Important Vocabulary

It's important to remember that you cannot learn lots of new words. You need to learn the most common words and be able to spell them correctly.

Here is a quiz of the 100 most common words in English: http://quizicon.com/100-Most-Common-English-Words-Quiz.html How many can you guess?

There are different lists of the most common words, but they are all very similar. They say that half of all written English uses the same 100 words. The top 300 words are used in 65% of all written English. Here are some word lists:

http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/common-words-100.htm
http://www.duboislc.net/EducationWatch/First100Words.html
http://www.world-english.org/english500.htm

Try and learn these common words and spell them correctly. They are the most important words to learn.

Vocabulary and Dictionaries

It's a very good idea to buy a dictionary to help you build your vocabulary. Many students use translators, but the context of the word (for example, the other words in the sentence) can change the meaning. It is much better to use an English dictionary: it will give you a sentence so you can see how the word is used; it will tell you what kind of word it is (noun, adjective etc); and will also give you the pronunciation of the word.

Here is a link to the FREE Cambridge Online Dictionary: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/essential-british-english/
Try and use the dictionary when you see a new word and add the link to your mobile phone. The more you practise with the dictionary, the more useful it will be.

You can read some more about dictionaries here: http://www.kapmanchester.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/its-really-important-that-you-use-good.html

Listening: Sean Banville and Halloween

Sean Banville is a blogger who has created many websites and lessons. His blog is here: http://seanbanville.com/

And here is the link to his Halloween lesson: http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/10/halloween.html

Near the top of the page, you will see a box called DOWNLOADS. In the box, you can click on MP3 Listening to listen to the recording, and you can also complete many activities online or save them as a PDF or Word document.

Grammar: Test

Here is a useful link to a grammar test. Every time you take the test, the computer generates a different one.

Oxford Living Grammar is published by Oxford University. You can buy the book to practise. I like the book because there is always a context, a story where you can see how the grammar works in every day situations. However, I think that the grammar explanations are not always very clear.

Anyway, here is the link: https://elt.oup.com/student/livinggrammar/pre/a_test?cc=gb&selLanguage=en You can also test at other levels (elementary, intermediate). There is no explanation here of the grammar: you will need to write down or print your wrong answers and then try and find out more in the Study Centre. Good luck!

Song: Yesterday

Here is a very famous song by The Beatles. Notice how the song begins with "Yesterday": the time comes at the beginning of the sentence.

http://www.lyricstraining.com/game1680.htm

Grammar: Present simple

Welcome to Manchester! What do you know about the city?

    Manchester is nearly 2000 years old, so has a very long and complex history. It is probably best-known for its music and its two world-famous football teams. Manchester United play at Old Trafford and most students want to visit the stadium when they are here. Manchester City's home is the Etihad Stadium which is in east Manchester. Old Trafford is the larger stadium, and holds 10,000 more spectators.
    There are many music venues in the city. The area behind Piccadilly Gardens is The Northern Quarter and there are lots of places where you can listen to local bands.
    A very popular area in Manchester is Rusholme, where there are many Arabic and Indian restaurants. People go there with their friends and eat different kinds of food. Many buses go to Rusholme. During Eid celebrations, the area gets extremely busy: buses use different routes and lots of people walk along the streets and make a lot of noise.
    Most students think that the people in Manchester are friendly, so you don't need to worry about asking people questions. A lot of people think that it rains all the time in Manchester, but it really doesn't rain every day. I hope that you have a great time while you are here!


Look at the verbs in the text. What tense are the verbs?

Writing: The Great Detective

Many students find writing extremely difficult. One problem that many students have is cohesion: all the ideas need to be connected. I can often read a paragraph by a student and I think "oh, this is a nice paragraph about food", then suddenly WHAM!! The student writes a sentence about their weekend! Food and the weekend are not connected. There is no cohesion here.

a magnifying glass

Here is a short story about a great detective. However, the sentences are in the wrong order. Can you put the sentences in the correct order? (To make things a little easier, the first sentence is number 1.)

