jueves, 23 de diciembre de 2010

Grammar For Everyone (Present Simple, strong verbs)

Today we are talking about Present Simple tense, "strong verbs". We are trying to describe it using everyday language with the hope that it can be easily understood.

Hoy hablaremos sobre los "verbos fuertes" del presente simple. Intentamos explicarlos utilizando un vocabulario cotidiano para que sea más fácil de comprender.


miércoles, 1 de diciembre de 2010

Past Simple Review II

We have been experiencing problems with the correct functioning of the activities. Meanwhile, please, use the following link.

Past Simple Review

martes, 30 de noviembre de 2010

lunes, 13 de septiembre de 2010

Police statement.


Read the following police statement of a suspect of murder, taken at two different times, and answer the questions at the end of it.


“It’s hard to remember. It happened a long time ago. I… I am very tired. I can’t go on…
It was a windy evening. It was dark… dark and windy. I was wearing my brown cap, the one that my uncle gave me for my twenty-first birthday. It was my favorite one, all blue with my name written in maze. Yes, this was a really beautiful cap. But now, I hate it. The door was unlocked, as always. I saw a big silhouette behind the curtains. It must have been a guy, a big guy, I mean. He was this type of guy that people cannot forget. Soundless. Not… not a single sound. He was moving fast, from the kitchen to the backroom window… I thought he may have been a thief.
Hey, it’s weird. Such a big guy, stampeding through the house, without a single sound, not even the cracking of the floor. Jesus… this floor is really noisy. I told the landlord again and again to do something, but he always gave it a miss. Yeah, it’s weird.
So ... I get into the house. Slow, like a church mouse. My god, I was trembling with fear. My teeth could have been listened from the police station. It crossed my mind that they could break down from chattering. He was a big guy, I mean, fucking massive, man. He may still be around, maybe … armed! So… that was me, going upwards … slow, really slow. Not a sound, not a movement, but a weird smell. Something like pumpkin soup. Weird, man.
Then, I saw… saw her. Rachel. She still was in her nightie. Red. She was covered in r- … blood. I kneeled next to her. She may be alive. I touched her neck. My sweetie. I tried to get her back, but couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything. Now and again, came to my mind our good memories together. Man! This fucking fat bastard had killed my girlfriend. My sweetie. My Rachel.
Shit!
Damned!”
[…]

“It’s painful, don’t you know that? Of course, it’s not your life, just your job. Get the fuck!
Ok, it was a dark windy night. It was really chilly. Winter came earlier than other years. I was wearing a sweater and it wasn’t enough. I was kind of late to pick Rachel up, as always. Then I saw that silhouette, impressive, enormous big man. He was running to the kitchen when I got there. I got stuck. Not a movement. But I couldn’t hear anything. There was not a single sound, not even the floor. You know how much this type of floors crack. But no, he was making not a sound. And there I was, with my hand in the pocket, grabbing the front door keys. But I couldn’t move. I was terrified. He was like this kind of bouncers that make you shrink at the disco.
I tried to be brave, you know, and get into the house. I went upstairs, but I couldn’t hear a single sound. It was even more terrifying. Oh, man. There I was, going up the stairs only listening to my footsteps on the staircase. When I got to her room, I saw… Rachel. I… I rushed where she was. Blood. She was all covered in blood. I could only embrace her. My sweetie, she was… was d-… dead.”


What do you thing of the man's statement? Is he guilty or innocent? Why?

sábado, 26 de junio de 2010

The story continues



This is where we left the story. Invent an end to the story

Saskia read Bradley’s letter and then she walked slowly into the kitchen.
Earlier that day she had bought his favorite food for dinner, now she threw it into the rubbish bin. Why did he do this to her? She remembered how happy they had been in the beginning. They laughted a lot then. Saskia felt desperate.
One hour later, the phone rang in the flat.
(Continue)

martes, 22 de junio de 2010

Amazon



She was totally conscious of her inheritance. She was the descendant of an old and very powerful family among the Amazons. One of her ancestors was the almighty Penthesilea. She could feel her blood and many other women-warriors like herself running abruptly through her veins, claiming for battle, desirous for being at war one more time.

She looked at the mirror of her room. She didn’t see her reflection, but the battle field in which Penthesilea and many other brave women of her tribe fought the Trojans. Anxious horses ready to gallop to encounter the massacre. Shining shields anticipating scarlet horror. Shouting swords foreseeing flesh and corpses, longing for being freed from the sheaths. Calm warriors enjoying the peace of what could be their last glorious day.

