1º NB (A1) Time flies...

Oh, I can't find my watch...It must be time to get ready to go to work...

Can anybody around tell me what time it is?

Maybe YOU can help me, now that you know how to tell the time.

Here you'll find some links to practise. Click on the clocks below:

If you want to watch a video on how to tell the time, please click on the words

TELL THE TIME IN ENGLISH

And what better occasion could we find to listening to that song by COLDPLAY called CLOCKS:

Here's another time-related recommendation: TIME IS TICKING OUT, by The Cranberries.

"Time Is Ticking Out"

We'd better think about the things we say
We'd better think about the games we play
The world went round, around and round

We'd better think about the consequences
We'd better think about the global senses
The time went out, the time went out

What about Chernobyl? What about radiation?
We don't know, we don't know
What about deprivation? Gluttony, the human nation?

We don't know, we don't know
For me love is all, for me love is all
For me love is all, for me love is all
Time is ticking out

Looks like we screwed up the ozone layer
I wonder if the politicians care
And time went out, and time went out

What about our children then?
Is there nothing left for them?
We don't know, we don't know
For me love is all, for me love is all
For me love is all, for me love is all

Ahh they need oxygen, ahh they need oxygen
For me love is all, for me love is all
For me love is all, for me love is all
Time is ticking out yeah
The time is ticking out

NI (B1) and NI workshop: formal letter writing

Dear students (and readers of this blog),

You know how important it is to write letters. The Internet has changed everything, that is true. We don't write so many letters as we used to. But we still write letters on paper when we want to make a complaint, or a request for information, or to apply for a job or answer an advertisement. And we need to know a few things about how to write a formal letter. Here you will find some help, especially bearing in mind the writing assignment due Thursday next week (don't forget!!!)

Click on the following links:

• usingenglish.com
• writinglovers.com
• Birmingham City University study guide

1º NB (A1) - Physical descriptions

Dear students and readers of this blog,

How do we describe a person in English? What do we have to ask? What vocabulary do we need to know?

When we want to ask for someone's description, we ask:

What is he/she like?

What does he look like?

Here you will find some of the handouts we used, as well as links to some websites where you can find vocabulary lists with pictures. Remember that, for character description, we have used the Chinese Horoscope (see previous post). Here you will find only physical description vocabulary.

Click here for the class handout.

Click here for a basic vocabulary list with pictures.

Now, why don't you practise?

Please click on COMMENTS to write the description of a person you know well: a member of your family or a good friend.

In the year of the Rabbit...Happy New year (again!)

The Chinese New Year starts today, Feb 3. And we are in the year of the Rabbit. If you were born in the year of the Rabbit (1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999), you are talented and ambitious. You are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. However, they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.

Now, would you like to know what your animal sign is? Click here to find out!

Let's take advantage of the situation to learn something about China and some of its traditions:

• 
  
  Take a virtual trip to China. Click here.


• 
  
  The history of the Chinese New Year celebrations.


• 
  
  Open your fortune cookie by clicking here.


• 
  
  Read some Chinese stories.


• 
  
  Did you know that Chinese people eat their food with chopsticks? If you don't know how to use them, click here.

I WISH YOU A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS YEAR OF THE RABBIT!