PREPARING FOR EXAMS ALL LEVELS: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Practice makes perfection and your grammar is essential to improve all your skills, here are some "Use of English" with lots of  grammar and vocabulary exercises:

*Tests for C2

*Tests for C1

*Tests for B2

*Tests for B1

*Tests for A2

PREPARING FOR LISTENINGS EXAMS.

If you are preparing for your B2 listening exams (FCE or Escuelas de Idiomas, CUID, etc), then you are lucky, here you'll find interesting exercises of the basic topics for you to improve your listening skills.

If your level is B1, try these exercises

And these exercises for A2

                                                      Good luck good listener!

MODAL VERBS OF DEDUCTION, PRESENT AND PAST (LEVEL 3)

PRESENT

Exercise 1

LECTURES TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH: "LANGUAGE IS A WONDER OF THE NATURAL WORLD" (S. Pinker)

Listening to lectures in English when you are interested in a specific topic is another very good way of feeding your vocabulary and your curiosity. Here's a really good example with this lecture where professor of Harvard University Stephen Pinker, explains in an extremely entertaining way different aspects of language which are dealt with by the disciplines of Linguistics: Phonology, Semantics, Pragmatics, Grammar, etc; at the same time, he passionately shares with us his knowledge and love for human language, this system which is both simple and sophisticated, using his own words, "the miracle of language" "Language allows us to exchange an unlimited number of ideas with a finite set of mental tools!". Highly recommended, my friends!.

DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES FOR LEVEL 1

First identifiy the kind of relative clause

Exercise 1

After that, do the exercises:

Exercise 2

Exercise 3: who or whose?

Exercise 4

THE HEALING POWER OF HUMOUR: MEN DON'T DANCE!

What can you do when, like me, you've caught a cold and feel weak? Just be patient and try to enjoy your time as much as possible. For example, watching videos or films in English,  of course. The one that follows, is a really funny one, which satirizes the stereotyped idea that men don't dance. It's a scene from the romantic comedy "In and Out", with oscar winning actor Kevin Kline. So, if you are a man and would like to "explore" your masculinity like him, try this test!

GEM ENGLISH: HOW TO USE THE BLOG..

THE BLOG: A COMMUNICATION TOOL

This blog is  basically a communication tool for those people who, like me and my students, are studying English and/or want to improve it and/or simply practise our skills of this language.

 Please feel free to send me your comments, questions and suggestions or share links and information that I will include only with your permission, we'll all be really grateful and promise I will mention your name if you ask me to! Use the section "Contact me" on the left, below the labels, to do so.

The blog is divided into sections with different activities according to our different levels and areas of interest, just click on "Labels"  (on the left side of the blog) and you'll have access to the different parts.
  

LEVEL 1:  BEGINNER, ELEMENTARY AND PRE INTERMEDIATE students.
It corresponds to levels A1-A2 of the Common European Framework for Languages 
This is the level of the CURSO de ACCESO at the UNED.

LEVEL 2 is the section for INTERMEDIATE LEVEL STUDENTS. B1 of the CEFRL. But when you make a basic mistake, it is always a good idea to go back to Level 1 to refresh the basic point in your mind! This label is useful for students who are doing b1 at the UNED.

LEVEL 3,  for ADVANCED STUDENTS. B2 of the CEFRL and above. You are a really advanced students but, you keep on making some mistakes sooooooo, it's a good idea to go back to levels 1 and 2 to refresh your most difficult points!

There are different labels for each level to practise your grammar: LEVEL 1 GRAMMAR, LEVEL 2 GRAMMAR, LEVEL 3 GRAMMAR. 
You will find another label for each level with listening and other interesting activities under the heading: LEVEL 1 LISTENING AND MUCH MORE, LEVEL 2 LISTENING AND MUCH MORE. 
Interesting activities for all levels are grouped in the sections: LISTENING AND MUCH MORE ALL LEVELS AND PRONUNCIATION AND VOCABULARY.

In addition other interesting LABELS for students of the degree in Engish studies at the UNED: *LITERATURE: 
-AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900
-ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY
*THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
-SEMANTICS
-PRAGMATICS
-TRANSLATION OF GENERAL AND LITERARY TEXTS
-DIACRONY AND TYPOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

I'd like to highlight the section called LEARNING ENGLISH IS FUN.
Life is boring without humour, so this section will be where you'll find funny videos, cartoons,  good music, etc....
In this part of the blog there are different activities which can be useful  for all levels, however, some of them will be specially interesting for certain levels and/ or above.  I'll write next to the activity the suggested level., for example (Level 2) means that this activity is suitable for intermediate and or advanced students.  

LITERATURE.
For students of literature or for people who like reading in general.
Here you'll read a selection of  poems, reviews, quotes.....

