miércoles, 26 de febrero de 2014

Tuesday we started a new unit.

We are learning to use the following types of questions, which non English speakers tend to mistake, as some of them include the word like. But remember, sometimes like is a preposition, sometimes is a verb. Sometimes the verb like must be followed by an infinitive, sometime by the verb in the ing form. We have already been using all these questions, but it is interesting to see them together so as to make sure we know the difference and learn when to use which.

1.What is she/he like?
2.What does he/she look like?
3.What does he/she like doing?
4.What would he/she like to do?
5.How is she?

Those questions can be used with any subject, of course.Possible answers are:

1. She is very nice and fun to be with.
2. He is really good looking. He´s got beautiful black eyes and and a nice Greek nose.
3. She loves travelling to remote places.
4. I am sure he would enjoy going to the races.
5. She is feeling better now that her is back.

In the lesson we were listening to a conversation between two girls who were talking about a foreign student one of them was hosting. The foreign student had just arrived so the other girl had not met her yet and wanted to know some things about her.
We also practiced those questions asking a partner about a friend.
Homework
Imagine you are looking for a boyfriend or a girlfriend and have requested the services of a mating agency. You have been given the name and telephone number of a prospective date. You call that person to establish a first contact. You have never seen him or her. Write the conversation. You must ask some of the questions above. The other person will probably ask the same questions.

viernes, 21 de febrero de 2014

Hello,

Today it was the last lesson about food and meals. Mostly because after a while everybody gets tired of talking about food. But the truth is that this topic includes a lot of things and a lot of vocabulary. It is not easy to talk properly about food.

This is a list of the main things we have studied:

Names of the Meals

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and supperSupper is a light meal in the night. Dinner is usually the main meal.
 A snack: small portion of food you eat when you are hungry but it´s not time for a meal.

Dinner usually has three parts:
A Starter or appetizer, the main course and dessert.

Words to describe food are:

Tender and tough for meat. If you ask for a steak in a restaurant they´ll probably ask you: How do you want your steak? You´ll have to reply: rare, medium rare or well done.

Sweet, sour, spicy, greasy, oily, tasteless, tasty, crispy (poptaoe chips), soggy (overcooked vegetables), crunchy (bread), creamy, salty, etc.

Cooking methods

Bake (potaoes, bread, cakes), fry, boil, steam, roast ( meats), barbacue, grilling.

Verbs or actions related to cooking

Cut, chop, spread, mash, sprinkle, roll out, add, squeeze, peel off, pour, bread, etc.


Sentences we may use to talk about food

I have never tried....
Have you ever tried...?
The most unusual thing I have ever eaten....
What ingredients do you need to make it?
How do you make it?
Well, first you..., after that you..., then you..., next you... Finally you...
What is it made of?
What is it made from?

Remember that in English you use You to speak in a general manner.

When we give recipes we use the imperative: Chop the tomatoes, mix them with the peppers...,

In the last lesson we were working on the text Eating for Energy. For the students that were not here, you can find the text in the Aula Virtual. Have you ever logged in? You need your DNI number as a password. So, please, do read the text and do the exercises. Words we studied: carbohydrates, proteins, fat, aware, performance, label, increase, harmful, skip.  

For homework: give your own advise. Write 5 sentences like this one:

You should eat more often
And 5 sentences like this:
You shouldn´t eat foods that are high in carbohydrates.

Also, write to sentences with the words aware and performance. Here are some examples:

Once clients become aware of the rules of the new system they will look for our advice.

The old man suddenly became aware that someone was trying to open his bedroom window.


She explains how sports science support can help to improve athletic performance.
If you have trouble with your personal computer performance then read this article to know how you can fix your slow computer.



Hope to see you next Tuesday.