WRITING 00: INTRODUCING YOURSELF

These points you've got here are extra points,

don't give up and keep on writing!!!!

My name is Yaiza , I am fifteen years old and I study first of Batxillerat at IES Barri Besòs.
I have a brother, his name is Yeray and he is five years old. My parents are called Juan and Lidia. They are forty-three and forty-five years old.
I have two pets,they are fishes.Their names are Anakin and DarthVader.
One of my hobbies is listening to music. I like lot of groups of music but my favourite group is "El Canto del Loco". Without music I don't live!
I also like going out with my friends and going to shopping.I love going to the discos. Dancing is one of my hobbies. Another of my hobbies is chatting with friends.
I hate tennis matches. I get bored seeing them. I don't like going to buy food, it is too boring. I also hate "heavy" music. 9/10

Hello my name is Israel, Isra for a friends.
I am 16 years old, I live with my brothers and my mother,
I have 8 months in Barcelona and study in IES Barri Besòs.
I like to enjoy my free time in celebrations, partys or with friends
I am very fanatic to the sport and the art 5/10

Hi, my name's Vero. I'm 16 and I study first of Batchillerat at IES Barri Besòs.
I live in Barcelona with my parents and my brother. My parents are called Juan Manuel and Montse and they are 39 and 37 years old. My brother's name is Raúl and he's five years old. I've got a dog, his name is Crispy.
I like listening TO music and going to the cinema. I love going with my best friend Sabina. My favourite subject is Maths. 9/10

Hi, my name is Sabina. I'm 16 years old. I'm from Uzbekistan, but I live with my parents in Barcelona. I've got two sisters, their names are Cristina and Marta. I like listening to music and going to the disco with my best friend, Vero. 10/10

Hello, my name's Sonia.I'm fifteen years old, but on Sunday twenty-three (in seven days) I WILL BE sixteen.
I live in Barcelona with my parents and my sister. My parents are called Cristina(42 years old) and Francisco(49 years old).
My sister's name is Marta, SHE is very naughty and very affectionate.
I study first of Batchillerat at I.E.S Barri Besòs. In two years I will go to selectivity and to the university also.
I love training martial arts. I like listening to music, going to cinema and to walk. 6/10

Hi! My name is Pilar but for my friends I'm Pili and I'm seventeen years old.I WAS BORN borned the three of JANUARY Genuary in Barcelona.Actuallity AT THE MOMENT I live with my grandmother Paquita in "LA MINA" district,the people think than my district is dangerous but it isn't true, IT'S only is fame.
I'm study first of Batchillerat in AN I.E.S .
ON The Saturdays and Sundays i'm I work in burger king .
My FAVOURITE hobbies prefer is ARE to listening and dancing latin music and blak BLACK music(hip-hop,r&b..)
I like much the pets like the dog,cats but the tigers is my FAVOURITE animal prefer.
I don't like much to goING out at night VERY MUCH I'm more of house. I PREFER STAYING AT HOME. 0/10

Hi! My name´s is Antonio. I live in Barcelona, in Spain, with my family. I'm 16 years old. I've got one sister and one brother. They nameS are Yani and Miguel. I haven't got ANY pet.
My favourite hobbies are playing basketball and listening to music. I've got some balls and CDs. Another WC I ALSO love going TO THE cinema, but I hate geography subjeCt, IT is very boring, and my favourite subject is technology, beacuse IT is very easy and I love doing work technOlogy . 4/10

My name is Albert. I’m 16 and I live in Barcelona.
I love my city but I think is too dirty, too noisy… but it's my city and it’s the best.
I have a brother, a great brother, but sometimes I don’t think so, only sometimes.
Nowadays I study first of “Batxillerat”, non obligatory education, and I want to finish this in two years.
I love listening to music. I like a lot of different types of music, international bands like Maximo Park or Peter Bjorn and John, Catalan or Valencian bands, house…
Music is very important.
Another thing I love is nature. I love nature more than music, and I’m so sad and worried when somebody destroys it, but it is very usual and only some people do anything to avoid the destruction of the environment.
I adore “Barça” and its players, its colours, its… I adore all about Barça and I’m so sad when it loses a match. All my family is “culé” and I’m “culé” too, of course, my blood is blue and maroon, :D 9/10
Good bye and be happy.

