ACTUALLY versus NOWADAYS

 ACTUALLY is not used to refer to time. It means IN FACT:

‘Hi, Mary. What a pleasant surprise!’ ‘Actually my name is Alice.’
I hear that you're a doctor. ~ Well, actually, I'm a dentist.
You are a doctor, right?’ ‘Well, actually, I’m a teacher.’
‘I don’t think you have sent the money, have you?’ ‘I have, actually.’
I have got a promotion. Actually, they have made me the manager.
‘Did you enjoy the movie?’ ‘Very much, actually.’

NOWADAYS, THESE DAYS or TODAY refer to the PRESENT TIME.

I don’t watch TV very much nowadays. There’s so much rubbish on. It’s not like it used to be.
These days you never see a young person give up their seat for an older person on the bus.
Today’s family structures are quite different from those of 100 years ago.
People don't wear hats much nowadays.

HOW TO CONCLUDE AN ESSAY

Essay Writing (Conclusion) from theLecturette

 

How to write a captivating essay conclusion (Oxbridge essays)

How to write a conclusion to an essay (BBC Bitesize, with video and quiz)

COMMAS AND FULL STOPS

 The use of commas and full stops

Comma abuse (commas splice)

No comma between subject and verb

Commas with nonessential elements

Commas - or not- with relative clauses 

PAST PERFECT

VIDEO EXPLANATION WITH QUIZ

EXPLANATION + QUIZZ (British Council)

PAST PERFECT with time expressions before, after, until

EXERCISE 1: write

EXERCISE 2: write 

EXERCISE 3: write

Lots of other exercises

WORD ROOTS: TRANS- -PORT -CREASE - DUC- JECT- SEN- TRACT

 

Spanish electricity prices skyrocket

 

Catalan News: Experts say high electricity prices will last 'until end of year'

Metropolitan Barcelona: Why Did Spain's Electricity Prices Suddenly Increase?

COMMAS - OR NOT - WITH RELATIVE CLAUSES, THIS IS THE QUESTION

 

EXPLANATION  DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

EXERCISE 1 (choose)

EXERCISE 2 (choose)

EXERCISE 3 (choose the correct pronoun)

EXERCISE 4 (write)

SONGS WITH RELATIVE PRONOUNS: click HERE and HERE

COMMAS WITH NONESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

 

EXPLANATION 1

EXPLANATION 2

EXPLANATION 3

VIDEO EXPLANATION WITH SUBTITLES

ADJECTIVES + INFINITIVE

• You are clever to stop working there, they don’t pay you enough.
• It is very difficult for me to breathe because it smells horrible.
• It isn’t easy to ride a horse that behaves badly.
• It was really hard to find our way here.
• She found it impossible to learn to play the piano. 
• It was nice to see you looking so happy!
• How is it possible to be this tired?
• You were right to say that to him, he shouldn’t talk to you like that.
• It would be strange to see you with short hair.
• He was wrong to think that she ever cared. 

BASIC LEVEL

ADVANCED LEVEL

Exercise 

Game-like exercises (wordwall)

The definite article "THE" - when no to use it (zero article)

ENGLISH EXPLANATION + PRONUNCIATION+ EXERCISES (with a table)

1. Cuando hablamos de algo en general.

Ejemplos:

I like ice cream.(Me gusta el helado.)

Math is difficult.(Las matemáticas son difíciles.)

2. Nunca utilizaremos “the” cuando nos referimos a la televisión, las horas de las comidas, los días de la semana, la hora, los meses del año, las estaciones o los años.

Ejemplos:

I do not like to watch television [TV].(No me gusta ver la televisión [tele].)

I have an appointment on Monday.(Tengo una cita el lunes.)

We eat breakfast at 9:00.(Comemos el desayuno [Desayunamos] a las 9:00.)

3. Con instituciones y modos de transporte, cuando estamos hablando en general.

Ejemplos:

We like school.(Nos gusta la escuela.)

I go to work by train.(Voy al trabajo en tren.)

They go to church on Sundays.(Van a la iglesia los domingos.)

4. No se utiliza el artículo con nombres de ciudades ni nombres de lugares en general, aunque hay algunas excepciones como hemos visto en el apartado anterior. Además, no se utiliza el artículo con lagos o calles.

