martes, 31 de enero de 2012
PRESENT PERFECT EXERCISES ONLINE
Here you have several links with exercises online to practise about the Present Perfect:
AGENDAWEB
THE YELLOW PENCIL
ENGLISH GRAMMAR 4U
ENGLISCH-HILFEN
OMPERSONAL 1
OMPERSONAL 2
PRESENT PERFECT 1
PRESENT PERFECT NEGATIVE
PRESENT PERFECT QUESTIONS
PRESENT PERFECT. YET-ALREADY
PRESENT PERFECT OR PAST SIMPLE
AGENDAWEBTHE YELLOW PENCIL
ENGLISH GRAMMAR 4U
ENGLISCH-HILFEN
OMPERSONAL 1
OMPERSONAL 2
PRESENT PERFECT 1
PRESENT PERFECT NEGATIVE
PRESENT PERFECT QUESTIONS
PRESENT PERFECT. YET-ALREADY
PRESENT PERFECT OR PAST SIMPLE
PRESENT PERFECT OR SIMPLE PAST
Three graded exercises to practise the difference between these two tenses
a) multiple choice;
b) completing sentences;
c) verb search + table filling.
Some basic usage rules are supplied for students to check the difference in use.
jueves, 26 de enero de 2012
LEWIS CARROLL
Lewis Carroll
27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898 |
Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson at Daresbury in Chesire, on 27 January 1832. He was an English author, mathematician, logician, anglican deacon and photographer.
What is Lewis Carroll most famous for?
Lewis Carroll is most famous for his story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865. It was written for Alice, the daughter of a friend.
His other writings included the sequel 'Through the Looking-Glass' as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky".
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viernes, 20 de enero de 2012
CHINESE NEW YEAR - 23 JANUARY 2012
2012 is the Year of the
The Chinese Dragon
The dragon is an important part of the new year celebrations and is paraded through the streets. It represents wisdom, strength, benevolence, and good fortune.
Why does the date of the Chinese New Year change every year?
The Chinese use the Lunar calendar for their festivals. The Lunar calendar is based on the time the moon takes to go around the Earth. (The Western calendar is based on the time it takes for the Earth to go around the Sun.)
The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years.
The first day of each Chinese year will always fall sometime between January 21 and February 21, inclusive, and takes place at sunset on the day of the second (sometimes rarely on the third) New Moon following the winter solstice (21 or 22 December).
How long do the New Year celebrations last for?
Chinese New Year celebrations last for two weeks and end with Teng Chieh, the lantern festival, on the full moon about 15 days later.
The Chinese Calendar
Each year in the Chinese calendar is represented by one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, the Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Some people believe that people born in a particular year such as the year of the Rat will have some of the characteristics of that animal. It is said that "The animal hides in your heart."
The Legend behind the Animals
According to Chinese legend, the twelve animals quarreled one day as to who was to head the cycle of years. The gods were asked to decide and they held a contest: whoever was to reach the opposite bank of the river would be first, and the rest of the animals would receive their years according to their finish.
All the twelve animals gathered at the river bank and jumped in. Unknown to the ox, the rat had jumped upon his back. As the ox was about to jump ashore, the rat jumped off the ox's back, and won the race. The pig, who was very lazy, ended up last. That is why the rat is the first year of the animal cycle, the ox second, and the pig last.
jueves, 19 de enero de 2012
viernes, 13 de enero de 2012
martes, 10 de enero de 2012
SONG: BETTE DAVIS' EYES - KIM CARNES
Kim Carnes (born July 20, 1945 Hollywood, California) is an American singer-songwriter. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner noted for her distinctive raspy vocal style. Some people have called her "The Female Rod Stewart" due to her raspy voice.
In 1981, Carnes recorded the Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss song "Bette Davis Eyes". As the first single released from the album Mistaken Identity,it spent nine weeks at number one on the US singles charts and became a worldwide hit. The song's success propelled the album to No. 1 for four weeks. The single became the biggest hit of the entire year of 1981,and is second only to Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" as the biggest hit of the 1980s in the USA, according to Billboard. The song earned both the Record of the Year and Song of the Year awards at the 1982 Grammys. Carnes was nominated for Best Pop Female and Mistaken Identity also earned a nomination for Album of the Year. Two follow-up singles from Mistaken Identity, "Draw of the Cards" and the title track, were both released during 1981.
lunes, 9 de enero de 2012
GUIDE TO GRAMMAR AND WRITING
Link HERE or on the image to go to the index.
This index includes 427 references to both the Guide to Grammar and Writing and Principles of Composition. It does not, however, include references to the interactive Quizzes or to theGrammarlogs (posted responses to ASK GRAMMAR queries). The Frequently Asked Questions page and the Guide's Search Engine will also help you find help on grammatical issues, tips on composition, and advice on English usage.
