Beyond grammar!!

As a student of English you may think that grammar is everything you need to know. However, regarding language skills, you need to improve your abilities in the following areas:

• Listening

• Reading

• Writing

• Speaking

Therefore, to move beyond grammar, you need to open you mind to different resources that you can find on the web. Here you can find some suggestions that will help you practice the 4 skills:

• Listening: BBC Learning English Podcasts, here you can find different podcasts in English you can listen to. You can browse the different lists and find those that interest you.

• Reading: Children's library, here you can have access to different online books. Have a look at them and choose one to read. You can even have access to books in other languages, appart from English, in case you're learning a second foreign language!

• Speaking: why not entering the school's penfriend programme? It'll allow you to meet a British teenager you can chat with by Skype!

• And what for writing? Well, you should try having a blog as this one? There you can post about your feelings, ideas and anything you feel like doing! To create your own blog, try using this webpage. 

ENLARGE YOUR VIEW OF 

THE WORLD, ENGLISH IS GREAT!!

Fuentes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/tae

http://es.childrenslibrary.org/

https://www.blogger.com

Verb tenses revision 1

Until now we have seen the following verb tenses:

• Present simple and continuous

• Past simple and continuous

• Present perfect

• Future tenses: will, be going to

Therefore, you should be able to use them correctly so as to move onto the next step: reported speech, passive voice or conditional sentences

However, in case you do not know them yet, check this webpage where you can find clear explanations about when and how to use them, plus some useful exercises on them.

And., if you feel you need some more exercises, follow these links and browse the net for more practice until you can say that these tenses have nothing to hide from you :)

• Verb tenses with a love story
• Present perfect or past simple?
• What's the correct verb form?
• An accident. A verb-form exercise
• Complex test - mixed verb tenses

Finally, if you feel you already know everything, you can still find below some example-sentences of how to form these tenses:

• Present simple: Water freezes at -0ºC

                               I don't like watching horror films

                               

                               How often do you visit your grandparents?

• Present continuous: I'm studying verb tenses right now

                                      He's not working hard enough in verb tenses

                                      

                                      Are you doing the suggested exercises?

• Past simple: I went to the cinema last weekend

                           You didn't check the blog last week

  

                           Did your classmates enjoy the last English lesson?

• Past continuous: I was preparing this blog post when I heard a strange noise

                                 My pupils weren't sitting correctly when I entender the class

                               

                                 Was your mother cooking dinner at 3pm yesterday?

• Present perfect: I've lived in this house for 15 years

                                We haven't studied English so we'll fail the exam.

     

                                Have you ever been to Florida?

• Future tenses --> will: I'll be 23 tomorrow

                                         It won't rain until next week

                                         Will she arrive on time?

                          

                              --> be going to: He's going to get married in a year's time.

                                                     You're not going to pass this subject

                                                     Are we going to go on a trip next month?


Fuentes

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/verb-tenses.html
http://www.englishexercises.org/
http://a4esl.org/
http://a4esl.org/

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are used when we want to express the amount/number of something. Therefore, they are commonly used before a noun or phrase. 

You have to bear in mind that quantifiers cannot be used indistinctly. Their use differs with regard to countable/uncountable, singular/plural or affirmative/negative/interrogative.

You can find below some of the more common quantifiers in English and their use:

• Many: negative and interrogative sentences with plural and countable nouns

• There aren't (so) many kids in the park

• How many books have you read?

• Much: negative and interrogative sentences with singular uncountable nouns. Both many and much can combine with so/too to emphasize their meaning.

• Do you like coffee with (too) much sugar?

• I didn't have much money when I was your age.

• Some: plural and singular countable and uncountable nouns in affirmative and interrogative sentences

• She got some presents for her birthday

• I like some bacon in my hamburger

• Are there some oranges in the fridge?

• Would you like some tea?

• Any: it replaces some in negative and interrogative sentences (mainly with uncountable nouns when it is not an offer)

• She didn't got any presents for her birthday

• I don't like any bacon in my hamburger

• Are there any fruits in the fridge?

• A lot/lots of: countable and uncountable nouns except in the interrogative where we use many/much

• He bought a lot of/lots of cupcakes

• He won a lot of money in the lottery

• Little/a little: use it only with uncountable nouns. Note the difference between using a little and little

• We have little water. We won't survive the drought (negative implications)

• We have a little water. We will survive the drought until it rains again (positive implication)

• Few/a few: use it only with countable nouns. As with little/a little, there is a difference in meaning

• There were few survivors of the drought. (negative meaning)

• There were a few survivors from the drought. (positive meaning)

Finally, here you have a table that sumarizes all that has been stated above: 

To check that you have understood this correctly, go to the following pages and do the exercises:

• Grammar exercise - Quantifiers 
• Quantifiers gap fill exercise
• Some or any
• Countable and Non-countable nouns

Fuentes:

• http://a4esl.org/
• http://4.bp.blogspot.com/vhSnwVVLj6g/T2S8XbpSrFI/AAAAAAAAADc/xXiZQmMJO9Y/s400/5.jpg
• http://www.myenglishpages.com/
• http://www.esl-lounge.com/
• http://www.curso-ingles.com/gramatica-inglesa/few.php