To all English levels: BUILDING UP YOUR VOCABULARY

Dear all,

As we have learned in class, vocabulary is a huge area of opportunity to improve your learning. I'm listing here some links with useful resources to help you work on this area.

1. How to learn new vocabulary. It's important you develop a technique to transfer new vocabulary to your long term memory. There are some websites with ideas that may help you.

2. What vocabulary to learn? It always depends on your personal database of words, your interests and your needs. It's a good idea to learn vocabulary from a text, so you can connect the meaning to the context and remember the meaning easily. However, there are some high frequency words that you'll find in most texts and have been put into lists, so it might also help you learn some of those words too. Find examples of lists here . Again, be careful with lists, since the words are totally out of context and may not be useful to your needs. Other interesting ways to buid up your vocabulary include a subscription to "Word of the Day" and some word games.

3. How about TOEFL vocabulary? You can try with sites that offer some of the most frequent words in the test.

English 2. Activity 2 TV in Mexico

This activity corresponds to Lesson 2, Unit 7, Exercise 5. After exchanging ideas with your classmates, write a short paragraph (6-8 sentences) with your opinion about TV in Mexico. Make sure you use in your paragraph some verbs to express likes and preferences (lesson 1), vocabulary about TV shows (lesson 2) and the grammar from lesson 2.
This activity will be checked in class on Thursday March 25th.
Note: All students should study lessons 1 + 2 on you own. Class on March 25th is subject to the condition mentioned in the classroom today.

English 2. Activity 1. The most... sport

Use this space to publish your paragraph, due Monday March 8th.

English 4, exercise 5. Reported Speech

Dear guys,

Spend some time checking this website, to reinforce the grammar on Reported Speech. Practice exercises can be found here.

English 4, Activity 4. Your best dream or your worst nightmare

This is your chance to share, and let's vote in class for the best one! Please make sure you write your story by Friday 26th

English 4. Activity 3 Effective topic sentences

An effective topic sentences is neither too general nor too specific. In this activity you are expected to write a paragraph (5 or 6 sentences long) with an effective topic sentence and supporting details included in supporting sentences. The purpose of the paragraph is to GIVE ADVICE on any of the following topics, or any other idea you want to add:

• The best way to stay healthy
• An effective study plan
• Earning extra money
• Organizing time

THIS WRITING ACTIVITY IS DUE MONDAY FEB 22ND, WE'LL CHECK IT IN CLASS.

English 4. Connecting contrasting ideas

Dear all,

Here's some extra information you may fin useful on the use of contrasting words.

Despite / In spite of can be followed by a noun or a gerund:
In spite of my hard work / working hard, I didn't do well on the test.
If you want to follow in spite of / despite with a noun and a verb, you must use "the fact that"."Despite the fact that the company was doing badly, they took on extra employees."

Although / Even though have the same meaning. Both are used to begin an adverb clause.
Although she was tired, she studied all night.

However / Nevertheless/ On the other hand are transitions. They are used to start a second sentence that contrast the information in the first one by showing an unexpected result. They are always followed by a comma.

However / Neverhteless express concession to the info in the first sentence.
London is very expensive. However / Nevertheless, I'd love to live there.

On the other hand is used to start a second sentence that expresses contrast with the first sentence.
This apartment is very expensive. On the other hand, it has a great view.

Here's a website with a practice activity or you can try something simple here:

PRACTICE
Rewrite these sentences, in different ways, using the word in bold.

I was feeling tired. I went down to Tacos del Julio to meet my friends there.

1) despite
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2) however,
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3) although
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4) even though…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

CCI. Activity 3. Paragraph 2

This is your chance to try again, this time choose the topic you want. Use some of the connectors found here to improve your text. We'll check your paragraph in class on Monday Feb 8th. Remember class will be 2-4 PM on M-W.

See you then!

MAC

CCI. Activity 2. Paragraph

Dear all,

To keep up with your practice, complete the following exercise.

