Some advice for your fellow students 2019

May is coming to an end, and so is our school year. First,  I would like you to read previous posts in this blog related with the label: advice , and then give some advice to the students that will follow your steps. Try to be sincere and, using appropriate advice structures, tell them what they should do. Include the level you are referring to at the beginning of your comment.

 

Exercises on Reported Speech:

A. Transform these sentences into Reported Speech.

1. "I can't stop laughing", the student to the teacher.


2. "They're laughing at me now", said Mary.

3. "I can't afford to buy your car", Albert to Fernando Alonso.

4. "FC Barcelona will win the King's Cup tomorrow", said Messi in the press conference.

5. "We don't like this exercise", said the students.

6. "I'm afraid of spiders", said my mum.

B. Fill in the gaps with 'said' or 'told' and then transform these sentences into Direct Speech.

1. They ....... that they couldn't find a cash machine in that city.


2. Mary ........  them that the fish tasted awful.

3. Fernando Alonso ........ Albert that he was saving for a new car then.

4. My parents ..... my aunt that they wanted to borrow her house in the mountains.

5. Nadal ......... that his elbow was very painful.

6. She ...... me that her coat was made of leather.

Niki Lauda, three-times Formula One world champion, dies aged 70 (The Guardian)

News Review: Niki Lauda dies   

Have you ever had a date? Here's some advice.

Bad dates: The Drunk Date  

Learn English With Emilia Clarke & Ellen

And here comes June!!!

Sleep disorders

"I feel sleepy the whole day and I can't sleep well at night." This is something that we quite often hear these days. Why is that? Is it due to the spring time?  Am I getting old?

Here are some interesting articles about sleep disorders:

• Are you getting enough sleep? (BBC)

• Can’t sleep? Perhaps you’re overtired (The Guardian)

• I used to be tired all the time too. 'Segmented sleep' solved that (The Guardian)

• Welsh teens' lost sleep and no breakfast (BBC)

• A hard night's sleep (BBC)

TED TALK: What causes insomnia?  

 

And now let's do this listening exercise: What to do when you can't sleep (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English).

Click on this label: sleep deprivation  for further information on the topic.

The English We Speak: What does couch surfing mean?   (previous post:  Couchsurfing is no picnic  )  

 

Another interesting kind of accomodation, especially good for foreign students, is living with a host family (here's a good website to visit: HOMESTAY)

 

STOP SAYING "Congratulations" - Improve Your English Vocabulary!

 

 

 

David Ferrer Retirement Ceremony & Emotional Speech | Madrid 2019

 

 

Tell me your windmill story!!

First check these labels for more posts on Clean Green Energy:  recycling   ,   upcycling , green energies   &  environmental impact .

How do Wind Turbines work ? Watch this documentary. (Clean Green Energy cartoon)

 

 

Watch this cartoon and make up a story about The Windmill Farmer  >>>>

 

Summers could be entirely powered by clean energy by 2050 (The Guardian)

 

 

And talking about windmills, here's the film Monsignor Quixote (based on the famous novel written by Graham Greene) starred by Sir Alec Guinness:

 

   

Previous post in this blog you can read about Don Quixote and Cervantes: Once upon a time, 400 years ago, a writer named Cervantes...

 

Let's do this listening exercise: Being slim: Is it in our genes? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English).

 

Improve your English listening skills with Lucy (English with Lucy)  >>>>

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 190522 / 22 May 2019    >>>  Trees talking to trees:   Language related to 'nature'.  Need-to-know language: fungi, nutrients, subterranean, vulnerable  & flourish.

NADAL: l'imperatore è tornato a Roma!!!

The king of clay, in this case the emperor of clay ( L'imperatore di Roma ), is back in Rome. What an incredible tournament!!!  What an amazing opponent Nole Djokovic is!!!  Congratulations to both of them!!!

