FORMS OF THE VERB TO BE

El verbo TO BE, que en castellano se traduce como SER o ESTAR, en el idioma inglés goza de una particular importancia. Su significado depende del sentido de la oración. Por ejemplo:

I am a doctor. Soy un doctor. (Se aplica como verbo ser)
I am in my house. Estoy en mi casa. (Se aplica como verbo estar)

En el siguiente cuadro se puede observar su conjugación en Presente:

Tanto en el modo afirmativo como en la forma negativa pueden utilizarse las siguientes contracciones:

1º ESO: BASIC ADJECTIVES

Watch the following presentation to revise the basic adjectives studied in Unit 1:

Basic Adjectives

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THE POWER OF A PHOTO

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” More than the mechanical recording of events, photography has the power to convey a mood or share our insights with others. It has the power to capture not only our perfect moments of love and happiness, but also searing images of cruelty and poverty. It has the power to preserve in a rectangular frame the beauty of a thousand sunsets, the joys of parents seeing their child just learning how to walk on its own, and the sublime happiness of students graduating after years of hard work and sacrifice.

In the VoiceThread below you are going to watch a video about how a picture made a difference. Watch the video and answer the questions orally.

Instructions for new students on how to use VoiceThread:

When you click on "Comment" you will be asked to sign in. Once you have signed in, you will be able to make your contribution. To comment click on the "comment" link. There you will have the choice of either recording your voice (microphone icon), typing your words (letter "A" icon), or using a web camera (camera icon). This time you will be using the mic. You can listen to your comment before saving. If you are happy with your recording, be sure to save. If not, hit cancel and you may re-record as many times as you wish. Please no inappropriate commenting.





Deadlines: 
4thB: Sunday 30th October
4thA: Friday 4th November

FEEDBACK ON YOUR VOICETHREAD


4thA
4thB

PHONETICS IV

This time you are going to try Unit 5 in the BBC Site about /əʊ/ and /o/. 

If you think that is all you should know about phonetics, you are wrong. When you finish you can start taking the Quizzes  on that same page.

If you need extra explanation on any sound, click here and you'll get to learn how to pronounce all the symbols and sounds in English.

Write a comment on how you did with the quizzes.

LISTENING TO AND TELLING STORIES

Today, each one of you is going to listen to a story as many times as you need for comprenhension. Take notes while listening because you will have to retell your story to the rest of your classmates as detailed as possible using your own words.
Choose one of the following stories:


1.- The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne:




2.- Doctor Heidegger's Experiment by N. Hawthorne:





3.- A Municipal Report by O'Henry:




4.- The Exact Science of Matrimony by O' Henry:




5.- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by W. Irving:




6.- The Devil and Tom Walker by W. Irving:




7.- Luck by Mark Twain:




8.- The Californian's Tale by Mark Twain:




9.- The Lady in Black by Eleanor Porter:




When we finish the activity you will read one extract of your story aloud (the first 15 lines, for example) in the VoiceThread below:








I hope you liked the activity. I think most of you really got to tell your story quite accurately and indeed you were speaking for a while, so I'm very satisfied with the outcome of this activity. I would like to know about your impressions. Please write a comment with them.

Now that we have finished with the first part of the activity, you can read the script of your story and read the first 15 lines aloud into the VoiceThread above in PERFECT ENGLISH!!!

Deadline:  Monday Nov 8th

FEEDBACK ON YOUR READING

PHONETICS III

Let's go with some more pair discrimination. Today you're going to study the differences between /ɔː/ and /əʊ/ in Unit 3 at the BBC site. Watch the videos on the two sounds first of all.


You also have to learn about three more sounds: /e /  /æ/ and /ʌ/. Listen to the videos and do Unit 4

When you finish you can do more practice here
Let's start testing ourselves. Do this short test and tell me how you did.

ADJECTIVES DESCRIBING PERSONALITY

We are going to learn adjectives to describe personality.

1.- Try to save the little fish from the shark by providing the right adjective for each definition. You can check page 8 in your books. Good luck!!!




