ESSAY, how to do it properly?

Hi one more time!! I consider it is time to start... On the second of September will be my final exam... and I have to workout my writing skills...
If you click this link.. you'll find some tips to create a superb essay... or at least some points which should be taken into account...
http://cae-tips.blogspot.com.es/2011/03/writing-task-essay.html
http://elblogdelingles.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/como-escribir-un-ensayo-essay-fce-part-2.html
http://www.salesianosbadajoz.com/alumnos/Ingles/Opinion%20essay.pdf

I wish it could help you... I'll take a look tomorrow... right now... I'm exhausted...

Final exam

Hi! After the final exam, most of us still have an appoinment in september. In my case, Writing was my weak skill and sooner or later, I'll prepare in a proper way. I'll try to upload all what I consider it could be interesting to know how to learn formal or informal writing and the huge varieties that we might find in September... but at the moment, I need a break! Enjoy your holidays and rest, because we will need to focus... Enjoy your summer!!

Last homework 10th June

Check the mistakes! Try to make it better!!

In av-ee-t1 t2 from egonzalezlara

Homework 3rd June

The more simple, the better:
- Student's book: 138, exercises 1,2, 6
- And a Proposal (watch the last post in this blog)
- And also a reading: Downhill race:

Sorry, I wrote down the keys... but we still don't know whether they are correct or not... Today we will see!! See you!!

Homework 29th May

Keys from Cantabria's reading:
TASK 1
1C, 2C, 3C, 4B, 5C, 6C, 7B, 8B,9C,10B
TASK 2
1.- activities
2.- reaching
3.- debt
4.- by/only
5.- showed
6.- masking
7.- research
8.- incredibly
9.- rise
10.- ease


More info about the writing exam: No dictionaries allowed, 50 minutes, we must include a lay out (will be compulsory), pay attention which kind of text type should we use... and of course, be lucky!!

Our last reading, for today, Wednesday 29th
Don't waste your time looking for it, because it was given by our teacher in class

Exercise of Grammar inversion --> Today Wednesday!
Writing a Proposal: Exercise 1 (For next Monday,I guess!!)

Homework for next Monday

Homework! Reading test Cantabria  (task1 and task 2) --> from Dossier 4

Public examinations in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Click this link for more info
http://isidoroefpe.blogspot.com.es/p/public-examinations-oposiciones.html

Homework 22sd May 2013

Hi to everyone! We are almost on the final line... But classes will be longer than we expected. It means that last day will be the 12th of June, unbelievable!!
        Anyway, focusing in what have we made on Monday... we checked the activities of Opposite and the 2012's exam. And here you are the solutions in case you want to know more or less how is your level:
HOUSEWORK TIPS:
0 F, 1H, 2G, 3D, 4C, 5J, 6F
"ALMIGHTY FRAUD": A REVIEW
O T, 7 F, 8 T, 9 T, 10 F, 11 T and finally 12 F.
We also made some listenings and read the transcription, which was really useful. At the end of the class we made a speaking activities in groups of 5 or 6 people and we were discussing about situations to say some sentences


For the next Wednesday, homework:
From the dossier 4 --> Shiatsu page and from Student's book, page 154, exercise 1

Homework for this week (Wednesday 15th will be no class)

What have we made today?

First of all, we checked our exercises from the dossier, and we made from the Student's book, page 151, exercises 6 and 7. We made a listening from the trailer ARGO (dossier). And we also were speaking about the date of the exam: We are having exam on the 20th, that means, that we will be teached until the first week of June... no coment!! It will be too late, too hot, and worse than other years, but Cheer up! I consider this year could be the year... who knows? About some specifications about exam:
-Reading 50 minutes for 2 different exercises
- Listening, 2 differente with also 2 different exercises
- Writing, 200-250 words, 50 minutes? I don't remember, but it could fit. We still don't know if it will be 2 options like in 2012.
- Speaking:
                          a.- 4 minutes to prepare your topic + 4-5 minutes speech
                          b.- 8-9 minutes conversation. In pairs. (without time to prepare)

Exercises for next Monday the 20th:
- From the last dossier: pages 39 and 40 (Opposites 1 and Opposites 3)
- Reading "Housework tips", it is not in the dossier, this copies were given by our teacher in class, here you can watch them:

 (pictures)

Homework 13th May 2013

Only activities Open Cloze (the same of piranhas): Thai food and Key word transformation. Only this and remember you that Wednesday and Thursday will be no class because our teacher will be in Cyprus.
Sorry one more time for the delayed post. I wanted to post before, but I didn't find the moment... See you around!