THE MEDIA, with  my selection of news and links to different newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc.....

PRONUNCIATION AND VOCABULARY. 

Some people are more interested in pronunciation than others but everybody should pay attention to it.
The constant practice and improvement of vocabulary is essential for students of any language.
This  section is for all levels.

SEARCH THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG 

To search in order to find a specific activity when we are interested in a certain topic, we should just type the word on the "Search" bar at the top of the blog, above the labels,on the left: For example, if we type "verb to be " or "listening" in the box and click on  "search", all the posts which include the word will appear on the screen. 

                       
 YOU'RE ALL INVITED TO SHARE THIS SPACE WITH ME!

GEM ENGLISH: CÓMO USAR ESTE BLOG

EL BLOG: una herramienta de comunicación

Este blog es básicamente una herramienta de comunicación para aquellas personas que, como mis estudiantes yo misma, estamos estudiando Inglés y / o quienes queremos mejorarlo y / o simplemente practicar nuestras habilidades de este idioma.

Por favor no dude en enviarme sus comentarios, preguntas y sugerencias o compartir enlaces e información si quiere compartirla. La publicaré solamente con su permiso y, si así lo desea, haré mención de su nombre. Utilice la sección "CONTACTO "  a la izquierda, debajo de las etiquetas, para hacerlo.

El blog está dividido en SECCIONES con diferentes actividades de acuerdo a nuestros diferentes niveles y áreas de interés, haga clic en "ETIQUETAS" (en el lado izquierdo del blog) y tendrás acceso a las diferentes partes.
  

NIVEL  1:. Principiante, Elemental y estudiantes EN NIVEL PRE INTERMEDIO.
Corresponde a los niveles  A1-A2 del Marco Común Europeo para las Lenguas 
Este es el nivel del Curso de ACCESO en la UNED.

NIVEL 2 es la sección de Nivel Intermedio. B1 del MCER. Sin embargo, no olvidemos que siempre es una buena idea volver a Nivel 1 para actualizar un punto básico que ha quedado olvidado en nuestra mente! Esta etiqueta es útil para los estudiantes que están haciendo b1 de la UNED.

NIVEL 3,  para INTERMEDIO ALTO- AVANZADO, B2 del MCER y superiores. ¡Ya somes estudiantes avanzados pero, seguimos cometiendo algunos errores muuuuuuuuuuy básicos, por ello es una buena idea volver a los niveles 1 y 2 para actualizar esos puntos que se nos han atragantado! 

Existen diferentes etiquetas para cada nivel para practicar nuestra gramática: NIVEL 1 GRAMÁTICA , NIVEL 2 GRAMÁTICA, NIVEL 3 GRAMÁTICA. 

Vamos a encontrar también otra etiqueta para cada los niveles 1 y 2 para LISTENING (COMPRENSION AUDITIVA) y otras actividades interesantes (como lectura, escritura) bajo el título: NIVEL 1 LISTENING (COMPRENSIÓN AUDITIVA) AND MUCH MORE (Y MUCHO MÁS) , NIVEL 2 LISTENING (COMPRENSIÓN AUDITIVA) AND MUCH MORE) Y MUCHO MÁS...

He agrupado otras actividades interesantes para TODOS LOS NIVELES  en el etiquetas:  LISTENING AND MUCH MORE ALL LEVELS (COMPRENSIÓ AUDITIVA  Y MUCHO MÁS TODOS LOS NIVELES) ¡ Espero que sea útil y  del agrado de todos!.

Asímismo, vemos otras etiquetas de especial interés para los estudiantes de la licenciatura en estudios Engish en la UNED:

 *LITERATURA:

 Para los estudiantes de la literatura o para las personas que les gusta la lectura en general. 

Aquí usted leerá una selección de poemas, reseñas, citas .....

-LITERATURA AMERICANA hasta 1900

-LITERATURA INGLESA EN LA PRIMERA MITAD DEL SIGLO XX 

*LINGÚÍSTICA INGLESA": 

Para estudiantes o curiosos...

-SEMÁNTICA

-PRAGMÁTICA

-TRADUCCIÓN GENERAL Y LITERARIA DE TEXTOS

-DIACRONÍA Y TIPOLOGÍA DEL IDIOMA INGLÉS

Me gustaría destacar la sección llamada  LEARNING ENGLISH IS FUN (APRENDER INGLÉS ES DIVERTIDO).

La vida es aburrida  sin nuestro sentido del humor, por lo que esta sección será donde encontrarás videos divertidos, dibujos animados,música para aprender inglés, etc ....
En esta parte del blog hay diferentes actividades que pueden ser útiles para todos los niveles, sin embargo, algunas de ellas será especialmente interesantes para ciertos niveles y / o anteriores. Indicaré junto a la actividad el nivel sugerido. Por ejemplo (Nivel 2) significa que esta actividad es adecuada para los estudiantes intermedios y avanzados.  

