New Year's Resolutions

Merry Christmas and 

Happy New Year!!

We are happy to announce that after the Christmas break we will resume our activities on Mon, Jan 13th for the afternoon group (16:30-18:00) and on Thur, Jan 8th for the new group that we are starting in the morning (12:15-13:45). There are still some places available in both groups. If interested, please contact Asociación de Estudiantes.
The beginning of a new year may be a perfect time to introduce positive changes in our lifestyle. That was probably the origin of the New Year's Resolutions. 

Every year thousands, millions of people worldwide make new resolutions at this time of the year in the hope that they will stick to them and that will help to change their lives for the best. Sometimes our resolutions are serious and most time are probably quite superficial, but it's part of the tradition and why not, it gives you something to chat about this time of the year.  Helpful vocabulary and questions for discussion. Here's an example of the resolutions some students have made. 

This document can help you to express your intention when talking about the future. If you want to find detail information about how to use the future tense click here.

Here are the 10 Top Resolutions in the US, which I found interesting  Why not share with us today the resolutions you have made for this year that now begins? 
Time also to make a balance of our Christmas holidays (See what other people have done)

Homelessness

On our Workshop session # 3, on Monday Oct 20th we shall be talking about Homelessness. Here you can download an interesting article published by The Guardian and slightly adapted for school purposes. At the end of the article there are some questions if you want to check your level of reading comprehension (keys are included).

We have also posted a glossary and a series of questions that might help you to participate in our Workshop meeting.

And finally, here you have a few links with extra information related to this week's topic for discussion:

• Visit the wikipedia for a definition of 'homelessness'.
• Australian website with plenty of information on homelessness, pictures, statistics... Rebecca's Community is a community group whose staff and volunteers work with people who experience homelessness in Sydney, Australia.
• Go on and read some real stories behind people who are or were in the street.
• This famous song, Suzanne, by Leonard Cohen, has always reminded me of a homeless lady.
• “Another day in paradise” (1989) by Phil Collins. Collins sings the song from a third-person perspective, observing as a man crosses the street to ignore a homeless woman, and he implores listeners not to turn a blind eye to homelessness because, by drawing a religious allusion, "it's just another day for you and me in paradise". Collins also appeals directly to God by singing: "Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do? Oh lord, there must be something you can say!" 

Enjoy yourself and... see you on Monday!! Don't miss out!
By the way, this week we'll have the visit of Ms Mary Whitefrizz, an English lady who regularly collaborates with Café y Calor, a programme run by Cáritas for homeless people in La Línea. She'll be happy to share her experience with us all and answer our questions.

Relative clauses

Here's a bit of grammar to help you understand the use of relative clauses. And here you will find more information about relative clauses and lots of exercises and tests for further practice. Good luck!

Made in Spain

The Passive voice is a very important issue in English language. Maybe Spanish speakers are not aware of its importance because we don't use it that much in our own language; instead we use other structures which are more appropriate or popular. When we turn to English though, we must learn to appreciate what a useful structure the passive voice is and how many things we can express with it.

Basically speaking we use the active voice when want to put the stress on the subject of a sentence -I bought a new T-shirt yesterday. And we opt for the passive when the focus is on the action itself and we don't know or don't care about who or what performed that action -My car was stolen last night.

Click here you will find some notes explaining some aspects of the use of the passive voice in English. For further practice and more exercises use this link.

She refused to tell me what Mary had told her...

Reported speech means using our own words to report what another person has told us. Reported speech is so important in English first because we use it all the time and second, because it allows us to choose the most appropriate words in order to be as faithful as possible to the original message.

You can find a few grammar tips and exercises here. For further exercises click here.

Here a couple of tutorial videos to illustrate different aspects of the use of Reported Speech. The first one is focussed on the forms, and the second one deals with the use of "say" and "tell" among other things. I think they can be quite useful.

Gerund or infinitive?

