Sunday, December 20, 2015

Christmas




Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! May it be filled with joy, laughter, love...oh, and lots of presents! Here is a Christmas season bucket list that you can try to mark off over the holidays.

1. Watch a Christmas movie
2. Make a handmade Christmas card
3. Make eggnog
4. Listen to Christmas carols
5. Bake cookies
6. Read Christmas stories such as this one that I posted on edmodo, this Christmas classic or this poem that American children read every Christmas Eve.
7. Build a snowman (just kidding...we live in Murcia!)
8. Go Christmas shopping
9. Kiss under the mistletoe
10. Drink mulled wine

What would you add to this list?

Podcasts









No matter what you're interested in, there's a podcast for you! I'm a huge podcast fan. I love downloading several of them on various topics to listen to while I commute to work, wait in line or even while I'm at the gym. There are podcasts created specifically for language learners, but at your level listening to normal podcasts shouldn't be a problem. 


I personally enjoy BBC news, Lena Dunham's Woman of the hour, Elizabeth Gilbert's podcasts on creativity, Dear Sugar podcasts on society and culture and This American Life.



Here are a few others recommended by a Cup of Jo 




Sunday, December 13, 2015

'Tis the Season

While Christmas can be an exciting time of year, it can also be extremely stressful. Shopping, cooking and social obligations seem to take up most of our time and leave us feeling drained. What would happen if we said exactly what we felt about attending some of these gatherings? I know some of them can be great fun, but I know there are a few you'd rather avoid (ahem...your in-laws for example).

Click here to find out

Maybe these charts with help you manage this Christmas




Illustrated Idioms

English can be a complex language to learn with loads of irregular verbs, odd spelling/pronunciation rules and oodles of idiomatic expressions. An English teacher in Brazil decided to make her students' lives easier by illustrating a few of the most popular idiomatic phrases in the English language. I thought you might enjoy them!

Click here to see them

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Adjectives/Adverbs


Remember that at this level you are expected to use precise adjectives when describing something/someone. Adjectives and adverbs are particularly frequent in descriptive texts; Here are a few descriptive text writing examples. Hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend--I know I did! 


Sunday, November 22, 2015

Thanksgiving




Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November and is a holiday for feasting, gathering with friends and family and giving thanks. In the United States, it's not uncommon for people to live far away from their loved ones and to head home to spend Thanksgiving weekend with their kin. Here is a funny video about spending your holidays in your hometown.


Thanksgiving seating chart
Thanksgiving listening
Listening activities and answers
Friends clip Brad Pitt 
Friends clip Rachel's trifle

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Fifty People One Question

Hey! Check out these videos and hear people answering difficult questions in various big cities around the world. The first one deals with regrets in life.


Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Can I have a word with you in my office...


Teacher Luke's podcasts are a fun and easy way to learn real English and common expressions. Here's a good one to start with about "management speak" where you'll find out what it means "to touch base with someone" or "to beat around the bush". 

I wish you would...


I don't know whether or not you are familiar with the American singer Ryan Adams, but I highly recommend his music. While my favorite Ryan Adams' song will always be this one, his cover of Taylor Swift's "I wish you would" fits in perfectly with our current unit on wish constructions. You can listen to it here and then read the lyrics here.

To practice wishes and hypotheses read and do the exercises here.

And for extra conditional work click here

Have a great weekend!

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Ellen DeGeneres



Ellen DeGeneres is a popular comedian and talk show host in the U.S. nowadays. Since we've just finished talking about interviews, I thought this interview with Antonio Banderas and comprehension quiz might be a nice way to get a bit more listening practice in. If you have the time I also recommend her parody of Matthew Mconaughey's Lincoln commercial!

Click here for interview and quiz

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Listening Practice


Here is a great website to practice listening for the exam with a wide variety of topics. If you have a bit of free time this weekend, I recommend listening to "Leisure" and answering the comprehension questions. The more you practice the more you'll understand.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Thursday, October 15, 2015

How important is body language?

Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.
Click here to watch the video
We will discuss it in class on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend! 

Monday, October 12, 2015

Film Snob


I came across this article in the New York Times and decided to share it with you. Are you a film snob?  What about a beer snob or a wine snob?

According to Urban Dictionary a snob is...


Anyone who thinks they are better than someone else based upon superficial factors.
Paris Hilton 
The Olsen Twins 
Tori Spelling 

Need I say more?

Friday, October 9, 2015

Pronunciation


Here is the full video we saw in class from "I Love Lucy" about English pronunciation and here you can find a short explanation of the pronunciation of those dreadful words with "ough" and  "augh". Have a great long weekend!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Interview with Ben Affleck


He co-wrote, directed and stars in the Boston bank-heist film The Town. Ben Affleck will now take your questions.

Also...

Nervous about an interview conversations in English

Extra reading: Q & A with Amy Winehouse

Grammarly

I recommend Grammarly as a useful tool to improve your writing. Not only does it check your vocabulary and grammar mistakes, but it also takes context and register into account. It's free and easy to use! Check it out here. 

October Reading

The unbearable Murcian heat has finally decided to leave us. As winter approaches, you will probably be looking for a good excuse to stay indoors and curl up with a good book. As you are surely well aware, reading is one of the best ways to effortlessly improve your English. Try reading at least one chapter, essay, short story or article a day and you will gradually begin to notice great improvements in fluency and in your vocabulary. I will do my best to post a book recommendation every week or two, as well as interesting articles and essays. In return, I do hope that you all take advantage of these posts and read, read, read! 

See you on Tuesday! 

This week's recommendations:

A Modest Proposal, reflections on gay marriage by American author David Sedaris from the New Yorker


The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience. (Goodreads)
By Betty Smith




Sunday, September 27, 2015

Welcome

Welcome to Advanced I. This blog has been created to be able to easily share videos, links and homework with you throughout the year.