Isidoro Candel

Homework 8th May 2013

On Monday we worked some listening activities, from the Student's book, and some exercises from page 94 (2 and 4) and from 95, exercise 1. We checked Home Comfort (previous activity), and I don't really remember any more. The exercises for today are "Clip Culture", pages 4 and 5 from the latest Dossier. I remind you that next 15th May, there won't be class due to the trip to Cyprus of our teacher.

Homework 29th April 2013

Sorry one more time for the delay... For the next Monday we should do exercises from the last dossier (which can be downloaded  from the teacher's blog), "Home Comfort" in pages 26,27 and 28. And from page 15 Speak out- Advanced progress... Have a nice weekend!!

Homework 24th April 2013

I'm sorry, the 22sd I was absent... I feel like if I would be running out of time every second... anyway... I'm here once more time. And I think, this time could be useful, because the audience on Wednesday was little... Ok, focusing in the aim of this post:
What we made:
1.- Checking the piranhas "filling gap exercise".
Answers: as, killer, carnivore, experts, themselves, enable, behaviour, like, avoiding, reproductive, protection, size, differs, risk and predators.
2.- We read page 84 from student's book, exercises 1,2 and 3
3.- We talked with Toby about  how our life have changed in the last 50 years... (technology, communication...)




As a homework, you should do...
page 85, from Student's book, exercise 5b (take a look from page 84!!)
and a reading "an approaching groups"

Have a nice weekend!!

16 topics

Sorry for the delay!! I´m really busy right now!! This is my own creation... That means that it could contain some spealling mistakes... but anyway, I think It could be useful for those who has to be examined today. I'm sorry, but I couldn't upload befor. Maybe you'll use for June, who knows ? See you on Wednesday!! The class will start as usual!!

Remember that some vocabulary was posted some months ago... could be useful!!

Take a look... some vocabulary for our test is already posted in this blog...

http://eoitoledob22.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/speaking-test-ahead-be-ready.html

Some related videos which could be interesting ...

Education: Never Stop Learning

Next class will be the next Wednesday the 17th April

Homework 25th March 2013

 Process ( I'm sorry)

But .... there won't be class next Wednesday the 27th!!! Next day will be the 8th of April, and pay attention, because the 10th and 15th will be the oral tests, if you have not singed... you don't need to come...

I'll post the homework when someone who went to class will send me an email... See you and have a wonderful Easter!!

Thanks to Antonio, we can have this photocopies which were given and done this day:

photocopy from 25-3_2013 from Isidoro Interino JCCM Educación

fotocopy_25-3-2013 from Isidoro Interino JCCM Educación

No class for Wednesday the 20th

Due to the Irland trip to Microsoft facilities, there will be no class the next Wednesday. There is also no new homework but reviewing all that we have done since the start it should be our homework. About the Monday's class, it was San Patrick's day, and we worked a large list of related vocabulary. We checked the exercises about modal verbs from the dossier. We listened to the first audio from the first group, who after the play was assesst by the class following the teacher's criteria. Although they were the first, they made very well and of course, they had would passed the exam.  Congratulations!! And right now, I'm not really sure if we made something more, but don't worry... I would upload it later. Have a nice weekend and Congratulations for all whose name is Pepe, Pepa, José, Josefa or Pepita... and of course for all fathers!!

