New Blog: please visit anytime!

Hi there!

Hope you are all ok. I just dropped by to let you know that I started a new project for students of Básico 1 and 2. Feel free to visit and comment on the new:

English with Laura

Hope you like it!

10 "English things" to do this summer

Are you short of ideas on how to keep you English alive this summer? Here you are a few:

1. Watch short videos and do exercises in Lingual.net and Yolango (you have to sign in for the second one, but it's worth it).

2. Find an exchange to speak and write to. Some possible websites are Shared Talk and My Language Exchange.

3. Do an online course in Livemocha or Mango Languages.

4. Revise English grammar with comics here. Make comics yourself here or here.

5. Are you brave enough? Read and listen to stories here or here.

6. Test and learn vocabulary here: The Internet Picture Dictionary.

7. In the mood for playing? Then try these games at BBC and Wordpower. Play Scrambled Sentences here.

8. Would you like to practice your Writing skills? Try this website to create a fairy tale, make a poem here or visit this site to get general advice on writing, tools and games.

9. Want to go a step further? Learn what Proofreading is here.

10. Finally, why don't you go back and read old posts in this blog? I'm sure you didn't have time to check it all. Scroll down and try clicking on "Older Posts" to access what has been published all year. You can also look for posts in the "Topics" section on the left.

Enjoy your summer and good luck with English.

Love,

Laura

English made special for you

Would you like to get some more practice in American English? Voa News has a section of news that can be read and listened to at the same time- the language they use is "Special English". This section is specially designed for people like us, whose native language is NOT English. Here you have the explanation they give:

"On October 19, 1959, the Voice of America broadcast the first Special English program. It was an experiment. The goal was to communicate by radio in clear and simple English with people whose native language was not English. Special English programs quickly became some of the most popular on VOA. They still are. Special English continues to communicate with people who are not fluent in English. Over the years, its role has expanded. It helps people learn American English while they learn about American life and stay informed about world news and developments in science."

Why not give it a try? Click here to get started.

Hope you like it!

Health Websites

Hi there again!

Do you remember the activities we did last week? You can do some more on the Internet. Try the following websites:

- Click here if you want to access an interactive site for children: you can read about getting ready for hospital, getting treated and getting around. Lots of vocabulary and fun activities!

- A similar interactive site for children here.

- General health vocabulary + images here and here.

- Would you like to have the transcriptions to the words read aloud? Healthy habits read aloud (karaoke style) here.

- An interactive tale about going to the doctor here.

- Conversations at the doctor's here.

- How to make an appointment here.

- A telephone conversation here.

Hope you enjoy!
Take care.

Work on your pronunciation

What? Are you saying that you don't understand the phonetic symbols yet? That you find English pronunciation difficult? That there's no way to guess how to pronounce a word?

No more excuses!

Now you have YAKIToMe! A wonderful site that speaks back to you. All you have to do is:

- register (it's free)
- type (or copy and paste) a text and push the PLAY button.
- or upload a file (doc., pdf., txt.) and push the PLAY button.
- and listen! They will read your text aloud with a nice, understandable pronunciation.

Finally, if you want, you can also convert it into an audio file and take it with you in your mp3 player. Isn't it great?

Hope you make the most of it.

Songs to improve your English

Do you like songs? Do you use them to improve your English?
Here is a site where you have lots of quizzes arranged by levels. Have an example to see if it's useful for you. Select the right word in each question, and finally click on "See how you did" to check your answers. Finally, you can also look at the transcript to read the lyrics of the song.



Enjoy!

The world of Prepositions

Are prepositions a nightmare for you? Never more! I'll try to help you, but you also have to work hard to learn them once and for all.

You can start by reading a general summary here.

IN, ON AT: Are you never sure about how to use IN, ON and AT? Here you have a very good explanation and an exercise. Would you like to try the BBC's Grammar Challenge to see how these prepositions are used to talk about TIME? Then click here.

MOVEMENT: You can read about prepositions of direction here and do an exercise too.

Do some more EXERCISES about prepositions of time and place here. You have more exercises here and here.

