You have worked wonderfully all year!
It has been a true pleasure to read your work and be in contact with you!
Have wonderful holidays!!! Keep in touch! :)

Letter to an editorial

Hello there everybody!
This time we will do a practical, real, necessary exercise!
Most courses have already reached a listening exercise in class where you probably found that the recording is suddenly silent... there is an error in the original copy of the CD of our book: Total English Intermediate, Part A, CD Part A, Track 24, which corresponds to Unit 3, Communication, for Activity 2. When Speaker 2 is speaking, you will see that his voice is interrupted.
Was there a recording problem? Is it only the copy that we received in Argentina? We have no idea.
That´s why, our exercise today is to write a letter to the editorial of the book (and we will really send it to them!) and tell them about the problem we have found.
So, write a letter to the Editorial, approximately 120 words, tell them what the problem is, and you may ask for a possible solution. Send me the letter to solibarrav@gmail.com so I can check it out and send it! :) You may work in pairs or individually.

Deadline: October 15th

Miners in Chile

Good work on the Miners´article!!! I am receiving your answers!
Great!! :)
New post coming soon

Current Affairs - Miners in Chile

Friendship feedback

I have been reading your answers to the last post on Friendship. Fantastic work! Keep it coming... a new post coming soon!

Friendship

Hello there everyone! I hope you are enjoying your Winter holidays!!
It´s nice to stay at home a little more, warm and comfortable, with a cup of hot chocolate... and reading our tutorials!! :)
This time, in a different format. Have a look:
Read the questions about Friendship and answer them!I will magically receive your answers!
Have fun!
Deadline: August 15th


:)

Football World Cup...

everyone is talking about it! On TV, in the street, among friends and family... like it or not, we are all living the World Cup!

Activity 1-
So, let´s read about it! Click on http://fourfourtwo.com/news/worldcup2010/58096/default.aspx and read an article in English on Argentina´s last match and some more information about our players.

What do you learn by reading the article? Any news or information you didn´t know about? Write to me about it to solibarrav@gmail.com

Activity 2-
Now, let´s watch a funny commercial that is on TV these days!
Click on to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmc1f-J3jKQ&NR=1 and watch the commercial. What happens in this short video?
Tell me about it to solibarrav@gmail.com and also tell me about YOU: Are you watching the World Cup? All matches or only Argentina? Alone or with other people? Tell me about your feelings and expectations. (each exercise minimum 50 words. Please, use double spaced format, size 12 Arial font. You may illustrate your writing with an image from the web related to the World Cup! :))
Deadline: July 14th


Great work!

In case you want to listen to some music while you write, here is the link to the World Cup Song “Waving Flag”! Click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhM-cpSwrmM
or the happy, energetic, official Shakira song “Waka Waka”! Click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WeISLedvxY&feature=related

Your Murphy´s Laws!!

You are doing a fantastic job! Here are some Murphy´s Laws that YOU thought about. Read below and check out if these Murphy´s Laws happen to you too!

Martín Ramón said:
For example, on a rainy day I go out with an umbrella, then the sun will rise and I’ll be a fool with my umbrella in hand. For that reason I don’t use umbrellas.
When I go to my toolbox to search for a tool, it will be in the bottom under all other tools.
When you have your dirty hands or if you are cooking the phone will ring.
You are standing at the bus stop waiting for your bus with other people; the first bus to come is not yours.
(Only for smokers) you are standing at bus stop, you light a cigarette and the bus will come.

Vanesa Sanz said:
I think that Murphy’s Law apply every day. There are a lot of examples.
Think about queues in a supermarket. If you change queues, the queue you were before will move more quickly.
Or about cars: if you wash your car, the next day IT will rain.
If you don’t smoke and there is someone near you smoking, the smoke will always FLOAT towards you (this always happenS to me and I hate the cigarettes!). So, I believe in Murphy’s Law, they are a fact, not only a law.

Victoria Sanz said:
Sometimes Murphy’s Law applies in my life. When the weather is bad I always say “If I don’t take the umbrella with me, It will rain” but when I take it, It never rains. And if there’s a loose paving stone, I will step on it.
I usually go to the supermarket and when I choose between two queues, the other will move faster than the one I selected.

Marisa Gonzalez said:
Sometimes, in my daily life, I remember the Murphy’s law: when I wear my white
jacket (which I use for my job) before I have breakfast… I will spill my tea over the jacket!
If I wear my white jeans, I will stain it THEM with chocolate or ice cream.
If I need a taxi becAuse it’s very late o it’s rainy, I won’t catch it.
If I forget my umbrella, it will rain.
If I put away my papers and throw away some of them becAuse I think that I won`t need THEM any more, I will need them the next week.
If I want to buy something for myself (clothes, shoes) I won´t to find my size or my number.
If one day there is an electricity blackout, I won’t find candles.