Homework 13th March 2013

            After suffering a complicated correction that it lasted about 30 minutes... we listened to the same listening (task 3, EOI  Xunta Galicia from page 62 (An interview Ian McEwan ), those who were in the last class could check and others could listen only once... Afterwards, our teacher made us speak in small groups about an exercise in Student's book from unit 7 "Shipwrecked", we were discussing about the type of the reality and how will be made in order to have success. Later, we listened a track which was related with the same topic and finally, we watch a ppt about Slang and dialects.
            And of course I won't forget the homework for Monday. From our loved dossier, pages 44 and 45, Modal Verbs, these exercise should be easier than the "Causative Form" nightmare-exercises... but I consider it is quite easy to manage it!  Ok, that's all folks!! Have a superb weekend!!

Homework 11th March 2013

Lots of exercises were prepared for today, but... without the explanation of Causative form's theory... most of us couldn't have success. As a general problem, our teacher decided to check only the first 20 sentences (from page 43) in order to offer an example of how to do it. Here you are the 20 first causative form changed sentences. I hope all are ok, because the checking time is in some periods a mess (in my notebook). Anyway, this is better than nothing, doesn't it?

Write sentences in the causative form as in the example:

1.- John will have some bring him the post

1.- John will have the post brought to him

2.- Did Sheila ask the dressmaker to make her a dress?

2.- Did Sheila have a dress made?

3.- When will his photographs be developed?

3.- When will have his photographs been developed / developed? (both are possible)

4.- The decorators are decorating Tim’s house at the moment.

4.- Tim is having his house decorating at the moment.

5.- Your car needs to be serviced.

5.- You need to have your car serviced.

6.- The gardener was pruning Bob’s bushes.

6.- Bob was having his bushes pruned.

7.- The manager had asked the secretary to book a room for him

7.- The manager had a room booked for him.

8.- I paid someone to fix the roof of my house.

8.- I paid someone for having the roof of my house fixed.

9.- Let’s ask the porter to carry the luggage to the taxi.

9.- Let’s ask the porter to have the luggage carried to the taxi.

10.- Larry has got the plastic surgeon to remove his tatoo.

10.- Larry has his tatoo removed.

11.- A nurse took her temperature.

11.- A nurse had her temperature taken.

12.- The make-up artist was applying the model’s lipstick.

12.- The model was having the lipstick applied.

13.- Ask the cook to prepare the vegetables.

13.- Ask the cook to have the vegetables prepared.

14.- Have you told the accountant to check the figures?

14.- Have you told the accountant to have the figures checked?

15.- Jim hates the teacher correcting his mistakes.

15.- Jim hates having his mistakes corrected.

16.- Did the beautician paint Joanne’s nails?

16.- Did Joanne’s have her nails painted?

17.- He told the maid to serve breakfast in his room.

17.- He told the maid to have breakfast served in his room.

18.- Dad was late bacause the garage had been servicing his car.

18.- He had been having his car serviced.

19.- Pam is going to tell someone to reapir the pipes.

19.- Pam is going to tell someone to have the pipes repaired.

20.- My parents’ house was burgled last Monday.

20.- My parents had their house burgled last Monday.

        As a homework, finish the exercises from page 43 (the same as the last day, you can visit my last post) and bearing in mind, I think that we have to write down and Opinion article. Nothing more for Wednesday! 
       We also made a listening activity (page 62,  listening from Xunta Galicia, Task 3) but we hadn't enough time to check it. Our American girls came to speak about Uncle Sam and the meaning of flags for people.... Nothing more in my mind, at least at the moment... I hope it was helpful!! Enjoy it! 

Homework 6th March 2013

If you are with laziness, it would be better that you don't go on reading. As a homework for the next day we have to do exercises from page 68 and 69, "Laws and punishments" and also from page 43 "6.Passive voice /Causative Form" (click here if you want some help) . Moreover, for next Wednesday, prepare an "Opinion article" about this three topics:
1.- Spend or waste money in fashion.
2.- Cars, dangerous vehicle?
3.- Will life be better i the future?

Length: 180-200 words.

Today's class started with a role-play activity in which 2 people where in an interview, one as an employer and other as an employee. Next, this video was shown:

and the "filling the gap" activity from page 53 (Dossier) was done.

Going back to the Writing activity, pay attention to this ppt from the teacher's blog, because it was explained in class in detail. Later we work on our own with a double side photocopy.

