NI 2 Module 9 Lesson 4

SOURCE: http://www.rtve.es/mediateca/videos/20100430/thats-english/758300.shtml

*** Does politics matter? (Link to what we have from last year)

*** Watch part of the chapter for Module 9/Lesson 4 on TVE: CLICK HERE

*** Writing:
Lesson 4: (29th March)
Suggested composition: "What would you do if you were a politician?" or "Are you interested in politics?"

*** Links to Listening activities related to politics
Browse both sites, they are very good to practise your English. I suggest doing these two activities for a start:

- Politics in Switzerland (A listening exercise with questions and answers. Do not cheat by reading the tapescript beforehand! Note:there is a small misprint. It should be: wait a minute. From www.elllo.org)

- Kennedy's assassination (With multiple choice questions. From www.ompersonal.com.ar)

Grammar: Reported speech

I have included here some links to several explanations and exercises which may help you to understand or revise and use Reported speech correctly:

- Explicación en español
- Explanations in English
- More
- And more
- Exercise 1
- Quiz
- Statements
- Reported questions 1
- Reported questions 2
- Requests
- Mixed exercise on Reported speech 1
- Mixed exercise on Reported speech 2
- Reporting verbs
- More about reporting verbs
- ADVANCED REPORTING VERBS
- Exercise

Song: Born under a wandering star

If you want to sing in English, go to the following link. It has lots of songs with lyrics. All kinds of songs, from modern to old, and even Nursery rhymes!
Go to: http://singyourenglish.blogspot.com/
To give you a sample, I include here a song which you won't find on the radio, ha ha!
I like it a lot, even if it is an oldie! Try to sing along!



I was born under a wandering star
Wheels are made for rolling
Mules are made to pack
I’ve never seen a sight that
Didn’t look better looking back.
I was born under a wandering star.

Mud can make you prisoner
And the plains can make you dry
Snow can burn your eyes
But only people make you cry
Home is made for coming from
For dreams of going to
Which with any luck will never come true
I was born under a wandering star

Do I know where hell is,
Hell is in hello
Heaven is goodbye for ever
It’s time for me to go
I was born under a wandering star

When I get to heaven tie me to a tree
For I’ll begin to roam and soon
You’ll know where I will be
I was born under a wandering star

A short film worth watching

You can watch a really moving short film thanks to the suggestion from one of Gloria's students (See BLOGS from teachers at EOI EL Fuero de Logroño (Gloria F.) on the right side of this blog). I have included here a link to her post about this short film, which will take you to youtube:
http://gloriafeoi.blogspot.com/2010/03/improve-your-listening-skills-and.html (In English with subtitles in Spanish)


Another link where you can click on play to see the film or you can read about the director, actors, actresses,... There are also some comments from viewers: http://www.thedoorpost.com/hope/film/?film=4dd298f102c77b625cf37a9e7744ac68

And, by clicking on next link, you can also have a look at the page where this video originally comes from and learn, for example, about the videos which take part into 2010 short film contest

NI 2 Module 9 Lesson 3

Lesson 3: Life in the future
First, you can have a look at what we have from last year:
CLICK HERE

*** Writing
Suggested composition: "How does technology affect your life?" or "Can anybody nowadays live without a mobile phone or a computer?"

*** Further practice
Have a look and do some further practice at these two web pages:

PACIFIC GATEWAY

ADULT LEARNING ACTIVITIES

****** Suggestion:
Have a look at these two blogs from my colleagues. There, you will find really good exercises to help you improve your Listening skill and to check your grammar knowledge:

*** Listening activities for 2nd year of Intermediate level:
Gloria F.´s blog

*** Grammar revision for 2nd year of Intermediate level:
Ana E.'s blog

News

(Court of Arms. Photograph from "Historia de La Rioja" (tomo I) ed. Caja de Ahorros de La Rioja, 1983)

As some of you already know, these days I have been carrying out a new project: English for Tourism in La Rioja. This is a course which is currently taking place at our EOI El Fuero de Logroño, given by several teachers, and it is meant for people who work in the area of tourism.
As I had to surf the web to get some information about La Rioja, I saw there is plenty of material about our region on the internet, mostly in Spanish, but there are some videos and web pages in English, too.
Then, I decided to create a new blog to put all that info together. On that blog, you are going to find information both in English and in Spanish. So, if you are interested in knowing more about our region and/or practising your English, have a look at this new blog (There is also a link to it on the right hand side of this blog):

http://tourisminlariojaspain.blogspot.com/

NI 1: Module 7 Lesson 7

1º Nivel Intermedio
Module 7 Lesson 7: "I'll make a man of you"

*** Grammar
- REPORTED SPEECH:

* Statements:
***** EXPLANATION
***** Exercise

* Commands/Requests
***** EXPLANATION
***** Exercise

* Questions
***** EXPLANATION
***** Exercise

* QUIZ

*** Grammar
- List of connectors
- A good web page about connectors

*** Culture
* Education vocabulary
* The British Education system
* The American Education system
* American English vocabulary

*** Listening:
* The flatmates

*** Reading:
Fill each of the following ten gaps in the text with only ONE word.
Use these words: on/like/in(2)/attend/faster/of/after/not/both

Having attended an all girls' school I became very interested 1)____ the debate around co-education vs. single sex schools. I feel that my academic studies and results were superior for attending a single sex school; however I also felt that I missed out on a lot of life education by 2)______ having boys around much in my formative teenage years.