THE MEDIA (LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN), con mi selección a los medios ( periódicos diferentes, revistas, blogs , televisión, etc .....)

PRONUNCIATION AND VOCABULARY (PRONUNCIACIÓN Y VOCABULARIO). 

Algunas personas están más interesados ​​en la pronunciación que otrAs, pero todo el mundo debe prestar atención a ella.
La práctica constante y la mejora del vocabulario es esencial para estudiantes de cualquier idioma.
Esta sección es para todos los niveles.

SECCIÓN DE BÚSQUEDA (SEARCH) EN EL BLOG: busca y encuentra tu actividad " a la carta".
Cuando estamos interesados en un tema o ejercicio en concreto, solo tenemos que escribir el nombre en el buscador  que se encuentra en la parte superior del blog, encima de las etiquetas, a la izquierda: "Search". Por ejemplo, escribimos "verb to be " o "listening" en el casillero y al hacer click en "search", nos aparecerán todas las entradas que incluyan dicha palabra. 

                           ESTÁN TODOS INVITADOS A COMPARTIR ESTE ESPACIO CON NOSOTROS!

ENGLISH GRAMMAR BOOK FOR LEVEL 1

I usually recommend this grammar book for LEVEL 1: beginners or those who have studied English but don't remember the most basic grammar items. It shows examples in short texts, there's an explanation of the rules and graded exercises, from simple to more complicated. Buy one with key so that you can correct your mistakes.
Learning English grammar is a question of patience and practice and more patience and more practice because you learn, forget, remember, forget, practice, remember.....a never ending story! but it keeps your English alive!

ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION A CHAOS? NOOOOOOOO! NEVER GIVE UP!

This is a funny poem written in 1929 by a non-native English speaker who had problems with exceptions, just like you and me and every student!

This video explains the reasons of the apparent chaos and challenges you to repeat the exceptions, it's rather long..... 

so, you may choose to repeat and even learn the shortest version in this other video

ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (1)

The end of the XIXth century saw the development of  different circumstances.
In Great Britain, on the one hand, the tenets and lifestyle of Victorian positivism were in decline. Here are some quotes by Auguste Comte  the formulator of positivism.
On the other hand,  in the words of American poet Ezra Pound, there was a need of "change". Click here to read some of his most famous quotes.

FUTURE TENSES FOR LEVEL 2

FUTURE PERFECT

Theory

Practice

FUTURE CONTINUOUS

Theory

Practice 

And finally choose the right future form to test if you remember the different ways of expressing future in English!

IMPROVE YOUR PRONUNCIATION WITH TONGUE TWISTERS.

A tongue twister is a word or phrase that is difficult to say quickly, for example, can you pronounce this sentence fast and without mistakes: "She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore". ? 

So, this is my challenge today, try these tongue twisters
and these are my recommended videos:

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2 

VIDEO 3

IMPROVE YOUR PRONUNCIATION: SILENT LETTERS

How do you pronounce the word "half"? Check the pronunciation in a dictionary and you'll see that the letter " l" is not pronounced.

Learning pronunciation can be fun if you have a curious mind, so I suggest the following exercises, e do them first and check the pronunciation with the dictionary before your computer corrects them:

Read the theory first

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

GREAT WEBSITES WITH LOTS OF PRACTICE FOR EVERYBODY!

Here are three basic websites that every student of English should know!

1.Agendaweb

2.My English pages

3.Ego4you

MEANING, ENGLISH AND HUMOUR: WHAT DO THE BRITISH REALLY MEAN WHEN THEY SAY....?

To illustrate the relativity of meaning,  when we speak we often mean things which are totally different to what we  actually say, (I think it just depends on our real purpose!).
Here is a humorous example, using the British, but I think the same could be said about any human being!

What British people say and what they actually mean

HUMANKIND HAS ALWAYS SEARCHED FOR MEANING BUT, WHAT DOES "MEANING" MEAN? INTERESTING!

In this video, you'll get interesting answers!:

And if you'd like to know more, read the really wise quotes written by famous authors

PRONUNCIATION: PRONOUNCE CORRECTLY FINAL CONSONANT CLUSTERS OR BLENDS: SK, LF, SP, MB, MP......

This video explains what consonant clusters are and how they are pronounced in a natural way n

To practice these final sounds until you can pronounce them correctly and naturally, I suggest you watch the following videos for little children, to help them when they are beginning to read, so first find the little naughty child who still lives inside you and then listen, repeat and enjoy these exercises!:

Video 1: Learn to read

Video 2: Beginner readers

Video 3: I can read!

