11 April 2024

B1. 2 Unit 8: Art. The passive voice

 IDENTIFY THE ARTIST. AND PIECE OF ART.



  





      

1. Are you interested in art? Why or why not?
2. Do you have a favourite piece of art or a favourite artist? Are there any famous artists from your country?
3. Do you have any art in your house?
4. What is the art scene like where you live? Where are the best places to see art in your city/country?
5. Which country do you think is the most creative for art?
6. How often do you go to museums? What's the best museum you've visited? What are some famous museums you'd like to visit? Why?
7. Is it expensive to visit museums? Should museums be free?
8. Should governments spend people's taxes on the arts or on maintaining museums? Why or why not?
9. Did you like drawing when you were a kid? 
1. Are you interested in art? Why or why not?

___________________________________________
. Art Conversation Questions

1. What is the purpose of art in your opinion? Does art change the way you think or feel? How?
2. Do you think art is pretentious in any way? Can it be intimidating to people?
3. Do you think that art is important to society? Why or why not?
4. Do you like modern art? Why or why not? What is the difference between modern art and earlier art forms?
5. Is modern art really art? Is it important? Do you understand it? Do you appreciate modern art
more when you understand the meaning behind it?
6. Why is art so expensive? Why do some people pay millions of dollars for a piece of art?
7. Is graffiti art? When does graffiti stop being art and becomes vandalism?
8. How do you think artistic styles will change in the future? What forms of art will be popular?

 





👉LISTENING: JCLM extraordinaria 2022. LIFE OF VINCENT VAN GOGH EXAM PRACTICE



Rules: GRAMMAR POINT

Passive practice game


Writing for next week: page 95 ex7. Write a short story.


10 April 2024

C1 __10A I really wish I´d be on time: Learn to give a presentation or speech



________________________________________________

👉1. SPEAKING AND VOCABULARY: Communication verbs.

c. Think about these questions:
  • What makes a good presentation? 
  • What kinds of things can go wrong?
d. e. f. Do the rest of the exercise and check below.

Key: e.   1  present    2 demonstrate   3 address    4 move on to   5  go into   6 illustrate    7 make

         f.  a. 1 demonstrated   2 address  3 move on to   4 made   5presented   6 illustrate   7 go into
             b. 1c   2h   3g    4b  5f    6a  7e    8d



________________________________________________
👉2. READING

a. Read the introduction of the reading on page 117, TED and the first part of How to Give a Killer Presentation. Then answer the questions.

b.Read Chris Anderson´s advice on giving presentations. Match the headings you´ll find in the exercise with the correct advice.


c. Read the advice again and do the exercise. Check it in the link below.
👀Key


d. Which piece of  Chris Anderson´s advice do you think is the most relevant for you? Why? 

Original listening here: 
________________________________________________

👉LISTENING
Have a look at the TED talk you were reading before.







👉Answer the questions while you watch the TED (without subtitles). Afterwards, check the answers by reading the subtitles and listening at the same time.


1. Why can wild animals migrate out of the park freely?
2. Why did Richard Turere grow up hating lions?
3. Who are the morans?
4. What was Richard´s first idea to protect his animals?
5. What did he prove to be effective in protecting them?
6. What´s his big dream?
7. Does he hate lions at the moment?


👉Were you as impressed with Richard´s speech as Chris Anderson was?

________________________________________________

Page 118
👉3. LISTENING 

a. Think about this question:  Would you feel more comfortable doing a presentation for work/school/university or a speech for a relative/friend´s birthday/ anniversary/wedding?

b. Listen twice to three people talking about giving a speech or presentation. Answer the questions in b and write your impressions about the questions in part c. of the exercise.
   🔊Track 4.40
👀 Key

d. Language in context: Idioms: Plans into action.
1. Complete the idioms in bold with the words in the box. Then listen and check.
  🔊 Track 4.41
2. Match the idioms in 1 with their meanings. Check below. 
key:  a4     b7     c3     d8      e1      f5      g6     h2

Script page 188.


👉 4. REGRETS AND CRITICISM STRUCTURES

VIDEO EXPLANATION


                       






 👉  










B1 Practice for the exam

Listening
http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part2.htm
http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part3.htm
http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part4.htm

Reading
http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading4.html
http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading2.htm

9 April 2024

C1 Writing a report



How to write a report and examples :  




https://www.rubenvalero.com/learningenglish/c1-advanced-cae/writing-cae-c1/cae-report/




Read some very good reports other students have written. This will help you when you write one.
Report on a three-day visit for foreign students
Introduction
After undertaking an institutional advertising campaign in foreign countries to divulge the advantages of learning in León, the council team has organised a three-day visit for foreign students in which high quality of teaching as well as cultural and nature opportunities must be reflected.
The aim of this report is to propose the content of the stay in order to persuade visitors that our small and friendly historic town is the best place to attend prestigious Spanish language courses and enjoy a once-in-a-life-time experience.
Range of sites visited
Although three days is a short period of time, it should be enough to show the university facilities where courses are held, the possibilities to do adventure and winter sports as well as our impressive cultural heritage by means of guided visits to most of the historical museums and monuments including the famous Cathedral and San Marcos Palace among others. Noteworthy facts will be explained, such as that of UNESCO acknowledging the first sample of modern parliamentarism in the history of Western Europe in 1188 and, according to some documents recently discovered, an ancient exposed chalice in the Basilica of San Isidoro might even be the Holy Grail.
Refreshment
Obviously, the itinerary will be mainly focused on cultural aspects but it also must make the most of traditional food, another important point when visiting a foreign country. Due to the generous municipal budget destined to this event, meals in the afternoons and tapas (a free bite to eat with drinks) in the evenings will be organized in typical places in order to do some gastronomic tourism.
Transport
This point will be solved by hiring a courtesy coach company to pick up the students from the airport the first day, travel to the surroundings when necessary and drop them off there at the departure time. Since the visitors will be accommodated at a downtown hotel with all the city services within just a few minutes' walk, this assistance will not be necessary the rest of the time.
Conclusion
The main reason for which foreign students choose León to learn Spanish language is the enormous prestige of the courses offered. However, due to the strong competition in this realm, this recognition gained throughout years with a considerable effort might unfortunately not be enough to attract so many students in the future.

