Wednesday, 28 May 2014

FCE: Use of English, Part 3

Word Formation                                                                      
  
 

Monday, 26 May 2014

FCE: Use of English, Part 2

Open Cloze                                              

Friday, 23 May 2014

FCE Speaking

As my FCE students' speaking test is getting closer, another video to check what they are going to face.

 

Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Writing FCE


Como mejorar el writing del FCE (B2) 

1) Conoce bien en qué consiste el "writing" y qué se espera que hagas

En  el FCE, tiene dos partes (Part 1 y Part 2) en las que debes redactar dos tipos de textos;  uno obligatorio (Part 1) y otro a elegir (Part 2) entre varios tipos de textos.  Veamos, a continuación, en qué consiste cada parte.


Obligatorio. En "Part 1" tendrás que escribir un texto de carácter obligatorio (compulsory). Este texto será una carta o email (semi-formal).

Tipo de texto: Carta o email (letter or email)
Estilo: Deberá coincidir con la información que te suministren en el examen. Si por ejemplo, tienes que redactar una carta pidiendo información el estilo será formal o semi-formal, nunca informal.

Longitud: 120 -150 palabras. Consejo: Cuando practiques antes del examen, cuenta el número de palabras que tienen tus líneas. Por ejemplo: suponiendo que escribes 10 palabras por linea, deberás escribir 15 líneas en total para tener 150 palabras.
Tiempo: 1.20 hora. en total .  Sugiero utilizar. 40 minutos en esta parte y otros 40 en la segunda parte.
Contenido: El email, o carta, se debe redactar utilizando la información que te darán en el examen: un anuncio, una carta, un email. Dependiendo de la información deberás: disculparte, comparar, describir, explicar, expresar opiniones, justificar, persuadir, recomendar, o sugerir.


A elegir. En "Part 2" tendrás que escribir otro a elegir entre varias categorías. Estas son las categorías
  • a report /un informe
  • a review/ una crítica 
  • a story / una historia
  • a letter/una carta
  • an article/un artículo
  • an essay/un ensayo


Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Monday, 19 May 2014

Some advice to improve your writing skills (from the British Council)

Friday, 16 May 2014

FCE computer based II

Here you have the rest of the FCE test 

                             

Use of English

 Writing

Listening

Thursday, 15 May 2014

FCE computer based

Here you have the reading part of a computer based test. Although you cannot get your results, I consider it necessary to do it so you can practise and get familiar with it before your exam. 
Good luck!
Sample                                                                  

Tuesday, 13 May 2014

FCE - Listening, Part 2

Sentence Completion              
                                       

Monday, 12 May 2014

FCE: Reading, Part 1

Multiple Choice                                                                       

Sunday, 11 May 2014

Friday, 9 May 2014

'Look Up' is a lesson taught to us through a love story, in a world where we continue to find ways to make it easier for us to connect with one another, but always results in us spending more time alone. An awesome film for an online generation. Enjoy it.



Written, Performed & Directed by Gary Turk.

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

FCE - Listening, Part 1

Multiple options                                                                                                

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

Advice vs advise

Advice and advise are two commonly confused words in the English language. When do you use each one?

Advice (pronounced with an "S" sound at the end)

Advice is an uncountable NOUN. It talks about something someone recommend you to do
When we have a problem, and we don't know what to do, we ask someone for their advice. We ask them what they thing is best for us to do.
Examples:

  • You should talk to Laura. She always gives excellent advice.
  • If you need some advice about which courses to take, you can talk to the professors.
  • I didn't ask for his advice, but he told me what he thought anyway!
  • My advice is, always follow your heart!
    
Advise(pronounced with a "Z" sound at the end)
Advise is a VERB that means to give advice. This verb must always be followed by the person we are advising. In this way, it is like the verb tell.





Michaela advises Janice to take a nice, long vacation.





If we want to say exactly what the advice was, we use to right after the listener's name, like in the example above.
Examples
  • The salesman advised the customer to buy the product
  • The experts advise the president about complex situations.
  • If you ask Donna, I'm sure she'll advise you to report the problem.
                                                                          

                                                                                                                                               Adapted from Really Learn English
 









                                       

Monday, 5 May 2014

The most difficult job

I cannot resist the temptation to show you this fantastic video.