Family questions

Hi guys,

Judith found this great video in youtube that will help you practice your listening comprehension skills. Here is the task:

1. Go to the following link and watch the video (it takes around 4 minutes):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00fNgMS0bP0

2. Then watch it again and make up a question you would like your partners to answer when watching the video. Example: What problem did Steph's father's parents have when they came to America?

3. Finally post the question and wait for a partner to post the answer.

If you need help you can ask Judith to give you a hand.

Enjoy this practice!!

Describing somebody else's family

Hi everybody,
Here is a new post so you can practice description of families. Go to the link below in which you will find famous people family trees (including mine, ha ha ha). Choose a family tree and look at it. Then post a short description about that family.

Good luck!!

http://kindo.com/blog/celebrity-family-trees/celebrity-family-trees-of-entertainersen/

Tell me about your teacher!

Hi everybody,

I'm sorry I did not post anything last week but I was kind of sick. Anyway, I'm back! This time I would like you to play reporters for me. The only thing I know about your teacher is her name. I'd like to know more about her. Please ask her as many questions as you can and post of some of her answers here so I can get to know her more.

Good luck. I'll be waiting for your information.

Blues is back!!

Hi everybody,

This time I have a cultural post for you. Starting today the Colombo is hosting our Annual Blues Festival. There are many activities going on and some concerts. Take some time to check the program of activities in the following link:

http://www.elpais.com.co/elpais/cali/noticias/blues-para-cali

or check the Colombo web page: www.colomboamericano.edu.co

Have a good one!

Let's start by the beginning!

Hi everybody,

I hope you had a great class today. I heard you guys did a great job and I am very proud of you. In the first unit of this course you are going to do a review of many things we studied. I am adding a kind of artificial but good exercise of the use of the verb to be. Do it and you will understand how easy this topic is. Remember this grammar is nothing if you don't use it in class. That's the ultimate goal!

Go to the following link: http://www.eclecticenglish.com/grammar/PresentSimpleToBe1A.html

Post a comment on how you did and if you need extra practice on a particular topic do not doubt to let me know.

Love ya guys!

What if . . .?

Hello everybody,

A short practice of conditions and results this time. Look at the cartoon above and answer the question: What is Melissa going to do, if she has time this weekend? Post your answers and write your opinion about your favorite weekend activity.

See you in class.

Would you like to take a vacation?

Hi guys,

I have a great activity for you this time. You will need to use some of your computer skills. Follow the directions below:

1. Imagine we are going to take a vacation next weekend.

2. Go to the following page:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-tourist-destination.html
Here you will find a map with the Top Ten tourist destinations in the world

3. Select one of the ten places and look for a map of the country. (You can use the maps on this page if you want).

4. Once you have the map, choose a city you would like to visit.

5. Google "Top ten places to visit in _________" the city you want.

6. Finally post a comment describing the places you would like to visit on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

7. Check my post if you want to see an example.

Happy dream vacation!!!

What a nice picture!

Hi everybody,

Gabriela sent the picture we took the other day in the classroom. I loved it. You guys look so cute!!

Take care

Describing people's life stories

Hi everybody,

As I promised the idea to practice this weekend is that you research a little about the life of a famous person you like (Please my life is not an option). So go to the following page:

http://www.biography.com/

Type the name of the person you want info about and answer the questions from our workbook on page 84. Post some of the answers here.

Good luck!!

Describe people's abilities

Hi guys,

I found a great page in which you can read about incredible people which unsual abilities. Please visit it and do not pretend to understand everything. Choose the person with the most remarkable ability and post a message describing what this person can or can't do.

The page: http://www.oddee.com/item_91848.aspx

Have a good one!

Describing actions

Hello everybody,

I found a nice and easy exercise in which you will be able to practice description of actions. Go to the following link:

http://www.learnenglish.de/Games/Adverbs/Adverbs.htm

Read the sentences and look at the pictures choose the best word to complete the sentences and post a short message telling everybody how you did.

Good luck!!

Body parts practice

Hi everybody,

After a short period of vacation I think you are right and it is time to reactivate the blog so try the following two links in which you will find memory games to practice the parts of the body we studied last class. The first one is merely a vocabulary game that you can level up as you are playing. Click on play it now and have fun:

http://www.2flashgames.com/f/f-657.htm

The second memory game combines pictures and pronunciation so you can practice the main body parts. Click on play and enjoy:

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/happyhouse/games/rodney2.4b

See you on Thursday!!!

Past tense practice

Hi everybody,
I found a great page with some exercises to practice past tense irregular verbs. Give it a try!!

http://eslbears.homestead.com/contact_info.html

Pronunciation practice

Hi guys,
I imagine you have been practicing a lot the pronunciation of the words we studied in class. I found a nice site that might help you with some examples of sounds that are different in English.

Please visit the site and click on the exercise you want to practice. I reccomend numbers 1 to 10 because those are the vowel sounds we are practicing right now. Have fun!!!

Copy and go to: http://www.shiporsheep.com/

What do people in other countries eat for breakfast?

Hi class, This time we are going to practice our listening comprehension strategies. Watch the following four videos and post a comment describing your favorite breakfast. Remember to concentrate on the vocabulary we have practiced in class. Good luck!

Food, food and more food!!!

Hello everybody,

Hope you are doing OK studying vocabulary for our next class on describing food. I thought of helping you a little bit so I have some matching and concentration games for you.

a. Go to each one of the following links:
http://www.quia.com/mc/551153.html?AP_rand=196837435
http://www.quia.com/mc/551414.html?AP_rand=1246892728

b. Click on: play this game

c. Match the pictures with their names by clicking on each correspondent item.

d. Play as many times as you want.

