I'm having a vacation break. I wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013. Brand new posts will appear in January.
Thank you all for your constant support!

Let's do some gym

EXERCISE ROUTINE FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE!

How NOT to react to a bad gift

Last class we saw and worked with the following video. For those who want to see it again or haven't seen it yet, here it is:

Step 1

Ask what it is

Begin by dramatically asking, “What is this?” even if it’s patently obvious.

 

Step 2

Look disgusted

As the embarrassed gift giver explains what it is and why she thought it would suit you, maintain the expression of someone who has just stepped in dog doo.

Tip

Hold the offending item by your fingertips, as if you’re afraid of catching something.

 

Step 3

Ask for the receipt

Ask loudly, “You do still have the receipt, don’t you?” so no one doubts that you are going to rid yourself of this abomination as soon as possible.

 

Step 4

Toss it aside

Toss the gift aside, without bothering to re-box it, and open a new one with an eagerness that suggests you’re trying to rid yourself of the memory of the bad gift.

 

Step 5

Ask for cash

Let the gift giver know it would be better going forward if she sticks to cash or gift cards.

 

Step 6

Don't thank them

Don’t bother thanking the gift giver. You don’t want to encourage her.

Fact

Studies show college students consistently undervalue the cost of gifts they receive.

Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks

Listen to the following news and do the True/False exercise. You'll find the correct answers in "comments"

a.	The article says ice in Antarctica has shrunk to an all-time low.
b.	The article says there may be no Arctic ice in the summer in future.
c.	In 2012, there was 70,000 sq. km less ice than the previous low.
d.	An expert likened the Arctic ice to a giant frozen soft drink.
e.	Most of the Arctic ice melts in the summer.
f.	The last six years have seen record falls in Arctic ice cover.
g.	The Arctic sea ice needs to absorb the sun's rays.
h.	A storm that hit the Arctic in early August made the ice stronger.

Bulling

Listen to the following news and do the True/False exercise. You'll find the correct answers in "comments"

a.	A spate of violent crime occurred in Japan’s schools this week.
b.	Japanese elementary schoolchildren are usually orderly and attentive.
c.	A government spokesman attributed the violence to video games.
d.	An elementary schoolchild decapitated a classmate a while ago.
e.	Many children lose their tempers over trivial things.
f.	Dismayed parents have installed web cameras in classrooms.
g.	Teachers say they are in control and can cope with the violence.
h.	Police statistics show juvenile delinquency is steadily increasing

Connectors

Salt

Listen to the following file and try to do the T/F exercise below:

a. US experts say Americans harming world salt supplies.                           T / F

b. The article says American people have a love affair with salt.                  T / F

c. The article says people should drive less for their health.                        T / F

d. Salt consumption in Americans has remained stable for decades.              T / F

e. Everyone is happy about calls for a reduction of salt in food in the USA.    T / F

f. One group said a reduction in salt in food could harm people.                   T / F

g. A personal liberty group said salt laws would attack personal freedom.      T / F

h. Around 10 per cent of American adults suffer from high blood pressure.     T / F

DISCUSSION:

1. What are the good and bad things about salt?
2. Would you be happy without salt in your food?
3. Why aren’t people cutting down on salt?
4. What health problems does salt create?
5. Do you always follow what food experts say?
6. What would you like to drastically reduce (or increase) in your diet?
7. Is it an attack on personal freedom if the government introduces salt laws?

Giving presentations

This is a video produced by a presentation training company as an example of how NOT to make a Powerpoint presentation.



What is the first mistake he makes?

• He comes unprepared.
• He stands in front of the screen.
• He doesn't say hello.

What should he have done before the talk?

• Checked the sound and equipment.
• Said hello
• Put on his best suit

Here's a list of the errors our presenter makes you can watch for:

• Clothing (tie, jeans, shirt untucked)
• Supplies crash to floor
• Strange microphone "test"
• Throwing pencils?
• Poor content
• Bad slide preparation
• Singing?!
• Table crash

What else did you find?

Electriciity

Watch it and enjoy it!

Action and non-action verbes.

In the following pages you will find some information and exercises about verbs that can be used in countinuous forms and those that can't.:

• http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/stative-verbs-exercise.html 
• http://www.eclecticenglish.com/grammar/PresentContinuous1H.html

Writing letters

Here you will find a letter generator.

What does it mean?

It means you'll be able to write either a formal or an informal letter with some help from the site HERE

Don't forget to print it, bring it to class and share it with all of us.

Identity

Fill in the gaps with words from the box. Put them in the right form:

   A) Many Americans are obsessed with  finding their (1) . Recently, a researcher discovered that one  of Barack Obama’s (2)  was Irish, so in his last visit to the country, President Obama paid a visit to his relative’s town.

       B) Human beings (3)  half of their genes from each parent.

       C) My upstairs neighbor is really (4) . She never takes her high heel shoes off when at home!

      D) I can’t stop (5)  with James; he’s such a stubborn man! But he’s also a reliable person, so I (6)  him.

      E) I’d never have guessed they were related! She’s got red hair and green eyes and she’s extremely serious, but her mother’s a brunette and one of the funniest women I’ve ever met…does she (7)  her father?

     F) Jeremy hates his family business; I’ve heard he (8)  by writing short stories for an English magazine. People say he’s really talented!

      G) My mother got married to a man who has three children, so I now have four siblings: a sister and three (9) .

     H) When her parents died, Elena (10)  a fortune.

How are you? - Adjectives

Here are some adjectives that can help you to answer the question:

Oxymmoron

What do you think about this one?

JOKE

How do you like this joke?

LOOK INTO MY EYES

Passive Voice

Watch the following video in which Jennifer speaks about what the passive is, how it's formed and why it's used.

In this second video you'll learn how to use an indirecto object as the subject in a passive sentence.

Mark Salata: How taking a bath led to Archimedes’ Principle

I invite you to watch the following video and do the exercise that follows:




Salata says that some of the best opportunities to learn are the moments in which we are...

a...most self aware.

b...prepared.

c...perplexed.

d...overly excited.

 

When and where was Archimedes born?

a. 900 AD; Rome

b, 287 BC; Syracuse

c. 2,000 BC; Manhattan

d. 287 AD; Florence

 

What determined how much water was displaced from Archimedes bathtub?

aHow much of his body was immersed

bHow hot the water was

cHow long he stayed in the tub

dWhat type of soap he used

 

What property did Archimedes need to determine in order to solve the king's mystery?

aThe width of the king's head

bThe weight of silver

cThe density of the crown

dThe cost of the crown

 

 These days, using the way an object displaces water to determine volume is called:

aThe Bathtub Principle

bArchimedes' Prinicple

cThe Principal's Office

dWater Displacement Principle

SAY & TELL IN REPORTED SPEECH

To avoid a common mistake about the use of "say" and "tell" in reported speech, watch the following video.



After watching the video try the following quizz: http://www.engvid.com/say-tell-reported-speech/#quiz

Movie trailer exercises for learning English

Go to the this page. You will find a movie trailer, in this case, The Return of the King, and follow the instructions on the page.

1. Click on the player to start the video.

2. Type complete words in the box below the video.

3. You can type several words before you click on "Check" to see if your answers are correct.

• When you have finished, practice reading the text aloud with the video.
• Do not "repeat afterwards" because it brings in an element of memorisation.
• Let your voice be guided naturally by the voices in the video - just as if you were learning a song.

Some more practice to expand your grammar:

• conditional sentences with will / might
• conditional sentences with will / might
• expand your grammar: ellipsis
• expand your grammar: everybody, somebody, nobody, anybody

Opposites: verbs

You'll find a funny game to practice opposites HERE

Academic writing

Here's some homework for the following long holiday weekend:

Watch the following video. Once you've finished, test your understanding by doing the exercise below.

ACADEMIC WRITING » Quiz Question Maker

Passive Voice

PRESENT PASSIVE VOICE

PRESENT PASSIVE VOICE

PAST PASSIVE VOICE

PAST PASSIVE VOICE

PRESENT & PAST PASSIVE

Tenses, Writing, Vocabulary

 GRAMMAR

PRESENT PERFECT

PRESENT PERFECT WITH FOR AND SINCE

PRESENT PERFECT WITH JUST, YET & ALREADY
PRESENT PERFECT: PUT THE WORDS IN ORDER PRESENT PERFECT OR PAST SIMPLE?
PREDICTIONS
WILL FOR PROMISES & OFFERS
WILL FOR PROMISES & OFFERS

FUTURE CONDITIONAL
FIRST CONDITIONAL
FIRST CONDITIONAL
PRESENT PASSIVE
PRESENT PASSIVE

PAST PASSIVE

RELATIVE WORDS: WHO, WHICH OR WHERE?
RELATIVE WORDS


WRITING:

REWRITING TEXTS (DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEXTS)

VOCABULARY:
TRANSPORT, JOBS, ETC.
FILMS
PERSONALITY & FEELINGS 

Punctuation

The power of punctuation is better explained by examples. Then you need some general rules. Above all, you need exercises!

