30/5/09

Test your Reading Comprehension in 2 minutes


I) In the universe, hydrogen is apparently the most abundant of all the elements. (II For instance, analysis of the light emitted by stars indicates that most stars are predominantly hydrogen. (III) Molecular hydrogen is the lightest of all gases. (IV) Similarly, of the sun's mass, approximately 90 % is hydrogen. (V) However, hydrogen is much less abundant on the earth.


Which sentence in the passage is different in meaning?
A. I
B. II
C. III
D. IV
E. V
(Check the answer in the comments)

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25/5/09

Simple Present (Present Simple)

The simple present expresses an action in the present taking place once, never or several times. It is also used for actions that take place one after another and for actions that are set by a timetable or schedule. The simple present also expresses facts in the present.




be
Use:

am with the personal pronoun II
is with the personal pronouns he, she or it (or with the singular form of nouns)
are with the personal pronouns we, you or they (or with the plural form of nouns)

have
Use:
have with the personal pronouns I, you, we und they (or with the plural form of nouns)
has with the personal pronouns he, she, it (or with the singular form of nouns)

All other verbs
Use:
the infinite verb (play) with the personal pronouns I, you, we and they (or with the plural form of nouns)
the verb + s (plays) with the personal pronouns he, she, it (or with the singular form of nouns)
Simple Present - Uses

1. facts (something is generally known to be true
2.action in the present taking place once, never or several times
3.actions in the present taking place one after another
4.verbs expressing states, possession, senses, emotions and mental activity.

When you love someone, that's a state, a fact or emotion, but not an action (like running for example). Whenever you want to express a state, possession, sense or emotions, use the simple form (not the progressive). The following words all belong to this group:
be (state)
believe (mental activity)
belong (possession)
hate (feeling and emotion)
hear (senses)
like (feeling and emotion)
love (feeling and emotion)
mean (mental activity)
prefer (mental activity)
remain (state)
realize (mental activity)
see (senses)
seem (feeling and emotion)
smell (senses)
think (mental activity)
understand (mental activity)
want (feeling and emotion)
wish (feeling and emotion)

EXERCISES:

Exercise one: Present Simple of BE.
Exercise Two: Present of Have got.
Exercise three: Present simple.
Exercise Four: making questions in present.
Exercise Five: Negative sentences in present.
Exercise Six: Exceptions in Spelling.
Exercise Seven: Short Forms.



PRESENT SIMPLE SUMMARY / "CHULETA"

24/5/09

Second Conditional explanation and exercises

The second conditional (also called conditional type 2) is a structure used for talking about unreal situations in the present or in the future.


The structure of a second conditional sentence
Like a first conditional, a second conditional sentence consists of two clauses, an "if" clause and a main clause:



If I had a million dollars,
I would buy a big house

If the "if" clause comes first, a comma is usually used. If the "if" clause comes second, there is no need for a comma:

I would buy a big house if I had a million dollars.

In the case of the verb BE. Whatever the subject, the verb form is "were", not "was": If I were rich, I'd buy a big house.

PRACTICE:








23/5/09

For the new teachers!

It's hard to be a teacher but there is something that makes me to love my job . If you have doubts about becoming a teacher , Please watch this video, it was quite motivating for me!!


22/5/09

VISITING LONDON

LISTENING SKILL PRACTICE:

Unit 1: Transport

John and Fiona have just arrived in London at Heathrow Airport. John is going to a hotel in King's Cross and Fiona's going to stay with her uncle in Camden. They need to work out how to get into the centre of town and decide on what type of transport to use. This unit will help you with the following;Buying a London Underground train ticket. Finding your way around the London Underground system. Comparing things.

Listening 1: Choosing transport from Heathrow into town

After they collect their luggage, John and Fiona think about the best way to get into the centre of London. They know a taxi will be too expensive, but they can't agree on the best form of transport.

Listen to the conversation








Activity 1: Complete the conversation
You can use these sentences:

*We could get stuck in a traffic jam on the coach.
*So let's take the Tube now, it is more convenient.
*Well, we could take the Tube.
*The Heathrow Express is quicker, but it's expensive

Fiona: How shall we get to the centre?
John_________________________________
Fiona: I suppose we could, but how about taking the ' Airbus? coach?
John_________________________________
Fiona: Yes, it is the rush hour. So , what about the Heathrow Express?
John:_________________________________
Fiona: And we'll have to change onto the Tube later anyway.
John:_________________________________

Language tips - vocabulary
the Tube - the popular name for the underground train system (Metro System)

the Underground - another name for the Tube
A coach - comfortable bus usually used on longer journeys
Get stuck in a traffic jam - you can't go anywhere because there are too many cars
convenient - easy to use
rush hour - the busy time in the morning and afternoon when everyone travels to and from work.












Source: BBC.

21/5/09

BEYOND THE POSTCARD: EDIMBURGH

READING COMPREHENSION:

Edinburgh has been a centre of medical learning for five centuries. King James IV, who performed surgery himself, gave royal approval in 1505. The present-day name of The Royal College of Surgeons came into use in 1681.




Read the text, then try the comprehension exercise below:

Just below Edinburgh Castle, at the western end of its main street, Princes Street, there is a small tower. It is at the entrance to St Cuthbert's churchyard. Probably even most local people do not know its connection with medicine.
Edinburgh holds a particular place in medical history because of the pioneering work at the University in the teaching of anatomy. This, too, had its unusual aspects. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, a father, son and grandson, all named Alexander Monro, formed a dynasty of professors in charge of anatomy for an unbroken 126 years.
But there was a dark side. Studying anatomy required dissection. Dissection required bodies. Normally those were criminals who had been hanged. But not always. A body could be sold to the anatomy school without questions being asked. The first Alexander Monro worried in 1725 that "the requirements of anatomical teaching provided unscrupulous criminals with a particularly macabre opportunity for illicit gain."
That was why watchtowers - such as the one surviving in St Cuthbert's - were built: to prevent newly-buried corpses being stolen. But people's greatest fear was of what might happen if there were no bodies... That fear became real in 1828 with the notorious case of Burke and Hare. Having legally sold one dead person to the university, they went on to sell another sixteen. Unfortunately, all of those had been alive until they met the two murderers.
An exhibition in the Sir Jules Thorn Museum in the Royal College of Surgeons tells the story of the surgeons and anatomists in Edinburgh.

Look at the statements below, according to the text are they true or false?



1: The tower is famous for its connection to medicine. True or False True False

2: It was possible to study anatomy without actual bodies. True or False True False

3: Anatomy schools always checked carefully where the bodies came from. True or False True False

4: The watchtowers' purpose was to stop people stealing bodies from churhyards. True or False True False

5: Burke and Hare stole 16 bodies from a church graveyard.


Vocabulary HELP for the text:

the pioneering work :
work which is being done for the first time
anatomy :
the scientific study of the human body
a dynasty :
a long period of time when the same family is in control of something
dissection :
the cutting up of a body to study it
unscrupulous :
without honesty or decency
macabre :
unpleasant and unusual with a connection to death
illicit gain:
getting money illegally
surviving:
still existing, not destroyed
buried :
from the verb to bury - to put a dead body in the ground

17/5/09

MAD about Alesha Dixon's the Boy does Nothing

Isn't she perfect?
Here you are her last hit: Boy does nothing!









Lyrics | Alesha Dixon lyrics - The Boy Does Nothing lyrics

15/5/09

PDA, Public Love?

Public Displays of Affection,

When people are in love, they want to kiss and hold each other tight. But where’s the best place to do that?

Public displays of affection, or PDAs, can be cute, like when you see a young couple holding hands in the park. But they can also be gross, like a drunk couple totally making out on the street.Some people think public displays of affection are a harmless and fun way to express love. Others think love is better expressed in private.
It turns out that in Jason and Devan’s new relationship, there is one of each kind of person. Watchthe video to see which is which.





Punto gramatical - Learn grammar from this lesson.
Past Perfect Progressive

Jason thanks Devan for seeing Slumdog Millionaire with him and says, “I’d been wanting to see it.” He uses the past perfect progressive tense to talk about a something that had been happening in the past before something else happened in the past. In the past, Jason saw the movie. But before that, he had been wanting to see it.

We form the past perfect progressive with had been + main verb + ing. No matter what the subject of a sentence is, we always form this tense the same way. For example, we can say I had been eating, he had been eating, you had been eating, we had been eating, or they had been eating.

Vocabulary:
make out v.
kiss and hold another person in a romantic way
Example:
Well, we didn't really date. We made out once, but that's it.
gross expr.
disgusting, sickening, unpleasant
Example:
"This sandwich is _*gross*_! I think they put mayonnaise on it. I hate mayonnaise!"
mushy adj.
overly affectionate
Example: I don't want to watch that mushy stuff.

Colloquial English (SLANG)

TODAY WE'RE GOING TO LEARN THE EXPRESSION:
IT GUY


“I was just average. I wasn’t a nerd, but I wasn’t the It guy at school.”

-High School Musical star Zac Efron, talking about his real-life high school experience. (Us Weekly)

DEFINITION: most popular or trendy guy / girl

EXPLANATION : (Learn how the slang is used)

An It guy or It girl is someone who has a certain special quality that makes him or her extremely attractive and fascinating, especially to members of the opposite sex.
But that special quality is difficult to define or explain. You can’t really describe it…It’s just…It.
A true It guys and It girls are more than just beautiful, sexy, and fun to be around. It’s almost like they have a secret power that draws people to them. They don’t even care about being popular or cool. That special “It” quality isn’t something they try to have. Whatever It is, they must just be born with it.

Zac Efron may not have been an It guy in high school, but he is an It guy now. Young girls are crazy about him and with the success of 17 Again, he is to be one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors.
But in Hollywood, new It guys and It girls come along all the time. It might not be long before someone becomes even more It than Efron.

