Bla, bla, bla...

 

 

Bla, bla, bla... Everybody is always telling everybody what to do, but most of the times they are the ones who do not follow their own advice, instructions, recommendations... So beware of those people!!

 

We must practise what we preach, leaders must lead by example and teachers must also teach by example, by good example, obviously. Hence, when I say "Let's get going! Let's get cracking!" I am the first one to make a move.

 

Speeches and speeches, promises and promises at the COP29 conference taken place in Baku, Azerbaijan... and at the end of the day the only thing we do is make nature angry, furious (Nature is speaking).

 

 

 Here's my musical hint for today: Mother Earth by Karliene. It's already a version with the lyrics for you to really understand the message!

 

Here are some articles for you to read and come to a conclusion or think about possible solutions:

• At Cop29, we must treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as Covid (The Guardian)

• Oil and gas are a 'gift of God', says COP29 host (BBC News)

• Fact check: Suspicious accounts influencing COP29 debates (DW)

   

   
  

Road towards success in the new PAU (Selectivity exam).....

Use of English

7. GIVE AN ADJECTIVE WITH THE SAME ROOT AS “prediction” (noun).

8. CHOOSE THE CORRECT PREPOSITION “My grandad was pleased…... his birthday cake” with/ for/ about/ of.

9. WHICH WORD DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME MEANING?: feature / trait / characteristic/ habit

10. REWRITE THE SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED: The Queen sends birthday telegrams to many people. Many people…

11. JOIN THE SENTENCES USING A RELATIVE. MAKE CHANGES IF NECESSARY.
The new shop sells fruit and vegetables. It opened last week.

12. REWRITE THE SENTENCE CORRECTLY. When did he came home last night?

13. REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED       Nobody arrived in time since the flight was delayed. Because of…

14. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS: There are about 10,000 centenarians in the UK.

15. FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB IN BRACKETS: Her speech made me ____ (cry)

16. What is the VERB that comes from the noun 'speech'? Can you think of an ADJECTIVE?

Here are some activities for you to do:

• Learning English from the News:   Laos: Six dead from possible methanol poisoning  (BBC Learning English)
  

• Real Easy English: Talking about hobbies  (BBC Learning English)

• Ask BBC Learning English: How can I stop tranlating when speaking English  (BBC Learning English)

• A listening exercise for you to do:   The bond between sisters  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

   

   

  

  
  

  
  

Solution to the exercises in the previous post

A. /  B.  

1.Travelling by car is (MUCH) CHEAPER ...._ than by train, but travelling by airplane is even (FAR) MORE EXPENSIVE. What is (expensive) THE MOST EXPENSIVE.... THE CHEAPEST?   2. The exercise was (SLIGHTLY) MORE DIFFICULT...., but (A LOT) EASIER     3. German cars are THE MOST RELIABLE...   FAR FASTER    4. It could be (A LOT)  WORSE, but a (MUCH) BETTER    5. Granada is (MUCH) FARTHER/FURTHER    6. Can you read this text (A LITTLE) MORE QUIETLY     7. Who is THE WEALTHIEST    ,   FAR MORE CONCERNED  , THE POOREST .    8. For FURTHER     9. THE MOST CROWDED      10. The journey takes (SLIGHTLY) LONGER

C.

1. I can't wait any longer.    2. My grandfather's illness is much more serious than what doctors thought.  3. I'm afraid the problem is a bit more complicated to solve / sort out than what Albert thinks.   4. I can't walk any more/farther because I am most tired.   5. My uncle is slightly older than my aunt, although he looks much younger.   6. Finding a well-paid job is getting more and more difficult.    7. I became more and more nercous when I was waiting for my turn.    8. The earlier we get up, the sooner we will get to the summit.   9. The older we get, the wiser we are, like owls.    10. The more goods are sold, the richer the shop owners will become.   11. My elder/eldest brother brought me a gift from Dublin. It is the same CD as yours.    12. There were fewer people in the classroom than in the corridor. There weren't so many people in the classroom as in the corridor.   13. My elder/eldest cousin works abroad, which is most hard/tough (aunque tenga una sola sílaba está permitido y se suele sustituir por 'extremely hard') for him and his family.   14. Sevilla is the hottest city that I know.   15. Reading Albert's blog is most interesting because there are a lot of pieces of news about the world.   16. I prefer The Hound of the Baskervilles rather than / to a A Foreigner in Britain because it is much more exciting.

