MAGIC

We are going to do some magic to enrich our writing skills

ROYAL WEDDING

WEDDING OF PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE MIDDLETON

According to the latest news, the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton will take place at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29th April 2011. Till now, there are no more details about the wedding.

William and Kate became engaged in October during a holiday in Kenya. One month later, after the announcement of their engagement, they hold a press conference in St. James`s Palace.

Watch William`s romantic proposal.

Prince William (28) is the elder son of the Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales. Have a look at his biography.

All newspapers reported about the announcement of the wedding. Nice photos and good headlines.

CONGRATULATIONS!

VOWELS (II)

Second part of the VOWELS unit. Today we are going to learn how to pronounce /e/ and /3:/. As usual, pay attention to the teacher and repeat after her. Have fun!

PRESENT PERFECT

Unit 3 deals with the PRESENT PERFECT, which is probably one of the most difficult tenses in English. If you need to revise some of the concepts, have a look and study this Power Point Presentation.

Present Perfect (1)

View more presentations from Business English Courses "Glagoll".

Now, it's time to practice! Click on the different pictures and you will be directed to a website with  online activities.

PAST PARTICIPLES

FORM

    

FOR & SINCE

 

Is it very easy? Try these other two activities! ONE   TWO

THE ENDANGERED "CELTIC TIGER"

A few months ago, the crisis surrounding us made Greece to accept the help coming from the European Union. Last Sunday night, and after a few days of rejections, Ireland became the second country in accepting the financial assistance offered by the members of the eurozone.

The decision came just as Ireland was facing growing panic from investors and savers and anger from other members of the Union. Although we don’t know the exact amount of that aid – around €80 billion - yet, what is clear is that Ireland will be under severe economic control to guarantee the financial stability of the common currency.

In this Global World, every single step that a certain country takes has somehow an effect on the others. Experts expected that the Irish bow would have a positive reaction in the Portuguese and Spanish economies, which are probably the most in danger nowadays. However, Spain’s debt action carried out yesterday produced interest rates lower than expected and the stock market went down.

......................

Now, if you click here you are going to watch a video on this topic. Listen to it carefully and try to answer the questions. 

When was the decision transmitted?
In the evening / Immediately / On Saturday

How much is the assistance?
€80 million / €18 billion / €80 billion

According to experts, is it the final solution to the European problem?
No, there won’t be any money left in case any other country needs it
Yes, the economies will react positively now
No, it is a question of who is next.

How do Irish people feel?
Angry with the government
Happy with the governmet’s decision
Angry with the other European countries.

When will the General Elections be held?
At the end of the year / It will depend on the economy / Early next year

KEY VOCABULARY

IMF (International Monetary Fund): Fondo Monetario Internacional

Bankruptcy: Bancarrota

Debt: Deuda

Fund: Fondo

Bailout: Rescate



THANKSGIVING DAY

Next Thursday, people all over the US celebrate Thanksgiving. All families have dinner together. Do you want to know its origin? Click here.

The traditional food is turkey.

Here you`ve got one. Have fun!

VOWELS (I)

The following videos have been taken from the BBC website. With them, you can revise the pronunciation of the VOWELS in English. Today we are going to study three of them. Pay attention and follow the teacher's instructions.

LISTENING PRACTICE

On these websites you will find a great variety of listening exercises to practice that skill. They are divided into Elementary, Intermediate and Advance level.

 

This website focuses on First Certificate Exam Practice.

Don't worry if you don't understand a single word, it is just a question of time!

REPORTED SPEECH

In this unit we are learning the REPORTED SPEECH. If you think you need to revise a little bit this topic, here you are going to find some extra explanations and activities.

To start with, you can watch a video that explains the differences between DIRECT SPEECH and REPORTED SPEECH and between SAY and TELL. Enjoy!

On this other video, the teacher explains how time, personal and space references change from DIRECT to REPORTED speech.

This last video refers to the changes in verbs or BACKSHIFTING.

Now that we have revised some key aspects, it's time to practice them. If you click on the links below, you will be directed to different websites where you can take some quizes that will be automatically corrected. Good luck!

Easy - Backshifting

Exercises in different levels

Mixed exercise 1

On this last video, you can revise the IMPERATIVE and also other different REPORTING VERBS with their special structure. This is an important topic, so don't forget to practice it and memorize some of the reporting verbs structures.

Practice