Grammar revision: Question words 2.

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

Vamos a seguir repasando la formación de oraciones interrogativas, hasta que este tema quede totalmente dominado. 

Os dejo un par de gráficos con las partículas interrogativas más comunes y con un diagrama del orden de las preguntas en inglés, y tras ello, una ficha que no tardaréis más de 5 minutos en completar.

Mucho ánimo.

Question words: ¿qué palabra debo usar?

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

Vamos a repasar las oraciones interrogativas de nuevo, que os vais a encontrar varias preguntas similares en vuestro examen, no me cabe la menor duda.

Venga, vamos a completar las siguientes oraciones de esta sencilla ficha. No tardarás más de 5 minutos.

Saludos.

Grammar revision: question with How?

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

Vamos ahora a revisar un aspecto gramátical que a veces da problemillas y es el us de la partícula interrogativa 'How' acompañada de otras palabras, o no.

https://lamenteesmaravillosa.com/51-preguntas-sin-respuesta/

Tienes un test de 10 preguntas por resolver para repasar bien este apartado de gramática que es uno de los contenidos de tu examen: saber hacer preguntas en inglés.

Este material está cogido prestado de Cambridge University Press, a quienes doy las gracias por hacerlo público.

¡Suerte!

https://www.examenglish.com/grammar/A2_How_questions.htm

Saludos.

Reading comprehension: Social networks.

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

Encarando ya la última semana de enero, vamos a trabajar con un texto sobre el uso de aplicaciones y redes sociales, uno de los grandes temas favoritos de los examinadores.

Para hoy, he acudido a un texto de nivel B2 facilitado por Cambridge University Press, a quienes doy las gracias por hacer público su material

https://lapublicidad.net/el-covid-19-saca-el-lado-mas-humano-de-las-rrss/

Vamos a ello:

Social networks

Business applications
Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to expand their contact base. These networks often act as a customer relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the world. 

Medical applications
Social networks are beginning to be adopted by healthcare professionals as a means to manage institutional knowledge, disseminate peer to peer knowledge and to highlight individual physicians and institutions. The advantage of using a dedicated medical social networking site is that all the members are screened against the state licensing board list of practitioners. The role of social networks is especially of interest to pharmaceutical companies who spend approximately "32 percent of their marketing dollars" attempting to influence the opinion leaders of social networks. 

Languages, nationalities and academia
Various social networking sites have sprung up catering to different languages and countries. The popular site Facebook has been cloned for various countries and languages and some specializing in connecting students and faculty. 

Social networks for social good
Several websites are beginning to tap into the power of the social networking model for social good. Such models may be highly successful for connecting otherwise fragmented industries and small organizations without the resources to reach a broader audience with interested and passionate users. Users benefit by interacting with a like-minded community and finding a channel for their energy and giving. 

Business model
Few social networks currently charge money for membership. In part, this may be because social networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly established in c

ustomers' minds. Companies such as MySpace and Facebook sell online advertising on their site. Hence, they are seeking large memberships, and charging for membership would be counter productive. Some believe that the deeper information that the sites have on each user will allow much better targeted advertising than any other site can currently provide. Sites are also seeking other ways to make money, such as by creating an online marketplace or by selling professional information and social connections to businesses. 

Privacy issues
On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the threat of sexual predators. Users of these services need to be aware of data theft or viruses. However, large services, such as MySpace, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents. In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individual's behavior on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken. 

Investigations

Social network services are increasingly being used in legal and criminal investigations. Information posted on sites such as MySpace and Facebook, has been used by police, probation, and university officials to prosecute users of said sites. In some situations, content posted on MySpace has been used in court.

Ejercicios de comprensión lectora: elige la respuesta correcta en cada párrafo:

 

https://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_reading.htm

Phrasal verbs: verbos con preposiciones.

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

Hace ya varios meses, introdujimos este tema en clase, aquellos verbos que, al cambiar la palabrilla que llevan detrás, cambian de significado. Son como los políticos, les cambias la tele en la que hablan, y ya 'son' otra cosa.

Pero la diferencia es que los verbos, cuando te los estudias, ya no te mienten.

Os voy a dejar un listado que lleva circulando por Internet casi 20 años ya, que hizo algún colega y lo dejó por ahí por las nubes.

Creo que es de lo mejorcito que podéis usar para estudiaros estos verbos, que forman parte de vuestro temario y que os preguntarán en vuestro examen de acceso a los ciclos formativos.

