An interesting story

Here is an example of a very good narrative. It's a video, but you take the hint.

http://youtu.be/trc_zTADROk

Nationality names and adjectives

It's important to distinguish between nationality adjectives and nouns:

He is from Poland. (noun)
He is Polish. (adj.)
He is a Pole. (noun)

We should use an indefinite article with a noun. Nationality adjectives are also used to describe foreign products, culture and history while the nouns describe the people of that country. Remember to use capital letters for these words.

There are eight basic forms (suffixes) of nationality adjectives:

-ian (Italian, Norwegian)
-ean (Chilean, Korean)
-an (American, Mexican)
-ese (Chinese, Japanese)
-er (Icelander, New Zealander)
-ic (Icelandic, Greenlandic)
-ish (English, Irish)
-i (Iraqi, Pakistani)


Here are some rules to take into account:

1) When the name of a nationality ends in the sound of -ch, -ss, -sh or -es, the name of the nationality must usually be preceded by the and we use a plural verb.Remember not to add 's' to these words, they are adjectives!

The Chinese are very hard-working.

2) Nationality words ending in -an and a few others, for example Greek and Thai are both adjectives and nouns. To talk about the people from that country we use a plural noun ending in -s:

The Greeks are very talkative and extrovert

3) Some nationalities have a special noun for the people which is different from the adjective: Polish (adj.), Pole (noun).

To talk about the people we can say THE + ADJ or THE + PLURAL NOUN:  

The Poles or The Polish 

4 ) To talk about ONE person from a country you can't use a/an + adjective: A Japanese (wrong)  

We should say a Japanese man/woman/person Note that we can say an Italian/a Turk/a Pole, etc., because these are nouns.


****To talk about specific groups of people in society we can use THE + ADJ.
A plural verb must be used:

The blind attend special schools.    
The poor do not own their own homes.
The rich used to marry for money.

In the above examples, the blind has the meaning of blind people, the poor has the meaning of poor people, and the rich has the meaning of rich people.

The dangers of literal translation

Killing Bin Laden, a good political decision or a huge mistake?

This is the final draft of the For/Against essay you all wrote in collaboration in class. It looks really good, so congratulations to al of you!

Last Monday, US President Obama ordered the special US army forces to enter Pakistan without permission to find and kill Bin Laden . This news have had a wide repercussion around the world. People discuss whether this event is true or if it is a good way to stop terrorism .


Killing Bin Laden will have many positive effects. The main advantage is that the world will be safer without Bin Laden because he was the leader of one of the worst terrorist groups, Al Qaeda. Another advantage is that the families of the victims will feel that justice has been done. Finally, this is a very big triumph for the US because they have become the saviours of the world.


On the other hand, killing Bin Laden has some disadvantages. The main disadvange is that some muslims can feel offended, specially the terrorist group Al Qaeda, who may take revenge. Another disadvantage is that the relationship between the USA and Pakistan will be worse, because the USA thinks that Pakistan helped to hide Bin Laden. Finally, some people think that it's not fair to have killed Bin Laden without a trial, because everybody has a right to it.


To sum up, killing Bin Laden was a correct decision because afer his death, the world will be safer than before. However, there will probably be more problems among Al Qaeda's members in order to find their new leader.

Level 4 Tu-Thur 14.00-16.00

The 8 Secrets of Success

Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just lucky? Watch the following video and find out:


http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success.html

Practice your modals

Here are a few webpages to practice modals for speculation:

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blmodalprob.htm


http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/naturalenglish/int/a_grammar/unit11/neint_grammar11_exp/


http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-explained/modals-%E2%80%93-deduction-present

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-explained/modals-%E2%80%93-deduction-past

Interview Dos and Don`ts

Here is a video about how to approach work interviews:




And, if you are interested in the subject, check this other videop on the blog:

http://teresascorner-teresa.blogspot.com/search/label/Jobs

Adjectives

Here are a couple of links to a website where you'll be able to practice all kinds of grammar exercises. These links refer to gradable and non-gradable adjectives and adjectives with -ed and -ing:

http://www.ejerciciodeingles.com/como-utilizar-adjetivos-acabados-ed-ing-ingles/

http://www.ejerciciodeingles.com/adjetivos-graduables-no-graduables-ingles/

Fatal Floods Rip Through Australia

Here is a video about the floods in Australia. Watch it and answer the questions:


http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=12590398
1) How have witnesses described this wall of water?

