MERRY CHRISTMAS

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE ...?

If we are talking about time, we use the phrase “How long does it take…?”

When we are wondering about the time needed to travel (from place A) to place B, we can ask “How long does it take to get (from A) to B?”:

How long does it take to get from London to Oxford? —It takes about one hour by car.
How long does it take to get from the library to the museum? —It’s about a ten-minute walk.
How long does it take to get to the airport?—About twenty minutes.

We can also use “How long does it take…?” if we are asking about doing something:

How long does it take to bake a cake?
How long does it take to build a house?

The questions can be personalized, as well:  How long does it take you to do something?

How long does it take you to do your homework?
How long will it take Tom to clean his room?It took me forever to finish that project.

And you can watch this video. There are two parts. The second part is the same but with subtitles.

ITCHY FEET

 VOCABULARY

Go to these links and do the exercises to reinforce your vocabulary about travelling and tourism.


related to means of transport

travel related vocabulary

travelling, planning a trip

tourism related vocabulary

more tourism related vocabulary

travel related terms and expressions

TESTS UNIT 2

We finished UNIT 2, so now it's time to check how much you know and how much you remember. Click on the links below to take the tests. Don't use your coursebook or notebook or dictionary, and don't forget you need a password. If you still don't have it or you've forgotten, ask your teacher for it.

- QUICK TEST - Vocabulary

- QUICK TEST - Grammar

STRONG ADJECTIVES

Watch this video to learn about strong adjectives. You can also go to Vocabulary to get a document with an explanation and a list of strong adjectives.


And now you can practise:

Exercise 1

Exercise 2 (A page by the Brisitsh Council with a series of exersises)

Exercise 3 (Includes an explanation)

IRISH FAMINE

Sometimes, during a lesson, one thing leads to another and you end up talking about something you hadn’t planned. That was the case in our last class, when after talking about Halloween we ended up talking about the Irish Famine, also known as Potato Famine. Many of you had never heard of it but showed your interested in knowing a bit more. Be that as it may, I have decided to post an instructive video I've found on youtube. The music playing is called 'Famine song', singing The Choral Project.



While searching the net looking for some useful info I bumped into this in The History Place site, if you've been bitten by the bug, go ahead!
"Ireland is in your hands, in your power. If you do not save her, she cannot save herself. I solemnly call upon you to recollect that I predict with the sincerest conviction that a quarter of her population will perish unless you come to her relief." Daniel O'Connell to the British House of Commons, 1847.

THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE BISCUIT

Let's get used to the Present Perfect and stories are a good way to learn English. Why don't you watch the video below and listen to the story "The Little Girl and the Biscuit" to practise the present perfect? You can follow the story either through the subtitles (you have to activate them) or through the images on the video. Also, at the end of the video, you have a list of irregular verbs which are read aloud. This is good practice since you learn vocabulary as well as you improve your listening skills and this leads to better speaking skills!

WRITING: AN INFORMAL EMAIL

Remember you have homework, you have to write an informal email.

A friend of yours has some British friends in the Uk, and he stayed with them for a week last month. They speak Spanish, so there is no problem with the language but he wants to thank them for everything they did for him and he wants to do it in English but his English isn’t very good. He asks you for help. Write his letter as if you were him to say thank you.

These are some tips to help you with your writing. If you want to get a document with some useful expressions, go to 'Writing' to see, download and/or print it.

1. Apologize for not writing before
2. Thank them for your stay and say how much you enjoyed it
3. Talk about the nice things that happened while you were with them.
4. Talk about what you have been doing recently.
5. Promise to send some photos
6. Thank them again and invite them to stay. 

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

We have been studying when to use the 'Present Perfect Continuous' of verbs. If you still have problems, go to 'Grammar' to see, download and/or print a document with a more extensive explanation.
 

TENSE		USE	EXAMPLE
Present Perfect Simple	-	when the result of the action is important	I’ve written a play
Present Perfect Continuous	1	to describe how somebody or something has been occupying his/her or its time	I have been writing a play
	2	for repeated actions and actions of a continuous nature	I’ve been going to a new café a lot

And here you have some more practice!

