BEING A TEACHER IS A DIFFICULT TASK NOWADAYS, SO I DECIDED TO FOLLOW THIS PIECE OF ADVICE BY BRUCE LEE:
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
Perhaps now, after PM Liz Truss resigning, Britons will be saying: "I want you back" referring to EU after the Brexit episode. Here's the announcement made by the British Prime Minister, try to find a mistake in the speech:
Read the following newspaper article and you will see how they have corrected the mistake.
Our students creating their avatars. Here are Nerea Bacas and Amain Briouel (1º ESO B) creating their own avatars...
It is time to create your own avatar using this programme AVATAR MAKER !!
My encouraging song to help you keep working:I want you back by The Jacksons 5. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along on the Ed Sullivan show!!
The Jackson 5 "I Want You Back" on The Ed Sullivan Show
I also want my students to be back to the road of success having the best marks possible. Here's something to help you.
No more countdowns!!! Brexit is just a fact, a part of our history books. There are certain things that have changed back to what it was like some years ago, but there are some other things that still remain and that it will difficult to make them move back in the past.
Here's a good summary of all the changes that can affect British citizens:
The time has come. Tonight the UK will no longer be a member of the EU. Remember that UK stands for the 'United Kingdom' and EU for the 'European Union'.
Brexit: UK to quit EU at 23:00 GMT - BBC News
Coming back to the topic, and as it was said in a previous post in this blog...
Episode 200122 / 22 January 2020 >>> The magic of hot-air balloons - Language related to
'hot-air balloons'. Need-to-know language: gravity-defying, floating, gliding & volume.
A new football season is about to start and new football stars are to be discovered. Here are two future tenses. Do you know when to use them?
However, we have already had some official matches in the Premier League and yesterday the UEFA Super-Cup final between Chelsea and FC Liverpool, where their Spanish goalkeeper Adrian became a real hero.
47. You are going on holiday to
Andorra, but you do not know which means of transport to use. The two possibilities are a car or
a bus. Make an analysis of these two means of transport either with your own
personal opinion or following the clues given :
(similarities) wheels, not fast
(differences) slow , big (advantages) comfortable , economical
(disadvantages) car: far , bus: not fast
(improvements)
If you
go by car, you ____________________________________________________________
If you
go by bus, you ____________________________________________________________
48. PRONUNCIATION. Read the
following sentence:
I was walking
to the castle when I saw a ghost in the middle of the road. I didn't know what
to do, so I just turned round and I
began to run as fast as I could.
1. SILENT LETTERS. Write four words where one of
the letters is not pronounced at all:
2. Write words which are
pronounced like the bold printed letters in these words:
code _______________ must
_____________
3. Write two words which are
pronounced with a /u:/
________________ _________________
4. 'began' is the irregular past
form of the verb to begin. Can you write the three forms (base form, past form
and past participle) of a similar irregular verb?
SOLUTIONS to the exercises in the previous post /for further exercises of this level go to Mock exams (4º ESO)/:
45.
has been , crashed and were , appeared , saw , tried , lost , went , crashed
were killed , were taken , were taken , has not been moved
46.
1. And what if the exam is too long? 2. You will have ten more minutes if the exam is longer than the one in the other class. 3. I never used to play with other children, but now I enjoy meeting people in my job. 4. How many people were injured in the accident? A few. 5. How long have you been learning English? 6. She has been too busy looking at herself in the mirror. 7. The Electrocar hasn't got even a roof.
Episode 190814 / 14 August 2019 >>> No-deal Brexit: What happens to British tourists?: Language related to
'decisions and effects'. Need-to-know language: complicated, put (s.o.) off, implications, hard facts & straightforward.
Times are really rough at the Houses of Parliament in the UK (What will happen after the vote on May's Brexit deal? - The Independent) and there are angry discussions every now and then. So, the Speaker Mr Bercow has to intervene in order to calm down the MPs in the House of Commons.
Some questions about vocabulary and other matters:
- Which famous building are the Houses of Parliament next to?
- Which river passes by?
- What is the PM and what's his name? And an MP? and why do we use the indeterminate article 'an' in front of MP if it begins with a consonant?
- What does the expression 'every now and then' mean?
- What does the Speaker do?
