Final Tests Practice

Dear students:

The following are some links to practice for the final tests. (Oral and Written)

I suggest working on the online exercises you find there (Listening, Reading, Speaking Topics). If you commit yourseleves to this on the following days, you will get better results.




http://www.english-online.org.uk/petfolder/pethome.php?name=Practice%20for%20the%20Preliminary%20English%20Test
(PET Practice)

http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/agreeing-disagreeing-expressions.htm  (Expressions for Speaking Practice)




Kind Regards!

Music at Bellas Artes, Parque Forestal and Lastarria

This picture was taken by "La Vitrola" last May 14th 2011. 

La Vitrola is a group of students of Film School at La Chile who make videos of Chilean musicians playing live in different places in the country . All the videos are uploaded to their web site  http://www.lavitrola.cl/. If you are interested in music and especially  in the new national sounds, this is the right site to visit.

The photograph was taken after we finished  filming the last song of our playlist  "Pedro"  at Parque Forestal, which will appear soon  on "La Vitrola. cl"

The experience of participating in our own music videos was definitely interesting. This picture is a beautiful record of this nice, musical, Saturday afternoon in Bellas Artes' sorroundings.

I really had a great time singing and being filmed in Parque Forestal and in the streets of Barrio Lastarria. I never thought I was going to be part of someting like this.  I absolutely felt like an indie rock star.

The weather was perfect that day, the people from "La Vitrola" were very nice. Everything was so aesthetic and artistic. It's definitely something I will always remember!

Now, I am waiting for the videos on the net. When they're edited, they will appear on the website. Iff you want to watch them, don't forget to visit La Vitrola.



Write about a photograph you like.

Say:

- Who took it
- What it shows
- When it was taken
- Why you like it
- Upload it too

Include any other information you'd like to mention.
Write at least 280 words.

Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

London Web Quest

You are going to spend a week in London evaluating tourist locations for an end of year study trip.

Here is a list of things you want to do while you are there.  Follow the links and fill in the table.

Half Day Outings

London Eye

http://www.londoneye.com/

The British Museum

http://www.britishmuseum.org/

The Tower of London

http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/ (including Crown Jewels)

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum

http://www.madametussauds.com/london/

The Natural History Museum

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

The Tate Modern Art Gallery

http://www.tate.org.uk/

Full day

Kew Gardens

http://www.kew.org/

Camden Market

http://www.camden-market.org/

The Official London Tube Web Site
http://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/underground.htm

My favorite piece of technology

Every time people think of techonolgy  things like computers, ipods, or modern cell phones come to their minds. In my personal case, it's different. When I think of technology, I think of my hair straightener.

It may sound a bit shallow, but the truth is my favorite piece of technology is my hair straightener.
I couldn't live without it!

Hair straighteners are a great device for women (and even for some men). We can get our hairs done in a few minutes without going to the hairdresser's. They can be used to straighten or even make waves in one's hair.

In my personal case, I use it every day because my natural hair is wavy.

I got my hair cut last year. I decided to change its style and try  the "bob" hairstyle.
The straight short bob was something I always wanted to try. I never dared to because I don't like the way it looks in me with my waves.

I wanted to get a "new look" and change from my long wavy hair to a straight short bob, so a friend gave me the straightener as a birthday present. In this way, she encouraged me to change. With this magic piece of technology I could easily look like a different person.

If I didn't have my straightener, I think I wouldn't feel comfortable with my new  appearance.This is why I think it's definetly one of the best inventions in the world!

Write about your favourite piece of technology.

Say:

- What it is.
- When you got it.
- How you use it.
- How often you use it.
- Why you like it.
- What life would be like without it.
- Write comments on at least three blogs.

Remember to use http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen= for words you don't know and ask your teacher about other questions.

My Utopia

In my perfect world, people are equal. There are physical, racial differences among individuals but these are not a reason for exclussion. In my ideal world discrimination does not exist.

In such an ideal society, people are generous and worry about each other. They help each other. Human relationships are the most important. Individualism is not possible.

My ideal world is not globalized. It is organized in community life. Technology is present and all the benefits and comfort of modern life are available.

Couples marry in my ideal society. They have children. Family life is crucial. Parents devote exclusive time to every child, and they work just four hours a day.

The salaries are good. All jobs are paid equally because everybody understands that every single piece of work is a valuable contribution to society.

