Category Archives: General

Pruebas de Certificación Tips and Practice

20 January 2014General, Students' Cornerexam, tipsCristina Cabal

The SPEAKING TEST consta de tres partes .

En la primera parte ,(1 ó 2 m) el examinador hará preguntas de carácter general cuyas respuestas no contarán de cara a la nota final. No tiene otro objetivo que ayudar a que el alumno se sienta más cómodo.

La segunda parte del examen es la INTERACCIÓN . En esta parte el examinador interactuará con el alumno. En el Nivel Básico, se le dará al alumno una situación (role-play) donde tendrá que asumir el papel que se le indique. En el Nivel Intermedio , el examinador elegirá un tema y hará preguntas al candidato.

La tercera parte del examen es lo que denomina DISCURSO CONTINUO . Aquí el candidato tendrá que hablar sobre unas fotografías ( máximo tres) sin ninguna intervención por parte del examinador . En el Nivel Básico se pedirá al candidato que compare y describa , y en el Nivel Intermedio que describa y compare las fotos y hablé ,además ,sobre el tema sugerido en las mismas.

ALGUNOS CONSEJOS SOBRE EL EXAMEN ORAL.
El examen oral es tu oportunidad de brillar .El examinador espera de ti que utilices variedad de estructuras y vocabulario adecuado al nivel del que te examinas. Si estás en Intermedio y utilizas vocabulario y estructuras de Nivel básico , aunque no tengas errores no es probable que apruebes . Es importante que respondas a las preguntas del examinador con respuestas largas, desarrollando tus ideas. No esperes a que el examinador te pregunte “por qué” a una pregunta que te ha realizado, lo normal es que tu ofrezcas esa explicación y que el profesor no necesite aclaración ninguna. No te olvides además de usar conectores para enlazar tus ideas, no utilices siempre los mismos , recuerda que es tu momento de brillar.
Mira este video. Ilustra muy bien lo que intento explicarte arriba.

En el examen oral , como ya te he explicado, tienes que utilizar variedad de estructuras . Mira este video de 5 m para aprender diferentes expresiones para substituir I like/ I don’t like. Aquí

Enlaces a páginas que pueden ayudarte a preparar el examen

NIVEL BASICO
♥EXAMEN ORAL
DESCRIPCION DE FOTOGRAFIAS
1. Blog de Cristina .Descripción de personas , Descripcion de una foto
2. Writefix.com . Al pasar el cursor por encima de las fotos, te ofrece sugerencias de vocabulario y estructuras para ayudarte a describir.La sección se llama PET SPEAKING.
3. El British Council en su web , publica un video donde dos estudiantes describen una fotografia . Video aqui, tapescript aqui
4. Blog de Cristina. Ejemplos de descripcion de fotografias realizadas por alumnos de la EOI
aquí y aqui

ROLE PLAYS

1. Blog de Cristina con ejemplos ( algunas interactivos) de distintos role-plays. Aquí
2. Twominenglish.com. Videos para practicar role-plays : at the restaurant, shopping or at the airport. Repetiras las frases más comunes para cada una de estas situaciones.
3. http://simpleesl.com/coleccion de 16 role-plays para continuar practicando

♥READING

Esl-bits.net. Haz clic en uno de los Tests ( numerados del 1 al 19 ) y elije que tipo de ejercicio quieres hacer (signs,details,matching..,)

NIVEL INTERMEDIATE

♥SPEAKING

INTERACCIÓN

1 Blog de Cristina. Temas variados acompañados de fotografias .

2. Eslconversationquestions.com/

3. Teflpedia.com/

4. En Ielts Speaking puedes preparar 16 temas de examen (Towns and Cities, Clothes and fashion…etc ) . Leerás las preguntas que hacen los examinadores y las respuestas que a los examinadores les gustaría oir con el vocabulario especifico marcado en negrita.

5.En Digilander.libero.it/puedes ver algunas Useful expressions for the speaking exam que tal vez te sirvan de ayuda.

♥READING
1. The British Council en su sección para teens puede ayudarte

2. Blog de Cristina . Sección Reading (scroll down)

♥WRITING

WriteFix.com ofrece ejemplos de expresión escrita . Solapa CAUSE AND EFFECT:HOME y ESSAY LIST OLDER.

Blog de Cristina. Sección de writing ( scroll down)

Espero haberte ayudado. Si conoces algun enlace que pueda resultar útil para preparar este examen no dudes en mandármelo

NO OLVIDES INSCRIBIRTE!

Happy, happy Christmas!!!

21 December 2013GeneralChristmasCristina Cabal

Now , guys, here it comes again! This time of the year when I feel torn apart between my desire to celebrate all the good things life has given me and all the things life has taken away from me (shall I say “people”?).
So I can never guess what my mood is going to be like when I write my Christmas post ; sometimes it is a tearjerker ( most of the times) and sometimes I am just the biggest fan of these holidays.
But this year I feel my mood is going to be quite festive and I have even promised myself I’ll try my hardest to wear my sweatpants only when going to the gym and to dress up in sequins whenever the occasion demands it ; to be nice , polite and kind towards everybody, to struggle not to speak my mind even though the occasion might require it and to try to understand that though everybody has a table and chairs at home to rotate the family gathering , it is me everybody loves and that must be the reason why year after year everybody decides to celebrate all the gatherings in my blessed house where ,it goes without saying, my dear mother gently suggests that I use my best wedding presents to decorate the table even though she knows I won’t be able to put them in the washing machine and I’ll have to spend hours washing everything up!!
So, after so much giving and giving I’ve decided, these holidays, to treat myself to some getting and getting. (prompt… this is where you need to watch the video ) and this is where the photo of my kitchen window applies.