Ana Laura Ceraldi said:
Murphy’s Law applies in my everyday life. Luckily, it is true for little things but those things sometimes make me feel really angry. For example: every time I go to the bus stop, I see the bus leaving, especially if it rains, the weather is very cold or I have to arrive early at work. And when I see another bus coming, it‘s not the one I need!!

Susana Souilla and Sandra Rivero said:
We don’t believe that Murphy’s Law applies in our everyday life, but it’s true that sometimes we aren’t lucky. For example, sometimes, when we are in a hurry we lose the bus, there are long queues in the bank, or the traffic lights are always red; when we need money, we don’t find any cash machine or if we find one, it doesn’t work or hasn’t got any money, and when we go on holiday, the weather is bad and it rains everyday.
These situations don’t mean that we have to believe in Murpphy’s Law. In the western world and especially in the cities, life is very demanding, we want everything to always be ok and we become pessimist when we have difficulties. But it isn’t about the famous Murphy’s Law, it’s just the life with its pros and cons.

MURPHY´S LAW

Are you familiar with Murphy's Law??
It is a famous law that says that
"If anything can go wrong, it will"

Do you know the story of the famous Murphy´s Law? Check it or find it out at:
http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-true.html


Activity ONE: Writing about you


Does Murphy´s Law apply in your everyday life? Do silly, normal, small, annoying things happen to you every day? Can you think of examples?


Tell me about it by mail to solibarrav@gmail.com!! (Your work cannot have less than 50 words. Please, use double spaced format, size 12 Arial font. You are expected to illustrate your writing with an image from the web related to your anecdote)

Activity TWO: Listening Section


Now, let´s listen to a song where Muphy´s Law situations appear all along!

The singer, Alanis Morissette named the song “Ironic”, do you know it?

Enjoy the song, listen to the lyrics and take notes of as many Murphy´s Law situations as you hear.

Click on the following link to listen to the song and watch the video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v9yUVgrmPY

From your notes, write examples of Murhpy´s Law situations that are mentioned in the song and e-mail them to me to solibarrav@gmail.com... have any of them happened to you? :)


Deadline: June 22th

Did you like the song? She mentions many awkward situations!

If you have doubts or would like to read the lyrics, click on this link: www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/alanismorissette/ironic.html

Are you superstitious?

           





                   SUPERSTITIONS

Reading + Filling the gaps:

Some animals are related to evil things, for example “crows”. Do you know what crows are? They are ugly black birds. The American writer Edgar Allan Poe wrote a famous poem called The Crow. You can read a rhyme below referring to crows:

COUNTING CROWS

One's bad,

Two's luck,

Three's health,

Four's wealth,

Five's sickness,

Six is death!!!

Here are some popular phrases related to evil things. Work with a partner and fill in the gaps of the sentences below. (Every dash corresponds to one letter).
REMEMBER to use an Online dictionary to check the meaning of the words you don´t know ;-)

1) To break a mirror means 7 years _ _ _ luck.

2) If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will _ _ _ soon.

3) If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die _ _ _ _ _.

4) Walking below a _ _ _ _ _ _ will give you bad luck. 5) The devil can enter your body when you _ _ _ _ _ _. Having someone say, "God bless you," drives the devil away.
6) Sparrows carry the souls of the dead, it's _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (not lucky) to kill one.
7) If 13 people sit down at a table to eat, one of them will die before the _ _ _ _ (360 days) is over.Can´t guess the words? I took the rhymes from the following website: “ Info about Superstitions: old wives tales, folklore, bizarre beliefs, taboos, omens, lucky & unlucky things” Look for the phrases at: http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html

Please send me the complete sentences by e-mail to solibarrav@gmail.com and also tell me: are YOU superstitious??? Support your choice. The paragraph must take above 50 words. Remember to write your names and the course you belong to at the end of the e-mail! :)

Now, let´s do a listening activity! Some people are superstitious and believe in horoscopes. We will listen to this man giving his point of view. Is he for or against horoscopes?

Click on this link www.listenaminute.com/h/horoscopes.html Then, click on LISTEN (it is written in blue, below the word DOWNLOADS). A new small window will appear.

If the sound is not good the first time, do not worry. Play it a second time and it will be fine. Audio files usually take time to download.

DEADLINE May 31st

Your work, published at last! :)

Hello there Adults 4! Your work on the five-picture-story has been really fantastic! You have written creative, imaginative, funny, interesting stories! Congratulations to all of you!

On the top left-hand corner of the blog you will see a link called "WRITER´S CORNER". Click on it and there you have your work and your partner´s work published!! 


Task: Please, read everyone´s creations and then leave a comment here on your opinions of the stories and which one you think is the best.Remember to write your name at the end of your comment and to post it as "Anonymous" so it appears correctly

Note: next post coming soon... :)

Five-picture-story

Five picture story

This activity is called “the five-picture-story” because it is a story based on the following five images. Have a look:

These are five scenes in a story… that will be put together by a wonderful and imaginative writer: YOU!


So, look at the Pictures again and let your imagination run free!
Put them in the order that you prefer!


What do you see?
How can they be put together in a coherent line of thought?