Spiritualty is also vital in my perfect society:  Everybody is a believer. Although there are differences in beliefs, there is a deep sense of respect. As a result, people share their views and just focus on the positive aspects of their faith, which can enrich their neighbor's perspective, instead of arguing on doctrinal differences.

Education is the base of the whole system. It has great quality and it is learner-centered , integral and task-based.  It aims to develop the human being as a whole and all types of intelligences are taken into account.

In this utopia, conflicts and problems do exist, but they are solved through dialogue and reasoning. Therefore, the word "war" is not part of the dictionary.

In these lines I have described what "utopia" means for me. Human beings would be so happy, if only we could put all this into practice, but, unfortunately, human beings will never be capable of such perfection. In my view, this world is getting worse and worse. There is no political system or social revolution that can lead us to perfection. The human race is decadent and it is destined to disappear.

Dear students. It's time for the second free-themed post. In your next entry you should:

Describe your personal Utopia. Please refer to:

• Social Differences
• Political / Economic System
• Family and Human Relationships
• Work and Jobs
• Spiritual Life
• Education
• Your impression on whether such utopia could become real one day or not. Say why.

Please, WRITE COMMENTS on AT LEAST three blogs (classmates'). Yo must correct the grammatical mistakes you detect.

DON'T USE ONLINE TRANSLATORS. Use http://www.wordreference.com/ if you need any help with words and ASK YOUR TEACHER to help you with grammar.

Have a look at John Lennon's utopy "Imagine". I share the video of the song and lyrics.

English Club.com

 


http://www.englishclub.com/teach-english.htm


This is an interesting website for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers  It is a good source of ideas and support for lesson planning.

In English Club.com, teachers can find lesson plans, teacher forums, ideas for school projects, teaching tips and TEFL articles.

I visit English Club quite often, because I am constantly planning new lessons and the page has valuable and useful tips.

There is a section in English Club.com where teachers can find "the saying of the day", "the slang of the day", "the phrasal verb of the day", and "the idiom of the day". This is my favorite. It's basically about vocabulary you would not find in the dictionary: expressions with metaphoric meaning and everyday local  informal language available in the net. Students really enjoy learning this kind of things.



Dear students, as you can see one of the topics for our third post is " a carrer-related website you enjoy visiting". I have chosen this as an example, basically because I don't have anything to say about the SECOND option, but you can choose the one you prefer, of course. The instructions for the first option are:

In 180 to 200 words write about a career-related website that you enjoy visiting.

You should:

- provide a link
- describe the website (sections, features,etc)
- say how often you visit the site
- explain why you like the site.

>Add comments to at least three of your classmates’ blogs.

But, if you prefer OPTION 2, you should write about the following:

Who is a person/expert on your field that you admire?

Say:

-Who she/he is.(short biography)
-What she/he has done. (examples of their work)
-Why you like her/him.
-Include his/her image

> About 180 -200 words please
>Add comments to at least three of your classmates’ blogs

You have two alternatives as you see, so choose the one you like the most.

Books I like to read

One of the things I enjoy in life is reading a good book. I love reading.

My mom says books have always been interesting to me. I grew up hearing that I learned to read when I was three. The truth is that I don't remember, but she must be right because I like everything that is related to reading, writing, and learning languages.

My first books were literature for children. There was a wonderful library at my school so I almost lived there! They had an awesome  collection of short stories called "Multiaventura" which was really popular among my classmates. In these books, the young readers could choose alternative endings for their stories. They were really exciting!

Later, when  I was a teenager, I started to like novels . My favorite ones were detective stories. I used to spend my free time reading Agatha Christi's novels every summer. Her stories about crime were so fun that they made me forget I had no money to go on vacations!

I also got into Russian fairy tales, you can't even imagine how entertaining they are! If you have the chance, please try them. You will never regret, I promise!

Now, as an adult, my literary interests have changed drastically. For example, fiction doesn't captivate my attention anymore. Now I prefer reading things about spirituality, psychology or poltics.

Although I still enjoy reading,  I only read a bit when I'm on my way to work or back home. I don't have much free time.

What types of books do you like?

Please wite:

• a comment on at least 3 of your classmates posts
• 120 - 150 words

This link can be useful for you   http://www.knowledgesutra.com/forums/topic/539-types-of-books/