Multiple intelligences

Comic by Mark Bennet

Listening C1 Trinity + posibles respuestas

Aquí os dejo algunos vídeos y grabaciones que he utilizado en clase para dar pie a debates en clase, y para practicar resumiendo los puntos principales, la opinión del hablante y/o la conclusión de este.

Recopilé estos vídeos de cara al de C1 Trinity College por falta de material. Estos coinciden, la mayoría, con un 'subject area' del examen.

• LIFESTYLE - VEGETARIANS
• Listening: Video ‘Why Are Vegetarians So Annoying?' [3.54m] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwKrtNr76BM
  1) Please tell me what this video is about in a few sentences. 2) What is Hank's take (his opinion) on vegetarianism? What conclusion does he come to?
  
  ANSWERS: This video features a man discussing the role of vegetarianism in today's society. / He proves that he is aware of the negative impact of the meat industry on the environment, so he feels guilty about eating meat. However, he believes that a vegetarian society is part of an imminent future, but that he will keep eating meat because he enjoys it.

• ECONOMIC ISSUES - UNEMPLOYMENT
• Listening: Podcast ‘Freakonomics’ - It’s Crowded at the Top [5m] http://linkengpark.com/freakonomics-its-crowded-at-the-top/ En este caso debemos asegurarnos de que los alumnos conocen las palabras ladder, silver lining y stem workers. 1) ¿What is the podcast about?  / 2) What do the speakers think the consequence of it being 'crowded at the top' will result in?
  1. Different radio hosts discuss the different reasons why there is such high unemployment numbers nowadays. (Reasons: no more demand for knowledge workers; 'cascading' educated people search in a different/lower sector, no shortage of STEM workers) / 2. The speakers mention that despite a difficult job market for postgraduates, this translates into more 'selectivity' for want-to-be teachers, and consequently, better education for future generations because they will be better and better prepared.

• Listening:  TED Talk/Video: ‘Forget multitasking - try monotasking’ https://www.ted.com/talks/paolo_cardini_forget_multitasking_try_monotasking 1. What is this man talking about? / 2. What conclusion does the speaker come to?

• Listening: Podcast ‘Perspectives’: Holly Hubbard - Embracing Mortality [2m20s] https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/2017/05/02/embracing-mortality/
  1) ¿What is the podcast about?  / 2) Towards the end of the podcast, in what way does the speaker support her own point of view?
  It is about the perspective of a woman on mortality, and how some events in her life have made her appreciate it more. / She decides to focus on the present situation and enjoy it rather than worry about future experiences which are bound to happen. In this case she mentions a situation which reminds her os a future life without her mother.

Flashcards B1

Printable flashcards

Tarjetas de conversación para grupos de B1

PET/ B1 interview questions

 

 

 

Question Tags

Los 'question tags' son preguntas que utilizan los hablantes al final de una frase. Tal vez lo hayas escuchado antes, ya que su uso es muy frecuente en una conversación informal.

Función

Usamos estas preguntas para confirmar; para asegurarnos de que aquello que estamos diciendo sí es verdad (o mentira...).

Forma

· [Frase afirmativa], + [pregunta negativa]?

You like pizza, don't you?      Te gusta la pizza ¿verdad?

I am very tall, aren't I?           Soy muy alto/a, verdad?

· [Frase negativa], + [pregunta afirmativa]?

He is not beautiful, is he?           Él no es guapo ¿o acaso sí?

They won't come, will they?       No vendrán aquí ¿o acaso sí?

>>> Cuando utilizamos el imperativo (o damos una orden a alguien), usamos las siguientes questions tags: will/can/could/would you?

¿Puedes abrir la ventana?  - Open the window, will you?

Limpia tu cuarto, anda. - Go and clean your room, would you?

Entonación

Las question tags que sean negativas tendrán una entonación descendente, y las afirmativas un tono ascendente.

Deseos: wish vs hope

Cuando queremos hablar de deseos que tenemos, podemos utilizar tres estructuras en inglés: I wish, if only, y I hope.

Wish
Utilizamos wish cuando nos sentimos pesimistas sobre la situación. Si decimos 'I wish my brother was here', esto da a entender que piensas que hay una probabilidad muy pequeña de que al situación cambie.

Presente: expresar un deseo sobre la situación actual

· wish + [sujeto] + [past simple]: 

I wish my brother was here. (Deseo que mi hermano esté aquí)
He wishes the shirt cost less. (Él desea que la camiseta costase menos)

Hipotético: expresar un deseo de algo que te gustaría que ocurriese

· wish + [sujeto] + would

I wish my brother would be here. (Ojalá mi hermano estuviera aquí)
He wishes the shirt would cost less. (El desearía que la camiseta costase menos)

Pasado: expresar un deseo sobre una situación en el pasado

· wish + [sujeto] + [past perfect]

I wish my brother had been here. (Desearía que él hubiese venido - pero se ha acabado la fiesta).