THE ORDER OF ADJECTIVES IN A SERIES
It would take a linguistic philosopher to explain why we say "little brown house" and not "brown little house" or why we say "red Italian sports car" and not "Italian red sports car." The order in which adjectives in a series sort themselves out is perplexing for people learning English as a second language. Most other languages dictate a similar order, but not necessarily the same order. It takes a lot of practice with a language before this order becomes instinctive, because the order often seems quite arbitrary (if not downright capricious).
There is, however, a pattern. You will find many exceptions to the pattern in the table below, but it is definitely important to learn the pattern of adjective order if it is not part of what you naturally bring to the language.
The categories in the following table can be described as follows:
- Determiners — articles and other limiters. See Determiners
- Observation — postdeterminers and limiter adjectives (e.g., a real hero, a perfect idiot) and adjectives subject to subjective measure (e.g., beautiful, interesting)
- Size and Shape — adjectives subject to objective measure (e.g., wealthy, large, round)
- Age — adjectives denoting age (e.g., young, old, new, ancient)
- Color — adjectives denoting color (e.g., red, black, pale)
- Origin — denominal adjectives denoting source of noun (e.g., French, American, Canadian)
- Material — denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of (e.g., woolen, metallic, wooden)
- Qualifier — final limiter, often regarded as part of the noun (e.g., rocking chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover)
It would be folly, of course, to run more than two or three (at the most) adjectives together. Furthermore, when adjectives belong to the same class, they become what we call coordinated adjectives, and you will want to put a comma between them: the inexpensive, comfortable shoes. The rule for inserting the comma works this way: if you could have inserted a conjunction — and or but — between the two adjectives, use a comma. We could say these are "inexpensive but comfortable shoes," so we would use a comma between them (when the "but" isn't there). When you have three coordinated adjectives, separate them all with commas, but don't insert a comma between the last adjective and the noun (in spite of the temptation to do so because you often pause there):
a popular, respected, and good looking student
domingo, 8 de enero de 2012
PLOUGH MONDAY IN BRITAIN- 9th JANUARY
The first Monday after Twelfth Night is Plough Monday, a day when ploughmen traditionally blackened their faces and marked the end of the Christmas period for the agricultural communities.
As agricultural work was scarce in the winter, farm labourers disguised themselves, by blacking their faces with soot, to get money by dragging a decorated plough around the larger houses in the villages. As they dragged the plough they would shout out "Penny for the ploughboys!".
They were often accompanied by someone acting the Fool. This character would often be dressed in animal skins and a tail, and carried a pig's bladder on the end of a stick.
MAKE YOUR OWN NEWSPAPER
Learn about the parts of a newspaper, see the news broadcast and create your own newspaper!
lunes, 2 de enero de 2012
TOP 10 RESOLUTIONS 2012
Top 10 Resolutions 2012 - EP
View more presentations from Empowered Presentations, Presentation Design Firm - Honolulu, HI
domingo, 1 de enero de 2012
SONG: DOWNTOWN - PETULA CLARK
The most commercially successful female singer in British chart history, YouTube Mix for Petula Clark was born November 15, 1932 in Epsom, England. Trained to sing by her soprano mother, Clark embarked on a stage career at the age of seven; soon she was a fixture on British radio programs, and began hosting her own regular show, Pet's Parlour -- a series spotlighting patriotic songs designed to boost the morale of wartime audiences -- at the tender age of 11.Click here to learn more about her career PETULA CLARK SITE
Below 2 versions of one of my favourite songs: Downtown.
The first one was recorded in 1965 and the second one in 2011. Enjoy it!
Below 2 versions of one of my favourite songs: Downtown.
The first one was recorded in 1965 and the second one in 2011. Enjoy it!
When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go - downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know - downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - no finer place, for sure
Downtown - everything's waiting for you
Don't hang around and let your problems surround you
There are movie shows - downtown
Maybe you know some little places to go to
Where they never close - downtown
Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova
You'll be dancing with him too before the night is over
Happy again
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, where all the lights are bright
Downtown - waiting for you tonight
Downtown - you're gonna be all right now
[Instrumental break]
And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along
So maybe I'll see you there
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - don't wait a minute for
Downtown - everything's waiting for you
Downtown, downtown, downtown, downtown ...
REVIEW 2011
Happy New Year! (if we are lucky and the Mayan prophecy, which says the world will end on 12.21.2012, doesn´t come true...)
Our memory is so fragile we have probably forgotten some of the things that were important some time or other during 2011. Watch this video to remember them and then try this end-of-the-year quiz
And now a song to welcome 2012!!!!!!