Tired of doing boring exercises with relative sentences? Have some fun and tell me: Is this sentence correct?
Related posts:
A puzzle to rack your brains
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Music on my Mind
I am one of those teachers who think that playing music is as good a way to improve listening as it is playing any other piece of information.
That’s why every Monday you’ve been doing listening based on lyrics. It’s not always easy to choose the song and even more difficult to choose which lines you will be able to understand. What’s more, I’m also quite aware of the fact that the music I like is probably not everyone’s cup of tea (I know, I know… you’ve never complained). So , now it’s your turn. Have you been listening to some tracks lately and thought… “Cristina should be playing this track” ?
Yes…. Then, let me know. Send me a reply to this post with your suggestion. It should include the following information
Singer/ Band:
Song Title
A few lines:
and thanks for your help. This blog is written for you and with you.
Listen a minute
That’s the name of this superb website for pre-intermediate students to practise listening
and this is what they promise. This site is still growing and at the moment of publishing this post you could only  find alphabetically-listed topic- based activities going  from A to H. That’s it, you can find listenings about Airports and Harry Potter but don’t try Vegetarians yet.
You can do the quizzes about the listening on line and it also gives you some writing ideas. What’s more,  you don’t even need to register. It’s completely free!!
One minute a day… that’s all they are asking and in return… you’ll be passing your listening tests with flying colours.
Related posts:
Birth order
According to what we have discussed in class, the order in which you are born in the family seems to shape your personality. I have done some research on the internet and many experts do not agree on this statement. Scientists say that at least two other variables should be considered; these are: family size and the socioeconomic status of the family. For example, large families are generally lower in socioeconomic status than small families. Hence third born children are not only third in birth order, but they are also more likely to come from larger, poorer families than firstborn children. If third borns have a particular trait, it may be due to birth order, or it may be due to family size, or to any number of other variables. Consequently, there are a large number of published studies on birth order that vary widely in quality and are inconsistent in their conclusions. Therefore, we cannot say that birth order will have such a tremendous effect on shaping our personality.
Regardless of this, there are some characteristic traits that could be applied to each birth order:
* Characteristic traits of the oldest sibling: The oldest sibling is the most independent and also the most responsible of the group. They are natural born leaders and like to be in control. They strive for perfection, and thrive on approval of authority figures, like for example, their parents. They tend to do well in school, their careers, and life in general. The oldest child is also the most likely to be the most successful of the bunch, and might make more money as an adult than other siblings. The first born might end up in an occupational area such as engineering, architecture, or accounting.
Famous first borns include: Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, J. K. Rowling, and Sylvester Stallone.
* On the other hand, the middle child, who feels deprived of attention and worries about being over-looked, tends to be more rebellious as a youngster. But as an adult, they become the compromisers of the world and enjoy pleasing others. They enjoy working in groups and love feeling like they belong. They are good at making friends and getting along with others. They are also laid back, patient and loud. These children tend to flock to occupations that are more people oriented than their older siblings.
Famous middle borns include: Bill Gates, Richard Nixon, Cindy Crawford, Donald Trump and Julia Roberts.
* Finally, the youngest child generally is the most artistic of the group. They are also most likely to be the class clown, since they will do just about anything for attention, and usually are characterized as the show-off of the family. But, at the same time, they are very affectionate and caring.
Famous last borns include: Jim Carrey, Billy Crystal, Cameron Diaz and Danny deVito.
Kindly sent by Maria Angeles Tamargo, a student in the Advanced Level
Related posts
Some help with pronunciation
I know some of you, dear readers, have problems with
English pronunciation. No wonder!!! English pronunciation is , arguably, unpredictable. Maybe some of you won’t agree with me that much if you have never experienced the frustration of not being understood but if you don’t believe me , read this article I published last year https://www.cristinacabal.com/?p=295 where I challenged my advanced students to read it without mistakes … the prize? Not taking the final oral test.Actually, the title of the post was I am feeling generous . Only one of them accepted the challenge,( dear Mario I hope you’re reading this ) and I still take my hat off to him (what a hard slog it must’ve been looking up all the words ) but he only managed to read two paragraphs and this, with some mistakes.
Anyway , some of you have been asking me how to improve pronunciation. I advised you to borrow books from the library with audio to listen and read along and here I’m going to show another nice way to improve pronunciation should you get tired of reading in the traditional way. This comes from a well-known site where there are plenty of things to do, should you have some time to spare.
Â
If  you want to do some more go to http://www.manythings.org/listen/ and help yourself.
Related posts: