Example of mediation task

Dear all,
here you have a very good example of a mediation task delivered by one of you, in this case Lucas Castro. Check it out.

Hi Tom!

How are you doing mate? I hope you're doing well. When you contacted me, some memories came to my mind from the last time we hanged out together. Do you remember the party we went to? Man, what a hangover the next day!

Anyway, I read the email you sent me and, unfortunately, I'm very busy now in my job, but don't worry 'cause I found some information that will be really useful for you. I discouvered four online platforms.

The first one is called Verbling. It's a kind of language exchange with people from all over the world. The site connects you with a native teacher so you can have a conversation and improve your level of Spanish. It sounds cool, but there's a catch: every teacher will charge you a different fee . I know you aren't exatcly Rockefeller so maybe this isn't the best choice for you.

Secondly, there's a social network, called Busuu. You can talk to native speakers from all across the globe. And guess what? It's free! The site has seventy million users. You can improve your language skills by talking to them. In addition,  you'll be able to send and receive some written assignments for correction. Besides, there is a premium subscription for more complete lessons.

Then, I found Speaky, which is an App for iPhone and Android devices. This is great because your phone's always attached to you all the time. Anyway, it's a complement for apps like Duolingo or Menrise. I don't you know if you've heard about them. It's a sort of social network with over one million users. Moreover, there is a free option but also a paid one. You choose.

Finally, I found Lingvu. It's an App for Android devices only. This is in different because it allows you to meet nearby users face to face. The App will use the satellite in your phone to let you know if there are other users near and you can contact them and meet up with them face to face. Marvelous, isn't it? You should know that here in Spain people typically meet at a café to talk...not like in your country!

Well, it's a difficult choice, but if I were you, I'd give Lingvuu a go. It's free and you'll socialize with lots of interesting people. And who knows?, maybe you'll meet your future bride, he he he.

I hope this information will have been useful for you.

Ring me up as son as you come to Spain.

Fond regards,

Lucas

Hocus pocus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c18fpZowvM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hIrbtiVrgc

1. Why are the witches confused upon getting off the bus?
2. Why does the officer do not eventually help the kids?
3. Why are they so happy when they  see the owner of the house?
4. Who do they think his wife is?
5. What does the wife say to the witches at first?
5. What do they think the kitchen is?

Comparative exercises

Dear students,
here you have some online exercises for you to practise comparative structures:
https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-60316.php
http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar/4g2-the-the-comparatives.php
 https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-6578.php
https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=8517
 http://www.tinyteflteacher.co.uk/learning-english/grammar/exercises/much-comparatives.html

Are you really talkative?

Ask and answer the questions to see if you're more of a talkative person or more of a shy one

- When you feel blue, do you speak about it with your loved ones or do you tend to bottle up your feelings?
- Do you usually socialize with your friends? How often?
- When you chat with your friends, do you tend to dominate the conversation?
- Are you good at engaging someone in conversation?
- Do you consider yourself as an attentive listener?
- Do you think you are a fast talker, someone that can persuade other people into doing something?

Onomatopoeic words

You all know what an onomatopoeia is: it is a word whose sound looks like the meaning it represents. A clear example of it might be: 'boom', which clearly represents the sound that a bomb makes. Animal sounds are also onomatopoeias per se, since they also represent in acoustic phonetics the sounds that animals make. Snakes hiss, bugs and insects buzz, cats meow, birds tweet, cows moo, ducks quack ... 

Onomotopoeias are also stylistic devices used by poems and writers to make their works more vivid and beautiful. Some onomatopoeias do not exist in themselves, they are simple interjections, such as "argh" to express disgust, or 'achoo' (the sound one makes on sneezing).  There are countless onomatopoeic words, words whose meaning can be easily identified if they are correctly pronounced. Let's examine some groups:

1) Violent sounds:

Bang: It represents an explosive noise, similar to the noise of a gun.e.g. 'He made the door bang on his way out.' 

Crash: It describes a colliding sound. One of its meaning refers to a vehicle colliding against something or someone, for example, 'the two cars crashed.'

Crack: It makes reference to a breaking sound, for instance, the earth cracks when a volcano erodes. 'The wall in that room cracks at night' or 'I like to crack my knuckles.'

Blast /boom: They refer to a loud noise (such as an explosion), e.g. 'He was killed by the blast of the explosion.'

