Wednesday, 27 December 2017

CONTENTS FOR THE SEMESTER TESTS


Writing test: two texts of approximately 200 words on these topics: 
1What is your opinion on catcalling and complimenting? Is it acceptable or is it the symptom of a male chauvinist mentality? 
2What is your opinion on the current political and social situation in Spain? How would you describe Puigdemont? 
3What do you look for in a partner? How would you describe your soul mate? And how would you describe yourself? 
4What do you think is the best way to find your soul mate, online or face to face?
5Do you think our society is male dominated? What can be done to reduce sexism? 
6What are the pros and cons of living in a small town like Icod? How has Icod evolved in recent decades?
7Do you think stereotypes are based on actual facts or do you think they are simplistic overstatements?
8Are we well informed? Is the news biased or impartial? What can be done to avoid fake or biased news? 

Speaking test:

Monologue: speak for 5 minutes. Preparation time 3 minutes. Notes can be taken and read. The topics are the same as for the writing test.

Debates: speak for 6 minutes. Preparation time 3 minutes. Notes can be taken and read. The topics are these:

1Convince your partner that the city you'd like to visit is the best holiday option.
2Convince your partner that the profile you've chosen is the best match for your friend.
3Convince your that online dating is better/ Convince your partner that face to face dating is better
4Convince your partner that stereotypes are based on actual facts/Convince your partner that stereotypes are overstatements. 
5Convince your partner that catcalling is not always bad/Convince your partner that catcalling is always unacceptable 
6Convince your partner that having children is the best option for a meaningful life/Convince your partner that not having children is the best option

Wednesday, 29 November 2017

CATCALLING IN SYDNEY, NEW YORK AND LIVERPOOL. CITIES AND SEXIST REMARKS

Click HERE to read the article
Click HERE to read women's experiences being catcalled.

TASK TWO: PRESENTATION OF AN ARTICLE FROM THE ECONOMIST

INSTRUCTIONS:
- Read any article from The Economist that catches your attention and use the strategies in the video to prepare a presentation in class. 
- Tell your classmates about the article, why you found it interesting and explain its contents and conclusions. 
- Use the magazines I gave out in class or alternatively, click HERE to read the online version. 

LENGTH: The presentation in class must be 5 minutes long.

DEADLINE: ASAP or December 20th, tops.

Monday, 27 November 2017

TASK 1: PREPARATION OF A DIALOGUE

SPEAKING TASK: preparation of a dialogue between two friends. 

DEADLINE: the dialogue must be presented in class or recorded and handed in ASAP, or alternatively, before December 20th, tops.

LENGHT: the dialogue must be 5-7 minutes long.

THE DIALOGUE MUST FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES: 
Two friends meet. One of them has very juicy information about a friend of theirs who has just split up and ended what seemed to be a stable relationship. They start gossiping about the relationship and the reasons why they broke up. They mention chronologically the love story of the ex-couple and they conspire to find a suitable new partner for their friend.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1 Use as much vocabulary as possible from the notes we took in class and from the photocopy I gave out. (prince charming, better half, soul mate, to have a crush on somebody, Mr. Perfect, to cheat on somebody...)

2 Use the expressions we saw in the BBC programme 'HOW TO GOSSIP' and 'HOW TO SHOW INTEREST' Clik HERE and HERE

3 Apart from the above mentioned, use these expressions and tenses:

-Third conditionals:
-          e.g. If he had been faithful, she wouldn’t have dumped him. / If she hadn’t been cheated on, they would have married.

-Would for past habits, like used to (actions only, no state verbs here):
  e.g. It was so annoying, he would always make compliments to other women, yeah, catcalling and wolf-whistling was his thing. / No wonder she ran away, he would sometimes show up drunk and smelling of cheap perfume. / I remember he would make sexist remarks. / He would stare at her cleavage like a pervert.

Would for reproval: I wish you would stop making dirty remarks. / I wish he would remember our anniversary. 
Click HERE for the explanation on the use of wish

-Apart from the above expressions, try to use these too:
    - No hard feelings, really. / - No offense meant, I mean. – None taken, chill out.

WHY ARE MODERN RELATIONSHIPS SO FRAGILE?

HOW WE CAN END SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK

Click HERE

CONSENT IS LIKE TEA

Sunday, 5 November 2017

WHAT MAKES A GOOD FRIEND?

Listening: What makes a good friend

Listening: What makes a good friend

Gap-fill exercise

Get in one's Face= to annoy someone
To Hang Out= to socialise with friends

Hey! everybody needs a few good friends. Some people can't even on their own families to be there for many more these days, but a good friend can make up for anything. A good friend knows how to listen and . A good friend knows how to walk alongside you when you're and going through tough times and a good friend also knows how to get in your face when they need to; they know how to call you out on things and help you that you can become so much than what you already are.My best friend and I've gone through a lot of stuff together. We've been ever since college and even though we live in different states we do the best we can to stay in . We use email and cell phones to on a regular basis and we also do our best to actually get as often as possible just to out , share our lives with one another. Believe me! We've had plenty of tough times we only had to get in in each other's faces but we've also had many opportunities to have some fun as friends , just out. Having a few good friends, very important thing in life , but in order to have friends , you also have to learn to be a friend. Any takes time . A good friendship means investing yourself in another person. Are you to be that kind of friend? I hope so because it can make all the difference in the

DATING 2.0

Has traditional dating become a thing of the past? Look at the  pictures  below showing different ways of dating. In pairs, discuss which ones you prefer, which one you wouldn’t mind trying and which ones you would never try, giving reasons to support your opinion.

OMG!

Which of these adjectives would you use to describe the picture? Give reasons
Awesome   disgusting   funny   unreal   pornographic  sexist
romantic   interesting     unusual      provocative     depressing

Saturday, 21 October 2017

HOW TO BE WELL INFORMED IN THE POST-TRUTH ERA



Visit this website to discover the least biased news stories: HERE
The claims of the BREXIT referendum, checked: HERE

VIDEOS SEEN IN CLASS

CNN on Catalonia: HERE CNN on Freixenet: HERE

Wednesday, 18 October 2017

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE TASKS



SPEAKING TASK: prepare a 5-minute presentation about your favourite city and how you would spend a perfect day there. You can make your presentation in class or alternatively, you can record a video and bring it to class in a USB memory stick. Expected deadline: October 30th.


WRITTEN TASK (250 words): write about an urban legend you've heard and say whether you believe it or not. Are you a gullible person, or a skeptical one? Expected deadline: November 6th