VOCABULARY: Emphatic Expressions (C1 / C2)

The are many ways to show emphasis in English and one of them is to use an intensifier followed by a verb (INTENSIFIER + VERB).

1.     Choose the correct verb to complete the collocations.

recognize                   encourage                         deny                                  endorse(x2)                    reject                          hope                      appreciate                  regret                       believe                              recommend                refuse

1.     Categorically __________. In no way did I do something.

2.     Deeply __________. I am strongly sorry for my actions.

3.     Enthusiastically __________. I happily, and with all my heart believe in something.

4.     Freely __________. I certainly understand something.

5.     Fully __________. I am aware of some situation.

6.     Honestly __________. I think something is true without any doubt.

7.     Positively __________. I hope that you do something very strongly.

8.     Readily __________. I believe in something someone else does without hesitation.

9.     Sincerely __________. I honestly want something for someone else.

10.  Strongly __________. I really think you should do something.

11.  Totally __________. I refuse to believe or do in any case.

12.  Utterly __________. I completely do not want to do or believe.

2.     Fill in the blanks with the correct expression.

A.    We ________________ any involvement in the scandal.

B.    They ________________ any compromise in these negotiations.

C.    I ________________ the local cancer society.

D.    We ________________ the current difficulties in this market.

E.     Our company ________________ his run for the office.

F.     I’m afraid I ________________ to believe anything he says.

G.    I ________________ he is telling the truth.

H.    I ________________ you are able to find employment soon.

I.       I’d like to ________________ you visit an employment specialist.

J.     I ________________ your need to improve your career.

K.    We’d like to ________________ you to buy this stock.

L.     I ________________ the loss of your loved one.

ANSWER KEY: 

1)

1.deny 2.regret 3.endorse 4.appreciate 5.recognise 6.believe 7.encourage 8.endorse 9.hope 10.recommend 11.reject 12. Refuse. 

2)

A.categorically deny B.totally reject C.enthusiastically reject D.freely appreciate E.readily endorses F.utterly refuse G.honestly believe H.sincerely hope I.strongly recommend J.fully recognise K. positively encourage L.deeply regret

VOCABULARY: Actually (C1 / C2)

Actually is a very common word in English. Actually is what we know as a false friend because it does NOT mean at the present time. To mean at the present time we can use the word currently or the phrase at the moment.

We say:
I am currently working part-time OR I am working part-time at the moment.

Actually has several different uses and functions.

SOME USES OF ACTUALLY ARE:

1. to correct information or expectations
2. to confirm information or expectations
3. to clarify/give extra information
4. as a softener, before bad news
5. for emphasis, to introduce surprising information
6. to mean "in fact"

Now match the uses of actually with the sentences below.

A. The British actually like their pleasures small.
B. There is a big difference between the official way of doing things and the way things are actually done.
C. A: Has Fred sold his car yet? Yes he has, actually.
D. I'm in a hurry so I won't stop. Actually, I'm meeting Richard.
E. A: Are you still on for Friday. B: Well, actually, we're not going to be able to make it, I'm afraid.
F. A: When are you off on holiday? B: Well, actually, we're not going now.


ANSWER KEY:
A.6
B.5
C.2
D.3
E.4
F.1


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Developing listening

Hi everyone,


I thought it is necessary to speak about listening. 

Listening is usually the most difficult skill to master by foreign students. When you speak to native speakers, you don't usually have difficulties talking but the problem arises when they reply, you don't understand... 

You put on the TV to watch an American film or TV series and you don't understand. 

But how come I can speak quite fluently but I am not able to understand a single word I hear??? This is what you normally ask yourselves.

Well, the answer is very simple you don't listen enough. It's hard to accept but it's the truth, in order to be able to understand native speakers you need to practise much much more your listening.

I'll give a clear example. My 2 year-old daughter is starting to speak now, she can put together two or three words now and she can transmit very simple messages related with her needs and priorities. She's now starting to speak, however, she's been able to understand us for more than a year. She does not understand everything completely, but I dare say she understands 80 % of what we say. And when she does not understand she doesn't care, she repeats what we say and laugh and probably next time she will understand what we say.

Why am I talking about my little girl now?? 