Thump: It is the sound produced by a heavy object, e.g. 'in the zoo at night all you can hear is the elephants thumping'. 

Knock: This usually refers to a hit on a surface that makes a noise, as in 'he knocked the door but there was no answer.'

Pop: Short, quick, unexpected sound,e.g. the cork pops when you open a bottle of wine. 

2) Sounds produced by machines or artificial objects:
Beep: A short sound with high pitch. Computers usually beep. 

Clang/clink: A loud ringing sound produced by a bell or similar object.The bell clangs in villages.

Click: A sharp, mechanic sound. The keys click in the lock

Jingle/jangle/tinkle: To produce a loud, harsh sound.You all know the Christmas carol: 'jingle bells' or the famous fairy character in the Peter Pan story, Tinkerbell. 

Ring: It's the sound produced by a telephone or the bell of a bicycle, as seen in 'the phone rang all the afternoon'. 

Screech: To produce a harsh, annoying sound. The engines of cars or tree branches can screech.

Tick: a clicking sound. Clocks tick (in fact, they make tick-tock).

3) Animal sounds (I will be writing a post about this in the future).

Moo (cows), mew/meow (cats), quack (ducks), tweet (birds), hiss (snakes), buzz (insects), ...

4) Other sounds:

Burp: It is a synonym for 'belch'. What you do after a meal (with your mouth) you know, to release gases.

Chatter: It means 'talking loudly and fast'. When people gossip, you can hear them chatter.

Whisper: To speak in a quiet voice, as in 'he whispered the words in my ear.'

Splash: It refers to the sound made by the water. In summer, children like splashing in the water.

Boo: A disapproving sound. You usually boo at a lousy sportsperson, for instance. 

Well, there are far more onomatopoeias in the English language. What makes them interesting is that in English  some onomatopoeias have a true identity. They become nouns and verbs with full meaning beyond the sound they represent.they are not usually just sounds, they become verbs and nouns that we can use in conversation. In Spanish, we can use the word 'splash' to refer to the sound of the water, but in English, other than this, we can use it to refer not only to the sound but also to the action. English, as you have seen has a lot of quirks, remember the auto-antonyms entry I wrote some days ago ?

What can you do now after reading this post ? Go back to the words in bold and pronounce them, enjoy their sounds and reflect on their meanings. You'll find out that, at the end of the day, English is quite a logical and interesting language after all !

Body idioms II

I love idioms and I use them as much as I can. This is why today I will be making a compilation of the most common idioms about parts of the body. Why did I choose parts of the body ? Well, I find it amazing that you normally need possessive adjectives before parts of the body in English (my eyes), but you don't frequently need possessive adjectives in idioms related to parts of the body ! Another interesting English quirk, don't you think ?

Let's begin :

1. It costs an arm and a leg : Something very pricey and costly. Nope ! Unlike in Spanish, in English we don't say that it costs a kidney. For example, organizing a body costs an arm and a leg, don't you think ?

From : https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-develop-learning-culture-doesnt-cost-arm-leg-shahla-khan-mba

2. Pull somebody's leg : When you joke around or kid a person, you are pulling their leg. For example, stop pulling my leg ! I'm sure you didn't have dinner with Brad Pitt yesterday ! 

In Spanish, this idiom is a bit different : we pull somebody's hair. Which one do you prefer ?

https://agendadeingles.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/456/

3. I cannot believe my eyes / my ears: I find it difficult to believe in something unless I see it with my own eyes or hear it with your own ears.  For instance, when I saw Ben and Claudia together I couldn't believe my eyes ! Ben is dating Chloe ! 

https://makeameme.org/meme/i-cant-believe-h4b6ej

4. (I have) a heart of gold : If someone has a heart of gold, they are very kind and generous. John apologized Martha for everything she had done to him. He has a heart of gold. 

From : https://es.pinterest.com/explore/coraz%C3%B3n-de-oro/

5. he is a pain in the neck / in the ass : When you refer to a very upsetting or annoying person, as in  the sentence : 'I can't stand Greg. He is a pain in the neck/in the ass.' In Spanish, however, we say someone is like a zit / spot in the ass. Interesting, ha?

https://es.pinterest.com/english_monika/english-idioms-proverbs-and-slang/

6. Shoot yourself in the foot : When you do something that brings problems to you. 

shoot on your own foot. He suggested embarking on the project and, as a result, he had to work late all the weekends. He shot himself in the foot. 

