Try to incorporate these expressions

Hello bloggers,
Here is some help to practice for the oral interaction test
 Remember you need a partner for this activity (In pairs)It is a good idea to decide on it now.

You will speak about a topic chosen at random for a minimum of 5 mins.

Giving your opinionGiving your opinion neutrally

"I think…."


"I feel that…."


"In my opinion…."


"As far as I'm concerned…."


"As I see it…."


"In my view…"

Giving a strong opinion

"I'm absolutely convinced that…."


"I'm sure that….."


"I strongly believe that…."


"I have no doubt that…"


ASKING for SOMEONE'S OPINION

"What do you think (about /of X)?"


"What's your view (on)?"


"How do you see the situation (of)?"

Agreeing and disagreeing
Agreeing

"I think you're right."
"I agree with you."


Strong agreement
"I couldn't agree with you more."
"You're absolutely right."
"I agree entirely."
"I totally agree."


Agreeing in part

"I agree with you up to a point, but..."
"That's quite true, but..."
"I agree with you in principle, but..."


Disagreeing

"I'm not sure I agree with you."
"(I'm afraid) I don't agree."
"(I'm afraid) I disagree."
"(I'm afraid) I can't agree with you."
"(I'm afraid) I don't share your opinion."

Note that when you disagree with someone, you can often sound
more polite by using a phrase such as "I'm afraid..."

Disagreeing strongly

"I don't agree at all."
"I totally disagree."
"I couldn't agree with you less."

Keeping a conversation going
Making comments

"No!" - to show surprise
"I don't believe it!" - to show surprise
"Wow!" - to show admiration or surprise
"That's incredible / amazing / unbelievable" - to show great
interest in the subject of conversation
"How awful / terrible" - to show sympathy with someone else's bad
news

Asking  short questions

"Really?" - to show surprise
"And you?" - when someone asks you how you are
"Did you?" - can be used to encourage someone to tell their story.

For example, "I saw her last night" "Did you?" "Yes, she was with one of her friends, and...

test practice1

Session 1

Reading:

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading1.htm

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/reading1.htm

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading2.htm

Listening:

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part1.htm

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part2.htm

Vocabulary:

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_vocab.htm

Level 4 Post 8 Summer plans

You have to write about your plans or ideas for this summer.
Among other things, you should write about:

> Places you are going to / would like to visit
> People you are going to / would like to be with in summer
> Activities you are thinking of being part of
> If you are planning to work/study in summer

- Comments: Please leave a comment on your sample post + 3 of their classmates posts.
- Word Count for post 8: 240 words

Well, on my next vacation I'm going to Brazil. Yeah, it's going to be great! I'm going to visit all the beaches in Rio during the day and dance samba all night long. Just kidding. Of course, I'll also visit museums and art galleries. They have really good collections. I'd like to visit the Amazon jungle, but It's too far away and I don't have enough money.

I'm going there because I really love Brazilian culture. I've listened to Bossa Nova since I was a child. Both my parents lived in Sao Paulo when they were young and they brought a lot of CDs and books from their adoptive country, so I grew up listening to and speaking Portuguese as well as Spanish. And this will be my first trip there. I'm so excited.

I'm taking the plane on December 26th just after Christmas I'm going to spend New Year's Eve there with my girlfriend. I would have gone with my buddies, but she's paying for the tickets.  It's a Christmas present. Oh, I love my girlfriend so much!! We're going to visit some beaches, like Copacabana and Ipanema, take lots of pictures and probably eat in romantic places. We´ll also visit the Sugarloaf, of course. The only downside is that my girlfriend doesn't like to dance samba.

I don't think I'll end up working there, though I might take a Portuguese course for a few days if it's available. I also plan on visiting a few universities in order to get to know the academic courses they're offering next year. I'm really interested in following a Master's in Latin American Studies in the near future. Well, that's all for now. Wish me luck!

post 6

A TV show I am going to talk about first is Candy.

I started watching it as a child from about 8 years old. I remember both my sisters loved it so I just sat with them and it was all good. It is about this blond girl with very big (not surprising now!) green eyes. I remember it was a very dramatic Japanese Anime. “Candy” was an orphan girl who was adopted and treated badly. Moreover she falls in love with this amazingly handsome character “Anthony” (I fell in love, too!) and he dies!! Yes, he dies!! I suffered so much.  Later she moves to London and meets “Terri” who is the opposite of Anthony (the latter is rebellious). The thing is this love is not meant to be and they keep splitting because he wants to become an actor.

I think it was on every evening for around half an hour.

I suppose I enjoyed it because it was full of adventures and things seemed pretty exciting, but mostly because I would sit there with my sisters and we would drink our milk and eat toast on those evenings while watching the show. I couldn’t wait for the next day to come. Just to watch it again! I know it is very "ñoño" to write about this but I couldn't think of anything apart from "erase una vez el hombre" which seemed a bit serious for children...

What about you?

Write about a TV programme you enjoyed watching when you were a child:
Say:
What it was called,

What it was about,
When it was on,
Why you enjoyed it.
Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on 4 your classmates' blogs.

LEVEL 4 - Post 5: My Future Job (week 7)

LEVEL 4 - Post 5: My Future Job (week 7)

- What kind of job would you like to have? How do you imagine it?

- Outdoors /indoors?

- Would you like to travel a lot in your job?

- In an office?

- What major are you studying / are you thinking of taking?    Explain why

- Add any other related ideas.

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on your teacher's post.

- Word Count: 210 words

 

SAMPLE:

I'd love to have a permanent job teaching English at a major university. I'd like to have some kind of creative position where I could design new materials for teachers to use in their classrooms. I'm comfortable working in an office, although I love to take my students on field trips around the city as a great learning opportunity. I´d like to travel to other countries and learn from different cultures as I help them learn English. I'm thinking of getting a Master's in English Language next year so I can be better prepared to teach English and do some important research in English Education or Literature...

Post 4 Free Themed Blog: My artistic project

Talk about your artistic project or your experience today during the tour. Choose one of the following topics

1. Mention:

What your project is about
Workshop and art professor
Techniques used
State of advance
Why you like your project.

2. Mention:

Talk about what you did today
What you had to do or explain to the class
Talk about how you enjoyed it
What things you learnt from the experience
 

Word count 190 words

Sample

Well, in my case, I like to write poetry. Currently I'm working on a book called "The burning Republic". Most of the poems are of a political nature because they talk about deep traumas of Chilean history and their impact on current morals and existential points of view that the poems envision as one of the prisms through which recent history can be understood. I don't belong to a workshop, although I've been to some in the past. I'm part of a literary and artistic group called Grupo Casa Azul based in Valparaíso whose main commitment is to uphold aesthetic values and a high level of criticism regarding arts, society and politics. We always help each other by reading and listening to everybody's texts and we criticize and make suggestions on how to improve. We also read a lot and have long discussions on what is happening in the country and abroad. Our approach is multidisciplinary and we try to establish connections and relations between the arts, literature, music, philosophy and other disciplines. Regarding technique, it's varied ranging from long free verse to short, very synthetic phrases similar to some English poetry. I think there is a constant flow between the two languages and their poetic history going on in my head and I think that makes me write better.
I really like to write because I can express lots of the things that go around my head. I don't do it for the money or the attention. I just let the words come out of my brain and through my hands. After a while I go back and make corrections to the text.
Well, I hope you learned more about me!! Bye