Questions With and Without Auxiliaries and Prepositions of Time.

Week 26^th – 28^th May

Hi everybody! How are you?

Let’s see…What did we do in our last lessons?

We revised how to make questions with and without auxiliaries.

I’m not going to repeat the theory, as it was posted on the previous blog. You can just scroll down and you’ll find it!

I won’t write the explanation again but you can watch it on these videos. It may be more entertaining than reading!

We also reviewed prepositions of time: in, on, at, for, during and since.

In/on/at for time. Exercise:  In, On, At ...

I was born on Saturday on25th in December in 1991 in winter in the morning at /on (American English) the weekend at 9p.m

·         On New Year’s Eve we stay up until midnight.

·         We send cards to family at Christmas and on birthdays.

·         They are sweet and we often eat them on special occasions, like Christmas. What are they?

·         Pumpkins are popular at Halloween.

·         People often put up special decorations around the house at Christmas

Use of the prepositions, for, since, ago with present perfect or past simple.

 ·          Since is only used with perfect tenses.

He’s lived in Madrid since 2006.

 ·          Ago is only used with past simple.

He moved to Madrid 8 years ago.

 ·          For can be used with both tenses but the meaning of the sentences is different.

He lived in Santander for six years.        
 He doesn’t live in Santander.

He’s lived in Santander for six years.      He’s probably living in Santander now.

Watch the video and you’ll understand the use much better!            

And we finished the class with Juan making us feeling jealous (envious) because he’s going to Italy for a week! Enjoy your trip and have fun!!!          

See you in two weeks’ time. And Laura, Luis, see you on Tuesday!!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Election Day,'Imagine'!

Week 19^th – 21^st May

Hello! How are you?

Are you interested in the elections? Would you like to learn some vocabulary related to them?

You can learn some in here.

British Politics and Election Vocabulary      Useful Vocabulary

Things you might see around election time
ballot paper(s)
leaflet(s) / pamphlet(s)
party political broadcast
politician(s)
poll card(s)
poster(s)
postal vote(s)
vote(s)
voting booth(s)

Main Political Parties in the UK - from left to right. Their Colours and Logos

Labour - Red - Rose	Liberal Democrats - Gold - Bird	Conservatives - Blue - Tree

Words you might see or hear during an election

block vote	A way of voting in which your vote represents other members of your organization, especially at trade union meetings.
by-election	A special election, held between regular elections, when an area votes. A by-election can be 'called' if an existing M.P. dies or retires.
campaign (n)	In an election a campaign is a political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to win the vote of the electorate. Often called a 'political campaign' or an 'election campaign'.
campaign (v)	The things a candidate does to be elected. (KIssing babies, shaking hands, giving speeches to the WI etc.)
candidate (n)	The person who is running in an election.
coalition (n)	If there's no outright winner in an election a government can be formed in which several parties cooperate.
constituent (n)	A citizen who is represented in a government by officials for whom he or she votes.
constituency (n)	Each of the electoral areas or divisions in the UK which elect one or more members to parliament.
debate (n)	A formal discussion of the merits of something.
debate (v)	To argue for and against something.
deposit (n)	The sum of money that a candidate must pay in return for the right to stand in British parliamentary elections.
dissolution (n)	The termination of the current parliament, which has to take place before a general election.
dissolved (v)	Once the dissolution of parliament has been announced, we say it has been dissolved.
elect (v)	The act of voting to select the winner of a political office.
election (n)	The formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.
electorate (n)	The people who are eligible to vote in an election.
general election	An election held for a nation's primary legislative body.
gerrymander	To redraw electoral district boundaries for political advantage.
government	The political body with the power to make and/or enforce laws for a country,
House of Commons	The lower house of the British parliament.
House of Lords	The upper house of the British parliament.
independent	A candidate who is not controlled by a political party.
leader	The person who runs a political party. (Margaret Thatcher was the leader of the Conservatives).
local election	County, unitary authority, borough, district, city, town or parish elections.
MP	Abbreviation of Member of Parliament.
Member of Parliament	The person who represents their constituency in the House of Commons.
opposition	The major political party opposed to the party in office and prepared to replace it if elected.
party	An organization formed to gain political power.
policy	A deliberate act of government that in some way alters or influences the society or economy outside the government.
political	Related to politics.
politician	A person active in politics.
politics	The process by which governments make decisions.
PM	Abbreviation of Prime Minister.
prime minister	The person who holds the position of head of the government.
proxy vote	The delegation of someone to vote on someone else's behalf.
rhetoric	The art of using language as a means to persuade someone to your way of thinking.
run	To campaign to stand for a political position.
spin	To present the facts in such a way as to sway public opinion.
spin doctor
veto	A vote that blocks a decision.

