For students:

Remember that verbs are actions, and it all starts in a action. Therefore, try to remember the verbs you know and learn new ones. Read two new verbs a day and try to use them in conversation classes and while writing compositions on your book. Good luck guys!!!!

PHRASAL VERBS.
We know there are many phrasal verbs in English, so, to help people out, new phrasal verbs will be on the blog for students to learn.

cook up:to put (something) together falsely or dishonestly;
Don't believe Ron's excuse, he just cooked that up to avoid going to the meeting.

duck out of:to avoid sth or doing sth;
It's raining a lot so everybody is trying to duck out of the soccer match.

Sentence of the week

"Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself."
Anthony Trollope

HOLD (verb) = here it is used in the sense of having, forming,expressing.

SIMPLE PAST / PRESENT PERFECT

There are many differences between these two tenses, we know it. But, if you always get confused when talking to a person remember:
We use peresent perfect for indefinite time in the past, you dont know when.

She travelled last week. (when? last week)
She has travelled there before. (when? before is a vague time expression)

Sentence of the week

"Experience shows us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but looking together in the same direction".
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

to gaze: to look at sb or sth for a long time, especially in surprise or admiration.

Topics for this week's fixed classes

Lab: at the supermarket; things people buy and how to work with prices
Spin: how are you learning English? see if you are improving the way you expect
Basic: thinking about the future; using a fable let's talk about preparing ourselves for the future
Intermediate: why do people love America? let's discuss how much influence the USA has on the world
Advanced: Mardi Gras; in spite of tragedy, New Orleans still can celebrate life
Joy: getting acquainted; how well do you know your classmates and how well can we know people?

Two words that may confuse people: LIKE and AS

These words can be use in similar way, however in some cases only one is the correct option

Like: we use to express "the same as", "similar to"
What a beautiful place! It's like a palace.
What doe sshe do? She is a teacher, like me.
We also use to indicate "for example":
Some sports, like motor-racing, can be dangerous.

AS: we use to express "in the same way", or "in the same condition"
I didn't move anything. I left everything as it was. ( before subject + verb we use as)
You should have done as I showed you.
To express "in the position of", "in the form of"
A few years ago I worked as a taxi driver.
We don't have a car, so we use the garage as a workshop.

Topics for fixed classes this week: from Feb 16th to Feb 21st , 2009

Lab class: describing people using face and hair characteristics
Spin: breaking the ice; how to start conversation with people
Basic: men or women; are we really equal?
Intermediate: stress; how to deal with this modern problem
Advanced: death penalty; a discussion on this very difficult issue
Joy: take ten; a fun game to show how much vocabulary you have on different topics and improve it too.

SENTENCE OF THE WEEK>>>>>> WORDS TO THINK AND LEARN

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.
Joseph Campbell


bliss: extreme or perfect happiness.
rmemeber that there was / were are the past forms of there is /are.

Sentence of the week>>>>>>>>>> words to think and learn

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt".
Bertrand Russel


cocksure/cocky:
too confident about yourself, usually in an annoying way.

Sentence of the day >>>> some words to learn and think about.

"The world has enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed".
Mahatma Gandhi

greed: a strong desire for more money, possessions, power or food than is necessary.

Sentence of the day>>>> Some words to think about and study too.

Shoot for the moon.Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
Les Brown

"To shoot for the moon" is an expression that means to ask for the best or the most you could ask for.

Fixed classes from Feb 3rd to Feb 7th, 2009

Lab class: Weather; learning vocabulary about climate and natural disasters in the world.

Spin: Excuses; talking about lies people tell to avoid some situations.

Basic: Knowledge and learning, talking about the importance of learning and how people behave when they have more knowledge than others.

Intermediate: Generosity; a discussion about this quality that is disappearing.

Advanced: Generosity; the same topic but different activities from intermediate class.

Joy: "Don't let them pull your leg"; a game and an exercise to improve your listening skill.

sentence of the day

Things turn out the best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.

Topics for fixed classes from Jan. 26th to 31st

As we have promissed here the topics for next week`s fixed classes.



Lab class: On the road, vocabulary related to travelling, verbs and nouns that we need to know.

Spin class: Eating habits, we are going to discuss whether you eat well or not.

Basic conversation: City x country, we are going to talk about the differences of living in a big or small city, and the students` preferences.

Intermediate conversation: Censorship, we want to know your opinion about it.

Advanced conversation: Long distance relationships, let`s discuss if it can work.

Joy conversation: Young X old what`s the best age to be??

We are waiting, so show up

This blog was created as a new place for the students to get in touch with the teachers and school and have some additional help in improving their English. So, feel free to post your suggestions, questions or whatever you want to say.

Every week we will post the topics for fixed classes (Lab class, spin, basic, intermediate and advanced conversation) so that you can come more prepared.

We will be also posting previous classes, powerpoint presentations from lab, exercises and so on.

Be welcome!!