Some Christmas stuff

Learning a language is also learning about the people who speak it, their culture, customs,  traditions...


First find out about  Christmas Traditions in Britain 

Then do these activities:

Christmas Word Puzzle

Christmas Vocabulary Quiz

Christmas Dinner Crossword
Christmas Shopping Word Search 

Christmas Word Search

Christmas Conversation


Finally practise your listening skills with these popular Xmas songs 
"Twelve Days of Christmas" Wordmatch Exercise 
"Last Christmas" Gap Fill Activity
"Let it Snow" Gap Fill Activity

Merry Xmas, guys!

This is  my Christmas gift for you all, some of my favourite Christmas songs. 

• Happy Christmas (war is over), by John Lennon & Here you can read the lyrics 

• Last Christmas by Wham & The karaoke version

• Do they know it's Christmas? by Band Aid (1984)  & Band Aid 20 version (lyrics)

• Santa Claus is coming to town by Bruce Springsteen   & By some children

• Please come home for Christmas by Eagles   &   By U2

•  All I want for Christmas is you By Mariah Carey (Great video!)  

• Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Frank Sinatra

• White Christmas by Bing Crosby (with lyrics)

Best wishes!

 

Don't miss Mº Jesús's newest post.

The digital story of the Nativity.

NA1 Mª Jesús's blog

As you know we're going to start File 2B, the topic it deals with is "Air Travel". Mª Jesús has posted a video on the recent events at Spanish airports. Click here to watch it. It's a great warm-up for the lesson. Have you ever had a similar experience? Share it with us.

NA1 Sutton Foster's makeover story

Click here  to watch the extract ( on the right you have the links to watch parts 1 & 3 if you're interested in watching the whole story), and here you are your own listening comprehension questions.
Congrats, you are great!

NA1 English accent vs American accent

 

Watch this extract from Ellen DeGeneres's show in which she plays a game with Hugh Laurie (House). They have to guess the meanings of some British & American slang 

(words or expressions  that are very informal.Some slang is used only by a particular group of people)

Do you understand what these words mean?

• Flossing
• Chin wag
• Ba-donka-donk
• Chuffed to bits
• Shawty 

If you fancy watching the whole inteview, click here . I wasn't able to find it without subtitles. So click on play and minimise the screen, just listen. Then watch it and check what you understood and and if you got the right answers for the slang exercise.

Find out differences between British & American English with Misterduncan.

NA1 No lesson today

Hi everyone,

Sorry to tell you we won't have lesson today because I'm still ill. I've just sent e-mails to you all , but if you read this post, will you warn as many classmates as you can contact with, please? Thanks. See you next Thursday 9th December.

NI2 No lesson today

Hi guys,

Sorry to tell you we won't have lesson today because I'm ill. I'm sending e-mails to you all  right now, but if you read this post, will you warn as many classmates as you can contact with, please? Thanks.

NI2 FLE 5C: Job swap (Extra Practice)

Jobs and work vocabulary

Vocabulary test

The Learn English Jobs Crossword
                                                     
Idioms and sayings
Verbs to do with jobs and work
British work culture

Listening Comprehension:

Working in the UK : Listen and do the quiz on the right

Listen and check with the script    
Reading Comprehension:Test your understanding                                                
  

 Find out about Gerunds and Infinitives

 Try these on-line exercises

NA1 An Englishman in New York

Would you like to listen to one of Sting's greatest hit again?

Click here and enjoy the original video clip  and here you'll find a more recent version.
I hope you like it. 
Thanks to Isabel Ramos (NA1D) for this link, where you can read about Quentin Crisp, a British author and actor who inspired Sting to write this song.

NA1 Fashion (File 2A)

Click here and enjoy  Mª Jesús's latest post.

NI2 Quantifiers (FILE 5A)

Click here to revise the rules try the free online exercises.

NA1 Do this activity in Mª Jesús's blog

Mª Jesús posted this activity last year but I thought you might like it. Click National Stereotypes, The English and check your answers when you finish.

"Crash", Thursday 11th, November 19.00 (Bibloteca del Estado)

Click here to watch the trailer in English and Spanish in Juanma's blog. He has also posted one of the songs included in the film soundtrack. Do you fancy seeing the film? Don't miss it, I think it's one of the ten best films I've seen over the last few years.

Click here  to find out more about the EOI Mérida Film Season.
See you there!

NI2 Write an advert for a house / flat to rent.

