Final Week: Uses of Gerund and Final Presentation

Use a gerund after certain verbs such as dislike, enjoy, feel like, spend time, keep on, etc.:

-On our next vacation we will spend time lying on the beach
     
-My friend feels like cooking pizza

Use a gerund after prepositions:

-I'm happy about visiting my friends in Oaxaca

-My mom is afraid of walking on the street at night

Use a gerund as a subject:

Waking up late on Sunday is great

Camping in the forest makes me feel alive

Now take Quiz 16:

Finally, take Quiz 17 to record your second presentation (a product of your company). Try not to memorize it word by word. Be natural and let your English flow!!:

Week 12. Uses of the Infinitive

1. Use the infinitive (to play, to walk, to eat, etc.) after some verbs such as need, plan, promise, want, would like, pretend, learn, hope, forget, decide, among others. 

- My mom wants to buy a new car

-I hope to finish this report by 5

2. Use the infinitive after adjectives (beautiful, smart, tall, etc.):

-It's easy to make a sandwich

-It's difficult not to eat chocolate (negative infinitive)

-It's important not to fight with your friends (negative infinitive)

3. Use the infinitive to indicate a reason, a purpose:

-I went to S-Mart to buy milk

-My mom stayed home to rest

Now take Quiz 15:

Week 11. Describe a Product of Your Company

This goal of this quiz is to describe a product of your company. You decide which one. Make sure you include its function (what does it do?) applications ( what is it used for?), and technical advantages (why is it a good product?) Look at this example:

HI, I ‘m _________. I am a production planner. I would like to tell you about a great product, the LSER. Firstly, I will talk about its  features and applications, and secondly, I will highlight its advantages. Serrano LED was launched in October of 2012 with a better design than our competitors.

This fixture is  versatile, and you can use it in many different settings such as hotels, stadiums, hospitals, and food plants. It comes in lot of different lumens: 30K, 35K, and 40K. And it comes in different sizes such as 2x2, 2x4, and 1x4.The BOM (which stands for Bill of Materials) of a LSER fixture contains the following components: mounting plate, cover wire ways, and internal driver.

Other features in the LSER are exclusive wi-HUBB technology (preinstalled) and a five year warranty, which is very important to the customers.

The LED technology saves energy because LED doesn’t waste energy and the lumen output is better than the fluorescent lamps.LED technologies do not contribute to global warming and do not contain mercury.The advantages of the LSER lamps compared to other products are that they have a much lower energy consumption. They also have a longer life, smaller size, and offer more durability and resistance.Thank you very much. Do you have any questions?  

Now do the same and take Quiz 14:

Week 10. Your Favorite City

Talk in detail about your favorite city. How many times have you gone? What can you do there? What's attractive about it? Why do you like it? Read the example:

Well, being from Mexico, I’m very proud of one of our oldest cities – Guanajuato. I think it’s a great place to live or to visit. I’m not from Guanajuato, but I’ve been there two times and my sister’s at university there. The university is very famous and very popular as well, and the city is great for students.

I think Guanajuato is one of the most attractive cities I’ve been to. There are lots of very old, beautiful buildings. And it’s clean and the people are polite and friendly. It’s smaller than my city, but it feels there are more people from many parts of the world living or studying there.

The main reason I like Guanajuato so much is that there’s a really wide variety of things to do. It has the beast art galleries and museums I’ve ever been to. There’s a concert hall and an old theatre. There are lots of cafés and restaurants and the nightlife is brilliant.

Useful phrases:
The main reason I like…
it’s a (great) place to (live)
it’s great for (students)

it’s (more beautiful) than…
it’s the (largest)…
it’s one of the (most interesting)…
it’s not as (dangerous) as…
it’s got the best (museums) I’ve ever seen / been to.

a wide variety of…
spend time (doing)

Useful vocabulary:
proud of
famous
beautiful / ugly
clean / polluted
safe / dangerous
old / modern
expensive / cheap
exciting / interesting

buildings / history / sightseeing / nightlife / shopping
art galleries / museums / theatres / movie theatres
sports centers / stadiums

Now talk in detail about your favorite city on Quiz 13:

Week 9 Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Look at these sentences:

1. Learning English is easy

2. Learning English is easier than learning Chinese

What differences do you see?  In sentence 2 we are comparing two things, learning English and learning Chinese. When we compare two things you must conjugate the adjectives (easy) to transform them into comparative adjectives (easier).

Please watch this video:

Now look at these sentences:

-My brother is tall (tall: regular adjective)

-My brother is taller than me (taller: comparative adjective)

-My brother is the tallest in the family (the tallest: superlative adjective)

We use superlative adjectives to say that something in number 1 in a group. Other examples:

-My job is the most difficult job in the world!

-My friend Felix is the craziest person in Juarez!