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

Exercise 6

CHRISTMAS SOLIDARITY MARKET AT THE EOI

WE NEED YOU!!!

Like every year our school is holding a second-hand charity market before Christmas. This year's market will take place on December 11, 12, 16 and 17 from 16.30 to 20.00. but, how does it work?

You, the students, bring anything you have at home but you no longer need, from books to jewellery, decorations, gadgets, accesories, ... anything that is sellable EXCEPT clothes or shoes! provided that it is in good conditions, and we sell it at the market at no fixed price, which means we can pay whatever we want for them. So, we bring our stuff to be sold and we buy other's stuff. And now the question is, what do we do with the money we raise?

All the money we raise is given to an organization to help those in need. This year the organization is Nunca Solos Ibiza, the organization that struggles to improve quality of life of hospitalised people who are alone, mainly the elderly.

Do you want more information about this organization? Have a look at their facebook page - Nunca solos Ibiza or at their twitter 

If you're spoiling yourself, why not do it in a way that also helps others? We need your help and cooperation!!

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

This is the presentation we saw in class, now you can watch it again, why don't you have a look at it again? It will help you understand when and how to use the present perfect continuous.



Present Perfect Continuous - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires;

BLACK FRIDAY

Today, 29th November 2019, is Black Friday, but what's Black Friday?

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in many British Commonwealth countries. Black Friday is not actually a holiday, but many non-retail employers give their employees the day off, increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005, although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate, have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black".

For many years, it was common for retailers to open at 6:00, but in the late 2000s, many had crept to 5:00 or even 4:00. This has been taken to a new extreme in 2011, when several retailers (including Target, Kohls, Macy's, Best Buy, and Bealls) opened at midnight for the first time.

THANKSGIVING DAY

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thrusday in November, so today 28 November is Thanksgiving Day. It's a tradition in the United States. Families have a get-together for a large meal or dinner and the main dish is turkey. But what are its origins?




This video also explains the history of Thanksgiving day but with subtitles.


If you want to know more about Thanksgiving click here

THE PRESENT PERFECT IN FILMS

Why don't you watch these videos with short clips from films where the present perfect is used? Don't worry, they have subtitles! It's a good way to get used to the present perfect tense.




Video 2

PAST SIMPLE vs PRESENT PERFECT II

Why don't you watch this video to revise the use of the past simple and the present perfect in English? Remember that grammar has meaning! And that different grammar tenses are used in different situations or contexts and they carry different meanings.

And now, time to practise!

- Exercise 1

- Exercise 2

- Exercise 3

- Exercise 4

- Exercise 5

- Exercise 6

PAST SIMPLE vs PRESENT PERFECT - Grammar

Use

In British English, the use of Simple Past and Present Perfect is quite strict. As soon as a time expression in the past is given, you have to use Simple Past. If there are no signal words, you must decide if we just talk about an action in the past or if its consequence in the present is important.

Certain time in the past or just / already / yet?

Do you want to express that an action happened at a certain time in the past (even if it was just a few seconds ago) or that an action has just / already/ not yet happened?

Simple Past	Present Perfect Simple
certain time in the past Example: I phoned Mary 2 minutes ago.	just / already / not yet Example: I have just phoned Mary.

Certain event in the past or how often so far?

Do you want to express when a certain action took place or whether / how often an action has happened till now?

Simple Past	Present Perfect Simple
certain event in the past Example: He went to Canada last summer.	whether / how often till now Example: Have you ever been to Canada? / I have been to Canada twice.

Emphasis on action or result?

Do you just want to express what happened in the past? Or do you want to emphasise the result (a past action's consequence in the present)?

Simple Past	Present Perfect Simple
Emphasis on action Example: I bought a new bike. (just telling what  I did in the past.)	Emphasis on result Example: I have bought a new bike. (With this sentence  I actually want to express that I have a  new bike now.)

Signal Words

Simple Past	Present Perfect Simple
yesterday ... ago in 1990 the other day last ...	just already up to now until now / till now ever (not) yet so far lately / recently

 Remember, you can go to "Grammar" to download as a document.

