Tuesday, 25 April 2017

WEDNESDAY 19 APRIL 2017

What word can we use use to complete ALL three of these phrases?

Do you _________ if I smoke?

- Which do you prefer? Tea of coffee? - I don't _______.

- Sorry I can't come. - Never ______. Maybe next time.

Many words in English have more than one meaning. so it can be interesting to focus on one word and investigate it's different uses.

See here for more examples with mind.


See here for another example with the word change.


Mind is also used in many idiomatic expressions.

See here for more examples


 Knowledge of common phrases and idioms are tested in PET Writing Part 1 and FCE Reading and Use of English Part 4 Key Word Transformation.

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/preliminaryenglish/pet-writing-practice-tests.htm

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/strategy/p3pt3a.htm

MERCOLEDI 19 APRILE 2017

Per ricordare meglio le parole, e una buona idea organizzarle in gruppi per argomento. Facciamo un esempio con il cibo. 

Per il cibo possiamo pensare a quatro sotto categorie - ingredienti, metodi di preparazione, aggetivi per descrivere il cibo e attrezzi della cucina.  

Usate il menu delle pagina 19 e 20 di questo documento per trovare esempi di ingredienti e metodi di preparazione. 


Qua ci sono aggettivi per descrivere il sapore con un quiz.


Su questo sito troverete verbi per azioni e strumenti della cucina. 

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

Abbiamo utilizzato queste parole per dare un dialogo in un ristorante. Chiedete le schede.


TUESDAY 18 APRIL 2017

A good way to test your knowledge of English tenses is to use the passive voice and indirect speech. For this reason these structures are often tested in Cambridge exams.



When we use the passive voice, we are interested in the action or the object and not the subject.

See here for an explanation.

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive





To report what someone has said, use reported or indirect speech.

See here for an explanation.

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech

A good way to practise is to read or watch an interview and report what is said.

You can find an interview to report on page 86 of Insight into PET.

See here for a video interview.

http://www.eduhi.at/dl/RSListen2_1.htm

When you do sentence transformation practice, it is a good idea to note the changes that you make.
You may often find the same structures repeated. See here for some recurring patterns.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslZi1HRGlWY25RWHc/view?usp=sharing

MARTEDI 18 APRILE 2017

La settimana scorsa abbiamo visto diversi modi per parlare del futuro.

Per parlare di attivita programmata usiamo il presente continuo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS7_qa6AL4s

Chiedete la scheda.

la scheda contiene anche molte frasi ultili per parlare al telefono.

Per piu frasi, guardate qui, pagina 22.

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




Monday, 17 April 2017

MERCOLEDI 12 APRILE 2017

When we talk about future plans we use different forms.

You can read about these here


and click on the link for the quiz.

Look at these questions about future forms.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_B2HZ_bIslM2xEYVZjMXFlaUU/view?usp=sharing

There is another explanation and some exercises on page 107 of Insight into PET.

There are two other tenses for talking about the future which are the future continuous and the future perfect. You can read about these here.

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


TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2017

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


When comparing the methods they use comparatives and superalatives.

Flo joe has some interesting exercises on this and other points of grammar.


Think about learning language through these questions.


When learning a new language, it's always a good idea to identify words and phrases that mother tongue people use and copy them. This will help you to sound more natural.


Look at the some phrases in exercise 1 on page 48 of Insight into Pet and try to adapt them to make them true for us.

Look at comparative and superlative forms on page 109.

Comparative and superlative forms are useful in the interactive task of the speaking test, where you are given a situation to discuss with the other candidate. You must talk about the possible solutions and choose the best one.

Look at page 79 exercises 3 and 4 to practise.

Comparatives and superlatives are also tested in the sentence transformation part of the writing test. 

Try exercise 3 on page 39 of Insight into Pet.
You can find exercises of this type on pages 25, 46, 68 and 90 of PET extra. Ask me for the answer sheets.

Here is a very clear explanation video



Monday, 10 April 2017

WEDNESDAY 5 APRIL 2017
To revise the different tenses in English try to complete and then answer the questions in this document, pages 3 and 4

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

When one verb follows another, something the second verb is with ing, and sometimes it is with to and the infinitive. Many people like to make lists, but a general rule it that it depends on the order of the actions.

For more information and examples see here

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-gerund-infinitive.php

You can find an explanation and exercise in Insight into PET Page 109.

Then try this key word transformation exercise.

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

MERCOLEDI 5 APRILE 2017

Per fare una domanda al presente si usa

parole interrogativa - ausiliare - soggetto - verbo

Where                        do             you           live?

Al passato basta sostituire do con did

Where                        did            you           live when you were a child?

Did si usa per ogni soggetto, quindi non dobbiamo piu pensare alla terza persona.

Fate pratica con delle domande su Shakespeare, chiedete la scheda.

Qui ci sono domande al passato.

http://www.eslbase.com/downloads/pdf/past-simple-board-game.pdf




TUESDAY 4 APRIL 2107

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. 

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

or watch these videos

Then complete the questions on Page 3 on this document.

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

and on Page 1 of this document
 For more practice try the exercises on englishpage.com


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

MARTEDI 4 APRILE 2017

Leggere puo essere ottimo modo per imparare nuove parole e rivedere la grammatica in un contesto naturale. Ci sono libri da autori famosi e biografie che sono semplificati per persone che stanno imparando l'inglese. 

Qui puoi leggere il primo capitolo di alcuni titoli. 


Per esempio questo e la storia di Princess Diana

http://www.macmillanreaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Princess_Diana_chapter_1.pdf

I libri si possono comparare anche da amazon


O a volte e possible trovare la versione pdf online.


Leggendo la prima pagina possiamo identificare verbi regolari e irreogolari del passato semplice. 

Ci sono esercizi nel libro di grammatica Units 11 + 12.


WEDNESDAY 29 MARCH 2017

Becoming fluent in English is a question of practice. The more you practice and repeat, the more automatic it becomes. So try to add more details when speaking to give a fuller answer and speak more.

You can do this in the following ways

1. adding ideas – what else can I say? - and, also
2. giving examples – can I think of an example? - for example, for instance
3. adding detail – what precisely do I mean?/when did it happen? etc - when, in fact, now
4. giving reasons – why? - because, so, and so
5. saying something different – isn’t there something different I can say? - but, though, even though
Look at Page 54 in Pet Result, exercises 1 and 2 and try to answer the questions fully.
You can also use linking words in your writing to make longer sentences.
You can read about them here.
Try the exercises on Page 108 of Insight into PET
Then try this exercise
This exercise is similar to one part of the PET and FCE exam.

See this site for more information on the position of linkers in a phrase.

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-contrast-ideas-1211123

MERCOLEDI 29 MARZO 2017

Un buon modo per imparare nuove parole e di descrivere una foto.
Cosa vedi qui? 



Quando descrivi una foto ci sono vari elementi da considerare. 

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

Per informazioni su come parlare delle posizione di una cosa in una foto, vedere questo documento, pagine 3 e 4

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

Per descrivere come sono vestiti le persone, cosa hanno in mano e cosa stanno facendo, usare il presente continuo. 

Per piu informazioni sul present continuo consultare il libro di grammatica, Unit 3. 

Possiamo anche usare il presente continuo per parlare di tendenze nella societa. 


Potete utilizzare questi immagini per desscrivere altri tendenze nella societa. 

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