I would suggest the measures mentioned above as the most effective in order to organise an appropriate three-day visit which helps to increase the number of attendees in the coming years.
Alberto Retuerta Corona.


Three-day tourist itinerary
Introduction
This report is aimed at analysing both the positive and negative aspects related to the three-day tourist itinerary for Oxford University student groups that came to visit Spain last year. The facts reported are based on the students’ experience and feedback. By making recommendations for improvement, it is intended to upgrade next year’s itinerary.
Range of places to visit
Whereas some students said to be satisfied with the wide range of places visited, we must report that most of them complained about the short time they could spend on sightseeing. The majority of the students claimed that looking around five big cities in just three days had not been very convenient.
Means of Transport
Transport was highly rated. Nearly all the students agreed on the bus as being good value for money as well as a time-saving mean of transport. However, it was seen as a real inconvenience that the bus was devoid of free Wi-Fi-connection. It was stated that had the bus had an Internet connection, the time spent on the bus would have been much fun.
Tour guides availability
Tour guide issues were also raised. All the students complained about wasting time waiting for a tour guide to get available. All the same, the advanced ones judged positively that the tour guides did only speak in Spanish. However, not all the undergraduates had a good level of competence in Spanish.
Recommendations
For years to come, under no circumstances would we recommend going to more than one city per day. By reducing the number of cities to look around, the students would avail themselves of enough time to make the most of the places visited. Additionally, we suggest the tour guides be booked in advance to avoid delays and those students with a lower level of competence in Spanish be provided with translation equipment during the tour.

Diana Barredo Blanco

Introduction 
The aim of this report is to describe and evaluate the three-day trip to Brighton. It is based on views expressed by previous groups and on the information available on the Brighton Tourist Office´s website. The three key issues to be addressed are the sites visited, the transport and the accommodation.
 Sites visited.
 Brighton has a wide range of interesting monuments and tourist attractions. In the first place, it seems to be a great idea to visit the Royal Pavilion. This Palace, which was built on the XVIII century, and its gardens look aesthetically pleasing and absolutely gorgeous. Additionally, its entry is only 6.00 pounds. Other fascinating places to visit are the Brighton Pier and the beach. And, finally, according to previous students, it seems to be interesting to go to Brighton Dome and see a play, although it could exceed the budget. 
The transport. 
There are two options to travel there. The first one is travelling by airplane from Madrid to London, and then get a bus from there to Brighton. The other option is to land directly on Gatwick airport. This one is the most comfortable and quickest way, but it is also much more expensive, so it should be considered the cheapest way because the travellers are students.
 Accommodation. 
In the words of previous travellers, it may be a good choice to stay in host families. It tends to be a more rewarding experience. Curiously, students learn more about the culture of the city and they make new friends. So, it is recommended that option instead of staying in a hotel. 
Conclusion
On balance, Brighton seems to be a fascinating city to visit. There are a lot of amazing and absorbing places, moreover students could discover a different culture, live new experiences and also improve their English. 
Cristina Siguero

B1.2 That´s English! Unit 7 Body language

FIRST IMPRESSIONS  Don't judge a book by its cover

💬

  1. - What is the meaning of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”?
  2. - Are you guilty of judging a book by its cover?
  3. - When you look at someone, what makes you think they are…(intelligent/greedy / kind / crazy/dangerous)
  4. - What was your first impression of your partner?
  5. - Have you met someone who you hated right away even though you didn’t know them?
  6.  - When are the most important times to make a good first impression?
  7. - What are the best ways to make a good first impression?
  8. - Do you make first impressions based on what people wear?
  9. - What kind of impression are you trying to make with your clothes?
  10. - Do you try to make a different first impression now than you did in high school?
  11. -What impression do you think is important to make at work? What do you do to create this impression of yourself? 
  12. In which jobs do people have to make very quick decisions based on first impressions?
  13. ex 4. page 70 
_________________________________________________________________

👉Asking for and giving opinions.

page 71. Ex 7-8.

_________________________________________________________

 Expressions to talk about body language.

 Which of these gestures communicate a positive or negative message to you and why? What could they tell about a person?


                               


 Staring          Shrugging shoulders      Chewing with an open mouth  

Crossing arms     Snapping fingers     Burping        Rolling eyes        Touching others a lot

Slouching                  Yawning 


                                     


    Follow-up questions

1. Why is body language important?
2. Have you ever changed your mind about someone after a negative/positive first impression?
3. Are you good at reading people?
4. What body language do you find irritating/ threatening?
5. Is body language universal?
6. Are you aware of your body language?
7. Can you tell someone’s personality by their handshake?
8. How do you feel when people avoid eye contact?
9. Do you get annoyed when people yawn during a conversation?
10. Do you think other cultures should adapt their body language to the locals' customs? 

_____________________________________________________________

page 73. ex6.

  1. What places do families spend time at in Spain?
  2. Are there any traditions or customs at these places?
  3. What is the "normal" way of behaving?

BODY LANGUAGE QUIZ

_______________________________________________________

👉HOMEWORK PAGE 87, EX 6. Write a short post (125 words) for the school blog about how spending less time with technology can help us reach our creative potential.


✋I will deliver this week's corrected essays next week. Sorry for the inconvenience.