One of the most colourful festivals in the English speaking countries is St Patrick's Day Festival, in Dublin. You can see how they celebrate it in the following video:
Do you know why St Patrick's Day is celebrated? Is it celebrated only in Ireland? Why?
Your task: think of any popular festival in your country or in any other country and tell us what you know about it using a Power Point presentation in which you will include the name of the festival, where and when it is held, why it is so popular and why you like it. You should include pictures, photos, videos... Be creative!
Now, in pairs, reflect on the following questions:
Do you think that the lyrics of the song refer to a real situation?
What happened to the protagonist of the song?
She thought that her friends would always be there for her but, was it like that?
Do you think that you will keep your friends forever?
How does the song reflect the problems young teenagers may suffer? Do you feel identified with the protagonist?
Write down your ideas and then, put them in common with the rest of your classmates.
This is a task directed to begginer students who are just studying the difference between the Past Simple and Past Continuous.
Your task: Select a photo of your last holidays with your family and write a description of it. You will describe the place, the landscape and what you were doing at the moment the photo was taken.
Remember that you have to use the past simple and continuous.
Here you have a video which shows how to describe a picture. You can follow most of the advice it gives.
Before you
start writing, read the topic and the points you have to mention carefully and
then make an outline with the ideas that come to your mind. Do not start your
writing directly without doing an outline previously, because you can find
yourself trying to change the order of paragraphs by using arrows or similar
symbols that teachers normally hate. Once you have made your ideas
brainstorming, put those ideas in order
of importance and once you have the outline ready, you can start writing
following a structure like this one:
1. Paragraph 1:
Introduction:
Topic
Summary
of main points
Thesis
statement
2. Paragraph 2: most important idea or in favour
idea (if it is an argumentative writing)
3. Paragraphs 3-4: second most important idea or
contrasting idea.
Maybe, we will need another paragraph to
express a new idea if we have a third point to state.
4. Conclusion: a summary of what we have mentioned
before or the ending for a narrative writing.
ØTry to be coherent. If you are
writing about an event in the past, do not use verbs in future, for instance, and try not to mix people's names and their pronouns.
ØUse connectors to join sentences or
to introduce a new paragraph: and, but, so… (joining connectors); First of all,
Secondly, Furthermore, Moreover, However, Nevertheless, Finally… (introducing a new paragraph or adding
or contrasting connectors).There is a
wide variety of connectors that you can use to avoid repetitions.
In the
following video, you will see what teachers take into account when correcting
and marking a writing exam.
Here you have some useful links to websites in which you can practise as much as you wish, both grammar and vocabulary. As they offer exercises online, you can see whether your exercises are correct or not, and in most of them you will find explanations to help you improve your English.
Some of the exercises can also be downloaded if you prefer to do them on paper.
Sometimes, we do not dare speak in front of other people even though we are using our native language. So, for most of us having to speak to an audience of any kind in a language that we are learning seems to be "mission: impossible".
Well, we will try to learn some tips that will help us feel more comfortable when the teacher asks us to prepare a presentation for next week about...
1. Never try to speak about something that you don't control well. If you don't understand the topic your teacher has assessed, you will have to look for information about it before preparing your presentation. It can also happen that you understand the topic, but what you want to say is very difficult to express. Just, do not say it. It is much better that you find a synonym or a short explanation.
2. Prepare your presentation carefully. First, you should think about the topic and make an outline of the main ideas you want to mention. Then, write everything down as if you were going to hand in a writing exercise.
3. Read what you wrote a few times, not only to correct possible mistakes, but also to learn it. But be careful, do not try to learn it word by word. It won't make sense if you recite what you wrote just like a parrot. You must understand it in such a way that if you forget something you can still continue speaking.
4. When the presentation moment arrives, try to keep calm and introduce yourself and the topic you are going to speak about. It doesn't matter that all your classmates have been with you since you were 3 years old, you still have to tell them who you are and why they should listen to you.
5. Do not read or recite by heart. Remember that this is not a reading exercise, but a speaking one. In most occassions your teacher will allow you to have the outline of your speech with you, but that doesn't mean that you can read it. You will use it only if you forget the next point or a special word that you want to mention, for instance.
6. Once you have finished your presentation, you must give it a closing which can be a conclusion or just a sentence, such as "I hope you liked my speech. Do you want to ask me anything about it?" But, please, never end a presentation with "and that's it" :(
Here you have two videos about oral presentations. In one of them you will see what you shoul NOT do and what you should do. In the other one, you will see two students presenting their speeches.
Both of them have been taken from YOUTUBE. The links are:
When you do a listening exercise, it is very important to read well the instructions and the questions and multiple choice answers (if that is the kind of exercise you are going to do). Exercises can vary: they can have True - False statements, multiple choice (a, b, c...), open questions, filling the gaps... All of them can be adapted to different levels.
In this section, we are going to start from the begginer level (A1). In next entries we will move to higher levels, because as the title of this blog says, this is English For You All!
First of all, we are going to watch a video which explains quite clearly what we have to focus on when we do a listening exercise. It has been taken from YOUTUBE
After watching the video, maybe you want to try the following exercises. They have been taken from The British Council - Learn English Teens. They are directed to begginers (A1), but if you consider that your level is higher, you can choose another exercise. There are lots!
You just have to click on the link and it will take you directly to the exercises. You will be able to do the exercises online or even download the worksheets and the audio.
Do not worry if you don't understand all the words. It is not necessary, as it is mentioned in the video.
This is a reading activity with which, apart from having fun, we will learn new vocabulary. It is directed to PRE- INTERMEDIATE or INTERMEDIATE students.
It has been taken from https://en.islcollective.com , which is a website where you can find all kinds of printable exercises, videos...
The link from which this text has been taken and adapted is:
When
I was leaving Montreal, I decided to stop at one of those rest areas on the
side of the road.
I
go into the washroom. The first stall is taken, so I go into the second stall.
I had just sat down when I heard a voice from the other stall… - Hi there, how is it going?
I'm
thinking to myself, what the hell? Okay, I am not the type to strike up
conversations with strangers in the loos on the side of the road. I didn't know
what to say, so finally I say: -Not bad… Then the voice says:
-
So, what are you doing? I am starting to find this a bit weird and very
uncomfortable, but I finally reply with: - Well, I'm going back east… Then I hear the person, all flustered, say: - Look, I'll call you back honey--every time I ask
you a question this idiot in the next stall keeps answering me! …A harsh silence fell through the washroom. I have
to tell you I was relieved. But never before had I felt so stupid!Damnyoucellphones...!Youwinthisround.
Let’s see whether we understand the vocabulary. Try to
infer the meaning of the words you don’t know and reflect on the questions that
follow:
·The loo, the ladies’, the John, the washroom… All the four words mean the same. Do you know what?
·… strike up:
start a conversation with a stranger. Has it ever happened to you? What was it
about? Do you often strike up conversations with strangers?
·… find this a
bit weird:
odd, strange. What was so weird about
the person? What was he or she doing when you saw them?
·… To feel
flustered: fell bewildered and confused. Have you ever felt
flustered? If so, what made you feel
like that?
Now, take some minutes to think about the following statements
and questions. Try to be honest in your answers J
Think about the last time you traveled.
·Did you feel
comfortable? If not, why not?
·Did any
stranger try to strike up a conversation with you? Did you reply readily?
·Did you see
anyone/anything weird while travelling?
·Did anything
flustering happen to you during the journey?
·Do you think that
what is told in the text is a joke (an invented funny story) or an anecdote (a
real incident)?
This blog has been designed for those who have problems with their English language lessons, or just those who want to practise and improve the most important skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking.
