Hello, 

Here is the mediation task you need to do for next week. 

You are going on holiday to Florence with a friend. Read the advert and review of some holiday accommodation in Florence below. Then, write an email to your friend with the most relevant information you want to tell him/her.

-Remember to summarize the main ideas. You cannot include the whole information because you are limited by the number of words.  

-Remember to use your own words. Do not copy the same vocabulary and grammar from the original texts, paraphrase. 

-Remember to write between 40-60 words. 

-Use an informal register. 

-Do the activity as if you were (como si estuvieras) doing an exam, without using a dictionary or any other resources. 

Deadline: 7th April 

                                                                                                                                                     EMAIL 

To: Martin.Kray@tmail.com

From: ______________________

Subject: Accommodation in Florence

Hi Martin,

I think I’ve found an ideal holiday flat for our trip to Florence.

                                 40- 60 WORDS 

Let me know what you think. I’m happy to make the booking and you can sort out the flights.

Take care,

__________

Hello, 

Here is a writing you must do for next week.  Write a short story that goes along the pictures.

-Use a formal register

-Write between 100-125 words.

-Try to use connectors like the connectors in the story we talked about in section 2C (Hannah and Jamie´s date) 

Deadline: 7th April 

Hello, 

Here are two listening activities  we did in class. 

1. Listen to Lottie talking about her last summer holiday. Answer the questions

a. Where did she go?

b. When did she go there?

c. Who did she go with?

d. How did she get there?

e. Where did she stay?

f. How long did she stay?

g. What did she do all day?

h. What did she do in the evening?

2. Fill in the gaps with the missing information. 

Answer key

1 

a. to the beach/to Tarifa in the south of Spain

b. in July

c. alone 

d. by plane and by car/flew from London to Málaga and drove from Málaga to Tarifa

e. in a hotel/The Hurricane Hotel

f. 2 weeks 

g. went to the beach, tried kitesurfing 

h. went out to the bars and clubs 

2 

a. terrible/bad

b. did/enjoy/were

c. awful/there was

d. disappointing/room/in July

e. terrific (= great) /windsurf 

f. vacation/wasn´t/food 

g. fantastic

h. short/month

Hello, 

Here is the reading we did in class: 

Read the texts about different jobs and match sentences A−G to paragraphs 1−5. There is one sentence you do not need. 0 is the example.

5    I often work a ten-hour shift, especially at peak times like Christmas and New Year. I don’t mind driving at night, in fact I like it. The city looks different at different times of the day, and I find that really interesting. I usually try to have a conversation with every customer I pick up. It makes the time pass more quickly.

Answer key

A – B 5 C 0 D 2 E 1 F 3 G 4

Hello, 

Here is the listening we did in class.

1. Listen to the story about Sean´s uncle and aunt. Why was the holiday a disaster? Circle the right answer

1. because the weather was awful
2. because the place was very noisy
3. because they argued a lot

       2. Listen again and answer the questions

1. Where did Sean´s uncle and aunt go?
2. Why did they choose Ibiza?
3. What was the weather like?
4. What are their plan for this year?

3. Listen again and correct the wrong information. 

1.Sean went to Ibiza.  

________________________________________

2.They were about sixty.

________________________________________

3.They wanted an exciting holiday.

 _______________________________________

4.They usually spend their holiday abroad.

________________________________________

5.They knew it was “The party Island”.

 ________________________________________

Answer key 

1.

2 because the place was very noisy 

2. 

1. Sean´s uncle and aunt went to Ibiza 

2. Because they went to Ibiza in the late sixties and Ibiza was a peaceful island with deserted beaches, etc. 

3. The weather was hot 

4. They will probably stay at home 

3. 

1. Sean´s uncle and aunt went to Ibiza
2. They were about seventy
3. They wanted a relaxing holiday
4. They don´t go abroad very often
5. They didn´t know it was «the party island» 

Hello, 

While correcting one activity in the book, 4b on page 27, we have come across (nos hemos encontrado) con «all». I explained that the position of «all» in a sentence (when we say «tod@s nosotr@s/ell@s/vosotr@s) depends on the verb. If the verb is a lexical verb, «all» goes before the lexical verb, and if the verb is an auxiliary verb, «all» goes after the auxiliary verb.  Here «all» is a pronoun 

We are (auxiliary verb) all drinking.  (= All of us are drinking)

We all (lexical verb) enjoyed the party. (=All of us enjoyed the party)

After this explanation, Encarni Girón asked me if we could say «We ate all», and I said «no». Why? Go on the following link to understand the difference between «all» and «everything». 

Hello, 

Today in class we have corrected one pronunciation activity, 4c on page 27. The activity was about if «was» and «were» in the past continuous were stressed or unstressed. The answer was unstressed. This activity has led me to (me ha llevado a) explain the difference between the strong and weak pronunciation of grammatical words. 

Here is the link I have shown in class to explain that difference. Here is also a list of grammatical words which are weakened in connected speech. 

weak-forms-list

PRACTICE  (weak forms of prepositions) 

New Headway – Pre-Intermediate Pronunciation Students Practi (2)-17     (exercises on weak forms of prepositions) 

Track 3.8  for activity 1

Track 3.9 for activity 2 

Answer key 

activity 1 

1. to – 2. from  – 3. for – 4. at – 5. to – 6. of – 7. at – 8. to – 9. for – 10. for – 11. of – 12. from – 13. for 

activity 2  check the strong and weak form in a good monolingual/bilingual dictionary 

to  

from 

for 

at

of 

Hello, 

Here is some extra practice related to the use of the past simple and past continuous. Choose a question «What happened when…? /What were you doing at (x) yesterday?/What were you doing were you were on holiday? and then a number and leave a comment with a sentence in relation to the pictures. 

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN….?

1.

2. 

3. 

WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT (…..X…..) YESTERDAY? 

1. 

2.

3. 

4.

5. 

WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN YOU WERE ON HOLIDAY ? 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

Hello, 

Here is the homework you need to do for next week: 

3A 1abcd page 38 – 3abc page 38-39 

Important. Remember that from now on (de ahora en adelante) we will correct the homework in class, so you will not find the answer key to the activities on the blog. 

Hello, 

Today, 17th March, we celebrate St. Patrick´s Day. Here is a picture with basic information about St. Patrick´s Day. 

I hope you enjoy learning about the Irish culture.