USO BÁSICO DE IDIOMAS 2014-2015

Hello! Welcome to the Blog! You can find information about our lessons, materials, links, videos, photos, etc.


Reading text: This is me 



Poster: Preposition of time: in, at, on.

Click this link to find games , listening activities, and grammar exercises.

Power Point: Easter in the USA




Watch this video about possessive adjectives

Listen to the next listening about: Why I accepted the invitation?



Reading text:  My Fabulous Sister




Poster multiple-choice activity

Click this link about weather related idioms and vocabulary.


This power point is about Easter





What this video about making suggestions and recommendations.

Listen to the next listening about: Where did you go on holiday last year?



Reading text: Safe Holidays-travel advice.





Poster: Where is the ball?

Click this link to enjoy the video about the song "Imagine".


This power point is about Easter vocabulary





Sing the winter song: 

Listen to the next listening about: Who was Joan of Arc?






Reading Text: Christmas Celebration in England
Poster: Weather

Click this link to sing a Christmas carol


This power point is about Christmas




Watch this video about Christmas vocabulary





Listen to the next audio about family at Christmas time

 

Reading Text: What makes you happy

           Australians are the happiest people in the world. This is according to a new survey from the market research company GfK NOP. Interviewers asked 30,000 people in 30 different countries about their levels of happiness. Forty-six percent of Australians said they were “very happy”. Following them was the USA (40 percent), Egypt (36 percent), India (34 percent) and the UK and Canada (32 percent). Hungary finished top of the “miserable” list. Thirty-five percent of its citizens said they were “very unhappy”. Second most miserable were Russians, at 30 percent. 


          The research showed that money and age affected how happy people are. The study did not show that money can buy happiness, but it did reveal a link between a lack of money and unhappiness. Unhappier people were in lower income groups or unemployed. The study also suggested the older we become, the less happy we are. Globally, teenagers are the happiest people. The least happy age group is 50-59 – only 16 percent of those in their fifties said they were very happy. The things that make us happy include good health, financial security and a happy marriage, not cars and clothes. 

Poster: The time

Click this link to pronounce the words correctly



This power point is about winter

Watch this video about shopping



Listen to the audio about the time

 

Reading Text: After a vacation

          Mr. Richard’s family was on vacation. They are Mr. and Mrs. Richard with two sons. They went to London. They saw their travel agent and booked theirtickets. They went to the British Embassy to get visas to enter Britain. They had booked fourteen days tour. This includes travel and accommodation. They also included tours around London.

          They boarded a large Boeing flight. The flight was nearly fourteen hours. On the plane the cabin crewwere very friendly. They gave them newspaper andmagazine to read. They gave them food and drink. There was a film for their entertainment. They had a very pleasant flight. They slept part of the way.

          On arrival at Heathrow Airport, they had to go toCustoms and Immigration. The officers were pleasant. Mr. Richard and his family collected their bags and went to London Welcome Desk. Theyarranged the transfer to a hotel.

          The hotel was a well-known four-star hotel. The room had perfect view of the park. The room had its ownbathroom and toilet. Instead of keys for the room, theyinserted a key-card to open the door. On the third floor, there was a restaurant serving Asian and European food. They had variety of food.

          The two week in London went fast. At the end of the14-day, they were quite tired but they felt very happy.

Poster: Wh- questions

Click this link to practise spelling the alphabet

This power point is about feelings





Watch the video: Asking and giving directions





Listening to the audio about a particular job



Reading Text: A holiday with a difference

            What do you like to do on holiday? For some people, relaxing on a beach is enough, while others like to visit new places and go sightseeing or spend time doing their favourite sport. Most people go on holiday to get away from the stress of everyday life. But for some people, that would be just too boring!

            More and more people are choosing alternative types of holiday and one type that is becoming more popular is a holiday in a haunted house. Most of us would run a mile if we saw or heard a ghost. However, for the people who choose to go on ghost-hunting holidays, it would be a reason to celebrate. Their idea of a successful holiday is not to get a good tan, but to see a ghost with their eyes.

            The UK has a big number of castles and houses that people claim are haunted. Psychic investigators spend a lot of time and money trying to find out if these buildings really have ghosts or not. Now, the tourists have the opportunity to investigate with the professionals.

            The houses they go are usually country houses that are very cold and have a history of strange or violent deaths.

            The holidays are very popular. Personally, I prefer to soak up the sun on the beach than to sit for hours in a dark room listening for ghostly noises.

Poster:Conjunctions

Click this link to practise basic vocabulary: body parts, colours, clothes, etc

This power point is about Bonfire Night

Bonfire night powerpoint from lauracdh1

What this video about pronunciation (British English and American English)





Listening to the audio about posessives

 

Reading Text: Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims come to America

          In  1620, the Pilgrims sailed to America. The voyage was dangerous. There could be pirates or hurricanes. The Pilgrims risked their lives.

          It all started with a king. The king of England said that everyone must belong to his church. The Pilgrims wanted to pray in their own church.They tried to meet in secret but the king had the Pilgrim leaders arrested. The Pilgrims decided to leave England. They sailed on the Mayflower to find religious freedom. They gave up their houses. They say good-bye to their friends. 

