Breaking NEWS!

Harvard scientists predict the future of the past tense




Verbs evolve and homogenize at a rate inversely proportional to their prevalence in the English language, according to a formula developed by Harvard University mathematicians who've invoked evolutionary principles to study our language over the past 1,200 years, from "Beowulf" to "Canterbury Tales" to "Harry Potter."

The researchers tracked the status of 177 irregular verbs in Old English through linguistic changes in Middle English and then modern English. Of these 177 verbs that were irregular 1,200 years ago, 145 stayed irregular in Middle English and just 98 remain irregular today, following the regularization over the centuries of such verbs as help, laugh, reach, walk, and work.
Extant irregular verbs represent the vestiges of long-abandoned rules of conjugation; new verbs entering English, such as "google," are universally regular. Although fewer than 3 percent of modern English verbs are irregular, this number includes the 10 most common verbs: be, have, do, go, say, can, will, see, take, and get.
They expect that some 15 of the 98 modern irregular verbs they studied will regularize in the next 500 years.

A Web to learn English Irregular Verbs

VERBBUSTERS will you with the Irregular verbs. This page has a funny game in which you will try to answer as much as possible right forms of the irregular verbs. There is a world Ranking and you can practice with other languages : Spanish, German, French, Italian...

http://www.verbbusters.com/index.php

Culture

British - American English - Spelling Rules

There are some spelling differences in American English. In the 1800's, the US Congress actually called for several changes to make words more phonetic. Look at the following examples:

British English American English Example (British - American)

1 words ending in -re change to -er
centre - center
metre - meter
2 words ending in -our change to -or
colour - color
3 words ending in -ogue change to -og
catalogue - catalog
4 words ending in -ise/ize ending only in -ize
realise/realize - realize
5 final -l doubled after short vowel
travelled - traveled
modelling - modeling
6 words ending in -ence change to -ense
defence - defense
licence - license

Look at the followings lists for words which have different meanings or are spelled differently in British and American English:

BRITISH-AMERICAN words

COLDPLAY-VIVA LA VIDA

COLDPLAY -VIVA LA VIDA

translation into Spanish:
Viva la Vida, Coldplay
Yo gobernaba el mundo
Los mares podía elevar cuando poseía el mundo
Ahora, en la mañana duermo solo
Barriendo las calles que dominaba

Yo jugaba los dados
Sintiendo el miedo en los ojos de mi enemigo
Escuchando a la muchedumbre que cantaba
Ahora el rey murió, larga vida al rey

Un minuto tenia las llaves
Al siguiente las paredes me encerraron
Y descubrí que mis castillos estaban construidos
Sobre la arena y la sal

Escuche las campanas de Jerusalem sonar
Los coros de la caballería romana cantaban
Se mi espejo, mi espada y mi escudo
Mis emisarios en campo desconocido

Por alguna razón que no puedo explicar
Nunca hubo
Una palabra honesta, nunca
Y así era cuando gobernaba el mundo

Hubo un malvado y salvaje viento
Que sopló las puertas y dejó entrar
Ventanas destrozadas y el ruido de tambores

Los revolucionarios esperan
Mi cabeza en bandeja de plata
Solo un títere colgando de un solo hilo
Oh, Quien alguna vez no quiso ser rey?

Escuche las campanas de Jerusalem sonar
Los coros de la caballería romana cantaban
Se mi espejo, mi espada y mi escudo
Mis emisarios en campo desconocido

Por alguna razón que no puedo explicar
Se que San Pedro no me llamará por mi nombre
Nunca una palabra honesta
Y todo eso cuando gobernaba el mundo

Escuche las campanas de Jerusalem sonar
Los coros de la caballería romana cantaban
Se mi espejo, mi espada y mi escudo
Mis emisarios en campo desconocido

Por alguna razón que no puedo explicar
Se que San Pedro no me llamará por mi nombre
Nunca una palabra honesta
Y todo eso cuando gobernaba el mundo

300 Proverbs and Sayings / Proverbios y Refranes

A proverb , is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity.

English proverbs and sayings with their Spanish equivalents :

for example:

A man may learn wit every day.
Todos los dias se aprende algo.

Between the devil and the deep sea
To choose between two equally bad alternatives in a serious dilemma.

Where there's a will there's a way
When a person really wants to do something, he will find a way of doing it.

Press here:300 English Proverbs

Press here:Commonly used Proverbs Quiz (test acerca de Refranes)

CLASSROOM TIPS FOR ENGLISH STUDENTS

A List about what teachers should do in Class!

1. Use choral repetition
is a very useful and confidence-building technique. A lively chorus can wake a sleepy class and provides a change of pace and focus.

2. Be visual whenever possible

Flashcards, magazine pictures, board drawings, mime, and gesture are all very relevant at this level to put across meaning and set up student practice. The more visual your language presentations are, the more memorable they will be for your students.

3. Think about your board work

The board is your main teaching aid. Think how best to use it. Write clearly, and make sure students copy correctly.
4. Give clear instructions
It is crucial that students understand what they have to do. Always give instructions in English first, but check in L1 if it's a complicated activity.

5. Teach your students to be good learners

Encourage students to:
buy a good dictionary
do homework regularly
revise regularly and copy up notes taken in class
have a 'handout partner' to take copies for each other and who they can ring to get homework when ill, etc.
6. Always set homework

Emphasize the importance of students doing their homework. Don't set homework just after the bell goes - allow time to tell students what you want them to do. It's a good idea to set aside a few minutes every class to correct exercises and feedback problems.

