Listen and Read News in Three levels

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NewsinEnglish.com is an interesting site that can be very useful for the students as part of their autonomous learning and can also be used by teachers in the classroom.
The stories and news are written in three levels: Level 1 for beginners, Level 2 for intermediate students and Level 3 for more advanced students.
How can it be useful to my students?


♥ They can listen and read to improve pronunciation
♥ They can just Listen as many times as they feel necessary until they can understand all the words
♥ They can Listen, make a summary of the story and then check

How can it be useful to me it?


♥ As a Listening Comprehension either providing the questions or asking students to summarise the piece of news
♥To improve writing by giving them the story in level 1 and asking  them to act out as reporters for NewsinEnglish by writing the same story in level 2.

Some tips for using this site are given here

Still raining!!! you know how it goes… “When the going gets rough, the rough get going!! or “Every cloud has a silver lining!!”

A Word on Grammar: Think Of,About, On or In?

A word on Grammar, Music, , , ,

If you must ask, yes, it’s still raining in Asturias; raining and freezing cold but…I have to say that this is unusual weather for this time of the year. So, if you are considering holidaying in this part of the world, don’t cross it off just yet; the weather must definitely improve this week ( it can’t get any worse).

The idea for this post came while dozing off on the sofa watching the new (probably not so new now for some of you) James Bong film SkyFall. I suddenly came wide awake when, in the film, M’s computer is hacked and a THINK ON YOUR SINS is displayed on her computer. This single preposition got me thinking … how, in the name of God, are my students supposed to learn English prepositions? Thus, I decided to write this post, about the tricky English prepositions.

♥Think Of/ About. Most of the times you can use both when talking about people. So: I’m thinking of you and I am thinking about you mean pretty much the same.

But

-Think about. You use think about with the meaning “consider”:

I need to think about this problem

–Think of. You use think of  with two meanings.

  1. when you are “asking somebody’s opinion”.

What do you think of my sister’s boyfriend?

2. Or with the meaning “to imagine”

It is hot! I am thinking of lying on the beach, eating a big ice-cream.

I also very often use the expression, Come to think of it…

 

On the other hand, both Think On and Think In are less used.

♥Think On is a bit archaic, and it is much closer to the meaning of think about 

Think on your sins

♥Think in is very easy to differentiate as it is only used with the verb to speak

Do you think in Spanish when you speak in English?

I hope it is helpful! Now if you want to relax after this boring explanation, enjoy the soundtrack of this film, performed by the great Adele.

Listening:What are the best ways to memorise new vocabulary?

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Have you ever asked yourself how you acquire new vocabulary? Have you ever wondered if things such as sticking post-its on the walls of your bedroom (or bathroom) really help you memorise new words? Well folks, I should say it might work when your aim is just passing a written test – I have tried this little trick plenty of times, especially when trying to learn long lists of irregular verbs,  but when your target is learning to speak a language, trust me , this little trick won’t work.

For example, what’s the point of learning the word “listen” if you don’t know that it collocates with the preposition “to”? I’ll tell you what, you’ll end up writing or saying things such as “I’m listening you”; does it ring a bell?

I could try to explain what has always worked for me but I’ve found this useful video where an expert, Michael McCarthy from Cambridge University Press, pretty much sums up what I wanted to write  and gives you tips about the best way to learn new words. Stick to it! It really works!

Listening Task: Listen to the video and write down the four tips the expert gives about the best ways to learn new vocabulary. Play the video and stop when you get to 2.20 . Play it again if necessary. Check your answers ; you’ll find them at the end of the video.

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Winner of the I Caption Writing Contest

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And ….(fanfare of trumpets) we have the winner of our I Caption Writing Contest, Aitor Marqués, from 2nd ESO, who will be awarded a free homework pass to keep or maybe to give away as a present to someone in the class. One never knows when this pass can come in handy, not that Aitor needs it very much as he  is a  very hard-working student, but…one never knows.
Ok, let’s not beat about the bush and here, below these lines , is the winning caption . There were some very good ones, which you can read in the comments section, but my reasons for choosing Aitor’s caption have been the following:
♥Lack of  grammar or vocabulary mistakes
♥Witty and ironic at the same time
♥Very hot issue nowadays in Spain
Keep posted as there will be a II Caption Writing Contest, and you might be the lucky winner next time!!

Two Games to Revise Vocabulary

Funny Stuff, Games, Vocabulary Games, , ,

If you’ve been reading me for some time  you know how much I love games. Unfortunately, when I was a student at the high school I don’t seem to remember games being part of the teachers’ lesson plan. Now, from the other side of the fence, I wonder why with so many different  things you can do in a language class, we never did anything funny; well, occasionally, we did some fill in the blanks exercises with songs, but that’s it! I also wonder how, being our classes so boring, I ended up being  a teacher.

If you are at all like me, you will love playing these games!!!

♥AGAINST THE CLOCK
This game requires some preparation. On slips of paper, write down the vocabulary that needs to be revised (verbs, phrasal verbs, adjectives…etc) . Students, sitting in a circle, play in groups of four or five, so there should be one set of cards for each group. Set a random amount of time, which students won’t know (this is important so that they don’t cheat). Give the pack of cards to one of the students. Set the timer. Now, he has to describe the word to the students in his group using only verbal language and, it goes without saying, without saying the word or part of it. When a student guesses the word, then the cards are passed to the next student. The person holding the cards when the alarm in the timer goes off loses. Continue playing until there is a winner.

Click to see a good selection of Classroom Timers

♥A-Z Picture Vocabulary.


This is a good activity to brainstorm new vocabulary and also to give more advanced students the opportunity to show off a bit. Students play in pairs or in threes mixing stronger and weaker students.
A picture with lots of elements is displayed on the Overhead Projector and students need to find in the picture something beginning with each of the letters of the alphabet A-Z .Set a time limit of 7-8 minutes