New Resource!!!

Hi everyone!

How's it going? I hope you are having a great time, had a wonderful Xmas time and enjoy the New Year's Eve!

Here you are a new web page to practise English @ home! It's Lyrics Training, and as it says, LyricsTraining is an easy and fun method to learn and improve your foreign languages skills through the music videos and lyrics of your favorite songs.

It's a good way to clear your throats, sing and fill in missing words in Christmas Carols!!!!

It's fun!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

B1 - Weekly Summary

Hi pals!

Over the stressful final two weeks we’ve been coping with the “winter exams” and some revision exercises. Let’s have a look at it in depth.

During the first week we sat the reading and listening exams, corrected extra grammar photocopies. Then, we sat the oral exam about the book you previously read at home.

As for this week, we’ve finished Unit 2 by correcting the revision section of the book on pages 34 and 35 and and listened to a Christmas carol, Santa Claus is coming to town, which would be sang at the Christmas party. Finally, we had a look at the exams and we commented on the main mistakes made.

Here you are the answers if you couldn't come to class:

Grammar:

a. 1 already    2 long    3 Since    4 Have    5 yet

b. 1 been working    2 just made    3 more expensive    4 carefully as    5 the most

Vocabulary:

a. 1 bank     2 mortgage    3 hungry    4 awful    5 travel    6 helmet    7 railway station

b. 1 filthy    2 tax    3 rush hour    4 lend    5 platform    6 inherit    7 boarding pass/card      

    8 tiny

c. 1 off    2 out    3 for    4 back    5 by

Pronunciation:

a. 1 coach    2 tiny    3 charge    4 cycle    5 earn

b. invest     security    luggage    pedestrian    terrified

Can you understand these people?

a. 1b    2c    3b    4c    5a

b. 1 £7,500    2 Three years    3 £261.45    4 8^½%    5 22^nd March

As for homework, the only things you have to do are the reading exercise "Do I really look like this?" on page 40 and the exercise “How words work” on page 41.

That’s all folks!!!!

A2 - Weekly summary

This has been a very short week compared to last week, which was full of exams and extra activities. Let’s start first by summarising what we did last week.

Firstly, as most of you know, we sat the reading and listening exams, we corrected the photocopies you had as homework and then we listened to a Christmas carol, Let it snow, which would be sang at the Christmas party. Then, we sat the writing and the oral exams.

As for this week, we’ve finished Unit 3 and we watch a short animated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol. Finally, we had a look at the exams and we commented on the main mistakes made.

Last but not least, homework. The only thing you have to do is an informal letter. The writing section on page 37 is about an informal letter. Imagine you are going to stay with Mrs Sanders and answer her letter using your own information. Remember to include your address and the date.

And that’s all!!!!

International Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day on 10 December recognizes the work of human rights defenders worldwide who act to end discrimination. Acting alone or in groups within their communities, every day human rights defenders work to end discrimination by campaigning for equitable and effective laws, reporting and investigating human rights violations and supporting victims.

Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Although the Declaration with its broad range of political, civil, social, cultural and economic rights is not a binding document, it inspired more than 60 human rights instruments which together constitute an international standard of human rights. Today the general consent of all United Nations Member States on the basic Human Rights laid down in the Declaration makes it even stronger and emphasizes the relevance of Human Rights in our daily lives.

Below is the video of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, considered by historians to be one of the greatest of American political speeches. King delivered it on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march was a vital factor in passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Videos shown on 25th November to translate

Hi everyone!

The videos you watched in class last 25th November are ready to be translated!!! Come on, register and enjoy the experience of translating!! Here you are the guidelines to register, join the group, find the video and start translating!

1º.- Go to www.dotsub.com and register (in "password hint", write a word or sentence and if you forget your user name to log in, the page would ask you to write it.)

2º.- Write an e-mail to my e-mail address telling me your user name and I will join you to a group (EOI Basic 2 or EOI Intermediate.)

3º.- When you receive my e-mail telling you that you are in the group, go to the page. In the menu, which is in the top right-hand corner, there is an index and a section called My Groups. Click on it and then in Groups You Are a Member of. This is to check that you are a member of the group you belong to.