To be or not to be? Or shall we better say "to be or being?" One of the most common difficulties for foreign learners of English is when to choose an infinitive or a gerund; and it is not an easy choice indeed. In these notes I have prepared for you you will find lots of information to help you make a correct choice. However the best way is to practise and listen to your inner voice advising you whether to opt for an infinitive or a gerund. If you want to practise a bit more click here.

On the Internet you can find lots of useful materials illustrating the use of gerund vs infinitive. I found this video quite useful and clear. Have a look at it.

Quantifiers

What are quantifiers?

Like articles, quantifiers are words that precede and modify nouns. They tell us how many or how much. Selecting the correct quantifier depends on the distinction between Count and Non-Count Nouns. See a representative list of quantifiers.

Click here to read a bit more about quantifiers and do some exercises.

And a quick video

Places where people live

If you could choose would you prefer to live in a penthouse in fifth avenue, NY or in a picturesque cottage in the English countryside? Throughout history people have lived in many places, some more comfortable, luxurious or expensive than others. Here you have a nice exercise about places where people live and adjectives that you could use to describe those places. Have a go at it and send your teacher a short composition explaining where you would choose to live if you could and why.

Conditional clauses. Type II

Today we'll have a look at Conditional Clauses Type II, the so-called hypothetical conditions, because:

• a. we don't expect the action in the if-clause to take place Ex: "If all the wars stopped, the world would be a much better place to live in." (unlikely to happen?)
• b. the supposition in the if-clause is contrary to known facts or very unlikely to happen. Ex: "If I could fly I wouldn't have to spend money on buses." (contrary to known facts -people don't fly).

Type II conditionals are mainly used to make hypothesis, express wishes and give advice. Again, for more information on grammar and usage of this type of conditional sentences read these notes and visit this tutorial.

A couple of other useful links to conditional exercises: Type II, grammar 4U on line.

And, as usual, I have a song for you. Let's go back to the sixties with Peter, Paul and Mary's "If I had a hammer" (lyrics)

Conditional clauses. Type I

Conditional clauses are quite a difficult issue in English -they're also quite difficult to master in our own language and very often we hear people using the wrong tenses.

I have prepared some notes to help you get a clear idea of how conditional clauses work, the tenses we must use and the functions we can express with them.

We usually refer to Conditional clauses Type I as "Open condition" because we view the condition expressed in the if clause as something likely to happen. Ex: "If the weather is nice tomorrow, we'll go to the beach."

As you will see when you read the notes, we use this type of conditionals to express: general and particular cause-effect, advice, threat, offer, comments, etc...

Here you will find some exercises to practise Conditional clauses Type I

And yet another link dealing with grammar and exercises on Type I conditional clauses.

Good luck!

And now a little present: a beautiful poem called "If" by 1907 Literature Nobel Prize winner, Rudyard Kipling. Click here to read several translations of the poem If into Spanish; you can choose your favourite. And now, are you ready now to watch this magnificent video by George Horne? He has some excellent works, maybe you want to take a minute to see some of the things he does.

Tired or tiring? Crossword

There is an important group of pairs of adjectives in English ending in -ed or -ing. Their correct use is confusing for many students. In this crossword you can practise some of them. Good luck!

Clauses of Cause and Reason

Some days ago we talked about "purpose clauses" (they answer the question "what for?") and today we want to talk about "clauses of cause and reason" (they answer the question "why?").

If we look carefully we will realize that they are two different concepts. Broadly speaking we could say that the "purpose" looks ahead and generally has to do with ourselves, with our personal intentions or objectives, while the "reason" usually looks back and often has to do with other people's impositions upon us. Some people mix them and when you ask "why?" they answer... "in order to..." or when you ask "what for?" they come up with "because..."

The Beatles have an appropriate song to illustrate this question: "Tell me why" (lyrics)

And of course they also have a song to illustrate the answer: "Because" (lyrics)

Adjective Word Order

Have you ever wondered why we say "a tall basketball player" and not "a basketball tall player", or "an expensive gold watch" instead of "a gold expensive watch"?
The order of the adjectives is important in English and it is not an easy topic for Spanish students.
As a general rule we know that most adjectives are used in front of the noun (not after it as in Spanish), and we also know that the basic order of the adjectives is this: qualitative adjectives, colours and classifying adjectives.
If you want to learn a bit more let me tell you that when I was a boy I had a mnemonic sentence which helped me to remember the order of the adjectives: "Very Soon a Slow Old Train Should Come From My Province". Have a look at these notes I have prepared for you and you'll see what I mean.
When you are ready have a go at these exercises.

