Ana's ESL Blog

THE CHRISTMAS SONG - Nat King Cole ft Natalie Cole

2011-12-08T03:08:00.000-08:00

THE CHRISTMAS SONG - Nat King Cole ft Natalie Cole
lyrics:
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Jack Frost nipping at your nose,
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,
And folks dressed up like Eskimos.

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe,
Help to make the season bright,
Tiny tots with their eyes all a-glow,
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.

They know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh,
And ev'ry mother's child is gonna spy,
To see if reindeer really know how to fly.

And so I'm offering this simple phrase,
To kids from one to ninety-two,
Although it's been said
Many times, Many ways
Merry Christmas to you.

[musical interlude]

And so I'm offering this simple phrase,
To kids from one to ninety-two,
Although it's been said
Many times, Many ways
Merry Christmas to you.

This is Halloween.

2011-11-01T03:05:00.000-07:00

Lyrics | Danny Elfman - This is Halloween lyrics

9/11

2011-09-11T10:29:00.001-07:00

I was profoundly impacted 10 years ago, and I still feel the pain.
Like every year, I’d like to send my love to those who lost someone in the tragedy.
I'll never forget that day.
The redesigned area makes us understand that "They" were irreplaceable.

Practise should, shouldn't, will and pres. perf. with "The Young Ones"

2011-08-24T00:49:00.000-07:00

2nd type conditional in: "If I were a boy"

2011-04-03T02:13:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this link to stydy the 2nd type of conditional sentences.

And here you've got many examples translated into Spanish.

Listen to Beyoncé and practise the grammar point. Enjoy it.

Thank you Aldara for the suggestion.

Preguntas indirectas en inglés. Enlaces recomendados.

2011-02-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

Imagen tomada de: http://devsnippets.com/article/animal-photography-at-its-finest.html

Breve explicación:
Fíjate en esta pregunta:
"Me pregunto dónde está". "I wonder where he is". “Where he is”, ya no es una pregunta con su habitual orden de palabras y correspondiente signo de interrogación (Where is he?), sino una pregunta indirecta. Tenemos, -la partícula interrogativa + sujeto + verbo -. Este sería el orden de las palabras, en cualquier frase en la que queramos utilizar “question word”, es decir: “where”, “when”,”why”, "how" …

Otro caso sería las preguntas que comienzan con un auxiliar:“Do you know Mike?”. Vuelvo a utilizar la misma expresión que antes: "Me pregunto si conoces a Mike", “I wonder if you know Mike?” En este caso, la pregunta indirecta se forma con “if” y no lleva auxiliar, y tampoco el signo de interrogación, claro.

De igual forma que he construido las frases con el verbo “wonder”, las puedo formar con: “ask”, ”want to know…”, etc. En los enlaces que te recomiendo, lo vas a leer.

Te va a gustar ver estas viñetas con audio. Recuerda, haz click en “play”
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/gr_movie/s_rep_que/index.htm
En esta web tienes muchos ejemplos con traducción y audio.
http://www.shertonenglish.com/resources/es/reported-speech/questions.php
Otra Web con buenas explicaciones. Aquí se aborda la forma afirmativa, negativa e interrogativa, se observa y señala claramente el cambio de tiempo verbal, y contrasta “say” y “tell”.
http://www.curso-ingles.com/gramatica-inglesa/reported.php

Te propongo además ver este vídeo. Es una canción en la que se emplea las preguntas indirectas. Así ya no se te olvidarán.

Enlaces recomendados para practicar:
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/reported.htm
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech

A veces me gustaría sentirme como un pájaro, una vez soñé que lo era…. ¿Alguien me invita a volar? ;-)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-12T03:35:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favourite Chritsmas songs. It makes you think.

If you want to meet those who sang the song, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5cX_ncZLls They were real pioneers helping people.

And here is another one:

Irregular verbs

2010-12-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

Again I recommend a video that may help you study the irregular verbs.

Sam Cooke, What a Wonderful Life!

2010-09-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

Let's learn the name of subjects listening to this great singer.
I hope you enjoy it.

Akon: I wanna be with you. Verbos con partícula

2010-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Verbos con partículas:
We've been through
Be through: haber sufrido una experiencia, estar atravesando. Otros significados son: examinar, conseguir comunicación.

Can never measure up to half of what I put you through
Put through: hacer pasar por , ( hacer pasar un mal rato). Otro significado: poner en comunicación

That's why we'll break through
To break through: emepezar a tener éxito. Otros significados: atravesar, penetrar, descubrimiento.

Cause she gonna hold it down
Hold down: sostener, mantener, conservar.

I'm into you
To be into: estar muy interesado por….

Vocabulario:
Muffin: bollo
Fussin: alborotando
No matter what: no importa qué

http://www.kovideo.net/be-with-you-lyrics-akon-132923.html

Letras Canciones.
www.quedeletras.com

Una breve lección con: "My immortal"

2010-05-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Aprende algunas curiosidades útiles para nuestras lecciones.

