Saturday, 16 February 2013
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.
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
Click on the names to get to the actual exams, and on the solutions to check your score.
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!!
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.
Watch it and answer the questions I gave you in class.
Some useful words you can learn from this video:
bond (bonding): develop or create a relationship of trust with sb
to be bound to do something: certain or likely to happen
to browse: to look at a lot of things in a shop
to regress: to return to an earlier way of behaving
tantrum: a sudden short period of angry unreasonable behaviour
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)
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