Ejemplos:

I went to Lake Titicaca.(Fui al lago Titicaca.)

She lives on Flores Street.(Vive en la calle Flores.)

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

(curso-ingles.com)

Halloween activities

 

ORIGINS (ELEMENTARY level): text + comprehension questions

WORD MATCHING 1 ELEMENTARY

WORD MATCHING 2 ELEMENTARY

CONVERSATION QUESTIONS FOR HALLOWEEN (MULTI-LEVEL)

VIDEO: upper intermediate listening B1+ (2:53 minutes)

VIDEO on the origins of Halloween (with subtitles) 7.16 minutes
VIDEO on the history of Halloween and the orginin of the word Halloween and how it's celebrated in ohter countries (American English with subtitles). 6:54 

FLASHCARDS: make students create flashcards. (1 ESO)

Halloween - ESL Teaching Resources, and Self-Study Lessons (by levels)
MEMORY GAME (2) BEGINNER AND ELEMENTARY 
INTERACTIVE GAMES FOR KIDS (BEGINNER AND ELEMENTARY)
BRITISH COUNCIL'S GAMES ON HALLOWEEN FOR KIDS

RESOURCE 1: Busy teacher: 10 Fun Halloween Games for English Practice

Top Halloween Songs Playlist 🎃 1 Hour Halloween Playlist

Spooky SOUNDS of Halloween Quiz (MULTI LEVEL)

TABOO GAME   (speaking guessing  game, INTERMEDIATE and HIGH level)    TABOO RULES 

PICTURE TABOO RULES


SERIES ON NETFLIX
BLACK MIRROR
TEEN WOLF
LUCIFER

LAS CRÓNICAS DEL MIEDO

JUSTDANCE THRILLER

Don't put a comma between subject and verb

 

EXPLANATION

EXCEPTIONS (LONG SUBJECT)

Gerund (-ing) after prepositions

 

EXPLANATION 

Singular or plural? Collective nouns, general statements

 

WORDS ENDING IN -A: media, data, bacteria

EXPLANATION 1

EXPLANATION 2

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS: everybody, everyone...

WORDS ENDING IN "-S": news, series...

FAMILY IS or FAMILY ARE? POLICE is or POLICE ARE?

EXPLANATION 1

EXPLANATION 2

GENERAL STATEMENTS

The absence of a determiner before plural countable nouns

Specific vs General statements

Negative infinitive

 

EXPLANATION 1 (with written and video explanation)

The causative passive: have / get something done

EXPLANATION WITH PICURES (Spanish)

EXPLANATION (ENGLISH)

EXPLANATION + EXERCISES (English)

EXERCISE 1 : choose

EXERCISE 2: write

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

Exercise 1: rewrite the sentences with the adverb.

Exercise 2: write the words in the correct order.

Exercise 3: write the sentences with the adverb of frequency in the correct order.

Word Order: subject+verb+manner+place+time

 

EXPLANATION IN SPANISH

EXERCISE:  Click on words to put the sentence in the correct order.(1)

EXERCISE: Click on words to put the sentence in the correct order.(2)

EXERCISE: Click on words to put the sentence in the correct order.(3)

EXERCISE: Click on words to put the sentence in the correct order.(4)

EXERCISE: Click on words to put the sentence in the correct order.(5)

EXERCISE: write the words in the correct order.

COMMA ABUSE . COMMA SPLICE

What's a comma splice?  Incorrect use of a comma to connect two independent sentences.

 

When you want to join two independent clauses, you need a conjunction or a semicolon. A comma alone isn’t strong enough to join them. This kind of mistake is called a comma splice.

INCORRECT: We were out of milk, I went to the store.

INCORRECT: The experiment was unsuccessful, the temperature was not controlled sufficiently.

INCORRECT: The opening paragraph was incredibly moving, it touches on the common fear of losing a loved one.

INCORRECT: Money is not the only motivating factor for people to work, self-worth and the need for more social interaction can also be reasons for working.

>> There are three ways to correct comma splices:

1. Replace the comma with a conjunction:

 CORRECT: We were out of milk, so I went to the store. 

CORRECT: The experiment was unsuccessful because the temperature was not controlled sufficiently.

2. Replace the comma with a semi-colon:

CORRECT: The opening paragraph was incredibly moving; it touches on the common fear of losing a loved one.