1. Chose a topic from the options given here:
a. college life
b. poverty
c. the environment
d. exercise
e. traveling

2. Brainstorm ideas about the topic, explore options, write down, take notes.
3. Using the information from step 2, write a topic sentence. Consider the following information on topic sentences:

• It serves to introduce an idea that will be discussed later in the paragraph. Do not include many details in the sentence

4. Write two or three supportive sentences that will elaborate reason, examples, and other infrmation to support your topic sentence
5. Connect sentences using correct punctuation.
6. Check spelling

This activity is due Fridady 29 January

CANCELLATION NOTICE for Jan 25th

Dear all,

Monday 25th, 8 AM class cancelled, baby Iker needs me, he's been sick all weekend and it's taking him time to recover, so I won't be able to go to class tomorrow morning. CCI to be confirmed, I'll call school in the morning to notify you.

Thanks!

Mariana

English 4, Activity 2 Living on a Tight Budget

After completing your brainstorming, share your paragraph here... remember to include a topic sentence and supportive sentences in your paragraph!

Welcome CCI Activity 1

Dear all,

We'll use this blog in order to practice TOEFL Wrting. You will be given a topic every week. You should use no more than 30 minutes to write an essay (200 words aprox), which will be scored according to its grammatical correctness and writing style, as well as the content of your ideas and your ability to support them with good examples. You can also use websites providing tips to improve your writing.

This essay is due Wednesday 27 Jan 2010.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The most important aspect of a job is the money a person earns. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Welcome English 4 Activity 1. Best and Worst Quality

Dear all,

Welcome to a new semester... in this blog we'll share ideas and will work on writing skills using Passages 1 as a reference for topics and skills, so let's get started.

Best and Worst quality

Write a paragraph describing your best quality and one describing your worst quality. Start your paragraph with a topic sentence (the one that includes the main idea of the paragraph), and the rest of the sentences should be about the same quality, giving an example to illustrate it and add any relevant information. Here are some examples of people talking about their best and worst qualities, these audios can give you an idea to start writing. If you need to, click on "transcript" to read what they say... if you discover any new vocabulary, you know what to do!
Some extra vocabulary can be found in this website.
See ya!

Mariana

TV is all around!

In Unit 5 we talked a bit about TV programs and the role of TV in our lives. Now this is your chance to bring our attention to a TV show you consider particularly interesting (for whatever reason you may have). In this activity you will write a TV program review, and it should include information about the program, summary of a typical episode and recommendations (good or bad, it's up to you). REMEMBER, when you write a paragraph, it should include only one main idea (one paragraph could be about the actors, another one about the plot, etc) This activity is due Friday Sep 25th.

Keep writing!!!

Technological advances (Activity)

In order to talk about a topic we first need to develop vocabulary. Activities 4 A and B on page 20 aim to get your attention to some relevant words regarding advances in technology. Complete the activities and if necessary check a dictionary and pronunciation. Send answers here, I'll post the correct answers tomorrow afternoon. Second thing to do is to consider the headline (taken from same page 20) Internet peaks as most important information source and post here your pros and your cons on that headline. Need at least three of each. We'll use this information in a discussion in class, but need it to be ready and done.

Last one, I'm posting here an article on technological advances. Everyone should write a summary and post it here by FRIDAY 28 Aug 09. Check the following point in writing a summary in English:

• Mention the most important points of the reading.
• Use your own words, do not copy sentences exaclty from the original text.
• It must be much shorter than the original text.

Use or articles

The great news is that there are only two kinds of articles in English: definite (the) and indefinite (a/an). The bad news is the use of these articles is not as simple as it may seem. To help you out, here's a list of cases you can use as a practical reference (From First Certificate Language Practice, by M. Vince)... hope you find it useful. Here's also some basic practice.

Use of indefinite article a/an

• With something we refer to for the first time I'll give you a call tonight. / I have a great idea
• Where we use an adjective to describe a noun. It's a beautiful day / Cairo is a really big city
• With someone's job Pet is a truck driver.
• With singular fractions, group numbers and large numbers. one and a half kilos/ a dozen eggs / a hundred envelopes
• Meaning per. He was doing ninety miles an hour / Julie earns $800 a week

