Look at these two sentences. Are both sentences correct?
The answer is yes.
Near can be used as a preposition .When near is a prepostion , near to is less common but also possible .
Source : Practical English Usage (Michael Swan/Oxford) and Oxford Dictionaries
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.
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
Once again I thank my students for kindly contributing to this blog. These two examples of Picture Description have been sent by Noelia and Carmen from the Intermediate Level.
Thank you girls! Well done!
FOOD by Carmen Gayol
These pictures are clearly both connected with the topic of food.
The picture on the left shows two women who are cooking in a kitchen. One of them is younger than the other, but they seem to get on well; I’d say that they have a lot in common, they could be mother and daughter or have a close relationship.
In the picture on the right, we can see a young couple eating. I think they are in a restaurant, an oriental restaurant because the decoration that can be seen in the background.
We all need to eat to live, but It‘s clear that the food, in our society, is something more than nutrition. Nowadays, we all use the meals to socialize. We have family meals, business meal, and we all enjoy eating with friends.
Sometimes we prefer eating at home, like in the photo on the left, but other times, we eat out.
However, the main problem isn’t where, but what we eat. In my view, today people tend to eat fast food because they don’t have enough time to prepare a meal and they are always in a hurry. This food isn`t always healthy, it is many times junk food which contains many calories and carbohydrates and there is a good chance people will get overweight.
If I had to choose one of the photos, I’m sure I’d choose the first, because it makes me remember old times with my mother , and in addition, I believe that it’s a good way to enjoy eating and cooking.
INTERNET AND THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES by Noelia Espinosa
These two pictures show a connection with the topic of new technologies ,especially with the internet.
In the first photo there is a woman sitting behind a desktop and she has a tablet between her hands; probably she is in an office, maybe her workplace. In the second one, a little girl looks as if she is surfing the internet and she seems very interested in what she is seeing. Although I can´t be sure ,I think she is at home.
Nowadays, both pictures are very common in daily life, although in 
different ways. The first one shows a typical day at work in all the offices in the world.It is generally accepted that today no company would be operative without the internet and the new technologies because they would be unconnected and inefficient. And in the second one, children tend to be connected to the internet every day. When I was child, there was no internet, mobiles or computers, only some privileged people could afford them, but I was very happy playing traditional games with my friends in the street, for example with a ball, my dolls …
In my opinion, internet is very important in our lives, I couldn´t live without my mobile, my laptop etc… everybody surfs the net, everybody knows Facebook and even some people work vía Internet. However, I believe sometimes it could be dangerous especially in teenagers and children because there are parents who don´t control what their children are uploading or downloading onto the web and who their children are in touch with.
You might also find this section interesting. Check it out!
There is little that gives more satisfaction than publishing students’ work ;they are the reason behind all the hard work that means keeping this blog going.
Thank you very much to Raquel de Paz and Lucía Fernández, from the Intermediate Level (B1) for sending their essays.
Education is the single most important factor in the development of a country.
By Raquel de Paz
In my opinion, there is a very important thing in society which helps us to improve: education. A strong education system helps people to improve their knowledge and to be successful in their lives.
Education gives the keys to solve the problems. There is a famous saying which says: “If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, if you teach the man to fish you feed him for a lifetime”. Firstly, education is essential to our life. Again and again we have to call on to our basic knowledge to understand basic daily information about life. We need it to do the shopping, to understand signs and signals, etc.
Secondly, a good education brings a long number of qualified people with a lot of knowledge on a wide range of subjects and, as a result, these people work in different areas improving technologies and techniques supporting the development of a country.
To sum up, education is a very important factor in the development of a country. Education provides experience, training and personal development and, as a result, more skills, better productivity and greater ability to improve living conditions.
Children watch too much television by Lucía Fernández
Nowadays children spend an excessive amount of time watching television wherever they are, helped by the Internet and mobile phones instead of enjoying other kinds of activities healthier and more educative .
Although many people believe that watching television is a good way of learning new things and an innocent distraction for children, from my point of view,you waste a lot of time doing something unproductive. It’s more like something parents use so as not to be bothered by their children in some situations; for example,when a child is nervous, the parents play cartoons on his mobile and the child then stares at the mobile screen for hours as if he were in another world.
Children should play with each other and develop their imagination in a healthy mood ,but also their parents should help them to achieve it.
To sum up,I think television is necessary and complements other activities, but it should be used with care.