Aquí tenéis un anticipo, pero en este enlace, podéis descargaros el archivo completo. 

Saludos.

Aquí tenéis otra resumida: Son 150 verbos. A por ellos.

Podéis hacer ejercicios online con ellos aquí:

Y ya, para los que quieran sacar muy buena nota, os dejo un enlace a un libro cuya autora ha subido 'gratis' a la red y cuyo enlace tenéis aquí. Es, como dicen los moderno, una pasada.

Es del blog de la profesora Sila (pincha aquí), a quien doy las gracias por hacer público este magnífico material.

https://www.aprendeinglessila.com

https://www.aprendeinglessila.com

Saludos.

Verbos modales: modales y semi-modales.

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

Vamos hoy de lleno a pecho descubierto a luchar contra los verbos modales, que dan mucho dolor de cabeza, inútilmente, más de una vez puesto que son mucho más fáciles de lo que parecen.

¿Qué tal una canción del gran Loquillo para animar el cotarro?

Pincha aquí para descargarte el documento.

Saludos.

Y ahora, vamos a por algunos ejercicios online, que puedes hacer pinchando en este enlace:

https://www.ejerciciosinglesonline.com/new-exercises/ex1-verbos-modales/

Saludos.

Oraciones pasivas en inglés.

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

De nuevo, volvemos a repasar cómo se hacen frases en pasiva en inglés. Ya lo hemos comentado varias veces a lo largo del curso, pero toca ahora meterse de lleno con este apasionante tema.

Recordad: 

activa: Mary come patatas con huevos fritos todos los días.

pasiva: Patatas son comidas por Mary todos los días. 

Saludos.

Picha aquí para descargarte el documento.

Vamos a por algunos ejercicios sencillos:

Y en el siguiente grupo de enlaces, tienes acceso a muchos ejercicios tanto online autocorregibles como en pdf con las respuestas.

Mucho ánimo.

Ejercicio de presente simple pasivo 1

Ejercicio de pasado simple pasivo online 2

Ejercicio de presente perfecto pasivo online 3

Ejercicio de futuro simple pasivo online 4

Y para acceder a todos los demás, pincha aquí.

Saludos.

Reading comprehension: Millennials in the workplace today.

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

Vamos a leer ahora sobre la generación conocida como 'millenials' y su problemática adaptación al mundo laboral.

@mmolpor

Esta actividad está cogida prestada de https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/upper-intermediate-b2/cultural-expectations-and-leadership a quienes les doy las gracias por hacer público su trabajo y ayudarnos tanto.

Actividad previa a la lectura:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/upper-intermediate-b2/millennials-in-the-workplace

Millennials in the workplace

Background

Millennials (those born between the early 1980s and the early 1990s) make up a huge part of our workforce but they seem to lack loyalty to the companies and the leaders they work for. Multinational companies are noticing larger turnover rates of millennials as employee retention rates fall. This report looks at the findings of two large-scale surveys on the mindset of the millennial generation and explores how organisations can strive to address these needs, increase employee engagement and encourage retention.  

Research

In a global survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), more than 40,000 millennial (born between 1983 and 1993) and non-millennial responses were collected on the topics of workplace culture, communication and working styles, pay structure, career development, work–life balance, etc.

In a separate global survey conducted by Deloitte, more than 10,000 millennials participated in a study about their perceptions of the threats and opportunities in the complex world of work.

Key findings

• Millennials are as committed to their work as their more senior colleagues.
• Millennials value interesting work and a good work–life balance. They do not believe that excessive work demands are worth sacrifices in their personal lives.
• Millennials want flexibility in their working hours and are willing to give up pay increases and promotions for a flexible working schedule. They believe that success should be measured by productivity and not by the number of hours they are seen in an office.
• Millennials want to feel supported and appreciated by their company and their superiors.
• Millennials want more opportunities to develop their skills. These include technological skills, teamwork and interpersonal skills.
• Millennials believe that businesses and business leaders should contribute to the improvement of society and they are more likely to be loyal to a company with strong ethics.

Recommendations

Organisations and managers wanting to retain millennials should consider:

• monitoring their workload and satisfaction levels with their work–life balance
• creating a flexible work culture where employees have more control over their working hours and their work location
• providing meaningful work and interesting opportunities
• offering help and support in continuing professional development
• changing the organisation's goals from being mainly about profit-making to motives that address social concerns and solve wider societal problems.

Actividades de comprensión lectora:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/upper-intermediate-b2/millennials-in-the-workplace