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

TABLE MANNERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

THE NEW ROYAL WEDDING

ARTICLES ON HARRY AND MEGHAN AND ON TOM AND LARA

Click HERE and HERE to read the articles.

WHISPERING COMPLIMENTS

 

THE ECONOMIST: ARTICLES ABOUT MARRIAGE AND PARENTHOOD

You can read the articles by clicking HERE and HERE.

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.

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

FEELING CHEESY TODAY? ... AND TWO EXERCISES

Click HERE and HERE

DO YOU REALLY NEED TO HAVE FRIENDS? GOOD FRIENDS AND TOXIC FRIENDS

MODERN DATING HORROR STORY

SPEED DATING

 

PERFECT MATCH - FIND YOUR SOUL MATE

SOMETHING DOESN'T ADD UP

CLICK HERE

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Click HERE for the transcript

REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER

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

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THEM?

THE NEWS IN EMOJIS

Click HERE

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

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

PREZI PRESENTATION: THE ORIGIN OF URBAN LEGENDS

Click HERE if you can't see the presentation.

THE 20 SCARIEST URBAN LEGENDS

Click HERE to read the article.

SOLIDARITY FOR INDIA

Click HERE to read the article.

SPANISH STEREOTYPES: IN FRANCOLAND

Click HERE to read the article by Antonio Muñoz Molina, in English.

MORGAN FREEMAN DEATH HOAX

VOCABULARY REVISION SLOT MACHINE

Click HERE

CITIES OF THE FUTURE

URBAN LEGENDS

MEXICO CITY EARTHQUAKE

CATALONIA, EXPLAINED. (BY CATALANS, IN ENGLISH)

How happy are you with your city?

Click HERE to read the report.

Can you describe your perfect day in your favourite city?

Click HERE to watch the video