leads to poor comprehension for their mind is as much involved with the mechanics of reading as it is with ideas.

Auditory Readers- Auditory readers "hear" the words they read, but they do not sub-vocalize to themselves. They are very much aware of saying words in their mind, although their speech organs are completely at rest. This means, that they do not actually pronounce each word aloud but only imagine the pronunciation. Auditory readers are much more skillful and rapid. Auditory reading is faster than motor reading.

Visual Readers- Visual reading is the fastest. Visual readers do not "hear" what they are reading. They simply see a word and understand its meaning. Visual readers understand words and phrases without saying and hearing them. They read with their eyes and mind, not with their mouths or ears.

(Source: http://www.ideamarketers.com)

All about Time

Here's the pop moment of the day: a good one to sing along and try to get all the syllables in!

Puts me in a very good mood, so I hope you like it, too ;-)

Down the street and through the halls

Corridors and shopping malls

We're moving to an inner beat

Heart disconnected from our feet

I'm moving to a song that drives me on

My heart beats strong

My heart beats wrong

We're zombies in the shopping mall

Laden down with spoils of war

Wearing all the clothes we stole

Adding skin to break our fall

Dragging cases full of junk

We pilgrims stagger to the dump

The lemmings' call

Take it easy take it easy

The stars the sky

The sun and moon and tides

Descending to the underground

Crowded out by subway sounds

Buried heads in headline frowns

Even the children look ground down

By taxes adverts terrorists

Compassion crawls money fists

I need a full-time therapist

So I can hang onto my bliss

God give me something I can do

To help me rise above the zoo

Make me famous make me rich

Distract me from this burning itch

While starving homeless orphans fight

While I can waste a day online

Shopping for a butter knife

Take it easy, take it easy

The stars, the sky

The sun and moon and tides

Johnny's on the phone, Johnny's online

Johnny's in love, everything's aligned

Johnny thinks it all about fate

But it's all about time

Johnny's on the phone, Johnny's online

Johnny's in love, everything's aligned

Johnny's in an altered state

Guess's it's all about time

There's memory buried in the stone

A new King sits upon the throne

This fool is self-deceiving

Won't give up the world he's bleeding

Our Cities are all history full

The fall of feet on cobbled streets

The fossil records show

All that remains is in the bones

Johnny's on the phone, Johnny's online

Johnny's in love, everything's alive

Johnny thinks it's all about faith

But it's all about time

Johnny's on the phone, Johnny's online

Johnny's in love, everything's alive

Johnny's in an altered state

Cos it's all about time

Roller blader full of grace

Pirouette then flat on your face

I never thought that falling down

Was so beautiful