She's also learning a language and so are you. In my opinion we should all learn from her if we want to master a foreign language. Babies start listening to the language the will learn before they are able to utter a single word, they listen and listen for around a year and a half before they actually start saying their first words. Then, they start repeating the same words over and over again. They don't miss a chance to show off and let everybody know the new words they have learnt, when they don't understand something, they don't get frustrated or demotivated, instead they repeat what they hear without even understanding what they are saying but they are confident they will pick up the new words and one day will understand them.

So what is the lesson here:

1. Start listening more (and more and more).

2. Don't be demotivated if there are things you don't understand.

3. Learn to live happily with that level of "not knowing and not understanding".

4. Practise the new vocabulary, if you learn it you will be then able to recognise it.

5. Practise pronunciation, if you know how words are pronounced, it will be easier for you to recognise them.

6. Practise your speaking, the more you'll speak the more you'll listen.

7. Enjoy your learning experience because it can be lots of fun!!


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Discourse Markers (C1)

Go through the notes and do the activity below. 
Discourse Markers



Complete the texts with the following discourse markers.

AFTER ALL     TO BE HONEST     ADMITTEDLY     ANYWAY     FOR ONE THING

(1) "_______________, there are some disadvantages to working alone at home. (2) _______________, there isn't the human contact you get if you work in an office with other people. (3) _______________, though, that doesn't bother me too much, as I get to see much more of my wife and children - (4) _______________, they're the people that really matter, aren't they? And (5) _______________, in my last job, there was always lots of backbiting and other unpleasantness, so I'm happy the way it is now."

AT LEAST      OF COURSE      GENERALLY       

ALL THE SAME      I MEAN

(6) "_______________ speaking, going on holiday alone is much better than going with a group of friends. (7) _______________, that's what I think, anyway. (8) _______________, for example, if you're with other people, there are always disputes and arguments about what to do and where to go next, and that doesn't happen if you're on your own. (9) _______________, if it's just you, there will be times when you get lonely and you don't know what to do. But (10) _______________, I still think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

ACTUALLY     ULTIMATELY    IN FACT      

MIND YOU       ANYWAY

"I'm home alone because my husband is on holiday with his friends at the moment, lucky thing! (11) _______________ , though, he deserved it - he's been working really hard lately and he needed a break. (12) _______________, as I was saying, I have the house for myself and I thought I would enjoy it, but (13) _______________, I'm quite bored. (14) _______________ after the first day I invited a friend to stay to keep me company. The whole thing has made realised that (15)  _______________ I can't stand being alone."

ANSWER KEY:

1. admittedly

2. for one thing

3. to be honest

4. after all / to be honest

5. anyway

6. generally

7. at least

8. I mean

9. of course

10. all the same

11. mind you / actually

12. anyway

13. actually

14. in fact

15. ultimately

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The importance of writing

Hello everyone,

This is a quick post about writing to remind you about its importance. 

In class teachers normally focus on speaking and listening because these are the skills you need the most. However, we cannot overlook the importance of writing.

You normally practise writing at home when you do the grammar activities, answer the reading comprehension questions or when you do a composition. In class we hardly ever write and, when we do, is normally very small things. For this reason you need to write more. You need to find opportunities to learn new things and revise the language you already know and writing is a good method.

Writing gives you a good opportunity to learn new words, revise the words you already know and expand your knowledge of them. Writing also helps you to practise grammar structures and patterns studied at the previous lessons. In addition, the more you practise the better you write. By practising writing your reading, listening and speaking skills also improve.

All the works you hand in are marked and corrected very accurately for you to learn from your mistakes, but sometimes you need to write just for the sake of writing and communicating and this is what you need to do more. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes, it doesn't matter if your text isn't perfect, the simple fact of writing will activate your knowledge and this will help you learn and fix the structures in your brain.

Try to find opportunities to write (and therefore learn):

1. Write your shopping list in English

2. Write your "To do list" in English

3. Text or whatsapp your friends in English

4. Write the comments in our Facebook group in English

5. Write comments to my blog entries (this is particularly useful because you always have a writing sample that you can copy so it's an excellent opportunity to revise the language we've seen in class)

Can you think of other ways of improving your writing?

Do you reckon you will start writing more in English from now on?



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