 

Nadal Beats Djokovic To Win Ninth Rome Title (ATP Tour)

Nadal beats Djokovic in Rome for his first title of 2019 (Marca)

Nadal è il signore di Roma. Djokovic si arrende in 3 set (La Gazzetta dello Sport)

 

Final highlights  (French) 

 

 

SHOCKING : Historic SET between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

 

Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas SemiFinal Rome 2019 HD Highlights 

Nadal-Verdasco  

Let's do this listening exercise: Why do we feel awkward? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English).

English in a minute: "In case vs If" (BBC Learning English)

Lucy gives us 1 Simple Trick to Become Fluent in English - Become a Confident Speaker and Stop Translating

 

Episode 12 - The Liberation   

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 190508 / 08 May 2019    >>>  Prince Harry: Proud father (Birth of a new royal baby):   Language related to 'Celebrating birth'.  Need-to-know language: well-wishers, settling into, delight, to die for & over the moon.

BASKETBALL  >>>  Vintage NBA

Vintage NBA: LARRY BIRD  

He told me he hadn't done it.

But why?? He felt so anxious that he couldn't do it!!! However, anxiety can also be good for humans to evolve. It is obvious that if you can overcome anxiety, you will be much stronger after that experience, so anxiety is not that bad in the end!!! 

 

English in a minute: "In the end" vs "At the end"  

 

Here are some articles for you to read about the issue:

• Why Anxiety Can Be Good (Success magazine)

• Does stress help us succeed? (The Independent)

 

 

And now let's do this listening exercise: Evolution and anxiety (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English).

Let's talk about the Reported Speech. Can you tell me how it is also called? What is the opposite? Where do you usually find many examples of Reported Speech? Police questioning / interrogation could also be another typical situation.

What is the BACK SHIFT process? What is the opposite of 'back'? what does 'shift' mean? In which technological device can you find this word?

Have a look at previous posts in this blog. Labels: reported speech , Reported speech exercise 

 

For those of you sitting B1, B2... exams at the Official Language School, here's a piece of advice for you to bear in mind.

EOI MÁLAGA   >>>   Interesting pages to look up   (B1, B2... exams)

• Pruebas terminales de certificación  

• Ejemplos de pruebas realizadas   

 

 

Episode 11 - The Red-Eyed Giants

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 190515 / 15 May 2019    >>>  Love symbol hidden in masterpiece:   Language related to 'painting'.  Need-to-know language: restoring, varnish, painstaking  & stroke.

Watermelons are sold here!!

What is the PASSIVE VOICE? What is the opposite? Why and when do we use the passive voice? Click on the label passive voice, on the right-hand side column of the blog and you will discover some interesting facts about it.

PASSIVE VOICE

- We use the passive voice when the subject is not known or it is not relevant or just because we face a matter from a different perspective. For example, when we see the advertisement 'TOMATOES ARE SOLD HERE', do we really care about the name of the seller or the farmer? Not at all. The important thing is the fact that you can buy tomatoes here. On the contrary, if Brad Pitt was the person selling tomatoes, we would never use the passive voice and we would say: Do you know what? Brad Pitt sells tomatoes on the road to Granada.

- You only include the agent when it gives some information. If it doesn't give any information, we tend to omit it (remember our 'pasiva refleja'  >>  Se venden tomates aquí : tomatoes are sold here.) WE NEVER SAY: by someone, by people and we rarely say: by him, her.

- Our indirect object can the be subject of the passive voice.

Example:   ACTIVE  >>   We gave Mary a wonderful present for her birthday.

PASSIVE  >>  Mary was given a wonderful present for her birthday.

or  A wonderful present was given to Mary for her birthday.

But remember that the sentence "We gave a wonderful present to Mary for her birthday" has got only passive possibility (A wonderful present was given to Mary for her birthday).

- BE CAREFUL with sentences whose subject is 'NOBODY' because the sentence is negative.