If you think those are too easy, try the following two which are a bit more difficult because you have to use your memory skills (similar procedure):
http://www.quia.com/cc/551153.html?AP_rand=80705064
http://www.quia.com/cc/551414.html?AP_rand=1714268869

What are Homer plans for the weekend?

Hi everybody,
As we practiced yesterday in class we can describe future plans using statements like "I'm playing soccer on Saturday morning". Here is an exercise that might help you to practice this topic. Look at the picture, choose a day and post a comment describing what Homer Simpson is doing next weekend.

Enjoy and keep practicing!!

*If you want to see the picture bigger, click on it with the right button of your mouse and open it in a new window.

What are they doing?

Hi everybody,
Hope you had a nice weekend. Here is a quick quiz on ongoing activities just to refresh your memory before next class. Enjoy it

Go to:
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/present_progressive_statements_long.htm

What's the weather like in . . .?

Hi everybody,
This time I have an assignment in which you will have to "travel" around the world. The goal is that you find places around the world with the appropriate weather to do some activities. Follow these instructions.

a. Go to the page: www.weatherforecastmap.com
b. Look for places around the world with the right weather conditions to do the following activies:
*Stay home and drink a hot chocolate.
*Go swimming.
*Walk at the park.
*Take a nap.
*Wear a sweater you got for your birthday.
*Go skiing.
c. When you have found the places. Post a comment saying what temperature and weather the place has and what activity we can do there.

Example: The weather in Rome, Italy is clear and sunny with a temperature of 18°C. It's good weather to play soccer with your friends.

How often does Willy . . .?

Well class as we practiced how to talk about frequency last class, here is an exercise that will helpp you to describe if I do the following activities always, usually, sometimes or never. Keep in mind a normal month has 4 weekends, look at the chart and write your conclusions.

Good luck!!

More on daily routines!!

Hello everybody,
As I know you liked the quiz, I found another one that will help you practice more before we describe other people's routines in class. Get ready and keep practicing!!

Go to the following link:
PRESENT SIMPLE, 3rd person

A quick quiz of daily routines!!

Hi guys,
As we practiced yesterday how to talk about somebody's routine, I found a quiz that can help you review what we studied. Good luck and keep practicing!!!

http://www.english-zone.com/spelling/verbs1.html

More on daily routines!

Hi everybody,
This time I have a listening exercise for you. In the link I attached you will find different exercises. Please ONLY do exercise II, play the conversation and listen to it as many times as you want. Practice "catching words" and then try to get the answer for the following questions:
1. What does the man do at 5:00 a.m.?
2. What does he do at 6:40 a.m.?
3. What time does he catch a bus?
4. What does he do at 6:30 p.m.?
5. Mention two activities his wife usually does.

Remember you don't need to understand everything in the conversation. Little by little and with practice you will get better at this type of exercise. Good luck!!

Go to the following link:http://www.esl-lab.com/schedule/schedrd1.htm

Daily Routines!!

Hi everybody, Watch this video of some teachers describing their daily routines. Select some vocabulary and post a comment with a description of yours. Have fun!!

We have a winner!!!!

Hi everybody,
I want to congratulate Jazmin who discovered our secret character.

He is from Argentina.
He is young.
He is short.
He is an athlete.
He plays soccer.
He lives in Spain.

And Jazmin is right . . . he is Lionel Messi!! Thank you for practicing yes/no questions!!

House vocabulary

Hi everybody,

A site I want you to visit so you can practice more the vocabulary of the parts of the house. Click on the picture of the house and study the vocabulary, we will use it to describe your houses next class!!!

The link is: http://www.learnenglish.de/vocabulary/rooms.htm

Describing my house!!

Hi everybody,

Today we practiced how to describe the place where you live. Here is a sample of what you can do with the vocabulary you learned. Watch the video and answer the following questions. Get ready to describe your house too!

1. Where does Willy live?
2. How many bedrooms are there in Willy's house?
3. Is there a garden?
4. Are there any bathrooms?
5. How many TVs are there?

Let's practice our pronunciation!!

Hi everybody,

This time I am attaching an address in which you will find a short presentation that will help you review the pronunciation of clothes and their descriptions. I hope you find it interesting. Copy the address below and have fun!!!

http://www.5min.com/Video/Clothes-Vocabulary-and-Pronunciation-82436559

Practicing Yes/No questions

Hello class,
This time I would like you to try an interactive on line game. You have to discover a secret character. In order to do that you have to ask Yes/No questions. I will answer yes or not to each of them and little by little you will get more ideas to discover who the person is. Questions like Is he/she from Colombia? Does he/she sing? Does he/she play a sport?, etc are accepted. So do u think you can guess who the secret character is? Start asking questions!!!

Do you want a grammar explanation?

Hello class,

I know you are very worried about the grammar we sometimes do not explain in class but use everyday. I found a video that might help you to understand that concept of the auxiliaries we use for questions and negative statements. Watch it and post your comments.

Select your outfit!

Hello class,
We need to continue practicing the uses of action words: LIKE - WANT - NEED - HAVE. Here you Will find different outfits for MEN and WOMEN. Take a look at the pictures, see what you like or want and write a short comment describing your outfit.
Bye

WOMEN OUTFITS















MEN OUTFITS

Clothing vocabulary!

Let's start visiting a page which will help you review vocabulary we practiced in class and some new vocabulary too. Copy the following link: http://iteslj.org/v/ei/clothes2.html Then click on start and have fun!!

I have news for you. I've just created a blog for our course. In this blog you are going to have the possibility to practice the topics we are studying in our course. Enjoy it!