Still another techno-tool to help you with your studies. Here you'll find extra-reading, extra-listening, extra-grammar stuff, extra writing tips... extra-everything, so it's up to you what you do with it. Needless to say, your feedback, ideas, and comments are very welcome. This blog is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
Singing is good for your English, so click on full screen, put up the volume, and sing along with John Lennon, Wham!, The Cadillacs, U2, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and Aretha Franklin
I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming year!
Storytelling time! Click on "full screen" to see the subtitles. **By the way.... did you notice that the wolf says 'Where are you going'? and that all the tenses, regular and irregular verbs, are in the past?
The National Geographic Magazine revealed last year what the most typical person on the planet looks like, as part of their new series which focuses on the human race called ‘Population 7 billion’.
The research found that a 28-year-old Han Chinese male is the world's most typical person with 9 million around the globe.
Watch this video and check how similar to/different from the most typical person you are.
Are you richer? poorer? younger? older?
Chess? Cheese? Beach? .....? Pronunciation IS important. This story, already a classic by now, is particularly funny and illustrative of how a sound can completely change the meaning of a word (By the way, sorry about the dirty words -I hope nobody takes offence ...:-)
These words (Sheep/ship) are called “minimal pairs” (pairs of words which differ in only one 'sound' (phoneme) and have different meanings. Here (and in yourbook CD) you have many other good examples: http://www.shiporsheep.com/page1.html(just put the cursor on the words, don't click on them)
(sigh) You are awake, by the way. You're not having a terrible, terrible dream.
Also, you're not dead and you haven't gone to hell
This is your life now, this is our election now. This is us. This is our country. It's real.
... the History of Halloween : Read about the origins of Halloween and see in which way it is similar to our traditions.
...and a classic for Halloween, Michael Jackson's THRILLER, the complete story, with Vincent Price, the master of horror stories and movies, in the rap. You'll recognise his laughHERE
Happy Halloween, or castanyada, or whatever you celebrate!
Exams are over, so just to remind you that on June 27th your marks will be posted:
- Online: Go to your 'preinscripció' page through a link at the EOI Garraf's website. If you have problems with your login or password, please ask Secretaria. Be patient with technology since the system tends to crash when everybody tries to log in at the same time. Or ...
- EOI's notice board: you'll see your scores for the five skills and your final mark.
So what now? FAQs (Frequently asked questions):
- "I got 65 (or more) and I'm very happy." Congratulations! I knew you would!" Try to read a little in summer or watch movies, or listen to podcasts, speak, cook, sing ...do whatever you can in English so that you don't forget it all! - "I got 65 but I didn't really mean it! I don't think I'm prepared for the next level!" Oh, well, too bad, too late, so sorry. Good luck next year!
- "Oh, no ! I didn't get the f*#`* 65! It would be suicidal to get to the next level. Language learning is a difficult equation, certainly more complex than divisions into levels/years. Take it easy, take your time, try once more and you'll end up with a much better chance of passing and, most important, improving your English.
Please remember that the 'matricula online' is on specific days in July. Please check the EOI webpage or ask Secretaria if you have any doubts or questions on this and make sure you get your 'matricula' in order if you want to continue with us next year.
And finally, I'd like to wish you a well deserved summer break!
OOOps, and a final recommendation: Speaking is essential. Remember that at http://www.gospeaky.com/ you have a myriad of English speakers impatiently waiting for you ! So, speak... and sing along as much as you can!
Get plenty of sleep the night before, and don't eat too much on the exam day.
Make sure you arrive with time to spare so that you can chat with your friends and go in calmly rather than in a frantic rush.
It may sound stupid, but don't forget to read the instructions of every exercise, and make sure you know what you have to do.
It may sound even more stupid but, as we've said so many times, in the oral/written exam, usewhat you know, NOT what you don't know. SHOW what you know, not what you don't know!
Write slowly, don't translate, KISS (Keep It Short and Simple, but rich and well connected) connect your ideas, use words/structures that you've learnt.
In the oral exam, relax and be ready to have a nice conversation with your partner (L3 remember to play tennis, keep the ball rolling!). L2-L3: Don't worry about the words you don't know and focus on the things that you know.
Leave your mobile phone at home, don't forget your pens and your ID, relax, concentrate, keep the right dose of adrenaline ready for action and ...
...enjoy it! Thanks for your attention and your patience all through the year and... I wish you all the best!
Prince - 1999 (1982)per retrospective1 I was dreaming when I heard this
forgiveme if it goes astray
but when I woke up this morning
could've sworn it was judgement day
Not my favourite artist but the best concert I've seen in my life. A genius. Sheer energy. Too young. Rest in peace.
This is another type of test. It's about the things we saw in films before coming true in real life. I scored high in the previous test, but only got 25% in this one (and it was mere chance!)
This post is for L3
If someone wants to apply for an "indefinite leave to remain" visa, they’ll need to take a citizenship test and an English language test.
Listen to David Cameron saying why they want immigrants to speak basic English
The Independent has put together this short quiz using example questions from the B1 language test.
READ the article and TAKE THE TEST HERE
Did you pass it?
You said you didn't know where to go next weekend? It looks like Virgin Galactic is ready to send you to outer space. An old friend of yours can tell you how ;-)
Hi Level 2:
Simple English Videos is a site is hosted by husband and wife team Vicki Hollett and Jay Silber. Vicki is an English teacher who has written award winning course books and videos. British by birth, she now lives in Philadelphia. Jay’s a multimedia expert, and his training films have also won awards. You can find well over a hundred videos on their site, or on their YouTube channel, covering topics such as grammar, vocabulary, songs, and business English.
Here's their latest video, which looks at sports and the verbs 'play', 'go', and 'do'.
I think it's a good site, I hope you like it!
Twenty-year-old Alex Rawlings has won a national competition to find the UK's most multi-lingual student.
The Oxford University undergraduate can currently speak 11 languages - English, Greek, German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Afrikaans, French, Hebrew, Catalan and Italian. WOW!
L3 WATCH : an interview with Alex Rawlings with interesting tips for language learning.
- Avoid direct trnslations (concentrate on how to express an idea)
- Don't learn vocabulary in isolation. Learn words in context
Happy new year everybody, you can start getting ready for next week!
English in a minute is a video collection of IDIOMS (idiomatic expressions that are often used in English)
Don't forget that you have to do a lot of listening!