Imagine you have a house / flat to rent, click on comments and post your adverts . Follow the guidelines on p.65 in your books, and try to make people who read it choose your house / flat for their next holiday. 

 Mª Ángeles asked me to post a picture of her house to rent.  I think Lola's right, it's perfect for throwing a Halloween party.Would you rent it? I dare you!





 

NA1 Some more laughing to wind up the topic of Health.

Have you ever watched this American sitcom? It was on from 1998 to 2004 (6 seasons, 129 episodes).
I´d lke to share one of my favourite episodes with you.

But first read the Storyline in case you´ve never heard of it:

Misanthropic Dr. John Becker runs a clinic in New York City. He is assisted by super-capable Margaret Wyborn and less-than-capable Linda, who's only kept on because no one else can stand the doctor. Becker's best (some would say only) friend is the blind Jake Malinak, who runs a newsstand in the diner across the street. The diner is run by Reggie Kostas, an ex model who inherited it from his late father. The diner is also frequented by Robert Benito, who is universally known as Bob and is the super ( caretaker in British English) at Becker's apartment (much to the doctor's regret).

Click here  and here  to find out about the sitcom, the cast and the characters they play in it.

This is "The rumour", second season, episode 14 and this is its plot:

A rumor spreads through the office and diner that John is dying when he suddenly begins eating healthy food and tries to control his temper. 

Click part 1   and  part 2  to watch the full episode (no subtitles, but remember you don´t have to understand every single word. Do take it easy when Bob speaks). Simply  enjoy it.

NA1 Watch these videos about NHS in Britain & answer the questions. Check your answers.

Click here to check how well you did. I do know it was hard, but you can use it to discuss the topic with Ella next Tuesday. Click on the link under the first video or here to find out more about the British NHS.

NA1 Revise vocabulary in Mª Jesús's blog

This evening we're doing the text "Get stressed, stay young"  in your book.  Mª Jesús has posted this  activity:Revise vocabulary from the reading on File 1C to help you revise the new vocabulary. Have a try after we do the text in class.

NI2 Great new posts in Juanma's blog

Click on the links below and do the exercises. Thank you, Juanma.

Do you keep in touch with old friends?

Talk about an ideal house listening

New links

Hi guys,

Did you have a nice long weekend? I did. Some close friends came over and we had a lovely time with their 2-year old boy, despite the hideous weather.

Anyway, I'd just like to let you know that  I have posted some new links on the right, in case you haven't realised. For example, there are lots of new vocabulary websites, new on-line dictionaries, listening sites...  Have a look at them whenever you have a little spare time, will you? I hope you find them useful and you do use them. See you soon.

NI2 Extra Practice ( File 4C )

Click  here, read the explanation and do the exercises.

Click  here to read a collection of funny ideas some  people used to believe in when they were children. On the left there is a list of sections, which includes school and at home, I suggest starting with them.

I bet you won't dare to post a comment sharing what you used to believe in when you where children.

NA1 Enjoy these Monty Python's sketches. Absolutely hilarious!...if you like British humour.

  

Argument Clinic: This one is great training for auxiliary verbs. 

 

At the doctor's surgery: And this one...I couldn't say, 

what do you think?

NA1 Watch these videos about NHS in Britain & answer the questions

How it started: Clipped from a short 1948 film by the British government introducing the original aims of the British National Health Service (NHS), their publicly funded health care system. The NHS began in 1948. For details on the creation and history of the NHS, linked to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National... .

 

The expert's view: British GP Professor Steve Field talks about the transatlantic healthcare row.

Answer these questions after watching the video:

1. What's his opinion about the British Healthcare Service?
2. How has it improved over the last 10-15 years?
3. What's the difference with the American system?

 

The users' view: hotfile.wordpress.com A quick sampling of what Londoners think of their nationalized healthcare system - NHS.

Answer these questions after watching the video:

1. Do the people interviewed complain about anything? 
2. In general, how do they feel about their NHS?  

Spanish NHS: Post a comment with your opinion.What's your view about our National Health Service? Do you think it is efficient? How would you improve it?

NA1 You're the doctor (File 1C)

This week we'll start dealing with a new topic, "Health". These are some links you might find useful.

Health problems:  listen and learn how to pronounce words describing medical problems.

Listen to a woman describing a medical problem and do the exercises

NI2 House vocabulary

Click on the links below:

Rooms in a house

Crossword: Rooms in the house
In the bathroom
In the bedroom

In the kitchen

In the living room 

Verbs to do with rooms

Idioms & sayings about rooms
Listen to some house vocabulary 

Do you believe in genies?