Please watch this video:

Now take two quizzes. Quiz 11:

 And Quiz 12:

Week 8. Test Review

What do you usually do on Christmas? Remember guys, use the simple present because you are talking about a habit. Look at the example:

We usually have dinner at my house. We sometimes eat turkey, and other times we eat pork. There’s always a salad, tamales, pasta, and españolitos. Of course, there’s beer, tequila, and calientitos, too. The kids sing Christmas songs, and we open the presents after midnight. My mom usually goes to mass, but I don’t like going to church. 

Record your message on Audio Quiz 9:

 

Talk about your first kiss or your first romantic date. This is how my first kiss happened:

After I graduated from middle school, our school organized a graduation trip to Mazatlan. On the bus I met a girl from a different classroom. Her name was Denise. Once we got to Mazatlan, the two of us took a ride on a pulmonia. While the driver was driving along the malecon and other interesting places of the city, I grabbed her hand and she grabbed mine. I was nervous, but in the end I made up my mind and gave her a kiss!

Now do the same and leave your message on Audio Quiz 10:

Week 7 Catch-up Week

Guys, some of you are behind schedule. Take this week to complete the audio, the written quizzes, and your presentation.

If you have finished all the activities, check out these helpful websites:

http://www.englishcentral.com/videos#

http://rachelsenglish.com/

Week 6. Past Continous vs Simple Past (or Past Simple) Review

-We use the past continuous to emphasize progress. For example:

When I woke up this morning, it was raining. (This means that it started raining before I woke up, at the moment I woke up, and probably after I had woken up)

Last night at 10pm, they were studying English. (They probably studied from 9 to 11pm: an action in progress.

-In contrast, the simple past refers to actions that happened and ended in the past. For example:

It rained yesterday   (a finished past action)

It was raining at 2pm yesterday (an action that was in progress in the past)

Last month, I worked every Sunday (a finished past action)

I was working when my wife called me (an action in progress in the past)

Please watch these videos:

Now take Quiz 8:

Week 5. Speaking Activity: Presenting Your Company

Continue working with week 4 and record your presentation on the audio quiz

Take Quiz 7:

Week 4: Presenting Your Company

You're going to do a presentation about the company you work for. Make sure to include the following:

A. Greeting
-Name
-Position

B. Topic
-Subject/purpose of talk

C. Plan of Talk
-Section/parts of talk

D. Facts and Figures
-Company products or services
-Important figures: number of employees, profits, etc. (whatever you consider important).
-Your main competitors

E. Your duties
-What do you do?

F.  Future Developments
-Your plans for next year

Example:
Hello everyone. My name is Jorge Palacios. I'm the general manager of Smart. I'd like to talk to you about our company. I divided my presentation into three parts. Firstly, I'm going to give you some facts and figures of our company. Secondly, I'll talk about my duties. And finally, I'll share with you our plans for next year.

Smart is a supermarket retailer with 47 stores in 3 states in Northern Mexico: Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila. The headquarters of our company are located in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. Our main product is food, but we also sell household goods. We have 2,600 employees working in our company. In 2013, our profits reached 120 million dollars. Our main competitors are Walmart, Soriana, and Bodega Aurrera.

As a general manager, I'm in charge of allocating resources to improve the efficiency of the company. I also develop strategic plans for new business opportunities.  As well, I supervise the marketing department and the supply chain.

Our goal for next year is to open 8 new stores in Nuevo Leon to consolidate our presences in that state. At the same time, we wish to improve our social responsibility programs to contribute more to the well-being of our communities.

Thank you for your time!

Submit your presentation on Quiz 6

Useful Language:

Greeting:
Good morning/afternoon. I'm...
Hello, everyone. Nice to see you again.
Hi. I'm... Good to see you again.

Topic:
My subject today is our new product launch
I'd like to talk to you about Columbia Lighting
I'm going to talk about our manufacturing process
The subject of my presentation is the Human Resources department

Plan of the Talk:
There are three parts to my presentation
My presentation is in three sections.
I divided my presentation into three parts.
Firstly,...
Secondly,...
Finally,...



 

Week 3: Present Perfect vs Simple Past

A. We use the simple past with actions that happened and ended in the past. The time is specific or understood from context

-I ate sushi last night
-We saw a movie yesterday
-I practiced karate when I was a child

B. We use the present perfect  for actions that happened before the present, sometime in the past, but we don't say when specifically

-My mother has visited Mazatlan before
-I haven't been to Tokyo
-She has met Tom Cruise once

When did the action happen? We don't know. We use the present perfect to describe life events.

C. We also use the present perfect for actions that started in the past and continue in the present (unfinished actions)

-I have worked in Hubbell for 5 years
-We have studied English since 2012
-I have worked hard this year

Here we emphasize time progress. Actions that have occurred for a period of time. Notice the difference:

- I married my wife in 2010 (Simple past: action that happened in the past)
- I have been married since 2010 (Present perfect: action that started in the past and continues today)

Watch these videos:

And take Quiz 5: