Focus on films

In this website you'll find loads of new words and expressions to talk about films:

A/an, the, zero article

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Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4

Differences between men and women

Listen to these people talking about how being a man or a woman is like and answer the questions.

Here you have the ad we saw in class and another interesting clip.

Sing along: Skater Boy

Slow down, we move too fast

Find out more information about Slow Food and Citta Slow, in case you are interested.

Here's the list of slow cities in Spain. You can find more about them here:

- Begur and Pals in Catalonia.

- Lekeito and Mungia in the Basque Country.

- Bigastro in the Valencian Community.

- Rubielos de Mora in Aragon.

There's a siminlar a similar movement going on in Alhama called Alhama en Transición. If you are interested, you can visit their blog here.

Friendship and TV series

There are loads of TV series which deal with the topic of friendship, even their opening themes do. I'm sure you've heard from all of these.



Thank you for being a friend.
Travelled down the road and back again.
Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant.
And if you threw a party,
invited everyone you knew,
you would see, the biggest gift would be from me
and the card attached would say:
'Thank you for being a friend'.



Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see
Troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name.
You wanna go where peolpe know
People are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name

So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your jobs a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A.

It's like you're always stuck in second gear
And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month,
or even your year
but..

I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

Tests

Quick test unit 3 and key.
Quick test unit 4 and key.

Used to, any more, any longer

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Any more, no longer, still (pdf)

Get some more practise with this song:



There was a game ______
We would hit ____ on friday night
And stay _____ until sunday
We _______
We were living for the love we had and
Living not for reality

It was _____ x3

There was a time ______
I _______ my faith in love
It's the greatest thing from the man above
The game ______
_______ my cards upon the table
Let it never be said that I'd be unstable

It was just my imagination x3

There is a game _______
I like to hit the town on friday night
And stay _______
We'll always be this free
We will be living for the love we have

It's not my imagination x3
Not my x18


And this one's just come to my mind.

If I were a boy

Before listening, put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense.

If I were a boy
I__________ (turn off) my phone
Tell everyone that it's broken
So they _________(think)
That I ___________(sleep) alone
I___________(put) myself first
And _________(make) the rules as I go
Cause I know she __________(be) faithfull
__________(wait for) me to come home



Mores exercises on the song here

How do you like Beyoncé? I prefer Coldplay, atually.

Meet somebody or know somebody?

I met my best friend (for the first time) when I was at school.

We've known each other for 15 years.
We've known each other since I was 8.

We used to see each other a lot, but know I only meet her when I can.

Here you have an exercise for you to practise.

Second conditional

2nd conditional

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5

Here you have a couple of worksheets for you to do at home. I'll upload the key as soon as I can.

Worksheet 1
Worksheet 2

Sing along: Our house

This is another song which, well, is not exactly about a house, but I like it.

110

What does this sign mean?

You MUSTN'T drive faster than 110 km/hr.

You CAN'T do it, it is prohibited/forbidden/not allowed.

You HAVE TO drive faster than 110 km/hr or you'll get a fine.

It is a race against the clock this weekend for road maintenance crews to change all the 120 km/hr signs across the country to 110 km/hr. In most cases stickers are being used to replace the signs, while in Navarra stickers are being used just to replace the ‘2’ with a ‘1’.


All the signs should be changed by 6am on Monday from when the top speed on Spanish motorways will be 110km/hr after the measure was printed in the Official State Bulletin on Sunday.


The Government has announced the measure will be in force for an initial four month period, which could be extended if there continues to be possible supply problems from oil producing countries.


The measure is not possible with the public, with a poll published in El País on Sunday showing 69% of the population are against it. The Government has called for responsibility and coherence and considers the measure will reduce petrol consumption by 28.6 million barrels a year, and save 12.5 tons of CO2 emissions.


The DGT traffic authority has said that 100 € fines will be issued for anyone clocked travelling at 111kms/hr, although some driving associations claim that fines will not be issued until 115kms/hr.

(Source: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_29487.shtml#ixzz1FrHhz4RI)

What do you reckon about this new speed limit?

Types of houses

Houses

View more presentations from torrepacheco.

Check out this state agent's on Costa Calida and have a look at the language they use to describe properties.

1st conditional: Murphy's Laws

1. If you are in a supermarket and you change queues, the queue you were in before will move faster.
2. If you wash your car, it will rain.
3. If you're looking for sth you've lost, you'll find it in the last place you look.
4. If you wear something white, you'll spill wine or coffee on it.
5. If someone near you is smoking, the smoke will always go directly towards you.
6. If you find sthg in a shop that you really like, they won't have it in your size.
7. If you take sthg that doesn't work back to a shop, it'll start working.
8. If you stop waiting for the bus and start walking, the bus will come.
9. If you arrive at the station and a train is just leaving, it will be your train.


Murphy's Laws Site

Education helps keep blood pressure down

A new study shows that staying in education for a long time helps blood pressure. Scientists have found a link between the number of years spent studying and low blood pressure. The research looked at 4,000 people in the USA. They found that those who had a university education had lower blood pressure than people who did not enter higher education. Study leader Eric Loucks said people who left school early were more likely to have a stressful job and low salaries. He said both these things contributed to stress.


Many people think it is more stressful to stay on in education. University exams are famous for causing students lots of stress. It also seems strange that people with university degrees have lower blood pressure than those without. Graduates usually become managers in companies, or teachers and those positions are very stressful. The report looked at blood pressure levels at the end of a 30-year period. It could be that people who were in education longer were richer and had a better standard of living. Money worries often cause lots of stress.


From News English Lessons (Feb 28, 2011).


You may read the whole story here and do the exercises.

Elementary school is Oscar-bound

Watch this video posted by my colleague Conchita about an American elementary school performing at the Oscars this weekend. I know it's hard to understand, but the kids are so cute!

German course in Lorca

The School in Lorca has organised a German course for beginners which will be held from March 15 to May 10. Lessons will take place twice a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 to 9 pm. It is not necessary to be a student at the school to attend the course.

Find more info here.

Listening: top international universities.

Do you recognise this picture? It's Cambridge University, one of the top universities in the world (and one of the most beautiful places to visit in England, by the way).

Listen to this podcast from the BBC and find out more about other important universities.

1st conditional

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4

Oscars Ballot*

Who will take home an Oscar this year? Visit the New York Times, cast your votes and compete with your Facebook friends!


Ballot - A sheet of paper or a card used to cast or register a vote, especially a secret one.

23F

Today it is the 30th anniversary of the attempted coup d'état in Spain. I know many of you, my dear students, weren't even born on that date, or you were too young to remember anything. But, in case you do: What do you remember? Where were you? How did you feel? Have your parents told you anything about that day?


Since the other day we were talking about school subjects, here's your little history lesson for today. Read this BBC report and watch the video - a real slice of history.

Education

Just a little joke...



Roy: We DON'T need NO education...
Moss: Yes, you do. You've just used the double negative.

Cine en VOS en Murcia

Cinesa has organised a season of films in Original Version with Spanish subtitles, thanks to the initiative of a Facebook group called "Por una sala de cine en V.O.S. en Murcia".

The first 10 movies of this season will be projected in Nueva Condomina every Thursday from the 24th Feb in two showings: 19:30 y 22:00.

The programme will be the following:

24/02/2011
Fish Tank

03/03/2011
In the Loop

10/03/2011
Buscando a Eric

17/03/2011
TETRO (Francis Ford Coppola)

24/03/2011
La cinta blanca

31/03/2011
Two Lovers

07/04/2011
Capitalism: a love history

14/04/2011
El concierto

21/04/2011
FROZEN RIVER

28/04/2011
London River

You can buy the tickets in Nueva Condomina for 4 € each or get a 10 film voucher (bono) for 32 €.
I encourage you to go and spread the news among your classmates, friends and relatives, as it is important to reach the figure of 80 people per showing for this series of films to continue in the future.

Becas MEC

Para el estudio de idiomas en el extranjero

En el año 2011 más de 25.000 alumos se beneficiarán de las becas MEC 2011 que el Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia oferta como ayudas para el "Estudio de Idiomas en el Extranjero". Las becas MEC 2011 dotan con 1.700 euros a cada alumno que contrate un mínimo de 3 semanas de curso de idioma en uno de los destinos seleccionados y cumpla una serie de requisitos de las Becas MEC 2011.

• Becas MEC para estudiantes: http://www.becas-mec.info/

Cursos para estudiantes de 16 a 30 años.

• Becas MEC para maestros: http://www.becas-mec.info/becas_mec_maestros.php

Dirigidas a Diplomados en Magisterio y estudiantes de último año de esta carrera: Aquellos solicitantes a los que se les conceda, serán beneficiarios de una ayuda en metálico de 2.100 euros para la realización de un curso de un mínimo de 6 semanas y 20 horas lectivas semanales.