The exercises were checked straightaway. I hope this information was helpful, no hesitate and send an email if you don't understand anything... See you around and have a nice weekend!!

Homework 4th March 2013

You have a little work to do for next wednesday... Prepare yourself for a role-playing in which one partner will be the employee and the other one the employer. This exercise is related with a sheet of paper which was been given by our teacher. But you don't really need it. Here is the activity:

3.- Take a look at this job advertisement

MICROSOFT IRELAND SEEKS FOR A Senior Software Development Engineer

To occupy a one-year vacancy. Good salary and possibilities for a long-term hiring period. Send your application letter to South County Business Park, Leopardstown

a) What kind of skills do you really need for this job vacancy? Why?
b) In which ways will you do the job interview?

4.- Role-play activity (THIS HIS THE ACTIVITY THAT I TOLD BEFORE!!)
A).- Student A is going to be the employer. Choose some of the above-mentioned questions.
B).- Student B will be the employee. You will have ten minutes to prepare answers for the job interview.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

And for those who played hooky or only a little bit lazy with the rain and these stuffs... I've to remember you that we checked the exercises of "Useful english" and the page about passive. We watched a video related with Irland from the teachers' blog and we made and exercise. Afterwards, the American girls came and we talked about man and woman in a small groups. That was all. See you next wednesday!!

Homework 27th February 2013

Last Monday there wasn't any new homework... If you were not in class today, don't worry, because I'll tell you what have we done: First of all, we checked the exercise "The bat" from the dossier, afterward we watch a powerpoint about the use of "Gerund or the Infinitive". It will be posted on the teacher's blog. 

         We went on with a listening from page 61 (dossier) "Task 2, EOI Galicia". If you bought the dossier, you can do the "Use of english". Finally, for this weekend, we have from page 10 and 11, "Passive voice test" as a homework. Whether I'll see you on the speaking workshop, or I wish you all a superb nice weekend!.

Homework 20th February 2013

Today we have checked the page related with crime from the dossier. All the others exercises written in my last post will be checked the next day. You should also do the page 48 (BAT) and from Student's Book, page 75, exercises 1 and 2. No more for today. If you feel like to speak a little bit, I'll see you on the speaking workshop, if not, have a nice weekend!!

Homework 18th February 2013

Hi once more time!! On Monday... some of us were  in classroom number 13 or 16, I don't really remember, but it was the penthouse, next to the Althia room. The small gruop that got to be inside this room were enjoying an entertaining speech about Chicago (geography, history, sports, architecture, and some other anecdotes which could be very useful in case we have to speak about an American big city or something like this). For those who are interested, I've uploaded some audio files  (I recorded some parts of the speech) on the dropbox. Feel you free to listen or copy if you want. There isn't a very good quality, but my mobile phone can't be better and I think I was a bit far away from the speaker. Anyway, If you are interested, look for in the folders and you can get about 30 or 40 minutes of the audio.
            As I said before, only a small group of us were in the speech, the other part of the class were with our teacher in our regular classroom. They didn't check nothing at all, and all homework will be checked on Wednesday ( today). Nothing more to add for today, see you later and have a nice day!!

New vocabulary (extracted from PTEC Murcia's test)

Hi! I don't know if you felt like me the other day with the surprising test, but I was absolutely overwhelmed with a large amount of new vocabulary. I spent some time translating, and afterwards... it is much easier, try to read with knowing all the meanings!!  Much easier, isn't it?

Vocabulary ptec murcia_test from Isidoro Interino JCCM Educación

Homework 13th February 2013

I´m so sorry. I know that it is a little bit late, but as you know I´m currently very busy... Homework from the dossier pages 46 and 47, in which you´ll need to rephrase some sentences and pages 66,67 and 68 where you´ll learn some vocabulary and collocations about laws. Sorry once more for the delay...

