GUY FAWKES' DAY

On Monday morning (the 2 first módulos), we're watching the film V For Vendetta to learn a bit more about the festivity of Guy Fawkes' Day and about the figure of Guy Fawkes. And remember, that's not a festivity in honour or memory of that man, quite the contrary, to celebrate that Mr Fawkes' plot failed and that he was finally imprisoned and executed.

I "WITCH" YOU A HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Are you ready for one of the scariest nights of the year?? Are you ready for making jack o'lanterns on the 31st??Before doing all this, I'd like to chech how much do you really know about this festivity since it has become somehow blurred with the passing of time. Follow the steps:
1.DO THE QUIZ.
2. We saw the film A Nightmare Before Christmas

SCHOOL YEAR 2010 - 2011.

Welcome to the School Year 2010 - 2011! From now on, we will use this blog as an useful and alternative way of learning English. In it, you will find plenty of materials, videos and links to keep on improving your skills. Today (Tue, 20th October), we'll spend all the session revising the contents we've seen in units 1 & 2, more specifically Present Simple vs. Present Continuous, Past Simple vs. Past Continuous and Past Simple vs. Present Perfect. Try it hard! and remember that the next time we'll come to the Computer Room will be to do an activity about Halloween at the end of the month. 

A SONG AS A FAREWELL

This is the moment that I used to see so far away when I arrived in Paris the 10th of February, yes it's the moment to say "Goodbye", or even better, "See you". I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have given me so much, or from whom I've taken so much. A good way to do all this a little less sad is by sharing with you one of my favourite songs at the moment. ENJOY! SEE YOU!

British English vs. American English: more different than many people think.

REVISION FOR THE EXAM

http://www.eclecticenglish.com/grammar/PresentPerfect1D.html

http://www.aprenderinglesfacil.es/2008/06/ejercicios-presente-perfecto-present_30.html


 http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/exercises/will_going.htm

http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/exercises/going-will2.htm

PAST SIMPLE TENSE REVISION

 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simple-past

http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/past_simple.htm  (only the FORM section)

http://www.isabelperez.com/cinderella.htm 

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

- I know it is still early to start thinking of Independence Day but, as you all know, I'm leaving the 23rd June, so there are not many days left.

Let's see how much you are able to find out about American history. In order to answer all the questions I have prepared for you the following links:
http://www.britishbattles.com/american-revolution.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.holidays.net/independence/

Answer the following questions in a sheet of paper. Please, use your pen, not your pencil.

QUESTIONS: 

1. What's exactly celebrated the 4th July?
2. What's the name of the nation (=country) the colonists in American had to fight against?
3. What are the other two Eurpean nations which supported the colonies in the war?
4. What was the name of the English king during the war?
5. When did the war begin? when did it finish?
6. What's the name of the most important battle in the War of Independence?
7. Why did the colonists want to be independent?
8. How is celebrated the Independence Day in USA nowadays?
9. What's the name of the treaty signed after the war?
10. What's the present France gave to USA after gaining independence?
11. What do the stars and stripes of the American flag stand  for?

Now, it's time for a bit of relaxation by listening to the American Anthem:

LEARNING WITH SONGS

Today, let's improve our listening skill, but also our knowledge of grammar, by listening to the song "It's Raining Men!". This is the version by Gery Halliwell. Follow the steps.

- Exercises

1. COMPLETE THE GAPS WITH THESE WORDS:

according, every, low, head, half, start, time, where, mother, about, too, place.

humidity's risin'
barometer's getting _______
according to our sources
the street's the place to go

cos tonight for the first _______
just about _______ past ten
for the first time in history
it's gonna _______ raining men

it's raining men hallejulah
it's raining men amen
it's raining men hallejulah
it's raining men amen

ow

humidity's risin'
barometer's getting _______
_______ to our sources
the street's the _______ to go

cos tonight for the first time
just about _______ past ten
for the first time in history
it's gonna _______ raining men

it's raining men hallejulah
it's raining men amen
I'm gonna go out I'm gonna get myself get
absolutley soaking wet

it's rainin men hallejulah
it's rainin men every specimen
tall blonde dark and lean
rough and tough and strong and mean

god bless _______ nature
she's a single woman _______
she took over heaven
and she did what she had to do

she fought _______ angel
to rearrange the sky
so that each and every woman
could find the perfect guy

it's raining men
go get yourself wet girl I know you want to

I feel stormy where the roof is in
I've got to begin
heaven on earth don't you loose your _______
rip off the roof and stay in bed
rip off the roof and stay

it's raining men hallejulah
it's raining men amen
it's raining men hallejulah ....

