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miércoles, 17 de junio de 2009

Welcome to this Pre-Intermediate English Course


Who is this blog for?
This blog is intended for those of you who have finished the elementary level, i.e. you have been in contact with the English language for about 120-150 hours and, accordingly, you already have an idea of the basic rules and vocabulary needed to maintain a very basic conversation with other speakers of the language (both native and non-native).

What can you find in this blog?
In this blog you will find some guidelines to help you with your English and extra materials to practise the new items you have seen in class. Moreover, you will be able to choose "revision exercises" of the previous level that you consider of particular value for you, either because you consider you need to revise them to clarify doubts or because you think you still don't control them well enough to go to the next level. After all, it seems quite obvious to say that "sometimes to go one step further it is necessary to go two steps back". So don't be put off and use all your energy to learn more and revise even more!

In order to make things a bit easier for you, the blog will be divided into different sections, each one dealing with an important aspect of the level you are about to start. We will call these sections CORNERS. The CORNERS included are:


1. The reading Corner: You will find different sections inside this corner. For example: "The short story of the month", "The poem of the week", "The joke of the day", "The recipe of the fortnight", "the comic strip of the term", etc. Each section will contain a short text for you to read and some reading comprehension exercises with an answer key so that you can check your answers once you have finished your task.



2. The Writing Corner: The main section in this corner will be the HOW TO WRITE A/AN... section. Every month you will find a different example of a type of writing - including the steps to follow in order to write a similar text, the language and expressions needed, etc - and an exercise to write something similar. Some of the taks that will appear throughout the school year will be: HOW TO WRITE... a short story, a poem, a fairy tale, an informal letter, a biography, a magazine article, a report, an email, a text message, a note/notice, a leaflet, a postcard, a description of a place or a person, a film/book review, a formal letter (enquiry, application, apology, complaint, opinion, etc.), HOW TO FILL in a form and other sorts of legal documents in English.


3. The Listening Corner: The main section in this corner will be the LET'S LISTEN TO... section. The purpose of this section is to encourage students to listen to a wide range of listening materials which are easily available to them in real life. For instance: songs, short stories, audiobooks, news bulletins, films, etc. Each suggested listening task will be accompanied by the tapescripts and some exercises to check listening comprehension (multiple choice, fill in the gaps, etc.) plus the answer key.


4. The Speaking Corner: Some of the sections inside this corner will include: "the Word of the Day, the Proverb of the week, the Expression of the fortnight, etc. You will also find some examples of possible speaking tasks in mp3 which you could either download or ask me to send them to you via email. Possible speaking tasks to be included: dialogues, role-plays, debates, interviews, discussions, telling stories, reading a poem aloud, TALKING ABOUT... books, films, TV programmes and soap operas, group work, pair work, monologues, class work...


5. Everyday English: In here you will find real tasks based on real situations. Throughout the school year you will find a list of possible tasks which might include: making conversation, giving directions, telephoning, social expressions, at the doctor's, etc.


6. Progress Tests and Revisions: They will include exercises to verify whether (or not) you have assimilated the things we have done in class and there will be an answer key for you to correct.

7. Reader of the Week/Month: This section will give you a nice list of possible readings for you to choose among many different genres. Moreover, you could read the first chapter to check whether it seems interesting for you or not.