2.- Now look at the following presentation and guess the adjectives to describe each slide. Write them down as a post.

Personality adjectives

3.- Download the following sheet, try to think of the correct adjectives for each picture and add the eight sentences about yourself in your comment. Don't forget to include your name, surname and group.


4.- Now try the following personality tests to know a little more about yourself

TERESA'S LESSON: THE CZECH REPUBLIC

As you all know, this year our school has a new assitant teacher as part of the Commenius Project we are involved in. She is going to help the English Department develop the oral competence in our students. 
You need to report to me about the lessons you have with her to make sure you know how to make the most of them. This time you just need to make a short comment on the voicethread below. Listen to my instructions.


Instructions for new students on how to use VoiceThread:

When you click on "Comment" you will be asked to sign in. Once you have signed in, you will be able to make your contribution. To comment click on the "comment" link. There you will have the choice of either recording your voice (microphone icon), typing your words (letter "A" icon), or using a web camera (camera icon). This time you will be using the mic. You can listen to your comment before saving. If you are happy with your recording, be sure to save. If not, hit cancel and you may re-record as many times as you wish. Please no inappropriate commenting.







Deadline: Thursday 14th October

Now listen to your classmates and make a comment about the voicethread you liked the best.

 

VERB TO BE

Let's revise the verb TO BE with students in the 1st year. Answer the questions correctly and you'll be the first to finish the race.

COUNTRIES AND NATIONALITIES

Let's revise countries and nationalities with 1º ESO. Rescue the monkeys by finding the words in the word grid. Read the instructions first.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: Show Overview

How I Met Your Mother is a comedy about Ted and how he fell in love. It all starts when Ted's best friend, Marshall, drops the bombshell that he's going to propose to his long-time girlfriend, Lily, a kindergarten teacher. At that moment, Ted… More realizes that he had better get a move on if he too hopes to find true love. Helping him in his quest is Barney, a friend with endless, sometimes outrageous (escandalosas) opinions, a penchant (tendencia) for suits and a foolproof (infalible) way to meet women. When Ted meets Robin, he's sure it's love at first sight, but destiny may have something else in store. The series is narrated through flashbacks from the future, voiced by Bob Saget.
The theme song is "Hey Beautiful" by The Solids
In Belguim, the show is known as Comment je l'ai rencontrée (How I Met Her)
In Finland, the show is known as Ensisilmäyksellä (At First Sight)
In Portugal, the show is known as Foi Assim Que Aconteceu (This Is how It Happened)
In Brazil, the show is known as Como Eu Conheci Sua Mãe, an exact translation.
In Spain, the show is known as Cómo conocí a vuestra madre, an exact translation.
In Latin America, the show is known as Cómo conocí a tu madre, an exact translation.
In Italy the show is known as E alla fine arriva mamma! (Finally, Your Mother Arrives!).





If you click on Episode, you will get the vocabulary sheet with words and expressions prepared by students in APLE2 for each chapter.


You can also watch the episode online from my site in case you miss a lesson. 




Episode 1: Pilot (Original Airdate: September 19th, 2005)

When Ted's best friend Marshall proposes to his girlfriend, Lily, Ted realizes he'd better get a move on if he hopes to find true love. Ted soon meets Robin in a neighborhood bar, immediately becomes smitten and scores a first date. But when Ted can hardly wait to see her again, his eagerness threatens to scare her away.

Episode 2: Purple Giraffe (Original Airdate: September 26th, 2005)

In a desperate attempt for a second date, Ted invites Robin to a party he is throwing. However, she doesn't show up and he keeps throwing parties in the hopes she will finally arrive. 



Episode3 : Sweet Taste of Liberty (Original Airdate: October 3rd, 2005)

Ted agrees to let Barney spice up his love life, and ends up on a crazy adventure of flying to Philadelphia, encountering the law and visiting the Liberty Bell.




Episode 4: Return of the Shirt (Original Airdate: October 10th, 2005)

Ted's outlook on his continuing search for love is altered when he rediscovers a shirt that has not seen daylight in years. Meanwhile, Barney amuses himself by coaxing Robin into sacrificing her job by saying completely outlandish things on air live for a cash reward.






Episode 5: Okay Awesome (Original Airdate: October 17th, 2005)

Ted and Barney start checking out the club scene with their friend Robin, whereas Lily and Marshall try to participate in some more "grown-up" activities, as they draw slowly nearer to their wedding.



Episode 6: Slutty Pumpkin (Original Airdate: Oct/24/2005)

Ted makes his yearly pilgrimage to the rooftop Halloween party in search of a girl dressed as a pumpkin who he met years ago. Meanwhile, Robin is dumped after driving her new boyfriend away with her independent ways.




Episode 7: MatchMaker (Original Airdate: Nov/07/2005)

When a matchmaker with a 100 percent success rate turns Ted away because he is not compatible with any of the available women in her database, he is still determined that he is going to find his match. After getting information from the matchmaker’s computer on the sly, Ted pays a visit to a very cute, but very taken, dermatologist in an effort to debunk the prediction that there are no women out there for him. Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily are obsessed with ridding their apartment of an unsightly critter.


Episode 8: Duel (Original Airdate: Nov/14/2005)

As Lily becomes more of a permanent fixture in Ted and Marshall's apartment, Ted feels like he is being edged out of the mix by his engaged roomies. Petrified of being left alone and homeless, Ted tells Marshall that when he and Lily are married, he wants the apartment. The problem is that Marshall wants to keep the place too, so they settle it like real "grown-ups"--launching into a sword fight that leaves one man down for the count.


Episode 9: Belly Full of Turkey (Original Airdate: Nov/14/2005)

When Ted and Robin decide to help feed the homeless on Thanksgiving Day, they are in a state of disbelief when they run into Barney and discover that he is a regular volunteer at the homeless shelter. Thanksgiving doesn't end there for the trio, for they end up somewhere that only the "real" Barney would bring anyone to for a holiday meal. Meanwhile, things do not go very smoothly when Marshall and Lily pay a holiday visit to Marshall's family in Minnesota.



Episode 10: The Pineapple Incident (Original Airdate: Nov/28/2005)

After Ted overdoes it during a night out on the town, his friends help him to put together the pieces of his antics the next morning.

With the encouragement of his friends, Ted decides to let his hair down for a change and ends up having a fun and adventure-filled evening. However, now the problem is that he can't quite recall everything that transpired over the course of the evening and now he must rely on his friends to fill him in on the night's misadventures.   




Episode 11:  The Limo (Original Airdate: Dec/19/2005)

Ted surprises his friends with a styling and well-planned out New Year's Eve excursion around the Big Apple.

After spending New Year's Eve apart from his friends last year, Ted is dead-set on ringing in this new year with his best pals at his side and doing it in style. As Lily, Marshall, Barney and Robin are chauffeured around town in a limo hired by Ted, the night takes some interesting twists and turns -- and when the clock strikes twelve, Ted may end up getting that kiss he has been longing for or at least the promise of something good to come.



Episode 12:  The Wedding (Original Airdate: Jan/9/2006)

Ted is planning to bring Robin as his date to a wedding but the bride says he did not RSVP with a guest. When he goes around her and gets permission from the groom, a man named Stuart. Ted's fantasy with Robin is in trouble unless he finds a way to get them back together.



Episode 13:  Drumroll, please (Original Airdate: Jan/23/2006)

At a wedding, there's instant attraction between Ted and a woman. Both agree to preserve the evening in memory by not exchanging names or numbers, but Ted falls too hard to let it go and tries to find out her identity.



Episode 14: Zip, Zip, Zip  (Original Airdate: Feb/06/2006)

After agreeing to take things slowly and not have sex for a month, Ted and Victoria decide that they have waited long enough. With Marshall and Lily out of town, the timing seems perfect. However, when the two change their plans and decide to stay home, they end up hiding in the bathroom in an effort to avoid ruining the moment for Ted. Meanwhile, Robin replaces Ted as Barney’s wingman for a boy’s night out.