Hello my name is Laura. I'm 16 years old. I've got a brother, his name is Miguel Angel and he is 16 years old. I live with my parents in Barcelona in Spain.My mother is 49 years old and my father is 50 years old.
I study at the IES Barri Besos. I'm doing first of batxillerat.
My favourite subject is maths.I like listening to music but I haven't got ANY favourite group. I like dancing in the disco with my friends. 9/10

Hi! My nickname is Mike. I'm 16. I live in Barcelona with my family and I study at IES Barri Bèsos.
I spend my free-time reading books, drawing or listening to english C music (I like much RS)
There aren't much WC things which I don't like. But probably making the wash WC is the most I hate.
Finally I want to recommend a song: More than Words from Extreme
Good Weekend for you all!!! 6/10
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hello C, I am called manuel, I been WC 15 years old and I fulfill the -A 16 within two weeks. + study in WC the -A IES barri besòs of Barcelona, I am trainer of soccer 5 WC and I like music, the -A sports and to leave WC with the friends 2/10
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Hello P My name is Alex
I have WC 17 years I'm fron Equator but +W life WC in Barcelona with my mother end Sp my brother but +W have two brothers in Equator.
I'm studing Sp in WC the -A school IES Barri Besos WO.
I' ve must WC friends end Sp they are very entertainWC. My sport favourity WO Sp is the -A futbol Sp end Sp +W like listening to music end Sp too WO playing futbol in a equipo WC.
I've+W a rabbit. At school my favourity Sp subject are Historia end Economia Sp Sp Sp.
I like read WF bookS/P the WC filosofia Sp well I'm think MNC.
Well this in Sp the end. 0/10
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Hi! my C name's Gaby and I'm 16. I live in Barcelona with my parents and my brother (he's 20 and he's studying at University UPC WO).
I've got two pets, a cat (Mishu, I know that it's Sp name is not original) and a parrot (Lola).
I love the -A music, because I play the piano, the guitar (a little), + accordion,... etc. drummer WC and all WC percusion Sp too but, the piano is par excellence the more sublime of the instruments and it's fantastic. In my free-time I play the piano or other WC instrument, I spend a lot of time in WC the instruments but I'm not WC realize SP of - this. I think that this Art is very important :) 0/10

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hey C !my C name's Javi. I have WC 17 years IS, Im Sp from equator C but +W lifeWF whith Sp my family in spain C since 2000.
this C years S/P i C study Batxiller (trying to :)) in the most betterWF school of barcelona IES Barri Besos,
I love playing the guitar..yeahh, snowboard,playing basketball and reading ( I recommend the Dan Brown book's Sp angels & demons C)
My favourite music is salsa, hip hop , rock, and more:)
see C +W later 0/10
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Hi!
My name is Natàlia.I'm 17 and I live in Barcelona, i C like my city but there is too much contamination WC.
I study first of Batxillerat in the school; P I.E.S Barri Besos WO.
I live with my parents; P Montse and Ramon, and my older sister; P Raquel, and sometimes +W my grandmother.
I love to -W the -A animals, in my floorWC 6 cats and one dog live WO, all were gathered of WC the street or +W the camping.
I adore to go WF to the camping, there go to the party MNC and I dance, +W is a festival WC of WC Saturday night.
Also I like WO the -A theater, I am +A actrees of the group the theater of the school WO. 0/10

Some of your answers (by the way: Thaks a lot!)

The Canterbury Tales, your answers!

Who wrote this book?
The book was written by Geoffrey Chaucer.
This collection of stories was written by Geoffrey Chaucer.

When was it written?
The stories were written in the 14th century.
It was written between 1381 and 1386.
It was written between the 1380’s and the late 1390’s.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales between 1387 and 1400.

Where is Canterbury?
Canterbury is in England, in Kent's county
Canterbury (New Zealand) is in England (????)
Canterbury is in eastern Kent in the South East region of England.

