I'd like to post the following composition written by one of your fellow students from NI1. It is a very nice model of an opinion essay, so I really recommend you to read it. Thanks a lot, Luis Miguel, for your generosity.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Short Answers to Hard Questions about Climate Change
Dear students,
Find below two articles from The New York Times and The New Yorker respectively, which will serve as your reading assignment for this week. Both articles deal with climate change, and the negotiations currently being held in Paris, in the twenty-first Annual Conference of the Parties, also known as COP21.
The careful reading of these newspaper articles will be the base for your monthly writing assignment: I will require that you think of a hard question to pose related to this topic, and make the attempt to answer it in one sheet of paper.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
What are you like?
Now that you all know the difference between how you see ourselves and what you are really like, I'd like to share with you some more adjectives which may help you pin down your character traits more precisely... A former student of Intermediate level sent me this nice home-made list of adjectives, just click on this link below to look for your exact definition in English!
In case your personality is a bit too complex and you need more words to define yourself, go for the big catalogue below!
Friday, November 6, 2015
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
I'd Rather Dance With You
You're probably wondering by now why I chose the name I'd rather dance with you for the classblog... Ok, let me spill the beans: I was just listening to this song at home as I was trying to find a name for your classblog, and I thought,"hey, this could be something we could actually do as we learn: move our bodies!". So, here it is, especially dedicated to you guys. Hope you enjoy the music, and, of course, fill in the gapped lyrics below!
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Shadowing: Let's Start with a Loving Revolution
Shadowing is a learning technique where you listen to a text in your target language, and then speak it aloud at the same time as the native speaker, so that you become his/her shadow.
The basic concept is as follows: listen to the audio once or twice, to make sure you understand what it is about. Then you listen to it again a few more times and repeat the words with a minimum delay, then you write down the words the speaker says until you have the whole audioscript. After that, you play the audio again until you can read it confidently at the same time as the native speaker. Finally, you get up from your seat to walk around the house repeating the exacts words as if you were the native person yourself.
So, here's my proposal to get started in this new technique: Become the shadow of Patch Adams. Patch Adams is an American physician, social activist, clown, and author who has some really interesting ideas to share with us about living in a healthy world. Please, don't do this for more than 2-3 minutes at a time, we should start doing this little by little to avoid frustration, ok?
Possibly tricky vocabulary
Monday, October 26, 2015
Listening: Organic Farming
Now that we have finished working on the topic of Food, find below a listening practice for you to do at home. In this audio you will listen to a conversation between two friends, Brian and Sam. Brian approaches Sam as Sam's eating his lunch, and they start talking. You will have to match each speaker and his opinion in the following working sheet. The transcript is given after the task, but please try not to look at it immediately, ok? You will find the answer key at the end too.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Grammar for a Rainy Day
Find below the answer key to the Entry Checker leaflet from the coursebook. This is really a great review of basic grammar contents that should be mastered by Intermediate students, so go for it! And remember: if you have any major doubts or problems, please bring them up in class, the beginning of the year is the best time for it.
And, hey, the weather forecast says RAIN this weekend, so catching up with English grammar after a loooong summer doesn't sound like such a terrible thing, does it? Have a nice weekend anyway!
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Repeat after me, pleaseeeee
Ok guys, now that we're at the beginning of the year, this is the best time to make sure we're ready to make progress with our English, while having fun at the same time. Remember humor is one of the best strategies to feel ok with ourselves, to shake our shyness, to relax and follow the teacher when she's trying to help with our pronunciation... So, for starters, just have a laugh with Steve Martin and his hamburger...
More Grammar Revision Hurray!
Dear all,
In case you feel like going on with your grammar revision, knowing this is going to be a rainy long weekend, click on these links below and have lots of fun with the English grammar!
Also, as I mentioned in class, here you have the self-correction sheet for you to print and start recording old mistakes that should be swept away for good. Enjoy!
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