A product review (writings from 3rd ESO students)

A product review
by Cristina Zumel
 
It's a graphic tablet (WACOM). My parents gave me the tablet on my birthday because I wanted it for drawing.

On the one hand, it was easy to set up. For drawing it was really better than the mouse. It's one of the best graphic tablet at the market. Plus, it had got a very good price.

 

On the other hand for using it the first time it was necessary to connect it with the programme that you were using to draw and it was quite difficult.

 

For me, if you want to do digital drawings, this tablet is perfect.

A product review
by Nerea Rodríguez Puga

I just bought an IPhone. I'm pretty happy with it but I'll talk about some pros and cons I think you need to know before buying it.

It's really easy to set up, there is a digital guide that explains all the things you need to do to make it work. It has two cameras (one external cam and another internal) with an awesome resolution (I don't know how but I always look good in my IPhone pics). I think the software works pretty well and the phone in general works fast. The voice function and the speakers also work amazingly well.

But, althought it works really well and I'm so happy with all its functions, I have to say it's too expensive (I had to save money for almost two years to buy it). I also think everyone should know that the operating system is made to connect only with more Apple devices, so it makes you want to buy all your electronic devices in the Apple Store because, if you don't, then, to connect for example your Iphone with your Android/Windows tablet, you'll have to work double hard.

Summarizing, in my opinion, IPhone is a really good phone and I like it a lot; and I'd recommend it to people with enough money to buy all the expensive Apple devices, or to people with time that can spend 30 minutes to send a picture from their phone to their laptop.

A product review
by Lara Rodríguez Pereira

I got the new Stlein 6 Plus last week and I couldn't be more angry with it.

I was really excited to buy this "amazing" new mobile phone because I heard really nice opinions about it, but nowadays, I don't understand why.

Here a short review about it:

PROS: It was a gift -so luckyly I didn't spend any money-, it offers a good customers' service, it has a cool design, it is easy to set up and the camera has a nice resolution.

CONS: It works really slow, I can't watch films or series outside home -because without WiFi it works really badly, the voice assistant doesn't work properly and the software seems old even though I bought it not many days ago!

In conclusion, I would recomend this phone to people that don't use it very much or that just want a beautiful design; but in my case, it disappointed me a lot ad I wouldn't buy it again if I had the opportunity to.

Pronunciation Practice: the -ed ending

The simple past is used principally to describe events in the past. As you know, we can classify verbs into regular and irregular. 

What can we say about irregular verbs? They are a pain in the neck for most of you because there's other way than learning them by heart. 

Regular verbs, on the other hand, are a piece of cake. We only have to add -ed to the base form and voilà we have the past of that verb. However, it's not that simple, isn't it? Here comes the problem of pronouncing them...because -ed endings may be pronounced /d/, /t/ or /Id/ depending on the last sound of the verb in the infinitive. 

Watch the following video and classify by pronounciation all the regular verbs you can hear.

Happy new school year!

It's been two weeks since we started the new school year. 
There are new students and even new teachers but the enthusiasm and willingness hasn't changed. 

"A Whale of a Time" starts this academic year 2015-2016 with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi:

Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever.

This is for all of you, for all of us and especially addressed to my oldest students, who are learning and studying this universal icon.

CONFESSIONS OF AN IDIOM

Everyone has Skeletons in their Closet but, what happens if one day the Elephant in the Room decides to make the Skeleton in the Closet bring the truth to light? The Skeleton isn’t one to confess to his crimes so easily. Mayhem ensues in this power struggle with a world full of idioms.

This film was done by Amanda Koh and Mollie Helms at Ringling College of Art + Design. If you have any questions, feel free to visit my website at amkoh.com

Enjoy!

VOTE FOR US IN THE OXFORD COMPETITION!!!!

3rd ESO students are taking part in the Oxford Competition to win a weekend for the whole class in Oxford. 

They had to create a video in English explaining what they would introduce in a Time Capsule so that people from the future could know a bit about life in 2015. They made up a really funny story and they had so much fun making it that, even if we don't win, it's totally worth it.

Check it out in the following link, vote for us and share it with your contacts!!!

VOTE FOR US: TIME CAPSULE 3rd ESO A. OXFORD COMPETITION

Thank you!!!

How to Survive a Bear Attack

(Watch from 2:54)

Watch and listen to Ray giving advice about what to do if you meet a bear. Complete the missing information in the sentences below.

Never ___________ because this excites the bear.

A bear can run as fast as a ________________.

A ___________is a bear’s primary means of hunting.

Keep your distance! Avoid the temptation to get close to a bear to take a better ____________.

Don’t be fooled into believing that a  _________ provides a safe place. Black bears and grizzly bears can ___________trees.

Playing ________ is a strategy which is not 100% effective.

Never approach a mother with her cubs because this will make her ___________.

If you remove your ______________ you can run away whilst the bear stops to see what is inside it.

Oxford University Press 

Secondary Ready-to-go!

British and American English

Can a person from the UK make himself understood by a person from the USA?

Is American English and British English the same language? What are the main differences between the English spoken in the United Kingdom and the English spoken in the United States?

These are just some of the questions that students ask me whenever we come across a text in which American words are being used. 

American and British English are just two varieties of the same language, in the same sense that the Spanish spoken in Spain and in, say, Cuba, is the same language but it has some noticiable variations which do not only concern vocabulary, but also pronunciation and grammar. 

However, we are going to focus on vocabulary since most of the words are not new for students (either they know them from songs, video games or TV). 

A good way to start is listening to this video and paying attention to differences in vocabulary.