Lola's Blog

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...

Public domain Can you answer these questions?: Do you know the difference between work and job ? Which words collocate with do and make ? For example, what is correct make or do a living ? Have you been made redundant recently?  Which big company has announced a new round of layoffs ? How much paternity leave can you take in Spain? If you are a parent, how do you juggle work and family life ? What is the state retirement age ? Do you get any perks in your company? Vocabulary What words come to your mind if somebody mentions the following?: unemployment job security casual employment changing work patterns employment opportunities maternity/paternity leave sick leave childcare retirement Can you speak for 4-6 minutes on each topic? Well, you'll have to work at it or work your socks off! Topic 1. Unemployment Follow this link to read an article about Spain . Follow this link to read about benefits in the UK , and this one to read about redundan...

What words do you associate with seaside ? When was the last time you went to the beach? Did you have a good time? Did anything wrong or unusual happen? Has anyone or anything ever spoilt your holiday at the seaside? You are going to read an extract from Bill Bryson's book Notes from a Big Country . Reading Read "A day at the seaside" and explain why Bryson had a hell of a time. Vocabulary  Click here to download a works heet with vocabulary from the text above. Reporting verbs When we report or paraphrase a message or what someone said, we use reporting verbs such as tell, say, advise, convice, claim, sugge st, recommend, etc. Reporting verbs follow different patterns: verb + direct object (hearer) + to-infinitive Jenny asked me to come to the party verb + direct object (hearer) + that clause I convi nced myself that I was doing the right thing verb + to-infinitive I refuse to tell you the truth verb + that clause  Claire recommend s ...

Arrested refugee-immigrants by Ggia. CC BY SA 3.0 This is a topic that generates heated debate. Immigrants leave their countries for a variety of reasons, but these days they do it because they are desperate to escape from war and conflict. Look at the photo on your left. What can you see? How do these people feel? How would you feel? Making predictions with "bound to + infinitive" Bound is an adjective and it means certain or highly likely to happen . Example 1:  I am bound to forget students' names. This sentence means that there is a good chance / it is highly probable that I will forget students' names if I only see them once a week. Example 2: You are bound to feel nervous the first time that you give an oral presentation. This means that you have never given an oral presentation and it is likely that you will feel nervous. Example 3: The number of refugees coming to Europe is bound to rise . This means that the number of refugees wil pro...

Public domain What can you see in this picture. Do you agree it is the most dangerous animal on earth? Why not? Think of at least five very dangerous animals and explain why they can be considered extremely dangerous. Think of a synonym for dangerous Can you think of another word that means "dangerous"? Click here to find out. Make a note of the comparative and the superlative form of this adjective. Reading about dangerous animals Do you have your list with dangerous animals ready? Ok, you are going to read an article from the BBC about the deadliest animals on earth. Check the following: 1) are your animals on your list in this article? 2) are you surprised? Read again and make a note of 5 news words or short phrases that you have learnt.

Ellen Levy Finch. CC-BY-SA Do you like dogs? How much do you know about dog breeds? Look at these two dogs in the picture What breed are they? Well, this post is not about dogs but about the comparative and the superlative in English. Hope you are not disappointed! Comparatives and superlatives Share with your partner how much you know about comparative and superlatives. Think of the following: 1) one syllable adjectives. Spelling rules 2) two syllable adjectives 3) three or more syllable adjectives 4) irregular adjectives 4) two comparatives in the same sentences, for example, "bigger and bigger" If you are still unsure, check this site with grammar explanations: comparative and superlative If you are a visual learner, visit this infographic about the comparative and superlative. Please let me know how you get on.

Marilyn Monroe. Public domain Do you think that beautiful people are happier and more successful than less beautiful people? What do you know about Marilyn Monroe? Was she beautiful and successful ? Was she happy? This post is about plastic surgery, their benefits and risks. You are going to revise parts of the body, and the structure have/get something done to talk about plastic surgery procedures. Vocabulary Click here to revise vocabulary about the body . Click here to revise vocabulary about the face . Reading Read "Plastic surgery booming in the UK" and answer the following questions: What are the top ten surgical procedures in the UK? What is the most popular procedure among women? and among men? What does the article say about faulty breast implants?  Watch this video Watch Dr  Rajiv Grover talk about the rise of cosmetic surgery in the UK? He mentions a tried and tested procedure? What is it? What is the percentage of people rejected for ...

El gordo by Marccostablanca. CC-BY-SA This post is about verb forms and expressions that we use in English to talk about what is going to happen in the future, i.e. predictions. Look at the lottery ticket and answer these questions: Have you ever won the lottery? Would you like to win the lottery? How likely are you to win the lottery? If you won the lottery, what will you be doing next year? These are some of the questions that you will answer in class today. Making predictions in English We can say how sure we feel about the future by using will , modal verbs , the future continuous and the future perfect . There are also other phrases we can use to express our certainty or uncertainty about future events. Making a definite prediction with “ will” We use “ will ” in a definite prediction, when we know or believe that an event is certain. The cost of tuition fees will continue to rise We can make the prediction more or less certain by using adve...

One Thousand and One Night. Public domain Can you think of a well-known story or folktale from Spain? Have you read any of the stories of The Arabian Nights ? Do you know in which language they were originally written? Why are the tales so famous? Visit this page and find out. Scheherazade is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of The Arabian Nights . She is the daughter of the King's Vizier and she tells a story for one thousand and one nights.  Why do you think she tells a story a night?   Gradable and non-gradable adjectives One way of making our stories more interesting is to use gradable and non-gradable adjectives.   Gradable adjectives can be used in comparative or superlative forms, or with adverbs such as extremely, very , quite, fairly or pretty . We can grade or show the degree of a particular quality in a person or a thing:                             ...