Hi!

You did a good job with the conversations.

I know you are getting a little mixed up with all those verbs. So here is a list of the verbs I really want you to learn:

talk
listen
read
write
eat
drink
say
look
close
open
play
work
do
go
sleep

That's 15 verbs. A number I'm sure you can handle.We'll practice them next week reinforce your learning.

Last week we did many exercises to practice the Present Continuous. But it's difficult to remember that it is not only the verb in its -ing form as in talking but that we must use the Present of the verb to be: I am talking. If we didn't we wouldn't know who is talking or when (the present) that person is talking.
As for questions, remember we must change the order of the words: Are you talking? Is John talking? Is his son talking?

HOMEWORK

Remember you must prepare your  presentation. The new topic I proposed is talking about a country.
An example:

Chile is a country in South America. It is very long and narrow. It's next to the Pacific Ocean. It has got very high mountains: the Andes. Its capital city is Santiago. Its flag is red, blue and white. It has got one star. (You can show a picture of the flag).
The language is Spanish, but there are other languages.
I have a friend from Chile, her name is Myra and she lives in Valdivia. She is a nurse. She is married and has got three children: two daughters and a son. She also has many brothers and sisters. Families in Chile are very large. My friend is medium-height and and thin. She has short black hair and black eyes. She is very friendly and talkative. People from Chile are usually very friendly.
A famous person from Chile is Pablo Neruda, a poet. Everybody knows one or two poems by Neruda. Gabriela Mistral, another poet, is also from Chile. She has the Nobel Prize. 
Another famous person from Chile is Allende, the president of Chile before Pinochet. I also remember Victor Jara, a folk  and protest singer of the 60s. 
Violeta Parra, another singer, is also very famous. 
Roberto Matta is a painter and artist from Chile. He has got the Principe de Asturias Prize.
A special animal from Chile is the Chilean llama: its name is the guanaco. 
A typical food from Chile is the empanada. Myra always cooks it. A typical drink from Chile is the Pisco. Pisco has got much alcohol. You can buy many things as souvenirs. You can buy a copper plate or a bag made of llama hair.

Here we are, in the middle of the winter. And we are studying the Present Continuous.

Last week we practiced many verbs. And we tried to practiced  all the persons. It takes a while to get used to it. Specially when it comes to asking questions. Remember the English language is very strict with the order of words: we need to put the subject between the auxiliary (am, are, is) and  verb+ing.

Are you reading the newspaper?

Is your son studying English?

Am I talking too much?

We also reviewed the possessive case: This is my brother's girlfriend.

Aunt Mary's daughter is my favorite cousin. 

I can't lend you this book, it is not mine, it is Jack's (Jack's book).

In our last lesson we reviewed phrases and questions that we need to use in class, like:

Can I come in?

How do you say... in English?

What does...... mean?

Can I borrow your pen?.

How do you spell...?

Can I ask a question?

Etc.

HOMEWORK

You probably remember better than me. 

I know you have to do: the False and True exercise on pg. 61 of your book.

Some extra homework:  go to this link:

http://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/Listening_Lab/Listening_Lab_Exercise_12_present_continuous_tense_verbs.html

Click on the arrow to listen and fill in the gaps. You may not know some of the verbs, so you may look them up in the dictionary or just look at the solutions at the bottom. 

See you Tuesday.

Welcome back and Happy New Year 2015

We started the year with a new unit. In this unit we study what it's called the Present Continuous. It is the form of the verb that we use when we talk about actions we are doing now, or today or at this moment. 

You can look at it on page 59 of your book, Lesson 12.

How do we make it?

We use the Present Simple of the verb to be and we add the verb + ing

Example:

I am                                            listening

You are                                      listening

He/She/It is                                listening

We are                                        listening

You are                                      listening

They are                                     listening

If we want to ask a question we must follow the usual order of words for questions in English:

Auxiliary + subject + verb...?

In this case the auxiliary is the verb to be, so we say:

Are you listening to me?

Are they listening to the music?

Am I drinking Coca-Cola?

Is she reading the book?

When the answer is negative we add not after the auxiliary and usually make the necessary contractions:

I am (I'm not) not listening to you.

They are not (aren't) listening to music.

You are not (aren't) drinking Coca-Cola.

She is not (isn't) reading a book.

After practicing the Present Continuous for a while we went back to Lesson 11, and practiced the Possessive in English, which we had already studied last term. We reviewed the names of family members.

HOMEWORK

Look at the picture on page 60 and write 5 sentences saying what people in the picture are doing.

Also, answer the Who questions. Only the ones that begin with Who.

After reading the passage Vicky's family, which we read in class ( it begins at the end of page 53), do the second exercise under WE PRACTICE, that is, write a sentence about each one of those people in the list. Example: Ben is Vicky's brother.

Also, complete the next exercise: fill in the gaps.

See you next Tuesday.