FRIDAY 14 JULY 2017

Reading can be an excellent way to learn new words and review grammar in a natural context. However reading a book in the original version can be difficult. There are books, by famous authors or biographies or non fiction books written in simplified English so that they are not to difficult to understand. one publisher is Macmillan.

Here you can read sample chapters from their books before you decide what you want to buy.

http://www.macmillanreaders.com/resources/sample-chapters

For example here is the first chapter of Frankenstein

http://www.macmillanreaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Frankenstein.pdf

You can but the book with a CD on amazon

http://www.amazon.it/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=macmillan+reader&tag=slhyin-21&index=stripbooks&hvadid=24992154275&ref=pd_sl_1rlmfv3k54_b

Or you can sometimes find them online.

http://mggu-sh.ru/sites/default/files/frankenstein.pdf

I have some books in pdf format. Ask me if you are interested.

When talking about the past, as well as the past simple you can use the past continuous and the past perfect to add different levels to your story.

You can read about these tenses here

http://www.vivquarry.com/wkshts/narrative.html

and also on Page 121 of PET Result

There are some exercises on these tenses on Pages 21 and 51 of PET Result.

and try the exercises on narrative tenses here

http://www.eltbase.com/quiz/201_02.htm

Two ways to understand these tenses better are 
1) reading and
2) using them to talk about your life or experience

Think of  year in the past, for example, 2005, and answer these questions thinking about your situation at the time.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslVE45VDRIaEk2a0U/view?usp=sharing

WEDNESDAY 12 JULY 2017

Today we talk about homes and the places where we live.

Try the exercises on Page 55 of PET Result to practise giving a more ample answer when speaking.

We tried some reading exercises about homes.

The first is in PET Result on page 52.

Their is another exercise about Unusual homes here, pages 5 and 6

https://www.elthillside.com/sites/default/files/practice_tests_exams/CAMBRIDGE%20FCE-TRP%20JOURNEYS%20B2-students.pdf

MONDAY 10 JULY 2017

There is also the present perfect continuous that we use to highlight the action that continues now and in the future instead of the result.

Read the explanation here and try the exercises here

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslR3hnYXh6bmZPOEk/view?usp=sharing

and on Page 1 of this document

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslS3N4cFl2N3VGRlk/view?usp=sharing

 For more practice try the exercises on englishpage.com

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html

This tense is common in job interviews when talking about your current and past work situation.

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=5899

To build your vocabulary try to learn word families. Try the exercises on P53 of PET Result.

On Page 126 there is a lot of information about prefixes and suffixes. They can help to discover the meaning of a new word by seperating it into parts.

You can find more exercises here

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/word_formation.htm

http://www.esl-galaxy.com/prefixsuffix.html

This is also useful for the Use of English Part 3.

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/strategy/p3pt5a.htm

FRIDAY JULY 7 2017

In English we make a difference between finished and unfinished time. When thinking of the past we must think about the time in which the action happened. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslVXc3VjQ0VVVRZ0U/view?usp=sharing

When we talk about a past action in a past time, we use the past simple. When we talk about a past action in an unfinished time we use the presesnt perfect have / has + past participle.The uses of the present perfect are 
1. To talk about a past action in an unfinished time - I have drunk two coffees today
2. To speak about an experience at an unspecified time of the past - I have been to America
3. To speak about something that started in the past and continues now -I have lived in Italy for 8 years
4. To bring something from the past closer to the present because it is news, or because there is a consequence now.
You have cut your hair!
This is a good book for grammar, Units 7 + 8 and 13 + 14. - http://vk.com/doc8069473_202956457?hash=5ce925651868f7ad3c&dl=aa922cf229371819a9

Irregular verb forms can be hard to remember. You can try putting them in groups of verbs that change in the same way.

Try these worksheets

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslVksxcWZ2aFRPYkk/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslUGgxV0JnQXZkZnM/view?usp=sharing

or watch these videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zhFJlCAbGU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNaDvAYC0Jw

Then complete the questions on Page 3 on this document.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslS3N4cFl2N3VGRlk/view?usp=sharing

WEDNESDAY JULY 5 2017

Today we watched a video of two students doing a Cambridge FCE B2 Speaking exam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6P5L0JG2rk

Here you can read a similar dialogue where two students discuss the best way to learn a language.

http://www.ukstudentlife.com/English/Exams/Oral.htm

Think about learning language through these questions.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslV3l1cHE5ZktsdUU/view?usp=sharing

There is a similar exercise on Page 48 of PET Result.

On the website English with Jo you can find some conversation questions on many subjects including health

http://www.englishwithjo.com/english-conversation-health/

MONDAY JULY 3 2017

Today we spoke about sport, which is a very interesting subject because it requires specific vocabulary.

Here you can find an exercise for learning sports vocabulary.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Df8YlThIrV17yIegVP_H7DoCLfuJNdCa07QL_Tv6nxg/edit?usp=sharing

We also tried the vocabulary exercise on Page 49 of PET Result.

For the PET exam there is are lists of vocabulary that you should know. You can find them here.

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/84669-vocabulary-list.pdf

For FCE and other exams, there is no list, but the following books can help you to increase your vocabulary in some common areas.

PET - https://ymerleksi.wikispaces.com/file/view/Check+your+vocab+for+PET+Book.pdf

FCE - http://vk.com/doc243798239_300780464 

CAE - http://www.e4thai.com/e4e/images/pdf/Test%20Your...Vocabulary%204%20(Upper-Inter%20to%20CAE)%20-%2049p.pdf

IELTS - http://www.ycdc.gov.mm/download.php?pdffile=ebook-13

Here you can find a vocabulary list per CEFR level.

http://www.englishprofile.org/wordlists

FRIDAY 30 JUNE 2017

Today we learnt vocabulary for talking about films.

Watching films is a great way of learning more informal English, that can include -

- contractions e.g. I'm, I'd

- phrasal verbs - get on, get off

- abbreviations - CDs,  ATM, ASAP

- informal phrases - catch you later!

- incomplete sentences - got the time?

For more examples of informal langauge, go to English Club

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/contractions-informal.htm

In the above list, perhaps the most difficult are the phrasal verbs. These are verbs composed of one verbs and one preposition that can have literal or figurative meanings. It is impossible to learn them all, but you can start to understand them better by considering verbs that you can make matching a common verb with different prepositions

http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/take-phrasal-verbs

Or by thinking of verbs to use in common situations

http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/your-english/phrasal-verbs/your-english-phrasal-verbs-in-the-news/551473.article

This is a great book for learning phrasal verbs

https://vk.com/doc177534154_437754297?hash=958f73f9bcc3b17fb3&dl=875b31c6888dbc1d77

Try to describe a film you saw recently in the writing task on Page 43 of PET Result.