Who hasn´t read Mark Twain´s novels?

November 30th is a good day to remember some of the most enjoying books everybody has ever read by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or The Prince and the Pauper among others.

Why don´t we recall Mark Twain´s 176 birthday aniversary by listening to some of the chapters of these books on line?

http://www.burlingtonbooks.com/spain/Page.aspx?PageID=1273&zoneIndex=3

http://www.burlingtonbooks.com/spain/Page.aspx?PageID=1342

http://www.burlingtonbooks.com/spain/Page.aspx?PageID=1278

For details of his work, famous quotations, pictures and all sort of interesting facts about the author, you can visit the official web:

http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain/

Extreme, Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives

Overusing the word "very" when talking can be boring for the person listening. To avoid this, instead of using "very" too much we can use "extreme adjectives". As extreme adjectives have a strong meaning, you don´t need to use very, but if you want to make them stronger, you can use grading adverbs such as absolutely and really to show that a person or thing has more or less of a particular quality.





Tasks: 1. Watch the video and answer the questions.



2. Match each normal adjective with an extreme adjective from the box below.

Normal adjectives

tired		small		angry
good		surprising		hot
dirty		clean		cold
Pretty		funny		hot
Ugly		big		hungry

Extreme adjectives

tiny   filthy   exhausted   hideous   gorgeous   starving   spotless  ancient  boiling    freezing  gigantic      hilarious   fantastic   astounding  furious

3. For an interactive matching game on extreme adjectives:

http://eslgamesworld.com/members/games/ClassroomGames/Quizshow/Word%20Building%20Game%20Intermediate/index.html

4. For a listening exercise using extreme adjectives:"Talking about the film" by the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/unit3/listen3.shtml

5. To play a grammar game on Adjectives (gradable and non- gradable)
 link at: 

 http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-exercises/adjectives-gradable-nongradable

What do you look like? and What are you like?

Describing oneself or others includes physical features and also character or personality  characteristics about you or the others.

In this video you can look at your character and words you can use to describe it.

                                                                

Watch the video to find out if you are an eager beaver, as hard as nails, a cold fish, a fat cat, a mouse- potato, a pain in the neck or if you have a heart of gold or you may be called smarty-pants.

                                                       



Task: 1. Describe your character using expresions and vocabulary learnt in the videos above.



Describing your close friends or loved is usually easier, shorter and perhaps funnier. Just a couple of adjectives may be enough for some of these real descriptions. So watch the video and check.

                                                             





Task: 1. Now it´s time to describe your loved ones: girlfriend or boyfriend, father or mother and so on.

Descriptions are also useful when trying to find some one in a group or in a place. Watch the video and see who is who and what he/she looks like.



Synonyms, the new worry for PAU Exam

The introduction of a new Synonyms question is the new worry students will have to face in PAU Exam next June, instead of the fearsome oral speaking exam, which is postponed for the moment.

What are synonyms?

Synonyms are didfferent words with identical or at least similar meanings. The usual sentence we usually say when giving a synonym is one of these:

                                                   

...another word for..

...means the same thing as...

...is a synonym for...

Using synonyms allows you to express your ideas with accuracy and avoid repetition.
So, in order to practise and improve your skills, a visit to these dictionaries is a must:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/synonym

http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-synonyms/dictionary

http://thesaurus.com/

http://www.synonym.com/synonyms/

http://www.synonyms.net/

Tasks:

1. Complete the English synonyms tests and check your answers on line. There are three levels: elementary, intermediate and advanced.

http://shop.english-test.net/sites/default/files/english-synonyms-tests-sample_0.pdf

2. Here you are a list of adjectives used for describing things. Complete the list by adding the synonyms.

big
blank
broad
centre
cunning
dangerous
eatable
false
fertile
gay
glad
hard
high
huge
intelligent
lazy
little
loving
loyal
mad
new
nice
noisy
old
oral
polite
poor
quick
rare
ready
real
rich
rude
sad
safe
sleepy
slim
thin
usual
vacant
weak
well-known