CORRUPTION / Spain gripped by 'corruption' scandal

Here some videos in which we know what our european neighbours think about us... Take a look!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21359234

Even more here...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21361644

LAWS // Spain's Operacion Puerto to inflict more embarrassment on cycling

This article belongs to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/21259759

By Matt Slater
            BBC sports news reporter
Last week, Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford said he thought cycling knew enough now about doping to come up with a decent plan to tackle it.
"If 25 guys tell you how they robbed a bank, what new information are you going to learn from the 26th, 27th… it's a diminishing return," he suggested.
It was a mildly controversial thing for him to say at the time, but events this week have made his stance even more isolated.
The International Cycling Union's (UCI) decision to scrap the independent commission it set up to look into the Lance Armstrong scandal will come as little surprise to some. Yet its alternative plan for a "truth and reconciliation commission" proves there are still people at the top in cycling who can tell which way the wind is blowing.
There is, however, one corner of the cycling world that seems to be as uneasy about "T&R" as Brailsford is. That is Spain, which is coincidentally where Sir Dave made his remarks.
His problem with handing out amnesties for dopers in return for testimony is that it lets them off the hook too easily. He argues that cycling should just get on with making sure the sport never loses its way so badly again.
Spain's issue with truth and reconciliation is… well, it's complicated.
For proof of this look no further than the trial that has started this week in Madrid into a doping conspiracy that was uncovered nearly seven years ago, when "Operacion Puerto" shut down the blood-manipulating activities of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes and friends.


These activities certainly match Armstrong's in terms of their scale. It is their professionalism, sophistication and success that is up for debate. But first, some background. In 2004, a rider called Jesus Manzano told Spanish newspaper AS about the blood-doping secrets of his former team Kelme.


Among other shocking accusations, he claimed his dramatic exit from the 2003 Tour de France - airlifted off a mountain with near fatal dehydration - was the result of his team doctor giving him a blood-boosting drug intended for dogs.
Fuentes, having made quite a reputation for himself in athletics and at Spain's most successful cycling team ONCE, was Kelme's medicine man.
The team dismissed Manzano's story as the fabrication of a bitter man, pointing out that he had been sacked after he was caught with a woman in his hotel room during the 2003 Tour of Spain. But was he telling the truth? Enough people at the anti-drug trafficking arm of Spain's Guardia Civil thought so and started making polite inquiries about the pharmaceutical habits of the country's best cyclists. When, in 2005, Armstrong's former team-mate Roberto Heras tested positive for the drug du jour EPO on his way to a record fourth win at the Vuelta, those inquiries were bolstered by wire taps.
Heras was riding for Liberty Seguros, the old ONCE team's new sponsor, but Fuentes was his "personal physician". It would soon become apparent that Heras was not the doctor's only private patient.
By May 2006, those listening in on the wire had heard enough and arrested Fuentes and four associates, including his sister. Raids on properties owned by Fuentes uncovered almost 200 bags of frozen blood, 40 bags of plasma and a trove of steroids, growth hormone and masking agents. Most intriguingly, police also found calendars and documents marked with code names.


Matching a rider with the code would become a popular parlour game amongst cycling fans for months to come. For many of those fans, "guess the cheat" was better than watching the racing, particularly when Spanish investigators published a report two days before the start of the 2006 Tour de France that included the names of 56 cyclists. Among them was a young Alberto Contador, Armstrong whistle-blower Tyler Hamilton and Lance's favourite victim Jan Ullrich. And then? Not much really