- You have the House of Commons. Have you got anything else? (the Two-House system)
Talking seriously every time I come across matters such as Brexit, Catalonia..., they all remind me of the great poet John Donne and his words: "No Man is an Island". Do you know what he really meant?
Watch this too: 1 And the novel For Whom The Bells Toll written by Ernest Hemingway about our Spanish Civil War. He's trailer to film made based on this novel starred by Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman >>>
Here's another video about the problem of unemployment in Spain:
Part four. Look at the picture and read the questions. The picture
will help you to answer the questions. Choose the correct option:
31. Most evenings he helps .... some fish. (A
to himself B him to C himself to D to him)
32. He can take one ........ he likes. (A all the time
B whichever C whenever D the times )
33. After all, it is ........ shop.
( A himself his B
his own C he owns
D owning his )
34. But Mr Talbot.......... eels home for his supper. (A
takes not B never takes no
C not takes D never takes)
35. People think that eels look ....... water snakes. (A
as B being
C like D same as) 36. ........ they don't fancy them, they stare at them in fish shops. (A Although
B Since C If D Therefore) 37. They seem ......... by them.
(A fascinating B
to fascinate C to be fascinated
D to be fascinating) 38. Eels are sold............. (A
lives B live
C living D lived) 39. If the rain keeps up, Mr Talbot .... to buy himself half an umbrella.(A has B will have
C will be having D will have had) 40. Perhaps he ........ wiser to take one step to his left. (A can be
B has been C
had been D would be)
Solutions to PART THREE in the previous post.
21. d 22. a 23. a 24. c 25. d 26.
c 27. c 28. a 29. a 30. b
What will happen to trade between the world and the UK after the Brexit???
Hi!
In our sixth study trip to the British Isles this year we are visiting Edinburgh (you remember that the first trip we made was 5 years ago to this same city). We left Salobreña at 8.30 with no problems on the coach trip to Malaga airport or the flight, as we had plenty of time.
In Edinburgh it is a bit cloudy, but with no rain and mild temperatures. At the moment we are waiting for the host families to arrive and take us home. Everybody is so excited with very high expectations!!!!
There have been some changes in the families. Except for Mª Luisa and her kids, so far we have good news about the host families they are staying with. Mª Luisa, her kids and Albert have been accommodated at a nearby guesthouse, which is a pity as they would have liked to have the experience of staying at a family. They will have their breakfast there and the evening meal in a restaurant.
Anyway, the weather conditions so far are excellent as it is not too cold, although a bit windy and cloudy.
This is the school we will be attending classes at: Mackenzie School .
Ariadna López (4º ESO A) -3
Joaquín García (4º ESO B) - Project on A Foreigner in Britain
Inés cobos (4º ESO A) - 1
María Béjar (4º ESO A) - 3
Have a look at the PROJECT done by Joaquín García on the reader A Foreigner in Britain.
Why do people (especially students) tend to procrastinate everything they have to do? What does this word mean? Here's a good listening exercise to do: Get on with it! (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)
Important piece of news for my students in 1º Bachillerato next year >>> Have a look in my site at Notes on grammatical issues (1º Bach) and you'll find the exercises will be doing next year, apart from most useful notes on the uses of TENSES & MODAL VERBS:
Remember that in NOTES ON GRAMMATICAL ISSUES (2º Bach) you can have a look at the following issues (I give you the links to some useful exercises to do all along the school year):
Have a look at the picture on the right and give me a synonym for 'supposed to'. Remember to revise the modal verbs. Can you rewrite the sentence using the modal verb.
On 23rd June a referendum will be held in the United Kingdom in order to decide if they stay in the European Union or if they leave. For a start, let's just read this poem about John Donne. Analyse it bearing in mind the globalised world we live in.
'No Man is an Island' (by John Donne)
No man is an island entire of itself;
every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of
the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe
well as any manner of thy friends or
of thine
is the less, as well as if a
promontory were, as
own were; any man's death diminishes
me,
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for
whom
Do these words remind you of any other prominent writer?
Yes, you're right, the American writer Ernest Hemingway, who wrote the famous novel For whom the bell tolls, which deals about our Spanish Civil War.
What is your opinion about the whole issue? Do you think that it is good for Spain to stain in the EU? Write about the advantages and disadvantages of belonging to the EU.
Our students creating their avatars. Here are Nerea Bacas and Amain Briouel (1º ESO B) creating their own avatars...
