Crime and Punishment

The following paragraph and key words come from a mistery story.
You have to act the detective and ask your teacher questions. Use past simple, past continuous or past perfect.
Your teacher will only answer: YES or NO.

Crime and Punishment

A man got on the train and sat down in a compartment which was empty except for one lady. She took her glove off. A few hours later the man was arrested by the police. They held him for 24 hours and were then forced to let him go free. 

GARDEN
LOVER
30 YEARS
VANISH
JAIL

Solution:
Thirty years before, the gloved lady had been lmarried to the man on the train. She and her lover had disappeared and left the country. Before vanishing they had cut off the two middle fingers of her left hand and buried them on the garden. The police found the fingers while investigating her disappearance and accused the man of murdering his wife and burying the rest of her somewhere else. He was jailed for 30 years for a crime he had not committed. 
He did not recognise her at first on the train. When she took off her gloves he did. He killed her. The police had to release him as he had served his life sentence before committing the crime. 

Spy

1- Students stand up and mingle, meeting people and talking. 

2- When asked questions, anyone with a "true" card must give true answers; anyone with a "false" card must lie (except about your name), inventing false llife stories. 

3- Afterwards. form small groups of 4-5. Each group should try to work out who was "true" and who "false", writing a list idetifying all suspected "false" people. 

4- We'll finish up with a whole-class stage when the lists are read out and the truth is revealed. 

Groups get 3 points for each "false" person correctly spotted, but minus 3 for anyone incorrectly identified. 

Questions:

COVID-19

How do you feel about the covid issue? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? 

Have you seen the documentary on Netflix “Coronavirus, explained”?

Have you had the coronavirus disease?

Do you know anybody who has had the disease?

ENGLISH

When was the last time you spoke in English?

When was the last time you wrote something in English?

Did you practice your English while you were on holidays? Foreign friends, TV series, films, blogs, youtubers, instagramers, tictok...?

RESEARCH PROJECT

Did you work on your Research Project during the summer? What did you do? Research, started writing it….

Did you read any sites in English with information about your research project topic?

PEOPLE & PLACES

Did you meet any new people in the summer holidays or was it difficult under our present unusual circumstances? 

Did you travel anywhere? Parents or grandparents hometown / village? 

Have you been anywhere which you had not been to before?

Evaluation Criteria

Course 2020-2021

Each exam will consist of:

• 50% Reading, Listening, Grammar and Vocab.
• 50% Writing

On missing an exam date, you will only be allowed to take the exam another day if you have a paper from the doctor or any other oficial organism. 

You final mark will be the average mark of the 3 terms. 

Each term your grade will be calculated according to the following criteria:

• 80% exams
• 10% home compositions
• 10% reader (if there is one)
• The final grade will be rounded up/down with your speaking performance. 

TED: The next outbreak? We are not ready

Dear all,

I would like to share with you a TED talk from more than 5 years ago, whose chat (see comments under the video) has been activated again due to the present validity of its content. Bill Gates seems to have been a visionary.

I advise you to watch it with English subtitles, there are subtitles in 37 different languges though.

Immigration: A Class Debate Preparation

Related to the issue in the book, we will carry out a class debate on immigration when we come back, followed up by a “for and against essay” on Immigration. Therefore, you could start thinking about this critical issue.

All political positions are legitimate and we will discuss it democratically.  You can prepare your arguments with the chart below if it helps you. This time we are not going to play any roles, you will be able to give your own opinion. 

Immigration
Pro-immigrationists	Anti-immigrationists
Debate 1 Is it a duty or a favour?
Debate 2 If they are allowed in, the immigrants have an obligation to assimilate into the local culture.  How far should the assimilation go?
Debate 3 How much time needs to pass before immigrants become full members of society?

A Refugee Story Reader Assignment

The assignment should have a minimum length of 250 words. Choose ONE of the options below. In the assignment, you must show that you have read and understood the story and the vocabulary. I will value your creativity and your ability for reaching conclusions about the story. You should try not to copy directly from the book. 

Alternatively, you can choose TWO options and write two shorter texts. The total length of the two writings should be 250 words.  

