Language School Buenos Aires - LinguaPaths

Reading comprehension: The US schools with their own police (upper-intermediate to advanced)

Amalia — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:55:32 +0000

Read the following article and answer the questions:

What was Sarah accused of?
Which schools does the police patrol?
Which are the typical crimes children are arrested for?
Does Sarah´s lawyer support this type of action?
Does this practice get support from the attorney general?
When did these practices start and why?
Why can this system be a trap for children? What disadvantages does it have?
Which are the most ridiculous cases?
What happened with Jaime González?
What´s your opinion of this? Does this make sense to you? Do policemen patrol schools in your country?

Reading: “Imagination is more important than knowledge” (intermediate to advanced)

Amalia — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:17:42 +0000

Read the article about Einstein and answer the following questions:

- Why is imagination more important than knowledge (according to Albert Einstein)?
- Why did people misinterpret the concept of relativity?
- What did Einstein’s theory actually mean?
- Which were Einstein’s beliefs?
- What were the differeces between the USA and Europe (according to him) at that time?
- Which was Einstein’s criticism to te USA?
- Do you agree with his views? Why/Why not?

Listening: Money, debt and the euro (upper-intermediate/advanced)

Amalia — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:35:37 +0000

Pre-listening

1) Look up these words in a monolingual dictionary (English-English): asset – debtor – creditor – supplier – bail out – debt crisis – GDP
2) Look for examples with the words or make sentences with them.

Listening

Listen to the following interview with Philip Coggan (up to minute 10), a historian of debt crises, and answer the following questions:

Which is the battle that plays itself out?
What two functions does money have?
Who are the creditors and who are the debtor nations?
What does our faith in money depend on?
What happens in a positive circle?
What do the Germans want to make sure?

Follow-up

What’s you opinion on the European crisis?
Do you agree with Philip’s views?

Listening: Royalty (intermediate/upper-intermediate)

Amalia — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:04:19 +0000

Listen to the podcast and answer te questions:

Which King did the current British Queen succeed?
Which used to be the British succession law and which reforms have been made?
What would happen if Prince William and Kate had a baby girl?
What’s your opinion about all this? Are there the same laws in your country?

Listening: Judo (intermediate)

Amalia — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:50:05 +0000

Have you ever practised martial arts?
Listen to the following interview and answer the following questions:

Who is being interviewed?
What is the game’s objective?
Can the participants get injured?
Which two expressions are taught? Write down at least two of the examples given.

Listening: Home (elementary)

Amalia — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:40:24 +0000

What does “home” mean to you? “Love”? “Peace”?
Listen to these people and answer the following questions:
Which one shares your same view of “home”?
Do you like the house that appears in the photograph? Why? Do you prefer living in a house or in a flat? In the countryside or in the city?

Listening: Fear (pre-intermediate/intermediate)

Amalia — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:33:11 +0000

What are you afraid/scared of? Why? Is it connected to a bad past experience?
Listen to these stories . Are they similar to yours? Which do you specially like and why?

Listening: Embarrassment (pre-intermediate/intermediate)

Amalia — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:15:28 +0000

Which was the most embarrassing experience you´ve ever had? Why was it embarrassing?

Listen to these three anecdotes and compare them to yours. Which one is the most embarrassing? Why? Check how much you remember by trying to retell one of the anecdotes.

How to improve our reading comprehension in a foreign language

Amalia — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:33:37 +0000

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

excellence in language learning

Amalia — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:38:46 +0000

The following is a very interesting exercise I have found in a Multiple Intelligences book. It is specially useful for those students who do not feel confident enough as regards their language learning skills. It focuses on our intrapersonal intelligence, and it is for an intermediate upwards level.

1) Tap into a state that allows you to focus on yourself alone.
2) Think of a moment of “peak performance” in using a foreign language. This could be any time when you used the language successfully, e.g. when talking to someone, understand someone who spoke rather fast, reading a book or a challenging article, writing a text, etc. if you cannot come up with any such experience, try thinking about someone whom you consider good at language, and imagine yourself becoming that person for a few minutes.
3) Try to remember that time as vividly as possible. Relive the experience as if you were in it right now.
4) Now, answer the following questions (from your state of reliving the experience):
Where are you here in this special moment of your life?
What can you see around you?
Who else is with you?
What room/space are you in?
What colours can you see?
What time of day is it?
What are you doing here in this special moment in your life?
What capabilities do you have here?
What beliefs do you have here?
What are you at ease with?
How exactly are you using the language here?
What do you think of your language-learning capabilities?
What do you think about yourself?
Why are you doing what you are doing here?
And why are you so successful in this situation?