THAT'S ENGLISH NB1A

Hello my boys and girls from NB1A...., I wish you a Merry Christmas and have some good news for you...All those of you who did their exam with me yesterday at 16.30, ..did it well! Congratulations!
Results will be available on Thursday 8th at the school
HAPPY 2009!

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT XMAS CELEBRATIONS

hi boys and girls, here are a few pictures taken yesterday at the English department Xmas party. We had a cake, haiku and bookmark contest (in these pics most of the cakes had not arrived yet....ehehe) and a couple of shows starring this Australian bloke (whose real name I can't remember ha ha ha) which made us split our sides laughing....my ribs ached from laughing so much..we really had a good time! Well guys...HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY! I will be in Italy for a few days and will have a look at the blog if I can (Valerio might let me use his computer perhaps :-)))).

FREE AUDIOBOOKS

hello boys and girls, I hope you had a nice long weekend and are ready to come back to the school ;-) . Here is a link for you to read and listen at the same time..you can download at least 2 free audiobooks and there are some more interesting links to explore on the same page, enjoy!

Audiobooks

THAT'S ENGLISH /BASICO 1

Hello boys and girls from That's English, look at this map of Leek (click on it to make it bigger) and tell me how to get from the bus station (exit on Haywood Street, that is where you are) to the following places (give me directions):

1) Brough Park Leisure Centre and Swimming Pool
2)All Saints Church
3) The Police station

THANKSGIVING

hello guys, guess what day is today? ;-) yes, Thanksgiving Day...for you to find out more about this celebration, here's a little webquest. I would like each blogger to answer ONLY ONE question (which hasn't already been answered of course) ...there you go:

1) What's Thankgiving and when is it celebrated (not too many details because there are more questions below ;-)
2) When was the first Thanksgiving celebrated and by whom?
3)Who were the Pilgrims?
4) What kind of food is eaten on this festivity?
5) What is the popular dessert on this day?
6) What do some people do after lunch?

INTERMEDIATE 1 GRAMMAR

Hello boys and girls from Intermediate 1. Another challenge for you. Can you translate these sentences into English? (after yesterday's exams revision it should be a piece of cake ;-). To read the cartoon (it's funny) just click on the pic and it'll become larger.

1) A pesar de que fuera un día soleado estuvimos viendo películas en casa todo el día.
2) Como el tren llegó tarde al aeropuerto perdimos el avión y nos costó un día más llegar a Londres.

INTERMEDIOS 2: CONTRAST

Hello boys and girls, a challenge for you...how about writing three sentences using these subordinators? Each sentence should also contain a new word you have learnt in class and you would like to remember...:-). I hope this time some of you (who I know are secret readers on this blog, cheeky monkeys!) will write something.... .:-)))

HALLOWEEN MINISTORIES : VOTE HERE!

hello boys and girls, it's time you gave your vote to one of the stories. You can do it here, just write a comment indicating the nick of the contestant whose story you liked best. I am not going to vote myself...unless there is a draw ;-). The deadline for voting is Sunday at lunchtime. Good luck!

SAMHAIN. MINISTORIES CONTEST. READ THE STORIES OF OUR BLOGGERS HERE

or ALL HALLOWS' EVE, or in other words, HALLOWEEN. One more year, boys and girls, this Celtic celebration will have children (and adults) roam the streets at sundown on October 31, dressed in all sorts of disguises, trick or treating, playing practical jokes and watching spooky films. Here's a link to learn more about this celebration.
I would also like to make the most out of this festivity and hold a bigbottle contest: HALLOWEEN MINISTORIES. You are welcome to write a short spooky Halloween story (around 50 words,it must be easy to read in a comment to this post). You can post them here up to Thursday 30th October. On Friday 31st all the bloggers who have read the ministories should give their vote to one of them (I will open a new post just for voting and leaving comments). Use as many spooks, creepy crawlies, bats, black cats etc. as you like. :-)

ALL LEVELS SELF LEARNING

Hello guys, I posted this link in a comment , answering to Miky, but then realised that you might miss it and decided to post it here for everyone to see it. The vice-headmaster forwarded it to me..thanks vice-headmaster... :-)

IMPORTANT !