The 2006 Tour would finish as it started, in shame, with American Floyd Landis being stripped of victory for failing a drugs test. But by that point the vast majority of those named in the Puerto case had already been told they would be facing no further action, criminal or sporting. With doping not a crime in Spain until a new law made it so in November 2006, the former was no surprise, but the fact so many were able to get away with cheating speaks volumes of an ambivalence towards doping that lingers in Spanish cycling.
To this date, only six of the 56 have been given bans for their involvement with Fuentes - and one of those, Giampaolo Caruso, would get his ban overturned on appeal - and none of those had anything to do with the Spanish cycling authorities.
You can see why Armstrong liked living in Girona so much.
So, given this Spanish reluctance to pry too deeply into old doping cases - and the fact that Fuentes and his four co-defendants face "public health" charges that have very little to do with actual sport - why the fuss about Operacion Puerto?
The short answer to that question is Balco.
Balco is shorthand for the biggest doping scandal in US sports history prior to Armstrong's.
For those who have lost count, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative was the sports nutrition company that happened to have a sideline in supplying cutting-edge doping products to some of the world's leading track and field stars as well as a number of big names from American football, baseball and boxing.
Operacion Puerto has been Europe's Balco-in-waiting ever since the name of Fuentes first hit the headlines.
That's because of his occasional - but potentially explosive - comments about his client list beyond cycling, not to mention the claims of riders like Manzano and Jorg Jaksche, who have spoken about their doctor's "other patients".
There is little doubt that Fuentes developed his expertise in what could euphemistically be called "sports medicine" when he was working with Spanish athletes in the 1980s. His future wife, Cristina Perez, was a hurdler on the national team but failed a drugs test shortly after the 1988 Olympics.
But doping in athletics - like cycling - is hardly news. Proof of doping in Spanish football or tennis, however, could plunge the country into darkness.
In the aftermath of his arrest in 2006, Fuentes said he had 200 clients in professional sport, which leaves almost 150 unaccounted for. There is also the small matter of 100 bags of unclaimed frozen blood


Yet the prospect of the 57-year-old doctor providing the names of those clients during this trial seems unlikely. The judge has already limited proceedings to the cycling cases, allowing Fuentes to admit on Tuesday that he also treated "tennis players, athletes, footballers and a boxer" and just leave it at that.
When asked by Le Monde journalist Stephane Mandard on Monday if he was going to "tell all", Fuentes said: "I don't intend to name any of my clients. For me, that's the past."


Le Monde, as it happens, was forced to pay damages to Barcelona in 2011 for a story it published in 2006 about the club's alleged links with Fuentes. The same article also mentioned Real Betis, Real Madrid and Valencia. All four clubs denied any wrongdoing.
Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal was also asked about a possible connection to Puerto in a press conference at Wimbledon in 2006. It was one of the few times anybody can remember him scowling, his rejection of any link was made very clear.
"I do not want to be a hero or a martyr. This is a huge hypocrisy," Fuentes told Mandard. There are many of his compatriots who will be delighted he feels that way.
Cycling fans, on the other hand, are going to have to endure another two months of this, as the likes of Contador and 2005 Tour runner-up Ivan Basso are called in to say as little as they possibly can about their dealings with the dodgy doctor.
It will all be very seedy and embarrassing, particularly for Contador, who only returned from a two-year ban in August.
Spain's tarnished reputation in this area is also unlikely to get much of a polishing, although getting this trial on after so many judicial roadblocks is a victory of sorts.
So as adverts for truth and reconciliation go, the Operacion Puerto trial looks set to be a disappointment. Hazy memories and the distinct possibility of a mistrial look more likely, which would ensure Fuentes keeping his secrets and Spain its heroes.

New vocabulary:
diminishing return :  rendimiento decreciente            hurdler: corredor de vallas
mildly:  moderadamente, ligeramente                       plunge: lanzarse, meterse
stance : actitud, postura                                          aftermath: consecuencia
to scrap:  pelear, reñir                                            scowling: ceñudo
who can tell which way the wind is blowing.:  quien sabe de que lado se está???
coincidentally : fortuitamente                                   dodgy: arriesgado, sospechoso
amnesties:   amnistías                                              seedy: sospechoso, de mala fama
dopers:  drogadictos                                               tarnished: manchado, empañado
airlifted :  transportado por aire                               polishing: abrillantando
intended : esperado, planeado                                 roadblocks: barricada
bolstered : reforzado                                              Hazy: difuso, confuso
wire traps: redes trampa?                                        mistrial: juicio nulo
Raids :  ataques
a trove: tesoro
intriguingly: fascinantemente
parlour : recepción
amongst: en medio de, entre
lingers : permanecer
bans: prohibiciones
overturned:: anular, volcar
reluctance: desgana
to pry: curiosear
fuss:  protestar, quejarse
shorthand: clave, escenografía
prior: anterior

Homework 6th February 2013

I'm sorry... I confess... I admit... I played hooky last monday... and I didn't get the right information to share... that is why I didn't write you... I will try to do better in case I have to be absent one more time. Moving us to our target, the homework for the next Wednesday (Monday will be off due to the Carnival celebration).
Dossier 3 --> page 34, Task 3 "Viking Woman", page 65 "Harrods" and pages 71 and 70. Exercises
And something left, we were working with a sheet about "Letters of Application", then the activity 8 should be done. If you need extra information, there is a related powerpoint in our teacher's blog .
And if you want more information about collocations, no hesitate and click here. or here if you had problems...
I hope I haven't forget anything... Have a nice Carnival!!!

