15th December

We finished the course studying the grammatical structures related to comparatives and we consolidated them in several speaking activities.
Then, we worked on the topic phase of the Trinity exam. We listened to a candidate defending her topic and we analyzed her exposition.
Then, we listened to another candidate in the conversation phase and after that we tried to answer the questions raised by the examiner.
We finished the class reviewing the content of the course with a game based on "Who wants to be a millionaire? quiz.

New pass trinity- teacher's
(Leed el comentario que os dejé al descargar este documento. Tiene clave acceso, os la doy en box).
Who wants to be a millionaire?
(esta es la plantilla del power point. debéis modificarla vosotros si queréis utilizarla en un futuro)

1st December

During this class we started to deal with a new topic. We studied the vocabulary related to mmeans of transport.
We did the exercises form the trinity photocpis, in which the students had to identify and classify various means of transport (air, sea and land) and completed our glossary with a new handout.

We continued the session carrying out a survey about how the students came to class and how long it took them to get to university (audio 7) and to explain that survey we also studied a new grammar point: comparatives and superlatives.

We finished the class practising some questions in the comparative and superlative form.
To get some more practise, visit this site:
comparatives and superlatives

Remember: 
We won't have class next Saturday, but we need to come earlier on the 15th December (9:00-14:00)

17th November

We started the session correcting the pending listening exercises the students had been asked to complete at home.
Then, we commented the different types of problems one can have when on holidays and studied the differences between those adjectives ending in -ing and -ed.

Read the grammar and click on the quiz1/2/3 of the left

We continued the class with the photocopies from the coursebook "Trinity Grades 5-6". We focused on a series of pictures taken in different parts of the world. The students had to deduce where they were from, which continent, and then, reviewed the differences between travel, trip and journey. To finish, we completed a chart with words connected to the topic of travelling and used those expressions to describe the pictures form the beginning of the unit.



Homework: photocopy from Trinity coursebook p.56 "exam expert", ex.13a,b,c,d
exam expert- t.20

10th November

During this session we worked the vocabulary and reading skills, but the ss had also their first contact with the reality of the Trinity exam.
To start with ,we corrected the pending exercise about the vocabulary bank ( holiday accomodation).
Then we read 3 texts written by different people who experienced something wrong during their holidays. The ss had to match the photos with the texts and find adjectives synomyms to very good and very bad.

After that, we worked the pronunciation of the regular past tense and listened to Sean telling the story of his aunt and uncle's disaster holiday (t.2.3).
To finish with the photocopies, we did an oral activity (ex.6). The ss had to write the correct questions and the ask them to their classmates.

We ended the class with a mind map. In the Trinity exam they can bring a piece of paper with a mind map written on it, and it's related to the topic they are going to develop.
The ss were asked to create a mind map together as a whole class, it should be based on the topic "the most important person in my life". At home they need to think of possible answers to the questions the examiner can ask about that topic.

Homework- Real life-dealing with problems ex.2,3

2nd November

During this session we finished the topic about friends and relationships. First, we read a short text about a BBC TV documentary and the ss answered some comprehension questions, then we did an experiment to check if our brain was male or female (audios 1.3,1.4,1.5) and discussed the conclusions.
After that, we worked on the vocabulary and talked about the roles played either by men or women.
(To work at home, the ss were asked to bring a composition about an important person in their lives).

Then, we started a new topic: travel and tourism.
To start with, the ss had to make questions to the teacher to find out about her last holiday, then ,in pairs, they needed to write down 5 things they like doing when they're on holiday. And finally, we completed a photocopy full of expressions related to this new topic.

double object verbs grammar+exercises

27th October

During this session we talked about family and relationships. To start with, we asked our classmates to find out as much as we could about their family, job and likes. Then, we read some questions which used common expressions related to this new topic and then, after finding the correct answer to each of them, we asked them to our partner.

Then we did the vocabulary exercise about the family tree and read a text about some celebrities' ancestors. To finish the first half, we did a listening comprehension exercise in which a man talked about his family members (ex.5A,T.1.1).

