Speaking of Stereotypes...

Heaven
is where the police are all British,
the cooks are all French,
the mechanics are all German,
the lovers are all Spanish,
and everything is organized by the Swiss.

Hell
is where the police are all German,
the cooks are all British,
the mechanics are all French,
the lovers are all Swiss,
and everything is organized by the Spanish.

Please empathize with teachers...

Sideburns

Now that we're learning vocabulary to describe people, I found this curious...
(The name of the guy, in case you don't understand it, is Ambrose Burnside, American Civil War General)

On EEOOII

Here's the link to the article I told you about

Recommendations

Dear All,

here are some of the recommended books (for the Intermediate level) you asked me about:

GRAMMARS

Raymond Murphy, English Grammar in Use, Intermediate. Third Edition. Cambridge University Press.

Malcolm Mann and Steve Taylore-Knowles, Destination B1. Grammar and Vocabulary. Macmillan

John Eastwood, Oxford Practice Grammar. Intermediate. Oxford University Press.

VOCABULARY

English Vocabulary in Use, Cambridge University Press. (There are three different levels)

DICTIONARIES

Collins Master Dictionary. (Bilingual)
Diccionario Oxford (Bilingual)

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Monolingual)
Oxford Learner's Theasurus (Synonyms and antonyms)
Phrasal Verbs Plus. Macmillan (Phrasal verbs)

Blowin' in the Wind

Some songs will never be outdated. Here's a cover of Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" sung by a beautiful voice

The importance of long and short vowels...

All - Preparing for oral exams

Hi everybody!
This is an old post I keep re-posting at the end of every academic year:

Here is a link to interesting pages that can help you prepare for the oral exam. You will find audio exercises and vocabulary.
And one more page to check conversation strategies here.

Please remember the following important aspects:
- Do not forget to include any of the points you're given, even if you organize them in the order you wish.
- Try to build your monologue around some kind of structure (temporal development, advantages and disadvantages, comparison and/or contrast, etc.)
- Link the different sections of your monologue with connectors (cause, consequence, contrast, finality, concession, etc.)
- In the dialogue, remember that you should be able to make suggestions, agree and disagree with people, and to reach some kind of conclusion, even if you cannot reach agreement.
- Forget about the presence of the examiners, we will be just virtual shapes and ears in the room ;-) If you feel comfortable by looking at your partner, do so and "ignore" the examiners.
- Try the best of your pronunciation, pleeeeeease. I've insisted too much on those "l"s in could, should, etc.; those "z"s in zoo, those "c"s in center, certainly, etc., the pronunciation of the past and participle in regular verbs, etc., etc... ;-)

Hope that helps!

Attend University in English ... without leaving your home

Hi there!

I just checked the blog of a colleague from Asturias and saw a great link posted there. If you want to listen to English while learning about some academic subject, you can visit www.academicearth.org

Thanks, Javier!

Brit vs. US movies

Hi there!

esp. dedicated to those of the NA1 who want to create a group to go to the movies... (thx Philipp!)