Tired of: cansado de… Tendrá que ir seguido de gerundio por la preposición: “Tired of being here”
Childish: infantil. Recuerda que –ish es un sufijo, que se añade a un sustantivo e indica semejanza. Por ejemplo, boy- boyish, fool-foolish; como un niño, aloadamente,etc.
El verbo “wish” puede ir seguido de otro verbo en distintos tiempos, veamos ejemplos con sus significados más usuales.:
I wish she had come: ¡ojala hubiera venido!, se refiere al pasado.
I wish she came: ¡ojala viniera!. Se refiere a una acción conectada al presente.
I wish they would come back soon. ¡Ojalá vuelvan pronto!. Se refiere a una acción futura.
Muchas veces al emplear "would" se expresa queja: "I wish they would stop shouting".
Seem to heal: parece curar
Recuerda que “seem to” va seguido de infinitivo, como en la canción, o de adjetivo; por ejemplo, “It seems interesting”. Lo que no se puede decir es algo así: “It seems a good idea”, deberíamos decir “It seems to be a good idea”. ¿De acuerdo?
Leave alone: significa dejar tranquilo/a, dejar en paz.
Cannot: así se escribe, o también can’t, pero no escribas can not.
Estas dos frases son muy parecidas a las oraciones condicionales de 2º tipo. Un pasado y un condicional simple: would+inf.
When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears
Chase away…
La preposición “away”, indica alejamiento. Así, podríamos traducir, barrer y quitar del medio. Es decir, hacer desaparecer.
Used to: solía. Una forma de expresar esas acciones en el pasado que eran hábito, costumbre. “You used to captivate me” Me solías cautivar.
Didn’t use to: No solía. Observa cómo la “d” ha desaparecido. O bien, “did you use to…?”

El resto lo tienes traducido en este link. Disfruta de la canción.
http://www.letras4u.com/evanescence/my_immortal.htm

Love, by Nat King Cole

2010-02-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

Have a nice Saint Valentine's day!

Pick me up by Emilia de Poret

2009-12-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,
Here you have a wonderful song to learn...
Prasal verbs:
Pick up / Take out / Turn on / Hold on / Bring back
A modal verb: Could,
Some relative clauses: “The one who brings it back”
The Future Tense- “going to”: Are you ever gonna do that?

I hope you like it, you’ve got the translation too.

I'm yours"

2009-11-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Driving home the other day I heard this song, and I thought, nice song!
Always thinking of you guys.

I can't help falling in love with you.

2009-10-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is the song I always recommend to learn: "can't help + gerund"= "no poder evitar". Enjoy it:

My other link to this song
Web Task
We'll take a look at it in class.

Don't worry be happy

2009-09-28T05:40:00.000-07:00

Lyrics and translation

Why did the World Trade Center collapse?

2009-09-11T14:21:00.001-07:00

Have a look at this wonderful simulation and you'll know what really happened.
Click on the link.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/sep/10/9-11-towers-simulation-engineering

Fortieth anniversary of a historic event: Man on the Moon

2009-07-20T15:07:00.001-07:00

Today the World celebrates this important accomplishment for the mankind. President Obama has honoured the astronauts of Apollo 11. We can see them on the picture.

The man hasn’t returned to the Moon since 1972, but there is the hope to go back there by the end of this decade and also to Mars, the red planet.

Do you want to know what Armstrong said just after landing on the Moon? Here is part of the conversation.

“Armstrong: I'm at the foot of the ladder. The LM footpads are only depressed in the surface about 1 or 2 inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained, as you get close to it. It's almost like a powder. (The) ground mass is very fine. (Pause)

Armstrong: I'm going to step off the LM now. (Long Pause)

Armstrong: That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind. (Long Pause)

Armstrong: Yes, the surface is fine and powdery. I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles.”
………

Here you have the transcript of the conversation after the landing:
http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.step.html

Learn the past tense in a funny way

2009-07-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

If you want to practice the past tense in a funny way, use the activities prepared by Aurora Jove, you'll enjoy them.

Click on the link

Tribute to Michael Jackson

2009-06-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

A huge crowd gathered in London to pay tribute to Michael Jackson

Song Lyrics | Michael Jackson lyrics

Stand by me: Timon and Pumba, ....just for fun

2009-06-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite songs sung by two friendly characters. I hope you like it.

Lyrics | Ben E. King Lyrics | Stand By Me Lyrics

Lyrics translated
http://www.letras4u.com/ben_e_king/stand_by_me.htm

All together now, by The Farm

2009-06-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Ok. Here is the song you have to learn for the end of the year.

Lyrics | Farm lyrics

Click here to see the video
http://www.viddler.com/explore/pricopsorin/videos/19/

Video. Reported Speech

2009-06-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

Para vuestro repaso para Selectividad. Jennifer os va explicar en este vídeo, el estilo indirecto. ¡Vale la pena!

Revising for your last exam. Two good videos.

2009-05-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

I found two good videos for you. The teachers explain Reported Speech and Conditionals. I hope they help you for your exam.

Irregular verbs. Video

2009-05-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

This is a very good video to learn irregular verbs.

Have you ever seen the rain?

2009-05-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is for my students of 3º ESO. We are studying the present perfect with "ever". Listen to this song, you'll never forget the structure. Would you like to sing it in class?

Infinitive vs Gerund

2009-04-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

These two videos will help you study our lesson. When to use the infinitive and gerund.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHmMzCicqiY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Detq4xLHk

Switching languages

2009-03-22T15:20:00.001-07:00

You see, everybody speaks Spanish and English. Here is the singer of Aventura, switching languages, like the most simple thing. Listen to him.

