Useful vocabulary that you have to use in Advanced Level.

Personal Identification, Physical Aspect, Character, Personality
Home, Neighbourhood, City
Daily Life Activities, Work, Career
Leisure Time, Sports, Hobbies, Arts, Media
Travel & Transport
Relationships, Humans and Society
Health
Education
Shopping, Trade
Food
Law, Politics, Banks
Language, Information, Communication
Weather, Nature and Environment
IT (Information Technologies) and Science

Animal idioms and some more on different fields( business, time, money, body....and so on..)

Animal idioms

Some more popular idioms on different semantic fields

Great site to learn idioms, phrasal verbs, colloquial stuff used by native speakers  (I did recommend it to you a few months ago,.. just in case you can't find it.)

A Buzzword? You said what? Find out for yourself...

 

A buzzword is a word or phrase that becomes very popular for a period of time. It may be a technical term and may have little meaning, being simply used to impress others. Buzzwords often originate in jargon, acronyms, or neologisms. (Wikipedia)

BuzzWords

Sites to practise English online and language exchange meet-ups in pubs in Valencia

ORAL PRACTICE…

Oral test time is coming and I know many of you are getting nervous. So here are some ways to improve your speaking skills.

If you have the time and the energy to go to a real live Language Exchange meeting in Valencia –

CLICK HERE TO FIND A “TANDEM” (classified by day of the week)

If, on the other hand, you would rather chat online, then 

CLICK HERE TO SEE A LIST OF ONLINE CONVERSATION EXCHANGE WEBSITES

I HOPE THIS IS OF INTEREST TO YOU.  

CHEER UP – YOU ARE ALMOST THERE!!!

Some extra work on CLEFT SENTENCES (IT/WHAT CLAUSES)

   BBC Ask about English  (A more detailed explanation  of cleft sentences)
Exercise 1  Exercise 2 Exercise 3

DIALOGUE CARDS for practice

Hi everyone,
Here's some dialogue cards for you to start getting  some practice. Also you have some  TIPS to do well in the dialogue as well as  the CRITERIA used by examiners in Certificacion in Valencian Community last year.

Card 1A
Card 1B

Card 2A
Card 2B

Card 3A
Card 3B

Card 4A
Card 4B

Card 5A
Card 5B

Card 6A
Card 6B

Card 7A
Card 7B

Card 8A
Card 8B

Card 9A
Card 9B

Some ORAL EXAM FEEDBACK

Here is some advice on how to improve your performance during role plays:

1.-Read the rubric well and get into the character you are playing. Take a pen and make a note of keywords.If it says you and your partner this is a euphemism for a couple. So act as a member of a couple even if it is the first time in your life you see the person in front of you. Get into your role.

 
2.-Start the conversation by stating what the situation is, so that is clear you both understand what you are doing eg. As you know we have just had a medical check up and my results were terrible, so my doctor has recommended a change in lifestyle so I was thinking….

3.-Make sure you interact and ask questions eg What is your opinion on this point? or How do you feel about living in the outskirsts? etc, make comments Hummm quite an interesting idea! or Hum I hadn´t looked at it that way etc and of course take turns don´t take over the whole conversation and react to what the other person is saying: Do you really believe that? or Great I never thought about 
that! etc
4. Don´t talk about all your points at once, but state one and explain or justify your opinion. Illustrate with an example: I have been considering taking up dancing , I did salsa lessons once  and found it really therapeutic, exercising to music. You should try it.

5.-The points in the card are only a guidance you can think outside the box and add other arguments and suggestions.
 
6.- Don´t make the most terrible mistakes:

I am agree or the people is

or else…

Here you can see the criteria we followed last year when we marked your exam.
Take a look so you can see what examiners are looking for.

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

Yesterday was April 1st, (APRIL FOOL'S DAY), and this is a special day in most English-speaking countries.Here you have a videclip with  a bit of history on  this festivity.

Here I am presenting you with a videoclip about some of the typical jokes or pranks  people can make this day. Hope you like it!! and I hope you don't play one like this on me!!

COMMON COLLOQUIAL BRITISH EXPRESSIONS!!

