Cheers from England

Hi everyone, I am spending two weeks in Guildford close to London. I hope everythings is ok in your holidays. Yesterday I went to London in order to watch The Notting Hill Carnival and a few before I visit the New Forest.

Discover the New Forest National Park.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWvtwAba0XU&list=PLPERa4Ls5Arof6Xf-jAr-uuQ9vvumOUON

The Notting Hill Carnival

SUNDAY 25 & MONDAY 26 AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY 2013

Notting Hill Carnival is largest festival celebration of its kind in Europe.

http://www.thenottinghillcarnival.com/

Recipe sponge cake

Ingredients:

300 gr. grated marrow (calabacín)
250 gr. flour
250 gr. sugar
3 eggs
1 baking powder (levadura)
120 ml. milk
120 ml. vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Step 1
Preheat oven to 180 C.

Step 2
Peel and share the marrow.

Step 3
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs until fluffy. Beat in the sugar, oil and marrow. Gradually mix in the flour, baking powder. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

Step 4
Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Some resources to practise your English throughout the year

www.bbclearningenglish.com
www.elllo.org

To get everyday news in English with their tapescripts:
www.cnnstudentnews.com
http://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/

For grammar and vocabulary:
http://mansioningles.com/
http://isabelperez.com/

For conversation:
www.conversationexchange.com
www.busuu.com (this is not free, I'm afraid)
http://www.duolingo.com/ (I haven't tried this one out, but it looks good)

If you are preparing for a specific exam, check out this one:
http://www.examenglish.com/

Podcasts (different topics): you can find them through google or itunes.

Apps for mobiles:
http://iphone.appstorm.net/roundups/lifestyle-roundups/80-apps-to-learn-a-new-language/

I can't remember the name of the one Edu mentioned in class, was it vlanguage? And Águeda also mentioned the BBC application which must be really good.

Any other resources that you find useful, you can add here, so that we can all try them.

An excellent reference point is EOI Jesus Maestro's "virtual classroom". Here's the link:
http://www.educa.madrid.org/web/eoi.jesusmaestro.madrid/inglesnet.htm

And something that's always good to remember: try to take English to your territory, by using it for things that are interesting to you. It has to be fun, that way you can make sure you have the necessary motivation when things get difficult.

Nerea's delicious crepe recipe

INGREDIENTS

You will need …
4 eggs
250 grammes flour
_ litre milk
_ teaspoon salt
1 spoon sugar

STEP 1

Place ingredients in a food processor or blender 

STEP 2

Blend until smooth, then strain into a jug. Cover and set aside to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

STEP 3
Switch on the machine, when it is hot enough, cook crepe for about 1 minute in the machine until underside is golden, then use a metal spatula to flip. Cook other side for just under a minute until golden.

STEP 4

Transfer to a plate and add any extra ingredient you want.

STEP 5

Let´s enjoy them all together!!

Thank you so much Nerea for sharing it with us.

Some songs and activities we have used in class

Natasha Bedingfield - "Unwritten" (video with lyrics):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IPAeo3zJ-Q
Stevie Wonder - "I just called to say I love you"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lKrQySP6EQ
Al Green - "Love is a beautiful thing" (video with lyrics):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnTAWljWQ2w 

And...
Carly Rae Jepsen - Call me maybe (video with lyrics):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWAdb1vgoik

...but I think your version is much better!!!

Listening exercise about a family road trip (from Elllo.org):
http://www.elllo.org/english/0501/527-Tres-RoadTrip.html

Introduction to Okinawan Karate

Hi everyeone, in this video you can watch some information about the origin of Karate. One of the most important things is the meaning of the word Karate, which is the spirit of this martial art: "Empty Hands", based on respect, honesty and humility.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgGRGXYX0-c

THE WOLF AND THE SEVEN LITTLE KIDS

This is a version of the very famous Grim tale. It is told by Rick Mayall, a funny storyteller, quite easy to understand because of its body language and expressivity. If you enjoy it, you will find more on youtube.

Helpful song if you don't remember how to pronounce "potato" and "tomato"

J & J Books & Coffee

David has told us about reading books to practice and improve our English.

