En este blog podréis encontrar multitud de enlaces para practicar las cuatro destrezas comunicativas [oir (listening sites), hablar (pronunciation sites), comprender y producir textos (writing sites)] y todo tipo de ejercicios sobre gramática y vocabulario (online exercises). Desde aquí también podéis acceder a varios medios de comunicación en inglés, a toda una serie de diccionarios muy útiles y a material del libro de texto que usamos en clase.
También contáis con secciones para cada curso que imparto, de manera que podéis manteneros al día de lo que se hace en cada grupo cada semana. El blog pretende de ser una herramienta complementaria para quienes queráis usarlo, nunca una herramienta obligatoria.
Con cierta periodicidad se irán publicando en esta página principal informaciones que puedan resultaros útiles o interesantes. Por supuesto, me encantará contar con vuestra colaboración, sugerencias y críticas para que, entre todos, podamos sacarle el máximo partido a esta herramienta.
Hello and good bye to everyone! We are having our last lessons this week and I would like to say good bye to you with a couple of recommendations in order to keep your English fit ;-)
Here you have an extract from last Sunday's Spanish radio programme "No es un día cualquiera", where the topic "English learning in Spain" is being discussed. I think you might find it quite interesting! Play it from minute 15 on
And related to that, here you have a list of quite useful recommendations. As I said in class, if you would like to keep up your English, use this blog's features and links and surf the web!
Please keep in touch and write me if you have any query related to English learning. It has been a pleasure teaching you all and I'll miss you! Thank you all very much for your patience with me and for making the lessons so nice! :-)
GOOD BYE! And... don't forget to stay on the bright side of the road ;-)
I just can't believe this already exists! The future is here now, look!
I just think that the original sentences and signals in Spanish were not really well written, but still... it's an amazing tool! Here and now I want scream out loud to defend the beautiful, not well paid and indispensable work of all the translators in the world!! :-)
Help is a BBC TV comedy first aired in 2005. It is directed by Declan Lowney (an award-winning Irish TV and film director), with Paul Whitehouse and Chris Langham as main characters. The story focuses on a psychotherapist (Langham) and his therapy sessions with a variety of patients, most of them played by the remarkable Whitehouse. Here you have the fist episode, enjoy! :-)
La heramienta BLOGGER que aloja y gestiona nuestro blog ha estado sin funcionar durante un día entero y estoy intentando ponerme al día. Espero poder actualizar las respectivas páginas de English 2 y English 6 a lo largo del día.
I apologize for the inconvenience!
I believe there is much confusion on what England is, what Britain, what the United Kingdom... And here you can find a very fast but very clear answer! ;-)
Well, the wedding is over now, but it's now time to share our impressions! ;-) So here you can watch and listen to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they say their vows, quite British!
If you want to take a look at the wedding highlights, click here! But if you are absolutely obsessed with the British Monarchy and this wedding, then you have to surf The Royal Channel and the official British Monarchy webpage ;-) Have fun!!
Prince William is getting married... Have you heard about it? ;-)
I just wanted to share with you this very funny advert that Albita (English 6) sent me. Take a look and have a good laugh! Isn't it amazing how many royal lookalikes there are!?
If you are very interested in all the royal wedding stuff, go ahead and visit some of the following pages:
Easter, the English word for our Pascua, is the most important week of the Christian year. But... have you ever heard of Easter bunnies? Or chocolate Easter eggs? Do you know how British people celebrate Easter? What about the US? Well, here you have a couple of hints, I hope you find them interesting!
Last week we were talking about prank calls, jokes and hoaxes on April Fool's Day. Well, Ángel (English 5) has just sent me this absolutely hilarious prank call made by a sweet little girl from Dublin in an Irish radio station playing a joke on a demolition company. It's really funny and you also have the chance of listening to some real top Irish accent. Enjoy!!! And thanks for sharing, Ángel!
Hello everyone! Elena (Inglés 5) has just sent me the following information (I quote):
This morning I heard in the radio that a song (Sunrise Number 1) by an Asturian group (Stormy Mondays) has been pre-selected to awake the astronauts during the last flight of the Endeavour. It's the only non-american group in the contest. I thought it could be interesting to find more info about it, and also the words of the song... Now an Internet voting is taking place to select the one song among the 10 finalists."
You can listen to the the song and vote for it in this link. The song is a version of a previous song also by the Stormy Mondays named Weatherman. Watch the videoclip of the old version here:
Here you can watch and listen to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian novelist inspired by her very own experience. She tells us about how our lives and cultures are composed of many overlapping stories, not only of one. She warns us too - if we hear only a single story, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
You can play it with or without Spanish or English subtitles on and you can access the transcript on the right-hand column (both in English and in Spanish). Enjoy!
Wear green, it's Saint Patrick's Day! Let's celebrate it with all our Irish friends! The best way to celebrate is always music, don't you think? You all probably know many Irish folk songs, so help yourself and pick one! I myself have chosen a rather sad one, but really beautiful - Carrickfergus.This is one of the most famous Irish traditional songs and I would like to share it with you today! I've chosen a moving moment from the TV series Boardwalk Empire (which I really recommend, by the way!). Below you will also find the lyrics and the Van Morrison version, hope you like it!
Here you have the lyrics:
I wish I was in Carrickfergus, only for nights in Ballygran
I would swim over the deepest ocean, the deepest ocean for my love to find
But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over and neither have I wings to fly
If I could find me a handsome boatman to ferry me over to my love and die
My childhood days bring back sad reflections of happy times I spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations have all passed on now like melting snow
But I'll spend my days in endless roaming soft is the grass my bed is free
Ah to be back in Carrickfergus on that long road down to the sea
And in Kilkenny it is reported there are marble stones as black as ink
With gold and silver I would support her, but I'll sing no more now till I get a drink
I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober, a handsome rover from town to town
Ah, but I'm sick now, my days are numbered so come all ye young men and lay me down.
Hi everyone! I have been updating some of the useful links in this blog and you can now access some other handy sites to improve your English. Check out the new links both on the left and the right columns. You will notice I have included two new sections: THE NEWS (left column), from where you can access many of the most popular newspapers and radio stations all around the world, and WRITING SITES (right column), where you can visit many different webpages in which you can read helpful tips to improve your writing skills.
As I've said many times before, you are more than welcome if you want to share a video, a song, an interesting idea, an essay, a useful link, etc. Thanks a lot in advance! And, as alwas, have fun learning!! :-D
Happy International Women's Day to all of you!!! :-D
Here you can take a look at Michelle Bachelet's message in this special day.
If you want to find out more on how the UN works for women's rights, here is the link to UN Women Watch.
Let me recommend you this other video, on how former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sees her role as a woman in politics and diplomacy. Really interesting! And don't worry, you can play it with Spanish subtitles ;-)
And to finish off, if you would like a spark of humour, watch this other one, in which cartoonist Liza Donnelly deconstructs our childhood stereotypes and frames.
So, have you already read everything about the last Academy Awards' ceremony? Let's check if you do have all the information! Try and do this quiz (click on the picture below) to find out how much you know about the Oscars. Test yourselves and then tell me how many you get right!
Here you will find some links to watch what I have found to be the most interesting stuff about an otherwise quite boring ceremony, according to the news. This opening video, though, is quite impressive! The actors playing the main roles are this year's Oscars co-hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco. If you have seen the nominated movies the video is much more entertaining! Click on the Oscars' picture below to watch. Hope you enjoy it!
The World News Quiz is a BBC-made quiz, published every Friday, so that people that missed the latest news around the world this week can catch up. I find it a very useful, interesting and entertaining tool for all of us! Let's give it a try and see how many you get rigth! :-)
Maybe you would like to check out who the winners of this year's BAFTA awards were. The BAFTA awards are the British counterpart of our Goyas or of the world famous Oscars and are hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This year's big winner has been The King's Speech. Click on the picture below for more info and enjoy!
Hello everyone! Check this beautiful dictionary. It is not just visually wonderful, but it also displays a lot of very useful information for each word. I emphatically recommend it! :-D
No one can deny we are now experiencing a historic moment in North Africa! It's worth to stay up-to-date with the latest news. Here you have the link to the CNN report and breaking news.
It is very interesting to check how English people picture themselves, sometimes sterotypes are based in reality! Take a look at this funny advertisement. Below you will find the script of what you hear. Enjoy!
In England we have lousy weather but the girls are always half naked.
We live on an island, but you get there by train. We have a Queen, but her husband is only a prince. We built the EC, but in the end we kept the pound. We have dominated the world, but also we liked to be dominated. We invented football, but our national team is run by an Italian. We have the most ridiculous police uniforms, but somehow it seems to work. We love a well-tailored suit, but we also love a well-tailored dress. We don’t know how to cook, but we make good biscuits.
In this link you will find all the movies available for you to borrow from the Casa de las Lenguas. If you have any question on the borrowing procedure, just ask! :-)
Remember what Coppola said - "I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made films were magicians". Have fun watching! :-D
Because it's going to be one of the most popular topics in this first week after Christmas... let's take a funny look at it with the TV show The IT Crowd. Enjoy!
