Mes: octubre 2020

This is a very odd Easter holiday none of us would have imagined a few weeks ago. It is Easter anyway, so I won’t be posting work for you to do throughout next week. Instead I am sending you now some listening and grammar practice to do if you have time and have completed the homework from previous weeks. You can send me your Film Review during Easter week if you have not done so.

I’ll get in touch again after the Holy Week. My very best wishes!

EASTER WEEK HOMEWORK

LISTENING: Body language

Body language: exercise and key

Body language: audio

LISTENING: Horror movies

Horror Movies: Exercises, Script and Key

Horror Movies: Audio 9.1

Horror Movies: Audio 9.5

USE OF ENGLISH: Revision of narrative tenses + interactive exercises

Use of past perfect simple/continuous

Use of all narrative tenses

Gap-fill exercise Past simple vs Past continuous

Exercises on past simple, past perfect and past continuous 1

Exercises on past simple, past perfect and past continuous 2 

Narrative tenses multiple choice

IMPORTANT: If you are asked whether you want to open the files in your browser, click YES and the file should open without a problem. You can also download the files to your device.

Believe it or not, Easter is here!  Almost three weeks have gone by since confinement began! Next week I won’t be sending you homework to do, so that you have some time to go through the exercises from the past three weeks if you have not been able to do so yet – Complaint writing included, you can send me throughout Easter week if you have not done so.

If you are up-to-date on the previous work, or you feel you need more listening or grammar practice, you can do the holiday homework below. We usually give homework to do on your holidays, don’t we? Let’s keep good customs!

Let’s hope that after Easter the worst of the crisis is over! I’ll get in touch  again after the Holy Week. Take care!

LISTENING: Books and films

Books and Films: exercises and key 

Books and films: audio 1        Books and films: audio 2

LISTENING: A time I was happy

A time I was happy: exercise + writing task, key and script

A time I was happy: audio

USE OF ENGLISH

Interactive gap-fill Past simple vs Past continuous

King Lear: reading/ cloze text

IMPORTANT: If you are asked whether you want to open the files in your browser, click YES and the file should open without a problem. You can also download the files to your device.

Hi guys,

This is the LESSON PLAN for this week. I hope you are all very fine and feel like working on it.

– Vocabulary: Books and Reading p.70. Exercise 2 is essential to learn the basics of what a book review is like. Most of the language can also be used to talk about a film. On p.71 you have an example of a review and more vocabulary practice in ex. 3.

Note the points remarked in ex.5, which are essential when talking about a book or film: author (director, screenwriter, adaptation for a film), setting, characters, plot, recommendation. I will be giving you some more exercises on this, so for the moment just familiarize with the review language and structure.

– Grammar:  Past Simple vs Past Perfect Simple and Continuous. To start with, download and watch the video on page 72, go on to read Grammar Reference 5 on p. 214 and do the exercises there. Then go on practising using the links below.

Online practice:

Use of past perfect simple/continuous

Use of all narrative tenses

Exercises on past simple, past perfect and past continuous 1

Exercises on past simple, past perfect and past continuous 2 

Narrative tenses multiple choice

– Extra practice on Unit 5: Reading. The following exercises have to do with the topics of p.68 listening on music and p.69 text about cinema:

A concert     Key

Filmmaking page 1      Filmmaking page 2

The following link is a multiple-choice reading based on an extract from a book:

What’s in a book      Exercise      Key

That’s it for now. Take care and stay well!

Hello guys,

Here you have the LESSON PLAN for the present week.

– Open World page 164 . The exercises on this page deal with general tips about how to write a report. This writing format is not included in B2.2 syllabus, but becoming familiar with the topics common in this kind of texts can help you to gain fluency and accuracy in the Mediation paper of Certificación. Very frequently, texts in this part of the exam recommend things to/not to do or give information about traditions, festivals, events, landmarks, cities, typical food, etc.

Page 164 in particular explains how to give feedback on a festival. I recommend going through the guided writing exercises with the help of the key on p.330 and the suggested answers given in it, always paying attention to the vocabulary.

In the Writing Bank appendix, p.242 there is another interesting sample of  a report, on this occasion about a place to visit, the city of York. Read it if you have time focusing on the vocabulary, and notice that it matches the style of the Real World videoscripts.