He wishes the shirt had cost less (Él desearía que la camiseta hubiera costado menos - pero ya la ha comprado y no se puede remediar).

If only...
Utilizamos 'if only' de la misma forma que 'wish', solo es que este implica un deseo incluso más fuerte que el anterior. Se utiliza en presente, en el caso hipotético, y en el pasado.
If only my brother was here! > ¡Si tan solo mi hermano estuviera aquí!
If only pigs would fly > Si tan solo los cerdos volaran...
If only I had studied more... > Si tan solo hubiera estudiado más...

Hope
Usamos 'hope' cuando nos sentimos optimistas sobre la situación - creemos, o tenemos razones para creer que sí va a ocurrir lo que deseamos.

Presente: expresar un deseo probable sobre la situación actual

· hope + [sujeto] + [V]

I hope I see you tomorrow. (Espero verte mañana.)

I hope I pass this exam. (Espero aprobar este examen)

Pasado: expresar un deseo sobre una situación pasada que desconocemos

· hope + [sujeto] + [past simple]

I hope you had a good weekend. (Espero que hayas tenido un buen finde)

I hope you bought the shirt you wanted. (Espero que hayas comprado la camiseta que querías)

· Hope vs wait

Como profe me he encontrado muchísimas veces con alumnos que usan en sus redacciones y cartas 'hope' como 'espero' (p. ej. espero tu respuesta = I hope your answer ✘). Sin embargo, "I hope your answer" no tiene sentido, esta expresión no es correcta. Podemos sustituirla por...

I hope to hear from you soon

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

I look forward to receiving your reply

I await your response/reply (formal)

Debemos recordar que 'answer' es la respuesta a una pregunta, y 'reply' una respuesta (correspondencia), por lo que no siempre podemos utilizar ambas palabras indistintamente.

Idiom: Dressed to kill

What does the idiom "Dressed to kill" mean in English? 

(Answer: C)
I designed the slide but the cute illustration is
 from 101 American English Idioms (link)

English notebook cover

My ABCs handout as first page of your notebook.

Past simple vs continuous

Printable English grammar hand-outs:

 

black and white version (printer friendly!)

El pasado simple, pasado continuo

Oraciones de relativo

Las oraciones de relativo corresponden a lo que llamamos en español las oraciones subordinadas adjetivas (que solemos estudiar en sintaxis durante el bachillerato).

1. Identificación y uso

Las oraciones de relativo son bastante fáciles de identificar: al ser subordinadas, están introducidas dentro de una oración principal. Además, empiezan con un pronombre relativo. Estos son: who/whom (para personas), which (para cosas y animales), whose («cuyo» para poseer), where (para lugares), why (para describir el motivo), when (para ocasiones en el tiempo) y that (para cosas, personas y animales).
🡲Uso. Estos pronombres sirven para unir dos oraciones simples en una más compleja, como por ejemplo: Juan is a man. He is tall. > Juan is a man who is tall.

2. Comprensión

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre estas dos frases?

1. The girl, who is sitting in the corner, is wearing a striped shirt.

2. The girl who is sitting in the corner is wearing a striped shirt.

 

Por supuesto, las comas. Pero en cuanto al significado, te puedo dar una pista si te pregunto: ¿Cúantas chicas hay en la primera frase?
La respuesta es una chica. Mientras que la primera frase solo aporta información adicional sobre la persona a la que ambos hablantes nos referimos (porque solo hay una), en la segunda frase estamos especificando cuál de las chicas presentes lleva una camisa a rayas.

· Por tanto, encontramos dos tipos de oraciones de relativo:

(1) Non-defining relative clauses - Subord.Adj. Explicativa: aporta información de más sobre el sujeto de la frase subordinada. La información adicional va entre comas, y en muchos casos se puede omitir y la frase sigue teniendo sentido. The car, which is red, is really clean. > The car is really clean.

(2) Defining relative clauses - Subord.Adj. Especificativas: aporta información necesaria para la comprensión del oyente, por lo que no podemos omitir la frase. Solo en estas frases podemos sustituir los pronombres relativos por that.

🡲Posición. En ambos casos, la oración de relativo irá inmediatamente después del sujeto al que se refiere. Por ejemplo: The man is very rich, who is a famous actor. ✘
The man, who is a famous actor, is very rich. ✔

- - -

3. Aclaraciones importantes y preguntas frecuentes:

- ¿Cuándo puedo usar that?

En todas las defining relative clauses (las que no van entre comas) para sustituir who o which:
This is the person who/that I love. Cádiz is where I grew up. (no sustituible)

- ¿Cuándo puedo usar what?

What no es un pronombre relativo, así que nunca en estas frases.

- ¿Cuándo puedo usar whom?

En inglés hay ciertos verbos que requieren una preposición (think about, interested in, look for, etc). Para estos, hay dos formas de crear una oración de relativo : una versión formal para escribir y una informal para hablar, como aquí:
This painting is the thing which I am looking at. (informal)
This painting is the thing at which I am looking. (formal)

Whom, entonces, se utiliza cuando hablamos formalmente de una persona. Quédate con esto: preposición + who = whom.
Mark is a man who I work with. (informal)
Mark is a man with whom I work. (formal)

🡲 Comment clauses

Estas solo pueden comenzar con which, y hacen referencia no solo a un sujeto, sino a un hecho entero mencionado en la frase. Por ejemplo:

Jorge passed all of his exams this year, which I found amazing.

¿Qué le pareció increíble? La frase entera (no solo el año).

- ¿Cuándo puedo omitir el pronombre relativo?

A) Solo en las defining relative clauses (sub. adj. especificativas) podemos omitirlo, aunque no siempre. Si el sujeto de la oración subordinada es el MISMO que el de la principal, entonces NO podremos quitar el pronombre relativo. Por ejemplo:

The book which was on the table was brown.

The book which was on the table was brown. ✘

The medicine that the doctor gave me should be taken twice a day.

The medicine that the doctor gave me should be taken twice a day.✔

B) Cuando introducimos una expresión redundante antes del pronombre relativo. En estos casos podemos dejar tanto el pronombre como la expresión, o una u otra. Por ejemplo:
That was the day when we went to the cinema. ✔
That was the day when we went to the cinema. ✔
That was the day when we went to the cinema. ✔
Con where (the place), y con why (the reason).

FCE Writing Guide

Here is a little document I made for my students to gather all the information regarding the FCE writing task (2016 exam version). It does not include the essay explanation, but it is a useful photocopy. It includes some connectors, and some features of the different writing registers.

 

 

Word Formation

Aquí os dejo mi tabla que aúna los diferentes sufijos y prefijos que podemos añadir a la raíz de algunas palabras para formar adverbios, adjetivos, sustantivos...

Esta tabla es realmente útil para trabajar los ejercicios de formación de palabras en la parte de Use of English del B2.

Versión fotocopia:

Esta tabla la rellené a ratos en mi tiempo libre. Hecho con Google Drive.

Easily confused words

common mistakes
especially vs specially
farther vs further
older vs elder
altogether vs all together
beside vs besides

Preposiciones

Preposiciones en inglés:

 cuándo utilizar in, at, on, for, from, by, y más.

Photocopy version to print:

Made by me on Google Drive. Source has been stated.

PET Wp1 #2

PET Preliminary English Test - Writing part 1 practice

Conjuntos de cinco frases para practicar writing part 1 del B1 (sin respuesta).

1. The TV series was dull. The TV series wasn’t ........................ . 2. She plays hockey better than anyone. She is ........................ player. 3. I find these problems confusing ........................ confused with these problems.. 4. You should come back home quickly. If ........................ , I would come back quickly. 5. There are too many chips in this bag. There aren’t ........................ chips in this bag.

1. You can get stressed by studying all day. Studying all day can  ........................ . 2. The majority like shopping for new clothes. Shopping for new clothes ........................ . 3. The cinema is not such a popular plan. The cinema isn't ........................  . 4. Children mustn’t play here. Children are ........................ play here. 5. My parents were going to the cinema together. My mother was going to the cinema ........................ .

1. Anna went to the cinema with Carmen. Anna and Carmen ......................... the cinema. 2. Why don't you teach him some biology? If I were you, .....................  teach him some biology. 3. She doesn't draw much now but when she was a kid she loved it. He ........................  to draw a lot when he was a child. 4. Jane likes swimming more than he does. Jane doesn’t like ................................. him. 5. It is harder to stay awake than to sleep. Staying awake is not ........................ sleep.

1. I haven't been to Italy for a long time. It's a long time since ..................... to Italy. 2. This is my mum’s car. This car ..................... my mum. 3. The plants will die if you don’t water them The plants won’t live ..................... them.  If you don't water the plants, they 4. There are only a few toys in stock. There aren't ..................... toys in stock. 5. This room is too small for us to play music in. This room isn't .....................  for us to play music in.

