月別アーカイブ11月 2016

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives in Songs

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives in Songs

Comparative adjectives One way of describing a person or thing is by saying that they have more of a particular quality than someone or something else. To do this, we use comparative adjectives, which are formed either by adding ‘-er’ at the end of the adjective, or placing ‘more’ before the adjective, e.g: “She is more intelligent than her sister” “London is bigger than Oxford”. Superlative adjectives It is also possible to describe someone or something by saying that they have more of a particular quality than any other of their kind. We do this by using superlative adjectives, which are formed by adding ‘-est’ at the end of the […]

“Remember, Remember the 5th of November”- A Bit of British History

“Remember, Remember the 5th of November”- A Bit of British History

Are you keen on history? Every year on the 5th of November, lots of people celebrate the Bonfire Night (or Guy Fawkes Night) by watching fireworks, going to the bonfire displays and enjoying delicious traditional food. What is it all about? Here is a bit of British history for you… In 1605, there was a failed plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament, led by a man called Guy Fawkes. He and his conspirators wanted to return England from Protestant to the Catholic faith. They reckoned they could do this by killing the King James I and his ministers, but they failed. They were charged with treason. This was […]

What is the Passive Voice and How to Use It?

What is the Passive Voice and How to Use It?

What do we mean by ‘voice’? Voice is the form of the verb that shows whether the subject of a sentence does the action (=the active voice) or is affected by it (= the passive voice)   What does ”active” and ”passive” mean? In the active voice, the agent/actor (person or thing doing the action) is the subject of the sentence. For example: And now , in the passive voice, the agent is either unknown or less important, we focus on the action itself. For example: “The postman was bitten”. (The agent is not known or not specified) or “The postman was bitten by the dog”. (The agent “the dog” […]

Collaborative English Learning

Collaborative English Learning

Receptive skills are used when listening and reading. Students receive the message and decode the meaning to understand it. It’s a passive process. Productive skills are used when speaking and writing. Students use the language they have acquired and produce a message through speech or a written text.   It is well know fact that English learners tend to develop receptive skills ( Listening and Reading) faster than productive skills ( Speaking and Writing). Have students practise both receptive and productive language skills! In order to fully develop both types of skills, students must have plenty of opportunities to receive and produce the language in all four domains. COLLABORATIVE LANGUAGE […]

Common Autumnal Idioms

Common Autumnal Idioms

Do you know any expressions associated with this new season? Learn these very popular autumnal idiomatic expressions and use them all year round, not only in autumn:) and some other nice expressions: SQUIRREL STH AWAY- to hide or store something like a squirrel “Lisa squirreled away a lot of money while she was working and now she can enjoy her retirement”. BE NUTS ABOUT STH OR SOMEONE- to be obsessed with someone or something “I am nuts about that girl. I’d do anything for her”. DRIVE SOMEONE NUTS- to make someone go crazy “That noise is driving me nuts. Please stop at once!”