THE PRESENT PERFECT

Sometimes we, Spanish speakers, don't find it easy to use the present perfect in English because their use and ours sometimes differs. Surfing youtube I came into this video which I find to be a good one to learn how to form the present perfect in English and how to use it. I hope it helps!

THE PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

This is the PowerPoint we used in class. Now you can go through the slides again. And if you want a document to overview when to use the Present Perfect or the Past Simple, just go to Grammar to see, print or download a PDF document.

TESTS UNIT 1

We finished UNIT 1, so now it's time to check how much you know and how much you remember. Click on the links below to take the tests. Don't use your coursebook or notebook or dictionary, and don't forget you need a password. If you still don't have it or you've forgotten, ask your teacher for it.

It's advisable to take them in order. You don't have to do them at the same time, you can take one by one at different times / days.

- QUICK TEST - grammar

- QUICK TEST - vocabulary

- TEST UNIT 1 - grammar and vocabulary

MONEY VOCABULARY

Watch the videos below to revise and / or learn vocabulary related to money. Apart from enriching your vocabulary you will improve your listening skills! Remember you can activate the subtitles if you get lost!

VOCABULARY: Money

VOCABULARY: Prepositions related to money

KA-CHING!

Ka-ching! An imitation of the sound made by a cash register;  expression used when someone's action will result in more money; and also a song by Canadian singer Shania Twain.  

Here you have some facts about the song: 

- The song deals with America's consumer culture through the boom years of the 1990s and early 2000s. The line "all we ever want is more" is the general theme of the song.

- The music video for "Ka-Ching!" was shot in Mexico City and Madrid in January 2003.

This is one of five official videos of the song. Why don't you follow the video with the lyrics?  It's good practice for money vocabulary!



We live in a greedy little world,
That teaches every little boy and girl
To earn as much as they can possibly,
Then turn around and
Spend it foolishly
We've created us a credit card mess
We spend the money that we don't possess
Our religion is to go and blow it all
So it's shopping every Sunday at the mall
All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store
Can you hear it ring
It makes you want to sing
It's such a beautiful thing, ka-ching!
Lots of diamond rings
The happiness it brings
You'll live like a king
With lots of money and things
When you're broke go and get a loan
Take out another mortgage on your home
Consolidate so you can afford
To go and spend some more when
You get bored
All we ever want is more
...

MONEY

 VOCABULARY:

- Crossword

- Wordsearch

- How important is money for you? Take this quiz

LISTENING:

- Listening 1 - Are you good at saving money?

- Listening 2 - Money love

- Listening 3 - Expenses

WRITING: DESCRIBING A PERSON

Remember you have homework, you have to write an email describing a person.

These are some tips to help you with your writing. If you want to get the whole task as a document, go to 'Writing' to see, download and/or print it.

PLANNING

Paragraph 1    age, family background, work/study

Paragraph 2    personality (good side), any negative things?

Paragraph 3    hobbies and interests

Paragraph 4    your recomendation


Useful language:

• He's quite/ very + adjective (friendly, extrovert, etc.)

• She's a bit + negative adjective (untidy, talkative, etc.)

• He likes/loves/ doesn't mind + verb+ -ing (he loves reading, he doesn't mind doing housework...)

• He's good at + verb + -ing (he's good at making new friends...)

When you describe someone's personal qualities you should support your description with examples and/or justifications. e.g.  

          Wayne is very shy - he finds it difficult to make new friends.

You can also describe someone's personality through their mannerisms by:

·          a) referring to the way they speak e.g. 

          He speaks in a soft voice as if he were whispering.

·         b) describing the gestures they use e.g. 

          She constantly uses her hands when she speaks.

·         b) mentioning a particular habit they have. e.g.

  

                Jason always bites his nails when he is nervous.

 

When you mention someone's negative qualities you should use mild language (seems to, can be rather,  a bit etc).For example, instead of saying Paul is lazy, it is better to say 

Paul can be lazy at times

 

Paul is a bit lazy

Paul can be rather lazy