Drama Activities:

1. Write a television interview with Tariq after he has settled in Germany but still doesn’t know what has happened to the rest of his family. Suggestion: act out the interview in front of the class.  One of you is Tariq and the other is a reporter. 
2. Write a conversation between Tarip and Salah when they are first reunited. You can act out the conversation for the class.  
3. After several years in Germany, the Ahmadi family is faced with the choice of remaining there or going back to their homeland. Write the conversation in which the family members discuss the advantages of both options. Act out the conversation for the class.

Writing suggestions:

1. Imagine you are Salah. Write the entry in your diary on the day you arrive in Italy. Describe the journey and your feelings now that you are out of danger. 

Challenge to think:

1. The Ahmadis went through a lot of suffering in order to survive and to remain together as a family. Do you think that the writer of the story wishes to give a positive of a negative message about human nature in general? Give examples from the story. 
2. Rima decided that her family had to run away. She didn’t want to try and change the situation in her country. Do you agree with her decision? Explain your answer. 
3. Compare how Tariq and Salah dealt with being forced to leave their country and start a new life. Do you think one of them managed better than the other? Explain your answer.  (How did being a good footballer help Tariq? How did Salah’s Writing skills help him?

A Refugee Story (pdf book)

Dear students,

We are all confined in the middle of this sanitary crisis and by now we are totally overwhelmed with whatapps and videos about covid-19. So for a change, I thought I would give you work for those of you who want to practice some English and make the most out of your time.

The first thing will be the reader, as we agreed on the last day in class, you can read our 3rd reader this course “A refugee story”. There will be an exam some day after we come back to our regular classes.  

Since some of you may not have the book at home and might not have gone to the school library last Thursday, I have scanned the book for you. It’s quite a new book and you will not find a pdf copy on the Internet. Al least, I didn’t manage to find it. So by using the app Tiny Scanner, I have scanned the book and I’m sharing it here.

It’s a touching and engaging story of a family who lives in an unnamed Arab country. I hope you will like it. It’s only about 40 pages with a lot of pictures. It's B1 level so you will not find it very difficult. Sometimes it is not quantity (of worlds) but quality that you learn by reading in English. 

To access the file, click on the link below. If you have any problems, please let me know. 

A refugee Story (pdf)

Happy reading!

By the way, I will be posting other ideas and suggestions to practice English. It is not compulsory to do it now, but you will have to do it anyway when we come back so, let's get a head start on work! ;))

Keep in touch and tell me how you are doing!! 

Dilemmas

DILEMMAS What would you do?	You	Your partner
You have noticed your best friend cheating in an end-of-term exam. A lot of teens cheat, but you and your friend have always been against it, up to now.  Should I tell off my friend?
Your sister has a boyfriend and one day she asks you to answer the phone and tell her boyfriend she’s ill and that she can’t go out that Saturday night. You know she’s planning to meet another boy that night. What would you do? Should I do what my sister says?
You are completely against smoking. Your brother asks you to bring him a carton of cigarettes from the Duty Free Shop when you go to London next week so that she can save some money. What would you do? Should I bring the cigarettes to my brother?

Dilemmas Survey - Kahoot

There is too much violence on TV/ computer games?

In my opinión, playing videogames has become a popular activity for people of all ages. Many children and teenagers spend a huge amant of time, playing them.
Where as some games have educational content, most of these popular games emphasize negative themes and promote.
Killing people or animals, the use or abuse of drugs and alcohol...
Some children accept violence as a way to handle problems.
From my point of view, most of the videogames that people play are those about violence, but that violence should not affect them, because since we were children we have played games of this type, it depends on the person, if he/she is very sensitive then this person should not play this type og games ,he/she should play others instead.
My conclusión is that there is a lot of violence in videogames but it is the topic which people the most money with and this is what companies want, to créate very realistic videogames that are violent, because most videogames are for players over 18 years old.

My learning experience in English

My learning experience in English has been good. I am good  at English, although it costs me a bit in the part of the verb tenses. My way of working is doing everything I can in class, and what I have left for homework is done at home, I study 1h on the last day for the exam, always depending on the difficulty of the exam.

