30 abr 2013

David Baird is coming today!



Dear advanced students,
Just a note to remind you that David Baird is coming to the EOI from 17:30 until 19:30 to talk about his book and answer your questions, and even to sign your copy of his book! Classroom 5 as usual.


23 abr 2013

PUC: Pruebas Unificadas de Certificación



Dear advanced students
Before you start practising, it is paramount that you read the STUDENT GUIDE to be fully informed

Now, here are some links to the dreaded tests from other regions in Spain:
Click on ASTURIAS
Click on ARAGÓN
Click on CANARIAS
Click on MADRID
Click on GALICIA
Click on NAVARRA
Click on MURCIA

...

Impersonal Reported Structures



Click on EXERCISE to practise a little more.

15 abr 2013

Effective introduction



Here are some tips about how to make your introduction more effective.


Open with an attention grabber. Sometimes, especially if the topic of your paper is somewhat dry or technical, opening with something catchy can help. Consider these options:
  1. an intriguing example (for example, the mistress who initially teaches Douglass but then ceases her instruction as she learns more about slavery)
  2. a provocative quotation (Douglass writes that “education and slavery were incompatible with each other”)
  3. a puzzling scenario (Frederick Douglass says of slaves that “[N]othing has been left undone to cripple their intellects, darken their minds, debase their moral nature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind; and yet how wonderfully they have sustained the mighty load of a most frightful bondage, under which they have been groaning for centuries!” Douglass clearly asserts that slave owners went to great lengths to destroy the mental capacities of slaves, yet his own life story proves that these efforts could be unsuccessful.)
  4. a vivid and perhaps unexpected anecdote (for example, “Learning about slavery in the American history course at Frederick Douglass High School, students studied the work slaves did, the impact of slavery on their families, and the rules that governed their lives. We didn’t discuss education, however, until one student, Mary, raised her hand and asked, ‘But when did they go to school?’ That modern high school students could not conceive of an American childhood devoid of formal education speaks volumes about the centrality of education to American youth today and also suggests the significance of the deprivation of education in past generations.”)
  5. a thought-provoking question (given all of the freedoms that were denied enslaved individuals in the American South, why does Frederick Douglass focus his attentions so squarely on education and literacy?)

Writing topics



Here is a LIST of 100 topics to get you thinking and...writing!

Speaking topics



Click on TOPICS to view the enormous range of topics you can talk about and select randomly.

Complete essay writing



Click on ESSAY to view as many times as you wish!

Jack & the beanstalk



Click BEANSTALK to listen and view the fairy tale again.

11 abr 2013

10 abr 2013

Lesson plan for today!


Hello everyone!

Just to let you know that today WEDNESDAY I will give you a useful worksheet about speaking examples and then we will go to the Salón de Actos to watch the film entitled THE WAY. It is about a truly moving pilgrimage experience to Santiago de Compostela. Besides, it's in English and with subtitles.

Feel free to tell your classmates about today's lesson plan. I strongly believe that watching the film is useful for the topic of travelling. Moreover, we will deal with that topic soon and therefore it could be a useful example and conversation starter...

Thank you for your attention and I hope to see you later!