Gerunds and Infinitives

How much have you learned about gerunds and infinitives? Do you really know how to use them? Click on these links and you´ll see. This is the first part of gerunds and infinitives. There is a second part on it and also a third one.

An email/ A letter of complaint

Have a look at these two websites. The former will help you with the grammar of complain, a sample of a letter and some exercises, whereas the latter deals with another sample and a quizz on the topic.

Sample of signposting

Watch this video and you´ll see the way the speaker signposts her presentation.

By clicking here, you´ll find the list of expressions from BBC Learning English which will help you to signpost your presentations. Here is also a number of topics that may come in handy when having to face your presentation in class. Remember that you are free to choose the topic you want too.

Presentations

A presentation is a formal talk that "presents" ideas or information in a clear, structured way. People are sometimes afraid of speaking in public, but if you follow a few simple rules, giving a presentation isn´t actually that difficult.
Here you have some keywords that will help you to signpost the different stages of your presentations.

Presentations




For an in-depth look at presentations follow this link.This tutorial guides you through from the initial preparation to the conclusion and questions and answers. You can also have some practice by doing some online exercises.

Extreme Adjectives

What are extreme adjectives?

'Tokyo's subway is packed at rush-hour.' Oversusing the word 'very' when talking can be boring for the person listening.

For example: "Yesterday, It was very hot, so I went to the park, but it was very crowded. There was a very big dog in the park and I was very scared when it ran by me. I started to feel very hungry so I decided to buy an ice-cream. The ice-cream I bought was very cold, but it tasted very bad. I think it was old. I tried to complain but the seller didn't care. I was very angry! Unfortunately, I was very tired and I didn't feel like arguing. On the way home I stopped in a cafe and drank a cold glass of lemonade. It was very good!"

Instead of using 'very' too much we can use 'extreme adjectives'. These adjectives mean very + adjective. As extreme adjectives have a strong enough meaning, you do not need to use 'very'. If you want to make them stronger, you can use 'absolutely' before the extreme adjective.

Now, re-read the short story above and replace the bold words with extreme adjectives. Click here to do this exercise. You can also try this to have some more practice.

Always look on the bright side of life

Lyrics | Monti Python lyrics - Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life lyrics

Adjectives to express feelings

In this video you´ll find some adjectives we´ve already seen in class along with some others that will help you to improve your vocabulary on this matter.

The pursuit of happiness

In Bhutan,a small Himalayan county, progress is measured by how happy people are, not how much wealth people have.
Should you happen to be interested in knowing more about this news item click here. Not only will you be able to read this opinion article but also to follow the listening, which will definitely help you with your pronunciation.
How happy are you? Try this quizz that will guide you in the right direction for finding your happiness.

Informal and Formal writing

In order to help you with your writing try these exercises to see how well you can use formal and informal language. You can also have a go with this website to practice formal expressions.

Along this lesson we´ve been dealing with some of the commonest ways of speaking, looking, walking as well some human sounds. If you follow these links you can have some more practice in nearly every one of the sections. Have a go with speaking , human sounds, ways of walking, and finally ways of looking.

Expressions with talk/say/speak

This is the list of expressions on talk/speak/say we dealt with in class last day. I discovered that some of you had some difficulty in finding the right context to use them. I hope your doubts will be dispelled with the definitions and examples that appear here. Talk Say Speak

Determiners

Determiners modify nouns and are always placed before the noun they modify. Depending on whether the noun is countable or uncountable may take different determiners. In order to revise the ones we did in class the previous day and to have some more practice follow this link.

The Use of Articles in English

We have already revised the articles in English in class, but if you still have doubts about the use of them, have a go with this test and follow this link for a thorough explanation.

The impact of English in the world of science and knowledge-its downside

At TEDxDubai, longtime English teacher Patricia Ryan asks a provocative question: Is the world's focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages? (For instance: what if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL?) It's a passionate defense of translating and sharing ideas.



Should you happen to know more about endangered languages, click on these links.

English Mania

The world has a common language to solve its common problems. So says Jay Walker in the following video. Here he explains why two billion people around the world are trying to learn the world's second langauage, English.He shares photos and spine-tingling audio of Chinese students rehearsing English by the thousands.