You won’t probably need to be reminded that in the Certificación Oral Test there are two parts. No matter what level you are taking there is always an Interaction with the examiner and then another part where you’ll be on your own talking about whatever is shown in the pictures the examiner will offer you.
Today I want to help you practice the Interaction at Elementary level. I hope these slides help you. More will be coming , so keep posted!!!.
“Keep Calm and have a relaxing cup of cafe con leche in Plaza Mayor”said A. B , Mayor of Madrid in an amazing English
The Keep Calm-o-Matic is a nice site where you can create your own poster . This is mine for my classroom 😉
The poster with the words KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON are all the rage nowadays. But what does it mean? A bit of history is due…
The poster was produced at the beginning of the Second World War by the Ministry of Information to strengthen morale in the event of a wartime disaster, such as mass bombing of major cities using high explosives and poison gas, which was widely expected within hours of an outbreak of war. Over 2,500,000 copies were printed, although the poster was distributed only in limited numbers, and never saw public display.
The poster KEEP CALM AND …was third in a series of three. The previous two posters from the series, “Freedom Is In Peril. Defend It With All Your Might” and “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory” were issued and used across Britain for motivational purposes. An icon of a “Tudor” crown (a widely used symbol of government authority) was chosen to head the poster, rather than a photograph. The slogans were created by civil servants.
In 2000, Stuart Manley, co-owner with his wife Mary of Barter Books Ltd., was sorting through a box of used books bought at auction when he uncovered one of the original “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters. The couple framed it and hung it up by the cash register; and it attracted so much interest that Manley began to produce and sell copies. Other companies followed suit, and the design rapidly began to be used as the theme for a wide range of products.” Source Wikipedia
It’s always a pleasure to share with you the work of my hard-working students.
The task was either talking or writing about their hometown and I have to say that I was gladly surprised when most of my students, who had never ever given a speech in English, decided to give a beautiful speech about their hometown. I had some beautiful contributions in written form (like Rodrigo’s and Carmen’s ) but most of them were given orally and sometimes even accompanied by slides like the one just below, given by Manuel.
These were the guidelines they had to follow and necessarily include in their presentation.
To publish Rodrigo and Carmen’s work I have used Issuu
And Manuel’s beautiful presentation of Avilés shared in Slideshare.
Thank you guys! Well done!
Have I ever told you that I’m not a morning person? Fortunately, at the EOI, I work the afternoon shift otherwise I don’t think I would be able to get a coherent thought out of my mind in Spanish, let alone in English, and I’m sure this is something my demanding students would not be too happy about.
Have I ever told you that I’m not a Monday person either? I very much prefer Fridays… ha,ha,ha … just joking!
Let’s start Monday with a smile on my face and three cups of coffee in my body and this selection of websites to help my Elementary students improve their Listening Skill. Hope it is helpful,guys!
This is a lesson for intermediate students, which I thought would be interesting to share, mainly because of the video support, which I selected only after some wasted time listening to some very poor quality videos or perhaps good quality videos but which, unfortunately, were not appropriate for this level.
Step 1. What is a stereotype?
A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person related to their race, nationality and sexual orientation…etc
Step 2. Brainstorming Ideas.
Ask the class. What do you think of when you hear the word British? Give them one or two minutes to write down their answers, and then call on a few students to give you their answers. Play the video National Stereotypes, but don’t show the images, just the audio. How many have they guessed?
Step 3. Brainstorming
In pairs, students try to answer the same question but, this time, about Spain and the Spaniards. Embedded below are some of my students’ answers. Do you agree?
Mapa Mental creado con ExamTime por cristina.cabal
Step 4. Speaking: National Stereotypes
Ask students whether they agree or disagree with the following National Stereotypes
1. The British are violent mad football freaks
2. The Italians are good lovers but bad workers
3. The Chinese eat everything that moves
4. The Germans are very punctual
5. The Swiss love clocks
Have you ever wondered how we sound to speakers of other languages when we speak our native language? Some languages are easy to imitate, as for example the Italian language or the German one but I would never have guessed how a Spanish speaking native sounds to the rest of the world.
In this video the British Sketch comedian, Katherine Tate, volunteers to translate into seven different languages. Hilarious! And I hope nobody takes offence!
Step 6.Speaking. Students in pairs answer the following questions about stereotypes
♥What do people think of when they think of Spain and the Spaniards? Do you think these stereotypes are true or false?
♥Do you know of any stereotypes about British people?
♥What are some stereotypes you know of about women?
♥What are some stereotypes about men?
♥ What stereotypes exist about people who are blonde?
♥Do you think some stereotypes are true?
♥What stereotypes exist about religion?