Build Up - Different forms of government / political power

Autocracy

A system of government in which supreme political power to direct all the activities of the state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of coup d'etat or mass insurrection).

Aristocracy

A privileged social class whose members possess disproportionately large shares of a society's wealth, social prestige, educational attainment and political influence, with these advantages having been acquired principally through gift or inheritance from a long line of similarly privileged and cultivated ancestors. The term refers also to a form of government in which the state is effectively controlled by the members of such a class. The term tends to have a somewhat unsavory or derogatory connotation today in the light of democratic theories, but in classical political philosophy it meant rule by “the best people” of the society, who were expected to feel a paternalistic concern for the humbler members of the society that would keep them from ruling in a purely self-seeking fashion.

Communism

Severe government interference in economics. Centralized planning by the government, ONE PARTY rule, and stresses that there should be only one class of people.

Democracy

A system of government in which effective political power is vested in the people. In older usage (for example, in the writings of the classical Greek and Roman philosophers or in the Federalist Papers), the term was reserved exclusively for governmental systems in which the populace exercised this power directly through general assemblies or referenda to decide the most important questions of law or policy. In more contemporary usage, the term has been broadened to include also what the American Founding Fathers called a republic -- a governmental system in which the power of the people is normally exercised only indirectly, through freely elected representatives who are supposed to make government decisions according to the popular will, or at least according to the supposed values and interests of the population.

Dictatorship

Government by a single person (or group) whose discretion in using the powers and resources of the state is unrestrained by any fixed legal or constitutional rules and who is (are) in no effective way held responsible to the general population or their elected representatives.

Generic term used to describe any government controlled by a single individual and giving the people little or no individual freedom. Typically a person who rules by threat of force. People who are loyal to a dictatorship swear allegiance to the person first and the country second. Fascism, Theocracies, Monarchies and Communism can all be dictatorships. A Republic cannot be a dictatorship.

Fascism

A class of political ideologies (and historical political regimes) that takes its name from the movement led by Benito Mussolini that took power in Italy in 1922. Mussolini's ideas and practices directly and indirectly influenced political movements in Germany (especially the Nazi Party), Spain (Franco's Falange Party), France, Argentina, and many other European and non-European countries right up to the present day.

Marxism

The theory of government based on the ideals of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in the book The Communist Manifesto written in the 1800's. Marxism advocates the "workers" (Proletariats and petite-bourgeoisie) rise up and overthrow businesses and government and take control themselves. Marxism advocates a classless society in which everything is shared and owned by all. In its true form it follows the mandates of a Direct Democracy in which the mob or general population rules and allocates resources based upon the will of the majority with equal consideration given to all without exclusions or privileges to any.

Monarchy

A government that has a single person who is generally considered the ruler by the title and birthright. Titles include: Czar, King, Queen, Emperor, Caesar, etc... Power is absolute and is either taken through conquest or passed down to family members without regard for ability or appropriateness. Society is formed around feudal groups or tribes in which the ruling family delegates power and authority based upon the desires of a single individual. Power struggles are common. A monarchy is based upon a class system where those of a certain birthright are perceived to be of superior intellect and strength to those not of the same family line. The resources and wealth of a country is generally preserved solely for the hedonistic and self-fulfilling desires of the reigning monarch with little regard for the general population or its welfare. The inhabitants of a country under a monarch are alive to serve the monarch. In contrast the inhabitants of a republic are served by the their leaders.

Oligarchy

Any system of government in which virtually all political power is held by a very small number of wealthy but otherwise unmeritorious people who shape public policy primarily to benefit themselves financially through direct subsidies to their agricultural estates or business firms, lucrative government contracts, and protectionist measures aimed at damaging their economic competitors — while displaying little or no concern for the broader interests of the rest of the citizenry. “Oligarchy” is also used as a collective term to denote all the individual members of the small corrupt ruling group in such a system. The term always has a negative or derogatory connotation in both contemporary and classical usage, in contrast to aristocracy (which sometimes has a derogatory connotation in modern usage, but never in classical).