From : https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-shooting-yourself-foot-cartoon-humor-concept-illustration-saying-proverb-image40092718

7. Turn the back on someone : When you betray and refuse to help someone, e.g. I wanted him to support me but instead, he turned his back on me and lied about the matter.

From : https://es.pinterest.com/acarononeill/jane-eyre/

8. By a hair / by a hair's breadth / by a whisker / by a nose: Very narrowly; when you achieve something but you were about to fail. For example, he passed the exam by a hair (he was about to fail). He won by a nose ! 

From : https://www.ui1.es/blog-ui1/del-dicho-al-hecho-historico-de-donde-viene-la-expresion-salvarse-por-los-pelos

9. To have a sweet tooth : When you love chocolates and sweets. Jennifer loves chocolate. She has a sweet tooth.

https://hagarlanguages.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/todays-idiom-having-a-sweet-tooth/

10. See eye to eye on something : To agree or have similar ideas. For instance, Jackson and Tod don't see eye to eye on bullfights. They have a lot of arguments about this issue. 

https://es.pinterest.com/explore/seeing-eye/

11. To have a bit of a cheek / to be cheeky : To be impertinent and overly disrespectful, for example, I painted his house as a favour and he didn't thank me properly. He has a bit of a cheek ! 

From : http://www.vayagif.com/19624/vaya-cara-teneis

12. Give me a hand : Help me ! : Mum, can you give a hand with my homework ?

http://tunedinwellness.com/can-you-give-me-a-hand/

Well, did you enjoy these idioms. Soon I will come back with a brand new bunch of body idioms for your delight. What is your favourite body idiom ? Please, post in in a comment !

Body idioms

Here we are again. Another week has passed really quickly and I am back with my weekly month entry, this time, I'm writing the second part of my last week's post about body idioms. So, let's learn so more idioms, shall we ? 

1. I'm all ears : That's an interesting expression to indicate that you are willing to listen to the other person. If you want to tell me your problems, I'm all ears !  

From : https://englishhelponline.me/2010/10/24/idiom-to-be-all-ears/

2. I have eyes in the back of my head : When you are over-vigilant with someone. My mother, for example, has eyes in the back of her head, he he. 

From : http://naturallandscapedesign.com/blog/2012/02/eyes-in-the-back-of-my-head/

3. Do something behind someone's back : Do something without anyone else noticing it, secretly. e.g. I sold the house behind my wife's back because she didn't want me to do it ! 

4. Cat got your tongue ? : When someone is quiet and you prompt them to speak ! Imagine a situation where some children broke a vase and you ask"Who broke this ?" and nobody answers. You can say : "cat got your tongue?"

From : http://www.clipartster.com/cat-got-your-tongue-cliparts/

5. To have a beer belly : When you are a bit overweight and that turns out in a prominent belly, he he. 

From : http://www.thetwoangles.com/how-to-get-rid-of-a-beer-belly/

6. In the blink of an eye : It means 'very quickly'. He asked for his wish and he got it granted in the blink of an eye ! 

From : https://clipartfest.com/categories/view/0d5d652e9ed40c9db68cb32604aa4bf26f189892/blink-eyes-clipart.html

7. To have your head up in the clouds  : When someone is distracted. For instance, nowadays students have their heads up in the clouds. They never pay attention ! 

P.S. The opposite of this idiom is 'to keep your feet on the ground'

From : http://likesuccess.com/topics/16091/head-in-the-clouds

8. To gain / have the upper hand : To be victorious in something, to be one step ahead someone. Hillary Clinton was a good competitor, but, in the end. Donald Trump gained the upper hand ! 

From : http://likesuccess.com/topics/6268/study/33

9. Get something off my chest : When you finally do something unpleasant that you've been meaning to do for a long time and this brings you some relief or happiness : 'After some time, I told him the bad news. I needed to get it off my chest !'

From : http://www.savingmoneyinmissouri.com/a-few-things-i-just-need-to-get-off-my-chest/

10. To get cold feet : To become really nervous about a future uncertain event (e.g. a wedding). For example, people usually get cold feet the day before getting married. 

From : http://www.laurenslade.com/say-goodbye-to-cold-feet/

Well, did you enjoy my selection of body idioms ? Which one is your favourite ? Come on ! tell me in a comment ! 