          The Mayflower was very crowded. There were 102 people on the Mayflower.There were 70 men and women and 32 children. The children could not bring any toys. They couldn’t run or play. There was no water for washing.They couldn’t change their clothes. They became dirty and smelly. The food was not good. The Pilgrims ate the same thing every day. Some of the food had worms

          The Mayflower carried supplies as well as passengers. It carried barrels of water and food, seeds to plant, tools for planting, tools for building houses and clothes, knives, and beads for trading with the Indians.

The First Winter in Plymouth

          The first winter in America was terrible for the Pilgrims. Some people stayed on the ships and others went ashore to work. They cut down trees and built houses. They Pilgrims worked as hard as they could. but they could not finish building their homes before the snow fell. They could not find  enough food in the forests. The people were hungry and cold. Many Pilgrims got sick and died. Almost half the Pilgrims died that first winter. 

Spring 

          The long, sad winter passed and spring arrived. One day a Native American walked into the Pilgrim settlement. The children were terrified. The Native American smiled and said, "Welcome". His name was Samoset and he spoke English. The Pilgrims asked Samoset many questions. They gave him presents. Samoset came back with another Native American named Squanto. Squanto spoke even better English. He liked the Pilgrims and decided to help them. He showed them how to survive in the wilderness - how to hunt for deer, and where to find berries and nuts. He showed them how to plant corn.

          The Pilgrims worked very hard. They made houses and built furniture out of wood. They also planted gardens with seeds taht they had brought over on the Mayflower. 

Summer

          By summer, seven houses were finished and more were being built. The gardens were bursting with vegetables. The corn was growing tall. Summer was a great time for the Pilgrims. There was plenty to eat, and no one would go hungry.

          Fall

          When autum came, the Pilgrims rejoiced over the food they had grown. They had corn, pumpkins, peas, and beans. They wanted to have a celebration to celebrate the food they had grown and the houses they had built. The Pilgrims invited the Indians to join them in a feast. Ninety Native Americans came. The first Thanksgiving in America lasted three days. The Pilgrims and the Native Americans ate,  drank, danced, and played games together. They gave thanks for their new friends and their food. Today we still celebrate that holiday. We call it Thanksgiving.

Poster: PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE: AT, IN AND 

ON

Click this link to read short and easy stories

This power point is about Thanksgiving

Watch this video: Autumn song

Listen to the next audio about descriptions

 

Reading Text: Jack O'Lantern

The original Jack O'Lantern was not a pumpkin. The Jack O'Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History.

Jack, an irish man, grew up in a simple village where he earned a reputation for cleverness as well as laziness. He applied his fine intelligence to wiggling out of any work that was asked of him. In his whole life he never made a single enemy, never made a single friend and never performed a selfless act for anyone. Stingy Jack, a miserable and old drunk, liked to play tricks on everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself.

One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree for a juicy apple and then quickly cut the sign of the cross into the tree trunk, preventing the Devil from coming down. Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the devil promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the cross sign and let the Devil down.

           Many years later, when Jack finally died, he went to the Gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was not allowed to enter Heaven. He then went down to Hell.

But the Devil kept his promise and would not allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared and had nowhere to go but to wander about forever in the darkness between Heaven and Hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave as there was no light. The Devil gave him a burning coal from the flames of Hell to help him light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out turnip, one of his favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one.

Poster: LOOK AT, WATCH AND SEE


Click this link to learn English through songs. 

This power point is about Halloween: Origins and Traditions




Watch this video about London

Listen to the next audio about wh- questions

 

Reading Text: Are mobile phones taking over our lives?

Next time you’re in a public place, take a look around you, and count how many people are using their phones. I can tell you now that it is probably more than half, whether you’re on public transport, in a café or simply walking down the street.

I’m not saying that I am not an example of this, but it always amazes me how people can spend so much time on their phones without actually talking to anyone in particular. With the constant upgrade of technology we can now do practically anything on a device which can fit in the palm of our hands. But has it gone too far? Do we spend too much time on our mobiles and not enough time talking to people ‘in real life’?

For example, I recently visited London and travelled on the tube while I was there. Apart from the people asleep, almost everybody else was on their phones, and because of the nature of the tube, it is difficult not to see exactly what they are all doing. Of course, being underground it is difficult to get any signal, which rules out texting or using the internet, but there is still plenty you can use your phones for. People were playing games, reading articles and listening to music, and I am sure that as soon as they emerged from the train station they would start texting or calling or checking their emails. There is a constant connection to everyone in the world, as long as you have a mobile phone in your hand.

Recently, my smart phone broke and had to be sent off to the warehouse for repair for a week or so. In the meantime I had to use a really old, basic phone just to keep me in touch with my family and friends. All I could do on this phone was send text messages, make calls and play one game. And I loved it. I loved being free from the internet, and I really didn’t mind not having constant updates about what my friends were doing or what the latest celebrity story was. It was quite refreshing and it allowed me to spend more time taking in my surroundings – I could enjoy my time in London more, for example, and I could watch the people around me and really see what was going on.

However, I knew that as soon as I got my smart phone back I would be one of those people once again, obsessed with finding out what everyone is doing and wasting my time playing games or checking social network sites. Perhaps I should just go back to using the basic phone and forget I ever got my smart phone back.

Poster: American and British English




Click this  link to practise basic vocabulary: Colours, numbers, animals, etc



This power point show you vocabulary related to Autumn




Watch this video to learn more common ways to ask and answer the question:"How are You?" 



Listen to the next audio about jobs and professions: