Tea and biscuits against racism

A mosque has been praised for serving tea and biscuits to English Defence League supporters after the far-right group arranged a demonstration there.

 

About six people turned up to protest at the mosque in Bull Lane, York, on Sunday and were invited inside to play football with worshippers. More than 100 supporters of the mosque had gone there after learning of the planned EDL (English Defence League) protest.

Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said the mosque's response was "fantastic".
He said: "Tea, biscuits, and football are a great and typically Yorkshire combination when it comes to disarming hostile and extremist views."

Proud Moment

Father Tim Jones, who went to the Bull Lane mosque, which is situated in his parish, said: "I've always known they were intelligent and compassionate people and I think this has demonstrated the extent to which they are people of courage - certainly physical courage and also a high degree of moral courage.

Daredevil Gene

Dear NI2 students,

This is the bank of words that you'll need to do the reading task called Daredevil Gene.
Good reading!

all                it                must                to
also             known       not                   what
fearless       later          on                    which
followed      leaving      one                  who
following     likely          others              why
for               lives          that
half             might         those

Key

Hi!

This is the key for the latest homework assignment I told you to do at home.

• NI1

• NI2

I hope you all do well in the exam. Don't get nervous and remember to have sound sleep before the exam. 
I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your reviews of my work and the school. It was my pleasure to have you in class :-)

Listening Lessons

Hi!

As promised, I'm showing you some links to listening exercises for NI1. 
Source: Talk English
http://www.talkenglish.com/Listening/ListenIntermediate.aspx

NI2 Film reviews

Book reviews

Mobile Phones - a great invention?

Almost everybody has a mobile phone. But is it a great invention? What are the advantages, what are the arguments against? What's your opinion? Write down your proposals on the comments' section. 

Film Reviews

Hi!

You can read some of your partner's film reviews. Have you any of these? What do you think? Would you recommend it as well?

 

NI1E Schedule

Dear NI1E students,

I'd like you to have a look at your speaking exam schedule for June 5th.
If there is any problem, just write a comment to this post.
Good luck!

Tuesdays and Thursdays 16h - 18:30

16h

Irene P      - Manuel V
Óscar T    - Shirley M
Ana R       - Gonzalo L

17h

Silvia M    - Noelia V
Emiliano  - Paloma M
Sergio V  - Miguel Ángel

19h

Jorge S   - Ricardo
Antonio   - Luis L
Eva G     - Inma

20h

Ana J         - Yolanda A
Alejandro   - Sara Barrios
Evelyn M    - Jorge C
Gonzalo M

NI1C Speaking Schedule

Hi!

This is the schedule for NI1C group to do the speaking exam on Tuesday June 4th. 
All the best!

Mondays and Wednesdays  16h - 18:30

16h

Andrea         - Sergio F
M.ª Carmen  - Paula D
Aurora          - Ester S

17h

Ana F              - Manoli
José Vicente   - Marta P
Rubén M         - Sara El  

19h

Paula R           - Vanessa M
Ana P              - José Antonio P
Sergio R         - Miguel Ángel R
Noemí H         - Natalia P
(Rubén P)       - (Iván M)
(Pilar P)

Negative Feelings

Hi!

This is a worksheet from Hot English Magazine with negative asdjectives. I hope you are not feeling like that at the moment! ;-) 

Exam Schedule for NI2 students

Dear NI2 C students,

This is your schedule for the speaking exam in Room 0 on June 13th, Wednesday June 12th
Take it easy!

18:30 to 21h Mondays & Wednesdays		TIME
Sara L	Laura S	16h
Alexia	Cristina M
Isabel R	Sonia
Cristina R	Ana M.ª	17h
M.ª Trinidad	Eduardo
Malgorzata	Carlos	18:30
Flor	Roberto C
Laura I	Jorge M	19:30
Susana	Javier
Miriam	David	20:30
Lorena	Cristina G
Lidia	M.ª Jesús	20:30

NI1 G group

Dear NI1 G students, 

This is your schedule for the speaking exam on June 6th in Room 4. 
Good luck!

Tuesdays and Thursdays 18:30 - 21h

16h

Vanesa U    - Gema V     -   Alberto
Luisa           - Ester S

17h

Paqui         - Patricia J
Manuel R   - Isabel M
Mariola      - Jenifer V

19h

Marta G     - Gema F
Beatriz N   - Paula G
Beatriz F   - Diana

20h

Cristina G   - M.ª José P
Lydia M       - M.ª Teresa P

10 best countries for moms

By Courtney SubramanianMay 10, 2013 74 Comments

Getty Images

For Moms in Finland, every day is Mother’s Day. A new report from the non-profit Save the Children says the Nordic nation is the best country on the globe for mothers to live.

As the Atlantic reports, the child advocacy group’s 14th annual State of the World’s Mothers report relied on five key metrics for its rankings: per capita income, lifetime risk of maternal death, mortality rate for children under 5, education levels, and the frequency of women in governmental positions of power. It also focused on what it calls the Birth Day index, which compares death rates for newborn babies in 186 countries. As the Atlantic points out, however, the report did not take into account happiness or where women are having the most children.

Scandinavia is definitely a good place to be a Mom: Sweden placed second,  Norway third, and Denmark sixth. In fact, all but one of the top 10 countries where Moms are the safest are European, with Australia placing tenth. The ten unsafest places for mothers are all located in Central Africa, with the Democratic Republic of Congo ranking worst. An estimated 98% of newborn and 99% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries where basic health care services are scarce.

