Hello bloggers,
Here is some help to practice for the oral interaction test that will be held in the near future. Remember you need a partner for this activity (In pairs)It is a good idea to decide on it now.

You will speak about a topic chosen at random for a minimum of 5 mins.
Giving your opinionGiving your opinion neutrally

"I think…."


"I feel that…."


"In my opinion…."


"As far as I'm concerned…."


"As I see it…."


"In my view…"

Giving a strong opinion

"I'm absolutely convinced that…."


"I'm sure that….."


"I strongly believe that…."


"I have no doubt that…"


ASKING for SOMEONE'S OPINION

"What do you think (about /of X)?"


"What's your view (on)?"


"How do you see the situation (of)?"

Agreeing and disagreeing
Agreeing

"I think you're right."
"I agree with you."


Strong agreement
"I couldn't agree with you more."
"You're absolutely right."
"I agree entirely."
"I totally agree."


Agreeing in part

"I agree with you up to a point, but..."
"That's quite true, but..."
"I agree with you in principle, but..."


Disagreeing

"I'm not sure I agree with you."
"(I'm afraid) I don't agree."
"(I'm afraid) I disagree."
"(I'm afraid) I can't agree with you."
"(I'm afraid) I don't share your opinion."

Note that when you disagree with someone, you can often sound
more polite by using a phrase such as "I'm afraid..."

Disagreeing strongly

"I don't agree at all."
"I totally disagree."
"I couldn't agree with you less."

Keeping a conversation going
Making comments

"No!" - to show surprise
"I don't believe it!" - to show surprise
"Wow!" - to show admiration or surprise
"That's incredible / amazing / unbelievable" - to show great
interest in the subject of conversation
"How awful / terrible" - to show sympathy with someone else's bad
news

Asking questions

"Really?" - to show surprise
"And you?" - when someone asks you how you are
"Did you?" - can be used to encourage someone to tell their story.

For example, "I saw her last night" "Did you?" "Yes, she was with one of her friends, and she

A place to eat

When I was younger, I loved to go out clubbing or to parties. However, in recent years I tend to go out to eat rather than to dance. Santiago has some great restaurants and you can eat out quite cheaply. There are "picadas" like Golfo di Napoli for wonderful pizza or pasta or slightly more expensive places with wonderful International cuisine like Thai House or Olan (Peruvian). I am a Pescatarian, I eat fish and seafood but not meat  (beef, pork, birds, etc.) so that is always a factor when I eat out.

I don’t think I have a favorite kind of food. There are some foods that I do not like much, for example Korean food. I suppose it is because the meat dishes are the specialty. I love very hot food, lots of spices and taste. There is a nice Indian in Santiago. It is a bit pricy but it is really nice.  It is called Rishtedar . Many of the dishes are spicy hot and there is a scale of spiciness from 1 to 6 (from mild to blow-your-head-off). I love spicy food but grade 4 is as hot as I can stand.

I also love places like “el naturista” in the center, where you can enjoy porotos Granados or fantastic quinoa dishes for a very reasonable price.

Write about somewhere you like to eat out.

 Say:

What it’s called,

Where it is,

What it serves,

What you like to eat there.

 

Mention anything else you thing is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Okay Blogheads,


This week you have a free post.



Write 230 words about something you care about, find interesting or like a lot. It could also be something you dislike a lot. From the most simple thing to the most complex. Remember to organize your text. To introduce it and make sure you wrap it up in the final paragraph.



Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Dear all:

Today I’d like to tell you a bit about myself. When I finished school I realized I did not know what to do. So I took a year off and worked to save money. Later I entered translation because I liked languages. I did English and German but right in the middle of it, there was a chance to travel to Germany and work there. So I did. When I got back to Chile I fell into teaching by chance.  Later I got my teaching degree.

I think teachers are a great contribution to society but only if they have a vocation. If not, they may be great researchers or academics, but not teachers. And unfortunately, we have a number of people doing this job for reasons other than vocation. I feel a teacher needs to be alert and attentive to what is happening in the classroom in the whole sense of the word. They also need a lot of patience & knowledge in their area of study. A teacher needs constant training because the world changes, students change, and so does methodology.

I think one of my favorite subjects at Uni was phonetics. I loved the idea of studying & recognizing the English sounds and also to contrast them with the Spanish sounds. I also enjoyed pragmatics.

One professional I admire in my area of study is Rod Ellis. He is very well known in the area of second language acquisition.  He has published a lot of books & I love the way he writes. He has got a very clear way to express his ideas.