1.  The great detective was smoking his pipe at the end of a long day.

2.  There was no answer.

3.  Nothing happened.
4.  Suddenly, there was a quiet knock on the door.
5.  "Come in", called the great detective.
6.  He put down his pipe and walked over to the door.
7.  "Come in", he shouted again.
8.  The telephone rang.
9.  The man was still breathing.
10.When he opened it, the body of a man fell into the room.
11. He fell to the ground and listened carefully.

There is one sentence here that is not necessary. Which is it?
Copy the sentences and try and write the story in the correct order. The answers are after the jump.

Grammar: Countable or Uncountable Quiz

This is a link to a quiz about countable and uncountable nouns: http://a4esl.org/q/j/ck/ch-countnouns.html There are 107 questions!! All you need to do is click on Countable or Non-countable.

Essay Homework

Here are the slides from the lesson. They will help you to complete the writing homework.

First of all, look at this slide. You will write about past experiences, so you need to use both the present perfect and the past simple. What is the difference between the two? There are answers on the blog, but can you complete these sentences using the verbs (sometimes you will need a negative sentence):

Click "read more" to look at the answers:

Vocabulary Game: Free Rice

The Free Rice website tests your vocabulary through multiple choice questions. There are sixty levels. When you have answered the first few questions, the website will try and judge your level. Level 60 is really hard! I found it almost impossible!!

Here's the good part: if you get the question right, the company will donate 10 grains of rice to charities which help feed the poor. So the more questions you answer correctly, the more rice they donate!

Here's the link: http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1509

Grammar: Making Tenses

We all need a hand occasionally to help us get what we want. Even a genius like Michelangelo needed help to create his famous sculpture, David, which was made from marble for the city of Florence.

The statue doesn't look simple because it is extremely detailed.
Michelangelo was working continuously on the sculpture for two years while the city was waiting for him to finish it.
Millions of people have seen the perfect statue.

Verbs are like blocks of marble: they need help to make them come to life.

Ryan: "You, my students, are all Michelangelo."     Students: "Wow!"

Song: If You Don't Know Me By Now

Here is a link to this famous song by Simply Red at lyricstraining.com: http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/3357/simply_red/if_you_dont_know_me_by_now

The song is quite slow so you may be able to try the Intermediate level.

Song: You Don't Have To Say You Love Me

Here is a link to a song that talks about choices. This was a big hit in 1966 for the British singer Dusty Springfield. The song is about a woman begging the man she loves to come back to her.

Here is the link on lyricstraining.com: http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/22458/you_dont_have_to_say_you_love_me/dusty_springfield
Choose Beginner and listen to the song. Type in the missing words. You can only type in the letters that are in the word. If you need to listen to a line of the song again, press the backspace <----- key . Enjoy!!

Grammar: Modals of Obligation (Must/ Have to)

We often want to talk about choice. Sometimes we can make a choice but many times we cannot. There are rules and laws that mean we cannot choose to do what we always want to do.

The shop is closing down: the shop will not exist anymore. The shop is selling all its clothes in order to make as much money as possible. It has no choice. All the clothes must be sold. Everything must go!

We use must and have to to talk about choices.

How To Brew Tea: Listening

The Videojug website has lots of videos that give instructions and tell you how to do things. Here is a link to the food section: http://www.videojug.com/tag/food-recipes

This is the video we watched in class: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-brew-tea

A News Website: Reading, Listening, Vocabulary

Here is a news website which might help you:

You can read and listen to the same news article at three different levels. Read level 1 first and listen to the recording. If this is too easy, read level 2 and listen to the recording.

Then you need to read more texts at the same level. The texts use the same group of words, so the more you read at the same level, the more words you will be able to remember.

Most of the recordings use an American accent, but you may still find them useful.