Relative clauses. 2º Bach.

2009-03-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

You’ll find this page very useful to practise relative pronouns.
Check yourself and know if you are improving.
Click here

Revise the past tense with "Yesterday"

2009-01-31T15:45:00.001-08:00

This is a song for my students of 3ºESO. Who hasn't practised the past tense with this beautiful song? Enjoy and sing it.

Sonique. Sky

2009-01-26T06:51:00.000-08:00

This is an easy song to learn. I hope you like it.

Lyrics | Sonique - Sky lyrics

Discurso de Obama

2009-01-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

El nuevo presidente de los EEUU pronunció un discurso de los que eleva al que los da.
Escuchábamos a un hombre claro, sincero, y seguro de sí mismo, para emprender la tarea de gobernar en tiempos con cierto desorden. Obama aludió a los hechos históricos que merecían mención en su discurso. Recordemos que hasta los años 30 y 40 ha existido muestras de segregación en ese país, y el racismo aún persiste. Agradeció el esfuerzo de las generaciones pasadas para conseguir que EEUU llegase tan alto, y a donde Obama confía que pueden volver. No olvidó los conflictos externos, ni los problemas económicos, y habló de paz. Alentó al trabajo, entusiasmo y la creatividad para recuperar lo perdido. Insistió en la igualdad entre los hombres, (Luther King vería ahora culminado su sueño), y recordó la variedad cultural, ideológica y religiosa de su país. Reavivó la conciencia para ayudar a los más necesitados, insistió en extender la educación y cuidar el planeta, algo tan poco respetado por tantos, y defendió la necesidad de seguir desarrollando la ciencia.
Quiso contar con todos y poner su confianza en cada uno de nosotros para mejorar la situación. Lo más conmovedor es que una persona pueda hacer partícipe y arrastrar emocionalmente en su discurso, a personas que no sean de su país, porque yo, inconscientemente, me uní a su proyecto, como seguramente millones de personas. Esos son los buenos líderes, sin duda.
En su discurso, no buscaba la confrontación, sino la solución; no criticaba, sino que veía en sus antecesores, o competidores, lo bueno que podían aportar. Siempre ha sido constructivo, y no ha guardado rencor a los que lo criticaron. Tiene la actitud del que no busca tanto los triunfos personales, sino del que desea participar en la mejora de la evolución de los acontecimientos de este planeta.
Obama parece realista, muestra en su semblante que no es fácil lo que le espera, pero su serenidad ante los acontecimientos, su autoconvencimiento de que se pueden hacer mejor las cosas, su buen juicio, han inspirado confianza a millones de personas.
Si le va bien, lo cual es un deseo generalizado, todos saldremos favorecidos.
Mucha suerte Barack Obama.

Escuché el discurso con guión interactivo y me ha perecido un ejercicio de “listening” muy interesante, os animo a que lo escuchéis. Cliquea aquí.

"You'd better...": Santa Claus is coming to town

2008-12-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

Esta canción repite varias veces "you'd better...", justo lo que os expliqué en clase hace unos días. Espero que la disfrutéis. Feliz Navidad.

Prepositions: In, At, On.

2008-11-29T11:14:00.000-08:00

Here you have good pages to revise and have good notes on these prepositions:

http://www.aulafacil.com/Ingejerc/Lecciones/Lecc27.htm

http://www.aulafacil.com/Ingejerc/Lecciones/Lecc32.htm

http://www.euroresidentes.com/Blogs/curso_ingles/2005/10/preposiciones-de-lugar-en-ingls-inonat.html

Modal Perfects

2008-11-24T11:16:00.000-08:00

It must have been love: Debe de haber sido amor.
must + have + past participle: a logical conclusion about a past action.
Here you have a beautiful song using this structure. Sometimes, learning some lyrics may help you improve your English quite a lot. You should try and learn them by heart, you could make good use of it in special occasions or "maybe" (quizá), in an exam. Who knows?

It Must Have Been Love - MUSICA.COM

Modal Verbs

2008-11-20T11:46:00.000-08:00

Have a look at this page to study these verbs:
e Learn English Language

Modals: vídeo

2008-11-17T12:39:00.000-08:00

Here you have an excellent video with explanation on modal verbs. They are very well presented, take a look at it and get familiar with them. We'll study this in class very soon.

Let's go to the cinema and sing.

2008-11-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

We are going to the cinema next Wednesday. The film is a musical,“Mamma Mía”, with plenty of songs composed by ABBA. Here you have two of my favourite songs. I hope you like them.

ABBA-The Winner Takes It All

ABBA lyrics

Chiquitita-Karaoke version

Present Perfect Video

2008-10-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

In this video, some people will show you how to use the present perfect. I hope you like it.

Revising tenses

2008-10-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

I recommend you to read this Web page from lesson 17th to 22nd. It will help you a lot with our verb tense revision. Click here.

One of Shakira's hits: Objection

2008-10-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

We are reading an article about Shakira these days, this is one of her famous songs.

