A minute and a half is enough to know what important things you can do when visiting this amazing city. Listen to the Podcast and then answer the questions.
1.- What are some of the reasons for tourists to visit London every year? (Give at least one) 2.- Where would you go if you enjoyed shopping? 3.- Which two museums are mentioned in the Podcast? 4.- What is a nice way to end your day London?
Answers:
1.- Monuments, parks and sights (which have appeared in many books, movies and songs). Extensive and unique culture. Colourful and diverse citizens.
2.- Oxford Street.
3.- Tate Modern Museum and The British Museum.
4.- Drink a pint at a local pub.
Transcript:
London is certainly one of the most iconic cities in the world. Its monuments, parks and sights have appeared within so many books, movies and songs. Its citizens are famously colorful and diverse, and its culture is extensive and unique.
For the above reasons (and more), millions of tourists visit this beautiful English city every year. This is a big metropolis, so a couple of days are certainly not going to be enough for you to get a full picture of this city, but even this short time frame is going to be enough for you to enjoy some great sights.
If you enjoy shopping, take a stroll down Oxford Street and enjoy the many fashion stores. If you want to see the green areas the city has to offer, a visit to Hyde Park is a beautiful “must do”. Art and history fans will enjoy a visit to the Tate Modern Museum and The British Museum, which are also free!
Finally, why not end your day with a nice pint of beer at a local pub? In perfect British style, there are many pubs serving great ales and amazing food, including an English favorite, fish and chips!
Did you enjoy last weeks sing-along activity to improve your listening skills? I'm sure you did.
Well, what about kicking it up a notch? Have a look at the web site LyricsTraining.com where you can watch, sing and play fill in the gaps games in different levels with the most popular songs.
You don't need to register, but if you do, you will also keep track of your scores and compare them with other people's.
If you don't, simply search for a song you'll like to listen to and then choose the level you want to play in. It's really easy!
Do you have a minute? Have a look at this incredible event that took place in Toronto Zoo! Isn't it awesome and cute? :) Check your listening level and then answer the questions(you will also find the answers and transcript at the end, in case you need help to understand some of the words)
Giant Panda has Twins
When were the last baby pandas born in Canada before the twins? How long before the second baby panda was born after his twin brother? Where are the pandas actually from?
Answers:
1.- 2013
2.- They were born 13 minutes apart.
3.- China, they are on loan in Canada for a breeding program.
Transcript:
A giant panda is seen here giving birth to one of
her twin cubs in Toronto Zoo – the first baby pandas born in Canada
since 2013. The panda, called Er Shun, delivered the cubs 13 minutes apart and they will now be cared for in a maternity area of the giant panda house for several months.
Er Shun and her zoo partner Da Mao are on loan from China for 10 years as part of a long-term breeding program.
Difficult words: cub (a young panda), several (a few), breeding (when animals produce babies).
Wanna learn a little bit more about continents and countries in the world? Here you have some interactive fun activities to improve the vocabulary we have been studying in class.
Continents and languages:
Countries and Culture:
Countries and Capitals:
One of the best ways to learn English is sometimes to forget about grammar, vocabulary and other million things, and simply enjoy the language... and let it go ;)
That's why I want you to go to Youtube and find a song that you like. Write "sing-along" next to the title and prepare to sing your favourite song! You will learn vocabulary and improve your pronunciation without too much effort.
So here you have one of those beautiful songs to enjoy your weekend and, as I said before, let it go!
What is the song about? Have you learnt any new words? Let me know!
Hello!
Every week I'll try and post a piece of news with some exercises. This week it's a reading.
Read the text once and do the synonym exercise after the article (The answers are at the bottom of the post)
Jobless Young People a Big Problem
A new report says the number of young people without a job is still very high in many countries. There are currently 73 million people around the world aged 15-24 who want to work but cannot find a job. The International Labour Organization (ILO) said that although youth unemployment is coming down in rich countries, it is rising in most of Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Brazil. The youth unemployment rate in China increased from 9.3 per cent in 2010 to 10.6 per cent last year. Economists say it will be 11.1 per cent in 2016. In Brazil, the figure for youth unemployment was 14 per cent at the beginning of this year, but is now almost 16 per cent. The ILO warns that youth employment worldwide is set to rise.
The ILO said it is difficult for many young people who are looking for work. It said: "It's still not easy to be young and starting out in today's labour market." It is particularly bad for many young women. The highest rate of youth unemployment around the world is for women in the Middle East and North Africa. This figure is around 45 per cent. There are many reasons for the gloomy figures for youth unemployment. One major factor is the global financial collapse of 2008. Many countries have still not recovered from that. The ILO says youth unemployment is not just important for a country's economy. It also affects health, social unrest and levels of people's happiness.
1. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.
1.
young people
a.
number
2
currently
b.
increase
3.
coming down
c.
beginning
4.
figure
d.
problematic
5.
rise
e.
presently
6.
difficult
f.
dark
7.
starting out
g.
youth
8.
particularly
h.
hurts
9.
gloomy
i.
falling
10.
affects
j.
especially
Read the text again, and as many times as you need, to do the following exercises:
2. TRUE / FALSE:
a.
There is a total of 73 million people in the world without a job.
T / F
b.
The number of unemployed young people in rich countries is falling.
T / F
c.
Youth unemployment in China has gone up since 2010.
T / F
d.
A labour organization (the ILO) said youth unemployment is set to fall.
T / F
3. ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:
1.
What market is it difficult for young people to start out in?
2.
Who is youth unemployment particularly bad for?
3.
Where is there a youth unemployment rate of 45%?
4.
What happened in 2008 to create unemployment problems?
It is sometimes difficult to find some extra listening material. Fortunately, nowadays we can use different tools to solve this problem.
This is an example of a podcast, a very useful resource for those of us who want to improve our listening skills. There are many podcast websites where you can learn English or, as a teacher, use them for listening excersises in class. But not all of them are easy to embed on your blog. My advice is to use Ivoox.com if that's what you want to do. Apart from being easy to embed, there are also many podcasts from different websites. You simply search the type of audio you are looking for and choose among the results.
In this particular one we can also have access to some extra material by visiting the BBC Learning English site, where you will find the vocabulary used in the audio as well as a transcript.
If you find yourself wanting something more difficult, an advanced level, you can also listen to Online Radio Stations, where the English is more everyday like and casual.
As I already mentioned in previous posts, everything internet related, IT, social networks and so on, help us get closer to our students, as well as giving them some freedom to study on their own. Today I would like to show you a couple of 2.0. Tools, both useful in class and at home: Eskola 2.0. and Agrega.
Students can be totally independent with this interactive learning tool, but I think it's important to show them how it works the first time, just in case. You can spend one class showing them the fun side of these activities and encourage them to use them at home.
Eskola 2.0.
In this case I find that the teacher's supervision is necessary. Have a look at this site: Theft at the British Museum
All these sites follow the same structure. They choose a topic and let the students look into it by using the internet, readings that the sites provide or even doing some field research. Learners need to reach their goal of a final project by carrying out all the previous activities. It is meant to be group work, it doesn't really work individually, that's why it's mostly useful in class hours. The level of this project also suggests that should be useful in the last levels such as DBH 3 or 4.
Do you know any other 2.0. learning Tools? Let me know! :)
Speaking about ourselves and our family is one of the first things we learn when studying a second language. By DBH1 most students are already familiar with some of this vocabulary, that is why we can make this activity a little bit more fun by turning it into an speaking and try to know better your students.
- Ask students to bring a photo (or more than one) of their family for the next class. They can bring them printed or on a flash drive (depends on the school facilities).
- In the next class, show them pictures of your family first. Introduce the different members of the family, answer questions and write the words on the blackboard. Or, if you prefer, you can show them this video:
- Hand them this family tree worksheet. Tell them to fill in as many blanks as they can with their family members' names and their relationship with them.
- Ask if anyone wants to show the rest of the class the pictures of their family. Encourage them, but make it totally voluntary. Let the ones that want to introduce their families do it with the help of the family tree worksheet and ask questions about the pictures and family members (classmates should can also ask questions).
That's all! Hope this activity works as good as it usully does in my classes. Please, make any suggestion you find necessary.
Irregular verbs are sometimes difficult to learn, that's why using an interactive activity such as this verb wheel can make the task a lot easier. Spin the wheel and learn the different forms or simply use it for revision.