The Purdue University website has a good menu to cover the punctuation you need to know.

If you find that too much, you may wish to do a quick quiz instead.

In the middle of your writing, you may need to consult a guide about specific punctuation marks. This one is quite comprehensive. This one is faster and has exercises.

A quick cheat-sheet to have near you while you write could be this Oxford site.

Last, but not least...

Beware the use of apostrophes and unnecessary quotation marks!

Adjectives: opposites

Here are some activities to practise the opposites of some adjectives

http://www.nonstopenglish.com/exercise.asp?exid=345

http://www.nonstopenglish.com/exercise.asp?exid=347

http://www.nonstopenglish.com/exercise.asp?exid=345

http://www.englishmedialab.com/Quizzes/elementary/adjectives%20opposites%201.htm

Present Forms

Present forms:

http://www.better-english.com/grammar/presforms.htm

Present Perfect vs Simple Past:

http://www.english-grammar-lessons.com/presentperfectorpastsimple/exercise2.html

http://www.english-grammar-lessons.com/presentperfectorpastsimple/exercise4.html

http://www.english-grammar-lessons.com/presentperfectorpastsimple/exercise5.swf

Body Language

After listening to "Facial Expressions", we can watch the following video and try to draw up conclussions:

How To Interpret Body Language on Howcast

Here are some words that appear in the video:

bejesus n. Slang: Used as an intensive: The bear scared the bejesus out of us.
brisk: adj. quick, energetic, active
glaze: n. a shiny surface given to an object or a food, esp. by covering it with a liquid that shines when it dries
slant: v. to lean in a diagonal direction, or to cause (something) to slope
tilt: v. to cause (something) to move into a sloping or uneven position, or to be in this position
harbor: v. hide
fidget: v. to make continuous small movements because you are restless or bored
cluster: n. a group of similar things growing or held together, or a group of people or things that are close together

Sentence grammar

Write well-formed sentences. You'll find interesting guidelines and exercises on this BBC page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/topic-group/sentence-grammar

Don't miss it!

Adjectives vs Adverbs

How about practising?  Read the instructions/questions on the top of the screen and do the exercises.

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/espanglishtips/test2.html
http://www.better-english.com/grammar/adjadv.htm
http://www.eduhi.at/dl/adverbs_and_adjectives.htm

Present Perfect vs Simple Past

Present Perfect vs. Simple Past… » Quiz Question Maker

What would you do if . . . ?

Watch this video and say what these people would do if the won one millio dollars.



It's your turn now to answer the question!!!

Here's some extra practice for you:

• http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/preint/a_grammar/file06/grammar06_a01/
• http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/preint/a_grammar/file06/grammar06_a02/

Here's Mario's description. I didn't know you were an Independiente`s fan!! Do your colleagues know? Which are their favourite football clubs?

TV commercial

You will find an interesting commercial together with a comprehension activity in the following site:

http://eolf.univ-fcomte.fr/uploads/ressources/listening/tvcoms/03baggies/baggies.htm

Let's share:

• When was this commercial filmed?
• How convincing does it sound?
• How difficult did you find it?

Present Perfect vs Past Simple

If you feel like practising tenses, here are some links:

Present Perfect
Present Perfect (2)

Present Perfect (3)

for vs. since
Past Simple or Present Perfect 1
Past Simple or Present Perfect 2

Mary and Max - Present Perfect and Simple Past

A. Read the sentences taken from a letter Max is writing Mary and try to guess whether you should complete the blanks with the simple past or the present perfect tenses of the given verbs.