2. WHAT´S THE MEANING OF...?

Cos
gonna
risin´
I've

3.- UNDERLINE:

a. Three adjectives
b. Three prepositions
c. A sentence in the simple present
d. A sentence in the present continuous
e. A sentence in the simple past

4.- TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING:

a. She fought every angel
b. to rearrange the sky
c. so that each and every woman
d. could find the perfect guy

PRESENT PERFECT REVIEW

www.authorstream.com/Presentation/demet-33492-present-perfect-tense-education-ppt-powerpoint

http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/exercises/present_perfect_1.htm

REPORTED SPEECH

Go to this link to have a review at Reported Speech in English:
http://eduardosoddsockdrawer.blogspot.com/search/label/Reported%20speech

PRESENT CONTINUOUS REVISION

Let's have a review at the Present Continuous tense. For this, do the following activites. Follow the steps:

1. http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/present_cont.htm

2. Now, a bit of vocabulary: http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/interlex/hotpot/matching/athome.htm

- http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/interlex/hotpot/memory/memhouseparts.htm 

- http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/interlex/hotpot/matching/whatdusethemfor.htm 

Our Solar System!

Have you ever wondered if we are alone in this huge universe? If so, maybe today we may find part of the answer to that question. Now, please click on the following link: http://www.isabelperez.com/wizard/Solar_system_bonares.htm?ID=77967
Here, you'll find a lot of information and activities, but let's follow the steps. Good luck!
Second, what are the names of the different planets in our Solar System?. Use the different resources in my web to find them out. Then, name them.
Third, let's learn a bit more about these planets. Find out:
- Which one is the biggest one?.
- Which one is the smallest?.
- What's the planet with a hottest weather?
- Which one has a coldest weather?.
- What's the name of the furthest planet to the Earth? and the nearest?
Fourth, there are other elements in our universe which are not planets. Give information about the following:
- Satellites. Brief definition?. Say what's the most important in our solar system.
- Meteors. Brief definition?.

PARTS OF THE HOUSE

- Click on the link (http://poster.4teachers.org/worksheet/view.php?ID=77942) and do the reinforcement activities about the vocabulary of the parts of the house seen in class.

British English vs. American English

Nowadays, there's a lot of confusion about what are the exact words and expressions belonging to British English and the ones typically American. That's the main reason for this activity, that is, to throw a light to this difficult point when learning English. Now, do the proposed activities following the order and do not forget to post all your answers.

1. Click on this link: http://www.isabelperez.com/hotpot/br_am_2.htm
2. Spelling (= ortografía). Say which words are American and which are British. pay attention to the spelling of the word and try to infer (= deducir) the rule:
- Centre.
- Harbor.
- Neighbour.
- Emphasise
- Center
- Harbour
- Centre
- Emphasize
3. Have a look at the following link and take notes on your notebooks of all the information included:
http://www.slideshare.net/aidnurenglish/british-versus-american-english
 4. Finally, click on this link to Wikipedia and find out there all the countries where English is spoken:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Include in your posts the names of all the countries in the five continets.