Misophonia

Watch the video related to misophonia and answer the questions :
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/06/health/misophonia-sounds-brain-study/index.html

1. What problems did misophonia cause to Manny?
2. How did his wife find out that he had a strange condition?
3) What hadn't Manny had in many years?
4) What is misophonia caused by?
5) Why is it difficult to detect?
6) Is there a cure? What is it?
7) What's the first thing Manny noticed after surgery?

Sounds in English. Can you guess them?

1. Listen to the following sounds and try to identify the sound you're listening to in English 

 a)   b)  c) d) e) 

f)    g)   h)    i)  j)

DIFFICULT? Match them with the appropriate word

crunch         drip        buzz       hiss      bang       slam      splash      chirp     screech   creak

Loanwords in the English language

Dear students,
here you have different links to my personal blog for you to know more about loanwords in the English language:

- English: some languages that have had an influence on it
- The influence of Italian over English
- The influence of English over Italian
- The influence of Greek over English
- The influence of French over English
- The influence of Spanish over English

Three very good graph analyses

Dear all,
I usually share some very good writings of my students so that you can use them as good examples for you to improve on your writings. I'll start to do this with the activity of graph analysis. Have a look at both analyses and try to come up with ideas to incorporate in your future writings.
Judit Ester Méndez Izquierdo (C1B)

I was given a graph showing the percentage of male students who visited the cinema at least once a month over a twelve-month period. At the beginning of the year, 20% of students visited the cinema and this percentage slightly decreased until March.

 

From this month to June, the number of moviegoers began to take hold gradually. Then, the percentage skyrocketed and reached its highest peak.

 

In August, the number of students stagnated until October, when it plummeted until the end of the year. This decrease might be due to the approach of the Christmas season, when families normally spend huge amounts of money.

Jessica Secos García C1A

A study carried out at the Union Jack English School has been recently published. The aim of the study was to know the percentage of students who visited the cinema at least once a month.

 

The sample was divided into two groups, according to the gender of the interviewees.

 

On the one hand, the percentage of females who visited the cinema at least once a month was 40% in January. This rate skyrocketed until March when it stabilized for two months. However, after gaining ground in May, the percentage started to drop slightly until October, when  the rate finally stagnated until the end of the year.

 

On the other hand, the percentage of male moviegoers was 20% in January. This rate stagnated for the next two months and then it slightly increased. It was in June when the percentage started to be on the rise until July, when the rate reached its highest peak. After remaining unchanged, this value plunged until December.

 

Lastly, excluding the summer months, the percentage of female moviegoers outnumbers the percentage of male moviegoers. Taking into account the total amount of students, most cinemagoers attend the cinema during the  summer months, and this might be due to the summer holidays, when students have more time for leisure activities.

Teresa Blázquez C1A

I’ll be writing about a graph that gives us some relevant data about the percentage of students at The Union Jack English School who visited the cinema at least once a month throughout the year.

First of all, I must confess that I found the difference between genders surprising.

The trend of the female percentage is broadly stable. This trend is far from uniform when we take a look at the opposite gender.

The curve reaches its highest peak, in both genders, at 70%.

For men, visits grew substantially from June to July (it has increased by 40 percentage points), and then plummeted again between October and December.

Amongst women, the visits soared from January to March, then got stagnated until May, and found its way back to growth until June (the month when it reached its highest peak). These visits had a sustained decline during the summer, less noticeable than the one we find on the male’s curve.

Moreover, the female visitors have outnumbered the male ones throughout the first semester.

According to this information, we can claim that male students are more likely to visit the cinema during summer holidays, but they lose their interest on it dramatically from October to March. On the other hand, female students are much more constant in their visits, showing special interest in spring.

To sum up, not only can we find gender differences in choosing one film, but also in the moment of the year men and women want to enjoy them. Women have demonstrated to be more regular on their visits throughout the year, while men are more likely to enjoy cinema mainly during the summertime.


Thank you for your effort and take the expressions in bold into account and incorporate them in your writings.

Present perfect, present perfect continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous exercises

Dear students,
here you have some online exercises for you to practise the grammar of perfective tenses that we saw in class.
https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs14.htm
https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-10277.php
https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-9553.php
https://speakspeak.com/english-grammar-exercises/upper-intermediate/present-perfect-simple-v-continuous

Future perfect simple vs. future continuous

https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-5110.php
https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs26.htm