Say:

-Why are you studying this career?

- How do professionals in your area contribute to society?

- What tools will a professional in your area need to have in the future?

- What is your favourite subject?

- Include this and more in your answer.

- 130 words minimum. (3 comments to classmates)

Dear strikers,
I hope you are well and actively participating in the strike ;)
Today I'd like you to refer to the following news we have heard from one of the candidates. This relates to the reason you are striking. First of all, I'd like you to write about that.

What are your reasons to go on strike?
What have you obtained from the current strike?
How will this affect your performance and learning in the different subjects?


Later you can evaluate this article (check link below) and let us know what you think.
Please remember to write 200 words minimum and to post 3 comments on different blogs.

News

Today we are going to start taking advantage of the blog as a language learning tool. Many experts who study second language acquisition believe that making learners aware of their mistakes or the mistakes of their peers helps them avoid similar mistakes in the future. Obviously, this is a long process but they believe it is very useful in classroom-based instruction.
Today I would like each of you to choose a blog post from the person whose name is above yours on my link list and correct one of their posts. Things you can check include:



Spelling, punctuation, missing words, extra words that are not needed, wrong words, wrong tense, wrong verb, noun or word forms, etc. Use the symbols I sent you la few weeks ago. Remember?

After that, you should post the original post and your corrected version with the symbols and ( the corrected version in brackets)on your blog. Once you have finished, you should visit www.plataforma.uchile.cl and do the activities for Unit 5.

This week we are taking a look at the TED website: http://www.ted.com/.

You can use subtitles in English, please!

You have to visit it, watch Sir Ken Robinson's talk "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" ,


 and then write a 200- word review on  points he makes that you found more/less interesting.

Of course, 3 comments are always a must.

Thanks in advance!

Dear all,

Today we will do a reflecting task.

I told you about the theory of multiple intelligences because I have to admit I agree with Howard Gardner when he states the traditional idea of intelligence is very limited and the traditional educational models hinder the potential of a lot of children.

I structured my presentation in a way that allowed me to show you the foundation and the main elements of this theory in 3:30 minutes. I also allowed for a short justification of the topic chosen. I think like the idea that Gardner really challenged most experts in cognitive psychology and to a certain extent development. I strongly believe this theory should be applied at elementary school level so all children could develop their strengths and improve their weaknesses.

Today, I’d like you to reflect on your presentations.

Tell us about the topic you  chose.

Why you chose it

How well you think you organized it

 

Anything you would do differently if you did it again.

In roughly mention what is the most interesting part of this theory, author, etc. And why you think it could be interesting for us as an audience.

Write a minimum of 190 words and write 3 comments

City

Today we're going to talk about Santiago. Each and every one of us views the city form a different perspective that depends on many things. For example, I have spent most of my life here but I have had the chance to live in the north of England for some time. I also spent some time in Germany, and have visited a couple of places in Europe.  I have also visited some cities in Latin America and New Zealand. All different places shaped by history, architecture, commerce and people. Regardless of these things, your personal situation and frame of mind can also affect the way you view a city.
 I must say having seen places which seem a lot dirtier and a lot cleaner, I like Santiago city.  I certainly think a number of things could be done to make it a more livable place especially in particular areas, we need more green.  However, I think the center is a nice place because it offers a combination of forms and colours. I dislike the hostile attitude of a number of people but I hope that will change little by little.
  Since in this moment of our lives we spend most our time here, lets express opinions.

Write about your vision of Santiago.

Include the following:

What you like about the Santiago and why,

What you dislike about the city and why,

What changes would make the city a better place,

What tips you would give to a visitor to the city

Write at least 170 words. Leave a message on at least 4 class blogs. 

Guys,
Remember the oral presentations next Monday.
Important points to consider:
You need to talk in between 3.5 and 4 mins
 (shorter presentations will get a mark below 4)
You should have no more than 20 words on each slide. Only pointers to help you guide the audience and yourself.
You CANNOT read. If you read, your maximum mark will be a 3.5.
This is a presentation and not a reading test.
The structure of the presentation should be Introduction - Development- justification
Absent people will have the minimum mark :(

Ask me if you have questions.
Thank you1

Dear bloggers,

I enjoyed that music from last week. I did not comment but I listened.

This week I'd like you to write about an ambition or dream  you have for the future. It could be a trip you would like to make, a sport you would like to try, a person you would like to meet or a job you would like to do. It could be almost anything!

Personally, I have more than one ambition. One of them has to do with travelling. I have been very lucky and travelled a fair bit in Latin America and Europe. However, I’d love to visit Asia and India in particular I am a sensitive person so I know poverty and injustice would shock me and make me sad, but it is the rich culture which has inspired me lots. I would like to learn about Ayurveda medicine but I am also very interested in meditation so I’d love to maybe join a Zen Buddhist temple for some time. I think doing this would bring me peace of mind and personal happiness. This is not an easy goal to achieve but I have hopes that one day, I will do it.

I think a lot of things have inspired me, in particular, the readings by “Osho” and also a friend of mine who, in my opinion has found the perfect spiritual balance through meditation.

Write about an ambition you have.

Say:

What your ambition is,

Why you would like to achieve this ambition,

Who or what inspired your ambition,

What it would mean to you to fulfill your ambition.

Write at least 160 words. Leave a comment on at least 4 blogs.

Oral Presentation

Please remember we have the individual presentations on May 13th.
You need to prepare a topic related to your area of study.  A little introduction, the main part and the end.
It needs to be from 3.5 to 4 mins.
 Remember you cannot read. If you read your maximum mark will be a 3.5.
Ask me if you have questions :)

listening practice

www.plataforma.uchile.cl

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/listen-and-watch

http://elt.oup.com/student/headway/preint/f_everydayenglish/hwy_pre_dialogue08?cc=cl&selLanguage=en

http://elt.oup.com/student/headway/preint/f_everydayenglish/hwy_pre_dialogue01?cc=cl&selLanguage=en

http://www.elllo.org/

http://www.esl-lab.com/

Well, today we write about something we like. I would like to refer to a particular thing. This is music. I will talk about my favorite song at the moment. This changes all the time with different artists, languages and rhythms.

Today I will talk about the song I like best at the moment. It is not easy because there isn’t just one. A while ago (around 2 weeks) my husband showed me a song by a Kenyan band called “Just a band” called huff puff. I listened to it and I instantly loved it and it made me feel like I was on vacations. The video was amazing and the music sounded like the best song to dance to in that moment. Later I started looking for more stuff by this band and recently I found “Ha He”. I know it is “so pop” but I have to admit that I like all sorts of music including pop (Shame on me)

I listened to this song about a week ago and then I watched the video. I like it because it reminds me of the old detectives like “Shaft”. The detective that defeats all the others in a fight, the one that gets the pretty girl, but still feels very lonely, you know. I find it very funny.

However, the lyrics are in informal Swahili (language in Kenya) so I have no idea what it says and haven’t taken the time to look. I only know l like it loads.

Have a listen and tell me what you think. Honest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mG1vIeETHc

Write about your favorite song at the moment. Mention:

When you first heard it

Why you like it & anything else relevant about it

Upload the video or the link to see it.

Write a minimum of 180 words and post 4 comments in total.

Hello everyone:

I hope you feel like writing today. I’d like to tell you a bit about this image. To be honest, I found it hard to choose a special picture. This is because there are so many pictures I like and they are in so many different contexts. I decided to go for something nice and simple. I took this picture in July 2010. I was on holiday and my husband and I woke up at around 6 and decided to go for a walk. We walked from the place where we were staying to the next village around. The village was really funny because it was basically three houses and a post office. Anyway, everything was closed because it was so early. We took a lot of pictures of the sun rising. It was a beautiful moment. I’ll tell you why I like this photo in particular. It is a very simple picture but what I like about it, is the fact that it turned out just as I saw it on that morning. The light, the colors, the shadows, everything is exactly the way it was in my mind.

I love the way the sunlight hits the misty hills and you can see hills and more hills and more hills in the background. The image actually reminds me of the cover of a book I really enjoyed called “Ghostwritten” by David Mitchell. The nicest thing I can think of is that I had a lovely walk on a beautiful summer morning, breathing fresh air with someone I love.

Write about a special photograph you took or appear in.

Say:  Who took it- What it shows- When it was taken- Why you like it

Upload it too!


 

 

Include any other information you'd like to mention.
Write a minimum of 160 words and write 3 comments on 3 blogs where you did not comment last week. I am open to comments, though J

Hi Guys,
I read all the posts and I'd like to give you some English tips.

Please remember to take advantage of the sites I have posted on this blog (Links ABOVE) to help you in your writing process.

