25-27/03 Monday - Wednesday. Classes 22-23

Hello
I´ve decided to join together two classes Monday and Wednesday.

We learnt this week some vocabulary related to the disasters and accidents (poisoning, drowning, electrocute, plane crash, car accident, etc.).

Aslo we read a text about a pilot who became a hero:
emergency landing
onboard computer
bolt of lightning
hit the plane
freak storm
air traffic control
pour with rain

Practise your listening about "Accidents" here.

Also we learnt a new grammar point - Past Perfect.
We form it with the verb "had" + Past Participle and we use to denote one action in the past that happened before another one also in the past:

She had cooked dinner before her husband came home.

Practise Past Perfect using these links:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

Your homework is to do the exercises in the copy and write a story describing an accident you have experienced or seen.

19/03 Wednesday. Class 21

Hello

Today we´ve been pracising Past Continuous while talking about accidents:
Lyn cut her finger while she was chopping carrots.
Bill scalded his hand while he was cooking.

We read a dialogue and learnt some expressions to talk about accidents:

You look awful!
Are you alright?
What happened?
That must have really hurt!
You can say that again!
Oh, you poor thing!
And, as if that wasn´t enough ...

Also we learnt Reflexive pronouns:
myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

We use RP when the object and subject are he same, with preposition "by" to say without help or to emphasise the subject:
She cut herself.
He painted the room by himself.
I made the cake myself.

Practise your grammar with these links:
Link 1
Link 2

We also started talking about accidents and disasters. We learnt some new words:
blast, crash, oil slick, weedkiller, to collide, to perish, missing, I fear...

Your homework is to exercises in the copy and to read the text "The Great Plague".

17/03 Monday. Class 20

Hello!
Today we were practising Past Cont. as well together with Past Simple and another continuous action:
I was reading a book when the lights went out.
I was watching TV while my friend was writing a letter.

You were making stories about natural disaters - earthquake, flood and hurricane:
We were walking across the bridge when suddenly it started to shake.
I was raining heavily, that´s why the river overflew.
We were on the beach when suddenly a strong wind started to blow. etc.

Also we read a detective strory where you had to investigate the murder.
Who killed Miss Taylor? Why?
What was the butler doing in the evening?
What was the housekeeper doing?

Today we revised the parts of the body (neck, eyes, ears, legs, feet, head, hands, hair) etc.
What happened to people?
Ann hurt her back.
Lyn grazed her knee.
Bob scalded his finger. etc


What were they doing when this happened?
Helen was chopping the onion when she cut her finger.

Your homework is to finish the sentences in the copies and to write about an accident that you once experienced using Past Simple and Continuous.

12/03 Wednesday. Class 19

Hello
What were we doing on Wednesday? We were practising Past Cont. You see ...? I´m using Past Cont.!

We listened to some people talking about what they were doing when the lights went out (when there was a blackout):
We were watching TV when the blackout happened.

We were playing a board game using Past Cont.vs Past Simple. If you want to practise more, check these links:
Link 1
Link 2

We did some pronunciation and practised sounds /a:/ and /a/:
sound /a:/ (long): heart, aunt, laugh, park, car; link
sound /a/ (short): but, bus, Monday, come; link

Your homework is to do the exercises in your copies.

10/03 Monday. Class 18

Hello

Today we´ve started a new topis "Nature attacks". We learnt some new words related to natural disasters (a fire, an earthquake, a flood, a volcanic eruption, a hurricane etc.). 

Also we learnt some expressions to describe these disasters (to shake, to wobble, to blow away, to overflow, to spread, thick smoke, strong winds, heavy rains, flames, lava etc.).

If you want to practise the vocabulary, click on this link here.

Watch the video and learn new vocabulary: Video 

Also we got to know a new grammar item - Past Continuous.
We form Past Cont. with the help of "to be":
was
were         +          Verb-ing

I was watching TV yesterday in the evening.
We were playing basketball at 6 p.m.

We use it to emphasize the action in duration in the past (it not only happened in the past, but it lasted for some time).

Very often Past Cont. is used with Past Simple, when one action in the past interrupts another one in duration:
I was cooking dinner when the telephone rang.

Also we can have two continuous actions happening at the same time:
I was reading a book while my mother was cooking dinner.

Here´s the list of exercises to practise Past Cont. - link.

Your homework is to do the exercises in your copies.

05/03 Wednesday. Class 17

Hello!

Today we´ve been revising all the material and practising different types of future.
After that we wrote a test.

 How to improve listening skills?
Only by ... LISTENING!!!
My advice: do a little bit of listening EVERY DAY. Start with simple, short exercises.

In order to practise a little bit of listening visit the link, choose any listening task you like and practise:
Listening Activities List

Also here´s a link for Video Lessons, where you can watch, listen and if necessary see the subtitles while people´re speaking:
Video Lessons

Here´s one more link of the Elementary podcast (small radio programme) with lots of exercises to do online. There are a lot of programmes, so that you can listen to them and practise every day.

Also have a look at one more link - there are three lists of listening activities, you choose "Easy". There are also exercises to them and transcripts to read if you can´t understand.
Cyber Listening Lab

Hope you´ll find these links useful!
Remember: listen to at least one exercise EVERY DAY!

Next class we´re going to start a new topic.
Your homework is to read the text, to work with the highlighted words and fill in the gaps.

03/03 Monday. Class 16

Hello
Today we were talking about MONEY, a good topic, isn´t it?
We learnt a lot of useful words and expressions (to lend, to borrow, to earn, to win, to cash, to change) etc.:
Will you borrow me $2 for the bus?
I don´t like to lend money to people, ´cause they never pay back!
How much do you earn?
Have you ever won a lottery?

Also we learnt some specific words related to money (cash, currency, credit card, salary, wages, allowance). Remember: we say "to pay in cash, but by credit card".

We read a text "Shop ´til you drop" and found out who shopaholics are, also we learnt some new words: to regret, to waste, to blow one´s salary, finances, purchases, slightly etc.

Do you like shopping?
Are you shopaholic?
Do you usually waste your money on stupid things?
Can you blow all your salary in one go?
Do you pay in cash or by credit card?

We also listened to several people talking about their shopping habits. Listen to it again here and do the online activities.

shopping for food
wacky and weird food
girls stuff
DIY (do it yourself) things
outfit=clothes

For some more practice chech these links:
Listening 1
Listening 2
Listening 3
Listening 4

Your homework is to revise all the vocabulary and grammar and to prepare for the test.