Tag Archives: grammar

Two Wonderful Sites to Practise Listening and other skills

Audio, Grammar, Listening, Resources, Speaking, Vocabulary, Writing skill, , , , , , ,

So, you’ve done all the listening exercises in your textbook, workbook and on my website 😉  but still, you feel you really need to go the extra mile?

Here you are two wonderful websites where you can find tons of Listening exercises to practise before the exam.

1. ESOL COURSES. Choose your level and then choose the skill you want to practise; they are all great!

2. ESL Lounge Students: on this site, you can also practise all skills. Scroll down the page and on the right sidebar, choose the skill you want to practise and your level.

 

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Common Errors 1

Common Errors, , , ,

I am starting a series of posts on some common errors .These errors are mistakes B1/B2 students make.  I hope you find them helpful!

♥Read the sentence and identify the error

♥Rewrite the sentence correctly

♥Read the corrected version  and the grammar input after the  line.

The correct form is : The thief was sent to prison for two years

The definite article is used when referring to the building itself. When we  refer to “prison” as punishment , we do not use the article.

This also happens in common expressions such as “at school” ” in hospital” “ to church” when we are referring to the normal use of the building or place

I met her at school (when we were students)

I’ll meet you at the school ( the school as a meeting place)

My grandmother is in hospital ( as a patient)

I left my keys  at the hospital when I was visiting my gransmother

NOTE: In American English, university and hospital are always used with articles

Source: Practical English Usage (M: Swan) and Knockout Textbook

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Inspiration from Ellen Degeneres Show: Never Have I Ever

Games, Speaking, , , , ,

I firmly believe that the way you present things to your students matters. From boring points of grammar to challenging speaking activities, there is always a way to get their attention. I am of the opinion that students learn much better if you completely discard from your teaching the idea of boring master classes where the only person in the room seems to be the teacher and choose instead a more interactive approach. I try hard not to forget this student-centered approach during the whole lesson.

There is also something I try not to forget. You learn better when you have fun! And here we go, for a lot of fun!!

Image by Michael Rozman/WarnerBros

  • Skill: Speaking
  • Level: B1 upwards
  • Aim: using the Present Perfect to talk about experiences.

You never know where and who you’ll get inspiration from! I got the idea for this Speaking Activity watching Ellen Degeneres show.Have you ever seen her show? It’s hilarious! Anyway, she’s got a section called “Never Have I Ever” where she asks her guests questions and they need to put up a sign with the words Yes, I Have or I Have Never.

This hilarious speaking activity is fairly simple and requires little preparation.
♥Ask students to write on a different sheet or slip  of paper the short answers  Yes, I have and I have never “

♥ Tell them you are going to ask a question to the whole class.

♥ Ask them to answer  your question by putting up the YES, I HAVE or I HAVE NEVER sign

♥ Ask some students to explain their answers.

It’ll certainly be funnier if you choose to ask some spicy questions like the ones Degeneres posed to her guests.

Do you want to try? How would you answer these questions?

  • Have you ever skipped school?
  • Have you ever fallen asleep in the cinema?
  • Have you ever been to a nude beach?
  • Have you ever done something you regret?
  • Have you ever read a whole Harry Potter book?
  • Have you ever drunk while underage?
  • Have you ever had an accident?
  • Have you ever kissed someone on the first date?
  • Have you ever read the Bible?
  • Have you ever aced a test without studying?
  • Have you ever passed out?
  • Have you ever slept until 5 pm?
  • Have you ever eaten food that fell on the floor?
  • Have you ever tried to cut your own hair?
  • Have you ever lied to get a job?
  • Have you ever regifted something that was gifted to you?
  • have you ever given a stranger a fake phone number?
  • Have you ever met someone famous?

Learn English and Have Fun!

A Fun Writing Activity to Practise Giving Advice . Students in the limelight

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Raise your hand if you have never had a problem!  Nobody??? Good! That’s what I thought! Now, raise your hand if you have never asked for advice!! I see !! OK ! Maybe some of you don’t like to ask for advice!!

Ok folks !!! What’s clear is that we all have problems and and when we have them, we most usually turn to friends or family asking for advice; it remains to be seen whether we follow the advice but even if we  end up feeling that the advice  given hasn’t helped much, I’m sure, at least, you would  feel grateful  just because someone you trust has been willing to take the time to listen to you.

In this post, I want to share with you an activity to practise giving advice, which has worked really well with my students (see photo below)

LEVEL: B1

AIM: to give written advice using

♥I think / I don’t think you should…

♥ If I were you , I would…  

MATERIALS: A clean sheet of paper and a pen or you can download the template here.

STEPS

1. Introduce / revise the two structures above, used to give advice. Share with your students a problem and ask them to offer you advice using the two structures above. Choose the funniest or most sensible advice as the best offered.

2.  Give students a copy of I NEED SOME ADVICE or display the template so that they can copy the information on a clean sheet of paper.

2. Students write their name  and their problem in the space provided and leave it on their table, face up.

3. Introduce the idea of Agony Aunts ( see definiton here) and tell students they are going to act as agony aunts to solve some problems.

4. Students stand up and they go around the class reading their classmates’ problems and writing their piece of advice in the space provided, together with their name inside the brackets. The same advice cannot be repeated. Allow 10 minutes for this step

 5.  Students sit down at their desks, read the advice offered for their problems and decide on the best. Problem and advice will be read aloud. The students who has offered the best advice gets one point. See who gets more points and name him the new Agony Aunt.

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Some Activities to Talk Nonstop Using Comparatives and Superlatives

Games, Lesson Plan: Intermediate, Speaking, , , , , , ,

It is still raining   .

It is raining again today. Of course it is raining. This is Asturias and we don’t get to be the dear, green place – Asturias “natural paradise”- without more than our  fair share of rain, but  I’m  beginning to get a bit sick with so much rain. I need the sun, or rather my mood needs the warm, delicious rays of the spring sun.

In class today, we need to deal with comparatives and superlatives.
This is the intermediate level so I don’t think, or perphaps it’s hopeful thinking, my students will need me to go over the rules for the formation of the comparative and superlative of adjectives and adverbs. Anyway, this is the easiest part; there are loads of sites on the internet with exercises to practise grammar.

I want this class to be highly communicative. I want my students to leave the class telling each other. OMG ! I’ve lost my voice! I want them to leave my class sounding funny, hoarse even.

With these activities we’ll compare

  • adjectives (taller than) , Grammar here
  • nouns ( more people than,fewer rooms than, less pollution than)  Grammar here
  • adverbs ( more quickly than) Grammar here
  • superlative of the adjectives. Grammar here

So, without further ado, let’s get down to some serious speaking

♥Activity One: The place where you live

I started this post talking about the weather in Asturias. I am pretty sure my students would share my feeling about so much rain. So, after sort of complaining about so many rainy days, I am going to ask them to compare living in Asturias (north of Spain) with living in Andalucia (south of Spain). I’ll lead this activity with students contributing with their ideas and this will help me correct what I hope will be little mistakes.

Activity 2 Look Around You Competition


Students in groups of three or four compare students in the classroom. Set a time limit of about 5 minutes for students to talk  and on your signal each group of students should write as many comparative and superlative sentences as they can about the people in their classroom. At the end of the time period, have one group share their sentences. If another group has the same sentence as the first group, both groups should cross that statement off their list. Continue until all groups have read all of their statements and any duplicates are eliminated. The group with the most statements remaining wins. I owe this activity to Susan Verner.

Activity 3. Using Pictures to Compare

 

Activity 4. Superlative Superlatives

Get students in pairs or threes and ask them to discus the following questions . Click here to get the pdf