Objection - MUSICA.COM

Bye Paul

2008-09-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

I wanted to attach Manohla Dargis’s wonderful comments on Paul Newman. He was a generous man and a great actor. Thank you for showing us that it is possible to change our world into something better.
Listen

English tenses.

2008-08-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hi again,
Here you have two good pages with detailed explanations of the English tenses. The second one has cartoons to make it more fun. Take a look at them.

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar_list/zeitformen.htm

http://www.englishtenseswithcartoons.com/

Modelo de examen 1º Bach.

2008-08-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

Un saludo a aquellos alumnos de 1º de bachillerato que me estéis siguiendo a través de este blog. Tenéis un modelo de examen de 1º de Bachillerato en mi página web. Lo veréis en menú principal, “Apuntes/Modelo Ex.”. En unos días os doy las soluciones, (en ese mismo lugar), para que lo podáis corregir.
Recordad, el examen de recuperación es el día 2 a las 10:00h.

Repaso general. 1º Bach.

2008-07-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

He preparado un listado de páginas en las que vais a poder practicar los aspectos gramaticales vistos en clase, con ejercicios de autocorrección.

1. Oraciones de relativo – “Relative Clauses”
Explicación y ejercicios, con los distintos tipos de relativo.
a. Mi vídeo: http://www.bioestadistica.uma.es/ana/content/blogcategory/17/45/
b. http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/clauses-2.html
c. http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/clauses-3.html
d. http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/clauses-4.html

2. Oraciones de estilo indirecto – “Reported Speech”
a. http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech

3. Oraciones Condicionales – “Conditionals”:
a. http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/conditional-sentences

4. Oraciones pasivas – “Passive Voice”.
a. Mi vídeo: http://www.bioestadistica.uma.es/ana/content/blogcategory/17/45/
b. http://www.mansioningles.com/gram55.htm
c. http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive
d. http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_passive1.htm

5. Oraciones causativas “Have/get something done”
a. http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/havesomethingdone/menu.php

Teneis además la página de Isabel Pérez Torres, que ya conoceis, en la que encontrareis todo. Echadle un buen vistazo. http://www.isabelperez.com/grammar.htm No olvidéis que en mi Web también tenéis enlaces a muy buenas páginas.

En Agosto os daré una dirección para que accedáis a un breve examen de 1º de Bachillerato, (que elaboraré con soluciones), para que podáis comprobar cómo va vuestro nivel.

Ánimo y no dejéis el repaso para el final.

Verbs tense revision

2008-07-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

We start with “Verbs tense revision”. Take a look at these links, the first page is bilingual, the explanation is in Spanish, and the second one is really nice and easy, perfect to have a good revision without difficulties.

http://www.idiomasgratis.com/ig_view_resource.php?html_code=ig_basico_c2_a4_p1.html

http://www.learn-english-online.org/ Lessons: 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 29, 30, 31, 40, 48, 49 and 50

Actress-dancer Cyd Charisse has died

2008-06-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Cyd Charisse, the long-legged dancer has died today. I admired her because she had a very nice style and perfect movements of arms and feet. I’m sad because she made me dream and have very nice moments every time I would see any of her films. Like some other people, she influenced me a little bit.
Bye Cyd.

Ask questions to Mary.

2008-06-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

"Think in English” es un blog de aula creado por Aurora Jove, y es genial por todo lo que Aurora nos presenta tan novedoso e interesante para aprender inglés. De momento me gustaría que fuerais a un enlace suyo que nos hace conocer a Mary. Le podréis preguntar cualquier cosa, pero con la pregunta bien formulada, a ver qué os contesta.

http://www.tinglado.net/?id=practica-tu-ingles

¡Recuerda!: Who?, What?, Why?, When?, Where?, How old?, .... son algunas de las "question words" que podeis utilizar.

Two links to Causative Sentenses.

2008-06-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

Next week we’ll start studying “Causative Sentences” in class. I give you the links to two good webs where you can revise the grammar, practise and check yourself.

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/have_something_done.html

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/participles/exercises?08

Some more practice on Conditionals

2008-05-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

As I told you in class, I show you a good page to practise the conditionals.
Grammar chart:
http://www.curso-ingles.com/gramatica-inglesa/condic.php

Why don’t you try and do the next exercise? It’s a quiz and you’ll be able to correct yourself. You’ll see it at the top of the page. You’ll find the three types of conditionals there.

Quiz:
Click here: http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl_conditionals1.htm

If I were.... practise with this song.

2008-05-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

I thought this song would remind you that you have to say "If I were..." instead of "if I was..." in conditional sentences. Listen to it, the lyrics are really nice.

More practice on Reported Speech

2008-05-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Some students asked me to provide them with more exercises to practise “indirect speech”. Here you have some sites where you’ll be able to do many exercises and check your answers.

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_reportingverbs.htm
Do the exercises on these three sections:
Basic Reported (Indirect) Speech
Indirect Speech Transformations Quiz 1
Indirect Speech Transformations Quiz 2

Some more webs:
http://www.world-english.org/reportedspeech.htm
http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz%20center/rptspeech1.htm

Taio Cruz. "I can be", full of comparatives.

2008-05-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

You can listen to the comparative form in this song. You'll realise it isn't difficult. I hope you like it.