D. Comparative of equality (___) & inferiority (....)

1. as tall as, less tall   2. less, as much   3. as fast, less    4. as crowded   

 

 

Quizz: Fill the gap (BBC Learning English)

 

English with Lucy: SAY / TELL / SPEAK / TALK | The easy way to learn and remember when to use these verbs.  

 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"

Learn English with Disney's The princess diaries

 

 

Tourism, solution or problem?

 

Some time ago I posted this:

 Talking about tourism, all that glitters is not gold.

 

and it sounded a bit bizarre. Nowadays, nobody can deny that tourism, the way it has become, is a big problem to sort out because it has some negative consequences on the people who live in these places tourists invade at any time of the year.

 

Here are some articles for you to read and come to a conclusion or think about possible solutions:

• Third of people in Spain say local area has too many foreign tourists (The Guardian)
  

• 'We are in danger' - Spanish anti-tourism spills into winter season (BBC News)
  

• Protests over mass tourism could spread beyond Spain, says Unesco official (The Guardian)
  

• Spain: Thousands protest for affordable housing (DW)
  

 

 

 

 Here's my musical hint for today: This is the right time by Lisa Stansfield. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to check!

 

Here are some activities for you to do:

• Real Easy English:   Talking about FASHION  (BBC Learning English)
  

• Learning English from the News: Donald Trump wins US election  (BBC Learning English)

• English in a Minute: Verbs to use with BUSINESS  (BBC Learning English)

• A listening exercise for you to do:   Learning a new food culture  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

   

   

  
  

  

  
  

Road towards success in the new PAU (Selectivity exam).....

Use of English

A. Complete these sentences with the comparative of superiority or the superlative form of the adjectives given in brackets.

1.Travelling by car is (cheap) _______________________ than by train, but travelling by airplane is even (expensive) ________________________. What is (expensive) __________________ means of transport for you? And (cheap) _________________ ?

2. The exercise was (difficult) _________________ than we expected, but (easy) ___________________ than the one we did in the final exams in June.

3. German cars are (reliable) ________________ cars I have ever driven, but Japanese cars are (fast) ________________ than them.

4. The economic situation is not good. It could be (bad) _____________________, but you can find a (good) ____________________ job if you work abroad.

5. Granada is (far) ________________ from Salobreña than Itrabo.

6. Can you read this text (quietly) _________________ ? There are other people trying to study in the library.

7. Who is (wealthy) ___________________ person in the world? I don’t really know and I don’t really care as I am (concerned) ______________________ about (poor) __________________ people in our society.

8. For (far) _______________ information on the comparatives you can visit my page NOTES ON GRAMMATICAL ISSUES (2º Bach).

9. (crowded) ____________________ beach I’ve been to is the one in Torrenueva.

10. The journey takes (long) ________________ by car than by train.

 

B. When possible, rewrite the sentences in Exercise A using quantifiers such as: much, a lot, far, a bit, a little, slightly

 

C. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Ya no puedo esperar más tiempo.

2. La enfermedad de mi abuelo es mucho más grave de lo que los doctores pensaban.

3. Me temo que el problema es un poco más complicado de resolver de lo que piensa Alberto.

4. Ya no puedo andar más porque estoy cansadísimo.

5. Mi tío es ligeramente mayor que mi tía, aunque parezca mucho más joven.

6. Se está poniendo cada vez más difícil encontrar un trabajo bien pagado.

7. Me puse cada vez más nervioso cuando esperaba mi turno.

8. Cuanto más temprano nos levantemos, más pronto llegaremos a la cima.

9. Cuanto mayor nos hacemos, más sabios somos, como los búhos.

10. Cuanto más mercancías se vendan, más ricos se harán los propietarios de tiendas.

11. Mi hermano mayor me trajo un regalo de Dublín. Es el mismo CD que el tuyo.

12. Había menos gente en la clase que en el pasillo. No había tanta gente en clase como en el pasillo.

13. Mi primo mayor trabaja en el extranjero, lo cual es durísimo para él y su familia.

14. Sevilla es la ciudad española más calurosa que yo conozca.

15. Leer el blog de Alberto es interesantísimo porque hay muchas noticias sobre el mundo.

16. Prefiero The Hound of the Baskervilles a A Foreigner in Britain porque es mucho más emocionante.

 

D. Comparative of equality (___) & inferiority (....)

1. My father is not (tall) _______________________ as you, so he is (tall) ................................... than you.

2. The house cost .............................. than we paid for our previous one, but not (much) __________________ as they paid for that house by the beach.

