Thank you!

Martin: this year has been a bit difficult for a number of reasons, and 100 hours at the EOI is quite a lot (not to mention our homework). But you turn learning English into an interesting and really enjoyable activity. It was a great pleasure to attend your lessons.

Dinner

Thanks, everyone, for a really fun night out yesterday. It was a shame to have to go home relatively early, but with the bug I've got I'm sure I did the right thing.
Did the rest of you make a night of it? Go on, make me jealous...!
And how about posting some potos, those of you who took them?
Hope you all have a great summer, whether here, in the UK or wherever, and I hope to see you all with fresh energy in September.

Thursday 23/5/2013

Well, that's it, guys... Today was the last day of our course for this year (though who knows what the future may bring?)
Today we went through Tuesday's test - with relatively few "we'll-have-to-agree-to-disagree moments" - and Marga gave us an interesting presentation on how to encourage healthy habits in children (SEE VIDEO IN NEXT POST BELOW).

It just remains for me to encourage you to do as much as you can over the summer to keep up your English (read and listen in English, speak if you can, and why not write contributions to this blog?) - and to say THANK YOU once again for being a lovely group that it was a real pleasure to teach! See you all, I hope, for the meal next Friday.

2'FIT - BODY & MIND (playlist)

Useful page to find acommodation and smmer courses

http://es.languagebookings.com/

Travel & study abroad! 2920 language courses. 265 places worldwide. Affordable student accommodation.

Thurs 9/5

Due to the strike we had people missing, so we just did general revisión/skills work (interrupting, guessing occupations, including - bizarrely - prisoner and werewolf...). I also gave out another photocopy of a register-based exercise for homework.

Tuesday 7/5

Today we heard an interesting presentation by Chus on the European Qualifications Framework. We also did some work on register, transferring informal to formal English

Interesting link

The teacher Jesús Ángel González (Universidad de Cantabria) has compiled several european documents in this link.

Tues 30/4 & Thurs 2/5

We heard María's interesting presentation on a series of school activities. We also looked at expressions for cause and effect, watched a DVD extract on the "Noughties" and wrestled with cleft sentences.

Tues 23 & Thurs 25

We heard Carmen's interesting presentation on the Temple Church in London, and basically finished everything in the book up to unit 6.3 ex 4. We also revised crime vocabulary and did some video listening on the same topic.

Os váis a echar unas risas a costa de ellos.
Me ha costado encontrarlo con subtítulos porque sin ellos imposible de entender...

Thurs 18/4/13

Today we heard Marta's interesting presentation on Asian animés. We also did more work on concession clauses (unit 6.2) and some expressions related to trends (6.1)

Tues 26/7/13

Today we heard an interesting presentation by Marisa on maths in the media, and then we corrected the cloze test together (and no, Marta, "imagined" is NOT a correct answer!!).
We read a story as a model for the holiday homework and watched an excerpt from a UK drama series (North and South).

Thurs 21/03/2013

Today we listened to a discussion about Wikileaks and practised expressions to use in a discussion with others (U5.3 in the book)

Tues 19/3/13

Today we heard Sylvia's interesting presentation on mind maps. We also corrected a lette with sundry mistakes, and finished section 5.2 in the book

Tuesday 12/3/13

Today we talked, listened and practised the weak "have" in expressions like "should have"

Thursday 7/3/13

Today we did the podcast listening from Unit 3 (places). We also introduced the topic of "Secrets" from Unit 5.1

Stay tuned !

A good way to learn english is to focus on the latest news. In this respect, I'd like to share these to links with you:

The first one is 'Words in the news':

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/03/130301_witn_wikileaks.shtml

...and the second one is 'six-minute english'. I find this one specially interesting for my students:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/

    Both resources come from the BBC.

Thursday 28/2/13

Today we discussed dilemmas and ways of expressing what we would do/have done in certain circumstances. We also looked at the correct ways to use "whether". In terms of the book, we covered most of Unit 4.3 (all except section 7).

Tues 26/2/13

First of all, my apologies for not keeping this blog up-to-date; some people ended up not knowing about the homework to be done last weekend. So before I go any further - there's an essay to be written (see Homework tab).
We had an interesting talk by Alfonso on ancient music, and we all tried to get our heads round the "perfect aspect". The biggest problem seemed to be the difference between "Have you....before?" and "Had you ..... before?". The conclusion was that the former is used in a present context (i.e. "before" = "before now", whereas the latter is used in the context of a past-tense narrative (i.e. "before" = "before then").
Finally, we looked at a model text for a problem-solution essay and the use of "parallelism".

Tuesday 19th February

Today we heard an interesting presentation by Sandra on Italy. We then did some revision and fitness exercises, followed by a brainstorm on types of crime.
Esther kindly brought some crime novels in to lend to anyone who was interested - which prompts me to remind you that we should all be reading, viewing and listening in English as much as possible...