Lyrics

- Taio Cruz Lyrics

Conditionals

2008-05-06T08:02:00.001-07:00

We're studying the conditionals in class. Please have a look at these pages to practise.

http://www.curso-ingles.com/gramatica-inglesa/condic.php

http://www.isabelperez.com/conditionals1.htm

E-mails to Charlie.

2008-04-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

This is our first magazine with students' compositions. Take a look at it. They are e-mails written to a boy called Charlie, who is coming to Spain.

Spanglish

2008-04-14T16:20:00.001-07:00

It was nice, wasn’t it?
“Spanglish” is a play that deals with stereotypes. In a world of social networks and easy communications, stereotypes still remain.

According to some of the students, a group of 4º, the play was very funny and the actor and actresses performed very well. The decoration was colourful and beautiful. Someone said it was easy to understand, which is very important.
When I asked them about their favourite scenes, they mentioned many different moments: the scene at the restaurant, on the plane, with the skateboard, in the classroom, dancing to The Beatles’s song with the students, the kiss at the end and especially, the actor pretending to be a bullfighter dancing and singing “Olé!”

Have a look at the slides.

| View | Upload your own

What are stereotypes?

Practise Passive Voice. (4º ESO)

2008-04-13T05:23:00.001-07:00

Try to do this activity designed by Isabel Pérez Torres. You'll revise the passive voice.
http://www.isabelperez.com/hotpot/dogphone.htm

Voz pasiva 4º ESO

2008-04-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

Para que reviséis la formación de las oraciones pasivas, os recomiendo echar un vistazo a esta página

Past tense.

2008-03-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Last week we studied the past tense in class of 2º ESO. I’d like you to revise that grammar point on Isabel’s page:
http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/past_simple.htm#inicio
And then, do the following exercises:
First: Correct the mistakes.
http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/exercises/past_mistakes.htm
Second: Put the sentences in the correct order.
http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/exercises/past_quest1.htm

"If everybody cared...", by Nickelback

2008-03-13T16:32:00.001-07:00

Do you remember the second type of conditional sentences? The grammatical structure is as follows:

If+S+v.past+(Object),S+would+inf+(Object)

You'll practise these sentences with the next song chosen by one of my students.

Letras Canciones.

www.quedeletras.com

You've got the video here, there is a bit of German at the end, another beautiful European language.

Future tense

2008-03-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

For 1º Bach.: I recommend to have a look at this page to study the future tense.
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/freeexercises.htm
Go to the tenses section and click on the tense you are interested in, you’ve got notes and exercises on-line where you can check yourself.

Video Quiz: Mouse and Cheese Song

2008-02-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

Mouse and Cheese Song

Collocations

2008-02-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

Picture taken from: http://palc.sd40.bc.ca/palc/feature/0402/collocations.htm#top

As it is explained in the site BBC World Service, “Collocation refers to the way in which some words regularly occur together”

Take a look at this page and practise "collocations".
http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blcollocation_5.htm

Jobs and professions.

2008-02-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

Image taken from: http://www.learnenglish.de/vocabulary/jobs.htm Leo Netwok

Have a look at this excellent page called Leo Netwok-Learn. English. Click on the image to listen to the word.
http://www.learnenglish.de/vocabulary/jobs.htm

Here is a long list of jobs and professions.
http://www.lingolex.com/job.htm

Click and listen to the word, (mp3 format).
http://www.madridteacher.com/Activities/jobs-vocabulary-list.htm

Asking and Giving Directions

2008-02-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

Picture taken from:www.istockphoto.com
We are practising how to give directions these days, here you have some useful pages with exercises, and an excellent video to learn how to deal with these real situations.
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/vocabulary/directions
http://www.wakeupenglish.com/free_dialogues/files/dialbu12.swf
http://esl.about.com/library/speaking/bldialogues_directions.htm

Write your love poem

2008-02-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

Image taken from http://www.lacoctelera.com/
Isabel Pérez Torres has designed a beautiful activity for St. Valentine’s day. You can write a love poem and hand it in. She gives you the words, so you just have to drag and drop them in the blank space. Go to this section of her web page: http://www.isabelperez.com/lovepoem1.htm

Lucie Silvas. "What you're made of"

2008-02-13T14:15:00.000-08:00

We'll practise some grammar points and vocabulary with this song in class. Enjoy it!
What You're Made Of - MUSICA.COM

Oraciones de Relativo. Ejercicio "On-line".

2008-01-31T13:48:00.000-08:00

Os animo a hacer esta actividad. Está realizada por Isabel Pérez Torres, y si os esforzáis en construir bien estas frases, y obtenéis aciertos en ellas, podéis estar seguros de que habéis entendido el sentido de este tipo de oraciones. Esta profesora nos presenta estos ejercicios de una forma mucho más atractiva. Este es el enlace.
http://www.isabelperez.com/relative.htm

The comparative / Present Perfect

2008-01-26T06:06:00.000-08:00

Recommended pages to practise the comparative in English. 2º ESO C
http://www.saberingles.com.ar/curso/lesson12/04.html
http://www.better-english.com/grammar/comparatives.htm

And this one is for 4º ESO A. It’s about the Present Perfect Tense.
http://www.learnenglish.de/tests/presentperfectverbs.htm

Futuro: will/going to

2008-01-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

A petición de un alumno de 4º, os recomiendo una página donde repasar este aspecto gramatical. Capítulo 14 de esta web:
http://www.curso-de-ingles.de/gramatica/contenido/curso_basico_11_15.htm#kapitel14

Para practicar el fututo con will/going to, hay ejercicios de autocorrección aquí:
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.gowil.i.htm

London

2008-01-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

I needed to show some slides of London to some students. Nothing better than youtube for this occasion. Enjoy it!