Republic

Originally, any form of government not headed by an hereditary monarch. In modern American usage, the term usually refers more specifically to a form of government (a.k.a. “representative democracy”) in which ultimate political power is theoretically vested in the people but in which popular control is exercised only intermittently and indirectly through the popular election of government officials and/or delegates to a legislative assembly rather than directly through frequent mass assemblies or legislation by referendum.

Socialism

Limited government interference in business activity, (as opposed to communism) but more than in capitalism. Certain areas of an individual's life are controlled and representation tends to be parliamentary in nature. In other words, people vote for a particular party and the party elects the leaders of the country. The notable difference here is that there is more than one party.

Theocracy

A government which claims to be immediately directed by God, and divinely blessed. The country tends to be intolerant either passively or overtly to faiths other than that recognized by the state. The country identifies itself and its laws within religion and religious doctrine. There is no legal separation between church and state, and citizens of other faiths are often excluded or hampered from participation or expelled. Because a theocracy is exclusionary, it can never be a democracy which requires inclusion without exception of all equally. It cannot be a republic because a republic requires the separation of church and state and equal rights to all.Naturally Speaking

Voting
I'd like to register to vote. I'm on the electoral registry. I haven't had my poll card, yet. Where is the polling station? Have you voted, yet? Are you going to vote? Which party are you voting for?* Who are you going to vote for?* Who got the most votes?
*Be careful about asking this. For many people in the UK, voting is a personal matter.
Watch and listen to this walk-through on how to vote in the UK. Dialogue

Mr and Mrs Smith are discussing the elections.

Election  - Conversation
Mrs Smith:	Are you coming to vote? The polling station will be closing in an hour.
Mr Smith :	It's raining!
Mrs Smith:	So what?
Mr Smith:	I can't be bothered. It doesn't matter who I vote for, we always end up worse off. They're all as bad as each other.
Mrs Smith:	Well don't complain to me if you don't like the policies of whoever wins.
Mr Smith:	I don't think anyone will win. They're predicting a hung parliament.
Mrs Smith:	Well if no one bothers to vote, I guess they'll be right. I'll be back in ten.

See more at:    http://www.learnenglish.de/vocabulary/elections.html#sthash.mlyNyxtb.m5ApxICM.dpuf

Last week we revised prepositions of place and prepositions of time. Do you remember?

We continued talking about music. We listened to the song ‘Imagine’.

·         What’s the place where some religions think good people go when they die?

·         And the place where bad people go when they die, according to some religions?

·         How do you call the place where you can see the stars, the moon, the sun etc.?

·         How do you call a person who dreams?

·         What is the feeling of community and great friendship between people?

Suffixes –ship / -hood

Friend (noun)	friendship (abstract noun)
Neighbor (noun)	neighbourhood (collective noun – group)
Brother (noun)	brotherhood (collective noun- group)

And talking about music and songs…

…did you see the Eurovision Song Contest? Did you like the song which won?

We can learn how to say countries and nationalities in English. Did you practise yesterday?

This is all, See you on Tuesday! Bye!

How Much do you Know about Music?

Week 12^th -14^th May

Hello! How are you? I suppose you’ll be enjoying the weekend.

Last week we read the anecdote of a girl who thought she took a photo of Johnny Depp but ...he wasn't!

Last summer the girl went to Los Angeles to visit her cousin. One day while they were having lunch at a restaurant her cousin got a phone call. She went outside to talk on her mobile. Suddenly the girl saw a man that was sitting at the next table. It was Johnny Depp. He was alone. She asked if she could have a photo taken with him. He said yes. When her cousin came back, she told her. The cousin asked, 'Where is Johnny Depp?' She looked at the man sitting next table. He was smiling at them but he wasn't Johnny Depp!

We also talked about music.

·    What music, song, album do you like listening to …?

when you’re happy          when you’re in a car?       when you’re sad?

when you’re studying?    when you’re at a party?    when you’re in love?

·    What’s your favourite decade for pop music? (the 80s, 90s etc.)

