Monday 31 October 2016

More mistakes (Spanish version included)

Some typical mistakes happen when people use the personal or object pronouns or even when they use the possessive adjectives.

Let's have a look at them:

The personal pronouns (I, you, he, she , it, we, you, they) are always the subject of the sentence (they start the sentence) and they are followed by a verb: "I eat apples", or "He and I are good friends".

Let's see the mistake made in the picture below:


In the picture it is used an object pronoun ("me") instead of a subject one ("I"), which is incorrect.

Object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them) are used as an indirect object, and they always follow a verb or a preposition. They can't be used as subjects of the sentence, as they don't perform the action, they receive the action: "He gave me a present" or "I'm worried about you".

And finally, we'll see the misuse of the possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their):


In this case, the possessive adjective "your" can't be used, as this kind of adjectives indicate possession and they are always followed by a noun (in this case there is an adjective "stupid"). The correct way in this picture would be "you're or you are", this is, a subject pronoun followed by a verb.

- SPANISH VERSION:

Ocurren algunos errores típicos cuando la gente quiere hacer uso de los pronombres personales u objeto, e incluso también cuando usan los adjetivos posesivos.

Vamos a verlos:

Los pronombres sujeto (I, you, he, she , it, we, you, they) son siempre el sujeto de la frase (comienzan la frase) y van seguidos de un verbo:  "I eat apples" ("Yo como manzanas"), or "He and I are good friends" ("Él y yo somos buenos amigos").

Veamos el error en la foto de abajo:


A: "Hey, me y Felicia estábamos -" 
B: "Felicia y YO"
A: "Qué eres, una especie de nazi de la gramática?"
B: "Sip"

En la foto se usa un pronombre objeto ("me") en vez de un pronombre sujeto ("I"), lo cual es incorrecto.

Los pronombres objeto (me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them) , se usan como complemento indirecto y siempre van detrás de un verbo o de una preposición. No pueden ser usados como sujeto de la frase ya que no son los que realizan la acción, si no quien la recibe: "He gave me a present"  ("Él me dio un regalo") o "I'm worried about you" ("Estoy preocupado por").

Y finalmente veremos el mal uso de los adjetivos posesivos (my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their):


"¡La vida es dura! Es incluso más dura si tu estúpido"

En este caso no se puede usar el adjetivo posesivo "your", ya que esta clase de adjetivos indica posesión y van siempre seguidos de un nombre (en este caso lo que hay es un adjetivo "stupid"). La forma correcta en esta frase sería usar "you're" o "you are" (" eres"), es decir, un pronombre sujeto seguido de un verbo.


Thursday 27 October 2016

Information Cards Game

A good way for elementary students to start speaking English language is by asking and answering common questions. I made this worksheet for elementary students, and kids really loved playing this game.

Instructions: Cut the cards and give one to each student. They can go around the classroom asking and answering the following things:

1 - What's your name? My name is...
2 - How old are you? I am ....
3 - Where are you from? I'm from....
4 - What do you do? I'm a / an...
5 - What's your favourite colour? My favourite colour is...



NAME: Luigi

AGE: 40 years old

COUNTRY: Italy

JOB: Hairdresser

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Pink
NAME: Peter

AGE: 54 years old

COUNTRY: Japan

JOB: Lawyer

FAVOURITE COLOUR: White


NAME: Luis

AGE: 20 years old

COUNTRY: Spain

JOB: Baker

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Red

NAME: Michael

AGE: 44 years old

COUNTRY: Germany

JOB: Shop assistant

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Black




NAME: Pierre

AGE: 18 years old

COUNTRY: France

JOB: Student

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Purple











NAME: Anthony

AGE: 36 years old

COUNTRY: Holland

JOB: Carpenter

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Green


NAME: Mario

AGE: 25 years old

COUNTRY: Portugal

JOB: Singer

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Grey












NAME: Paul

AGE: 32 years old

COUNTRY: England

JOB: Teacher

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Blue










It's a very easy and simple game, so you can add lots more.

Wednesday 26 October 2016

Listening practice: The Kinks - Dedicated follower of fashion

In this new section of the blog I will add some resources I have created for my own lessons.

The first one is a listening comprehension. The song is Dedicated follower of fashion, by The Kinks, a very famous 60s band.

There are two exercises: one of them is a fill in the gaps and the second one is vocabulary related, you have to match some words with their definitions.

Hope you enjoy it and it's useful for you!!



1 - Listen to the song and fill in the gaps the missing words:

The Kinks – Dedicated Follower Of Fashion

They seek him here, they _____ him there,
His __________ are loud, but never square.
It will make or break him so he's got to _____ the best,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.

And when he does his ______ rounds,
'Round the _________ of London Town,
Eagerly pursuing all the latest fads and _________,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
He thinks he is a _________ to be looked at,
And when he pulls his frilly nylon _________ right up tight,
He feels a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
There's one thing that he loves and that is ________
One week he's in ___________, the next week he is in __________
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.

