Houses

1. Types of houses. 2. Vocabulary about houses. 3. Various people describe what their dream house would be like, what it would have and where it would be. Listen to them and do the quizzes. Have a look at other posts about houses from February 2010.

Elizabeth Taylor

Watch the video and answer these questions. (answers in "comments")

1. How do younger people remember her?

2. For movie lovers she was a sex goddess _________________________________.

3. When did she start acting?

4. In “A Place in the Sun” she has a kind of warmth, _________________, _________________and toughness.

5. What was the great white elephant of her career?

6. What did she win with “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf”?

7. Who was Richard Burton?

8. She was a very good friend to a lot of people, among them _________________ _________________ and _________________ _________________.

9. What was the second important face of her career?

10. She was not just a _________________ _________________, she was also a real _________________ of a kind that is very rare and very precious.

READING: main idea, details, inferences and restatements

Here you have some of the things you will be asked about in reading tests:

1. Read this to learn about how to find the main idea in a text and see an example.
2. Have a look at information about the details in a text here.
3. Click here to see some examples of inferences and restatements.

How to parent effectively without spanking

Watch this video in which an expert explains how you can discipline your children without spanking them.

HOROSCOPES AND PERSONALITY

Listen and answer these questions: (to see the answers click here)

1. What do they say about?
- The horoscope:
- The signs of the Zodiac:
- The astrology:
- The star sign elements:
- The planets:
- The birth chart:
- The characteristics:


2. What do they say about people with the following star signs?


Aries / Taurus / Gemini / Cancer / Leo / Virgo / Libra / Scorpio / Sagittarius / Capricorn / Aquarius / Pisces


3. What gives your star sign?


4. Listen to the dialogue and answer the following questions:


a) What does the first horoscope predict?
b) Where does she read her horoscope?
c) What does the second horoscope say?


These exercises are from http://www.busuu.com/es
This is a website where you can learn English online with interactive exercises. Have a look at it. Maybe you can register, it's free.

Naturally Better Homes

Watch the video and learn about environmentally friendly houses. You can record yourself and work with the vocabulary. THIS WEBSITE IS JUST GREAT FOR YOU.

IMPROVING YOUR SPEAKING

1. Speaking fluently. Watch this video and learn about how to speak fluently (you have the script, study notes and exercises).
2. Speaking coherently. Learn some expressions to make your speech more coherent.

LISTENING FOR SIGNPOST WORDS

We've been talking about signpost words in class and how we should use them in our talks. Watch this video and learn to identify some signpost words when listening to people. You have the script and you can also read the study notes and do some exercises.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

- Watch this video and learn some facts about Ireland.

- Learn some vocabulary about St. Patrick and other expressions.

- This is the video we watched in class (How to celebrate St. Patrick's Day like an Irishman).

*Remember to see the posts from last year.

DRABBLE COMPETITION

A drabble is an extremely short work of fiction of exactly one hundred words in length. The purpose of the drabble is brevity, testing the author's ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in an extremely confined space.

Have a look at the rules for the school competition here and get ready to write.

Food and Water Shortage in Fukushima

Watch the video about "Food and Water Shortage in Fukushima" and answer the questions (answers in "comments").

1. What happened where he's located?

2. Apart from food, what's especially necessary and why?

3. What are the longest queues for?

4. What does he say about Japan's reaction to the catastrophe?

5. What's the main thing now?

International Women's Day

Read about the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day and watch UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet's message.

MARCH LISTENING HANDOUT

I. MOBILE PHONES IN TAJIKISTAN (42”)
http://anglesonline.org/news/mobiles/comprehension/index.html

II. CHANNEL4 NEWS REPORT (EXTRACT) (1’52”)
https://sites.google.com/site/blogsmaterials/news.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

III. GREAT APARTMENT (3’46”)
http://www.esl-lab.com/apart/apartrd1.htm

IV. ENERGY CONSERVATION (about 5’)
http://www.aprendeingles.com/2010/02/25/canales/english_on_the_go/1267120622.html

V. JOB INTERVIEWS – HOW TO DO THE BEST YOU CAN (about 16’)
http://esl.culips.com/?powerpress_pinw=3228-podcast

http://esl.culips.com/2010/12/tips-for-canadian-job-interviews/