NOVEMBER 16 16 - 18

Look at these signs. What do they mean? How can you explain these signs to foreigners?

No Smoking

Do not smoke

You are not allowed to smoke here

You must not smoke here

Warning / Danger of death

Don't touch / enter

Keep away

Don't speed

Drive slowly

You must reduce your speed

You should drive slower

Wash your hands

You can wash your hands here

You should wash your hands

Here we see that we can give commands / orders in three ways

1. Using the imperative

For a positive command use the verb in the base form without subject

Walk! Come! Enter!

For a negative imperative, add Do not or Don't

Don't smoke!

Do not enter!

2. Using modal verbs

must - FOR ME, IT IS NECESSARY - I must call my mother

have to - THE LAW OR THE RULES SAY IT IS NECESSARY - You have to have a passport to go to the USA

In the negative form these verbs have a different meaning

must not - IT IS FORBIDDEN-  You must not smoke in public places

don't have to - IT IS NOT NECESSARY - I don't have to work on Sundays

Try to use these verbs to complete these phrases about life in Italy

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslUzFPVEpGb2VJV1E/view?usp=sharing

Should means it is a good idea and is used to give and ask for advice.

Practice using this worksheet

http://www.macmillaninspiration.com/original/files/2010/07/INSP2_ws1.pdf

3. Using alternative phrases such as - It is allowed / forbidden etc

See here for more information

https://www.espressoenglish.net/common-english-words-permission-obligation-prohibition/

Englishpage.com has a great modal verb tutorial.

You can practice these with the reading exercise on Page 64 of PET Result

NOVEMBER 14 18 - 20

Asking questions is an essential skill for travelling.

You can practise using the correct word order in questions and answers on this site.

http://www.englishaula.com/en/ket-exam-speaking-cambridge-key-english-test-video-lessons-practice-tests-exercises.php

There is more practise in Essential Grammar in Use, Unit 7.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslSzd0WHdOZlJhMGc/view?usp=sharing

Practise asking questions about activities using the following verbs and question words.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslOC1jUmtoSXNnWlE/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslN1g2Q1MyTEdWaTg/view?usp=sharing

Questions about familiar subjects are in part 1 of the Cambridge speaking test.

You can see videos on Youtube

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

or read sample questions here, page 5 (59)

http://iltea.org/cambridge/PET/PET_HB_sampleS.pdf

NOVEMBER 14 16 - 20

Sometimes it is difficult to understand exactly what is happening.

When you describe  a picture, you can talk about facts ( The sky is blue ) or impressions ( It looks like summer (for more phrases with look ask me for a worksheet)).

Here are some more ways of talking about your impressions and opinions:

- might    e.g It might be someone's birthday

- I think   e.g I don't think they're going on holiday

- perhaps / maybe   e.g Perhaps she's tired

- probably  e.g It's probably summertime 

We can use modal verbs to describe how certain we are about something.

 100% - must - He must be a thief

50% / 60% - could - The door could be broken

30/40% - may - The keys may be lost

10/20% - might - He might be a mechanic

0% - can't - He can't be the owner

What do you think is happening in this situation?

You can also use modal verbs to speculate about the past. In this case use the modal verb plus have plus past participle

See here for more examples

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslSGhRUGhfaWFWRGM/view?usp=sharing

and practise here

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/my-drive?ltmpl=drive

For more grammar exercises on modal verbs, see this book

https://fernandamaterial.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/cambridge-grammar-for-first-certificate.pdf

NOVEMBER 9 18 - 20

Last lesson we saw that the verb have has two forms have and have got.
The verb have, like all other verbs apart from modal verbs, needs the auxiliary verb do to make the question and negative form.

We saw this form in the interview with Stefanie Debord on Page 6 of International Express, Elementary.

Here you can find the audio file.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslQmQ4N0QtV3JhOFk/view?usp=sharing

We studied the grammar of questions of page 7.

Before the auxiliary verb do, we can put a question verb.

See here to learn auxiliary verbs

http://esl.about.com/od/grammar/a/a_questionword.htm

Here you can try an exercise from the Cambridge speaking exams about asking questions

http://www.englishaula.com/en/ket-exam-speaking-cambridge-key-english-test-video-lessons-practice-tests-exercises.php

NOVEMBER 9 16 - 18

A good way to learn new words is to practise describing a photo.

What can you see in the photo? This photo is in PET Result Page 16.

When describing a photo you can think of different elements.

You can find them here.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIsleU15QlFXakhKSFE/view?usp=sharing

To learn how to talk about position in a photograph see this document, pages 3 and 4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslMUNSTUZkc2lwcms/view?usp=sharing

You describe what the people are wearing, what they are holding and what they are doing. You can use the present continuous.

For more information on the present continuous see Page 121 and 27 of PET Result Students' book

We can also use the present continuous to talk about tendencies in society, when things increase, decrease or stay the same.

See here for more examples.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslZllEaXhZWDR5bzQ/view?usp=sharing

You can also describe these trends using phrasal verbs, which are verbs and prepositions.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslUU45R3pDUFNsemc/view?usp=sharing

Use these pictures to describe other trends in society.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslTno2RlJPcXQ5VFk/view?usp=sharing

Try describing the photos in the Speaking exercise 1 and 2, page 28 of PET Result Students' book.

NOVEMBER 7 18 - 20

Last lesson we spoke about learning new vocabulary.
Another good way of learning vocabulary is to think of English words for the objects that we see around us every day, or verbs to describe actions that we perform every day.

On this site you can find nouns and verbs for each room of your house, this page is about the kitchen.

http://www.say-it-in-english.com/inthekitchen.html

We brainstormed vocabulary for furniture and supplies in the classroom, office and at home.

Then we looked at the communication file vocabulary exercise in International Express Elementary, page 72.

We read descriptions of workplaces on Page 24, and also did the listening exercise on Pge 25, 3.1.
To describe a place we can use the expressions, it has (got) or there is / are.

Have got is British English and have is American English. Different grammar rules apply. See here for an explanation

http://esl.about.com/cs/beginner/a/beg_havegot.htm

You can practise with these forms in the grammar book, Unit 9 - in this document pages 7 and 8.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslSzd0WHdOZlJhMGc/view?usp=sharing

NOVEMBER 7 16 - 18

Today we spoke about education and learning, including some strategies for learning and developing your vocabulary and did some exam practice.

Formal learning after school is known as Adult Education. Are you studying anything in your free time?

We looked at different courses with the Lead in exercises on Page 24. This task is similar to the interactive task in the Cambridge Speaking exams. You can find more examples in the Cambridge handbooks that explain each part of the exam in detail

for Preliminary

http://www.liceocrespi.it/Inglese/pet%20handbook.pdf

or First

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/cambridge-english-first-handbook-2015.pdf

We also tried the reading exercises.
Thinking about synonyms, or paraphrasing, are also very important in the Cambridge exams and are a good way to expand your vocabulary.

http://esl.about.com/od/learningtechniques/a/Synonyms-Antonyms-ESL.htm

How do you learn new words?

To improve your English it is important to learn new words. To remember new words it is important to be organised. Putting words into categories according to subject or word type can help you to find the words again, and memorize them through word association.

Try to put these words into categories and then add more words to each category.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIsleURIQlM2SUI0SG8/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslWVBYbzZkRlpGRW8/view?usp=sharing

You can do this in a list form or in a more visual way.

List form - http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blwordgroups_weather.htm

Visual - http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/nblvocabtrees.htm

Let's make an example with the subject of food.

For food we can think of four sub categories - ingredients, methods of food preparation, adjectives to describe food and kitchen equipment.

Use the menu on Page 19 and 20 of this document to find examples of different ingredients and methods of preparation and add more.

 http://www.ujaz.feec.vutbr.cz/texty/practical_english.pdf

Here are some adjectives to describe the taste of food with a quiz.

http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/adjectives-describe-tastes-foods

On this website you can find lots of words for actions and tools in kitchen.

http://www.say-it-in-english.com/inthekitchen.html

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, 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