7. Motivate students to learn vocabulary.

Stress the importance of revising vocabulary regularly, and make sure students do this by giving frequent short vocabulary tests.

8. Teach your students to usea bilingual dictionary

9. Encourage students to read
Reading is the key to vocabulary extension

10. Make listening a positive experience

For many students listening, especially to cassettes, is a stressful activity.
11. Make English the language of the classroom

Talk naturally with contractions but not too fast, and repeat as often as necessary, especially at the beginning of the course.
12. Get students to talk in English as much as possible

Always get students to give their opinions.

13. Don't over-correct

Students naturally like being corrected but it can be very demotivating if every time they say anything the teacher corrects or improves it! , in freer activities encourage students to keep talking to build confidence and fluency.
14. Motivate students to work on their pronunciation

Students' pronunciation doesn't have to be perfect but it needs to be sufficiently clear for communication.
15. Don't have the book open all the time

Use warmers, books-closed presentations, or photocopiable activities to give variety to your lessons.
16. Revise constantly

As students' knowledge of English increases, revision becomes even more essential as it becomes increasingly harder for them to remember everything they know. Always revise what you did in the previous lesson.

Writing Skill (3-4 ESO): Add Words to a Story

Adding words to a story

Time: 30-40 minutes
Aims:

To give the students an opportunity to start writing creatively within a safe, controlled frame.
Preparation Choose, or make up, a very short story and write it out as four to eight sentences. .

Procedure:

1 Dictate:
This was a village with [SPACE] walls and [SPACE] roofs.

Ask the students to add a few words in each of the spaces.

2 Dictate:
It had not rained for many, many months. Soon the wells would run dry. The villagers desperately needed [SPACE].

Ask the students to complete the sentence with two or more words.

3 Dictate:
The men of the village went to the [SPACE] mosque to pray for rain. And no rain fell.

Ask the students to add two or more words in the space left.

4 Dictate:
The women of the village went to the [SPACE - add the same words as last time] mosque to pray for the rain clouds to come. One little girl stayed at home. And no rain fell.

Ask the students to draw a quick sketch of the little girl they imagine and to add to the caption: She was...+ three words.

5 Dictate:
The next day the little girl went to the [SPACE] mosque on her own to pray for rain. She took her grandfather's umbrella.

Tell the students to end the story in not more than three words.

6 Group the students in threes. In turn they read their stories to each other.

7 Put up walls, roofs, mosque, etc. on the board.
Get the students to come up and write the words they used to qualify these nouns on the board under each heading.

8 Ask your students to copy into their notebooks the new words they take a liking to.

Verb To Be

La estructura básica del verbo "to BE":

La estructura básica del afirmativo del verbo "to be"

Afirmativo-----------------------------------------------------
Sujeto Verbo objeto

I am a student. Soy alumno.
You are happy. Eres feliz.
He is John. Es John.
She is in the car. Está en el coche.
It is a hot day. Es un día caluroso.
We are David's parents.
Somos los padres de David.
You are from Madrid. Sois de Madrid.
They are ours. Son nuestros.

practice
practice 2


La estructura básica del negativo del verbo "to be"

Negativo-----------------------------------------------------

I am not a student. No soy alumno.
You are not happy. No eres feliz.
He is not John. No es John.
She is not in the car. No está en el coche.
It is not a hot day. No es un día caluroso.
We are not David's parents. No somos los padres de David.
You are not from Madrid. No sois de Madrid.
They are not ours. No son nuestros.

Nota: Aparte de la contracción en "I'm not", "am not" no se suele contraer. En el lenguaje de la calle se suele decir "ain't" en vez de "am not", "are not" e "is not"), por ejemplo, "I ain't a student", "You ain't happy" y "They ain't ours". Suena algo informal.
Activity 1
Activity 2

La estructura básica del interrogativo del verbo "to be"

Interrogativo------------------------------------------------

Verbo Sujeto objeto?

Am I a student? ¿Soy alumno?
Are you happy? ¿Eres feliz?
Is he John? ¿Es John?
Is she in the car? ¿Está en el coche?
Is it a hot day? ¿Es un día caluroso?
Are we David's parents? ¿Somos los padres de David?
Are you from Madrid? ¿Sois de Madrid?
Are they ours? ¿Son nuestros?

Activity 1

Activity 2

Inversión del sujeto y el verbo para hacer la pregunta!!

Welcome to the New Course :2008-2009

Today, It has begun the new course, new teachers, new students, new high school... We realize about what we had and what we have; we miss certain things and people but we look beyond the boundaries of Today. For all my previous and actual students I send this words: Today is the beginning of a new possibility to achieve our dreams. Good Luck and if you've doubts just call , write,email or post me. Best wishes for this course.

Game: Guess my word (3-4 ESO)

GUESS MY WORD
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Age: 12-14
Subject: Vocabulary

Before starting, write word on different Post-it notes. They may be related to recent vocabulary, or to a themed vocabulary. For example: bus, car, truck, etc. or apple, banana, orange, etc.
Stick a note on each of the student's forehead. They will love this part!
Then, at turns, each student comes to the front of the class and the others have to give clues so that the student in the front can guess his/her own word.
A variation to this games is that each student has to ask the rest of the class yes/no questions until he guesses what's written on his/her own tag.