Just to let you know a place where you could buy cheap second hand books (form 5 to 10€ about).
 In addition there organice events to practice our speaking.

 Address:
calle Espiritu Santo, 47
Madrid, Spain 28004 

To know more about it visit the web site
 http://www.jandjbooksandcoffee.com/index.php

Antonio

The Great Dictator (1940) Charlie Chaplin -Final Speech-

Something is worth watching and at the same time it helps us to improve our english !


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX25PDBb708

Some more stuff (Molly Malone, horsemeat, bedbugs, etc.)

Here's a link to a video with the song and lyrics of "Molly Malone" (performed by "The Dubliners", with 1 "n"; it's misspelt in the video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Deeh9n-VI

"Words in the news". Several links to recordings we have used in class, here they go:
Horsemeat:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/02/130211_witn_horsemeat.shtml
Bedbugs:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/03/130315_witn_bed_bugs.shtml
Half of all food wasted:
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/01/130111_witn_food_waste.shtml
Australian cigarette packaging:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/01/130107_aus_cig_packaging.shtml

Thank you all for your contributions to the blog. Let's keep it going. Have a great evening.

Changing Roles: teacher in Spain, student in Plymouth

Last summer I went to Plymouth and an international tv programme recorded some days when I was studing at Marjon University.
I attach the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnLtHLLuYnE

Radio

Hi everybody! This is  a website where you can listen  to the radio from different countries all arround the world. It´s very interesting and useful because you can listen lots of accents.

Have a great weekend!

http://tunein.com/radio/Browse-Locations-r0/

More listening

Hi to everybody! I'm trying to use the blog so, as I've never used it, I've thought about showing you one of my favorites pages of listening. Here you can listening to different speeches about different topics.
Even you can listening to it with subtitles in
english.I hope you find it useful. Have a good weekend!

http://www.ted.com

Some links mentioned in class (subingles, teaching-motivation, street interviews 1)

 Here are some of the resources mentioned/used in class recently:

Website to practise your listening using song videos:
http://www.subingles.com/

A teacher talking about ways to motivate students:
http://www.elllo.org/english/1201/1225-Julia-Praise.htm

Street interviews 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWKGxOBph64

Have a great weekend everyone!

Elena's idea

This is a funny clip about pronunciation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q_aXttJduk

Some links mentioned in class (listening: wikileaks, Beckham, "fight for this love"...)

Here are some of the resources mentioned today
Listening ("Words in the news").

Wikileaks:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/03/130301_witn_wikileaks.shtml
Beckham:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/03/130304_witn_beckham_china.shtml

Other BBC podcasts:
Six minute-English:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/index.shtml

Video with lyrics of Cheryl Cole's "Fight for this love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRuxZRbn4hY

The British Council's "Learn English" website:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/

Hope you find them useful

Some more links

- Most popular practice tests according to CEFR levels
http://www.examenglish.com

- This is not something new, but youtube: the link to the song and lyrics from "I will survive", we used in class:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YlnhtXo0Tk

- And, if you like music and playing with lyrics to practice your oral skills, try this one:
http://www.lyricstraining.com/

Some links mentioned in class (listening: BBC and ELLLO)

Hello everyone,
These are some listening resources mentioned in today's lesson:

BBC Learning English
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

On that same website you can find the "Words in the news section". Here's the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/

Another very useful website for listening practice:
www.elllo.org
(on the left-hand side of the page click on "sort by level", and choose from level 4 upwards)

Hoping you find these resources useful

Some links mentioned in class (dictionaries, conversation)

Hello everyone. These are some resources that have been mentioned in today's lesson:

Online dictionaries:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://wordreference.com/

Conversation exercises (worksheets for different topics):
http://www.esldiscussions.com/

Conversation practice website:
http://www.conversationexchange.com/

I hope you find them useful.

Welcome!

Hello everybody to this new 'summer inmersion English course' for theachers. This blog is intended to be a place for all of us who belong to Group C in IES "Isabel La Catolica" and want to share anything you find interesting to share with your mates: from web links to activities, experiences, comments and much more... We'll talk about these and other issues in class.

We hope you learn, practice and enjoy this summer course!

David and Jesús