Category Archives: Resources

Ororo.tv a good alternative to just watching TV

Audio, Listening, Resources, , , , ,

Oh my gosh! I just love this website. I bumped into ororo.tv quite by chance and I was like ooohh it has this one and aahhh and also this one. And needless to say, I have spent the little free time I have had these days- I am still doing oral exams in the morning and marking written exams in the afternoon /evening, not to mention the cleaning and cooking stuff- having a nice laugh with the boys of the Big Bang Theory, which I highly recommend.
So, what can ororo.tv do to help you improve your English? What will you find on this website??? An amazing number of TV shows and films in their original versions and with subtitles in English. Right now, I am hooked on the Big Bang Theory, a American sitcom, about four young scientists, but surely you’ll find attractive alternatives here to suit every taste and mood.

Picture Description .Intermediate Level.

Lesson Plan: Intermediate, Picture Description, Speaking, , , ,

Yes, yes I know classes have finished. So what? If you haven’t taken your speaking test, this post might still be useful .

I just couldn’t let it pass. I saw it and I immediately thought about you,  struggling at home, getting  no help at all and feeling utterly miserable without my wise guidance 🙂 ha,ha,ha

Well, let’s stop rambling and get to the point. What you’ll find below are two pictures and someone comparing the two pictures.

Well, they are clearly both connected to the topic of science… but in two quite different contexts. In the first one, there are two people- they’re probably lab technicians from the coats they are wearing- or I guess they could be research students or something like that. Anyway, they seem to be watching some kind of monitor but I am not quite sure why. The guy in the foreground seems to be holding something which might affect what they can see on the monitor. … it’s not all that clear.

In contrast, the second picture is of four schoolchildren, probably in a science class. They’re all wearing plastic yellow glasses of some sort… probably to protect their eyes from chemicals or something. They are sitting at the same desk. the one on the right, .. he is holding what looks like a plastic bottle.. which must have liquid in it.  There’s some kind of tube-like thing and plastic containers on the desk.

Picture Description: Holidays in the City or on the Beach

Lesson Plan: Elementary, Picture Description, Speaking, Students' Corner, , , , ,

I wouldn’t like to finish the course without publising another example of picture description. This  time for the Elementary Speaking exam and kindly sent by Noelia Fernández.

Holidays in the city or on the beach


In both photos we can see two very different holiday destinations: a big city and a solitary paradise beach.
The picture on the right was taken at the famous street of New York Times Square. This street is always crowded with tourists, and in this photo I think there are too many. They are carrying photo cameras, video cameras or taking photos with their mobile phones. They are wearing summer clothes because it might be July.
In the other photo, there is a beach with clean sand and clear calm water without waves. In the foreground we see five sunbeds and palms.
In my opinion, the perfect vacation is a mixture of both destinations, a few days in the city to visit museums and emblematic buildings, to see a musical or a theater, to do some sightseeing and to make all the activities that you can, and then, other days at a resort to relax and enjoy the sun, the beach, sleep and enjoy the food.
If you’re looking forward to going to New York ,you need to save money because it is the most expensive city in which I have been, but it seems as if you are in a movie with all the famous places and you think ” I know this and that”.

Picture Description: Fashion

Picture Description, Speaking, Students' Corner, Writing, , ,

Another example of picture description for the Intermediate speaking exams. Thanks to Eloy Menéndez for kindly sending it.

These pictures are related to fashion and clothes.
To begin with, the photo on the left shows a group of young people wearing eccentric clothes, with a very particular style: most in black, large boots, fishnet stockings. Many people would say they look scruffy. Probably, they are in a music festival or in a concert and they seem as if they are having fun. In the other photo, we can see a catwalk, in which high-heeled models are wearing very expensive garments, probably from famous designers. Maybe, such events are more targeted towards shopaholics, who are always trying to be in the limelight and constantly renew the way they dress.
From some years up to now, clothes have become a distinguishing factor.

There are multiple urban tribes, some of them wearing outrageous clothes, others with colourful and bright garments, but each one with its own particularity, and they don’t care what others may think about them. They dress in the way they want. I am more keen on how the “skins” dress: shaved hair, tight jeans, suspenders, military boots. On the contrary, most of the teenagers are very fashionable because they are influenced by the media and constantly being fed with “tips” about what it’s cool to wear or not.

I would say fashion is cyclic and so are trends. Styles from the past are re-invented by designers or they just return in the same way they were many years ago: for that, vintage clothes, patterns, accessories and colours have become trendy nowadays.

One of the most widespread stereotypes is that women pay more attention to their appearance than men do. I think that used to be so in the past, yet today more men are worried about how they are seen by the opposite sex. So therefore, most fashion ads are directed to both sexes.

I believe everyone has to wear those clothes which match their own styles, their thoughts and moral convictions. If you think the most expensive shirt, the old-fashioned skirt or the most ragged jacket fits you, that’s what matters. Dressing well or badly is something subjective and if you feel comfortable with that garment, go ahead.
Eloy Menendez

Teaching Environment Vocabulary with Capzles

Create your own stuff, freeware, Pictures, Resources, Slides, Vocabulary, , , ,

Today I want to share with you a new tool that could be quite useful when trying to add  a touch of something to your classes. It is called Capzles and it is a very popular site for creating interactive timelines. It is a great tool for several reasons but mainly because the timelines created with this tool  let you use images, videos , pdfs …etc and it can also be embedded into a blog or a website.

Today I have used it to display some images containing vocabulary about the Environment but just as I am writing these lines , I am already thinking of other ways to use it, as being able to embed videos is a great feature and  makes this tool highly recommendable.