There are things that have made me improve, the other year, I learned to better understand the texts, and what I miss would be listening, because the other year we did not do them.

The place where I live

I live in Badalona it is a city in the Spanish municipality of the Barcelonés region, in the province of Barcelona, autonoums community of Catalonia. It has an área of 20,95 km and about 217741 people.

Badalona is a city of sea and mountain. It has a subhumid Mediterranean climate, that is, mild, with humid moderately mild Winter.

The most famous neighborhood is Santo Cristo.

The most important place, of Badalona are: el Pont de Petroli, a long bridge that passes over the sea, the mountain of Montigala, where people go to play football, walk, ride the bicycle,.., Badalona beach, which is not as clean as I would like to, but it's fine. In summer, there are many people an this beach.

What I like about Badalona is its weather, we are at an ideal temperatura, neither too high nor too low it is normal.

Daule- Ecuador

I lived in Ecuador, in the coastal region, which is an important area. The city where I lived is called Daule.
Daule has about 133,000 people. It is famous for being “the rice capital of Ecuador”, not many people go to visit it, but it is a very nice and cozy city.
In Daule, the weather is the same all the time, What do I say? Summer season, it sounds good if you want to tan, though in others regions seasons are different.
Daule hasta attractions where you can go with friends or family, parks for children, churches, bars at night, shopping centers to get distracted, even its own river! It is surprising that this city has a bit of everything.
What I like most about this city is the food and its people. About people of Daule: they are very hardworking, humble, attentive, careful and respectful. I miss them.
Regarding food: I love “guatita” and “bolón” almost all the food has green bananas, maybe for me, the “Dauleña “ food is the best in the world.
To finish , I love Daule, my beautiful city.

Live concerts are the best way to listen to music

Many famous artists give concerts around the year and they visit a lot of cities, the greatest think about this is that there are concerts of all kinds of genre. Is not it crazy?
Personally, I think that it is better to be in a concert to listen to music with headphones in your house.
In the first place, you don’t feel the music, you don’t enjoy it instead of having fun with your friends
Others might argue that they have fun being alone listening to music.
Likewise in a live concert you have the opportunity to meet your favorite singer or band, above all you are sharing your passion with other people, it is that moment when it doesn’t matter the race, religion, sexual preference, only the music.
We can conclude that live concerts have a lot of emotion, in there they live the moment, I think that it is the best way to listen to music.

Gerund or Infinitive

Gerund or Infinitive in Songs

Today I would like to try out an activity that was prepared by a Polish teacher who teaches English.
Thank you Natalia for sharing this activity in your blog!

Happy learning!


Songs used:

1. She will be loved, Maroon 5
2. New York New York, Frank Sinatra
3. Hey Jude, The Beatles
4. Let her go, Passenger
5. November rain, Guns’n’Roses
6. Lost on you, LP
7. Hello, Adele
8. Man down, Rhianna
9. Billy Jean, Michel Jackson
10. Love on the brain, Rhianna
11. Clocks, Coldplay
12. I want to break free, Queen
13. Lazy Song, Bruno Mars
14. Purple Rain, Prince
15. Rehab, Amy Winehouse
16. Stop cryin’ your heart out, Oasis

The place where I live

I live in Badalona, which is an important town of Barcelona. It has a population of ever 220,000 people.
Badalona is a problematic and dangerous city for different reasons, such as: robberies, shootings, multisided fights etc. .But despite this it is a very beautiful and popular place for tourists, since Badalona has an incredible coast, and this can be demostrated with its magnificient "oil bridge", "the three chimeneys", and the promenade.
The weather is fantastic, neither too cold in winter nor too hot in summer. Badalona is also known for its "Montigalá" mountain, that if you go up there you can get to see an exploded landscape: blocks of modern and giant flats, the beach... .
In conclusion, Badalona is fantastic but dangerous!

Which do you think is the best sport for a young person to take up?

There are many sports in the world, but in my opinion, there are some very specific sports that are better for young people (with young people I mean tenagers between thirteen and seventeen), a clear example is calisthenics.