Boys and girls, the course has started and already someone is posting unwanted comments on this blog. Whenever you see comments that provide links and that are not signed by me, ignore them. Don't click on them, don't even answer these people, sometimes they are trolls and all they want is to upset you people and get you to answer. Big mistake (plus, you are not doing me a favour because I am the one who has to delete all the messages)! It already happened last year and the best thing to do is please, AGAIN, ignore them!!!!
Thanks a lot and have a good start..
Monica

English-Spanish conversation exchange

Hey guys, my colleague Olga has just sent me this useful piece of information for those of you who are interested in practising English with US American students. No excuses now......;-)


Contact:
Carlos Herrero,
Colegio de Trinitarios
Calle Trinidad, 1
28801 Alcalá de Henares (Madrid)
SPAIN

• Telf: (0034) 91 885 52 52
• Fax: (0034) 91 885 52 48

FORTHCOMING COURSE

Hello again everybody! Sorry to be back so late, but these days, as you can imagine, have been hectic for us teachers since we must organise the impeding course.
Perhaps I will be seeing some of my cheeky monkeys again, and even some of my ancient "big bottles" perhaps, ..well boys and girls, prepare the usual ham (you know for Xmas and before exams ha ha ha) :-).....and smarten up ! byeeeeeeeeeeee

Back from Holidays!

Hi everyone! I am back from Italy and Scotland. Holidays have been short but intense. This is just a short welcome post with a few pics of Scotland, for I can't write much at the moment. My right hand was operated on 3 days ago and I can't move it much due to the stitches. Guess who operated on it? Our friend and blogger The Doctor ;-). I got VIP treatment and was made to doze off during the operation, so that I didn't realise anything at all! Thanks Doc, as you see, I am typing to exercise my swollen fingers ;-).
In the pics top to bottom and left to right: Typical menu along the Royal Mile, view of Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat, Arthur's Seat, stop at a Whisky centre on our way back from the Highlands, Loch Ness, view of Edinburgh from the Castle, The Three Sisters (Glencoe). More pics on my usual Flickr page ;-)
seeya soon! Monica

PRONUNCIATION

hello guys, most of you must be already on holiday, yet I would like to post a useful link that I have found for pronunciation on the BBC Learning English site .
It's a page with some quizzes and the chance to listen to correct pronunciation (and imitate it, which, as you know, is the key to successful pronunciation). I hope you like it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/quiz/quiz1/index.shtml

READING (all levels)

hello boys and girls, browsing the BBC I came across (nice phrasal verb, this ;-) these pieces of news . Read them and tell me what you think (cuartos, this is a good chance to practise crime and punishment vocabulary)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7397426.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7397867.stm

INVERSION

Hi everyone, here's a good link to study a few examples of inversion in English. These structures are not very common and are used mainly for emphasis.

http://esl.about.com/od/advancedgrammar/a/inversion.htm

MORE LINKS, COURTESY OF ZENITRAM

Hi guys, here are some nice links Zenitram sent me. Here you can find grammar, pronunciation, phrasal verbs and what have you...so, it means you don't need your teacher any more ! ahahaha Thanks a lot Zenitram, boy.

http://www.englishpage.com/index.html
http://www.englishclub.com/learn-english.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/

IMPROVING YOUR SPEAKING

Guys, here is a link (BBC again) with podcasts you can listen to in order to get advice on how to improve your speaking...very interesting...(and good listening practice too..)
;.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/

CUARTOS: MORE GRAMMAR LINKS: REPORTING VERBS

Hi everybody, your homework for next Friday is related to reported speech. In case we have no time in class to revise everything...here are some links for you to study reporting verbs that often cause confusion (suggest, recommend, demand, deny etc.). The link to BBC learning English is really good! I will never insist too much on that.....you can find quizzes, exercises, explanations, pronunciation, videos.....you won't need your teacher any longer! ;-), the other one is also good for quizzes and exercises...enjoy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv201.shtml


http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_reportingverbs.htm

QUIZ LINK FOR CUARTOS

hello boys and girls, here is a link to three quizzes (about.com page) , for you to practise prepositional phrases. Don't miss it, for you know that's a grammar area you need to improve ;-)


http://esl.about.com/labels.htm?terms=prepositional%20phrases&SUName=esl&TopNode=3227&type=1

USEFUL LINKS

hi guys, Fernando sent me a couple of links related to writing skills...have a look, they might interest you :-)


http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/index.html

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_essay.html

WARNING

Hello students and friends, as Zenitram says in one of his comments, be careful with links posted by unknown people. I have been deleting a few posts these days (with links to porn sites). They are posted by people using different nicknames, so , it is sometimes difficult to know whether it is a new student logging in or not. I suggest ignoring all links posted on the blog, except the ones posted by me, usually related to English learning sites. If any of you have interesting links to recommend, send them to me by email first, and I will post them on your behalf.
I will not let the blog be affected by these parasytes....:-)

LISTENING PRACTICE

Hi guys, here is another link you might find useful to practise listening comprehension (besides the ones in my favourite links, the ELLLO site some of you have already visited and the BBC learning English)

http://examenglish.com

you will find all skills and levels here

remember that you are not going to improve if you only practise in class once or twice a week ;-)...