The students were asked to work at home the Grammar and Practice exercises, on the same page, at home.

We finished the class talking about a controversial topic: differences between men and women. (watch the funny video).We read a text which mentioned some stereotypes and discussed if we agreed or not. With this text, we were also introduced the grammar point (review of tenses).

20th October

During this class we reviewed the question forms (Photocopy "All about you") .

Wh-question+auxiliary verb+subject+ verb

First, we had a look at 4 different photos, we analysed them and finally thought about different questions these people might be asking.

Then we listened to the CD (T.1.1) and answered the questions with our personal ideas, completed some other questions with the missing verbs and tried to join those sentences with the photos.

Finally, we worked in pairs and suggested questions to the situations proposed in ex.4 (T1.4)

Homework: Grammar exercises about present continuous, question forms.
                    Watch the video podcast and do the comprehension exercises.

13th October

We started the session reviewing the questions expressed in different tenses and which could be used in the oral exam by the Trinity exarminer.

Then we moved to the grammar point of the present tense. The students elicited its meaning: to talk about habits and routines, general truths and its form: -s/-es in the 3rd person singular, the use of auxiliary do/does for making questions.

After that, we studied some expressions used to talk about routines which included common verbs like : do, have, take and get. Then, we read a text about the best time of the day to do certain things and we finished the class completing more expressions with go,take,get and go.

For homework the students were asked to do the grammar point 1B about the use of present simple and complete the vocabulary exercise related to collocations.

It would be advisable you wrote a short composition about your daily habits using the new collocations and expressions. It can be collected in our next class or send it by email to olgapelaezster@gmail.com

*** Go to pronunciation page if you want to learn more about silent letters in English
** Go to grammar page to study and practise the present simple tense

6th October

Trinity College London

Click on the link and here you'll have direct access to the syllabus in Spoken English Examination. Go to page 26. There level 5-6 starts. And that's your B1 level exam. Pay attention to the topics we'll deal in class and start thinking about the topic you'll talk about in your examination.

Remember: you can't choose any of the topic we'll work in class, they have to be completely different.
Trinity College- syllabus

Contents of the course

Tuesday 31st July

During this last session we completed the sub-topic of travelling by plane. We listened to a conversation between a member of the ground staff and a traveller. The students had to correct the mistakes in the dialogue.

Then we studied the vocabulary related to trains and buses and watched a video about the tube in London. The students had to test their visual memory and correct and complete some phrases. (You can check the answers to the unfinished exercises in the documents section).
We also reviewed the differences between travel, trip and journey.

To finish this course, we had a sort of contest in which the students had to answer correctly to some questions studied in class.

Thursday 26th July

We started a new topic: travelling. During this session the students thought about their dream holiday and compared it to a survey carried out on the net.

After that, we talked about problems while travelling, the students told their personal experiences and checked the vocabulary related to airports.

We continued discussing about those things we must or mustn't do in an airport and about airport/aircraft security.

Then, we learnt how to give and ask for advice and listened to several conversations to practise these new structures.
To consolidate this point, the students had to create sentences of advice/warning using some prompts and correct the mistakes in other sentences.

To finish the class, we listened to 6 different announcements in an airport and the students had to complete the gaps in a table.

Tuesday 24th July

We finished the topic related to working life. To start with, we corrected the pending exercise about look,seem and appear. Then, we quickly explained the main differences in use between as/like. The students will have to complete the grammar exercises at home and they'll be corrected next Thursday.

After that, we studied and reviewed the grammar of the question tags. To do so, the students had to elicit the grammatical structures and  their main use. In this case, we focused on its functions of looking for confirmation. We could also practise the intonation and consolidate our knowledge by means of a role-play activity.

Then, we tried to practise the new grammatical structures in an oral activity. The students were asked to role-play as job seekers and job interviewers. They needed to prepare a dialogue for job interview as a head chef in a Korean restaurant.

To finish the class, the students were asked to watch a video job application and analyze its visual impact, the tone of the candidate's voice and his qualities or attributes for the post.