 

4º.- Write in the browser (buscador) "Girls - Think U Know" if you are in group EOI Basic 2 or "Womens Aid Ads "The Cut" if you are in group EOI Intermediate.

5º.- Click on it and you are ready to translate!!!! 

 

Have fun!!

School trip to Burgalimar Castle in Baños de la Encina

Hi everybody!

How is it going? I hope you're having a great time and you are also studying a little bit for the exams ;) I'm writing to inform you about the school trip to Burgalimar Castle in Baños de la Encina in January. I need to know how many of you are interested in going there to make a list and contact the bus operator to book it. It would be on a Friday afternoon in January and three EOI students will be our guides in the castle: an English guide, a French guide and a German guide. As for the price, I don't know yet but it won't be expensive at all.

If you want to get more information about the castle, click on The Burgalimar Castle.

Thanks a lot and join us!

Conversation Club with Jeanette in winter exams

Good afternoon dear students!

During the winter examination period (from the 12th to the 15th of December) our language assistant, Jeanette, will be available almost at all times in the Library of the EOI, in the low level (downstairs).

This is the timetable for the conversation club:

Monday: 17:05 - 19:35
Tuesday: 16:25 - 19:35
Wednesday: 17:50 -20:00
Thursday: 16:45 - 20:55

The assistant could provide you with lists of practical vocabulary to learn, so you can practice and she can also assist you with your pronunciation. You can then develop your conversational skills, while learning grammar at the same time.

As you know, learning a foreign language can be difficult but with the help of a native language assistant, the learning process can be made easier and funnier. Take advantage of it and go to the conversation clubs before the oral exams. It will help you a lot!

Have a nice bank holiday! And good luck for the exams!

B1 - Useful vocabulary: Transport & Phones

Hi everybody!!!

There's also an entry for you tonight!!! ;)

Useful Vocabulary_phone and Transport

Plenty of vocabulary to enhance and enrich your speech!

A2 - Useful language to make arrangements

Hi guys!

I think it's a good idea to show you a sample conversation about making an arrangement on the phone, for example.

As you can see, when we want to make to an arrangement we also use suggestions. Here are some of the most common: 

• Why don't we go to the cinema tonight?
• Let's go to the travel agent's this afternoon to book our ticket.
• What about asking your brother for help?
• How about going to Hawaii on holidays?

B1 - Good manners or the law?

Using your mobile phone when driving or riding a vehicle is dangerous. If you’re caught using a hand-held phone while driving, you could be prosecuted.

Therefore, use modal verbs (should, mustn't, have to, must) to make sentences about using hand-held phones while you are driving.

Be careful when you are driving, you must pay attention to the road and never get distracted!

Find out why using your phone when driving is distracting, what the penalties are and when it is safe to use your phone. Click on hand-held phones to get more information about it.

Exams - Winter Session

The writing task for B1 students is in B1 folder (Docs). Writing task MUST be handed in on 12th and 13th December respectively.

Christmas Charity Campaign

Hi everyone!

As some of you already know, the EOI Carlota Remfry is launching a Christmas Charity Campaign to help local charity LINARES ACOGE and community groups. The campaign, which will run until the 2nd December, is all about encouraging students to help out and donate non-perishable food that will benefit Linares Acoge's food bank.

We hope you'll join us!!

A2 - Homework for Wednesday

Hi guys!

As I told you in class the photocopier didn't work at the school. So, I decided to upload your homework for Wednesday.

Go to DOCS section, A2 folder, and you'll find it. It the document called Will_Won't (Predictions). And, you have to do the reading exercise 1 on page 32 (Student's Book), sections a, b and c.

That's all! See you on Wednesday!

A2 & B1 - Xmas Party and Contests

Good morning everybody!

As Christmas is approaching, I'm wiritng to inform you about the activities the EOI has scheduled to fit the season!!! First of all, I already told you about the Xmas Cards Contest. Here you are all you have to know about the rules and the prize!!!

Xmas Cards Contest

As for the Xmas Cooking Contest, here are the rules! To celebrate Xmas at the EOI, we're giving you the chance to win a prize too! Simply cook or bake a delicious Xmas recipe and show it off to the EOI world! Describe what you have made. The most creative recipe will win the prize.