Use of definite article the

• With nouns we have mentioned previously. There is a bedroom and a living room. The bedroom is quite large.
• With nouns we mention for the first time, but where it is clear which person or thing we are talking about. Can you pass me the jam?
• Where there is only on of something. It is clear which one we are talking about. The moon in full tonight.
• With nouns followed by a descriptive phrase, which makes them definite. This is the man I told you about.
• With national groups. The British drink far too much tea and the Mexicans love tequila.
• With classes of people. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
• With individual items which represent a class. The white tigger is fast disappearing.
• With names of musical instruments that we can play. I can't play the piano, but I can play the guitar.
• With some geographical names. In particular: oceans, seas, rivers, canals and regions. The Thames flows into the North Sea.
• With plural countries, or where the country name contains a noun. The Netherlands / the People's Republic of China / the United States / the United Kingdom
• With superlatives, ordinals, the same, the only. This is the best party ever / You are the first in line / This is the only restaurant I like
• With media. I went to the cinema (the movies) / What's on (the) TV?

Zero article

• With uncountable nouns and plural countalbe nouns where we are talking generally. Football is life / I hate bugs / All he talks about is cars
• With most continents, countries, states, islands, mountains, lakes, citiess, parks, roads and streets, squares, bridges, palaces, castles, cathedrals, stations and airports. We're going to France next month / Take the train from Paddington Station to Bath.
• With company names, years, months, days and special times of the year She works for American Airlines / I'll see you in January
• With names of meals when we are talking generally It's time for lunch/ What's for dinner? But note The lunch I had at Vips was awful / The dinner Sue gave us last night was delicious
• With unique jobs or roles (definite article is also possible in these cases) Jim is (the) chairman of the company.
• With prepositions of place with certain buildings, where the purpose of the buildingis more important than the place itself, for example: bed, church, class, court, hospital, school, prision. Sally is in univeristy (she's a student) / Sally is in the university (she's a visitor to that specific building).
• With means of transport when we are talking generally. We went there by car But note We went there in the car that Alex rented. If we use in or on, we need an indefinite article We went there in a car / on a bus.

PS When in trouble deciding the pronunciation of a word, try this site.

Personal Beliefs

The typical paragraph structure for a composition in English includes a THESIS STATEMENT, which contains the main idea of a composition. This statement is usually found at the end of the first paragraph and includes the idea that is further explained in the rest of the composition. Each of the following paragraphs should focus on only one aspect of the main idea, so that means each of those paragraphs has its own topic sentence.

Prepare a short composition ( three paragraphs)based on any of the mottos in Unit 2 (p. 13). Think of a thesis statement and work on your composition. Use these questions to check your composition:
1 Does the idea in the first paragraph clearly state your point of view?
2. Do the examples given in your paragraphs support your thesis statement and clarify your point of view?
THIS ACTIVITY IS DUE TUESDAY 18TH, MIDNIGHT

Learning the latest words in fashion... what a bunch of glash!

Like I said... FACEC is not the best place to talk about fashion, and my knowledge on the area is totally lousy. Still, we can always learn something new... and look at what I found in The Daily Telegraph. Now after reading it I've learned I should not say trendy anymore, because that word is not "cool" anymore, and neither is cool... so I guess I'm ancient history now, I don't know the words in fashion! (actually, never have... and so what! hehe). What would you say?

Verb Patterns

We have learned in class (unit 1) that verbs can also take the role of a noun, so when we use a construction of "two verbs together", the second one is actually taking the role of a noun, and we have to decide whether to use an infinitive or a gerund... and that is usually learned through practice or by heart. A useful list of infinitive / gerund constructions can be found here, for those of you who love lists and gathering info!!!

There's also another point (unit 2) regarding verb patterns. This takes practice, let's face it, and exposure. If you are an avid reader you'll certainly have plenty of opportunities to observe these verb patterns in action, and eventually will learn how to use them, but for those who don't read English that often and need a more structured approach, here's a practical reference on the use of gerunds & infinitives to help you out. Hope you enjoy it!!!

Keep me posted with questions or comments on this topic!

Friendship (a composition)

You'll learn in this course that the typical paragraph structure for a composition in English includes a topic sentence (the main idea) and the rest of the paragraph contains one or more examples to illustrate the main idea. Give it a go... share with your class a brief composition about a close friend. Make it at least 3 paragraphs.