CORONAVIRUS: THE WORDS YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE NEWS

Hello everyone,

I'm posting some useful links with vocabulary related to COVID-19. You will need to know some of the words  in these articles to talk about the current situation. Click on the icons below for the links:

Also, you might find useful reading the news in English to enhance your vocabulary, you will learn a lot while you keep informed.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Hello everyone,

These days I've been searching for resources for our virtual class. Sometimes I come across things I post on Google Classroom related to your lessons and sometimes I find more general things that I think you might find useful. 

I'll just post a couple of them which I will add to the PADLET wall you will find on the side bar on the right of the blog. This can serve as a reminder for you to use the useful links there too.

I'm aware many of you have less time than they used to at the moment, but others have more spare time than usual. So just in case you find it useful. Those of you who don't have time now, can always explore it whenever you want in the future. So here are some useful links:

The following are great resources for improving your writing skills and learning vocabulary:

This one is a great site to improve your reading and listening skills.
They are classified according to level and you can both read and listen to the texts before completing the multiple choice tests that are proposed. 

I hope you find them useful.

Take lots of care and stay safe

READY, STEADY, DRAW!

Do you like drawing? 

I've just found a fun game you might enjoy. Its name is Google Quick,Draw!

Actually, it is a tool from Google that tells you to draw an object and gives you twenty seconds to do it using the mouse or a touchscreen. People around the world have drawn one billion images using it and Google uses them to help researchers learn about "machine learning". You will be asked to draw six items the computer will try to identify. You will get information about what the computer thinks you are drawing and you will be able to compare your creations to other user's.

It's a fun way to improve your vocabulary (and your drawing skills!). I should warn you, though, it's incrediby addictive too...

Give it a try and see how many of your doodles can be recognized.

Enjoy!


Here's my own attempt, I got six out of six!  But you're allowed to laugh! 😁😂

Dear students,

Next week we'll be revising the use of present perfect, so it might be a good idea to brush up on your knowledge of irregular verbs.

I'm posting a link to an older post on the blog to help you:

LEARNING IRREGULAR VERBS

Apart from the ideas suggested in the post you can also use QUIZLET to test yourself. Here's a link to a sample study set:

IRREGULAR VERBS QUIZLET STUDY SET

Quizlet can also be a great tool for you to learn about other topics.  As well as having access to the hundreds of word sets which have been created by learners and teachers around the world, you can also create your own sets.

Make using Quizlet part of your daily routine to keep your English vocabulary fresh. For example, it’s easy to use the app when you’re commuting – just a few minutes every day on the bus or train will help you learn new vocabulary.

Check it out!

COLLOCATIONS - B 2.1

Dear students,

Are you planning to focus on collocations in your next writing assignment?

I'm posting a link to a free online collocations dictionary that might come in handy.

You can also watch the following video lesson to learn more about collocations:

ANGLOPHENIA

Dear students,

Did you enjoy the video about Halloween we watched in our last lesson?

I'm posting the link to ANGLOPHENIA, a YouTube channel where British culture as opposed to American culture is illustrated through entertaining videos.

Here's a good example, watch the following video and learn how British and American people call different items of clothing.

There are loads of channels you can use to improve your English. Do you use YouTube to learn English out of the class? Can you recommend your classmates an interesting channel worth subscribing to?

BIRTH ORDER EFFECT - INTERMEDIO 1

Here's a video about the topic we have been dealing with in the class, the influence of birth order on our personality. It has been widely discussed and researched so there are different theories about it.

Watch this video and find out if you agree more with it than the view we discussed in the class.

EXPANDING YOUR VOCABULARY- AVANZADO 2

Dear students,

I hope the last class gave you a chance to reflect on how you can learn vocabulary more effectively by using all the information available in a learner's dictionary.

Let me give you another idea to help you expand your vocabulary. Here's a great website for vocabulary development and practice.

Look up a word and you'll get a friendly explanation, usage tips and real-world examples.

But this site is more than just a good dictionary. It will help you learn new words by playing an addictive game. If you sign up, its adaptive learning system will find the words you need to learn for you and the game will change according to your needs and progress. 

It's also available as an app, but it's not totally free as the website.

It's well-worth checking out! I hope you find it helpful!