Steller - a storytelling App

Steller is a superb app that allows you to turn photos and videos into stories, using a set of simple tools.


Steller lets you:

• Create beautiful visual stories with photos, videos and text right on your device.
• Personalize the look and feel of your story with elegant + simple-to-use design themes.
• Publish your stories on Steller publicly or privately.
• Share your stories on your other social networks.
• Send your stories via email and sms.
• Embed your stories on your blog and website.
• Like and comment on stories in the Steller community.
• Republish stories into collections to save and share.
• Discover new stories every day on wide range of topics including travel, action + outdoors, photography, food and more.
• Follow your favorite users and topics.
• Participate in fun + creative weekly community hashtag projects.

You can see some examples of wonderful stories here: https://steller.co/

Toontastic - turn briliant ideas into 3D cartoons (free App)

Lights, Camera.......Play!!!

Toontastic is a free App that you can download to your device and create a 3D animation video clip.

It's wonderful for those creative students with brilliant ideas since they can turn them into 3D cartoons.

Students can choose the type of story they want to tell and then select characters and backgrounds for the story. They can then record the voice for the characters and move them around to make the scenes into cartoon animations. Once the scenes are complete, they can save it as a video clip.

If you want to know more on this App, please visit the website: https://toontastic.withgoogle.com/

Enjoy it!!!!

Black History Month (UK)

Black History Month was first celebrated in the UK in 1987. It is annually celebrated during the month of October in the UK and in February in the USA, with important reference to the black society.

These are some Black History Month introductions:

You can read more on this here: http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/

Perusall: an award-winning platform

Perusall is a very useful tool that enables you to turn a face-to-face course into blended learning. It ensures every student is prepared for every class.

You can learn more on this here: https://perusall.com/

Dictate

Are you tired of typing all day long to get things done? Then, don't worry! Dictate can help you out!!

Dictate is an add-in for Microsoft Outlook, Word and PowerPoint. It uses state of the art speech recognition behind Cortana to convert speech to text.

Idioms that cannot be translated literally

Some weeks ago, I read this interesting article about idioms that can't be translated literally. I think it's worth it, so please, feel free to have a look at it and share your opinions below ;)

By the way, do you know what an idiom is? You'll find out in the link below:

https://blog.ted.com/40-idioms-that-cant-be-translated-literally/

Commonly confused words

There are lots of words in English that can be easily confused, either because of their spelling or because of their pronunciation.

Have you ever felt unsure about which one to use?

Below you will find a clip, as well as wonderful images,  that give some examples:

Source: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanEnglishatState/photos/a.10155355817484123.1073741882.38452569122/10155402439969123/?type=3&theater

The Balloon Game

I recently discovered this great game to be used with students. It's a quiz that encourages them to use their English in order to stop balloons from floating away.

You can find more information in their website: https://tekhnologic.wordpress.com/2017/04/16/the-balloon-game/


Hope you find it as useful as I did!!

Happy Birthday Adrian Mole! - 2nd April

Adrian Mole, the character created by Sue Townsend, reached his 50th birthday yesterday, on 2nd April. Happy Birthday Adrian Mole!!

He is part of a tradition of characters ageing with the reader. I read Sue Townsend’s famous diarist in my teenagehood, which I really enjoyed.

If you want to know more about these wonderful books, go to: http://suetownsend.co.uk/adrian-mole-books/

Five fantastic websites for English teachers!!

I came across this piece of news last week through my FB account and it deserves being posted here in my Blog :)

These 5 websites are wonderful for English teachers, since you can take the most of your lessons with them! I've tried them all and I can tell they are amazing and your students will love them, too!

You can learn more on them in the following video:

Should you need any personal information about my own experience with them, please contact me ;) 

Oops! Wow! - Interjections in English

INTERJECTIONS

Interjections are words that express emotions or feelings. They are used a lot in everyday speech. They are not often used in written English except in written conversations.

They usually come at the beginning of what we’re saying and they are often followed by an exclamation mark. The exclamation mark increases the strength of the emotion.