– Open World. Reading and Use of English p. 165. See vocabulary exercises 2 and 3, challenging but worth doing. Do also ex.5, a text which describes Snowbombing, a festival. Note that this text is not a report, and therefore it  does not begin stating the aim of the report, include personal opinions, separate ideas under different headings or use bullet points, characteristic elements of a report.

– ONLINE Practice: Modals of Obligation and Permission. Use the following links to continue working on modal verbs after what you saw in Open World.

How to use modal verbs of obligation

Exercises on modal verbs of obligation 1

Exercises on modal verbs of obligation 2

How to use modals of permission and obligation + exercises 

Exercises on modals of permission

This is all for now.

Take loads of care of yourselves and each other!

Here are some activities to boost your reading skills. They are related to both units 11 and 12.

Two film reviews    Key

What’s in a book     Exercise     Key

A concert    Key

This other reading exercise is a multiple choice cloze text+key:

King Lear

More work next week.

Stay safe and well!

Unit 5, «Grab some Culture», is very interesting and entertaining in my view. It is mainly focused on reading and listening, so it would be fantastic if you could start having a look at it.

For the moment, before writing a Review, you only need to read the examples given in the book, paying special attention to the specific vocabulary used, which is also necessary to speak about hobbies and interests at the level required at B2.

– Read the questions posed in Getting Started page 68, and think about how you would answer them.

– Listening Part 3 p.68: do exercises 2 and 3

– Reading Going to the Movies p. 69

– Reading and Use of English page 70, exercises 6 and 7

Check your answers with the help of the key and script on pages 302-3.

Next week I will post some more work on the topic.

Stay well and healthy!

Hello everyone,

This is the first part of the homework schedule for this week.

– Real World: Buenos Aires. You have very interesting and entertaining exercises on pages 66-67, which as usual are varied in format and good practice to improve your speaking skills in an informal register. Do the reading and listening activities and check your answers on pages 301-2.

Download the video and watch it several times to answer the questions. Go through the vocabulary and note the language style, typical of travel programmes and brochures, which repeatedly appears in these sections (famous for, renowned for, home to, if you’re into). These are suggested answers:

The city of Buenos Aires: capital city of Argentina, over 2 million tourists per year.

9 de Julio Avenue: one of the widest streets in the world.

Teatro Colón: famous for its classical music and opera.

Palacio del Congreso: home to Argentina’s parliament; dome weighs about 3, 000 tonnes

La Boca: home to Caminito, famous for its bright, colourful buildings and Boca junios football stadium.

There will be more work for this week coming soon. Check on Wednesday.

Stay well!

Hi everybody,

This is the LESSON PLAN FOR THE PRESENT WEEK:

Revision Unit 11:

This is a Reading exercise about Filmmaking you can use to recall and revise the language related to the topic:

Filmmaking1       Filmmaking2

Unit 12:

Given that we are working with a book that is also aimed at self-study, in my view the easiest and most productive working method during this period would be to try to make the most of the resources you already have in the book. If you are willing to do so, I will be guiding you through it and supplementing here and there with other materials or resources.

You could start having a look at Unit 12, Let’s Celebrate. The vocabulary and topic of this unit are specially useful for the Mediation paper in Certificación exam (festivals, traditions, celebrations, public events). Start doing the following:

– Getting Started and Vocabulary p.160

– Listening exercises p. 161 + Did you know? cultural note

– Vocabulary exercises on p.162

Remember you have keys and transcripts on page 328-9.

– Grammar: watch the video on p.162 and go to the Grammar Reference p.228. You have some Practice there too. This is not an easy language point, take it as an introduction to what you will be working on in more advanced levels.

There are some entertaining texts about weddings in different countries, on p.163 and 202, intended to work in pairs, but you can read them on your own and focus on the vocabulary used to talk about weddings.  There’s no need to do ex.5 and 6 if you find them too challenging.

Below you will find a model description of the photos on p.162. They contain  some of the basic vocabulary on this topic:

PICTURE A – shows a bride who has applied henna to her hands in intricate patterns. This is a common tradition in the Islamic world in particular.

PICTURE B – The bride and groom cut the wedding cake together. This is symbolic as the first act they perform together as a married couple.

PICTURE C – The bride throws her bouquet behind her without looking. The unmarried girls try to catch it in the belief that the one who catches it will be the next to marry.

PICTURE D – At the reception after a wedding, speeches are traditionally given by the father of the bride, the groom and the best man.

I might write again during the week.

Above all, stay safe and well!