They seek him ______, they seek him  ______,
In Regent Street and Leicester Square.
Everywhere the Carnabetian army __________  on,
Each _____ an dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
His world is built 'round ___________ and ___________.
This pleasure-seeking ___________ always looks his best
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
He flits from shop to _____ just like a ____________.
In matters of the ______he is as fickle as can be,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.
He's a dedicated follower of fashion.
He's a dedicated follower of fashion.


2 - Match the words with their definitions:

1 - seek                               
a.a dot repeated to form a pattern on  
   a fabric
2 - loud
b. capricious
3 - eagerly
c. to go in search of
4 - nylon
d. to fly, move, or pass swiftly and lightly from one place or condition to another
5 - polka-dots
e. a narrow band differing in color, material, or texture from the background part
6 - stripes
f. too brightly colored, ostentatious
7 - fickle
g. a substance like thin plastic, made into fibers and sheets, usually tough, strong, and easily stretched, used esp. for fabrics
8 - to flit
h.having strong desire or interest


Sunday 23 October 2016

Idioms and sayings

We are already in autumn, so the rain is beginning to appear again. Amongst the idioms we have in English to express that it's raining a lot or heavily we have the next one:

"It's raining cats and dogs" - don't take it literally, we won't see cats and dogs falling from the sky, but we'll see and feel heavy rain, so remember to take an umbrella with you!!



Sunday 25 September 2016

Mistakes

Hoy estrenamos la sección de errores gramaticales, muchos de ellos los encontramos en anuncios, carteles, signos en las carreteras... y más.

El primero  lo vemos en este anuncio de un señor que se ofrece para dar clases de inglés:





Si lo traducimos literalmente, dice: "Avergonzado por TÚ inglés? Tú puedes hablar y escribir como un graduado universitario si A MI me permites TÚ ayudar durante un día de 15 minutos".

Encontramos errores en el uso de los pronombres: YOU es un pronombre personal, con lo que debería ir antes de un verbo como sujeto de una frase; o también puede ser un pronombre objeto, así que debería usarse después de un verbo o una preposición. En este caso lo que va detrás del pronombre es un sustantivo, con lo que debería haber usado un pronombre posesivo: YOUR (Shamed by your English).

La frase en la que dice que te ayuda debería ser así: if YOU let ME help YOU: si me permites ayudarte. Hacemos una frase formada por un sujeto (YOU - el ME que utiliza es un pronombre objeto y por lo tanto nunca puede actuar de sujeto de una frase), un verbo (LET) al que le acompaña un pronombre objeto (ME) y su complemento formado por un verbo (HELP) y otro pronombre objeto (YOU - a tí / te).

¿Existen días de 15 minutos? ¿O quizá quería decir durante 15 minutos al día? De ser ese caso, debería haber escrito: "for 15 minutes a day".

Visto lo visto, casi mejor no llamar a este hombre para que nos enseñe inglés...




En este otro caso, el fallo está en la palabra "WEEDING". No es lo mismo que WEDDING, que es lo que se supone que debería poner.

Una "wedding" es una boda, mientras que "weed" es la mala hierba o como se llama a la marihuana en inglés informal. También tenemos la expresión "do the weeding", que significa quitar las hierbas.



Thursday 15 September 2016

Doctor Who and English Grammar

Una curiosidad gramatical para los seguidores de Doctor Who. En el capítulo "The Sontaram Strategies", de la temporada 4, en la que el Doctor es David Tennant, nos sorprenden con una escena en la que el Doctor corrige a su enemigo:


A continuación os dejo la transcripción de lo que dicen en el vídeo:

The Doctor: With equipment like this you could—oh, I don’t know—move to another planet or something.
Luke: If only that was possible.
The Doctor: “If only that were possible.” Conditional clause.


Recordad: la segunda condicional se forma con IF más un verbo en pasado simple y would + infinitivo, y se usa para expresar algo que es poco probable que ocurre. También se utiliza este tipo de condicionales con IF ONLY, tal y como se ve en el vídeo.

Wednesday 14 September 2016

Exámenes 2016 - opciones a y b

En nuestro primer post, daremos solución a los exámenes realizados en 2016 en Castilla y León para el acceso a la Universidad de mayores de 25 años.

OPCIÓN A:

HOW COFFEE CAN HELP YOU LIVE LONGER 

There’s great news for coffee lovers. A new study found that those who drank coffee on a regular basis had a lower risk of dying from problems such as heart diseases, diabetes, brain conditions and suicide. The findings only show a link, and cannot confirm that coffee is directly responsible for the reduced risk of death from these causes, but the researchers report that the many compounds in coffee are known to help lower insulin resistance or inflammation, which could result in better health.
The scientists studied several groups of people totalling 208,500 men and women. Every four years for three decades, they asked the volunteers about their coffee drinking habits. The connection between coffee consumption and a lower death risk was even more pronounced among people who had never smoked.
The researchers admit that the self-reports of coffee consumption aren’t completely reliable. But, they argue, previous studies have isolated some potentially beneficial compounds in coffee, from antioxidants to inflammation fighting agents. Interestingly, the researchers found the lower risk of death was similar among people who drank caffeinated as well as decaffeinated coffee. That suggests, the researchers write, that “other components in coffee besides caffeine might play a beneficial role.”

