1st Class
Write a table which collects all the information concerning your routines and another one with information about the thing you can or can’t do.
Here is an example :
Time I get up
Breakfast
Transport
7.00………………….
7.30…………………
8.00……………………
etc.
Biscuits………………..
Milk and coffee……………
Cereals……………..
Etc.
Car…………..
School bus……………
Walk……………………
Etc.
Homework
After dinner
Go to bed
4 p.m…………………………
4.30 p.m………………………
5.00 p.m………………………
etc.
Watch TV………………..
Play……………….
Go out………………….
Etc.
9.30 p.m ………………..
10 p.m ………………….
10.30 p.m…………………
etc..
2nd Class
Why the big bell of Houses of Parliament is called Big Ben?
Carry out a project on the internet about that.
3rd Class
Here is a list of big events of 2006 taken from Time for Kids. It may be useful for your next exams. Are you able to add to it big events of 2007 ?
Big Events
So much happens in a year. Every moment of joy or sadness can change the way we look at the world. This year we saw political firsts and a population milestone. We were saddened by global struggles. Still, we reached for the stars. We sent astronauts into space and puzzled over Pluto. Here are some moments from 2006 that we will not soon forget.
January Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn in as Liberia's president. She is the first woman to be elected president of an African country.
February The 2006 Winter Olympics kicked off in Turin, Italy, on February 10. The games lasted for 16 days. Team USA won 25 medals, including gold for Ted Ligety in this race.
March Millions of people around the world gazed at the sky to see a rare solar eclipse. It started in Brazil and ended in Mongolia.
April Chinese President Hu Jintao met with President George W. Bush. This was Hu's first trip to the United States as president.
May Taylor Hicks was crowned the new American Idol on the television show's May 24 finale. The Alabama singer won over fans with his wild dance moves.
June Lightning McQueen zoomed into movie theaters. Cars has made more than $240 million in the U.S.
July On July 9, Italy (in blue) beat France to win soccer's World Cup. More than 1.2 billion fans saw the final game on TV.
August Astronomers set new rules for what is a planet. Pluto, shown here as it might look from one of its moons, is now a dwarf planet.
September The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off September 9. It was headed for the International Space Station, a giant space lab in the sky.
October America's population hit a historic high on October 17. The U.S. Census Bureau says that's when the number of people in the country hit 300 million.
November Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress on November 7, Election Day. Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House. She and President George W. Bush promised to work together.
December Mars made headlines on December 6. NASA released new photos taken by the Mars Global Surveyor. The images show possible signs of water (circled) recently flowing on the Red Planet.
lunedì 30 aprile 2007
Tense
Tense (from The Concise Oxford Dictionary) (noun Gram.): Form taken by a verb to indicate the time(also continuance or completeness) of an action …in relation to the time of speaking. (From Latin tempus = time).
Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time—past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods.
So, we use tenses in English to talk about time. But, and this is a very big but:
we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example, going to is a special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)
one tense does not always talk about one time.
Here are some of the terms used in discussing verbs and tenses.
Tense and Time
It is important not to mistake the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk about time.
For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:
I hope it snows tomorrow: "snows" is a present simple, but here it refers to future time (tomorrow).
I go to Rome two days a month: “go” is a present simple, but it doesn’t mean I am going now to Rome.
Or a past tense does not always refer to past time:
If I had some money now, I could buy it:"had" is a past simple but it refers here to present time (now)
There are 24 tenses. For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 compound tenses (using auxiliary verbs). To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are available in the passive voice.
The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but the structure of English tenses is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:
positive:
+
subject( + auxiliary verb) + main verb
(soggetto -+verbo ausiliare-+verbo principale)
negative:
-
subject + auxiliary verb + not (+ main verb)
(soggetto +verbo ausiliare+not-+verbo principale-)
question:
?
auxiliary verb + subject (+ main verb)
(+verbo ausiliare+ soggetto -+verbo principale -)
An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the auxiliary verb is usually abolished for the affirmative, but it does exist for intensification.)
Technically, there are no future tenses in English. The word will is a modal auxiliary verb and future tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The examples are included here for convenience and comparison.
Some grammar books use the word progressive instead of continuous. They are exactly the same.
The basic structure of tenses for regular verbs and irregular verbs (bare form) is exactly the same (except to be). The only difference is that with regular verbs the past and past participle are always the same (played, played), while with irregular verbs the past and past participle are not always the same (wrote, written). But the structure is the same! It will help you a great deal to really understand that.
To be continued
Tense (from The Concise Oxford Dictionary) (noun Gram.): Form taken by a verb to indicate the time(also continuance or completeness) of an action …in relation to the time of speaking. (From Latin tempus = time).
Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time—past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods.
So, we use tenses in English to talk about time. But, and this is a very big but:
we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example, going to is a special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)
one tense does not always talk about one time.
Here are some of the terms used in discussing verbs and tenses.
Tense and Time
It is important not to mistake the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk about time.
For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:
I hope it snows tomorrow: "snows" is a present simple, but here it refers to future time (tomorrow).
I go to Rome two days a month: “go” is a present simple, but it doesn’t mean I am going now to Rome.
Or a past tense does not always refer to past time:
If I had some money now, I could buy it:"had" is a past simple but it refers here to present time (now)
There are 24 tenses. For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 compound tenses (using auxiliary verbs). To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are available in the passive voice.