XMAS COOKING CONTEST

Finally, I want to add here the information about the Xmas Party itself!!! We will also sing Xmas Carol, of course!!!! And we will celebrate the best Xmas Card and the best Xmas dishes!!!

Xmas Party

Cheer up and participate!!!

B1 - Weekly Summary

Hey everyone!

Last week we travelled from the UK (London) to France (Avignon) by three different means of transport: plane, train and car. The reading and listening exercises let us know some important phrasal verbs dealing with travelling such as set off, take off, fill up with, look forward to, get on/off, etc. This was a warm-up exercise to revise and talk about comparatives and superlatives. We also learnt how to express the amount of time needed to complete a particular journey with How long does it take... (+ verb)? It takes (me) half an hour to get...
 .
As for vocabulary, we learnt some specific words such as rush hour, traffic jam, seat, service station, etc. but you had some homework about transport and travel vocabulary (page 148) for the weekend that we are going to correct this week. 

Then, we also talked about the 25th November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Individually or in groups, you wrote sentences in English against domestic violence with Jeanette because the slogan this year is "Please, don't punch my mum" and we created a poster with all your sentences. If you want to see the final result, go to the EOI Coeducation Blog. I also told some of you to write your sentence on the virtual Koowall on the Coeducation Blog.


We also talked about domestic violence and saw and comment an ad about it. For those of you who didn't come to class, here is the video to make you think about the problem.

I told you that I was going to upload the video and you could translate it, but I have to synchronize first the video. So, I'll upload it with the subtitles during the week and you'll be able to translate it then.


Hope this time you participate more than you did on Koowall!!

A2 - Weekly summary

Hiya guys!

Last week we learnt how to express future in English with be going to and the present continuous tense in an airport context. It was a bit difficult to understand the tiny difference between the uses of both structures but you finally grasped it! We listened to a girl from Lithuania who came to London six months ealier to check if she had fullfill her plans. We also learnt three phrasal verbs with look, i.e. look for, look after and look forward to (+ ing).

As for pronunciation, we focused on sentence stress. In English we stress (pronounce strongly) the words in a sentence which are the most important for communication, and we say the other words more lightly.

We also revised the expression of future with be going to and the present continuous tense with a worksheet. However, I also promised you some extra information about how to differenciate the uses of both structures.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS FOR THE FUTURE

BE GOING TO FOR THE FUTURE

Then, we also talked about the 25th November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In pairs, you wrote sentences in English against domestic violence because the slogan this year is "Please, don't punch my mum" and we created a poster with all your sentences. If you want to see the final result, go to the EOI Coeducation Blog.

We also talked about child abuse and we saw and comment a video. For those of you who didn't come to class, here is the video to make you think about the problem.

I told you that I was going to upload the video and you could translate it, but I have to synchronize first the video. So, I'll upload it with the subtitles during the week and you'll be able to translate it then.

Finally, you have some homework for the weekend: vocabulary exercise 2 about opposite verbs (unit 3B) and the vocabulary bank about it on page 149.

Thanksgiving

The annual Thanksgiving tradition in the United States traces back to the 17^th  century. In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World, the English Pilgrims had a very successful and plentiful fall harvest. The Pilgrims soon made peace with the local Native American tribe, the Wampanoag. To celebrate the harvest, the Pilgrims and the Native Americans joined together to feast. Since then, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes: roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and rolls. No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a pumpkin pie for dessert!

Other Thanksgiving Day traditions include the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade through New York City. Macy's, a famous department store, sponsors the parade. The parade include floats, Santa Claus, and the Radio City Rockettes. Another Thanksgiving tradition includes watching the professional football games that are played in the afternoon. Two teams, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, host games every year.

Finally, I include here the Pumpkin Pie Recipe to test your cookery skills! Please, post some comments to share your results in the kitchen!!!  

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

1 9-inch pie shell

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin purée and 3 eggs. Beat well. Add evaporated milk and combine. Set aside.