Please use the information below to help you, too
I'd like to remind you that English, as opposed to Spanish, always needs a subject in a new sentence.
E.g.
Se fue y nunca volvio. She left and never returned.
Fuimos a esa fiesta y lo pasamos súper.   We went to that party and we had a great time
No lo publicaron por razones políticas.(¿Quienes? Ellos) They did not publish it for political reasons.
Fue una excelente idea  It was a great idea.

Notice that in English, the adjective (calificativo) always goes before the noun (sustantivo)

Fue un viaje terrible. It was a terrible journey.
Vieron algunos paisajes extraordinarios. They saw some amazing landscapes.
Ese era un muy buen libro. That was a really good book.

Lastly, don't forget to conjugate the verbs in the past when you are referring to the past.

La descubrí gracias a un amigo. I discovered it thanks to a friend.
Visitaste  a tu familia. You visited your family.
Fuiste a verlos. You went to see them.

Cheers :)

I love the internet.  I love the fact that I can learn about anything I am interested in or just ask about particular things. I spend some time on the internet every day. I use google a lot, I use gmail, youtube and facebook sometimes, etc.

I am interested in politics even though I despise most politicians. Politics is present everywhere and in all areas, and I suppose I became interested the day I realized how Education was affected by political decisions. How educational research to a large extent was determined by the administration at the time.

A few years back, I was reading about genetically modified food and found a website by chance. The site is www. democraciadirecta.cl. I liked it immediately because it showed news about communities and ordinary people, about decisions taken and affecting a lot of citizens. I like to know about the people in general and not just about those around me. I like to see articles about issues that do not appear in mass media.  I visit this website once a week and look at interesting articles. Another website I like is www. ciperchile.cl. This website shows a lot of serious journalistic research that would never appear on TV. A friend of mine told me about this site by chance. I visit it every two weeks more or less.

Write about a website you like. Why you like it. How you discovered it and how often you visit it.

Write a minimum of 160 words. Post 1 comment on your teacher’s blog and 2 comments on 2 different classmates J

Hello everybody,

First of all, I hope you are very well.

I am very excited about this experience. Blogging is one activity I really enjoy. I really enjoy reading your posts and comments to each other.  Not only because of the progress I normally see in your writing process, but also because I find it very interesting to see the world through your view and learn from you. I truly hope you make the most of this experience.

As you can see on my blog at the top (↑), there are tabs with useful websites so you can quickly access useful material: Plataforma- website, a dictionary site, a pronunciation dictionary site, word order site, etc. You can customize  your blog too!

 Before we start blogging seriously, there are some important points we need to address.

The blog activity has been design to be done IN CLASS. Why? Because we want to make sure you do the full activity (post + comments) in the time assigned, with the resources assigned (Especially your teacher to guide you). The blog activity can be done with a dictionary (NOT A TRANSLATOR) Why?  “Because we want you to learn from the experience”.  By using your head when writing in English, you actually take in the word order in English and you actually learn vocabulary as you use it. With the dictionary you learn, you the translator you don’t. So if you use a translator in class, you get the minimum mark for your post L

Remember by reading my post you can learn about word order and structure. There is evidence we learn when we read!!!

About the marking for the blog activities.

When you come to class and do the post and comments in class, you get 2 points.

When you don’t come to class and do the post and comments within 48 hours, you get 1 point.

No post no points.

The final mark for the blog consists of two marks.

1 mark for “coming to class and do the blog post and comments in class”

1 mark for 3 particular blog posts. These will be selected and marked considering linguistic aspects.

Let’s start!

Hello Everyone,
Today we will do a mini revision so everybody writes beautifully :)
Please visit the following website and follow the instructions.

http://thelastclassine.blogspot.com/


Ask for help if you need it

Regards,
Beatriz

Hello everyone,
Welcome to English III
I hope this is a productive semester.
My name is Beatriz and I am a nature lover.
I am an English teacher and translator.  I love music and cinema but I also love doing things outdoors in my free time.
I am into educational policies and applied linguistics :)

Welcome to the English blogging experience...

Your first task is to create a blog and to link all your classmates.
To begin with you need to create a gmail account. 

 1. If you have a google account: sign in first, if you don’t have a google account: create a google account
2. Go to: http://www.blogger.com/
3. Click: create your blog now
4. Please remember to change the language during set up so that your blog is in English.
5. Name your blog
6. Choose any template you like
7. Go to dashboard, scroll down to the bottom of the page & change the language to English.

8 Go to design, add a gadget, LINK LIST, and add names & links and when you have the last name linked, save. Ask the teacher if you are not sure.

9. Start posting (dashboard) Write a short introduction of yourself :)