Thursday 19th July

During this session we continued studying how to write an online profile. We kept on working on the example and analyzing its content and structures.

Then, we listened to 4 different people talking about recruitment in their countries: Venezuela, Ireland, England and China. The students could also read about some useful  advice when applying for a job in a foreign country.(audio+script uploaded)

After that, we analyzed a job advert published in a Spanish paper. It was full of mistakes (grammar, false friends…). The students had to identify them and try to correct them. Then we did the same with an applying letter.

To finish the class, we learnt more about copular verbs: look, seem and appear. They have similar meanings but they can differ grammatically.

Tuesday 17th July

We finished the first topic about friends and relationships dealing with flat problems. The students had to listen to two tenants phoning their rental agent and complaining about an unsolved problem (audios section).
After listening the students had to write about a possible problem in their flat and then role play a dialogue with a classmate who acted as a rental agent.
Go to grammar section, read about the passive voice (have something done) and do the exercises online.
 
Then we started a new topic: working life.
To introduce it we did a matching exercise, in which the students had to find definitions to certain words. After that, we listened to someone being interviewed for a charity and the students not only answered some comprehension questions but also completed some expressions to describe skills and talents.

To consolidate the new structures students did an oral activity: they had to describe an odd job.



 To finish the class we learnt about online profiles. We read and analysed an example given in one of the photocopies.

Thursday 12th July

We started the lesson revising the topics to be asked when interviewing a new flatmate. Thus, we could also review how to make questions in English.
The students paid attention to a slide projected on the board with some incomplete questions. They needed to listen and complete them and then, identified different types of questions:
-indirect questions
-subject questions
-with prepositions
to consolidate this grammar point, the students had to make questions using the prompts.
(go to grammar section to download this document).

We continued the class studying the vocabulary related to personality.
They first read the descriptions from a flatmate finder site, discussed who they'd like to live with, and then, matched some phrases in bold from those texts with their definitions. Finally, we read some descriptions and matched them with some personlaity adjectives.

After that, we did a role-play activity. Half the class were looking for a room and the other half had a spare room to share. The activity consisted of interviewing each other to find the perfect lodger. Here's an example of a possible dialogue:




We finished the class watching a video about flatsharing (go to videos section) and answering some comprehension.

Tuesday 10th July

During this session, we corrected the comprehension exercises about the text "Rent a friend" and the students could also discuss in pairs some other questions about the idea presented in this text.

We continued the class working on writing skills. First, we read a short informal email, analysed its content and form and then, we identified some common mistakes made by foreign language students (go to documents page- Hi Jorge).
After that, the students were asked to write an email to their classmates talking about their current living situation (place, who they live with...) and for homework, they have to write an answer to that email.

We finished the lesson speaking about flat sharing. We talked about a new way of finding a flat in UK- by means of "speed flatmating". We listened to some people who joined this programme and finally discussed some comprehension questions (you have access to the script and the audio on their pages).

First class

We started this intensive summer course introducing each other in a different way.

The students had to write at least 5 names of people or places and figures connected to them,their classmates had to guess why these data were so important for each person.
We continued the session talking about friends and relationships. To introduced the topic the students analysed one slide projected on the board and they explained the way those beings were connected.
After that, we explained some common sayings about relationships:

Blood is thicker than water
A friend in need is a friend indeed

Like father like son
No man is an island

     

 Immediately after,we saw the rest of the slides and found the proper expression to describe them.

Then, we work on the photo of an orangutan and a dog and listen to a radio programme taking about them. The students had to answer some comprehension questions and complete the gaps in some sentences.
As a vocabulary reinforcement, we studied some expressions to describe relationships and some phrasal verbs to describe actions and we put them into practice in an oral activity where the students had to write the names of 3 friends of theirs and describe them to their classmates using the expressions learnt.


To finish the class, we read an article about a new way of meeting friends: Renting a friend.
For next day, they had to answer the comprehension questions whcich will be corrected in class.