The wrong man

The other day we spent some time in class talking about this film. I haven't seen it, but I found this trailer interesting, with Hitchcock himself speaking to the audience:

How hard it is to speak Spanish!

Hi!!!


I recommed you this video about "How hard it is to speak spanish!"

It's in Spanish with English Subtitles, I didn't find it only in English, but I promised Martin to put it on the blog!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LjDe4sLER0

Speak English as an English man

Today we don't have class, but I'm sure you'll enjoy this English Lesson with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington.

Thurs 7/02/2013

This week we heard Felipe's interesting presentation on Switzerland, then prepared and presented proposals for a one-million-pound improvement project. The worthy winner was one which proposed a kindergarten-cum-training centre.
Enjoy the Carnivals, everyone, and remember: there are no prizes for turning up next Tuesday and finding the school closed! See you on Thursday.

An interesting application

I found this game for english students who want to practice their pronunciation skills with Google's speech recognition service.

Use it with Google Chrome

What would Martin think about it?

HISTORIAL DE CLASE (playlist)

Places - key

Places - the missing page

Thursday 24/01/13

Mostly speaking today, plus some more vocab and prep for writing homework (see "Homework" tab)

Vocab for places in 3 files

Tuesday 22/01/2013

Today we heard an interesting presentation by Lara on pets. We then went through the grammar h/w to clear up queries, and looked at the houses different people had chosen in the Sheffield area (mostly!).
Finally we listened to a podcast of people talking about opinions.

Housewarming party invitation

Please, join us for a housewarming party in our new house!

The house is a fantastic very bright four bedroom detached house. 

 We have place in case you prefer to stay 

The party will take place in the rear terraced area, open to the landscaped private garden with lawn and borders.

MY NEW HOME

Dear Martin and classmates:

I have chosen this detached house, which is located 4 miles south west of Sheffield and about 12 minutes drive.

It´s a huge property with six spacious bedrooms, two bathrooms, reception hall, kitchen, dining room and a sunny sitting-room. Moreover, the garage is an attached double one.

The front of the house faces north and the back of the house looks out over a shady garden.

I´m having problems to upload the photos so, you have to click in the following link:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-40229624.html

I got it!

This blog is starting to look like a property website!
And this is my selection. Finally I found a beautiful house, with wonderful views, a conservatory and an indoor pool!

It seems a little far away from the city (and everywhere), but in any case I would have to see it. I do not take any decision only because of the web.

Meanwhile, this is my English house:

 Do you like it?

Cheap house with superb views

Hello Martin and classmates,

I have found this quaint house and I want to share it with you. It is a huge five bedroom detached house located in Oughtibridge. I think it is a roomy and sunny house in a peaceful location. The backgarden looks out onto open countryside and I find it wonderful. Maybe we can afford to build a conservatory in the back with the money we save buying this house. It is a deal!

It seems pretty far from the center but in the ad says that we have regular public transport a short distance away. It is also mentioned that there is an abundance of amenities close by. I am not sure about that and we should check it before we decide.

Emiliano

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale

My New British House!

Dear Martin and everybody!!

I’ve found a nice house in Bradway, in the southwest of Sheffield, just one mile from the city centre, near the Peak District National Park, with local amenities including renowned schooling, local sports clubs, supermarkets and ring road. The railway station in just 0.3 miles.

I like it because it’s light and roomy. It has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a huge breakfast kitchen and a beautiful garden room with excellent natural light. Moreover it has an ample parking and double garage.

But one of the best places for me is the garden. It has a large corner plot, 1420 sq. yards, with appealing views.

I hope that you come to visit me and you can taste the products from my orchard.

You can visit me to Whirlow, one of Sheffield's most sought suburbs within easy reach of Sheffield city centre and the open countryside of the Peak National Park. There are a host of excellent amenities nearby including shops, recreational facilities, good public transport and falling within the catchment area for both Dobcroft and Silverdale schools.

As you come into the house you will find:
• A long, broad reception area with understairs storage cupboard.
• A well proportioned sitting room with front and rear facing windows including patio doors giving access to the rear garden.
• Beautifully breakfast kitchen fitted out with an extensive range of oak base and wall units
• Dining Area with sealed unit glazed French doors leading out to the rear terrace and garden.

The large landing of the first floor, gives access to:
• A master bedroom: A front facing double bedroom with en-suite bathroom, looking out towards Ecclesall Woods.
• Three single but broaden bedrooms.
• A black and white fully tiled family bathroom. In the second floor
• Two superb, large loft style bedrooms with Velux roof light.

Outside: Electric gates, extensive block paved driveway and a double garage.

Everithing is ready for all of you.