How far is it from London? (remember far from)
Canterbury is to 89 km from London
It is 62.8mi (101,07 km) far from London.
It is 56mi(90km) far from London

What is a pilgrim?
-Someone who journeys to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion.
-A person who goes on a religious journey, their goal being to reach a specific holy place.
-It means: person who goes to a sanctuary by devotion
-IT Is one who undertakes a religious long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes the journey is to a sacred place.
-A person who does a trip to visit a sanctuary, with a staff and a cape
-One who embarks on a quest for something conceived of /as sacred.(choose the right one!)
-The pilgrim is a person who visits and travels to sacred places as religious act
-is someone who inmigrated from great britain to America (that's more than a pilgrim!)
-Is a people religioso. (good Spanglish!)
-who come from all layers of society (?????)
-Someone who journeys in foreign lands .

When was the printing press invented?
-It was invented in Germany by Johann Gutenberg in 1440
-Gutenberg in 1449, (it published the “Misal de Constanza”)
-The history says: The printing press with movable type was invented more or less at 1450 by Gutenberg. But some people say the printing press was invented in the X or XI century in China.
-The inventor of the modern press or of the mobile types was Johannes Gutenberg. His creation I take course in the middle of the 15th century.

GUIDE FOR CORRECTING WRITING ERRORS

Hi dear students, could you correct the following mistakes?

S/P: singular-plural
He have been here for six month.

A: article
I had a accident.

WF: word form
I saw a beauty picture.

WC: word choice
He got on the taxi.

VT: verb tense
He is here since June.

+W: add a word
I want+ go to the zoo.

-W: omit a word
She answered -to my question.

WO: word order
I liked very much that movie.

IS: incomplete sentence
When it began to rain.

Sp: spelling
Come wit us to the park.

P: punctuation
What did he say.

C: capitalization
I am studying english.

MNC: meaning not clear
He borrowed some smoke.

RS: run-on sentence
My father is hungry, he hasn't eat breakfast.

This would be the code to mark your writing mistakes;
if you don't understand any of them, please let me know!

Writing Task: My best friend Javi.

Hi everybody, this is your unit 1 writing task: write 80-200 words, don't forget to follow the three-paragraph-plan and remember to use -ing after like and dislike verbs. From this very moment, you've got a week to send it .

Javi, one of my friends.

One of my best friend is called Javi, he lives in Valencia and he works in the 9 channel TV studios. I met him at school 16 years ago, he was one of my last-year students and he didn’t like English. He wasn’t good at it. Now he’s 35.

He lives by himself in a small flat, and I think he is lucky because he enjoys a communal swimming pool. He’s got a sister, she’s older than him and she still lives at their parent’s home in Calpe.

We became friends because he loves taking and developing pictures and so do I. We hardly ever see each other but when we meet, we have always many things to talk about. He loves cinema and he likes travelling very much; he really enjoys eating out, you can ask him where to eat in Firenze or in Istambul. He can’t stand people behaving like hooligans and he isn’t really into fashion, he doesn’t mind smoking and he hates sport, perhaps he will become a coach potato in the future, who knows? (180 words)

The Housing Problem, "little boxes"

Little Boxes

Little boxes is a metaphor for the clean and neat American houses and cottages which are all alike. In this song, however, 'little boxes' means also compartments, categories.

Find out the meaning of the expressions in blue.
When was this song written? Where?
Have you heard it before? Where and when?
I hope you enjoy singing it!

Happy weekend!

Little Boxes
Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses all went to the university
Where they were put in boxes and they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and there's lawyers, and business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course and drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp and then to the university
Where they are put in boxes and they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

cognates-false friends/ likes & dislikes

Cognates & false friends, likes and dislikes.

cognates: words which are similar in two languages

false friends: words which look similar to words in your language, but the meaning is different

different ways of expressing likes: I love..., I'm mad about..., I'm really into..., I like..., I enjoy..., I think ... is great, ...

and dislikes: I don't mind..., I'm not keen on..., I hate..., I can't stand..., I think... is terrible.

