17/12/13

Today we looked at formal/informal equivalences (from the homework) and some additional everyday expressions. We also discussed points raised in 2.5 exercise 3.

It Might As Well Be You - by Del Amitri

12/11/13

After going through what we found in the audioscript (2.3), we talked about talent, nature v nurture, etc,and watched a short video (2.4) We then listened to a speaker in a debate and read an opinion summary

Tues 10/12/13

Today we finished off the infinitive/gerund structures (p24), then looked at some idioms of opinion (p26) and began looking at phrases for introducing opinions (Lstg p 27).

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a beautiful picture that I want to share with you: Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados, directed by David Trueba. Its title is taken from The Beatles' well known song Strawberry fields forever (in a verse Lennon sings "...living is easy with eyes closed..."). The film is about a teacher of English in the Spain of the sixties who loves the music of "The fab four". When this man gets to know that John Lennon is making a film in Almería as an actor, he decides to visit him. In his long and apparently foolish way to the South, he meets two teenagers who are in a complicated crossroad of their lives. Each of them will help the others in different ways. This a road movie that tells a thrilling story of love and friendship. A must-see film.

Personal profile

My name is Ruth. I was born in a village and when I was sixteen I came to live with my parents and my siblings to Santander.
I love foreign languages, in fact, I really love English. This year I am working to achieve one of my goals: to learn how to learn phrasal verbs and, actually, learning any tips, if there are any, to remember them and use them in habitual English dialogues.
I am glad to be in "Towards C1" because I am sure I am going to learn new things, enjoy it a lot and share time practising English with other colleagues.
Two years ago, I participated in a very interesting course that lasted a year, with several useful activities, one of which involved total inmersión and to take  lessons in English for two weeks. It was, really, an unforgettable experience for me since I had never studied English abroad before.
Unbelievably,, though, I have been practising English with a Dutch friend for many years!
In my leisure time, I like reading novels, trekking across the mountains, watching English programmes on TV, meeting my friends and staying at home doing nothing in particular.
As far as work is concerned, I teach in kindergarten and with my lovely five-year-old pupils, it is truly impossible not only to maintain my level of English but also to improve it.
I hope I will get it this course.

Hi mates,

My name is Diego and, like the rest of students of this course, I am a teacher. I work as a tutor in a Primary School called C.P. Ramón Pelayo, in Santander, which is involved in the Bilingual Program. Previously, I taught for more than twenty years in different schools in Cantabria.  I've been studying English since I was a child but I realize that I must improve quite a lot in order to be able to speak more fluently and understand oral language much better. My interest in English is due to personal and professional reasons. I've made up my mind to make the most of this opportunity and therefore I will try to study as much as possible during the classes and at home as well, although it's not an easy task to focus my attention on a subject after a wearying day's work with children.

I like sports (more doing them than watching games on TV; for instance I play football once a week), reading -at this very moment I'm finishing The book of illusions, an astonishing novel by Paul Auster- and travelling. As I understand that these hobbies are not very original, I will add that I'm keen on paper folding, or in its Japanese name, origami. It's an ancient and extremely refreshing art, and besides which, it's extremely useful with pupils at school.

Tues 3/12

Today we went through the first sheet of alternative conditional forms. We then did some video listening, with attention to typical phrases

Thursday 28/11

Today we did some more work on the metaphors, then discussed "living libraries", including a listening exercise. This led us to some idioms concerning opinions (U2.2). I also gave out a photocopy on conditionals.

Tues 26/11/13

Today we worked on conditionals (hard!) and started looking at metaphors (U2.1 & 2.2)

Thursday 21/11/13

Today we did some speaking practice based on certain expressions and idioms from the book. We then looked at some standard and alternative conditional forms

         Talking about the conditional

Last Thursday, after the class, I came across a sentence with an interesting use of conditional. It belongs to a novel  that I'm currently reading, In the Country of Last Things, by Paul Auster. It's a book worth reading (you can find it in the E.O.I. Library). This is the quotation:

"I had no friends, no one to talk to, no one to share a meal with. If not for the picture of Sam, I don't think I would have made it. Just knowing that he was in the city gave something to hope for."

Tues 19/11

Today we did a cloze test and some speaking to look at "false friends" in the area of Higher Education. We then started Unit 2 in the book, discussing "words of wisdom" (BTW, anybody recognise the quote?)

My profile

Hi everybody! My name is Margari. I'm from Santander and I've lived here nearly all my life. I say nearly, because in 1997 I moved to Holland where I lived for eight years. It was a great experience and I still have very good memories from that period.

