WORLD POETRY DAY

Last Thursday, March 21st, we celebrated The World Poetry Day. I would like to share with you some of the Cinquain poems that you wrote down.

Ronaldo 

amazing, strong

dribbling, shooting, playing

he has no limits

the best!

By Fabio (GES 2) mmmm, I'm not sure with that, you know! hahahhaha ;)

Flower,

fragile, beautiful

smelling, swaying, fading

colour the environment

SPRING!

By Mayte García (Group Elementary)

COKE

cool, sweet

refreshing, runny, brown

I love sparkling drinks

tasty

By Belén Martínez (Group Elementary)

Dogs

funny, naughty

playing, sleeping, barking

always ready to play

playful

By David Avia (Group GES 2)

AN INFORMAL LETTER or EMAIL

In our writing workshop we are going to make emphasis on the structure of an informal letter or email. 

Read the task below:
You have been given the email address of an English-speaking person who is looking for a contact in your country. 

Write an email about you and your family, and suggest meeting at some time in the future. Write your email in 140-160 words.

 A suggested structure for this email can be:
Paragraph 1: Opening remark and reason for writing
Paragraph 2: Information about you
Paragraph 3: Information about your family
Paragraph 4: Suggestions for meeting at some time in the future and closing remarks

Other factors you should consider in an informal letter or email:

The style: 
Informal or neutral style
Everyday vocabulary
Colloquial expressions
Phrasal verbs
Contractions

Structure: 

Greetings: Dear Lee, Hi Lee, Hi there

Opening remark: I thought I'd write and let you know; I'm writing because; Just a quick note to let you know...; Sorry for not writing earlier but ...; Thank you / Thanks so much for (your letter, having me to say, etc.); It was great to hear from you...

Closing remark: That's all from me for now; I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon;Hope to hear from you soon; Look forward to hearing from you; Write back and tell me what you think about my plan.

 Farewell formula: Take care; Best wishes; Bye for now; Lots of love; Regards/ Love to... 

Another example of an informal email:
You recently moved to a big city and have decided to write to a friend from your old neighbourhood. 
Write an email describing life in your new city and your feelings about the change. Write your email in 140-160 words.

A suggested structure for this email can be:
Paragraph 1: Opening remark and reason for writing
Paragraph 2: Life in the new city
Paragraph 3: Writer's feelings about the change
Paragraph 4: Closing remarks

 One more example of an informal email: You've got two tickets for a week's cruise in the Mediterranean. 
Write a letter/email to your friend, inviting him/her to join you, giving details of which places you are going to visit and suggestions as to what he/she will need to take with him/her.

 Information taken from My That's English blog.

Mosaic

What's the Mosaic project?

The Mosaic project is a compilation of interactive activities (listening, reading, use of English and speaking) designed for the EOI second level students (A2 or Pre-Intermediate) to practice, expand and consolidate the contents seen in the classroom. With the new curriculum for EOIs sometimes there is no time to do in class all the listening, speaking and reading activities we would like to since they can be too time-consuming but essential to the student. Therefore the aim of this project is to fill this gap.

For Intermediate students

I came across this site which is very interesting for intermediate students to improve your oral skills. As it is well known, speaking is always a problem for English students. Dominic Cole suggests many tips to improve your speaking.  

One of the most common problems for IELTS candidates is not having the opportunity to practise speaking simply because you live in a country where there are few chances to speak English. Reading and listening are easy enough, you can find books or internet sites. For writing all you need is someone to send your writing to. But speaking? Well, I’ve a suggestion for you. It may sound mad, but it isn’t – learn to speak to yourself. Let me explain why it can work and how you can do it. I’ll also try and give you a few practice ideas so that you can make it work for you.

Read more: Find your perfect IELTS speaking partner | Dominic Cole's IELTS Blog 

Writing tips - Writing a letter

Letter generator is an online tool that can help us to write both personal and business letters.