1. Aunt Sally is too old to go hiking. She isn’t ........................ go hiking. 2. His cousin Marta was 32 years old that day. It was ........................ that day. 3. They spent two hours at the museum. They were ........................ two hours. 4. I asked her "Do you want to go for ice-cream?" I asked Mary if ........................  for ice-cream. 5. Chester gives the letter to his father. The letter ........................ to his father by Chester.

1. This tool is used to write. This tool is ........................ writing . 2. You don’t have to bring an umbrella today. You ........................ bring an umbrella today. 3. Dan throws and catches the ball terribly. Dan is ........................ handball . 4. No mountain is higher than the Everest. The Everest is ........................ mountain of all. 5. He never liked comic books. He was never ........................ on comic books.

Attendance sheet

Attendance sheet I designed to meet my needs for 20 or 40 week English courses. This is just for me, but you can make use of it as you please.

Photocopy: 

Of course the syllabus grid is too small to actually plan anything but it has a some room for general planning.

cuaderno del profesor, hoja de asistencia

PPT tricks

Tips & tricks

for better Powerpoint and Prezi presentations

a printable hand-out:

PET Wp1 #1

PET Preliminary English Test - Writing part 1 practice

Aquí van algunas frases que escribí para talleres varios de cara a trabajar esta parte del examen. No he escrito una hoja de respuestas ya que son bastante predecibles (o podeís preguntarle a cualquiera que sepa un poco de inglés).

About shopping 1. This bag I bought was more expensive than my sister’s. I bought ___ _______ bag in my family. 2. Backpacks are bigger than handbags- Backpacks are not __ _____ __ handbags. 3. Walking is less tiring than going shopping. Walking is not ________ going shopping. 4. My boyfriend gave me a Gucci bag. A Gucci bag ________ by my boyfriend. 5. I am driven to the shops by my mum. My mum ________ to the shops.

About English 1. For many, English is a fascinating language. For  many, English isn’t ________ language. 2. This unit includes vocabulary, as well as grammar. This unit includes vocabulary, and grammar ____. 3. Some idioms in English make me laugh out loud. Some idioms in English are very ______. 4. English doesn’t have as many verb tenses as Spanish. English __________ verb tenses than Spanish. 5. English isn’t my mother tongue. English isn’t ________ language.

About a hotel 1. I have never stayed in this room before. This is the first time I ________ in this room. 2. This room is cleaner than the one downstairs. This room is not ________ than the one downstairs. 3. Monte Castillo Hotel is near the train station. Monte Castillo Hotel is not ________ the train station. 4. I flew to Jerez two weeks ago. I ______________ in Jerez for two weeks. 5. This hotel room has two bathrooms. There ________ bathrooms in this hotel room.

About homework 1. The teacher gave us more than enough homework. The teacher gave us ________ homework. 2. When I was little I never did my HW. I ________ to do my HW as a child. 3. “Can I copy your homework?” She ________ she could copy my homework. 4. The HW that I finished wasn’t so difficult. The homework I finished was ________ . 5. If I do my homework, I get better marks. I won’t ________ marks unless I do my HW.

Sobre chocolate, porque... ¿Por qué no?

About chocolate 1. If you go to Switzerland you must buy chocolate straight away. / Buy chocolate __ ____ __ you get to Switzerland. 2. If I ate sweets, I would gain weight. I wouldn’t gain weight ________ sweets. 3. This one is so delicious. This is ________ delicious one. 4. He recommended eating more healthily. He said “You should eat a ________ diet” 5. I know I eat too much white chocolate. I know I ________ less white chocolate.

About a flat 1. My flat was six floors up and looked over the park. My flat was on ________ and looked over the park. 2. My flat has air conditioning and central heating. My flat has air conditioning ________ central ht. 3. My flat has the best views of all. My flat has ________ any other flat. 4. I had to leave my flat by April. I was ________ to stay in my flight until April. 5. It wasn't known who was going to rent my flat. ________ knew who was going to rent my flat.

About a house 1. The heather is so old, it often breaks down. We have ________ heater that it often breaks down. 2. Last week, I paid a repairman to fix my sink. I ________ repaired last week. 3. My mum cleans so fast she frightens me. My mum is ________ that she frightens me. 4. You don’t have to make the bed today. You ________ make the bed today. 5. The house I bought only has 3 rooms. I bought a house ________ only has three rooms.

About a race 1. We should come to races more often. We ought ________ to races more often. 2. My coach said I ran too slow. My coach said “You should run _____ than you do” 3. Manuel has run this marathon since he was 18. Manuel started running this marathon ___ he was 18. 4. The best part was seeing him cross the finish line. The part I liked ________ was when he crossed it. 5. People in the audience said it was a tough race. / “It is not ________ race” people said.