As to my profession, I am an infant and primary school teacher and I love it. I got my degree in English and Spanish in 1980 and though it seems to me as it was yesterday, the truth is that thirty three years have already gone by.

At first, I was involved in vocational training, working at Decroly (a public vocational institute in Santander) for seventeen years. That is a long time so as you can imagine, most of my friends come from that period. Then life took me to Amsterdam where I worked as a free-lance teacher for various Dutch organizations, teaching Spanish.

In 2006, I was lucky enough to pass the state exams to become a civil servant. Since then, I've been working at Doctor Madrazo School in Vega de Pas, where I teach English to children from 3 to 12 years old. I would like to stay there for two or three more years and then my preference would be to find a nice school near where I live. Vega de Pas is too far away! Fortunately, I needn't drive every single day because I carpool with four other colleagues but it's still a long journey!

I'm doing this C1 course so that I can improve my oral skills. My English is a bit rusty at the moment so I hope to widen my vocabulary and get back the fluency I once had.

I'm looking forward to taking part in this course. Enjoy learning, which is also my goal!

MY PERSONAL PROFILE.

 Hello to anyone who is reading this.

My name is Mar Montes. I’m from Aguilar de Campoo, which is in Palencia, but I’ve been living in Cantabria for the last thirty years. I studied, found a job, bought a house and my children were born here.

When I was at school I studied French because everybody did that in those years, but I was always sure that English would be the language of the future so, when I started my degree to work as a teacher, I enrolled in the group studying to be an English teacher.

When I finished my studies I lived in England for a year as an au-pair girl. Once I came back, I became a civil servant after working in a private school for three months and after studying a lot to pass the usual exams.

I’m really happy teaching English but each year I experience a bigger gap between the children and me. I feel they’re used to learning in a different way. Although I try to learn to use new technologies in my lessons I find it extremely difficult because it changes faster than my capacity to learn.

In my free time I like to be with my two children, my husband, with my dogs, my relatives and my friends.  I love dancing, travelling and trekking. I try to travel abroad at least once a year and to spend as much time as I can outside my house and my village, but if I have to stay in I never feel bored because I always have many different things to do.

That’s a bit about me, thanks for paying attention to my essay.

October 2013.

Thurs 14/11

Today we looked at a whole lot of vocabulary - words , phrases and typical collocations - to talk about education.

Tues 12/11

Today we did some video and audio listening; we also did the preparation for a piece of writing for homework

Achmed

Thanks to Alejandro for this:

Tues 5/11/13

Today being Guy Fawkes night, we looked at vocab to do with fire. We then did a listening in section 1.3 and looked briefly at "vague language" and "language of speculation"

My thoughts exactly, Mr Floyd...

Thursday 31/10

Today we managed to ignore Hallowe'en completely!! Instead we analysed our personality using the supposedly-scientific Myers-Briggs Test, doing a bit of listening practice on the way.

Yorkshire - the (third) best place on Earth

As a Yorkshireman - from next door to Sheffield - I couldn't help posting this article. To help you understand it, Yorkshire is the White Rose county, our historical enemy being our neighbours Lancashire (of the Red Rose).
As you'll gather, we're known for being blunt (sometimes to the point of rudeness), tight-fisted and rather full of ourselves...
Here's the link:
What's so great about Yorkshire?

Tuesday 29/10

Today we looked at a whole bunch of noun idioms to describe types of people, plus how to qualify them ("a bit of a...", etc). We also practised "habitual behaviour" language via the game "Call My Bluff"

Tues 22/10/13

Hi. Today we looked at some idioms describing people and practised with the personality adjectives. We also looked at ways of expressing typical, habitual behaviour in the past and present. All from U1.2 of the book

Here's that rant on baby names. I'm also adding the same guy on being a successful baby (?!)

 

Thursday 17th Oct

Today we went through the "Lead-in" exercises, prepared for the Writing homework (see Homework page), then started at looking at personality adjectives (yes, that old chestnut!)

I've invited 4 people to be authors: let me know if you have any difficulties.

Tues 15/10/13

Today we looked some more at the topic of names. We reviewed the use of continuous versus simple forms, and we listened to/talked about the topic of how your birth order affects your personality

WELCOME!

Hi everyone, and welcome to the blog!

Its main function will be to share stuff, and I hope everyone will get involved and post whatever they feel like sharing. I'll also post the homework on here (on a separate page) in case anyone missed a class.

I'm afraid I'm not the most techno-savvy person in the world, but I'll do my best - and any suggestions, tips, etc, will be gladly received.

See you!