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=7hbqjKzUrXA&feature=related

http://flickr.com/photos/silyld/sets/282026/

Past Simple, Present Perfect & Past Perfect

2008-01-14T07:15:00.000-08:00

Para quienes queráis practicar los tiempos verbales en inglés: Past Simple, Present Perfect, y Past Perfect, os recomiendo una página bilingüe en la que hay explicaciones claras, es la primera que menciono, y otras en las que podéis practicar los distintos aspectos vistos en clase. Son distintas secciones de una misma página.
Como aún no hemos visto las oraciones condicionales de tercer tipo, obviar las frases que empiecen por IF.
Tenéis que dar tiempo a que se cargue la página.
En la primera web tenéis que buscar el tema 8, y para pasar página debéis cliquear abajo, donde dice “seguir”.

http://www.curso-de-ingles.de/gramatica/contenido/curso_basico_6_10.htm

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.pastperf.i.htm

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.presper.i.htm

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.since.i.htm

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.perf.i.htm

Estancias en el extranjero

2008-01-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

ORDEN de 18 de diciembre de 2007, conjunta de la Consejería de Educación y la Consejería para la Igualdad y Bienestar Social, por la que se convocan estancias en el extranjero al amparo del programa «Idiomas y Juventud» para el curso escolar 2007-2008 y se establecen los requisitos, los criterios de prioridad y el procedimiento para la adjudicación de las mismas.

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/educacion/nav/contenido.jsp?pag=/Contenidos/OEE/programasinternacionales/2007_2008_OrdenEstancias&vismenu=0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0

The Christmas Song sung by Nat King Cole

2007-12-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

Image taken from: http://skins.hotbar.com/skins/mailskins/img/100105/100105_aniMI10_prv.gif
When I was a little girl, I used to listen to Nat King Cole, because my parents liked his music. Now, I still like him very much, so as I found this beautiful video, I thought I could share with you. I hope you like it.

Learn a Christmas song

2007-12-25T07:54:00.000-08:00

Enjoy some Christmas songs. In the next page, ompersonal.com, there are mp3 songs, bilingual lyrics with glossaries to some Christmas songs. Learn this one:
http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omchristmas2/SilverBells.htm

Now sing and listen to the music without lyrics
http://www.rienzihills.com/ChristmasSing/silverbells.htm

Happy Christmas!

Relative clauses / Oraciones de relativo

2007-12-24T15:03:00.000-08:00

Here you have good notes to study our next grammar point in 1º Bachillerato. Edufin.com and Usingenglish.com Both contain complete and well structured explanations.

A)
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rel1.cfm
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rel2.cfm
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rel4.cfm
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rel3.cfm

B)
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/relative-clauses-part-1.html
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/relative-clauses-part-2.html

C)
This one has the Spanish explanation by Antº Luis Lallena
http://www.supercable.es/~lallena/OracionesRelativo.html

D)
Apuntes de inglés. Good and simple grammar charts
http://www.jalon.net/tiraraina/doc-apuntes11.htm

Common errors. Which word should I use?

2007-12-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.saberingles.com.ar/which/index.html

This is one of the best pages I’ve found to know which words to use when they have similar spelling or meaning. It can be adapted to 1º Bachillerato.
I hope you find it useful

Irregular verbs - mp3

2007-12-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

With this web page you have the opportunity to learn the irregular verbs at once. Click on the irregular verbs in the table to listen to the pronunciation.
http://www.eslpodcards.com/irregular-verbs.php

Pronunciation lessons

2007-12-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

I’ve found a very interesting page where you can practice the vowel sounds /I/ and /i:/. This will be for 4º ESO and the next aspect to deal with in January.
Click here: http://lc.ust.hk/~material/pl/p7_14.htm#p8

Alicia Keys - No One

2007-12-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

Picture taken from: http://imaginariumsland.blogspot.com

Let's learn some vocabulary with this song:

No one: nadie
Will: es el auxiliar para formar el futuro
Gonna: equivale a going to (la estructura completa es to be going to)
Coz: otras veces verás 'cause y rara vez because en este tipo de música.
Keep: es un verbos que rige gerundio: “keep talking”: seguir hablando
Get in the way: es una expression que significa entorpecer, estorbar.
The rain is pouring down: significa que llueve a mares.
You’ll always be around: siempre estarás ahí. (Muy oído en canciones)
Search: significa buscar.
Till the end of time: hasta el final de los tiempos. Recuerda podemos decir till o until.

Lyrics

Letras Canciones.

www.quedeletras.com

Song

Revise the Present Perfect with Linkin Park

2007-12-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

Image taken from: es.easyart.com

Linkin Park: What I have done

These days, we are studying the Present Perfect tense in class (1ºBachillerato). I chose a song in which this tense is often used. You suggested me to listen to this group. I hope you like it.