Requisitos:

Haber finalizado la diplomatura de Magisterio en cualquiera de las especialidades en alguno de los cuatro últimos cursos académicos: 2008-2009, 2007-2008, 2006-2007 ó 2005-2006, o bien estar matriculado en curso 2009-2010 de la totalidad de los créditos que le resten para finalizar los estudios de la diplomatura de Maestro

Las becas de idiomas del año 2011 se publicarán posiblemente en el B.O.E. en la segunda mitad de Febrero. Si quieres estar informado/a al día y recibir una alerta el día de su publicación, existe la opción de añadirse como AMIGO en la nueva web de Facebook

http://www.becas-mec.info/

info@becas-mec.info

Tlf. 902 050 281

ing/ed adjectives

Exercise 1
Exercise 2 & explanation
Exercise 3

Revise and check 3

GRAMMAR

1 should join                  6 don't have
2 can't be                      7 must be
3 be able                       8 might be/may be
4 mustn't take                9 have to
5 might not/may not       10 shouldn't drink

VOCABULARY

a) 1 mind   2 length   3straight   4 fringe    5 wears
b) 1 interested    2 depressed    3 boring     4 embarrassing    5 frustrated
c) 1 off     2 back    3 up    4 like    5 in

PRONUNCIATION

a) 1 fifties (/ɪ/)     2 height (/aɪ/)     3 curly (/3:/)     4 fringe (/dʒ/)      5 moustache (/ʃ/)
b) disappOInted     embArrassing    INterested    mObile   overwEIght

CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THIS TEXT?

a) 1b   2a    3c    4a    5b
b) burst into tears = suddenly start crying
sympathetic = understanding other people's feelings/problems
I couldn't stand it = I couldn't bear/tolerate the situation
turned down = rejected, refused to pubblish
deeply hurt = very unhappy, upset

If at first you don't succeed...

Have you seen this film?

What is it about? Is the protagonist successful in the end? Does he just give up and fail to solve the problem?

Exercise 1
Exercise 2Exercise 3

Happy Valentine's Day

To tell you the truth, I've never celebrated this day in my life, but I found a couple of things you may find interesting.

This is the song we listened to in class. Beautiful, isn't it?



If you want to know if you are in love, watch this video. It has loads of interesting vocabulary. If you find it too difficult, though, you may read the transcript as you listen here.


You can find out more about the origins of this festivity here.

Finally, let's learn some new expressions related to love and relationships.

Love matters

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BBC iPlayer

 

Just to let you know that at the very bottom of this page you'll find a new widget: the BBC iPlayer, which allows you to listen to the British BBC's radio stations. Remember the more you study and practise English, the better. You need to be constat, so if you listen to English regularly, you will soon notice how your listening skills improve.

Cosmetic surgery becoming more popular.

The number of people having cosmetic surgery is increasing. This could be a sign that the world economy is making a recovery. Statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons show that the number of operations increased by five per cent between 2009 and 2010. Spokesman Dr. Phil Haeck said: "This is just one more tiny sign that the economy is moving forward. It's slow, but it may be that we'll slowly pull out of this recession." In the U.K. the number of surgeries reached 100,000 for the first time.

These are welcome figures for the industry, but they come at a time when the safety of cosmetic surgery is in question. A British woman died after an operation organized on the Internet. Claudia Adusei’s operation took place at a hotel near Philadelphia Airport. Many doctors said the type of operation she had was very risky. With more and more people going under the knife, there may be an increase in accidents in the future. People need to think carefully about whether they really need that nose job or tummy tuck.


Glossary:


to increase (v): to become greater or larger.
to move forward (v): to advance.
risky (adj): dangerous, not safe.
to go under the knife: to get plastic surgery.
a nose job: plastic surgery on the nose
a tummy tuck: plastic surgery of the abdomen


From News English Lessons. Find more exercises or listen to this piece of news here.

Common mistakes

EE Feb 11 common mistakes

Beauty is nothing without brains

Here you have the questions we discussed in class.

How to organize your speech effectively.

Here you have a list with the most commonly used connectors for you to use in your pieces of writing.

You'll also find here some tips on how to organize your oral presentations.

Modal verbs of deduction

Modal verbs (ii)

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Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3

Questions with "like"

As you already know, like is a word frequently used in English. It is used in different ways and in this BBC Grammar Challenge three different uses are compared: talking about personality, physical appearance and hobbies.

Practise your listening skills

In this site (click here and here) you'll find regular listening practice based on the weekly news, with pre-reading vocabulary, reading, gap-fill exercise, comprehension quiz and answers. It's worth having a look!