The best news to emerge from the report is a dramatic decrease in maternal and child deaths overall. The annual number of children under age 5 who die each year dropped by more than 40%, from 12 million to 6.9 million, while the number of maternal deaths declined almost 50%, from 543,00 to 287,000, since 1990. An influx of community health workers has also helped countries like Tanzania and New Zealand to reduce infant morality rates.

Check what you know

Dear NI1 students,

 

Review what you've learnt:

• present perfect and past simple
• passive
• future forms
• first conditional and future time clauses
• modals of deduction
• gerunds and infinitives
• reported statements and questions
• relative clauses

Sleeping for learning

Hi!
As we are speaking about sleeping these days in class, why don't you listen to this programme from the BBC?

How much can you learn when you're tired? New research has proved that not getting enough sleep – or sleep deprivation – can have a negative effect on a student's performance at school.

In this week's 6 Minute English, Rob and Finn discuss why this is a particular problem in wealthier countries and explore some sleep related language.

This week's question:
Randy Gardner holds the world record for the longest period of time without sleep in 1965.
Do you know how long he stayed awake for? Was it:
a) 5 days
b) 8 days
c) 11 days

Listen to the programme to find out the answer. Don't forget to check the new vocabulary as well.

Reviewing for NI2

Dear NI2 students,

These are nice links where you can get extra practice of grammar and vocab seen in class:
Source: New English File, OUP

GRAMMAR:

• Gerunds and infinitives 
• Unreal conditionals 
• Past modals 
• Verbs of the senses

VOCABULARY:

• The body 
• Music 
• The media 
• Towns and cities

IDIOMS AND COLLOCATIONS:

• Personality
• Illness and treatment
• Clothes and fashion
• Crime and punishment
• Weather
• Feelings
• The body
• Music
• Towns and cities

PHRASAL VERBS:

• File 5
• File 6

Lesson 6 Review

Dear NI1 students,

Find some practice of the use of English here:

GRAMMAR:

• Reported speech: statements and questions (1)
• Reported speech: statements and questions (2)
• Reported speech: commands (1)
• Reported speech: commands (2)
• Passive: be + past participle (1)
• Passive: be + past participle (2)

VOCABULARY:

• Work
• Shopping
• Cinema

PRACTICAL ENGLISH:

• A visit from a pop star
• Breaking news

HOW WORDS WORK: 

• Each other or reflexive pronouns?
• How long + take
• Look or look like?
• So
• Get
• Connectors

The Lazy Song

8 phrasal verbs to talk about cinema

Hi!
As we are going to talk about cinema in the next days, I'd like you to start by learning new verbs to speak about it. Source: Hot English magazine

What's your soundtrack?

Dear NI2 students,

I'd like you to have a look at the key for text on page 71 from your coursebook:
d. 
1 B
2 D
3 B
4 C
5 A
6 A
7 D
8 C

Strike today

Hi!

I'd like to tell you that I'm going to strike today. 

I'm sorry for the inconvenience but I feel I have to show my disaproval against the new education law (LOMCE) and against any law that gives power to hire people outside a public selection process. Besides I work for the public school because I believe in the system. This is where I was educated and that's the thing I feel most proud of.

Business Language to go

Hi!

This is a wonderful series on business collocations and chunks. 

Part 1

In this first episode of Business Language To Go: Job Interviews.

• Download this programme (5.1 MB)
• Download the script (39 K) 
  
  
  For more podcasts, visit Talk about English from BBC Learning English.

Searching for Sugar Man

Dear all,

I saw this appealing documentary film this weekend. It's about a Detroit singer-songwriter known as Rodriguez who was discovered in a dive bar. In 1969 he produced the album "Cold Fact" which was a flop in the USA but a great success in South Africa. Rodriguez led a simple life in Detroit as a construction worker whereas he was more popular than The Beatles in South Africa. In the 1990s, determined South African fans managed to seek out and contact him, which led to an unexpected revival of his musical career.

 
Have you seen it? What's your opinion about it?

Brain Drain

Hi!

How about learning this expression that a lot of you came up with in your writings?

Brain drain: a situation in which a country's most intelligent people, especially scientists, go to another country in order to make more money or to improve their living or working conditions. MacMillan Dictionary

Synonyms or related words for this sense of brain drain

To leave a place to live elsewhere: move out, relocate, emigrate, move, resettle, migrate, uproot, brain drain, retire, seek your fortune... more

Revise and check, p 66-67

Dear NI2,

This is the key for exercises on p.66 and 67

GRAMMAR
a
1 hadn't found              4 had more time
2 must have                  5 can't have got
3 should have told

b 1 c    2 a    3 c    4 b    5 c

VOCABULARY
a 1 relieved- the others are negative feelings
2 anxious - the others mean surprised
3 calf- the others are part of the hand/ fingers
4 hip - the others are organs
5 nod -  the others are gestures you do with your hand

Living in a tiny place

Could you live in a house or apartment that was only 30 square metres in size?

I find this podcast from 6 Minute English very interesting. It talks about the current housing crisis in the UK, where there aren't enough homes for people to live in and the homes that are being built are getting smaller and smaller. People have to become 'creative' with their space in order to have enough room for their family and belongings.
In this week's programme, Jen and Neil discuss the growing number of people who are living in small houses.

This week's question:
Which European country's homes are almost 80% bigger than those in the UK?
    a) Ireland
    b) The Netherlands
    c) Denmark
Listen to the programme to find out the answer.