2) What happenned to some of the people?

3) What do police and authorities expect?

4) How many people were rescued by helicopters? Where were they?

5) Where is the flood going next?

6) When was the last time a flood this bad took place in the capital?

7) how many suburbs are on alert?

8) What is the weather forecast for the next few days?

Do you speak English?

This is what happens when you don't speak English, so study hard:

Linkers

A few words on some of the linkers we used today:

- According to + noun or person's name + comma = It's used to introduce an idea which is supported by  a person/people  or research/statistics. If this phrase comes at the end of a sentence, there is no comma after 'to'.
e.g. According to the directions, the glue takes 24 hours to dry.
e.g. Using a preposition at the end of a sentence is acceptable according to the usage dictionaries.

- Instead (of) = in place of somebody or something.

e.g. It was too hot to go outside so we stayed at home instead.
e.g Instead of going to the cinema, we decided to stay at home.

- However + comma = Used at the beginning of a sentence in order to add a comment to a previous sentence.  It implies a contrast.

e. g.Katty couldn't cash her paycheck. However, she managed to buy a new TV set.

- In fact = Both actually and in fact can be used to modify or contradict a previous statement:

e.g. I hear that you're a doctor. ~ Well, actually/in fact, I'm a dentist.

Actually and in fact can also be used to introduce more detailed information or to make things clearer or more precise:

e. g.  I got so bored listening to what he was saying that I actually fell asleep / in fact I fell asleep half way through his presentation.

- Whereas = It is used to compare and contrast 2 facts or opinions. It's not normally used at the beginning of a sentence.

e.g. I love meat whereas my husband is a complete vegetarian.

- Although = Used to contrast 2 clauses

e.g. Although she was ill, she went to work  (The comma separates the 2 clauses)

Since = Because (In this contest. Remember that it is also a time preposition)

e.g. Since John can't come to the meeting tomorrow, we'll have it next week.

That's all folks!!!

The secrets of success

Here is an interesting video about how to be successful in life. Watch it and answer the questions below:



1) Is it necessary to work hard to be successful?
2) If you practise a lot, can you get good at doing something?
3) Is it necessary to be good at something to succeed?
4) How easy is it to persist through failure? Criticism? Rejection? Assholes? Pressure?
5) Should parents help by pushing their children?

Review of tenses

Here are a couple of website adresses where you can practice tenses and many other things:

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/StudyZone/grammar.htm

http://esl.about.com/od/englishgrammar/a/tense_resource.htm

This is extra stuff, feel free to do it if you think you need more practice with tenses.


Have fun!

Body vocabulary review

Here is a link to a webpage where you can review the parts of the body; if you explore the page you will see that there are examples and definitions:

http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blwordgroups_body.htm

Smoking ban in Spain

Spain has introduced a tough new anti-smoking law that prohibits lighting up in bars and restaurants as well as outside hospitals, schools and at children’s playgrounds. Check the following website for more information:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8236170/Spain-introduces-smoking-ban.html
Here is a BBC webpage tracing smoking legislation in the world. it's quite interesting!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3758707.stm

New Year Resolutions

Everyone has a New Year's resolution, whether it is to stop smoking, spending more time with the family, or simply dieting. Life coach Dr. Sally Ann Law gives us some advice on how to stick to a New Year's resolution. Watch the video to learn more.


How To Stick To A New Year's Resolution