1. I ____________ (choose) the same numbers for nine years. 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12.

2. I _____________ (have) many different jobs during my life.

3. My first job ______ (be) collecting subway tokens in the subway.

4. I __________ (work) at the frisbee printing machine in my third job.

5. In my fourth job, I _____________ (get - neg) paid much but ________ (get) free cookies and coffee.

6. _____________ (you - ever - be) hang gliding?

7. _____________ (you - ever - be) a communist?

8. _____________ (you - ever - be) attacked by a crow or a similar large bird. When I __________ (be) nine, a crow _________ (attack) me on my way to school.

9. I _________________ (teach) myself to read two pages at once.

10. I have to go now. I __________ (tell - neg) you about my 7th job, in a condom factory.

11. I _______________ (eat - never) sweetened condensed milk.

12. I ________________ ( use - never) a condom.



B. Watch the movie segment and check your answers.

1. Have you ever had a pen pal? Why (not)?
2. Is it a good idea to have pen pals? Explain it.
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having pen pals?
4. Do pen pals have to like the same things? Why (not)?
5. Are pen pals real friends? Or it just a fantasy?

 http://moviesegmentstoassessgrammargoals.blogspot.com.ar/

BUENOS AIRES

Here's Danilo's description of our city. Don't miss it!

The place where I live

Martín did his homework and passed his writing to an audio file!!

Enjoy it:









Feel free to share your opinions about it!

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

QUIZES
http://www.englishmedialab.com/Quizzes/preintermediate/comparatives%20superlatives.htm

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.comp.i.htm

ACTIVITIES
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom1.htm

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/compsup.html

http://www.autoenglish.org/gr.comp.i.htm

Have fun while learning:

SUPERLATIVES: http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/drag_n_drop_games/files/superlative-adjectives.html

COMPARATIVES: http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/CET/flashactivities/learnenglish-central-grammar-comparative-adjectives.html

Some social English

Some of the most important phrases, responses and common expressions used in English every day. These are sets of phrases that always go together. Some people call them adjacency pairs. Learn many of these vital expressions in this episode of Luke's English Podcast, one of the fastest growing English language learning podcasts online.

Listen to Luke's podcast, it's really interesting. You will find the written expressions he mentions on this page

Rather long but quite interesting. Don't miss it! 

Present Perfect Tense

Last class we practiced this new tense. In case you need some reinforcement, you'll find some extra explanaition HERE.
At the bottom of the same page, you have some exercises. Just click on the links and do them!

If you find this TOO difficult, there are more exercises HERE or even on this other page.

And last, but not least, a wonderful page where you can watch a video, do exercises and record yourself. Where? HERE!

ENJOY YOURSELVES, WHEREVER YOU ARE!!

What is the best way to write work related e-mails?

The nature of the e-mails you receive partly depends on the quality of the e-mails you send yourself. This film about e-mail management explains what to watch out for when composing work related e-mails.

We'll talk about it in class!

Predictions for 2012

Kitchen on fire

This video shows you what to do and what not to do when you have a kitchen on fire.

Watch it and then try to write what you understood. It is very useful!

Mario's photograph

On my last holidays, I took this photo of my sister who was relaxing at
the ruins of Pfeffingen Castle on Basel-land.

I like this kind of ruins very much because I like the constructions of
all the nostalgic medieval places. I like it when the walls were made by
the original rocks and there no new reconstructions. I don't care if
some walls have fallen.

I'm thinking of printing this photo and paste on a wall of my house,
because it is a good synthesis of my trip: Touring Europe and visiting
my sister in January 2012.

Mario

Paola's photo

This photo was taken in 2010. Since that year, I've been working on a project that is called (As time passes by -El pasar de los días-), this project only pretends to register some days in my life, specials or not, but all moments that mean little pieces of my life.
This photo was taken one afternoon in my house with my kids while they were playing to catch the lights. I like it very much because it was a moment of fun in our house 

Danilo's photo

This is one my favourite photos: “The dragonfly”. I took the photo in the summer of 2008 when I was on holiday in Uruguay, with my family. We were in Salto in the Arepey Thermal Resort & Spa Hotel.

I Like this photo because the dragonfly color is beautiful and I am able to see many details of it, similar to the National Geographic photos. It took me fifteen minutes to take it because “The dragonfly” did not stand still. This situation annoyed me but finally I was lucky.

When I get upset, I put this photo on my computer as wallpaper, and the memories of a wonderful vacation comes back.