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Friday 15 February 2013

Formal Letters - how to write them

Here you have two presentations that will give you useful tips to write formal letters. Although you have already seen this with Emmi when she explained how to write a COVER LETTER, here they are just in case you still have some doubts.

The First one is more thorough, as it even gives some examples of how to start sentences, depending on the purpose of the letter.





Thursday 14 February 2013

Informal letters - how to write them

This presentation provides very useful tips when writing informal letters. Take a look, it's worth the time!


Sample tests NI2 - B1 Certificate

These are some samples that have been published so that you can see what the exam will be like, as well as the level it implies. I hope you find them useful!

Click on the names to get to the actual exams, and on the solutions to check your score. 



Reading Comprehension           Solutions    

Listening Comprehension          Audio 1         Audio 2        Solutions

Writing

I'm afraid there seem to be some problems when trying to reach the links above. I'm sorry, I do not know why yet. While I try and fix it, here you can access the same exams through educarm.

Sample exams educarm

Get ready for February exam

So that you know where we stand at this point in the course, here's a list of the grammar structures we've seen so far. At this stage, you should be able to use them quite naturally.

Present tenses
for, during, since & till
frequency adverbs and expressions

Past tenses
used to & would

Future tenses

Reported speech
Reporting verbs different from say, tell & ask
Reporting questions

Verbs + ING/ INF
Verbs followed by either a gerund, an infinitive with to, a bare infinitive or both with a change in meaning.

Be used to & Get used to doing something

Be, look & seem

Like & as if

Too + adjective
Adjective + enough

Likely/ unlikely

Such a + adjective + singular noun
Such + adjective + plural noun

Too, also, as well & as well as

Adjectives
ending in -ed or -ing
their place and order

Modals
Have to, don't have to, must, mustn't, can & can't

Be allowed to, be supposed to, shouldn't really

As for the topics, we have gone through feelings, anecdotes & narrating short stories, free time & interests, music, sport & cinema, going out, a bit of travelling, a bit on the weather, technologies, working world, shopping and a bit of money. 

As regards written assignments, we've seen how to write an informal email, you've written recommendations to visit interesting places on a day trip, you've also narrated a short story in the past, you've written beautiful and accurate descriptions of your idyllic place, as well as a formal cover letter applying for a job. And I almost forgot, three film reviews as well! Any of these could be in the exam next week, as well as an opinion essay. 

And some of you have already handed in a review on the book chosen for this year. Do you remember you have to read a graded reader and bring it to class for our classroom library

Have a nice revision weekend!!

Song - Money, money, money

This is the version of the last song we did in class, as it appears in the musical Mamma mia!


Thursday 7 February 2013

Talking about money - Idiomatic expressions



The opposite of generous is...

mean
tight-fisted
stingy (strongest)

When you want to pay for the drinks...

it’s on me
it’s my shout (australian expression)

The opposite of mean....

open-handed

When each person pays their part...

to go Dutch
to split the bill

To save money...

look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves
waste not, want not
to save for a rainy day

Spending money...

money slips through one’s fingers
retail therapy
to go on a spree
no expense (was/ has been/ will be) spared

Earning money...

a cash cow
money is no object
to make a living
to make good money

To pay...

to foot the bill (usually involves a big amount of money)

To be short of money...

to be flat broke
to make ends meet
to make do
to be on a tight budget


The best things in life are free




Listening practice - Huge discounts in New Years' sales


This is a listening about shopping around Christmas time. Listen to it and complete the gaps in the text I gave you in class.




How to survive shopping... with your boyfriend!

This a very stereotypical video on male-female preferences when deciding what activities to do together, and which not to, for the sake of the relationship.

Watch it and answer the questions I gave you in class.



Tuesday 5 February 2013

Order of Adjectives - a bit of practice

I'm going to give you 7 sentences with their adjectives and nouns in brackets, so you can finish them up.

1. She was wearing a .....             
(brown    old      large    coat)
2. The island had a ......
(golden     sandy    long    beach)
3. Leila bought a .....
(silk    white    beautiful   scarf)
4. He was wearing ......  
(leather   smart  new   shoes)
5. What a ......   it is!
(sunny   lovely   morning)
6.It's a ....
(red    Victorian   pretty   building )
7. There's an .....   
(expensive  Volvo  new   car)