Click  here , play with Akinator, you might change your mind.

NI2 This is the song we did in class last Friday

 

Definitely, first versions are always the best. If you missed the lesson, ask me for a copy of the activity so that you can do it on your own.

NA1 Don't miss the latest post in Mª Jesús's blog!

Click on the link  to practise auxiliary verbs ( questions tags, echo questions...) on your own.

There's also  an interview with Ben Affleck , you can't miss it!
http://mariajesusq.blogspot.com/2010/10/practising-question-tags.html

NA1 Pronunciation poems

Click on this link here and listen to the poem we did in class last Friday.

And now something a bit more challenging, but great pronunciation training. Listen to
The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité. English poem. 

I absolutely disagree with the last line of the poem, on the contrary, never give it up!!!

NI2 Have a look at this post in Juanma's blog

Do you remember the listening we did about a TV show called "That'll teach 'em"? Well, my NI2 fellow teacher at EOI Mérida and friend, Juanma, has posted  a couple of interesting links about it in his blog, which I recommend. You can watch videos of the show- it may be challenging for your level, but it's worth watching and listening, just give it a go! This is the link to the post.

http://peregar2eoimerida.blogspot.com/2010/10/thatll-teach-em.html

NI2 Extra practice: Second conditional sentences

Click on the links below and do the activities:

http://www.manythings.org/b/e/2297 

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/secondconditional/menu.php : revise the rules and do the exercises.
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.con2.p.htm 

NA1: "You gotta be" by Des'ree

We did this song in class last Thursday. Click on the link, play the video and do the activity if you missed the lesson or if you didn't and just fancy it.

http://www.subingles.com/ejercicios:ejercicio_cancion_289

Thank you for following my blog

I've just seen that my blog has a new follower and that's  made me feel really happy. 

Thanks  Joaquín, Isabel and María, I'm very grateful  for your support.

I'd also like to encourage you all to post comments telling me whether you like the activities or not. Your suggestions will be welcome.

Finally, if you want to share something (a webpage, a blog, a sketch, your favourite song, film or tv series...) with your classmates, send it to me and I'll be glad to post it here.

Have a great long weekend!

NA1: What are you like?

Do this crossword  here  and check how many adjectives you can  remember.

NA1 File 1A : Extra practice

Here you are some extra activities you can use to revise what you've learnt in File 1A:

• Watch this video about "Speed dating" (You can watch more related to the topic here)
•  Post a comment: What's your view ? Would you give it a go?

• Learn grammar with this funny guy, Misterduncan.
• Types of questions 
• Writing & Speaking: "If you had the chance to interview someone you admire, which questions would you ask him/her?" Do your own Q&A and take it to class next week. Try to be imaginative.

 

NI2 Listening: Public or private universities?

As we're dealing with Education  in class  you're going to listen to real native speakers with different accents (Fred, from Canada and Todd, from the USA) discuss the university systems of Canada, the United States and Japan.

1. Listen and do the quiz  here.
2. Listen and ckeck with the script  here.
3. Have you learnt any new words? Add them to "your own vocabulary bank" to talk about the topic.
4. What's your view? Post a comment.

Remember, the more you listen, the more you'll understand. Don't lose heart and keep trying.

NI2&NA1: Giving your opinions

Here you are some useful language to give and ask for opinions and for agreeing and disagreeing.

  http://www.english-at-home.com/speaking/giving-your-opinions/   http://www.vocabulary.cl/Lists/Opinions.htm

NI2 First conditional &Future time clauses

Revise their form and use here.

Practise them here: 
Exercise 1

Exercise 2

NI2 Practise vocabulary on line : Education

Here  you can find:

• Education vocabulary
• The stages of British education and exams
• British qualifications
• Games and tests

NA1 The Guardian Q&A series

Here you are another Q&A. If you feel like reading more interviews with well-known people, click on Series: The Q&A , you might find someone you like. 

Mª Jesús, this one is for you
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/02/viggo-mortensen-interview

Wonderful world by Sam Cooke (NI2)

 

This is the song we did  in class this evening to introduce school subjects. Listen to it again and practise the pronunciation of the words you learnt.

Welcome! Let's start with a smile.

 

If you enyoyed it, just go to YouTube and type the annoying orange to watch The Annoying Orange series . Great to revise fruit & vegetables!