·    Who are your favourite bands,/singers of all time?

·    Which was the last CD you bought?

Then, we did a pop quiz.

The quiz was called “50 years of pop”. It seems to be that the youngest person of us is  the one who knew more about music of all decades!

With this quiz we learnt about questions with and without auxiliaries.

·      When did Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, die?

·      Whose husband was the film director Guy Ritchie?

·      What happened to Mick Jagger in 2004?

   Which band included Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel?

·      Where did the Eagles stay in their 1976 song?

·         When the subject is the question word, we don’t use the auxiliary verb.

Who wrote ‘Hamlet’? Shakespeare.

(The subject is “who”)

·         In the other cases we follow the order in questions:

Question Word            Auxiliary verb   Subject            Infinitive?

Which famous play      did                 Shakespeare      write? ‘Hamlet’

We started talking about the famous song ‘Imagine’. How much do you know about it? Who wrote ‘Imagine’? Don’t worry, we’ll find out many details about this song next Tuesday; when we read an article entitled ‘Who wrote ‘Imagine’? and we’ll listen to it.

Bye! See you on Tuesday!

'Love at the Bastille'

Week 5^th – 7^th May

Hi again! Another short working week for you! Not for me, I’m afraid!

How are you?

What did we do last week?

We read about Willy Ronis famous photo.

‘It was March 1957 and I was in Paris. One afternoon I went up the Bastille an I saw lovers on a balcony. They were talking. I took the photo and they didn’t hear me. I called it ‘Love at the Bastille…’

30 years later, the photograph had an exhibition in Paris. Suddenly a man came up and said, ‘I know your two lovers. They live near here. I can take you there if you want.’

Then we did the listening to know how the story continued.

You need to practice listening. Try to listen to as much English as you can. First try to understand the general idea. Then, focus on (pay attention to) key words (words that carry important information). And finally, try to get the specific details.

If the question is ‘When did the photographer take the photo?’ you need to focus on a date, month, year…a word that talks about ‘time’.

I know this is the most difficult part for you. And it is a slowly process. So, start listening. This is an interesting link . Podcasts in English

You can also try vocabulary videos from You Tube. Pronunciation is very important. If you don’t pronounce a word correctly, you will never understand real English.

We explained the differences between past simple and past continuous.

Past Simple	Finished / completed actions in the past.	She worked in London for five years.
	Actions that happened one after another.	He opened the door, took off his shoes and sat on the sofa.
Past continuous	To set a story.	The sun was shining and people were happy that spring afternoon.
	An action in progress at some time in the past.	The kids were studying for the exam in the kitchen.

And we finished the week asking and answering questions, to revise.

Bye! See you on Tuesday!

Famous Photos

Week 28^th – 30^th April

Hello! How’s everybody?

I expect you’ll be enjoying your long weekend. And I hope there isn’t a lot of traffic when we drive back home!

After a weekend full of events, it’s time to get back to Madrid.

International Labour Day was 1^st May

2^nd May is an important date for the Community (this is used to name some administrative division of the Spanish territory) of Madrid. People from Madrid and surroundings fought to keep independent from the French.

And the first Sunday in May is Mother’s Day in Spain. (That is today)

What did we do last week?

We read and talk about three famous photos taken by the photograph Harry Benson. They were historical moments.

The photo taken on August 9^th, 1974, was the photo in which Nixon was saying goodbye to his cabinet and the White House staff after the ‘Watergate’ scandal. This led us to talk about the famous film ‘All  the president’s men’ and also to talk about another film ‘Wag the dog’ and the series ‘Scandal’. They’re fiction but you can’t stop wondering how much of it is true…

In the second photo we could see ‘The Beatles’ in a luxurious hotel room. It was a creative moment and they were making the song ‘I feel fine’. That photo was taken in Paris in 1964.

And the third photo caught the moment when people were attacking the Wall in Berlin, in 1989. Important moments in history, without doubt.

Remember how to use prepositions.

On Thursday we talked about our plans for the weekend. And the subjects of fishing, hunting, canoeing and reservoirs were brought about (were introduced).

They may look disconnected but they were linked (connected)!

Finally, we started talking about the use of past simple and past continuous tenses, but we’ll continue talking about this next week.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. See you on Tuesday!