Hey there!

 Pretty sure you've heard some expressions like the ones below now and again.
Check how many of these British expressions you already know and try to remember at least 7 new ones which you think you might use.

HOMOPHONES links!

 HOMOPHONES can be tricky at times as you have seen in the exercise we've done in class. For that reason, here's some more links on them  for you to work on:
Ex 1 Ex 2 Ex 3 Ex 4    Ex 5 Ex 6

Unit 6:TRAVEL & TOURISM

1)Some VOCABULARY on both topics.

Travel and tourism  
More Travel expressions

2)FACTS on TRAVELLING:

• French exchange students get lost in Ipswich - after being given Australian map - 02 February 2012
  "A group of French schoolchildren on an exchange trip to Suffolk became hopelessly lost after discovering that the maps they had downloaded were for Ipswich in Australia..."
  (telegraph.co.uk)
•   Many holidaying Brits refuse to eat local nosh
  "47% even claim they would rather eat in well-known burger and fast-food restaurants than sampling some of the more exotic delicacies...
  36% of Brits also expect all foreign people to speak fluent English, and yet half would never consider trying to speak the local language themselves in an attempt to communicate..."
  (newslite.tv)

3) VIDEO (SPACE TOURISM)
 Would you fancy spending some time like 10 years in MARS as part of an Astronomy project?
Find out what this 24-year-old says about it.
 This woman is in the running for a one-way trip to Mars - VIDEO - 13 February 2015
"The 24-year-old, who's doing a PHD in astronomy and space at the University of Birmingham,
is one of the Britons shortlisted for the Mars One mission...
If she gets through the latest round she'll spend the next 10 years training for the project.
It aims to send teams of four to the red planet every two years from 2025 until 40 people are living there."
(BBC)

Some EXTRA HOMEWORK!!

Hi guys!

I just forgot to tell you the other day... literally it slipped my mind.
anyway, I just wanted to give you some extra homework for next week.

1) Do the READING right at the end of unit 5.
2) Do the REVISE & CHECK from unit 5.

3) Some PREFIXES links:
MEANINGS OF PREFIXES

 LOTS HERE 
A lot of them with exercises to put them into practice.

St PATRICK'S DAY

Hey there!

This is Fallas' Time but in a couple of days will be  St Patrick's Day, the Patron Saint of Ireland.

Watch a video   on St Patrick's Day  and answer these  questions    about the video.

 

Elvira Lindo's podcast on the English language: What's going on with Spaniards when it comes to learning languages?

 Hi guys,
Interesting analyisis on why Spaniards struggle with the English language

Elvira Lindo's podcast: "¿qué nos pasa con el Inglés a los españoles?"

Michelle Obama's speech on the power of Education in 2013.

HI everyone!

This a great speech given by M. Obama on the importance of education. It's interesting not only by the use of some educaction-related vocabulary she makes use of throughout the speech, but also by the use of stress on some words she wants to highlight. Besides, eye contact with the audience, and body language is something to take note.

Unit 5A: PERMISSION, OBLIGATION AND NECESSITY( grammar)

Hi guys,

Here's a new worksheet to get a bit of more practice in the use of the grammar items that we are dealing with in this unit.

Permission, Obligation and necessity
Remember NOT to do the activation section below.
Answer key

Old wives' tales that will freak you out

 Hi guys,
 More old wives' tales
Hope you don't get scared stiff after reading them.
Enjoy them!

Unit 5C: Grammar on Gerund-Infinitve

 Hi guys,

A bit of extra practice on verbs and expressions that take gerund or infinitive(to).
Just do the first two activities. You don't have to do the matching exercise under "ACTIVATION" if you don't want to.

Worksheet
Answer Key

TED.com: "How chilhood trauma affects health across a lifetime"

Hi guys,
As usual ,TED.com present us a very interesting talk by a prestigious  U.S. doctor.  How  trauma at an early stage is likely to affect our whole lives.
Hope you enjoy it!!

A short video on Complimentary and alternative Medicine

Hi everyone,
Here's  a short interview to an alternative medicine expert.