ROAD TO B1+: LESSON 4

1) Correcting common mistakes (2nd part of the exercise)

2) Reading comprehension "The good news about gossip" (worksheet)

3) Use of language: Cloze test and Multiple cloze test (worksheet)

4) SPEAKING PRACTICE: ANIMALS AND PETS

a) You'll watch a short video (5 min) in which you'll see how a set of 5 questions regarding animals and pets could be answered. Remember that in your final exam you'll be asked to answer some questions too, so this is going to help you a lot. Watch, listen and read!

b) Now prepare your own answers for the 5 questions. Remember to use connectors to link your ideas.

ROAD TO B1+: LESSON 3

1) Read the following sentences. Note down (apunta) the common mistakes that you still make.




2) Now practice online: Correct the mistakes 1 (1st part of the exercise).

3) Reading comprehension: Sydney identity (worksheet)

4) Use of language:  Fill in the blanks with a suitable word (worksheet)

5) SPEAKING PRACTICE: SPORTS

a) You'll watch a short video (7 min) in which you'll see how a set of 6 questions regarding sports could be answered. Remember that in your final exam you'll be asked to answer some questions too, so this is going to help you a lot. Watch, listen and read!

b) Now prepare your own answers for the 6 questions. Remember to use connectors to link your ideas.

ROAD TO B1+: LESSON 2

1) USE OF LANGUAGE: CONNECTORS

Here you have a list of useful connectors. Do you know them all? Look them up if necessary!




Sentence Connectors are a great way of improving your English. Why? Because we use them to make more sophisticated sentences.

Example: “London is a very exciting city; nevertheless it is also very expensive” or

“Despite the fact that London is very expensive, it is also very exciting”

! Some connectors are followed by a NOUN/ -ING FORM (despite/ in spite OF/ because OF/...), whereas other connectors need to be followed by a subject+verb.

There are various types of connectors. It's not important that you know them all yet, but this information will be handy in a few months.

We can divide sentence connectors into:

Coordinating Conjunctions

They connect words, phrases and clauses. They are usually found in the middle of a sentence with a comma (,) just before the conjuction, or at the beginning of the sentence.

Coordinating Conjunctions:

for and nor but or yet so

Correlative Conjunctions

They connect equal sentence elements together (like two nouns) and are always composed by two words.

Correlative Conjunctions:

both…and not only…but also not…but either…or neither…nor whether…or as…as

Subordinating Conjunctions

They connect a dependent clause and an independent clause and establish a relationship between them. They happen at the beginning of a sentence (with a comma in the middle separating the clauses) or in the middle of a sentence with no comma.

Subordinating Conjunctions:

after	if	though	although
if only	till	as	in order that
unless	as if	now that	until
as long as	once	when	as though
rather than	whenever	because	since
where	before	so that	whereas
even if	than	wherever	even though
that	that	while

Linking Adverbs and Transition Words

They connect two independent sentences. They provide transition between ideas. They come at the beginning of a sentence or after a strong pause, such as ";" and are often followed by a comma.

Linking Adverbs and Transition Words:

accordingly	however	nonetheless	also
indeed	otherwise	besides	instead
similarly	consequently	likewise	still
conversely	meanwhile	subsequently	finally
moreover	then	furthermore	nevertheless
therefore	hence	next	thus

Now practise the use of connectors (there are 14 exercises, with answers): CLICK HERE


2) SPEAKING PRACTICE: EDUCATION

a) You'll watch a short video (7 min) in which you'll see how a set of 6 questions regarding education could be answered. Remember that in your final exam you'll be asked to answer some questions too, so this is going to help you a lot. Watch, listen and read!

b) Now prepare your own answers for the 6 questions. Remember to use connectors to link your ideas.

ROAD TO B1+: LESSON 1

On our first lesson, we talked about the importance of getting an EOI certificate. After that, we talked about the advantages of the EOIES programme and what the final exam will be like more or less.


1) USE OF LANGUAGE: PREPOSITIONS

Collocations are very common in English, and learning them will help you a lot to pass the Use of English section.

Do this exercise to see how many collocations you know. Check your answers. Learn from your mistakes. Next month we'll do a similar exercise. Try not to make the same mistakes again!


2) LISTENING COMPREHENSION:

Listen to this text once. Do not get discouraged. Listen to it again but this time read the transcript while listening. Now answer the questions.


3) SPEAKING:

(In pairs): Talk about your favourite means of transport. When did you last travel? Where did you go? Who did you go with?

MATERIALS

I'll post all of the activities we do on this blog.

If you want to, you can buy this book to work at home: English File Intermediate Plus (third edition): Student’s Book + Workbook with Key Pack. (3rd Edition) ISBN: 9780194558235 (Oxford University Press)

A list of useful books to reinforce grammar and vocabulary:

• Spectrum 3. English Rules and Practice. Intemediate. Harrison. Oxford.

• Communicative Grammar Practice. Activities. Intermediate Students of English. Leo Jones. CUP

• Intermediate Language Practice. Michael Vince. MacMillan Heinemann.

• Practical English Usage. M.Swan. Oxford University Press.

• How English Works. M. Swan and C. Walter. Ed. Oxford

• New English Grammar in Use. R. Murphy. C. U. P.

• Intermediate Vocabulary. B.J. Thomas. Ed. Nelson.

English Vocabulary in Use, pre-intermediate & intermediate. Stuart Redman. Cambridge University Press.

• English Grammar with Exercises. Fernández Carmona. Fraile del Pozo. Longman.

Level of the graded readers that you should be able to understand without many problems:

• Collins Graded Readers 5)
• Heinemann Guided Readers (5).
• Cambridge (4)
• Longman Structural Readers (5).
• Burlington Books (1800 words onwards)
• Mac-Millan Readers (int. i upper int.)
• Penguin Readers Penguin (5)
• Oxford Bookworms (5) 

Other useful resources:

• INSTAGRAM: @englisharound: https://www.instagram.com/englisharound/

• BLOG “English without tears”: http://hrhgabrielatorrens.blogspot.com.es/

LET'S START!

This year we are going to prepare for the "Intermedi" EOI level certificate. According to the MECRL levels, the level we are aiming to have at the end of the year is a B1+ level.

During this year we'll work all of the skills: speaking, writing, listening and reading, as well as grammar and vocabulary usage.

In March you'll be given the chance to register for the final exam. The final exam will be in May/June and you'll have a chance of retaking the exam in September if necessary. We'll do this exam here, at our school.

The final exam will go like this:

READING COMPREHENSION: 45 minutes
LISTENING COMPREHENSION: 30 minutes
USE OF LANGUAGE (GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY): 1 hour
WRITING: 75 minutes
SPEAKING: 15 minutes. In pairs.


HERE you can find the complete explanation of the exam and some examples.


We'll have a class here at IES Madina Mayurqa every Wednesday afternoon at 16.30h.

See you in class!


Gabriela