GAMES: Listen and pick the right picture in this game. Another game about prepositions here. A very nice interactive game here. Would you like to play basketball and practice your prepositions? Then go to this site to try.

Good luck!

Vaughan TV and radio: your teachers at home

No time to practice English? No opportunities to learn it at home? No teachers available?
Enough!

No more excuses not to learn English: why don't you try Vaughan TV?


Click here and register (you will have to sign up for an account). You'll have access to lots of short English lessons on many different topics and with different teachers.

Remember: you can also try Vaughan Radio.

Both sites are updated on a regular basis. Keep visiting them from time to time!

Hope you have a wonderful Easter holiday. Take care.

Present Perfect Vs. Past Simple

Hello everyone, it's time to revise the verb tenses...

Would you like to listen to the explanations from the BBC? Then visit their Grammar Challenge page here.

If you prefer to read, click here to access a thorough explanation of the Present Perfect.

You can also do exercises here and here.

Enjoy!

Fashion fundamentals

I know you are all looking forward to listening to Kool Keita again. Who is Kool Keita? The stylist we listened to in class the other day! Don't you remember? He spoke about what is HOT and what is not.

Listen again and feel free to explore other videos too. Click on the following links to access them:

- Fashion fundamentals.

- Fashion Dos and Don'ts.

- And your favourite: All about Shoes.

But remember! It's dangerous to become a fashion victim.

Reading is fun

Hello everybody!

With all these exams going on, we sometimes forget to have fun. Why don't you go and check the following websites? They were created for children, but can also be useful for you:

1- Stories for children: you can read and listen to the story at the same time, karaoke-style!

2- Story Place: an interactive site to create your own stories.

3- I'm Reading!: this lovely website has lots and lots of different stories to choose from.

All you have to do is try these stories and feel like a child again.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year presents

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas break.

I would like to give you a couple of presents to start the year:

- The first is a fun website that can help you write stories in English. Click here to access the page: all you have to do is click on a story, follow the instructions and start creating!

- The second is an online game in which you have to find objects for your backpack and words for a secret journal. You will learn English and have fun at the same time!

See you tomorrow...

"Going to" Vs. "Will"

Did you enjoy the BBC's Grammar Challenge last week? Well, you have a new one now. Click here if you want to read their explanation about the difference between GOING TO and WILL.

Click here if you want to listen to the whole programme, and here if you want to do the quizzes they have prepared for you.

Summary: "GOING TO is used to talk about plans that we've decided to do, whereas WILL is used to talk about decisions which we make at the moment of speaking."

WILL is used in other situations too. Would you like to know when? Then come to class next week! See you there...

Talking about the Future: "Going to" and "Present Continuous"

Today we looked at these two forms to talk about the future. Do you remember the basic ideas?

Present Continuous:
- fixed plans and arrangements (on a diary, on your calendar...)

Going to:
- plans that we intend to do / that we decide to do.
- or predictions based on evidence.

For further explanation, please click here to listen to a really nice BBC programme.

1. In the first part of the programme, they explain these general rules.
2. In the second part, they practise them with a foreign student: the teacher tries to arrange an English class with her. Click here to see her diary.

Finally, click here if you want to have a look at a written explanation.

Did you like it? There are more programmes here.

NEW LINKS: Listen, watch videos and practice your pronunciation!

Hello again! Check out these new links:

Click here for some lovely fairy tales: you read the subtitles, listen to the story and you can also watch the pictures!

And don't miss this blog with videos specially designed to learn English.

Practice your pronunciation with games here.

And finally, I know you'll love this: the phonetic alphabet! Go, look at the symbols and listen to the sounds.

Listening links

Listening exercises for all levels.

Interactive fairy tales from all over the world. Choose a story and listen to it while you read the subtitles, karaoke-like.

Modern English for every day situations and at normal conversational speeds. American accents.

Several listening activities for students of English.

A fill-in-the-gaps exercise on Harry Potter’s trailer!

Other movies and video clips

Songs with gaps to fill while you listen.