Research suggests that my experience is common to many students of single sex schools. Lots 3) _____ studies show that girls do better academically at single sex schools, as do boys, especially in high school. The theory is that because girls mature 4) ______ than boys it can be difficult for teachers to accommodate the differences in development rates in a co-ed environment
Other contributing factors are simply that there are less distractions for 5) ______ boys and girls in a single sex environment. The game of who likes who, who's going out with who, who's cool and who's not, is what's really important at most co-ed schools. This is less obvious at a single sex school, but who's cool still counts and gossip still takes up a lot of time 6)_____ class.

Another benefit of a single sex education is the freedom to make educational choices without worrying that you may be the only girl or boy in the class. The threat of judgment because you want to study traditionally masculine subjects 7) _____ physics and maths, or traditionally girly subjects like literature is also removed.

But what about life skills? A co-educational environment is obviously more reflective of society -one does need to engage with members of the opposite sex fairly regularly after all. Research in this area show that students from single sex schools are more hesitant expressing their views in front of members of the opposite sex* and have more trouble forming friendships with the opposite sex as well. This was my experience 8)_______ leaving an all girls school and heading out into the world; I had trouble talking to boys at all!

So in the end, what is the better option? It depends 9) ______ the school, a good co-ed school will be better than a bad single sex one and vice versa. And I think it also depends on the child. If your child may benefit from a more encouraging academic environment then perhaps a single sex school is the better option. On reflection, I would have preferred to 10)_________ a co-ed school, but am eternally grateful for the excellent education I received. So what's the answer to my question? It depends.

*by Gregg, Kelly, Sullivan and Wolstencroft 06
* Solution: 1)in 2)not) 3)of 4)faster 5)both 6)in 7)like 8)after 9)on 10)attend
* Article:Single sex schools vs. coed schools

NI 2: Module 9 Lesson 2

SOURCE: Original picture in:http://www.flickr.com/photos/annieok/3335283913/in/photostream/

2º Nivel Intermedio
Module 9. Lesson 2: What the papers say

Useful examples:
- That's wonderful news!
- A sad piece of news
- Bad news travels fast
- a news item

*** grammar
- Passive sentences with two objects

- Have causative

*** Read the British press

Broadsheets:
- Times online
- The Independent
- The Guardian

Tabloids:
- The Sun
- News of the world
- The Daily Mirror

*** American press
- USA today
- Washington Post
- The New York Times

NI 2: Suggested compositions for Module 9

You should prepare your lessons before coming to school. I include a recommended composition for each of them, which you should bring to class on the day we talk about the lesson:

Lesson 1:
Suggested composition: Write a funny annecdote which happened to somebody or to you - real or invented - and finish your composition like this: "... I couldn't stop laughing whenever I remembered it!"

Lesson 2:
Suggested composition: "The news I remember most in the last year" or "...in the last ten years"

Lesson 3:
Suggested composition: "How does technology affect your life?" or "Can anybody nowadays live without a mobile phone or a computer?"

Lesson 4:
Suggested composition: "What would you do if you were a politician?" or "Are you interested in politics?"

Lesson 5:
Suggested composition: An article of opinion: "Is love a question of age?" or "Are people as old as they feel?"

Lesson 6:
Suggested composition: An article of opinion: "Did the video kill the radio?" or "Are you hooked to any TV series?"

Lesson 7:
Suggested composition: Write about your own experience at learning languages or write about "Why are you studying English?", or a mixture of both.

Conversaton at the Madison

SOURCE: Original picture in: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnboriqua/2554350963/in/photostream/

Remember that tomorrow 4th March 2010, at 9 pm, you can join the English conversation club at cafeteria Madison , just opposite IES Hermanos D'Elhuyar, in Albia de Castro street. Click here

Love matters

Our colleague, Belén, gave a very interesting talk about Love matters.
You can also visit her page: Belén's blog
Her presentation can be seen on the internet now:

Love Song Quiz(2)

View more presentations from eoi.soraya.

NI 1: Module 7 Lesson 6

SOURCE: Original picture in: http://growninhisgrace.blogspot.com/2010/01/hand-in-hand.html

*** Writing:
"The family of XXI century" (or British, or ...) or "My family")

Watch some parts in English of this film: My family

*** grammar:

* "used to" (solía):
- Explanation in Spanish
- Explanation in English

- Importante: No lo confundas con "be used to" (estar acostumbrado a) y "get used to" (acostumbrarse a)

- "be used to" y "get used to"
- "used to" vs. "be used to" or "get used to" (with exercises)

- QUIZ

* Reflexive pronouns
- Explanation
- Exercise

NB2 : Lesson 5: Infinitive or gerund

SOURCE: Original picture in:http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotologic/553759861/


Have a look at what we have from last year:

CLICK HERE