READING DAY (Robinson Crusoe)

r

Chapter 1: "My Adventures Begin"
 I was born in 1632 in the city of York, England. When I was a boy, I dreamed about one thing - I wanted to be sailor. After I finished school, I told my parents my idea. They did not like it.
"Life at sea is difficult," my father said. "You must learn a profession to earn money. Law is a good profession for an intelligent young man like you."
But I didn't listen to my father's words. When I was 19 years old, a friend invited me to sail to London on his father's ship. I didn't tell my parents about my plans. On the 1st of September, 1651, I started my first voyage. The ship sailed from Hull, a port near York. During the voyage, there was a terrible storm, with waves like mountains. I was very frightened. Our ship started to fill with water. The ship sank and sailors on another ship rescued us and took us to London.
"You brought bad luck to my ship," my friend's father said to me. "Don't become a sailor. Go home and study to be a lawyer." But I wanted a life at sea. In London I met the captain of a ship sailing to Africa. I told him about my dream. 
"I want to learn to be a sailor," I said.
"I'm happy to teach a young man like you," he said.
I sailed on his ship to Africa and then returned to England. I worked hard, and learned many things about life at sea.


Now, answer the following questions:
1. What does the main character do? (= profession)
2. Give a synonym for sailor.
3. Where was the main character born?, where's that city in England? (you can use wikipedia sources)

4. When was he born?
5. What's the meaning of earn ?
6. Translate into Spanish the following word: law?
7. Where's Hull in England? (you can use wikipedia sources)

8. What's the meaning of waves?
9. Give as many examples of Past Simple verbs as you can.
10. Explain in a few words what's the chapter about.     
11.  Let's learn about the city  of York:
- nº of inhabitants?
-  main monuments?
- it is famous for?
12.  Let's learn about the city of  Hull:
- nº of inhabitants?
-  main monuments?
- it is famous for?

 

PLANNING (1st YEAR INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE)

Follow the steps:

- Click on this link (http://sites.google.com/site/isabelperez2006/internationalinstitutions-tradeandfinanc) and there you will find today's activity.

TRY IT HARD!

Present Perfect Simple

Let's keep on working on Present Perfect. For this, do the following activities:
1. http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/exercises/present_perfect_2.htm
2. http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/exercises/present_perfect_mistakes.htm
3. http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/exercises/pres_perf_1.htm
4. http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs5.htm
5. http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs6.htm
6. GRAMMAR + LISTENING ACTIVITY (http://www.isabelperez.com/songs/whathaveyoudone.htm)

Try it hard!

March, 24th : 10th Anniversary 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia

Today, it's time to remember. Time to have a close look at history to learn from our past mistakes.Watch carefully the following documentary ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrKP-Xj4bgs&feature=related) and try to answer the following questions I've prepared for you all: (Remember that you can use the wikipedia sources and watch the documentary as many times as necessary to answer the questions):
1.- How many Kosova-Albanians were saved thanks to the NATO-USA military intervention?
2.- Who was Milosevic?
3.- Who was Madeline Albright?. She considers Milosevic the s_ _ _ _ _ of the problem.
4.- Give a synonym in British English to the American English expression "they were not kidding".
5.- Who was the president of the United States during that conflict? (= in 1999)
6.- What's the current capital city of Yugoslavia?
7.- What were the first and second targets by the coalition armies?
8.- How's pronounced the word bombing? Give a phonetic transcription.
9.- The hardest attack took place in................................................... And it took place after _______ days after the beginning of the conflict.
10. What's the American word to refer to the centre of a city?.
11. What was Russian's attitude towards this conflict?
12. Who was Russian President during the Kosova War?
13. Do you think this documentary is biased or partial, or on the contrary, it is quite impartial?

ST PATRICK'S DAY

Let's start learning a bit about St Patrick's day, but we'll do it having some fun. Click here and do this quiz.

Now, go the following link to learn more about St Patrick:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/saints/patrick_1.shtml

Learn how much do you know:

http://lve.scola.ac-paris.fr/anglais/stpat/symbols.htm

Next step: a puzzle! http://iteslj.org/cw/2/vm-cwpatrick.html

ádh! (= Good luck in Gaelic!)

THINGS YOU SHOULDN'T DO WHEN SPEAKING IN ENGLISH

1st. Today, I want you all to reflect upon pronunciation and phonetics. We'll pay special attention to the typical mistakes Spanish people committ when pronouncing.

2nd. First, look carefully at these two performances.

- LYRICS: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/hair/aquarius.htm

click  here for watching the first video.