They knew they were different, they were the feared Amazons. The ones that cut off one breast so that they could shoot and throw spears more effectively. They were warriors and their task was to defeat the enemy.

This time, she saw herself in the mirror. She saw powerful hands that had fought through life, strong hips that had continued her clan one more generation. She saw the scar in her breast. Then, she was totally aware of her chore. This time, it wasn’t a battle but a duel. A long and perilous duel, but victory was on her side. She was going to beat cancer.

domingo, 30 de mayo de 2010

domingo, 11 de abril de 2010

Cartoons

Do you like cartoons? I do. My favourite cartoon is Bugs Bunny. Here you can watch one of his stories. You can also answer to the quiz below about it.


domingo, 21 de marzo de 2010

Spring


Spring, is one of the four seasons and it is here now. It is the season of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. A typical thing that tells us that spring is comming is the blooming of the trees in the National Mall in Washington. Can you answer the following questions about National Mall? If you prefer to give up, you may click the links below, where all the information will appear.

  • Do you know the name of these trees, famous for their beautiful blooming? Answer here!

  • What is the name of the white building in the picture above? Answer here!

viernes, 12 de marzo de 2010

Friday I'm In Love

Yes! It is Friday and I AM IN LOVE! ;) I hope all of you are in love too.
Here you can find a very beautiful video that explains all these feelings :)



And for those of you who want to sing.... (Watch out!, there are a couple of little changes)



Bye

domingo, 7 de marzo de 2010

London



Some of you may be planning a trip to London (I do ;) I found this video: London- Ten Things You Need To Know. It is really interesting and not very long. Can you name the ten things that Collin mentions?

Harold's day

Harold is a student in USA. Listen to his daily routines and answer the questions: HAROLD'S DAILY ROUTINES. To listen to the audiofile you will need RealAudio Player.
To download the free shareware RealAudio player click here.
What time does Harold get up?


Does he go to work by car or by bus?


What is his favourite sport?


What time does Harold go to bed?

My day

This is a normal day in MY LIFE. How is yours? Please write a similar text so I can read about YOUR DAY. Thanks :)

I use to get up early in the morning. Then, I take a shower and have breakfast. I think that breakfast is very important for the day, so I have a GOOD one ;) After that, I go to my desk and start working, I normally work at home in the morning. At around noon, I cook lunch. At around 3 I go to work. I always drive to work because my school is far from my house and the public transportation is not very good. I finish work at around 8 and go home. At nine, I prepare some dinner and watch TV. I go to bed early because I like getting up early too :)

martes, 2 de marzo de 2010

Presentación

Hola a tod@s,

Quería inaugurar este blog con algo fresco, real y sobre todo, de utilidad. Creo que este artículo, muestra un poco las líneas básicas que se pretenden seguir. Me gustaría que fuera un espacio abierto a la creatividad, al intercambio de opiniones, actividades o recursos. Our Little Tree House quiere ser ese lugar donde, sintiéndonos como en casa, nos permita descubrir cosas, compartir emociones y conocer gente similar.

En el camino que se recorre al estudiar una lengua, hay algunos que ya llevan muchos años y otros que acaban de empezar su andadura. Yo espero que todos podamos encontrarnos en Our Little Tree House y aprender de nuestras experiencias.

Con respecto a los contenidos que podrán aparecer por aqui, simplemente decir que fui yo quien creó la casa, pero como dice el título... es nuestra. Así que dependerá de nuestras expectativas y necesidades lo que en ella aparezca.

Así, queda oficialmente inaugurada Our Little Tree House y dejo abierta su puerta de par en par. ¡Adelante amig@!

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!










I woke up very early this morning. I grabbed a cup of coffee and put on my "working pajamas" (I use sleeping pajamas for all the hours I spend in bed and working pajamas for all the hours I spend in front of my laptop (nearly the same amount)) :) Then I switched on my laptop and opened the door to the "blorld" (blog + world). When I finished creating, editig, designing and so on... I realized I had forgotten to do my "really most favourite activity in the world", reading the online morning news while I have my cup of coffee :(

So, now that I have time, I will take a look at the morning press. If you want to come with me and see "what's the latest", here you have an interesting link: el Kiosko, where you can take a look at some of the most important papers in the world.

I hope you like it :)