Hello bloggers,
Here is some help to practice for the oral interaction test that will be held in the near future. 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 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 she

A place to eat

When I was younger, I loved to go out clubbing or to parties. However, in recent years I tend to go out to eat rather than to dance. Santiago has some great restaurants and you can eat out quite cheaply. There are "picadas" like Golfo di Napoli for wonderful pizza or pasta or slightly more expensive places with wonderful International cuisine like Thai House or Olan (Peruvian). I am a Pescatarian, I eat fish and seafood but not meat  (beef, pork, birds, etc.) so that is always a factor when I eat out.

I don’t think I have a favorite kind of food. There are some foods that I do not like much, for example Korean food. I suppose it is because the meat dishes are the specialty. I love very hot food, lots of spices and taste. There is a nice Indian in Santiago. It is a bit pricy but it is really nice.  It is called Rishtedar . Many of the dishes are spicy hot and there is a scale of spiciness from 1 to 6 (from mild to blow-your-head-off). I love spicy food but grade 4 is as hot as I can stand.

I also love places like “el naturista” in the center, where you can enjoy porotos Granados or fantastic quinoa dishes for a very reasonable price.

Write about somewhere you like to eat out.

 Say:

What it’s called,

Where it is,

What it serves,

What you like to eat there.

 

Mention anything else you thing is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Okay Blogheads,


This week you have a free post.



Write 230 words about something you care about, find interesting or like a lot. It could also be something you dislike a lot. From the most simple thing to the most complex. Remember to organize your text. To introduce it and make sure you wrap it up in the final paragraph.



Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Dear all:

Today I’d like to tell you a bit about myself. When I finished school I realized I did not know what to do. So I took a year off and worked to save money. Later I entered translation because I liked languages. I did English and German but right in the middle of it, there was a chance to travel to Germany and work there. So I did. When I got back to Chile I fell into teaching by chance.  Later I got my teaching degree.

I think teachers are a great contribution to society but only if they have a vocation. If not, they may be great researchers or academics, but not teachers. And unfortunately, we have a number of people doing this job for reasons other than vocation. I feel a teacher needs to be alert and attentive to what is happening in the classroom in the whole sense of the word. They also need a lot of patience & knowledge in their area of study. A teacher needs constant training because the world changes, students change, and so does methodology.

I think one of my favorite subjects at Uni was phonetics. I loved the idea of studying & recognizing the English sounds and also to contrast them with the Spanish sounds. I also enjoyed pragmatics.

One professional I admire in my area of study is Rod Ellis. He is very well known in the area of second language acquisition.  He has published a lot of books & I love the way he writes. He has got a very clear way to express his ideas.

Say:

-Why are you studying this career?

- How do professionals in your area contribute to society?

- What tools will a professional in your area need to have in the future?

- What is your favourite subject?

- Include this and more in your answer.

- 130 words minimum. (3 comments to classmates)

Dear strikers,
I hope you are well and actively participating in the strike ;)
Today I'd like you to refer to the following news we have heard from one of the candidates. This relates to the reason you are striking. First of all, I'd like you to write about that.

What are your reasons to go on strike?
What have you obtained from the current strike?
How will this affect your performance and learning in the different subjects?


Later you can evaluate this article (check link below) and let us know what you think.
Please remember to write 200 words minimum and to post 3 comments on different blogs.

News

Today we are going to start taking advantage of the blog as a language learning tool. Many experts who study second language acquisition believe that making learners aware of their mistakes or the mistakes of their peers helps them avoid similar mistakes in the future. Obviously, this is a long process but they believe it is very useful in classroom-based instruction.
Today I would like each of you to choose a blog post from the person whose name is above yours on my link list and correct one of their posts. Things you can check include:



Spelling, punctuation, missing words, extra words that are not needed, wrong words, wrong tense, wrong verb, noun or word forms, etc. Use the symbols I sent you la few weeks ago. Remember?

After that, you should post the original post and your corrected version with the symbols and ( the corrected version in brackets)on your blog. Once you have finished, you should visit www.plataforma.uchile.cl and do the activities for Unit 5.

This week we are taking a look at the TED website: http://www.ted.com/.

You can use subtitles in English, please!

You have to visit it, watch Sir Ken Robinson's talk "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" ,


 and then write a 200- word review on  points he makes that you found more/less interesting.

Of course, 3 comments are always a must.

Thanks in advance!