Nouns:
Farewell: despedida
Alibi: coartada
Mercy: compasión
Slate: pizarra, en muchos contextos
clean slate significa borrón y cuenta nueva.

Verbs:
Wash away: limpiar
Erase: borrar
Forgive: perdonar
Cross out: tachar

Present perfect
I’ve drawn regret: he obtenido/provocado
lamento, remordimiento, excusa
I’ve become: me ha convertido
What I’ve done: lo que he hecho

Lyrics

Letras Canciones.

www.quedeletras.com

Song

Traductor Google

2007-12-01T01:05:00.000-08:00

A petición de algunos alumnos he incluido en este blog una herramienta que os ayudará a traducir lo que escribo en inglés. Os puede servir solo a modo de orientación porque, sinceramente, la traducción no es muy buena.
Insisto en que hagáis el esfuerzo de leer en inglés, poco a poco la lectura se os volverá más fluida.
Ese gadget lo tenéis arriba y a la derecha de este blog, solo tenéis que elegir el idioma y cliquear. Espara un momento y verás los textos en español. Puedes volver de forma automática a la primera versión, pulsando la barra donde dice "versión original".

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T12:09:00.001-08:00

Picture taken from: floridatoday.com

Different cultures celebrate a traditional feast called Thanksgiving. We will learn about the one started in the United States.
In 1620 a boat filled with more than one hundred people settled in the New World. After a long time of difficulties, in the autumn of 1621, the colonists were very thankful for the wonderful harvest they got, so they planned a feast. In following years, the colonists celebrated the autumn harvest with that same feast of thanks.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set the fourth Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving.

Have a look at this web and learn about this tradition.
I have prepared a Web task for ESO. Work on it and enjoy learning.

Unbelievable, by Craig David

2007-11-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

Again, a beautiful song. One of my students suggested me listening to Craig David’s songs. They are really worth analysing. I chose "Unbelievable"-"Increíble"
I give some grammar notes, vocabulary and as usual, I show you the lyrics with the song underneath and the video. Learn with it and enjoy yourself.
Thank you guys for keeping me updated with the good music.

Would: Conditional. I would know: sabría, conocería. I’d be ready: estaría preparado
Could: podría o podía
Present perfect: I’ve never been: nunca he estado, you’ve always been: siempre has sido
Have got: You’ve got nothing to fear now, or You haven’t anything to fear now.(No tienes nada que temer)
Frequency adverbs: Always (siempre), never (nunca), sometimes (a veces),
Determiners: Somewhere (algún lugar), somehow (algún modo/alguna manera)
Phrasal verbs: Give up (rendirse, dejar de), can’t help (no poder evitar), break down (echarse a llorar, descomponerse, colapsar))
Adverbs: Enough (demasiado, suficientemente) / Too (demasiado)/ So (tan)
Recuerda: “adjetivo + enough” y “too + adjetivo”
Verbs: Feel (sentir), change (cambiar), mean (significar), flow (fluir), fear (temer), hold (sostener), lose (perder), rescue (rescatar)
Expressions: To be in love (estar enamorado),
Noun: Waterfall (cascada, catarata)
Prefix: Un- (no) Unacceptable, unreal, unhappy, unbelievable
Sufixes: -able, -ible, -ble (indica posbilidad) acceptable, noticable, convertible, ivisible, irresistible, believable.

Dynamic text

Letras Canciones.

www.quedeletras.com

Song

you'll think of me, by Keith Urban

2007-11-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

Dynamic text

Letras Canciones.

www.quedeletras.com

We are working with the lyrics of this song in class these days, revise some grammar and learn new vocabulary with it.
Video

Past Simple/Past Continuous

2007-11-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

I’m going to give you the address of an excellent page where you can read about what I’m explaining in class these days. Click here to access:
Have a look at it and bring some examples of this page to our lesson. I will reward it.

Notes: Used to / would. Verbal tenses

2007-11-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

I give you the links to two webs, with explanations of the same aspects that I’m going to deal with in the next days. Different use of "used to" and "would" to express past actions.
Click here.

Verbal Tenses: You'll find a good graphical explanation.
Click here.

Some grammar revision with Rihanna’s song

2007-11-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

Unfaithful

Image taken from Sadek2000

Verbs followed by prepositions:
Search for: buscar
Hang with: pasar el tiempo con…

Learn three phrasal verbs with this son:
Walk out: salir
Take away: llevarse, quitar
Get over with: terminar con algo.

One Verb + gerund.
Keep avoiding: seguir evitando.

Letras Canciones.

www.quedeletras.com

Listen to the song while reading the lyrics.

Halloween

2007-10-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Do you want to know a bit about Halloween origin and celebration, and have a ghost walk? Have a look at these pages and have fun.

http://www.kico4u.de/english/topicotw/halloween.htm

http://www.meddybemps.com/halloween/ghostwalk.html

An if you want to have a colourful Halloween party, you can print the next images, cut and colour them.

http://www.artsncrafts-ideas.com/halloween-colorings.php

Adverbs.

2007-10-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a video to learn what adverbs are.