Instructions:

• In pairs, make a pre-writing plan and start giving shape to your sequence of events. In pairs, you can brainstorm ( give different ideas and write them all together and then order the valuable ones. You can use e-mail or chat for this purpose) Think of an introduction (it can be informative, surprising, or descriptive), then events that happen, and then conclude the action.

• Now, the WRITING!! You will be writing in pairs or groups of three (remember, two heads or more think more than one!) Your English teacher will take you to the computer room.

TIP: use WORD programe for this purpose. Remember to customize your document in "English" language. How? go to the tool bar, click on TOOLS-> Language->select language. Once you have finished writing, check spelling and grammar by clicking on F7 and make the necessary corrections. MIND YOU, the grammar is not perfect and some phrases may be underlined in green but they are OK. So, if you are not sure about the WORD suggestion, ask your teacher!!

• After checking grammar and spelling, save your DOCUMENT !!!! You will get very angry if you loose your work.If you are at the computer room at school the best thing to do is to autosend your WORD document to your email account either in an attached file or as part of the message. The decision is yours.

• Always remember to edit your work after you finish: take a break, then go back to your writing and re-read it, it´s a good idea to write in Word and then improve it, make it more attractive, run a spelling test until you are happy with it.

IMPORTANT: Your work must have approximately 130 words. FORMAT: Font Arial 12,double space between sentences and justified text. DEADLINE: April 19th

• Send your writing to me by e-mail to solibarrav@gmail.com I´ll be waiting anxiously for your stories! I will correct, make comments and send them back by e-mail to you!

Your stories will then be published in the blog in a frame of honour place!!! So, Come on, do your best! :) Sol

YOUR COMMENTS

First of all, Happy Easter everybody! Hello there! Thank you for visiting the blog! Your comments were extremely interesting to read! : )

They were clear and informative. However, there were some little errors that were repeated in most comments. Here are some of these common errors so we all learn from each other:

I use internet with my childrens (children is plural, no final "s". The singular is "child")

I use internet for checking mails, search information and comunicated with my friends. (Careful! Choose a tense and stick to it! I use internet for checking mails, searching information and comunicating with my friends)

chek mails (Spelling: missing "c";"check". This is why the best is to write in Word and run a spelling test before handing in written work)

them I start my work (again Spelling: then)

I use it for comunication whith friends (Spelling: missing "m"> "communication". Extra "h"> "with")

I am going to used internet (Grammar. Tenses. I am going to USE internet. always TO + INFINITIVE)

I use internet everyday to reading and writing mails (TO + INFINITIVE verb; to read and write mails)

It´s a tool very important for me (word order: It´s a very important tool for me)

I search information about differents items (Careful! In English adjectives are NEVER plural> different items)

I hope it helped to see some common corrections. Anyway, your comments were great to read!

In our next post we will be writing in small groups and you will send your work to me by e-mail so you then receive a more personalized correction!

I´ll be waiting for your work! :)

Sol.

Adults4 Project Team wishes you
HAPPY EASTER!! 

Have a wonderful long weekend full of laughter and chocolate eggs!

Guardian Angel

Hello, everybody. Let me introduce myself : My name is Nelba Quintana and I am the ITC (Information and Communication Technology) Coordinator of the English Area. 

I am part of this Adults 4 blog project as a kind of guardian angel. Although you are in contact with me very often, I want to tell you that I am always "on the net" to give you a hand, I read your comments, check activities, add gadgets to the blog to make it more attractive, etc.

Soledad and all the teachers of adults 4 courses are in charge of the content and activities of this blog and I am here to help you with any technological problem you may have, so if you cannot work in the blog (e.g. leave a comment) please contact me by mail to escuelaunlp@yahoo.com.ar , write in the Subject of the mail: Problem with Adults 4 blog, explain your problem as clear as possible and identify yourself (name, surname and course you belong to).

This project team is doing its best to make this experience enriching for your English language learning and digital literacy acquisition. Unfortunately, sometimes technology does not work properly and you may experience some difficulties. But please, do not give up and whenever you have a problem, contact us as soon as possible.

Enjoy this online ride!  :-)

Welcome to our blog

Dear Students:

This year, tutorial classes will be a bit different. I imagine your teacher has already given you some information about this activity since you are now reading this blog. We are going to start a fascinating trip into the Internet world and by the end of the year you will reach surprising achievemets!

The aim of using digital technology in English courses is to introduce you to digital literacy which will be very useful either in your everyday or professional life.

Actually, this blog will be, in a way, like your class book and one of our means of communication - we will use e-mailing as well. I will upload a post every two weeks with new material for you to read and tasks to do.

FIRST ACTIVITY: To break the ice and start getting familiar with this tool, please,   click on "comments" at the bottom of this post and write about what experience you have using the Internet: Do you use Internet? How often? What for? (checking mail, chatting, reading the newspaper, etc.)





Dead line: March 30th.

Please, sign your comments with your name and the course you belong to. For example: Juan Sánchez- Adults4 C