IDIOMS WITH LETTER A

Idioms are part of the life of native English speakers. So it is really important to make English learners aware of the importance of expanding their knowledge by providing them with examples and meanings of idioms.

Link with examples and meanings:
http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/id-a.html

PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions are really important and it is necessary to know when to know each of them.

This link takes you to a fun and interactive game where you have to choose the appropriate preposition. Hope you enjoy it and get to learn alot.

http://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/elementary/i_games/theanteatergame/games_ant01?cc=global&selLanguage=en

• aboard
• about
• above
• across
• after
• against
• along
• amid
• among
• anti
• around
• as
• at

• before
• behind
• below
• beneath
• beside
• besides
• between
• beyond
• but
• by

• concerning
• considering

• despite
• down
• during

• except
• excepting
• excluding

• following
• for
• from

• in
• inside
• into

• like

• minus

• near

• of
• off
• on
• onto
• opposite
• outside
• over

• past
• per
• plus

• regarding
• round

• save
• since

• than
• through
• to
• toward
• towards

• under
• underneath
• unlike
• until
• up
• upon

• versus
• via
• with

• within
• without

Past simple vs Past continuous

Past simple and past continuous are 2 tenses which could give headaches to students. It is important for teachers to provide clear explanations so students may perform correctly the proper use of these tenses. Below, one may find links to explanation, exercises and videos where students may improve their English learning in this tenses.

Video explanation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrInVjL4WDA

Grammar explanation:
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-paspro

Exercises:
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs3.htm

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/pastsimpleorcontinuous/exercise1.html

Listening comprehension exercise

This listening exercise will help student develop and practice their listening skills. Specially helping them to understand main ideas and pronunciation diferences.

This link will take you to an exercise where you will hear a short summary regarding a very famous English rock band. As you listen, there will be several questions where you will need to choose the proper answer according to what is mentioned.

Best of luck!!!
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0S5BtW7Kms2

Listen carefully to the brief timeline of rock band Def Leppard and answer the questions following each short paragraph. Answer a, b or c. BEST OF LUCK!

Question 1 Where is Def Leppard from?
A. Sherman, England B. Sheffield, England C. Englewood, England
Question 2 What does NWBHM stand for?
A. Northern Wave of British Heavy Metal B. New World of British Heavy Metal C. New Wave of British Heavy Metal
Question 3 Who are the 5 current members in the band?
A. Rick Savage, John Elliot, Rick Allen, Phil collen and Vivian Campbell
B. Rod Savage, John Elliot, Rick Allen, Phil Collen and vivian Campbell
C. Rick Savage, Joe Elliot, Rick Allen, Phil collen and vivian Campbell

QUESTION 4
WHICH WAS ONE OF THE SONGS WHOSE VIDEO GOT AIRTIME ON MTV?
A. HIGH AND DRY
B. BRINGING ON THE HEARTBREAK
C. PYROMANIA
QUESTION 5
WHAT YEAR DID PYROMANIA ALBUM COME OUT?
A. 1983
B. 1984
C. 2004
QUESTION 6
WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE MAGAZINE WHICH RANKED THE BAND 384 in 2004?
A. rolling stones
b. cosmopolitan
c. national enquire

QUESTION 7
what is the band's 4th album?
A. HYSTERIA
B. LOVE BITES
C. ARMAGEDDON IT
QUESTION 8
WHICH IS NOT ONE OF THE SIX HITS OF THIS ALBUMS?
A. ANIMAL
B. ROCKET
C. PHOTOGRAPH

Adjectives vs Adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs are regularly confused by students who are learning English as a second or foreign language. Here is a brief explanation on the diferences between both and also include a video with rules and links to exercises to practice.

Explanation link:
http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/adjAdv.asp

Video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HPKwhngB-U
Courtesy of www.engvid.com

Exercise link:
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs/exercises

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/200/grammar/adjadv.htm

SOME VS ANY

A very common conflict for students who are studying English as a second or foreign language is that they tend to mistake some and any. Here is a brief explanation on how to use them correctly. Also, there is a video and some exercises.


VIDEO LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvpc6vZ1HXs

Explanation
Positive Clauses
In positive clauses, we usually use some.

Example:

I have bought some bread.

I have bought some apples.

Negative Clauses

In negative clauses, we use any. Note, however, that any alone is not a negative - it must be not ... any

Example:

I have not bought any bread.

I have not bought any apples.

Questions

In questions, we usually use any.

Example:

Have you bought any bread?

Have you bought any apples?

Compound Words with some & any

Some & any can also be part of compound words such as:

• something / anything
• someone / anyone
• somewhere / anywhere

Note that some & any have to be used with a noun while compound words with some & any can stand on their own.

Example:

I have bought some bread.

I have bought something.

However, some and any need not stand directly before the noun. Sometimes, the noun appears somewhere before some or any and is not repeated. So if you are not sure whether to use some or something for example, check if there is a noun in the sentence that you can place after some.

Example:

I do not have to buy bread. Rachel has already bought some [bread].

EXERCISES link:

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/vocabulary/some-any/exercises

Adjectives ending in "ing and ed"

The difference between ing and ed adjectives may be confusing for students. Usually, ing adjectives are used to describe quality of a person or thing. Ed adjectives are usually used to describe feelings and emotions of people. The reason is because only people have feelings. Things do not have feelings. For instance we can say, "he was bored with the movie or the movie was boring." However, one cannot say, "He was boring with the movie" or the movie was bored."

Video explanation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho7MXKttBQw

Online explanation and examples:
http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/ed-and-ing-adjectives-describing-feelings-and-things

Other exercises:
http://www.clafoti.com/imagenes12/adj_ing_ed_2.htm