- Now contrast the previous performance with this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC3esqdrwFc

- As you might guess, the difference in the pronunciation of both singers is quite evident, but:

a) What do you think that are the reasonsfor this? Age? Sex? Origin? (= different places of Spain) Education?. Say as many factors as you consider appropriate and explain your answer.

3rd. Let's continue with a speech by Emilio Botin, president of Santander Bank. His speech is full of basic mistakes of pronunciation and is characterised by an accent quite hard to understand.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaLDoWqIq2M

Watch the video as many times as you need. Then, write down all the mistakes you see (pronunciation, grammar, syntax). Here, I give you some of the typical mistakes Spanish people commit. You can use them if these same mistakes are committed by Mr Botín:
- Pronunciation of "e" in words starting with s-, like for example "Spain" /espeIn/.
- Very marked pronunciation of "h".
- Pronunciation of "sh" like in FASHION, or pronunciation of the suffix -tion.
- Final endings.
4th. You have just watched and listened to a speech by the president of one of the most important banks in the world. Do you think that speeches like this can influence negatively on him with regards to investors, and
businessmen?
- Do you think it is necessary having a good English to get better results in your company?
- Are businessmen really concerned about the importance of English for their jobs?

Baby Fight (1st year of International Commerce, Spanish Lyceum Luis Buñuel, Paris)

1st. Watch carefully the following commercial (click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuSBCIV1zuQ)

2nd. Give 5 examples of verbs in Past Simple.

3rd. What's the difference in meaning between "fathers" and "parents"?.

4th. Find in the ad a synonym of "mother".

5th. What's the meaning of "weapon"?. How's pronounced?.

6th. Translate into Spanish:
- "From now on Fathers and Sons can fight on equal terms".
- "The softness of their skin got them all their mom's attention".

7th. Do you think this ad promotes violence?.

8th. Do you consider everything should be allowed in the world of publicity?.

LYRICS

1.- Listening activity for students of 1st year of Compulsory Secondary Education (Liceo Español Luis Buñuel, París).
- Please follow the steps till complete the activity. Enjoy the song!.
2.- Listen to this song twice and remember not to write anything in the first listening. (click on the GB flag!!!)

3.- Find a synonym of :

-Kind.
-Doors.
-Pretty.

4.- Translate the following sentences:

- "There's no earthly way of knowing"
- "No one learned from your mistakes "
- "Boy she looks a lot like you"

5.- Listen to this part of the song and fill in the gaps with the followings prepositions:

over - up - for - around - in

Waiting _____ God to stop this
And ___ to your neck in darkness
Everyone ____ you was corrupted
Saying somethin'

There's no dignity _____ death
To sell the world your last breath
They're still fighting _____
Everything you left over.

6.- Find words with the sound: /a:/ (=long "a").

7.- Make up an alternative title.

8.- Select the sentence you most like. Explain why.

Advertising Spaces (by Robbie Williams)

There's no earthly way of knowing
What was in your heart
When it stopped going
The whole world shook
A storm was blowing through you

Waiting for God to stop this
And up to your neck in darkness
Everyone around you was corrupted
Saying somethin'

There's no dignity in death
To sell the world your last breath
They're still fighting over
Everything you left over

I saw you standing at the gates
When Marlon Brando passed away
You had that look upon your face
Advertising space

And
No one learned from your mistakes
We let our profit s go to waste
All that's left in any case
Is Advertising space

Through your eyes
The world was burning
Please be gentle
I'm still learning
You seemed to say
As you kept turning up

They poisoned you with compromise
At what point did you realise
Everybody loves your life
But you ahahh

Special agent for the man
Through watergate and vietnam
No one really gave a damn
Did you think the CIA did

I saw you standing at the gates
When Marlon Brando passed away
You had that look upon your face
Advertising space

And
No one learned from your mistake
We let our profits go to waste
All that's left in any case
Is Advertising space ooooohh

I saw you standing at the gates
When Marlon Brando passed away
You had that look upon your face
Advertising space

No one learned from your mistakes
We let our profits go to waste
All that's left in any case
Is Advertising space

I've seen your daughter
Man shes cute
I was scared but I wanted to
Boy she looks a lot like you.