The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but the structure of English tenses is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:
positive:
+
subject( + auxiliary verb) + main verb
(soggetto -+verbo ausiliare-+verbo principale)
negative:
-
subject + auxiliary verb + not (+ main verb)
(soggetto +verbo ausiliare+not-+verbo principale-)
question:
?
auxiliary verb + subject (+ main verb)
(+verbo ausiliare+ soggetto -+verbo principale -)
An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the auxiliary verb is usually abolished for the affirmative, but it does exist for intensification.)
Technically, there are no future tenses in English. The word will is a modal auxiliary verb and future tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The examples are included here for convenience and comparison.
Some grammar books use the word progressive instead of continuous. They are exactly the same.
The basic structure of tenses for regular verbs and irregular verbs (bare form) is exactly the same (except to be). The only difference is that with regular verbs the past and past participle are always the same (played, played), while with irregular verbs the past and past participle are not always the same (wrote, written). But the structure is the same! It will help you a great deal to really understand that.
To be continued
domenica 29 aprile 2007
The history of the English language really took place with the arrival of 3 Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. They crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders—mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from England and their language was called Englisc—from which the words England and English are derived.
Old English (450-1100 AD)
The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.
Middle English (1100-1500)
In 1066 the Duke of Normandy , William the Conqueror, invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors ,called the Normans, introduced a sort of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a phase there was a kind of linguistic class division. The lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became prevailing in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British got in touch with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered English. The invention of printing also meant that there was at that time a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought regularity to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishers were, became the paradigm. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.
Present English (1800)
The most important difference between Early Modern English and Present English is vocabulary. Present English has many more words, cropped up from two main causes: first of all, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its apex covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.
Varieties of English
From about 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some English pronunciations and words "froze" when they got to America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British call "Americanisms" are in fact original British expressions that were kept in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster movies). Spanish also had an influence on American English (and subsequently British English), with words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that entered English through the settlement of the American West. French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave trade) also influenced American English (and so, to an extent, British English).
Today, American English is particularly influential, owing to the USA's dominance of popular music, television, cinema, trade and technology (including the Internet). But there are many other varieties of English around the world, including for example Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.
Old English (450-1100 AD)
The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.
Middle English (1100-1500)
In 1066 the Duke of Normandy , William the Conqueror, invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors ,called the Normans, introduced a sort of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a phase there was a kind of linguistic class division. The lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became prevailing in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British got in touch with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered English. The invention of printing also meant that there was at that time a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought regularity to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishers were, became the paradigm. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.
Present English (1800)
The most important difference between Early Modern English and Present English is vocabulary. Present English has many more words, cropped up from two main causes: first of all, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its apex covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.
Varieties of English
From about 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some English pronunciations and words "froze" when they got to America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British call "Americanisms" are in fact original British expressions that were kept in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster movies). Spanish also had an influence on American English (and subsequently British English), with words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that entered English through the settlement of the American West. French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave trade) also influenced American English (and so, to an extent, British English).
Today, American English is particularly influential, owing to the USA's dominance of popular music, television, cinema, trade and technology (including the Internet). But there are many other varieties of English around the world, including for example Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.
Since it is impossible for you having in English the same competence you have in Italian, you must keep in mind that:
Ø You are like a new baby Babies learn their language slowly. First they learn to listen.Then they learn to talk. In the end, they can read and write.To do all that correctly they must learn grammar.
Ø Listen to English every day…
Listen to the CDs of your English courseListen to English radios.Watch English movies on TV.
Ø Make an English/ESL friend Make up conversations with you school friends.Use beginner textbooks. Practise dialogues with foreign tourists.
Ø Read English storiesStart with children's storybooks.Try ESL readers.Read advertisements, signs and labels.
Ø Write down new wordsStart a vocabulary (new word) notebook.Write words in alphabetical order (A...B...C...).Make example sentences.Always use an English-English dictionary first.
Ø Keep an English diary Start with one sentence. How do you feel? How is the weather?What did you do today? Tomorrow write another sentence.
Ø Visit an English speaking countryLearn English more quickly. Hear native speakers talk. Stay with an English family.
Ø You are like a new baby Babies learn their language slowly. First they learn to listen.Then they learn to talk. In the end, they can read and write.To do all that correctly they must learn grammar.
Ø Listen to English every day…
Listen to the CDs of your English courseListen to English radios.Watch English movies on TV.
Ø Make an English/ESL friend Make up conversations with you school friends.Use beginner textbooks. Practise dialogues with foreign tourists.
Ø Read English storiesStart with children's storybooks.Try ESL readers.Read advertisements, signs and labels.
Ø Write down new wordsStart a vocabulary (new word) notebook.Write words in alphabetical order (A...B...C...).Make example sentences.Always use an English-English dictionary first.
Ø Keep an English diary Start with one sentence. How do you feel? How is the weather?What did you do today? Tomorrow write another sentence.
Ø Visit an English speaking countryLearn English more quickly. Hear native speakers talk. Stay with an English family.
Getting Started
Hello kids,
Welcome to English Class, a blog to help you learn English as a second language. In these pages you’ll find extra materials for class activities or holiday practice. You’ll also be able to interact by posting your comments or asking help via e-mail.
Welcome to English Class, a blog to help you learn English as a second language. In these pages you’ll find extra materials for class activities or holiday practice. You’ll also be able to interact by posting your comments or asking help via e-mail.
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