Categoría: B2.2

• TEMAS PROGRAMACIÓN INTERMEDIO B2 (Upper-Intermediate)

These are the broad TOPICS you must show competence in. You may be asked to write or speak about them, and readings, listenings and mediations will also be connected with them, since they are wide and involve a series of subtopics each. If you would like to see a more detailed description, go to our web or check Educastur documentation.

1.   Identificación personal.

2.   Vivienda, hogar y entorno.

3.   Actividades de la vida diaria. Trabajo.

4.   Tiempo libre y ocio.

5.   Viajes y turismo. Transporte.

6.   Relaciones humanas. Familia. Sociedad. Crimen y justicia.

7.   Salud, alimentación y cuidados físicos.

8.   Educación. Tradiciones y culturas. Globalización.

9.   Lengua y comunicación. El inglés como lengua franca.

10. Bienes y servicios. Compras y actividades comerciales.

11. Clima, condiciones atmosféricas y medioambiente.

12. Ciencia y tecnología.

• GUÍA DEL ASPIRANTE.

See Educastur ‘2020 Guía del aspirante’ as soon as it comes out so as to find out the specific information about next September sitting. The exam has changed compared to last year’s, and there may be more changes we still do not know about.

• MODELOS PRUEBAS CERTIFICACIÓN ASTURIAS. 

Remember you can access some exams from previous years on Educastur website. With answers and audios:

https://www.educastur.es/estudiantes/idiomas/pruebas-certificacion/modelos

• B2.1 posts on this BLOG (‘Open World’ units 1-6) and last year’s textbook. 

Don’t forget you can have a go at the past few months’ B21 posts on this blog for more practice on the skills and topics you wish to work on further.

‘Open World’ has lots of useful language to talk and write about most of the topics which we have not gone through this year, since we started in unit 8. Last year’s ‘File Upper-intermediate’ (or the textbook you studied) can also help you with vocabulary, both new and revisited. ‘File’ has good vocabulary sections at the back (crime, business, etc).

• IELTS SPEAKING EXAM. TOPIC VOCABULARY.

Written samples of speaking productions on almost each of the topics you need to study. Highly recommendable for the Monologue and the Interaction parts of certificación. You can also use the ideas for writing tasks. (note that IELTS speaking paper is different from ours, the same as First is, but the language and topics you must show proficiency in are pretty much the same).

https://www.ieltsspeaking.co.uk/ielts-vocabulary/

• ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE UPPER-INTERMEDIATE.

This Cambridge book is a vocabulary essential, since it covers most of the topics at the level

Recommendable if you feel like widening your vocabulary through practical exercises. There may be free downloads available for a glance before considering buying it.

• WEBTECA EOI OVIEDO.

An extensive bank of web links clasified into categories. See the sections you are more interested in for free online resources. The most popular ones are usually at the top of each category.

https://eoioviedo.org/webteca-ingles/

(By the way, don’t forget to have a look at the EOI Writing Bank section of this blog!)

• EL PAÍS in English. 

Wonderful tool to keep updated on the latest Spanish news in English and get ready for the Mediation paper. As you know, very often the topics in the exam deal with current affairs, customs and celebrations, culture, health, and on most occasions they refer to Spanish or Asturian issues rather than international!

https://english.elpais.com/

Read also tourist leaflets or webpages in English about typical Asturian traditions, art, gastronomy, cultural events, etc.

• REMINDER: more resources

On the post ‘B2.2 English for Summertime’, you will find a summary of expressions used in conversational language, mediation sample texts and  two sets of monologue and conversation tasks to practice.

Apart from exercises on different topics and online vocabulary resources, I have posted there several topic vocabulary banks which may be specially useful if you are studying for certificación. Some of them are closely linked to issues that are not in your textbook but are included in the exam.

Go to the same post for practice on other skills and recommended sections from ‘Open World’ Writing and Speaking Banks.

Hello there! Here is a series of exercises and resources for B2.2 students (and B2.1 if interested or taking certificación exam this year). Note that, whether you are sitting the exam or not, writing, speaking and mediation in continuous assessment throughout the year usually follow certificación structure and tasks. Therefore, the more familiar you are with the types of tasks in certificación, the easier it will be to carry out those exercises successfully in class.

• READING: extra practice

Can you feel the rhythm?     key   Multiple-choice reading exercise.

Student life and technology   Multiple-choice reading & vocabulary exercise + key

Homes of the future   Multiple-choice reading & use of English + key

• LISTENING: extra practice

Health and fitness     audio     key     Multiple choice

An interview with a diver     audio     key    Multiple choice

The environment      audio       key   Multiple-choice listening + vocabulary

Listening test      audio 1     audio 2      audio 3      key

Three listening exercises: ‘Jobs in shops’ (matching), ‘Social networking sites’ (multiple choice) and ‘A photographer’ (gap-filling) + ‘Jobs in shops’ script

• VOCABULARY

Here you will find vocabulary banks and exercises classified by topic. Part of the topics/subtopics were seen in B2.1 while others correspond to B2.2. All of them form part of B2 syllabus and may appear in certificación exam, both written and oral papers, and can be helpful to prepare these particular topics. Check out the post ‘B2.2 Certificación: info and tips’ or EOI’s web for the whole list of general topics.

– FOOD AND EATING HABITS

A guide to meals in the UK  An informative text with ideas and vocabulary about meals in the UK.

Food  Core vocabulary and ideas for monologues on different aspects of the topic.