And now, more information and practice for adult learners

Video 1: Consonant clusters

Video 2: Final consonant sounds

SPEAKING: CONVERSATION SKILLS FOR ADVANCED (2)

Fluency is really important, and a self-confident attitude when you speak is essential, specially during the monologue, when you have to speak on your own for a few minutes: remember that you've worked very hard, you know a lot of grammar, vocabulary, your reading and listening skills are already good, so do not hesitate, show what you know and you know a lot. Here is an interesting example and notice how their speech improves when they feel more self-confident.The brain works much better when it is less stressed!

SPEAKING: CONVERSATION SKILLS FOR ADVANCED (1)

Speaking fluently in English is a question of practice and an important factor is self-confidence and hard work, here are some ideas to speak English more fluently.
Here's a good example

COVER LETTERS, CVS, RESUMÉ OR APPLICATION LETTERS?

One of the typical writing exercises is writing a letter of application, but there are other similar exercises, let's look at the differences:

Cover letter/letter of application

Resume/letter of application

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ACCURACY AND FLUENCY WHEN YOU ARE SPEAKING ENGLISH (from level 2)

A good system is lots of practice, for instance,  answering lots of questions to master a specific grammar point!

Choose your most difficult grammar point and answer the questions as fast as you can to improve accuracy and fluency and you'll notice the difference!

TV IN ENGLISH WITH SUBTITLES TO WATCH YOUR FAVOURITE SHOWS AND MOVIES!

*FOR COUCH POTATOES!:
Tv in English with subtitles.

(Definition of couch potato):

couch potato n	slang, figurative (sedentary person)  (ES, figurado)	mueble nm
	You're becoming a couch potato. You should get some exercise!
	Mi marido es un mueble más en la salita.
	(CL, coloquial)	gato de chalet loc nom m
	Estás hecho un gato de chalet: cada día más gordo.
		tirado todo el día viendo televisiónexpr
	Desde que está todo el día tirado mirando televisión, aumentó 10 kilos.
	(ES, coloquial)	ser más vago que la chaqueta de un guardia expr

NATURE SPEAKING!

Thanks to "Conservation International" enjoy the most refreshing and beautiful images of Mother Nature, speaking through the voices of outstanding actors and actresses, just click here and choose to listen to "The Rainforest", "The Ocean", "The Soil", "Water", "The Redwood", "Coral Reef" or "Flower".  Spectacular!

SPEAKING: CONVERSATION STARTERS FROM INTERMEDIATE

Conversation starters World,  is a great website to practise your English and improve your conversational skills in your own language too.
How? Using conversations based on the questions on the web, you can do this exercise alone and record yourself to show it to your teacher late,r or with a partner to practice and have fun at the same time!
Your fluency and accuracy will soon improve!

SPEAK ENGLISH WHILE YOU ARE ON HOLIDAY!: CONVERSATION STARTERS FOR ADVANCED

In Spain most people travel during their holidays in August. If you are an advanced student you might want to choose an English speaking place, like Scotland, where you can practice your new language or travel to  a country where  practically everyone has some skill in English, such as Norway or Holland. Young people in particular are mostly completely fluent in English. On the other hand, English-speaking films and television series are subtitled instead of dubbed. So if you can read this, you should have no problem speaking to other people, or even just watching television in such countries. 
Don't be shy: talk to other fellow travellers, to receptionists, waiters, shop assistants...
Talk about the weather, your country, your new experiences, travel, food........if you need help, this list of conversation starters might help you.
So, what are you waiting for? Pack your suitcase, and have a great trip!

CONVERSATION TOPICS FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS

Taking about a topic isn't easy, even in your own language, here's a list of possible issues you can use to teach your mind to work faster and faster in English, in order to find ideas and express them.

List of topics

Click on the topic and you'll see these really useful questions, I've chosen the topic "Aliens", to activate your imagination.

To acquire more and more practice, here are some suggestions that you can use to talk about any topic:

*What most people think
*Advantages, disadvantages
*Positive and negative aspects
*Examples from your own life, tv, documentaries, films, ...
*If you talk about people you know don't mention any names, pleaaaaase!
*And a nice conclusion with your opinion
Remember, communication is your main aim so relax, use the language you know and don't try to say very sophisticated things or translate them in from your own language!

SUMMER FUN: FILMS TO LEARN ENGLISH

The cinema industry has produced so many films that you'll always find one to suit your taste.
This summer, with the hot temperatures, relaxing at home while you're watching a great movie is an ideal pass time.
For example, yesterday I enjoyed a hilarious an original comedy: Woody Allen's Scoop, with (wow!) Scarlett Johanson and ( wow, wow, woooowwww) Hugh Jackman! 

I had borrowed the Speak up dvd from the library, so it was totally free and of course you can watch it with or without subtitles.
Highly recommended!