3. I’ll be there (fast) _____________________ as I can, probably in ..................... than five minutes.

4. The city centre was not (crowded) _________________ as they had told us.

 

 

 

 

Quizz: Complete the expression (BBC Learning English)

Weather tracker: ‘Cold drop’ to cause heavy rain in Spain (The Guardian)

 

Floods in Spain: The impact of DANA explained | REUTERS

Nature Is Speaking – Julia Roberts is Mother Nature | Conservation International (CI)

 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"

Learn English with Emma Watson interview - Difficult words explained

 

 

Would you believe it?  >>>  What are the best countries for Americans to retire in 2024?   

FREEDOM!!! (QUARANTINE: DAY 64)

 

TENTH WEEK OF LOCKDOWN and at last we got to phase 1!!! We still cannot do much, but at least we can move around the province without any problems. So I can visit you in Itrabo, Salobreña, Molvizar, La Caleta or even in Los Guajares!!!

 

 

You will understand now how important FREEDOM is. This week we'll be having several songs connected with this topic. Pay attention to the lyrics. The first one is by George Michael:

 

 

George Michael - Freedom! with lyrics  

 

 

Important piece of news about the Official Language School and about dates to register and exams for freelance students  >>>>

Quarantine Scoreboard

Posts uploaded:  40

Students participating:  about 85 out of 110 (77%) at least once during the quarantine, but only 40% of them are really working!!!!

Comments written and corrected:    more than 700

Emails exchanged: nearly 3500

PASEN announcements & messages:   almost 2500

Things handed in and corrected: more than 1500

 

Visits to blog and site during quarantine: more than 18,000 (Average of 250 visits per day)

Video lectures (ONLINE CLASSES):    17  (+ 6 Dictations on line, 4 verb exams and 4 online exams) and several individual online tutorials

 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE QUARANTINE

 Monday, 18^th May

1º ESO

Tasks for today:

• Unit 7 (page 91) >> Exercises 6-9. Send me your answers to the listening exercise (exercises 8 & 9)

• Read the text on page 92 and look up all the words you don't know in the dictionary.

  And tomorrow we will be correcting the exam in our online class!!!

Here are the solution to the Listening exercise on page 78:

Exercise 5 -   Vampire bats can help people with health problems.

Exercise 6 - 

1. They are mammals.      2. Bats prefer countries with warm weather.     3. and some live in trees.
4. can catch 1,200 bats.      5. don't drink people's blood.

Exercise 7 -

1. They can fly.       2. They help trees grow.

and exercise 3 on page 85:

1. You wear them in your hands when it's cold, especially in winter.

2. It is an animal with four legs. It lives in a farm. You can ride on it.

3. You wear it in your head when you ride your motorbike or bicycle to protect you.
4. They are a kind of shoes. You wear them in the summer time.
5. It is a ship. You live in it.
6. An athletic person loves doing sport.
7. You use a racket to play tennis, to hit the ball.
8. It is a long reptile. A python is a snake.
9. (across) It is a place full of sand. There aren't any trees, grass or lakes. There isn't any water.
(down) It is a sport. You do it in the see. You jump and get into the water to see the fish.
10. It is a popular sport in Spain. You play it with a ball and two teams of 11 players each. Messi plays this sport.
11. It is the animal with the longest neck in the world. It lives in the jungle.

4º ESO  

There is only online class for students in levels 4 / 5 as we will be correcting the exam they did on Thursday.

However, if you have any doubt, you can join in the class and ask me.

  CLASS    (<<<Click here)

Very good morning, ladies and gentlemen!!

 

I hope you are all well, safe and sound. Today we will be correcting Unit 8 in our session: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/55c766d756b946bd8cf62f7443269e0b

 

Here are the links to the exams (you'll have to send me your exams by 11 a.m.):

• Exam:     EXAMEN DE MÍNIMOS    

• Exam for Inés Cruz, Abraham & Sara Rodríguez   Examen de PENDIENTES    
  

 

ONE language, THREE accents - UK vs. USA vs. AUS English!

 

 

 

 

1º Bach     CLASS      (<<<Click here)

Very good morning, ladies and gentlemen!!

 

I hope you are all well, safe and sound.

 

Today we will start revising from 11 a.m. to 13 a.m. RELATIVE CLAUSES & REPORTED SPEECH, apart from finishing the PASSIVE VOICE & CONDITIONAL SENTENCES in our session, whose link is, just in case: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/c32436f87fda4ceea41aa7897f70a93b

 

Here are the solutions to the Listening exercises on page 102:

Exercise 1 - 

Symptoms are any feeling of illness, or any physical or mental change that is caused by a particular disease.