– FAMILY and RELATIONSHIPS   Vocabulary bank

– EDUCATION   Vocabulary bank

– ENGLISH TODAY   Vocabulary bank

– SHOPPING   Shopping and consumerism  Vocabulary bank and ideas to help you prepare the topic.

– ADVERTISING  The world of advertising  Vocabulary bank, exercises and ideas for monologues on the topic.

– TECHNOLOGY  Vocabulary bank

– WORK  Work and employment  Vocabulary bank and exercises.

– CRIME  This topic is part of B2 syllabus but is not in your textbook. Try to have a look at it and do the exercises. ‘File Upper-intermediate’ has a good vocabulary section that is worth doing as well.

Crime: vocabulary bank      exercises     key

   – SOCIAL ISSUES  Social issues

 

This is a fabulous online video resource to acquire new vocabulary and activate what you know. Most of B2 topics are dealt with!

skype-lessons.com/vocabulary-lessons

• WRITING

– ‘Open World‘: Writing Bank pp.234-241. We have already seen the most significant parts of the appendix but, apart from revising the writings you did throughout the past few months, hese are the pages in the book that deserve attention:

An essay- revise p.234 and see the texts and exercises on p.235. They cover essays on different topics and are a rich source of ideas.

An email/ letter- VERY INTERESTING! This is a section I regret not having had time to work on. You can make the most of it now. It covers informal emails, formal letters of application and key language for different kinds of formal letters and emails.

To learn more about about informal letter writing watch this video:

https://youtu.be/Ll0K-LLxzY8

A review-  we have focused on book/film reviews mainly, but remember there are other kinds of reviews (websites, hotels, restaurants, holiday resorts, etc) that you may be required to produce in the form of email writing that may appear in reading and mediation texts. Pages 238-9 are well worth revising.

• SPEAKING

– ‘Open World‘: Speaking Bank pp.244-253. Remember that First and certificación are different, but the examples, language and recordings are good practice for speaking, both individual speech and conversation.

Focus on Speaking parts 1, 3 and 4 (you can skip part 2, no picture description in certificación). Part 3 gives key information and a lot of ideas about what an interaction task should be like. Study it in depth!! As for Part 4, the students’ model excerpts can also serve as a guide on the kind of exchanges expected in conversations about a topic, or when dealing with different aspects of a topic in a monologue.

– CONVERSATIONAL LANGUAGE  Summary of expressions to cover different functions in spoken language (also useful in writing)

– SPEAKING EXAM TASKS  Info and tips.

a) MONOLOGUE:

Monologue task on the topic of Work  Example of what a certificación monologue task may be like. Keep in mind that in the actual exam the photos on the worksheet, if there are any, are not intended for description but their only purpose is to provide you with ideas. If a list of words or expressions appears, like in this example, it is also your choice to make use of them or not, as far as you develop and argument your speech correctly. If the teachers ask you to use them, it might be that your speech is not being as satisfactory as desired up to that moment, and they need to check your understanding and ability to use the vocabulary in the context.

MONOLOGUE PRACTICE  Set of monologue tasks on B2 topics

b) INTERACTION:

INTERACTION PRACTICE  Set of interaction tasks on B2 topics  Candidates  A&B (and C) usually have the same or similar guidelines; in any case, the information needed to build up the conversation.

– MEDIATION

These are examples of oral mediation tasks following the general structure of certificación. The tasks in the actual exam may be turn out to be slightly different. (Note that it is still not known what exactly the exam is going to be like this year. Check 2020 Guía del aspirante for updated information).

Trabajar menos es más productivo

10 pasos para una vida sana

Consejos para mejorar tu salud

La vida no es sueño: ¿por qué dormimos mal?

Activa el hippie que llevas dentro

Los problemas actuales del sistema educativo español

Así muere la lectura a los 15

Riesgos de que los adolescentes utilicen los móviles

10 consejos para comprar en internet de forma segura

Semana Negra de Gijón

Festival de Cine de Gijón

Ventajas y desventajas del turismo

Comer en Londres

Líquidos en el equipaje de mano

Impacto emocional por COVID-19

TASK FOR B2 STUDENTS WHO WISH TO TRY TO IMPROVE THEIR MARKS IN SPEAKING AND/ OR MEDIATION

Click on the link to open the oral task you need to prepare:

Speaking and mediation task

Record yourself and send the whole task, both parts together, in one file in mp3 format.

Make sure you check the pronunciation of the vocabulary you want to use before recording.

It shoudn’t take longer than 4- 4 minutes 30 seconds.

Please send it on Sunday 24th May at the latest.

Just a quick reminder that The National Theatre (UK) is offering during confinement a free programme of live productions, National Theatre at Home, streamed on You Tube every Thursday evening at 7pm British time -8pm Spanish time. The programme includes accompanying videos featuring interesting content relating with each of the productions.

This week, until Thursday/Friday evening, you can attend from home the spectacular adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankestein directed by Danny Boyle in 2011, with actors Benedict Cumberbatch and John Lee Miller in the two lead roles, Dr Frankestein and the Creature, which they exchanged every other night. You can choose the version you prefer or, why not, watch both!

If you like the story of ‘Frankestein’, give this fantastic production a go. No need to say it will be extraordinary listening practice, and a pleasurable one too!

Find the details here:

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/nt-at-home-frankenstein

Available until Thursday 7th/ Friday 8th May

Running time: about 2 hours. English subtitles (optional)

This is an introduction to the play and the story by Benedict Cumberbatch:

[youtube]8yUMbxSTWqg[/youtube]