14/5/09

HOT and COLD Song Worksheet.

I leave you here the worksheet for the song HOT and COLD by Katy Perry. This song is very easy to work with, the music is fantastic, it's actual and the students practice the OPPOSITES a lot.


Hot and Cold Kate Perry Song worksheet


13/5/09

MACBETH and OTHELLO


We are reading in my 1st course of Bachillerato (16-17 years), the book: Two Shakespearean Tragedies.

The book contains two of the most famous Shakespeare's tragedies. On the one hand, Macbeth's desire for political power leads him to self-destruction and murder; On the other, Othello's success on Battle is opposite to his insane jealousy which finally kill his love. These tragedies are a good example of how men and their passions can destroy them.

Here you are some compilation of my work to ease the understanding of the two tragedies; you can download, print and study in case you had any doubt , PLEASE leave a comment.

Macbeth


OTHELLO


For further Reading or investigation about this topic you can check this links:
We'll watch the original movie in class but for all of you who cannot wait, I show you this wonderful scene from Kenneth Branagh's film




11/5/09

DAVID COPPERFIELD


If you have time and you want to read some interesting classic, I reccomend you DAVID COPPERFIELD by Charles Dickens. (Quizás lo necesites leer para la universidad en tus estudios de Filología Inglesa)

I leave you this link to download a copy of this extraordinary novel to read when yopu have time next summer or when you need it.
In case you need other books, you can check in the FREE eBOOKS section in this page, we have a wide range of them; If you don't find it , comment and we'll do the impossible to find it. (Only for classic books).

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story


This is the book we are reading this week in our class of 4th ESO

( EFL 15-16 years), THE LAST SHERLOCK HOLMES STORY.

This book was written by Michael Dibdin and the plot is the following:


For fifty years after Dr Watson's death, a packet of papers, written by the doctor himself, lay hidden in a locked box. The papers contained an extraordinary report of the case of Jack the Ripper and the horrible murders in the East End of London in 1888. The detective, of course, was the great Sherlock Holmes - but why was the report kept hidden for so long? This is the story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote. It is a strange and frightening tale . . .


I reccomend you to read the whole book and if you have doubts you can leave a comment.

10/5/09

PHRASAL VERBS Definition


What are phrasal verbs?






A phrasal verb is a verb plus a preposition or adverb which creates a meaning different from the original verb.



Example:


I ran into my teacher at the movies last night. run + into = meet
He ran away when he was 15. run + away = leave home


* Some phrasal verbs are intransitive. An intransitive verb cannot be followed by an object.

Example:
He suddenly showed up. "show up" cannot take an object






* Some phrasal verbs are transitive. A transitive verb can be followed by an object.

Example:
I made up the story. "story" is the object of "make up"




*Some transitive phrasal verbs are separable.



The object is placed between the verb and the preposition.
Example:
I talked my mother into letting me borrow the car.
She looked the phone number up.


*Some transitive phrasal verbs are inseparable. The object is placed after the preposition.

Example:
I ran into an old friend yesterday.
They are looking into the problem.


* Some transitive phrasal verbs can take an object in both places. Example:


I looked the number up in the phone book.
I looked up the number in the phone book.


* Be Careful! Although many phrasal verbs can take an object in both places, you must put the object between the verb and the preposition if the object is a pronoun.

Example:
I looked the number up in the phone book.
I looked up the number in the phone book.
I looked it up in the phone book. correct
I looked up it in the phone book. incorrect

8/5/09

winners for FOR THE 1ST MYPLACEFORENGLISH AWARDS




Winner in Best TEFL BLOG: My English Printables Worksheets.


Winner for the Best Commentator: MS LUCY


Winner for the Best Comment of the year: IOSU


Winner for the Best Desing of a Blog: Enchanted by Josephine
Thank you for the more than 25,000 visits we had in our first year

1/5/09

hot and cold Katy Perry


Lyrics | Katy Perry lyrics - Hot N Cold lyrics



what these expressions mean:

PMS:
Like a bitch:

Speak crypticaly:

(CHECK THE COMMENTS FOR THE ANSWERS)

In this song we can practice some good opposites (words with the opposite meaning), we will use some of them in class. I give you the first one: HOT--COLD.

CAN YOU ADD MORE OPPOSITES FROM THE SONG? (you can leave them in the comments section)



NOMINEES FOR THE 1ST MYPLACEFORENGLISH AWARDS




1. BEST TEFL BLOG












2. BEST COMMENTATOR




* POLARSCOOB


*MS LUCY


*CONCHA


*THUNDER


*JOSU




3. BEST COMMENT OF THE YEAR




* CONCHA


* SUDAM


* JOSU




4. BEST DESIGN BLOG OF ENGLISH




* MY ENGLISH PRINTABLE WORKSHEETS


* ENCHANTED BY JOSEPHINE


* LEARN ENGLISH ON LINE


GOOD LUCK FOR ALL OF YOU AND THANK YOU SO MUCH!!



THE RESULTS ON MAY 10TH 2009