jueves, 28 de octubre de 2010

It's Halloween!

Next 31st October people around the world celebrate a popular festivity known as HALLOWEEN...
Would you like to know more about it?
Read about the origins and other curiosities around this popular festivity: Halloween history
Once read, try to answer the questions in this WEBQUEST
Do you want to know where the tradition comes from? It's a celtic tradition in fact
Read MORE 
Work with this SONG, a very suitable one by Michael Jackson!

martes, 26 de octubre de 2010

FUTURE

There are many ways of expressing Future in English, which can be a little confusing. Let's read some notes on that and try to make it clearer.
WILL
  • It is used to talk about a future fact.
            Ex. He'll be 18 next month
  •  We also use WILL to make predictions. It is often preceeded by opinion verbs or connectors( I think / I hope/ I imagine/ Perhaps/ It's possible...) and followed by a time expression
             Ex. I think it'll rain tomorrow. Perhaps she'll be late
  •  It also express an intention made at the moment of speaking
             Ex. It's very hot. I'll take off my coat.

GOING TO
  • It is commonly used for predictions when there is evidence that something is going to happen.
           Ex. I haven't studied for today's exam. I'm going to fail.
  • It is also used for future intentions, when a decision has already been made.
           Ex. When I finish Batxillerat I'm going to go to university.

PRESENT SIMPLE
  • It is used to tals about timetables, itineraries... that is, fute events that we cannot control
            Ex. The bell rings at 8 o'clock every morning or The plane for Paris leaves at 9.30

PRESENT CONTINUOUS
  • It is used to talk about future arrangements (intentions that involve organisation like writing down in a diary ofr not forgetting something)
            Ex. I'm having vegetables for lunch everyday (the doctor told me to do so if I wanted to lose   weight)

FUTURE CONTINUOUS
  • It is used to describe a situation in the future ata a particular time
           Ex. This time next month I'll be eating lunch on the plane on my way to London.
  • It is also used to predict a future state or habit at a particular time in the future.
           Ex. In two years time I expect I'll be living in Barcelona and I'll be cycling all around the city.

FUTURE PERFECT
  • It is used to talk about an action that will be completed before an specific time in the future. The Future Perfect looks back from a point in the future and refers to an indefinite time up to that point.
           Ex. By the time we get there, the film will have started. 
                 When we get there we can say: The film has started

For practising with FUTURE TENSE: Activity 1, Activity 2, Activity 3, Activity 4, Activity 5, Activity 6, Activity 7, Activity 8, Activity 9
Grammar CHARTS

miércoles, 20 de octubre de 2010

CARBON FOOTPRINT

After the first approach to the term CARBON FOOTPRINT, I encourage you to read a little bit more on it so you can be "greener". Read it here

jueves, 14 de octubre de 2010

USED TO / WOULD

 This is the difference between 'would' and 'used to' -
We only use 'would' to describe actions or situations that were repeated again and again and again...
But we use 'used to' for any extended action or situation in the past.

'Would' is only good for actions or situations that were repeated many times;
'Used to' is good for any action or situation that continued for a period of time in the past, including repeated actions or situations. Read more...

Exercise 1- used to vs would
Exercise 2 - used to vs would

domingo, 10 de octubre de 2010

CURIOSITY: Origin of the names of the days

Do you know where the names of the days of the week come from?

Sunday
The name comes from the Latin dies solis, meaning "sun's day": the name of a pagan Roman holiday. It is also called Dominica (Latin), the Day of God. The Romance languages, languages derived from the ancient Latin language (such as French, Spanish, and Italian), retain the root.
French: dimanche; Italian: domenica; Spanish: domingo
German: Sonntag; Dutch: zondag. [both: 'sun-day']
Monday
The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon monandaeg, "the moon's day". This second day was sacred to the goddess of the moon.
French: lundi; Italian: lunedi. Spanish: lunes. [from Luna, "Moon"]
German: Montag; Dutch: maandag. [both: 'moon-day']
Tuesday
This day was named after the Norse god Tyr. The Romans named this day after their war-god Mars: dies Martis.
French: mardi; Italian: martedi; Spanish: martes.
The Germans call Dienstag (meaning "Assembly Day"), in The Netherlands it is known as dinsdag, in Danmark as tirsdag and in Sweden tisdag.
Wednesday
The day named to honor Wodan (Odin).
The Romans called it dies Mercurii, after their god Mercury.
French: mercredi; Italian: mercoledi; Spanish: miércoles.
German: Mittwoch; Dutch: woensdag.
Thursday
The day named after the Norse god Thor. In the Norse languages this day is called Torsdag.
The Romans named this day dies Jovis ("Jove's Day"), after Jove or Jupiter, their most important god.
French: jeudi; Italian: giovedi; Spanish: jueves.
German: Donnerstag; Dutch: donderdag.
Friday
The day in honor of the Norse goddess Frigg.
In Old High German this day was called frigedag.
To the Romans this day was sacred to the goddess Venus, and was known as dies veneris.
French: vendredi; Italian: venerdi; Spanish: viernes.
German: Freitag ; Dutch: vrijdag.
Saturday
This day was called dies Saturni, "Saturn's Day", by the ancient Romans in honor of Saturn. In Anglo-Saxon: sater daeg.
French: samedi; Italian: sabato; Spanish: sábádo.
German: Samstag; Dutch: zaterdag.
Swedish: Lördag; and in Danish and Norse: Lørdag ("washing day").