Homework 30th January 2013

Hi classmates and friends! Today started with the new Booklet: page 1 "Driving in a bad weather", page 3 "New York" and page 5, "Money matters" and also the listening from page 6. Furthermore, we worked with the Student's book, page 64 (1,2 and 3) in pairs.
       For the next day we must end all the homework from Christmas and one from the booklet, page 7 "Washroom story".
       Moving us to other topic, our teacher told us the way to borrow a book, magazzine or a dvd. She has a list in which we can choose a title, and she will commissioned to bring us the book and to give it to the library... a bizarre way to say that we have library service....but with the specification that it doesn't work like few time ago...
      If you feel like to speak a little bit english, I remind you that tomorrow, there will be workshop (from 15 to 15:50). Classroom 8, as usual!.

Homework 21st January 2013

Hi! If you didn't come on Monday... you must know that...
** NEXT CLASS WILL BE THE NEXT WEDNESDAY 30th **
Yes, we have two festivity days in a row... what a match!!
       We were speaking about the last oral test and all the things that we should improve for the next time. It is very important to include in our monologue passive structures, reported speeches, modal verbs and conditionals... and if you are not very good with the given topic... please, do not be silent!! Try to use SIDE TOPICS! The more, the better, and they should be linked. And moving us to the speaking test, these that we make usually in pairs, interaction will be our target. Ask your partner if s/he understands what you are saying or which opinion s/he has. This test mustn't be a dual monologue, it should be a conversation.
       Skipping to other important thing to think about, there is a new dossier for this new term. It costs 7 euros, but if you don't want to be cheated or ripped off, you can download the files on our teacher´s blog (HERE).
       Finally, 15 minutes before the class ended, we made acquaintance with three girls from Columbia, Ohio. We were splitted in three big groups and we talk a little bit about amazon enterprise. We don't really know how long they will be with us, but anyway, they are wellcome!!

Remember to bring the photocopies for the next day (photocopies included in the dossier 3: driving in bad weather conditions, money matters and washroom story). They are on the teacher's blog, but you can also click here!

Spain's migrant healthcare dilemma

By Tom BurridgeBBC News, Madrid

A new law in Spain has revived the debate over whether illegal immigrants should receive free public healthcare.

Simone from Brazil and Prince from Nigeria are both illegal immigrants living in Spain. They both have long-term, potentially life-threatening illnesses. And until recently they both received free public healthcare.

However that could all now change.

As of this month, a new healthcare law means illegal immigrants who are over 18 will only get treated for free within Spain's healthcare system if it is an emergency or a pregnancy or birth.

Prince, 42, was born in Nigeria but has been living in Madrid for the last 15 years.

He has HIV and takes four different types of drug every day to treat the virus.

Crucially he does not have a Spanish health card and so, under the letter of Spain's new health law, he will not get free treatment.

He says he cannot afford the medicines, which he claims would cost hundreds of euros a month, and fears that the new law could send him "direct to the grave".

Simone Belmont, 40 and a mother-of-two, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011.

She had a mastectomy and has undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy. All of that treatment was administered free, courtesy of Spain's public health system.

Now, though, she says she is worried.

"I have appointments with my doctor, and I'm not sure if I'll be seen," she says.

'Segregation'

A health organisation, Doctors of the World, is running a campaign against the new law called "Right to treat", in which they are encouraging doctors to defy the new law and continue treating people who do not have the correct legal status.

The group estimates that there are around 150,000 people living in Spain illegally who will be affected

Dr Ricardo Angora says that a huge population of immigrants will be "segregated".