2. Fill pie shell with pumpkin mixture. Transfer to prepared baking sheet.

3. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F and continue baking for 30 more minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Good luck!

New Learning Resources

Hi pals!

Here I am again!!! I'm writing to inform you about some new resources where you can practise English @ home. I'm going to include them in the Support Material section so that you can access them easily. Well, the first one is a web page where you can solve some grammar doubts: http://www.drgrammar.org/frequently-asked-questions. I though you would find it quite interesting for your writing and oral skills.

If you enjoy reading the newspaper, here is a web page where you can also learn English apart from reading the news across the USA: The Voice of America. It also provides mp3 files if you want to listen to the texts.

On the other hand, if you prefer listening to the radio, here it is BBC Radio 4. It is full of amazing podcasts and articles to help you follow the speech.

A2 - At a Hotel Dictation

Hiya!!!

Did you think I had no dictation for you? Bad mistake! :) Here it is! Just five sentences about how to book a hotel room. Wait for the audio file to finish loading before listening to it. I also found a web page about hotel vocabulary: At the hotel. You can also do an exercise about it and listen to some of those sentences, but you need to download a programme. Up to you!

Have fun!

B1- News Radio Programme Dictation

Hi everybody!

I've just found this dictation and thought it would be great if you did it at home! It's a news radio programme. You have to listen to it first and then click on "pulsa aquí para el STEP 2". Please, post some comments to tell your classmates your impression about it!

Dictation: News Radio Programme.

I've also found an interesting page where you can practise dictation through famous novels or tales: http://www.fonetiks.org/dictations/

I hope you like it and you hear some of them. Bye, bye!

B1 - Weekly Summary

Hi guys!

Here it is what we've done this week in class. We started a new section on the book dealing with changes in our lives. We listened to a woman who took a year off to follow her husband, an English teacher in Beirut. This let us introduce the present perfect continuous tense and we practised it with some grammar exercises and a speaking exercise. As for pronunciation, we learnt about sentence stress with a dictation.

We also had a great speaking exercise with Jeanette where people had 1-minute conversations with most of classmates. We corrected a reading exercise about two brave women who decided to change their lives too. Grammar aspects dealt with strong adjectives e.g. tiny, delicious, furious, terrible, starving, etc.

Finally, we watched the film Precious on Friday afternoon as a preliminary to the celebration of the International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

A2 - Weekly Summary

Hi everybody!

This week we corrected the writing section on your book and you handed in your compositions describing a photo and the story behind it. You also practise this with Jeanette. We also had a look at some important vocabulary about hotels, receptions and problems involving calling reception.

We also had fun with a revise and check contest dealing with vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation taught in Unit 2. It was great seeing how fast you learn and how competitive you are! ;)

Finally, we revised past simple and past continuous on Friday, listened to some situations at the hotel and played a kind of "telephone game" using linking words but, although, because and so.

A2 & B1 - 11th November: Armistice Day

Armistice Day is on November the 11th every year. It commemorates the end of World War I on the 11th of November 1918. It was on this day that the Allies and Germany signed a ceasefire that was the beginning of the end of the Great War.

Armistice Day is observed all over the world. In many countries, people stop what they are doing for a two-minute moment of silence at 11:00 a.m. This is a sign of respect for those who died. In Britain, there is another name for Armistice Day - Remembrance Sunday. In 1939, the British government moved Armistice Day to the Sunday nearest November 11. In America, the day is also called Veterans Day. Children in Commonwealth countries know these days by another name – Poppy Day. People wear poppies and donate money to charities for soldiers injured in wars. Poppies are a symbol of the blood that filled the trenches.

Click on here to learn more about Armistice Day and do some extra reading, listening and vocabulary activities

Click on BBC video to watch a clip about Remembrance poppy maker.

B1 - Weekly Summary

Hi everyone!

First of all, sorry I haven't published this weekly summary earlier, but I've been increadibly busy with work at the weekend. Anyway, better late than never!

Last weekwe started and finished unit 2A on your books. We listened to Shania Twain's song Ka-Ching! and we learnt some useful vocabulary about money both in the song and in the Vocabulary Bank, such as afford, loan, mortgage, broke, currency, take out, invest, inherit, owe, etc. We also revised the most common uses of the present perfect and contrasted this tense with the past simple.

You also revise money vocabulary with Jeanette by taking a quiz. Then you read a text about a woman called Heidemarie, who has a particular attitud towards money. You also learnt some phrasal verbs, i. e., turn up, give away and set up.

Then, we had a look at numbers (figures) and how to pronounce them, specially decimals and fractions. To consolidate the point, we listened to a news bulletin full of figures and you had to recognise them according to the news items.

Finally, as homework, you had to correct the mistakes on your compositions according to the correction symbols I explained to you. You also had to complete a worksheet with the present perfect and the past simple and take the Are you experienced? quiz.

;)

A2 - Weekly summary

Hello everyone!

To start with, sorry for not publishing this weekly summary earlier, but I've been extremely busy with work during the weekend. Anyway, better late than never!

Last week we corrected the reading exercise to finish unit 2C on the book and we listened to John Lennon's song Imagine. We also revised grammar with a photocopy about making questions with and without auxiliaries. Jeanette also taught you things about how to describe things in terms of colour, positions, etc. in a painting or a photograph.


Then, we started unit 2D and we learnt some useful linking words to tell or summarise a story: because, so, but, although. We also revise past simple and past continuous by reading the short story of Hannah and Jamie, a story with a twist at the end. We could learn interesting verb phrases such as invite somebody to dinner, knock on the door, wait for somebody, take somebody to a restaurant, be in a hurry, etc.


As for pronunciation, we revise schwa and learnt the five most common sound produced by letter a in English. Here you are the clip about schwa if you want to practise it at home, right?

I also posted two useful worksheet for your own benefit: one about extra linking words and another one about useful vocabulary to describe a photograph or a painting.


Finally, as homework, I asked you to write a similar composition to that in the writing section of the book. However, you also had to write an extra paragraph describing what you could see in the picture.


And, as Bugs Bunny said, that was all folks!

English @ home!

Hey pals!

What about practising listening at home? This is an incredibly useful website to do it: www.cuevana.tv. There are lots of films and tv series in original version, and most of them allow for the possibility of both English and/or Spanish subtitles. The website is tremendously updated; you can watch films that haven't even been released in Spain!!

It is very good practice to watch films with subtitles because it helps to associate English spelling and pronunciation. As you know, pronunciation doesn't usually match the spelling. At this level, the ideal thing would be to watch a film or a tv series that you know or like with Spanish subtitles. When you feel ready, change the subtitles into English!

Finally, it would be a very good idea to leave a short comment on the films/tv series you've watched in original version recommending them (or not) to your classmates.

A2 & B1

Hi everyone!

Here you are an interesting video about voiced and unvoiced sounds in Past Simple regular verb endings: -ed. It helps you to identify the right pronunciation of -ed endings.

C u!

A2 & B1 - An Interactive Phonemic Chart

Hi everyone!

I've unexpectedly come across a very interesting resource to help you hear, repeat and learn the sounds of English. It's the new British Council interactive phonemic chart. Click on the sound itself to listen how it is pronounced or click on the top right hand corner of each symbol to hear sample words including the sounds.

Click here to access the interactive phonemic chart

Hope you like it!

B1 - Answer Key for 'What do you remember?' Section

Hi guys!

For those who didn't come to class the day we finished Unit 1 here you are the answers for the revise & check section (at the end of the unit).



I hope you have a nice weekend!

C u!

A2 - Questions with or without auxiliaries

Hi pals!

According to our last lesson, you still found it difficult to distinguish between questions with or without auxiliaries. Here you are a short explanation about subject and object questions and a worksheet about it. Try to do the exercises without looking at the answers ;)

Questions With or Without Auxiliaries

Click on the link for extra practice: English-Zone.com

Welcome to a new English experience at the Official School of Languages "Carlota Remfry"

Hi everyone!

This is the blog for my A2 and B1 students. I intend it to be a living space where we can communicate and share ideas, impressions and materials that may be useful for all of us. It will also help to keep a record of what we do in class every week.

Let's have fun and enjoy this English experience!