QUESTIONS

1. Translate the following paragraph into Spanish (4 points).

The scientists studied several groups of people totalling 208,500 men and women. Every four years for three decades, they asked the volunteers about their coffee drinking habits. The connection between coffee consumption and a lower death risk was even more pronounced among people who had never smoked. The researchers admit that the self-reports of coffee consumption aren’t completely reliable.

    Los científicos estudiaron a varios grupos de gente, siendo un total de 208,500 hombres y mujeres. Cada cuatro años durante tres décadas, les preguntaron a los voluntarios sobre sus hábitos de tomar café. La conexión entre consumir café y un menor riesgo de muerte era más pronunciada entre la gente que nunca había fumado. Los investigadores admiten que las auto-evaluaciones sobre consumo de café no son completamente fiables.


2. Read the text and answer the questions. Use your own words. Answers will be assessed from 0 to 1 (2 points as a whole).

a) Why does the text claim that there’s great news for coffee lovers?

   The text claims there's good news for coffee consumers because the ones who consume it daily will have less risks of suffering from some illnesses.

b) Why do researchers think that caffeine might not be the only beneficial component in coffee?

   Because they found out that there's little difference between caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.

3. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given. Answers will be assessed from 0 to 0.5 each (4 points as a whole).

For many years coffee ____was___ (1.) deemed unhealthy. As it had been reported previously, much of that concern came from research in the 1970s and 1980s __that____(2.) linked coffee to higher rates of cancer and heart disease, ___but____(3.) didn’t account for the fact that coffee drinkers are also more likely to smoke, possibly drink and engage in other behaviours that contribute to cancer __and__ (4.) heart problems. More recent studies that account for these factors are ___starting___ (5. start) to find the opposite, showing that coffee drinkers might have a slightly __lower__ (6.) risk. As with any food or behaviour, however, it’s all about moderation. As long as you are __not__ (7.) overdoing it, the study authors say, “results ___from____ (8.) this and previous studies indicate that coffee consumption can be incorporated into healthy lifestyle.”


- OPCIÓN B:

DISPLACED AGAIN AND AGAIN, SOME AFRICAN MIGRANTS HAD NO PLAN TO LAND IN ITALY 

Conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia have shaped and reshaped Europe’s migrant flows in recent years, with none more transformative to the Mediterranean smuggling trade than the civil war in Syria. Migration statistics offer a hint. More than 170,000 migrants and refugees arrived in Italy by sea last year; Syrians and Eritreans were the two largest groups among them, accounting for more than 76,000 people, according to Italy’s Interior Ministry. “We see that even people who had originally moved to Libya with the intention to remain there have now decided to flee toward Europe, even though it means risking their lives in a very dangerous journey at sea,” Matteo de Bellis said in an email. At the Umberto I detention center in this ancient Sicilian port city, Mohammed Njie, 31, described his route to Italy. He left his home in Gambia and made his way to Libya, hoping to send money back to his parents and two children. At this center, many of the migrants expressed dismay and uncertainty. Not one had a cellphone or had been able to contact relatives in Africa. None of the migrants knew the status of their asylum applications.

QUESTIONS

1. Translate the following paragraph into Spanish (4 points).

“We see that even people who had originally moved to Libya with the intention to remain there have now decided to flee toward Europe, even though it means risking their lives in a very dangerous journey at sea,” Matteo de Bellis said in an email.

   "Vemos que incluso la gente que en principio se habían mudado a Libya con la intención de quedarse allí han decidido ahora huir hacia Europa aunque ello signifique arriesgar sus vidas en un viaje muy peligroso por el mar", dijo Matteo de Bellis en un email.


2. Read the text and answer the questions. Use your own words. Answers will be assessed from 0 to 1 (2 points as a whole).

a) Why do people leave their countries of origin?
 
   People leave their countries of origins due to the wars and conflicts.

b) How do migrants feel at the Umberto I center?

   They feel worried and they don't know what is going to happen to them, they ate no certain about the future.

3. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given. Answers will be assessed from 0 to 0.5 each (4 points as a whole).

Europe’s migration crisis escalated sharply in April, with the coming of warmer weather __to__ (1.) the Mediterranean. Many more smugglers’ boats took to the sea, and a record number of migrants died __attempting___ (2. attempt) the crossing -more than 1,700 people so far in 2015, __according___ (3.) to some estimates.
Conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia have shaped and reshaped Europe’s migrant __flows___ (4.flow) in recent years, with none ___more___ (5.) transformative to the Mediterranean smuggling trade than the civil ___war__ (6.) in Syria. And the tumult in Libya is changing the migration equation once again.
Libyan lawlessness ____has allowed___ (7. allow) a haven for smugglers to operate along the country’s coastline, but it has also unmoored many African laborers who were working there as migrants. ___Many___ (8.) of these men now languish in Italian detention centers without contacts or plans for the future, and their growing numbers are frustrating some Italian mayors and other officials.