OSASCOM

2007-10-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

As you asked me this morning, I’m showing you two good pages where you can learn how to write the adjectives in the right order when you have more than one in a sentence. The word you had to remember was: OSASCOM. There could be one more type of adjective, as you will see: "purpose", but probably, less frequent.
Click here to see one page and here to see the other one.
By the way: "dimension"="size"

Dickinson College

2007-10-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

Talking to Noah the other day, I found out that we both had studied at the same college in USA. This morning, we were talking about this place in class and I promised to publish pictures of Dickinson College. Here you are:
That University is in Carlisle, Pennsylvania State.

Can’t help + gerund

2007-10-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Learn the expression “Can’t help” with a nice song. I hope you like it.
Here is the lyrics

Image taken from El Mundo

I can't help falling in Love

Wise men say only fools rush in
But I can’t help falling in love with you
Shall I stay
Would it be a sin
If I can’t help falling in love with you

Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I can’t help falling in love with you

Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I can’t help falling in love with you
For I can’t help falling in love with you

Baltimore

2007-10-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today we met Noah, he is our assistant teacher, coming from Baltimore, USA. The students may have a better idea of what it is like with this video. I hope you like it

Umbrella, by Rihanna

2007-10-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Image taken from: www.rihanna-fan.net/linq.php

Some of my new students told me that Umbrella by Rihanna was a good song and that they would like to listen to it in class one day. Isabel Pérez was right when she said it was a hit. Let’s move to her page, one more time, to listen to the song and do some exercises.

Hurt, by Cristina Aguilera

2007-09-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

First song of the year.
I listened to this song last weekend, and I could see that there are many interesting grammar points in it. For instance, you can revise different verb tenses, conditional sentences, adjectives and verbs followed by prepositions, phrasal verbs,useful vocabulary and more.
Read the lyrics while you are listening to the song. If you want to slow down the speed, leave the cursor on a line.

Letras Canciones.

www.quedeletras.com

Here you have the song. Click on the icon:

Nueva York amputada

2007-09-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Imagen tomada de: puntonaranja.wordpress.com
Esa era la perspectiva a pie de las torres.

No hay más palabras que las ya empleadas, para describir una tragedia como la de aquel 11 de septiembre , y es difícil explicar el sentimiento ante tanto horror; espanto, rabia, indignación…. Nunca pensé que aquellas torres gemelas, tan gigantes y firmes podrían venirse abajo y arrastrar consigo, tantas vidas, sueños. Los símbolos de poder y moderna arquitectura. Me parecían, al tocarlas, que serían eternas, pero ya no están, y como el autor del vídeo que os propongo ver, no sale de su asombro de que aquel lugar tan grandioso donde estuvo 4 semanas antes del derrumbe, ya no exista. Quedarán siempre en el recuerdo de quienes las conocimos y las pudimos disfrutar.
Algunas veces mis alumnos me preguntan cómo era el World Trade Center, así que para ilustrar la explicación, ya no usaré mis fotos, ni transparencias o diapositivas, prefiero hacer esta pequeña recopilación de imágenes y vídeos para nuevas promociones.

El autor de este vídeo ha realizado un magnífico reportaje, y además le vais a entender muy bien. Escuchadle:

Interior de los edificios. Imagen tomada de: http://blogg.de/

Aquí está el enlace a otro vídeo de la construcción, para los más interesados en la materia. Devastaron en 10 segundos lo que costó 10 años levantar.

Nuevo proyecto:

Karaoke

2007-09-09T04:51:00.000-07:00

Did you ever want to catch and understand every single word of “Will you still love me tomorrow?” It was performed by the Shirelles and belongs to the sound track of “Dirty Dancing” film. Today, as always, just by chance, I’ve found a video with the lyrics of that nice song. You can read, check the pronunciation and use it as a karaoke activity.

Enjoy it!

If you wish to see others, here there are some more:

Everytime Britney

Chiquitita - ABBA

Even Heaven Cries - Monrose

Making something like the next one could be a challenge to any of my students who can sing. Record something, share it with us and I promise you will be rewarded.

Because of you

10 Common Mistakes in English

2007-08-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I’ve found some good grammar tips published by Kenneth Beare for those students who always confuse some expressions like “since” or “for”, “has gone to” and “has been to”, “they’re” and “their”, ….. This last mistake is also made by some English students sometimes, so I’m sure this is going to be a good help for some of you. Click here and take a look.

Desayuno insuficiente=déficit de atención.

2007-08-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

D. Javier Aranceta, presidente de honor del V Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Nutrición Básica y Aplicada (SENBA), realizaba las siguientes reflexiones sobre la importancia de la primera comida del día en un artículo llamado La calidad del desayuno afecta de manera directa a la producción laboral e intelectual , en la página Educasalud, de Educared; y comentaba lo siguiente: “Un desayuno que no posea el equilibrio necesario afecta de manera directa a la producción laboral e intelectual, toda vez que la persona trabajadora acude a su puesto con un déficit de atención lo arrastra a lo largo del día y que afecta de manera directa a su rendimiento”. “No cabe duda de que un desayuno inadecuado aumenta el riesgo de accidentes laborales”. “El desayuno ha de incorporar frutas, productos lácteos y cereales”.
El artículo completo se puede leer en la siguiente dirección:

http://www.educared.net/educasalud/info/info_noticias.asp?idn=2532