IT'S OR ITS?

Sometimes you confuse it's with its.

It's is a contraction for it is or it has.

Its is a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun meaning, more or less, of it or belonging to it.

Watch this one minute video to learn their differences!!!

CONNECTORS AND SEQUENCERS

When we speak or write we have two options. We can use the formula  sentence + sentence + sentence + sentence + ..... which doesn't sound too natural

          I like Sundays.
          I don't work on Sundays.
          I wake up at 8.30.
          I get up at 10.00.
          I have a big breakfast.
          I sometimes read the newspaper.
          I sometimes work in the garden.
          I go out for a walk.
          I have lunch with my family.
          We watch TV.
          We talk. 
          We don't work.
          We don't study.

Or we can link the sentences and the discourse using CONNECTORS (and, or, but, because) and SEQUENCERS (then, before/after breakfast, ...) which sounds a lot more natural, don't you think so?

I like Sundays because I don't work. I wake up at 8.30 but I get up at 10.00 and I have a big breakfast. Then I sometimes read the newspaper or work in the garden. Before lunch I go out for a walk. Then I have lunch with my family. After lunch we watch TV and talk. We don't work or study.

Now time for you to practise!!!!!

Exercise

Write a composition about your favourite day and send it to your teacher!!

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ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

We not always say just what we do but we also say how often we do things and that's when we use 'adverbs of frequency'. The most used frequency adverbs are always, usually, often, sometimes, hardly ever (or seldom) and never.

Example: I usually go to the cinema

Remember that they are placed immediately before the verb:

Example: She often plays tennis.

But they come after the verb to be:

Example: They are never happy with the results.

This graphic will help you learn their degree of frequency:

And now you can practise. Good luck!!!!

Exercise 1 
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 7

TELLING THE TIME

Knowing how to tell the time is very important. Sometimes we have a meeting, or an appointment, or we want to get on time for that film we want to see or just to get to work .... I hope this presentation helps you learn how to tell the time in English and, of course, the extra exercises will give you extra practice. Enjoy!!!

Exercise 1 (Match the times)
Exercise 2 (Match the clocks with the times)
Exercise 3 (Very interesting exercise to review not only the time but also the numbers!!!, with audio)
Exercise 4 (Choose the correct answer by listening to the sentences)
Exercise 5 (Write the time you hear)

AN INFORMAL EMAIL (homework)

Read and listen to this email.




FROM: Rosa Velazquez [rosavelazquez@hotmail.com]
TO: Stefan [stefan7541200@gmail.com]
SUBJECT: Hi from Mexico

Hi Stefan,
My name's Rosa. I'm from Mexico, and I live in Monterrey. I am a receptionist at a hotel. I study English in my free time.
I speak Spanish and a little English. I want to learn English for my job and to travel.
I have a big family. I have three brothers and a sister. My father is a builder and my mother doesn't work. My brothers and my sisters are at school. My brothers are 14, 13 and 10 and my sister is six. I'm 19.
I like music, cinema and sport. I watch football on TV with my family every Saturday.
Please, write soon.
Best wishes
Rosa

______________________________________

Now remember you have to WRITE a smilar email to your teacher.

WRITING NUMBERS

You know the numbers but, are you good at writing them? You can practise by typing in the box the numbers Fernando shows you. Good luck!!

WRITING NUMBERS

WHAT IS THERE IN A HOUSE?

What is your house like? What is there in a house? Let's pratise it with this book. Click here to open it in a bigger window.

DESCRIBING A HOUSE

Watch this video to help you remember vocabulary about furniture:




Now, look at this picture of a house. What can you see there? How many floors? Which rooms are there on each floor? What kind of furniture is there in each room? Is there a garden? What is missing?

You can write a composition and hand it to your teacher. Or maybe you prefer to record yourself so you practise speaking.

THE HOUSE

Look at Fernanda's house and listen to her describing it.

Now you can do the same with your own house. Write a composition describing your house and hand it to your teacher.


And you can practise with these exercises
A Crossword
A Wordsearch

IMPORTANT NOTE: The picture and audio above were taken from this page with the British Council permission.

WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

These are the Green, it's a beautiful summer day and they are in the garden, but what are they doing? Write sentences and send them to your teacher.

Or if you prefer you can record yourself, remember that it is good practice!!!

DESCRIBING A PICTURE

This is Van Gogh's room at Arles. I am sure you already know the picture but what can you see there? Describe it using prepositions of place, there is and there are, and of course, don't forget to use some adjectives!!!!

Write a composition and hand it to your teacher. Or you can practise speaking by recording yourself. Remember that the best way to learn to speak is speaking!!

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO ...

In a few hours the Oscars Awards Ceremony will take place in Hollywood. Actors, actresses, producers, scriptwriters, choreographers, people from the film industry in general, cinema lovers, journalists, photographers and, of course, some nosy, busybody people will not miss the event. Two films are the favourites, Avatar,directed by James Cameron and The Hurt Locker, known in Spain as 'En Tierra Hostil', directed by Kathryn Bigelow. 

I will tell you about these films:

AVATAR

It's the year 2154 in Pandora. The human people are in conflit with the na'vi, the humanoide people that live in Pandora, because they have a mineral the Earth needs, the unobtainium. Jake Sully, a marine, participates in the programme Avatar. This programme transports the mind of the scitentists to an artificial na'vi body to have better relationships. Jake goes to Pandora. But colonel Quaritch wants the war if it is necessary. Jake follows his orders but then he falls in love with a humanoide, Neytiri, and he forgets about his mission. The war is imminent and Jake has to decide if he wants to fight with the humans or with the humanoides. In the end the soldiers have to leave Pandora but Jake's mind is traspassed to the Tree of Souls.

THE HURT LOCKER
Iraq. 2004. William James, a veteran, becomes a team leader in a unit specializing in explosives. He has two workmates, Sanborn and Owen. When James goes to disarm the bombs they communicate with him via radio and proctect him with their riffles. He has very unorthodox methods and there is a lot of tession between them. One day James can't disarm a bomb that an Iraqi has in his chest because he doesn't have time and the bomb explodes. Sanborn tells him that he is going to leave Iraq and wants to start a family. James leaves Iraq too and returns to his wife and son.One night he speaks to his son, and tells him that there is only "one thing" that he knows that he loves. In the end he goes to Iraq again.

NOTE: The title is slang for being injured in an explosion.

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Do you have a favourite film? Which is your favourite film? Titanic? Star Trek? Harry Potter? Precious? Up in the air? Nine? Tell us what it is about!!!!

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