CORRECT: We were out of milk; I went to the store.

3. Replace the comma with a full stop:

CORRECT: We were out of milk. I went to the store.

CORRECT: Money is not the only motivating factor for people to work. Self-worth and the need for more social interaction can also be reasons for working.

The method you choose will depend on your particular sentence and how closely you want the two clauses to be associated.

(grammarly 1) (University of Hull)

QUESTIONS WITH PREPOSITIONS AT THE END

EXPLANATION WITH PICTURES (SPANISH)

EXERCISE 1: drag the preposition into the correct sentence.

EXERCISE 2: fill in the correct preposition.

EXERCISE 3 (WRITING)

 

QUESTION TAGS / TAG QUESTIONS

 

QUESTION TAG ELICITATION (WHOLE CLASS)

EXPLANATION + EXERCISE

EXPLANATION IN SPANISH + VIDEO

EXPLANATION IN SPANISH + EXCEPTIONS + EXERCISES

MANY EXERCISES + VIDEO EXPLANATION

The Definite Article THE

 

Explanation 1: Spanish

Explanation 2: with a table

Explanation 3: with exercises


Exercise 1: easy. Choose THE or nothing.

Exercise 2 choose THE or nothing.

Exercise 3: Choose THE or nothing.

Exercise 4: Choose THE or nothing.

Exercise 5: choose THE, AN, AN or nothing

Exercise 6: choose THE or nothing. (intermediate)

Exercise 7: matching exercise.

Exercise 8: choose A /AN /THE

MEET versus KNOW

 

EXPLANATION 1

MEET / MEET WITH

Present Perfect Continuous

 VIDEO PRESENTATION OF THE TENSE IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS

EXPLANATION 1 (Spanish)

EXPLANATION 2 British Council, Spanish

EXPLANATION 3 (Spanish, with pictures and charts)

SUBJECT - VERB SEPARATION

 

EXPLANATION 1

EXPLANATION 2

SUBJECT - VERB AGREEMENT

EXPLANATION 1 (CLEAR, EASY TO READ)

TEN SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT RULES

Errors in subject-verb agreement may occur when

• a sentence contains a compound subject;
• the subject of the sentence is separate from the verb;
• the subject of the sentence is an indefinite pronoun, such as anyone or everyone;
• the subject of the sentence is a collective noun, such as team or organization;
• the subject appears after the verb.

Recognizing the sources of common errors in subject-verb agreement will help you avoid these errors in your writing. This section covers the subject-verb agreement errors in more detail.

REMEMBER versus REMIND

EXPLANATION 1

EXPLANATION 2 + EXERCISE

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2 

 

ACTUAL versus CURRENT / PRESENT

 

MEANING OF ACTUAL

EXISTING IN FACT / REAL

We had estimated about 300 visitors, but the actual number was much higher.

He's had a lot of interviews, but never had an actual job.

The exams are in July, but the actual results (= the results themselves) don't appear until September.

Synonym: real (NOT IMAGINARY)

Actual is an adjective meaning ‘true’, ‘real’ and ‘the thing in itself’. It does not refer to time. Actual always comes immediately before the noun it is describing: …

TRUE OR EXACT

actual amount/cost/figure 

Residents are paying electricity prices that are double the actual cost of generating electricity.

SPANISH "ACTUAL" IS ENGLISH "CURRENT" OR "PRESENT"

AS versus LIKE versus HOW

 

EXPLANATION + EXERCISE

EXPLANATION 2

EXPLANATION 3

AS / LIKE / HOW

EXERCISE AS / LIKE / HOW

INFORMATICS versus COMPUTER TECHNICIAN

 

COMPUTER TECHNICIAN
(INFO.) TECH / TECHIE /GEEK
COMPUTER PROGRAMMER
COMPUTER EXPERT
COMPUTER SCIENTIST
COMPUTER SCIENTIST
COMPUTER SPECIALIST

                                   

                                           

Non-defining relative clauses

 

EXPLANATION + EXERCISES (British Council)

EXPLANATION 2

IN versus AT: prepositions of place

 

EXPLANATION 1

EXPLANATION 2

EVEN THOUGH (ALTHOUGH, THOUGH) versus HOWEVER

 

Explanation 

Quiz