Episode 15: Game Night  (Original Airdate: Feb/27/2006)
As Barney shares his most embarrassing moment with the gang we see flashbacks of what he was like before he started wearing suits all the time and sleeping around, and learn what caused him to change.




Episode 16: Cupcake  (Original Airdate: Mar/06/2006)
Just as things are going so well with Ted and Victoria's relationship, Victoria gets her dream offer and the couple is confronted with some hard decisions about their future. Meanwhile, when Lily ruins a very expensive wedding dress and Barney talks Marshall into buying a very pricey suit, Marshall is forced to interview at Barney's company and give up his dream of working for an environmental law firm in order to earn more money.





Episode 17: Life Among the Gorillas (Original Airdate: Mar/20/2006)

After a rough start on the new job at Barney's company, Marshall conforms in order to be accepted by his crude and obnoxious "frat boy" co-workers. However, he soon realizes that staying true to himself and his relationship with Lily is what is truly important. Meanwhile, Ted is convinced that Victoria is going to dump him after receiving a "let's talk" e-mail, so when the phone rings and it is Robin inviting him over late night, Ted must decide between going to Robin's place or waiting for Victoria's call.




Episode 18: Nothing Good Happens After 2am (Original Airdate: Apr/10/2006)

Convinced Victoria is about to dump him, Ted accepts a late night invite to Robin's place. When Robin inquires about his relationship with Victoria, Ted tells her that they broke up. As things start to get hot and heavy between them, Ted's lies are eventually exposed and his theory "nothing good happens after 2 AM" proves to be true. Meanwhile, Barney tries to convince Marshall and Lily that the best things actually do happen after 2 AM



Episode 19: Mary the Paralegal (Original Airdate: Apr/24/2006)

Everyone is invited to a banquet when Robin is nominated for a news award, and Barney sets Ted up with a hot "date".



Episode 20: Best Prom Ever (Original Airdate: May/01/2006)

Lily and Marshall's wedding date has just been pushed up, and in order to hear a potential band for the big wedding, Lily crashes a high school prom.



Episode 21: Milk (Original Airdate: May/08/2006)

When Lily's car breaks down on the way to a secret appointment, Ted changes a very important date to come to Lily's rescue. However, Lily drives off after confidentially telling him that she is on her way to an interview for a summer arts program that would derail her wedding. Despite Ted's input, Lily decides that she must go through with the interview or she will always wonder what could have been. After several months, the matchmakers finally comes through with a match for Ted.



Episode 22: Come On (Original Airdate: May/15/2006)
In an attempt to capture Robin's heart, Ted declares his love to her. Once again, Robin resists and prepares for a weekend away with her co-anchor, Sandy. Ted makes one last romantic gesture which leaves their fate as a couple in Robin's hands. Meanwhile, when Marshall finds out about Lily interviewing for a summer program, a heated fight ensues.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

All right, I give in!!! You win!!! This year we'll be watching "How I Met Your Mother", which you all seem to love and which, I must admit, has made me laugh. 
However, you'll have to do something in return. As a thoughtful student suggested (J.P.), every week one of you will be in charge of presenting the vocabulary and idiomatic expressions for two of the episodes. 
To make things easier for you, here you have the site with the subtitles so that you can extract the list of words before the viewing. If you prefer, you can also read the script for each episode here.
Bring your vocabulary lists in your USB in a doc file so that I can keep and upload for everybody to revise. Try to focus on colloquial expressions and words that appear several times along the episode. Do not make a long list of words. One side of a sheet will be enough.
I hope you all enjoy it, learn new words and expressions and improve your listening skills.

PHONETICS II

By now all of you should have practised the minimal pair /i:/ /i/ and be familiar with both sounds. However, there are some of you who still haven't made their comment on the post. Remember your final marks depend on your active participation in all the activities suggested.


Today you must go to the BBC site and listen to the pronunciation of these two sounds /u/ /u:/  Then do Unit 2.
After that, go to this page and do some more practice on the pairs studied so far.