Example: Ann wasn't offered the job (<< Nobody offered Ann the job)

- 'I was born in Chicago' is actually a passive sentence.

English with Lucy >>>>  20 sayings people get wrong all the time

 

 

 

A million species face extinction. Meeting in Paris discusses findings of a new report. Nature loss: UN report in Paris (News Review)

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 190424 / 24 April 2019    >>>  Meet Britain's first trainee guide poney: Language related to 'performance'.  Need-to-know language: hack it, coping, taking it ... in its stride  & naysayer.

The Day Nadal And Verdasco Made The Crowd EXPLODE

BILINGUALISM, FAKE NEWS... All that glitters is not gold.

Talking about real bilingualism, there are obvious advantages to speak several languages, but all that glitters is not gold, as we will see in a minute. That would be the case with certain news we come across from time to time.

Some related articles to read about the issue of bilingualism:

• The amazing benefits of being bilingual (BBC News)

• Bilingual people process maths differently depending on the language.  As if maths wasn't confusing enough...   (The Independent)

• Why being bilingual works wonders for your brain (The Guardian) 

And now changing topics, what do you know about the post truth world? Actually, it is connected with fake news, which we had a post in this blog some time ago (FAKE NEWS!!!)

• TED talk: What to trust in a "post-truth" world by Alex Edmans 

• We're in a post-truth world with eroding trust and accountability. It can't end well (The Guardian)

• What does post-truth mean for a philosopher? (BBC News)

• In a post-truth world, there is no democracy (The Washington Post)

By the way, what is the noun that comes from the verb 'eroding'?

FC Barcelona is playing against Liverpool this week. Here's something interesting about Liverpool FC coach: The real Jürgen Klopp | A trip back in time with the Liverpool coach

 

Learn about this expression: "Out of order" (The English We Speak)

 

Learn English with Lucy   >>>>>> 

4 things to study EVERY DAY to become fluent in English

 

English in a minute: all together vs altogether (BBC Learning English)

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 190501 / 01 May 2019    >>>  Using cow waste to fight climate change:   Language related to 'soil quality'.  Need-to-know language: erosion, degradation, dung, pasture  & depleted.

 

 

Related Selectivity exams to do: 2018   >>         Bilingual people process maths differently depending on the language & We are living in a post truth world

Our VIII Study trip to the British-Irish Isles?? Our destination: CAMBRIDGE/LONDON??

OUR ZERO MEETING!!!!

 

Next Wednesday, 8th May, 2019 in the language department, we will be having a meeting to talk about what the students thought of our experience in York 2019 and to give information about the possibility of organising our VIII Study trip to the British-Irish Isles. Our destination would be CAMBRIDGE/LONDON.

The teachers organising the activity are:

Mª Luisa, José Luis & Alberto.

The group that has just participated on our VII Study trip to the British-Irish Isles (York 2019) has decided that next year they want to go to Cambridge/London.

 

CAMBRIDGE 2019

 

A rough idea of our proposal will be given, as well as further interesting details to bear in mind so as to be as quick as possible in the organization of the experience.

and here's also  >>> a Summary report on the answers given to the feedback form by our students and their families.

 

What makes Cambridge a model cycling city? (The Guardian)

And now have a look at what we did in our II Study trip to the British-Irish Isles in 2013:

• My blog (Spanish version) 

• My site   

• Although the school we would be going to is different, here's the report that came out of the experience written by the  TEACHERS' 

• Other interesting material to see: photos, videos (1, 2 )....

Some data about a school trip done this year (2017): flyer & school we would be going to SELECT ENGLISH

Other sites to visit:

• Visit Cambridge  
• Cambridge Travel Video

Let's do this listening exercise: The decluttering trend (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English).

English in a minute (BBC Learning English) >>>>  less vs fewer  

BASKETBALL  >>>  Vintage NBA

"The Magic Man" Magic Johnson mix (made by NPZ) [ULTIMATE MIX]