Anxiety is an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry about sth. that is going to happen in the future.

Rush is to go or to do sth. very quickly.

Exercise 2 - 

She is going to talk about the main symptoms of exam stress and some easy things you can do to reduce stress.

Exercise 3 -

The main symptoms of stress, How to look after your body & What to do on exam day

Exercise 4 -   A   C   B    B   C

Exercise 5 -   

1. You may also find it difficult to wake up in the mornings, or have problems sleeping at night.

2. What's more, you could be having problems concentrating and lose focus quickly.

3. You might have answered the questions really well.

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 200513 / 13 May 2020    >>>  Our plastic ocean (Plastic in the oceans)  Record levels of microplastics discovered on the ocean seabed -    Language related to 'plastic pollution'.  Need-to-know language: accumulation, flushed, breaks down, fragments & fragile.

FULL VERSION 1981 - Borg vs Lendl - French Open Roland Garros

 

NATURE IS SPEAKING!!!

Spain: Civil Guard spots eight-metres-long shark off coast of Granada

It is said that we are far too many!!!!

Are we supposed to consider this issue as one of the BIG problems to solve in the future? Is climate change also going to be affected? Will there be enough drinking water for all of us? The population is growing bigger and bigger. And the bigger it gets, the fewer natural resources we've got left to live.

 

In contrast, families have fewer children these days in Spain!!!

I hope you have paid attention to all the PASSIVE VOICE examples we have seen. Here are some exercises for you to do:

    1     2    3    4      

 

6 Minute Grammar: PASSIVE VOICE (BBC Learning English)

Here are some articles for you to read and some videos to watch about this topic:

• The world's population is nearing 8 billion. That's not great news (CNN)

• Overpopulation: Will we run out of space? (BBC News) What does the phrasal verb 'run out of' mean? Click here.

• It’s not overpopulation that causes climate change, it’s overconsumption (The Guardian)

• David Attenborough talking on Overpopulation on the Planet Earth.

Nature is speaking. So listen!!!

 

Travelling tip   >>>    Grande marée au Mont-Saint-Michel and another one in English...

Inside the walls of Mont St Michel and interior of his abbey 

Stories for Children   >>>   Abdu and the traffic jam  (New series in BBC Learning English) 

Football:  Football’s Greatest Players - Xavi   

Who taught you the most things? Why the mother tongue?

Who taught you the most things? Your Mum or your Dad? Or both at the same time? Are the teaching roles inside the family changing nowadays? 

 

Well, things used to be so different. As babies or little children, we used to spend a lot of time at home with mothers and obviously we would learn from them, but nowadays mothers may be working and we may spend more time with our fathers, with our grandparents, or even at nursery schools.

 

In northern Europe many mothers, or fathers, may decide to stay at home and raise their children themselves and that would mean that we would go back to square one.

Anyway, children learn their languages from the people that are around them, so sometimes it's the mothers, or the fathers, or grandparents, or the nannies that take care of them! Just before they begin to speak they go through what is called THE SILENT PERIOD, when they just listen and listen without producing anything at all. 

 

 

Write about how you learned to speak and to do many other things, and about the people who taught you most.

 

Why mother tongue matters

 

Here are some articles for you to read about all this learning process and even a listening exercise for you to do:

• 7 Remarkable Things My Mother Taught Me About Life (The Budding Optimist)

• Why I wish my parents had taught me their language (Metro)

• Listening exercise to do: Why is it called 'mother tongue'? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

• Can you lose your native language? (BBC News)

• I lost my mother tongue -- and almost my mom (CNN)

• What happens in the brain when you learn a language? (The Guardian)

• How do we learn languages? (Brainblogger)

• No habla español? How Netflix could transform the way we learn languages (The Guardian)

The “Silent Period” in Language Acquisition: Truth or Myth?

What is SILENT PERIOD? What does SILENT PERIOD mean? SILENT PERIOD meaning, definition & explanation

 

 

 

English in a Minute: 5 uses of BREAK   (BBC Learning English)

 

 

 

Learn English with Papa  >>>  How Do You Talk To The Doctor In English?       

 

Nature is speaking. So listen!!!

What's hidden under the Greenland ice sheet? - TED Talks    by Kristin Poinar

Danny Macaskill: Danny Daycare

 

 

Football:  Football’s Greatest International Teams .. Germany 1972-1974