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1 Actually I’m from Bolton, but we live in a house in the suburbs of Manchester, where I’m sitting at my desk at this moment. It’s a quiet area, and there’s nothing much to do. You have to go into the centre for gigs or to shop.

2 I spend a lot of time down at the park with my friends, just talking. I love art, cinema and the theatre. I also like ice-skating and I love swimming –I go at least once a week. I love surfing the net, sending emails and learning to do new things on my computer and I’m mad about music! At the moment I’m really into Garbage and Moby –and I think Korn’s latest CD sounds fantastic!

3 I go to a large mixed school. I think it’s quite strict, but not too bad. My best subject is art. I really hate doing exams, though.

4 My parents and I don’t often spend a lot of time together, but I know I can always count on them if I need anything. I’ve got one sister. We usually have a lot of arguments (especially because I often wear her clothes), but right now she’s studying Economics in Brighton, so I can do what I like!

5 I don’t like pressure. For example at school, I can’t stand people who are very competitive.

6 I don’t have to get up very early on Sundays (there’s no school, of course) but I get up at 10am, because I attend a drama school in the morning. Later I go shopping. I usually stay in at night and watch TV.

7 I want to go to college, maybe to study art. I’d love to live in Paris. As for work, I don’t know what career to choose yet. My parents want me to be a teacher, but it’s too early to decide!

STATIVE VERBS

STATIVE VERBS

Indiquen un estat i no tant una acció en procés i, per això, gairebé sempre s’utilitzen en la forma simple i no en la progressiva.

Están relacionats amb:
Els gustos, les emocions i el sentiments (like, love, prefer, want, dislike, hate, hope)
El pensament i l’opinió (appear, believe, consider, depend, doubt, forget, guess, imagine, know, mean, realise, remember, seem, suposse, think, understand)
La percepció i els sentits (feel, hear, see, smell, sound, taste)
La possessió (belong, have, owe, own, possess)
Els preus i les mesures (cost, weigh, measure)

Alguns indiquen les dues coses, estat i activitat, i poden utilitzar-se en la forma simple i en la progressiva.

Per exemple, think en Present Simple expressa opinió i en Present Continuous activitat mental en procés.
I think he knows the truth.
(crec/opino que ell sap la veritat)
She’s thinking about talking to her teacher.
(Està pensant a parlar amb el seu professor)

I el verb see en Present Continuous fa referència a una acció futura fixada per endavant.
He’s seeing his boss tomorrow.
(Demà veurà el seu cap)

The Canterbury Tales

Hi you all!
Today was our first lesson and I forgot to tell you something.
It's about the book you have to read this term, it's called The Canterbury Tales.
And now some questions:

Who wrote this book?
When was it written?
Where is Canterbury?
How far is it from London?
What is a pilgrim?
When was the printing press invented?

The Canterbury Tales is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.
If we trust the General Prologue, the author intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. As the printing press had yet to be invented when it was written, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.

Write your answers as comments and let me know your opinion about it!

SONGS FOR PEACE, wind of change

Scorpions - Wind of Change (1991) 

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change

The world closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change


Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change

Walking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change

The wind of change blows straight
Into the face of time
Like a storm wind that will ring
The freedom bell for peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change

The lyrics celebrate Glasnost in the USSR, the end of the Cold War, and the widespread fall of Socialist-run governments among eastern bloc nations beginning in 1989.

Writing Task: Yourself and your free-time activities

Hi everybody, this is a sample for you to get inspiration:

My name's Elena, I'm 46 and I work at IES Barri Besòs teaching English (better said trying to ).

I love hiking in the mountains, nature and travelling around. I'm quite 'green'.
I enjoy reading, I like chatting with friends and I 'm really into taking pictures.

I really hate reality shows and I can't stand watching the news on TV (they depress me a lot).
I don't mind housework, but I prefer cooking to cleaning windows.

Listening to music relaxes me and gives me energy at the same time, I think music is a wonderful thing!

Just for fun: can you guess where this picture has been taken?