He warns that the new law will create a "health apartheid", in which some will be eligible for free treatment and others will not.

"We are not talking about a privilege - basic healthcare is a human right," he says.

In a recent speech, Health Minister Ana Mato argued that the new measures relating to illegal immigrants' access to free public healthcare were "not driven by a desire to save money".

She argued it was a question of Spain complying with European health regulations and ensuring that Spanish people received the same treatment abroad as those from abroad received in Spain.

She also said that provisions would be made to ensure that certain diseases were controlled, including "chronic illnesses for foreign people without legal residency [in Spain]".

However there has been no detail on what those provisions will be and, when we asked Spain's health ministry whether illnesses like HIV and cancer would be treated free on the health system, we were referred back to the minister's speech.

What is more, some doctors and nurses have said they will defy the new law.

On top of all that, Spain's regional governments are the ones that actually implement healthcare policy. Healthcare makes up 40-50% of their budgets.

Five of Spain's autonomous communities, including Catalonia and Andalusia, two of the largest in population terms, have publicly said they will not implement the new law.

False economy?

Although the government argues that the new law is not driven by financial considerations, many analysts believe otherwise.

And, in times of economic crisis and austerity, there is no doubt that wider health reforms that the Spanish government is implementing are designed to reduce Spain's overall health bill.

Spain currently spends around 9.5% of GDP on healthcare per year, which is the average amount developed countries in the OECD spend. Britain spends around 12% of its GDP.

However Spain's healthcare bill has been rising faster than other nations.

Professor Nuria Mas from Spain's IESE business school specialises in the economics of healthcare policy.

She says, over the course of the last 10 years, Germany's annual health bill has risen, on average, by around 2%.

In Spain that figure is 5.5%.

Overall, she believes the new law could increase the amount Spain spends on healthcare each year, because some illegal immigrants might avoid preventative or early treatments, which they would have to pay for.

If they then wait until their condition becomes an emergency for which, under the new law, they would be covered, then the Spanish state would pick up the tab.

And emergency treatments are often more expensive.

However she also says Spain's free public health system has contributed to a "pull effect", making it "very attractive for immigrants, especially illegal ones, to come to Spain".

The new law will, she argues, make it "more difficult" for those people and may reduce the "pull effect" now and beyond Spain's financial crisis.

New words:

Crucially : crucialmente, significativamente           mastectomy : mastectomia (surgical removal of a breast)

to defy:     desafiar, retar               referred back: remitido a lo anterior

austerity:     austeridad                                    reforms :  reformas

implementing :  implementando            overall health bill: el total del coste de salud

preventative :  preventivo                                   

pick up the tab: lidiar con las consecuencias --> pick up the pieces (deal with the aftermath)

now and beyond:  ahora y en la futura                      provisions : abastecimiento       

Spain healthcare bosses quit over Madrid privatisation

Healthcare managers in the Madrid region are resigning over plans to privatise part of the health service in and around the Spanish capital.

The regional government wants to cut costs by privatising the management of 27 health centres, out of 270 in total.

On Tuesday 322 managers from more than half of the centres tendered their resignations, to take effect when the privatisation takes place.

Spain's debt crisis has brought deep cuts to public healthcare.

The country's 17 semi-autonomous regions administer healthcare and education.

On Monday thousands of Spanish medical workers and residents marched through Madrid, angry at the conservative regional government's privatisation plans.

Piece of news from:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20948446

New words:

privatisation: privatización                  healthcare: sanidad

management: gestión                        resign: dimitir, abandonar, renunciar

Speaking test ahead. Be ready!!

How are you classmates? Are you learning a lot for the speaking test? I bring you  my Santa present... a compilation list of some topics that we have listened from our peers in class. There aren't all words... only those which I was able to catch, anyway I hope it will be useful for your learning-reviewing time. Good luck!! Afterwards, you can take a look to the compilation vocabulary of the last three modules.

Mixed vocabulay compilation_2012 from Isidoro Interino JCCM Educación

Modules 3,4 and 5 (and also some of the booklet)

Vocab module3,4 & 5 from Isidoro Interino JCCM Educación

Good luck to everybody!!