Christmas is a mere four days away and I want to wish you the best of Christmas and advise you to treat yourselves once or twice during these holidays. You deserve it, don’t you?
Happy, happy Christmas!!! And please, enjoy every minute because life … is just this!

Reading Comprehension: Pre-Teaching Vocabulary

7 November 2013General, Reading, Vocabulary, Vocabulary Gamesgames, methodology, reading, vocabularyCristina Cabal

All my lessons last 90 minutes and even though I like to think that students don’t normally get tired or bored, changing gears several times during the 90 minutes is quite important to maintain their level of attention. In this sense, fortunately, teaching a language is not the same as teaching some other subjects where the range of activities you can do is a bit more restricted.
When it comes to Reading Comprehension there are some activities I have tried over the years that seem to have worked pretty well. This week I am planning to use a different activity with my intermediate groups to pre -teach the vocabulary in the Reading Activity, which I would like to share with you. It will require that they leave their seats and walk around the class, talking to their classmates. I’m sure they will appreciate the opportunity to move their legs.
Steps.
Step 1. Decide the vocabulary you want to teach (that goes without saying, doesn’t it?)
Step 2. Prepare two sets of cards. One card contains the word and part of speech you want to teach and the other card contains the definition.
Step 3. Students stand up and find their partner ( I have large groups so it’s going to take a while).
Step 4. Students sit down with their partner and write a sentence containing their word.
Step 5. Students read their sentences and explain the meaning of the word /expression being studied.
Note: I have very large groups, like thirty students per class but I never know how many will be attending on a particular day. For this kind of activities I need to make sure I have cards for all the students. So, if I run out of words to pre-teach, I’ll prepare some cards containing the phonetics for the targeted words.

Thanks for reading!

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Learning the Alphabet

8 October 2013A word on Grammar, American Cultural aspects, Audio, Funny Stuff, Games, General, Lesson Plan: Intermediatealphabet, fun, games, videoCristina Cabal

Sometimes I can write three posts in a row; I feel everything I want to convey flows naturally and… some other times I’m at a loss for words. I know what I want to say but I don’t seem to find the right words. I write and cross off, write and cross off and the whole process is repeated all over again until I find myself wondering what the point of writing a lengthy introduction is when I can never be sure if there is anybody out there reading it. And then, this week three teachers from different parts of the world kindly wrote a line to let me know they are on the other side, and paying attention. Thank you, you cannot begin to imagine how motivating your words have been.

Learning the Alphabet is fun but even in Advanced Levels vowels still pose a problem, especially for Spanish students – our “i” /i/ is the English “e”, the English “i” is pronounced /ai/ and our “a” is pronounced /ei/. The letters “g” and “j” are also difficult and students find it difficult to hear the difference between “b” and “v”. That’s why it is important to dedicate some meaningful time to learning something so useful in everyday’s life.

These are the two activities I’m going to use this year to teach/revise the alphabet.

♥The first one is a video. I have found that adults still enjoy- or shall I dare say more than enjoy- clips aimed at little children. If you are an adult, watch the following clip to revise the alphabet and tell me what you think. You might need to remind students of a traditional nursery rhyme that goes like this

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,

before playing the video.

♥The second activity is nothing to write home about. It is the world famous Hangman, but this year, played in groups and instead of displaying words, I’m going to try a short sentence:

Divide the class into two teams. You’ll need a red pen for Group A and a black pen for Group B ( or any different colour 😉 ). On the board write the gaps for two different words of any length ( or a short sentence). Group A and B take it in turns to choose one letter of the alphabet. If the letter is correct, fill in the gap (in red if it’s A’s turn and in black if it is B’s). If the letter is not contained in the selected words, start drawing portions of the hangman (remember red or black). The game continues until all the letters have been guessed or all the parts of the hangman are drawn. If groups manage to guess the words, count the number of red or black letters to announce who the winner is.

You might also want to have a look at what I did to teach the alphabet three years ago. Click here

Goodbye to High School Teaching

10 September 2013GeneralCristina Cabal

…and it is with sadness that I am waving good-bye to this stage in my career.
I’m returning to the EOI Avilés for good. I can hardly believe it was three years ago that I shared with you my fears about a change of career I was ,willingly,about to face. What I originally planned to be one year in a high school soon turned into three and the truth is I am glad I took the decision. I have learnt so much.
This is my big thanks to all who have worked and probably put up with me and my lack of experience in all the red paper involving teenagers throughout these three years. You have certainly changed my mind about what teaching in a high school involves.
I have learned that being a good teacher is not teaching to those who want but to those who don’t. Highly motivated students, students who love learning languages are really so easy to teach but what is really challenging is facing a group of students who clearly wish to be somewhere else but right there, staring at you.
I remember my first term being a teacher at the high school as something close to a nightmare , so used was I to students always wanting more, never seeming to have enough, always eager to collaborate and participate… that when I faced my new students , most of whom had everything but learning English on their minds, I nearly dropped dead on the spot .Being the new girl on the block , I was assigned the not-so-good groups, if you want to put it kindly and ,in some classes , I distinctly remember my new students slumped in their seats, legs stretching across the aisle and the horrified faces as I addressed them in English. For three years, I’ve had to be a mother, a father, a friend, a counsellor, a psychologist, an actress, a lawyer as well as a teacher. I have had to be motivating, energetic, enthusiast, flexible, understanding, compassionate, well-mannered, tender, well-balanced as well as hard and strict and I have loved every minute of it.