If you like the website, tell the owners! I'm sure they will appreciate it.

http://www.newsinlevels.com/

Grammar: Will/ Shall/ Be going to

Read this conversation. Michael and Emily are looking at the menus in a restaurant:

Grammar: The Present Perfect

Sometimes we want to talk about things that happened in the past:

I was born in Lancaster. When I was eighteen, I went to university in Manchester. 

but sometimes we want to talk about things that started in the past and connect to the present:

I live in Manchester. I have lived in Manchester since I started university five years ago.

We use have/has + past participle to make the present perfect tense.

To talk about the length of time, we can use for or since. We use for to talk about the period of time, and since to talk about the start time.

Remember for= how long      since= start

I have lived in Manchester for five years, since I started university.
I have been in Manchester for forty days. It's really good!
I have studied in Manchester since September. It's great!

Let's try and put this into a song!

Vocabulary Game

Here is a nice little vocabulary game from the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flash/wordmaster/

Choose your level: start with Easy. You need to complete ten sentences. Type a letter. If it is correct, it will appear in the word. When you complete the word, you can read the definition and listen to the sentence.

Some common mistakes

We all make mistakes. Even I make mistakes from time to time.

Here are ten sentences. There is one mistake in each sentence. What is the mistake?

1. Are you speak English?
2. What means "knitting"?
3. I have made many friends from other country.
4. How often do you go to shopping?
5. The weather in Manchester, it is very wet.
6. Manchester people is very friendly.
7. British food very greasy.
8. I came to Manchester before two months.
9. There are lots of differents restaurants in Manchester.
10. I have visited Rusholme last night.

Click to find out the answers:

Song: We Are The Champions

This week, we have looked at sports. Here is a famous song about champions on LyricsTraining.

Click on the link to listen to the song and practise your listening skills: http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/3624/queen/we_are_the_champions

Song: Father and Son

Here is a song about a father giving advice to his son. The writer is Cat Stevens

Click on the link to go to the Lyrics Training website. There you can select Beginner. Listen to the song and complete the gaps while you are listening. It's quite slow and clear so, hopefully, it isn't too difficult.

http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/257/cat_stevens/father_and_son

Study skills: Reading Practice

We read every day. The material we read is always different. What material can you think of?

Here is some common reading material we read:
a bus timetable       the menu in Costa         the school timetable      the teacher's writing on the board
your coursebook    the Kaplan website        this blog            a text message    a Whatsapp message      a Facebook post          an email        a free newspaper         an article on the internet     a study book

Why do you read? Do you read for pleasure and enjoyment? Do you read to find out facts and information?

When we read, we use different skills. These skills are:

skimming What is the article about? We skim a text for a general understanding. For gist.
scanning  We scan a text for specific information. For example, what time does the film start? When does the bus leave?
reading for detail We want to know more information and detail. For example, what colour was the man's jacket? How did James Bond feel?

Look at the reading material above. Which would you skim, which would you scan, and which would you read for detail?

Listening: Entertainment

This week, we spoke a lot about different types of film and TV show. What is your favourite genre of film? Why do you like these kinds of films?

There are lots of articles and interviews you can listen to which discuss entertainment. Here is a 6 minute interview with Rowan Atkinson about Mr Bean : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/163_entertainment_ex/page8.shtml which also contains some useful vocabulary. You can listen to the interview online, or download and save it, and you can follow the conversation using the audio script.

For a full list of similar listenings, click on this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/archive_ent.shtml You don't have to listen to them all! Find something that interests you. It may be useful to listen to a couple of film reviews.

Here is a short lesson about films: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/unit3/index.shtml
There are a couple of short conversations that you need to listen to. Practise the conversations with a partner.
Then there is a film review to read and some questions. Finally, you can listen to some common phrases used to describe films and practise your pronunciation.

Try the exercises and let me know what you think. Use the new vocabulary by writing a film review. Leave a comment below.

Study skills: Typing

A lot of students find typing very difficult. The keyboard is strange and the letters are different . Typeracer is a website that can help you.

