Lola's Blog

Storm in the mountains by Albert Bierstadt. When was the last time that you watched the weather forecast? How much vocabulary do you know to talk about cold or hot weather? Do you know any expressions for talking about the weather? In this post you will learn vocabulary related to the weather and you will be able to keep updated on the latest weather report. Listening If you would like to prepare this listening activity beforehand, you are very welcome to download this PDF file . You can also download the MP3 file for your personal use at home. Watch the weather forecast If you would like to check the weather forecast on a daily basis, you can visit the BBC Weather page.

Public domain. Pixabay Speaking 1) What can you see in this picture? 2) What words come to your mind in connection with the word crime? 3) Make a list of different types of crime and the people involved in each type of crime. 4) What type of crime is common in Spain? How does Spain compare with other types of crime in the US, for example?   First we'll work on vocabulary and then on crimes that have shaken the people around the world and the media. Vocabulary. Part 1 Complete Worksheet 1 about types of crme, criminals and crime verbs. How much vocabulary do you remember? Try this quiz . Any good? That's great Now you are going to do something more challenging, mindmaps . Click on the link below to see a better picture. Image by Nicogauro. Wikipedia. CC BY SA Mindmaps can be very useful to remember a lot of vocabulary. Click here to see an example of a mindmap about crime . You will notice that it has only some of the types of crime that we have

Public domain Many students of English complain about how difficult it is to learn English prepositions. I agree. I remember, as an undergraduate, I had to memorise never-ending lists of prepostions, adverbials, phrasal verbs...I found it an impossible task. Look at the picture on your left. What is the meaning of   at your own risk ? Click on this dictionary and check. Listening An embarrassing anecdote This is from a VOA (Voice of America) recording. The presenter talks about a friend, a non-native English speaker, who tried to tell someone "you will hear from me" meaning he would get in touch. But instead of saying "I'll get back to you" , he said "I'll get back at you" which means "I'll take revenge". The wrong preposition sent a completely different message with embarrassing consequences. Listen to What difference does a preposition make? In this interview the presenters talk to Professor  David Thatcher. Tip:  I

    Poster of the film In the heat of the night, United Artists, Fair use When was the last time that you wrote a book review? This post is about how to write a book review.  You should be able to understand by now the story of the novel, the historical context of the book and the relationships and conflicts among the characters. Also, the significance of the name Virgil.   Genre or types of books As with different types of films, there are also different types of books. Generally speaking, we can talk about two main types of books, fiction and non-fiction . Click on fiction.   Read the definition and make a list of at least 10 different types of fiction. Click on non-fiction . Read the definition  and do the same as you did with fiction. Thinking question Is the word drama on your list of works of fiction? Is the meaning of "a drama", as a type of book, the same or different from "a drama", as a type of film? What shall I include in my book revie

Inversion with conditionals In conditional (hypothetical) sentences we can sometimes drop "if" and use an inversion. ·               Should you see Nigel, give him my regards. ·              Were I in your shoes, I would make a formal complaint.    Had I known it was her birthday, I would have bought her a gift.     Note that "should", "were" and "had" are the only verbs that can be inverted in this way. (And "were" is also used with he, she and it.)   Had she not helped Contracted negative forms are not possible when we use an inverted word order to talk about an unreal or impossible situation in the past. Had she not helped me I would have been in bad trouble. ( NOT Hadn’t she helped me I would have been in bad trouble.) This is actually the inverted form of the sentence ‘ If she had not helped me I would have been in bad trouble’. Had it not rained yesterday, we would have finished painting the