Summer ideas

Hi dear all!
The summer is near, and that's great, isn't it? However, "4 months without English" is not such a great idea...
I'd like to give you some tips so that you can practice a little bit of English these months. Don't start the next course feeling lost!

I firstly recommend you to read this post: "Cómo aprender inglés sin dinero para cursos". The teacher here suggests interesting things for a linguistic immersion. For example, she talks about language exchanges. Why not start one now? We can do that on the Internet, without having to travel! She and her readers suggest the following (I know this is not the first time we talk about this):
- Shared Talk
- My Language Exchange
- Language Exchanges
There you can practice your the 4 skills!

I do agree with her opinion on Listening everyday. If you try and listen at least 5 minutes, you'll get used to the sounds of English and it'll become easier and easier. My recommendation here is for you to download i-Tunes (it's free!) and subscribe to podcasts (that you can later transfer to your MP3 player!). All you have to do is (once you get the program) click on i-Tunes Store, later on Podcasts and then browse according to your interests: you can select the language, the channel or the topic you are interested in. Then you subscribe to the podcasts that you like: their updates will be downloaded immediately everytime you connect to i-Tunes again. Isn't it wonderful?

More ideas on Writing: apart from checking the websites checklisted in this blog, you could also start a journal in English or even a blog yourself! (Try blogger) If you write on a regular basis, you'll need to use a dictionary and thus will learn new things everyday.

Finally, what about Reading? Are you thinking of taking some English book to the beach with you? Good idea. Why not visit the library downstairs? You can borrow books for the whole summer now. Otherwise, you can buy them online; Amazon is quite fast with deliveries and they also offer you the possibility of buying second-hand books for really reasonable prices!

Short of ideas? Here you are some suggestions (light and fun reads, I think):
- White Teeth by Zadie Smith
- The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend
- Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes
- Completely Unexpected Tales by Roald Dahl
- Eureka Street by Robert McLiam Wilson
- Changing Places by David Lodge
- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Have fun, then. See you around this week.

US Presidential Elections 2008

Hi there! I can imagine that you're all looking forward to coming back to class next week. And yes, I've got some good news for you: the next unit deals with history and politics! Exciting, isn't it? I know you can't wait.

I prepared a series of links for you to catch up on the most popular event of the year: the US Presidential Elections! (Remember: All you have to do is click on the underlined words to access the websites).

WHO IS WHO in the Elections:
- The main contenders described in BBC.
- No time to waste? Then your best option is to speed-date the candidates! Hillary, Obama, McCain... them all.

VIDEOS GALORE
1. REPUBLICANS
Republican National Committee videos here.
Youtube Republican Channel.
Who is John McCain, from a British perspective. Video included.

2. DEMOCRATS
No doubt about the most interesting controversy these days: Obama Vs. Hillary. So let's concentrate on them:

OBAMA
Two Stanford University students set up a Channel in Youtube, called Youbama. They claim to have no connection with the campaign, but they have managed to collect hundreds of videos in favour of the candidate. Examples:
Songs:
Popular Song-hymn for Obama these days. Listen also to "Obama Vs. Hillary" cartoon song. Finally, look for humour in My Junk, song about Hillary, based on the popular "My Humps" by Black-Eyed Peas.
Celebrities talk:
Several well-known people back Obama openly, as we can see in the following videos:
Oprah Winfrey , Robert de Niro and George Clooney.

HILLARY
Campaign:
Hillary speaks to Nashville voters.
Hillary's supporters interviewed for TV.
Hillary's got "the experience to make the kind of changes that American people are looking for".
Websites:
First, you have Hillary's official website here.
Second, "using comedy as a serious political strategy, Hillary Clinton for president supporters announced this morning the launch of Bill-for-First-Lady.com, a campaign Web site featuring live-action comedy videos of a cross-dressing Bill Clinton wearing a pink skirt, matching high heels and a pink purse."

CARTOONS
About Obama, Hillary and McCain.

GAMES
Feel like playing? Why not check up these sites then?
Paintball.
Kung-fu fighting.

SUPER TUESDAY
What is Super Tuesday? Find it out here.
Click here for Super Tuesday Results.

LATEST NEWS
Be informed with yahoo, msn , the BBC , America.gov. or the Telegraph.

CURIOUS FACTS
"How did Republicans pick the elephant, and Democrats the donkey, to represent their parties?" Click here to find out the answer.







VIRTUAL VISITS
Fancy a tour round the White House? As easy as clicking here.
Prefer the British Parliament? Why not? Access the different chambers, corridors and halls from here.

EXTRA MATERIAL that's not in the book

A teacher from a school in Zaragoza has taken the trouble to collect some material which can help you study the contents from File 4 Upper Intermediate:

Why not visit her on her website?

It's divided into units: in each unit (in each "file") you have different headings with the grammar or vocabulary contents we're looking at this year.

Another teacher, this time from Granada University, has done more or less the same in his website. Some of the links are very similar, and the organization is quite the same.

What are you waiting for? Give it a go!