Click on this link: http://play.typeracer.com/ and then click on the word practice. Type the words into the box. Can you beat the clock? The word you need to type will appear in green.

Speaking practice

How can you improve your speaking?

Most of you spend all your time in the same classes with the same people. You often have lunch with friends who speak the same language so you have few opportunities to speak to different people and practise your speaking skills.

Here are some ways you can work on your speaking skills:

Vocabulary: Crime

There are eight words connected to crime in the wordsearch. The words can be found forwards, backwards, up, down, left, right and diagonally. Can you find all eight words?

The solution is after the jump:

Grammar: Past simple v Past continuous

Ryan and Aziz are having a conversation.

Can you complete the sentences using the verbs in brackets and the correct past tense:


Ryan:        I'm sorry I'm late. I __________ (miss) the bus.
Aziz:         But I ________ (ring) four times!
Ryan:        I know. I've just seen all my missed calls. I __________ (sleep) when you ________ (call).
Aziz:         And you __________ (not hear) the phone?
Ryan:        No. Then the next time you ________ (ring), I ___________ (have) a shower. I ________ (not hear) the phone because I ____________ (listen) to the radio and _________ (sing) along.
Aziz:         Ok, but I __________ (call) you again at 8 o'clock.
Ryan:        Yeah, I know. My phone __________ (charge) upstairs and I _________ (miss) your call.
Aziz:         Then I __________ (ring) again half an hour later.
Ryan:        Yeah, I ___________ (run) for the bus and I couldn't answer my phone in time. It ___________ (still ring) while I ____________  (pay) for my ticket but then it __________ (stop). Anyway, I'm really sorry I'm late. Anyway, why ______________ (you ring) me?
Aziz:         Oh, I just ___________ (want) to tell you I was going to be late because I had missed the bus. In fact, I've only just arrived myself. I got here about five minutes ago!

The answers are after the jump:

Grammar: Past simple v Past continuous

Read the story:

I went to Nottingham to visit my sister. While I was riding on my horse through the forest, some men appeared. They were wearing green clothes and they threatened me with bows and arrows. They stole all my money. They were shouting and singing while they were robbing me. The leader of the thieves blew on his horn and some more people appeared. They were dirty and miserable and looked very poor. The leader gave my money to the poor people!



Do you know this story? Who were the men in green? What was the name of the leader? Did he really exist?

Song: Don't You Want Me, Baby?

Here is a link to the song we listened to this morning: http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/19249/the_human_league/dont_you_want_me

The link is to lyricstraining.com , so you can practise your listening skills and complete the missing words. When you listen, think about the story and look at how the song uses the past tenses.

Ohh- oh-oh-ohhhh!!!

Conversation: In the restaurant

Look at this restaurant conversation that takes place in a restaurant in Manchester:

Jane:   Is this a good place to eat?
Ryan:  I think so. I've been here many times.
Jane:   What do you recommend?
Ryan:  Well, there are lots of things to try if you like spicy food. Do you want a starter or just a main course?
Jane:    If we're ordering starters, I will have the chicken satay.
Ryan:   OK. So if you order the chicken satay, I'll have the dumplings.
Jane:    Oh, if you have the dumplings, can I have one?
Ryan:   Yeah, if we order starters, we'll share them.

Waiter: Can I get you something to drink?
Jane:    Do you have any orange juice?
Waiter: Sorry, I'm afraid not. We do have some pineapple juice, though.
Jane:    Fine. I'll have a pineapple juice unless you want to share a bottle of wine?
Ryan:   No, you go for the pineapple juice. I'll have a bottle of Kirin Ichiban beer, please.
Waiter: Of course. One beer and one pineapple juice.

Jane:    Oh dear. There's so much choice. I don't know what to have. It all looks so strange and unusual.
Ryan:   You always say you want to try new things?! If you didn't want to come here, where would you prefer to go?
Jane:    I don't know. They just have so many new things. If they had sweet and sour chicken, I would order that. 
Ryan:  But they don't, so you can't. Why don't you try the Pad Thai? It's a famous and traditional dish from Thailand. If you don't like it, I'll eat it.  Or, you could try a curry? If you ordered the curry, you wouldn't need to order rice because rice is included.
Jane:   I'll try the Pad Thai. But if I don't like it, you will have to eat it.
Ryan:  No problem.

Grammar: First and Second Conditionals

We know that it always rains in Manchester, so when it rains, you need an umbrella. Sometimes, though, we want to talk about things that are not definitely true but probably (80/90%) true. Sometimes, we want to talk about things that are possibly, but unlikely to be, true (20/30%). Look at the weather forecast for next week:

Today is Saturday. On Sunday, it's definitely going to rain. On Monday, there will probably be some sunshine. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it will be warm and sunny: it's unlikely to rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.

To talk about things that are definite,   we use a zero conditional
To talk about things that are probable, we use a first conditional
To talk about things that are unlikely,   we use a second conditional

Zero:      When it rains, people stay at home.
First:       If it's a nice day on Monday, I will go out with my friends.
Second:  Tuesday is going to be a nice day, but if it rained, I would stay at home.

Grammar: Zero conditionals

Look at this conversation:

Ryan: What do you do during the day?
Aziz:   I come to college.
Ryan:  Good answer. How do you get here?
Aziz:   On foot. But this is Manchester so sometimes it rains. If it rains, I don't walk.
Ryan:  So what happens if it rains?
Aziz:   Well, if it rains, I get the bus. Actually, to be honest, most days I get the bus.

If it rains, I get the bus. Why does Aziz get the bus? Because it rains.

There are two actions here: Aziz gets the bus and it rains. But Aziz gets the bus because it rains: this is the result of the rain, this is what happens when it rains.

When we talk about actions (it rains) and results (Aziz gets the bus), we use a conditional sentence:

Study skills: using a dictionary

It's really important that you use a good English dictionary to help you to improve your vocabulary. Many students use an electronic translator to translate English words into their own language. However, if you do this, you are only learning half  the language.

A good English-only dictionary will tell you many things more than a translation. A dictionary will:

• tell you what kind of word it is (noun, adjective, verb etc)
• show you what is the plural spelling/ the past tense/ countable or uncountable
• show you how common the word is. The most common words are often in a  different colour
• give you the definition of the word and will give you an example sentence. It's very important for you to see how the word is used in a sentence
• tell you some synonyms of the word (other words that mean the same or similar). You can also find synonyms in a thesaurus
• use pictures to help you understand the word

Grammar: Many men, many men, many men men men.....

How many men are there?

How much cheese is there?

Grammar: Adjectives

We use adjectives to describe nouns. Look at the two dogs in the picture. One is big, the other is small.

Listening: Shopping and clothes

Here are two short videos of people discussing shopping and fashionable clothes. They speak very quickly but the words are shown on the video.

Recommended books

Students often ask the question, "which grammar book should I buy?" "What is a good book for IELTS?" "How can I improve my vocabulary?" Here are some book suggestions.

Grammar: Countable or uncountable? Singular or plural?

What can you see in the picture? Which are countable and which are uncountable?

Countable nouns are things we can count. ("That's a piece of cake", says Tarek. "Yes, Tarek. It is," says Ryan.)

 So ......

bananas    oranges    carrots    tomatoes

But things like

bread   pasta   cheese   oil    milk

are uncountable. We cannot have two pastas, please and we cannot order three breads. We can't count these nouns so they will always be singular.

We can count countable nouns so they can be singular or plural

We cannot count uncountable nouns so they are always singular

Vocabulary: Ramadan

Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims, but how much do you know about it?

Click on the link below and complete the text using the words at the bottom:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/worksheets/pdf/islam_ramadan_whatisramadan.pdf

If you need any help, ask a Muslim student.

You will also find the answers in this text:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/islam/ramadan.shtml

Remember to practise reading a text aloud. What words do you find difficult to pronounce? Can you describe the article to a friend? What do you remember about Ramadan?

You can find some more reading and vocabulary activities about Ramadan here:

http://www.esolcourses.com/topics/ramadan.html

Vocabulary: Clothes and items of clothing

Think about these questions:

What's the difference between formal clothes and casual clothes?

Man wearing a dinner jacket

What kind of clothes would you wear to a job interview?
What sort of clothes would you wear to a wedding?
When you go shopping, how many items do you usually buy?
Do you browse, or do you know what you want before you go shopping?
When would you wear evening dress?
Look at the picture. What's this man wearing: formal clothes, casual clothes or evening dress?
How would you describe the man?
smart    scruffy    sophisticated    trendy    fashionable
well-dressed    good-dressed     messy     
     (one of these words is rubbish: which one?)
What different patterns do you prefer: Stripes, checks or spots?
Do you like pictures and patterns on your clothes, or do you prefer plain clothes?
Do you like light or dark clothes?
Do you prefer dark or bright colours?
What size are you? Do you prefer loose-fitting clothes or tight-fitting clothes? Skinny jeans are very popular and tight-fitting.

Vocabulary: Making suggestions

Ryan: Aziz! How was your holiday?
Aziz: It was great thanks. I had a wonderful time.
Ryan: You've even brought the sun back to Manchester with you! Good work.
Aziz: Yeah, it's glorious outside, isn't it? Bright and sunny. So, what shall we do today?
Ryan: Well, we could go for a walk along the canal to Old Trafford.
Aziz:  Nah, it's too hot to walk.
Ryan: What about going to the John Rylands Library? It'll be cool in there because it's made of stone.
Aziz:  Errmm... No, I'm not in the mood for that either.
Ryan: How about running through the fountain in Piccadilly Gardens?
Aziz:  Now you're just being silly!
Ryan: Why don't we just buy an ice-cream and sit and watch the world go by?
Aziz:  That's a bit boring, don't you think?
Ryan:  Right, that's it! I give up! You don't want to do anything I've suggested. Why don't you think of something?
Aziz: To be honest, I'm not sure I can be bothered to do anything. It's boiling.
Ryan: Ok, then. Brilliant. Let's do nothing and just wait for the rain.

When Ryan says "Ok, then. Brilliant", do you think he is happy or angry and frustrated? What's his intonation like: is he serious or sarcastic?
What different phrases did Ryan and Aziz use to make suggestions? Answers after the jump:

Grammar: giving advice and making recommendations

The John Rylands Library on Deansgate

We can give advice and make recommendations using different phrases in English. Look at the text below. What phrases can you spot and how are they used?
 

      When you're in Manchester, you really should go to Old Trafford. It's home to one of the most famous football teams in the world. Even if you don't like football, the stadium is well worth a visit. You ought to go while they're playing a match, but tickets can be extortionate and very hard to find. You can get there easily by tram or by bus (number 250). The bus is cheaper so you should try that option first. You shouldn't get a taxi unless there are a few of you because it will cost too much.



      While you're here, you ought to visit some other local sights. You should definitely visit the John Rylands Library on Deansgate because it's very beautiful inside. People study in the library, so you'd better be quiet when you're there. You ought not to go as a large group, because you could make too much noise. 

Inside the Library

We use should and ought to to make recommendations and give advice:
                                                                                                         
should + base form. We use should in positive sentences, negative sentences and questions:

Should we go to Old Trafford?
Yes, you should go to Old Trafford but 
you shouldn't get a taxi unless there are a few of you

We can make should stronger by using really or definitely
You really should go to Old Trafford and you should definitely visit the John Rylands Library.
                                                                                                                                                                   
We can use ought to + base form instead of should. Ought to is a little bit more formal than should. We use  ought to in positive and negative sentences. We don't really use ought to in questions: we use should

You ought to go to Old Trafford while they're playing a match. If you do go to the John Rylands Library, you ought not go as a large group.
                                                                                                                                                                  
What about must ?
We can use must to make our advice stronger:
   It's late and I think you've drunk enough. You should go home now.
   Look at you, you can hardly walk!! You really must go home now. I'll get you a cab.



Vocabulary: Describing a city

Here are some words to describe Barcelona:

lovely    busy    noisy      quiet      beautiful       impressive       delicious       ancient

Which adjectives do you think are positive, and which are negative, or are there some adjectives which are neutral?

The opposite of beautiful is ugly. What is the opposite of busy? noisy? quiet? impressive? Use a dictionary to help you.

Pretty is a synonym of beautiful: they are two different words that mean the same thing. Can you think of synonyms for each of the adjectives? Use a thesaurus to help you.

What does each word describe: the buildings, the sounds, the sights, the people, the tastes? Can you think of any other adjectives to add to the list?

Here are some adjectives that you could use to describe Manchester. Are they positive or negative? What do they describe? Can you think of any synonyms for these words? What are the opposites of these words?

lively     dirty     polluted     buzzing    tasty    clean    chaotic     exciting     amazing    awesome    messy    filthy    horrible    loud    friendly   helpful   attractive    pleasant    fabulous   cool    vibrant    traditional    modern    dangerous    old     spectacular    safe    empty    


Which of these adjectives would you use to describe your home town?
How could you compare your home town with Manchester? (My home town is .......more exciting/ cleaner than Manchester)

Here are some more adjectives with a practice exercise:

http://www.englishlanguageworld.com/Intermediate_English_Lesson13/Intermediate_English_Lesson13_Vocabulary.html

There are some more adjectives and games here:

http://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/preint3/vocabulary/describing_towns/vocabulary07_02?cc=gb&selLanguage=en

Vocabulary list

Below is a link to the Cambridge Vocabulary list for Preliminary English Test exams. This is about the same level as Lower Intermediate.

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/84669-vocabulary-list.pdf

Cambridge also have an Elementary exam called KET. Here is the vocabulary list:

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/22105-ket-vocabulary-list.pdf

The list is arranged alphabetically and by topic. Check to see which words you know and which words you don't know. Try and learn a couple of new words every day and put them into a sentence, either a written sentence or conversation.

Grammar: Gerunds or Infinitives

Some people get very frightened by grammar. Let's look at gerunds and infinitives.

All verbs have a base form. For example: write, read, swim

We add to if we want to make infinitives

to write, to read, to swim

We add ing if we want to make gerunds. Remember the spelling rules for verb + ing

writing, reading, swimming

Sometimes we want to use two verbs together. The second verb is often a gerund or an infinitive. Which do you use?

Travel Agency conversation

Here are some youtube videos of conversations in a travel agency between a customer and a travel agent.

The first uses some American vocabulary and pronunciation.

How polite do you think the travel agent is?
Notice how they talk about dates and times: on Saturday the third of August; at 7 o'clock
Notice how the agent talks about flight times: "it departs at 6 pm, and it arrives in Bangkok at 11.15". She uses a present simple tense to talk about timetables, even though the flight is in the future.

(Teacher says: "62,000 Bahts is £1300!! That's extortionate!!")

Here are two students acting out a travel agent dialogue:

Do you think they are easy to understand? Why (not)?

Do you think you could make a better video? Why not try, and I could put it on the blog!!

Holiday songs

There a couple of songs about holidays on http://www.lyricstraining.com/ 

Choose your Game Mode (Beginner/ Intermediate) and type in the missing words when you hear them in the song.

Use the BACKSPACE <------- key to listen to the words again. Good luck!

http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/13445/boney_m/hooray_hooray_its_a_holiholiday

http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/16731/madonna/holiday

http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/5095/green_day/holiday (I think this is really tricky, even at Beginner level!!)

