So, you’ve done all the listening exercises in your textbook, workbook and on my website 😉 but still, you feel you really need to go the extra mile?
Here you are two wonderful websites where you can find tons of Listening exercises to practise before the exam.
1. ESOL COURSES.Choose your level and then choose the skill you want to practise; they are all great!
2. ESL Lounge Students:on this site, you can also practise all skills. Scroll down the page and on the right sidebar, choose the skill you want to practise and your level.
Sometimes I spend an awful lot of time writing the draft for an article which will never see the light of day. That happens mainly on those days when I begin to wonder whether a certain article I am about to publish will interest any of my readers and also on those days when I run out of inspiration and words don’t seem to flow. More often than not, these wannabe posts end up being deleted while some other times I save them in a folder and then forget about them until, like with my wardrobe, spring cleaning frenzy strikes and I decide to do some computer spring cleaning and bump into them. This is what happened with this article you are about to read.
INTRODUCING REPORTED SPEECH ORDERS
Step 1. Draw some circles on the white board containing the following sentences or any others you fancy
Step 2.Ask students to choose one circle. They now need to write on a separate sheet of paper some orders/instructions they were given in these situations. (Encourage them to write positive and negative orders/instructions). Demonstrate, if necessary, by choosing one circle and writing down some examples. Allow 5 minutes for this step.
Step 3 and Step 4. Students in small groups. Now students need to swap situations with their partners and their partners need to report within their group some of the orders and instructions their partners were given.
For example:
When Carlos got his driving licence ,he was told to keep both hands on the steering wheel.
On the first day at school, Cecilia was told not to stand up without permission.
Step 4 and Step 3. Before students start, demonstrate with your own situation (hopefully still on the whiteboard), making sure they understand the task and asking them to infer the rule.
Step 5. Call out a situation and ask students to volunteer orders or instructions given to their classmates in the chosen context.
Yes, we are all in exam mode. Classes are finished and it’s time for a final effort.
In this post, I want to … Hold on!!… Noo, it’s more like I need to share these two sites with you. You see, I say” I need” because I really want all of you to pass your exams. There is nothing less frustrating for a teacher than having to fail a student who has been attending classes all throughout the year.
And this is the reason why I am posting at 11.00 pm, after having just arrived from work. ( you can bring me flowers once you’ve passed with flying colours)
♥LISTENING. The first link is for practising Listeningand it was kindly shared with me by one of my students. Thanks a lot, Maite!
Englishaula.com offers different exercises to practise all four skills, though I especially recommend it to do Listening Comprehension. On the right, you’ll need to choose your level.
♥READING. This second websiteEasy Reading is run by the British Council and it offers articles to read at three levels A2, B1 and B2 and interactive exercises to check your comprehension.
If you like my blog, “LIKE ME” on Facebook, too. Click here, please.
There is little that gives more satisfaction than publishing students’ work ;they are the reason behind all the hard work that means keeping this blog going.
Thank you very much to Raquel de Paz and Lucía Fernández, from the Intermediate Level (B1) for sending their essays.
Education is the single most important factor in the development of a country.
By Raquel de Paz
In my opinion, there is a very important thing in society which helps us to improve: education. A strong education system helps people to improve their knowledge and to be successful in their lives.
Education gives the keys to solve the problems. There is a famous saying which says: “If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, if you teach the man to fish you feed him for a lifetime”. Firstly, education is essential to our life. Again and again we have to call on to our basic knowledge to understand basic daily information about life. We need it to do the shopping, to understand signs and signals, etc.
Secondly, a good education brings a long number of qualified people with a lot of knowledge on a wide range of subjects and, as a result, these people work in different areas improving technologies and techniques supporting the development of a country.
To sum up, education is a very important factor in the development of a country. Education provides experience, training and personal development and, as a result, more skills, better productivity and greater ability to improve living conditions.
Children watch too much television by Lucía Fernández
Nowadays children spend an excessive amount of time watching television wherever they are, helped by the Internet and mobile phones instead of enjoying other kinds of activities healthier and more educative .
Although many people believe that watching television is a good way of learning new things and an innocent distraction for children, from my point of view,you waste a lot of time doing something unproductive. It’s more like something parents use so as not to be bothered by their children in some situations; for example,when a child is nervous, the parents play cartoons on his mobile and the child then stares at the mobile screen for hours as if he were in another world.
Children should play with each other and develop their imagination in a healthy mood ,but also their parents should help them to achieve it.
To sum up,I think television is necessary and complements other activities, but it should be used with care.
Who doesn’t like music? Today I am inviting you to take a glimpse at the Top Ten Musicals in London. Tough job to choose one ! A video-based lesson you’ll positively enjoy!
Level: B1/B2
Skills :listening, writing and vocabulary
Step 1. WARM UP. In pairs, talk about the questions below
♥How important is music in your life?
♥Have you ever been to a musical show? Why(not)?
♥Do you know any famous musicals?
♥There are lots of things to do in London, would you consider going to a musical?
Step 2. Look at the following collage containing pictures of different musicals. In pairs, can you identify any?
Get feedback. Most possibly students won’t be able to come up with the names for all the musicals. If this is the case, show them the options below.
A. The Lion King
B. The Phantom of the Opera
C. Wicked
D. Mamma Mia
E. Thriller
F. Billy Elliot
G. Les Miserables
H. The Book of Mormon
I. The Commitments
J. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Step 3. Play the video for the first time without giving students any task.After watching it , ask them whether they would fancy watching any of these musicals. Students watch the video a second time and fill in the gaps in the exercise below
Number 10. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.Grab your won golden ticket and step inside the ____ (1) and wonderful Wonka Chocolate factory
Number 9. The Commitments.Originally a novel, then a hit movie, this musical is jam ____ (2) with classic soul hits
Number 8. The Book of Mormon.From the ____ (3)of South Park, this outrageously funny musical is not for the faint -hearted
Number 7. Les Miserables.An epic tale of broken dreams, passion, ____ (4) and redemption
Number 6. Billy Elliot.The ____ (5) story of a boy’s struggle against the odds to become a ballet star
Number 5. Thriller Live.The spectacular show takes you on an electrifying journey through Michael Jackson’s musical ____ (6).
Number 4.Mamma Mia. Abba’s timeless songs create the ultimate feel-good tale of love , laughter and ____ (7)
Number 3. Wicked.The untold story of the witches of Oz has won 90 international awards and is loved by ____ (8) and critics.
Number 2.The Phantom of the Opera.Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical ____ (9) continues to captivate audiences
Number 1. The Lion King.Set in the Serengeti, this epic show explodes with glorious colours, stunning effects and ____ (10) music
Step 4.Vocabulary. Find a synonym for the following words in the video
-ageless
-impressive
-strange
-fight
-located
-prize
-full
Step 5. Writing . You’ve been asked to create a poster to advertise your high school end-of-the-term musical.Use postermywall.com to create the poster and think of something to say about the musical to attract an audience . Use some of the adjective+noun combinatios below