Modals ...and IV: shall, will and would

We finish our brief study of modals today with shall, will and would. Although there are many functions and notions expressed with these three modals, they are best known by the following ones:

• Will is traditionally associated with the future and also with making requests.
• Shall, usually associated with making suggestions and offers of help, has several other uses, most of them considered old fashioned or too formal.
• Would is the reference par excellence for conditionals and also the equivalent of will in the past and reported speech.

You probably want to practise a bit now. Visit this web.

Modals III: may, might

May and might are usually associated with probability and possibility (present and past), although they can also express many other notions such as permission, suggestions, etc. In most cases they can be interchangeable, although might tends to sound a bit more formal than may. Some people also say that the probability or possibility expressed with might is more remote than that with may.

Here you will find some exercises combining different modals. Gook luck!

By the way, are you familiar with the expression "pigs might fly"? Have a look at this video by The Teacher (BBC Learning English) and you'll see.

Modals. Crossword

You can practise the use of modals with this crossword. Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate modal verb. You can also use be able to and have to.

Remember we do not use blank spaces or apostrophes in the crosswords.

Good luck!

Modals II: must, have to, should, ought to

Must and have to are particularly important to express: obligation, necessity, prohibition (in negative), positive deduction, etc. The correct use of them is not very easy...

• Must and have to are used in affirmative to express obligation; must is often associated with an inner feeling of duty or personal or specific obligation on the part of the speaker (I must go now) whereas have to represents "the law", it usually refers to general rules, external obligations or impositions (You have to wear the helmet). Apart from this different connotation, must and have to are quite interchangeable in the present and future. In the past only have to is used.
• In the negative mustn't is used to express prohibition whereas have to refers to lack of obligation, something quite different.
• Should and ought to are mainly used give advice or refer to "moral" obligation or manners.

Our friend Ana Flores has sent us a pps showing the use of these modals. Have a look at it, it's very clear.

Also have a go at this video explaining the use and conjugation of have to and must.

Modals I: can, could, be able to

Modal verbs play a very important role in the English language. Thanks to modals we can express many different notions and perform many functions in our everyday communication.

The use of modals is not easy to master. It is true that they are not a large group, but they are very important and they have their own rules -that is why we need to become familiar with them as soon as possible.

Here is a short video with a basic introduction to modal verbs.

In the next few days we are going to study each one of them separately, beginning today with "can" and "could". Can and could are only used in the present and past; for the rest of the tenses, including the infinitive, we use "to be able to". For further exercises with modals try this excellent Modal Verb Tutorial.

Have a look at this video, I am sure it will help you understand.

Comparatives and superlatives

Using comparatives and superlatives properly in English can be quite a challenge. However there are some rules which are not difficult to follow if you are careful. Here are some notes that might help you.

Have a look at this pps (remember: powerpoint slideshow) that my colleague Ana has sent us from Estepona (Thank you, Ana) and you will see it all very clearly.

If you want to do some further practice here are some good links offering you lots of exercises. Enjoy yourself!

• usingenglish.com
• englishexercises.org
• better-english.com

Still another pps to go a little further into the comparatives. Don't miss it!

Strong adjectives

When we speak or write we can make a story more dramatic by using strong adjectives (exhausted instead of tired, delighted instead of pleased). We can also make adjectives even stronger by adding an adverb (absolutely, very, really), e.g. The weather was absolutely freezing! (Careful how we use these adverbs!!)

Here's a silly game that will help you to remember some of the most common strong adjectives. Try this link for further practice. How about a pps (powerpoint slideshow) to test how much you have learnt about strong adjectives?

I promise a crossword for the weekend. Too late now. Good night!