Category Archives: Writing Skills

Opinion Essay

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Opinion essay is a formal piece of essay writing which presents your point of view on a particular subject supported by reasons and examples.

A Successful Opinion Essay Consists of:

  • An introduction where the topic and your opinion are stated clearly.
  • A main body where viewpoints supported by reasons are presented in several paragraphs. This section has also the opposing viewpoint which is proved to be unconvincing.
  • A conclusion where the main points of the essay are summarized and your opinion is expressed in other words.

To know more about opinion essays, go to: http://www.writefix.com/argument/.

I’m sure that if you follow the tips you will greatly improve your writing skills.

Below you will find a list of topics. Choose one for your essay.

Argument Essay Topics

1. Some businesses now say that no one can smoke cigarettes in any of their offices. Some governments have banned smoking in all public places. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons.

2. To what extent is the use of animals in scientific research acceptable?

3. In Britain, when someone gets old, they often go to live in a home with other old people where there are nurses to look after them. Sometimes the government has to pay for this care. Who should be responsible for our old people? Give reasons.

4. TV: could you be without it? Discuss.

5. The mass media, including TV, radio and newspapers, have great influence in shaping people’s ideas. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer.

6. Does modern technology make life more convenient, or was life better when technology was simpler?

7. If children behave badly, should their parents accept responsibility and also be punished?

8. Does travel help to promote understanding and communication between countries?

9. Should retirement be compulsory at 67 years of age?

10. Does having a drinking age of 18 contribute to binge drinking and alcohol abuse among young people?

What’s the weather like?

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I promised I would post new activities during this week while you are taking the oral exam.

Since we are going to talk about the weather, I am posting a listening comprehension task on this topic.

  • Before you start watching the video, take a piece of paper to take notes.
  • First you will see the regular version, then the version with Closed Captions (English subtitles).
  • Watch the video clip and write down the names of the people interviewed and the adjectives they use to describe the weather.
  • Watch the regular version as many times as necessary before you check your answers.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/rn1BxewN-kQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

More links about ‘The Weather’

BBC Weather News

Stormy Weather (a song sung by Sinatra). I have to thank Mª Jesús, a teacher from EOI Mérida, for this link.

Report and predict the weather (interactive activity)

Useful vocabulary with a recording of the words (a lesson proposed by Randall S. Davis )

Friday’s weather report (another listening from esl-lab)

See you next week 🙂

New Year’s Resolutions

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Hello everybody and welcome back!!

We always start the New Year making New Year’s Resolutions. Have you already made yours?

Watch Jennifer’s video and  tell us about your New Year’s Resolutions.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/OmyudE8QGlk" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

National Stereotypes : What are the Americans like?

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In Unit 2A we are going to talk about national stereotypes. In the video below, people are asked to give their opinion about the Americans. Write the names of the people interviewed on a piece of paper, watch the first video as many times as necessary and write down the adjectives you hear.  When you finish the exercise, watch the second video with subtitles to check your answers.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/v8zUCRBJMMs" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/vR_yYTGBnKU" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Talking to Alice

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ALICE is an acronym standing for ‘ Artificial Linguistic Computer Entity’. It is a natural language chatbot that relies on artificial intelligence for human interaction and a very useful tool to practise questions in English. 

You can try a free version and have a chat with a bot . Click here  and find out as much as possible about ALICE.

Have a chat with Santa

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Father Christmas, also known as Santa, is coming back. If you want to know more about his life, you can have a chat with him. You have to be very careful about your  spelling and grammar, otherwise Santa will not understand your question. The goal of this activity is to practise personal information questions.

Go to: http://www.thisissanta.com/ you’ll see a picture of Santa and two text fields. Type your questions into the bottom field and then wait for the answers.

santa.jpg

April’s Fool Day

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Hello everybody!

Last Tuesday, it was April’s Fool Day, a day when people usually play tricks on friends and strangers alike. It is similar to our celebration on December 28th, the day of the Holy Innocents. If you want to know more about this celebration and the reason why it takes place on April 1st, click here and read the story provided by the British Council. There is also a Reading Comprehension test and further reading and writing.

April’s Fool Day