Holiday listening

Do you get confused when you listen to people? This website has many short listening activities:


http://www.listenaminute.com/index.html

Listen to this short talk about holidays:

http://www.listenaminute.com/h/holidays.mp3

Online activities, the mp3 and printable handouts are available for this lesson at http://www.listenaminute.com

Print and complete the gap-fill exercise on page 3:

http://www.listenaminute.com/h/holidays.pdf

This is good practice, because you are listening for more than one word at a time. It's important to practise listening to groups of words, not just single words.

Holiday conversation

Can you complete this conversation using phrases common in spoken English:

Ryan: Hi, Aziz. How's it going?
Aziz:  Good, thanks. Guess what/ To be honest ! I've just booked a holiday.
Ryan: Good for you. Where are you going?
Aziz:  I'm going on a backpacking holiday in Australia.
Ryan: Wow/ Tell me about it. That sounds amazing!
Aziz:  Well, I usually end up/ decide  going to the beach, so this year I fancied doing something different.
Ryan: Good for you. Are you going by yourself or in a group?
Aziz:   It's a package. Going by yourself is really difficult to organise.
Ryan:  I know what you mean/ I mean. I travelled across Europe on the train and that was a nightmare!
Aziz:   To be honest/ Tell me about it, I didn't really want to think about the organisation. I just wanted to enjoy the trip.
Ryan:  I don't blame you. Well, I'm sure you'll love it.
Aziz:   I'm sure I will too. In fact/ I mean, I've already started packing. I've just bought some insect repellent.
Ryan:  And how much did that cost, if you don't mind me asking?
Aziz:   Only a fiver.
Ryan:  Five pounds!!! You must be joking!! That's extortionate!!

Answers after the jump:

Holiday vocabulary

Look at the picture below:

In English we go on holiday. What kind of holiday is this man on?
What's he wearing on his head? He's wearing a bandana and a pair of sunglasses.
He's holding a stick in his left. He's using the stick to help him walk. He's carrying a rucksack or backpack with red straps, and you can see his walking boots dangling from his backpack. Where do you think he is?

An anagram is a word puzzle. You change the order of the letters and ask someone to find the word. For example, hldiaoy is an anagram of ..... holiday Here are some anagrams of words we associate with backpacking holidays:

stneci plrelente
gleepins abg
dogkubedio
nett

Remember, try and use the words in a sentence. Every time you learn a new noun, what verbs do you use with it?

to wear sunglasses      to use/ to spray insect repellent    to wear suncream   to carry a backpack
to ski      to read/ to use a guidebook       to wear gloves     to pack/ to unpack/ to carry a suitcase
to put up/ to sleep in a tent     to wear a swimming costume    to put on/ to wear make-up

Practise the new vocabulary by writing a short paragraph:

I went on a backpacking holiday last year. I went to Australia. I had to spray a lot of insect repellent because there were many mosquitoes. I read a guidebook before I went. I can't put up tents, but my friend can. So he put up the tent every night and we slept in sleeping bags under the stars.


Think about these questions:
What kind of people usually go on backpacking holidays?
Where do they go?
Why do people choose backpacking holidays?
How long do they go for?
Have you ever been on a backpacking holiday? would you like to? do you know anybody who has?
What do you need to pack for a backpacking holiday?

You can find some answers and more information and vocabulary here:

http://www.purpletravel.co.uk/community/Holidaytypes/backpacking-holidays.html

Practise your speaking:
Use the questions above to interview a partner.
Prepare a short talk using the questions above.
Read the information on the purpletravel website aloud: think about your pronunciation.
Where do people go backpacking in the UK? Visit the Tourist Information Centre in Piccadilly Gardens and talk to the staff there.

Welcome

Hello everybody! Welcome to the blog!

I want to try and use this blog to post things that you will find helpful to improve your English and your time in Manchester. These could be articles to read, things to listen to, revision of vocabulary, grammar exercises etc.

Please feel free to share anything that you find interesting and leave a comment to say what you would like to see on here.

Teacher says: "This blog is here to help you. I want to see you using it. If people do not use the blog, I will close it."

Happy reading and studying!!

Ryan