Oh! What a lovely surprise.  (surprise)

Hooray! It’s the summer holidays. (pleasure)

Ouch! / Ow! I just stepped on a pin.  (pain)

Ugh! I hate mice. (disgust)

Oh no! The car won’t start. (slight shock or disappointment)

Phew! I’ve finished that essay at last.  (relief)

Wow! You look great in that dress.  (admiration)

Oops! I’ve just spilt some coffee.  (mistake)

Yippee! We’re going to the beach.  (excitement)


Learn much more on interjections with this video:

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-22/session-1

Cambridge English FC - Football App

Do you like football? Do you want to be the captain of a football team? Then, download this fantastic game and have fun while you learn at the same time! :)


"Answer English grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation questions to help your team pass the ball, get to the goal, shoot and score. Get the questions right and take home the cup. Get them wrong and you may be sent to the bench!"


Cambridge English FC is an app for both Android and iOS, and is free to download!!!!


You can find more information here: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/games-social/cambridge-english-fc/

Quiz your English App

Quiz your English is a free-to-download App that Cambridge English has recently created in order to help you practice and improve your English in a fun way.


All details are shown here: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/games-social/quiz-your-english/


It's available both in Android and iOS; download it and have fun!!

Penfriends - Cambridge English

No matter whether you are a student or a teacher, you can make friends with other English learners around the world without moving, just with your device through Cambridge English Penfriends.

This wonderful activity has been used in more than 100 countries and more than 93,000 cards have been exchanged.

Have a look at it here and let's make new friends!! :)

https://penfriends.cambridgeenglish.org/

Being 'HANGRY' exists!!

The great majority of students often confuse these two adjectives: angry and hungry. They express completely different feelings but as their spelling is quite similar, students make mistakes.

However, a mixture of both adjectives actually exists! Therefore, being hangry is now acceptable: when you feel angry and hungry at the same time. Can it be possible? Yes!! According to a new study, there's evidence that we become more irritable when hungry because our blood glucose level drops.

You can read the full article here, it's very interesting: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2119406-being-hangry-exists-why-a-lack-of-food-can-change-your-mood/

What is CEFR? Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

For those of you who have doubts about CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), this video explains it in a very clear way. Let's watch it and learn more on this:

This image shows the great variety of exams Cambridge English offers to meet students' different needs. Thus, depending on what you really need, you'll do one or another:

Giving directions

Have you ever got lost and needed help to find the way to get somewhere? or have you ever been stopped by a pedestrian who was lost? What kind of expressions did you use?

With this post, you'll learn how to give/get directions in English.

I hope you find it useful ;)


Let's begin with these pictures:

Now, watch the following videos to learn how to put into practice that vocabulary and expressions shown above:

https://es-la.facebook.com/CambridgeEnglish/videos/1309186445807300/

Chunks of language

What is a chunk? 

A lot of students usually ask this question when they see this word for the first time. However, they unconsciously use them when they speak or write in English.

We can say that a chunk of language is a common phrase or clause, that is to say a piece of speech, that we use with a specific purpose, such as to show understanding between speaker and listener.

Some examples are: 'you know', 'or something'.

The following video provided by Cambridge English explains perfectly what a chunk is:

Do you use chunks in your daily speech? Could you add more examples?

The Phrasal Verbs Machine - App

Wow!!! This free App is amazing!!! My students love it!! :)

I recently came across it while surfing the net and I immediately downloaded it.

It's a free App that you can download in 4 different devices (IPad, IPhone, Tablet Android or Smartphone Android). The Great Phraso teaches a wide range of phrasal verbs with pictures, so you can learn them easily within a context. You are provided with written examples and also with exercises to be completed online.

I strongly recommend it! ;)

Cambridge English Speaking Test - Virtual Reality

I love this fantastic newness!!! It's a great way to improve speaking skills!!


Cambridge English has created the idea of watching 360 degree speaking test videos in Cardboard.

To experience the virtual speaking test yourself, click on http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/beta/360/


Students in my school will practice it shortly :)

Write & Improve

Write & Improve is a wonderful free service for those learners of English who want to practice and improve their written skills.

Just choose a topic, submit your written work and receive instant feedback. It will check your spelling, vocabulary and grammar in seconds and suggest ways to improve your writing.

To know more, visit their web page: https://writeandimprove.com/?lang=en-GB

Writing English has never been so fun!