Calisthenics is a physical discipline that only uses the body weight of the person who wants to practice it and also, this sport seeks strength and beauty in its exercises, therefore it has many benefits. Some of them are: you do not need financial resources (since a young man does not have a lot of income) because calisthenics is done outdoors and part of the good thing about it is going out and not being closed like in a gym or you meet people with your same tastes, you do not pay absolutely any money because you can use everything: a bench, chair and even a lamppost. and therefore you do not spend money on material, such as the famous weights.

And finally, this discipline trains absolutely everything: balance, large and small muscles and you even test yourself and also train your mind.

In conclusion, calisthenics is the best sport a teenager can do.

Why the educational system needs to change

I have been studying for quite a few years now. I have seen a lot of things here, I have talked with people about it and I have come to the conclusion that this is not the way future students should have to learn.

First of all, whe learn a lot of unnecessary stuff. Surem lots of people say the same thing, but that is because they have got a valid point. In my opinion, we should have more freedom when deciding which subjects we want to do and which we want to pass on. Sure, there would have to be some staples (maths, basic science, history...) but we could learn what we actually enjoy (or hate the least).

Following up with the generic argument from before, here's another one: The workload teachers give us is just obscene. Homewok, projects, exams, just and endless array of stuff that causes problems to us students, such as: stress, sadness, not being able to do what you enjoy, lack of sleep, etc. A quick Google search shows that if you write: "School makes me..." it autocompletes to "depressed", "sad", "want to cry" and the like. I would really want homework and the aforementioned things toned down a little bit.

All in all, educational problems fall into one of two categories: unnecessary learning and excessive workload. Fixing them, while difficult, would ensure the betterment of students in most regards (happiness, motivation, etc.)

"The teenage years are the most important years of your life"

When I hear the phrase in the title, I kinda cringe a little bit. People who say that are mostly teenagers with no concept of future.

Let's say you live for 80 years. Well, your adult years occupy about 75% of them (60 years). Sure, puberty is the time to learn the useful stuff in life and grow as a person, but it's in adultood where you put everything in practice and yur life actually depends on it. Besides, you can still learn and grow in your adult life.

I think people use that phrase because it's in the teenage years where you usuallystart having a lot of fun and freedom: you meet up with friends more often, you start going to parties, etc. And I get it, I'm having a lot of fun, but we must understand that the future will not be like this. There are way more important and enjoyable things happening in the near future.

In conclusion, although puberty let's us discover freedom and have a lot of fun, adulthood takes up most of your life and makes you the person you will be for the rest of your life.

The place where I spend summer vacation

I spend the summer in a small town called Santa Marina del Rey. It is a quiet town whit a small population in winter but when summer comes all the houses and the streets are full of people.
Santa Marina del Rey is a small town located near the centre of Leon, in the town there is only one primary school, teenagers who live there throughout the year, to study in high school must go to other villages. The water there is not bought or taken from the tap, there are three water pipes throughout the town so you can go with the garage and fill it with natural water, The Órbigo river passes through the town.
The best know thing of the town are its festivals. The Garlic Fair, is in June from 18th to 20th there are concerts at night with fair, there are also workshops and the mass of the town where all the people go to church and after the mass the floats made by the inhabitants of the town parade.
What I like most about the town are its custom since I have friends who instead of buying milk a supermarket go in the morning to the cows of Amor and buy the milk from  Amor, who is a lady who is dedicated to livestock. I also like very much that instead of using a car to move around the town and the surrounding villages, everyone goes  by bicycle and of course I am in love with the sunsets from the church bell tower.

THE THINGS WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD

Think that I would change few things, such as taking care of nature and animals, that would be the first thing we should all change. In my house little by little I am getting them recycle everything. It is true that they say that after all together, but I think that is a lie and that they separate things and many things take them to be able to give it a second use.
It would also change something else, which is that people learn to respect and value what we have, since we are all day complaining about what we lack or the carp that our shoes are (for example) when we should be grateful to have some shoes. And respecting, lately young people of today, those of my age, do not respect their parents, their teachers, their friends or just a totally unknown person they see on the street do not respect her, they insult  him in front of his friends to be funny.
And that is what people should change because the world doesn't have to change!
Who has to change is us who live in it and do not care or appreciate it.