Listening web pages

A variety of topics from basic to advanced levels (different accents) and they include some online exercises to check comprhension and vocabulary:


Mansion english

ESL-lab

British council podcast

PAST HABITS AND STATES

USED TO...

Listen to these people, they are talking about activities they don't do anymore.
Example:
I used to be quiet but now I'm talkative.... I used to play the guitar but I don't do it anymore...

We use 'used to' to talk about a past habit.

Structure:

Affirmative: Subject + used to + verb (simple form) + complement.
Negative: Subject + didn't + use to + verb (simple form) + complement.
Question: Wh- + did + subject + use to + verb (simple form) +complement.

Example:

A: What cartoons did you use to watch when you were a child?
B: I used to watch Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball.
A: Oh! I also used to watch Sailor Moon, but I didn't use to watch Dragon Ball.

Practise "used to" in its affirmative, negative and interrogative form.
http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/exercise1.swf
http://www.angelfire.com/wi3/englishcorner/grammar/Interactive/usedto02.html

TASK:

We want to know if there are many differences among generations. Write about your past habits when you were a child: songs, candy, TV programs, cartoons, games... and have you changed physically? How?

Example:

I'm 23 years old. When I was in elementary school I used to have straight long hair and I didn't use to wear glasses. I used to watch Remi, Thundercats and Sailor Moon. I used to eat some candies called ''kori', a kind of "chicloso" with chocolate flavor.

FINISHED vs UNFINISHED ACTIVITIES

What did you do yesterday?
> I went shopping with my best friend then we ate a delicious pizza.

What have you done today?
> I have worked and I have seen some YouTube videos.

Listen what other people have done in the morning and did yesterday. (The interview is in the morning... so the question is: What have you done this morning?)


Simple Past

• The simple past is used to talk about completed/ finished actions in the past.
• The simple past is often used with expressions that refer to points of time in the past. For example:

at	4 o'clock/2.12/the end of year/Christmas
on	Tuesday/19th March/the 21st/New Year's Day
in	January/1999/the 1990s/summer
no prepositions	yesterday/yesterday morning/last Monday/next April/a few days ago/ the day before yesterday/when I was young

Present perfect simple

The present perfect is often used with prepositions or prepositional phrases indicating periods of time that have not finished yet.
Some time expressions used are: today, this morning, this month, this year, so far, this milenium, over the last few weeks, for the last 3 weeks, up to now, etc.

This week we have received a lot of enquiries about our new web site.
(The week has not finished yet, and there may be more enquiries.)

If we are speaking about a situation after one of these time periods, we use the simple past because we are referring to a period of time that has finished.

Have you seen John this morning?
(It is now 10.30 in the morning; and the morning has not finished.)
vs
Did you see John this morning?
(It is now 3.00 in the afternoon; the morning has finished.)

In level 5, you also checked that present prefect is used to talk about general life experience. In this case, it is often used with the words ever and never .
Example:

Have you ever worked abroad.
(i.e., In all your life up to now?)
I have never been to China.
(i.e., Not in all your life up to now.)

TASK

What did you do last week with your friends?
What have you done this week with your friends? Do you have any plans in mind that you haven't done yet?

IMAGINAY/ UNREAL SITUATIONS AND POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES

Most of us are quite poor, aren't we? :S but let's imagine that we have the chance to become rich...

If I won 10 million dollars I would travel around the world and I would buy all my clothes in Paris!

What about you?.. What would you do if you won 10 million dollars?

Here is a video with some people who answer this question.


When we have an IMAGINARY or UNREAL CONDITION we express it in past:
IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY (but I don't have :( ) ... IF I LIVED IN ANOTHER COUNTRY (but I live in Mexico) .... IF I COULD SPEAK ENGLISH PERFECTLY (but I'm still studying)
And to express the POSSIBLE RESULT of this imaginary situation we use WOULD/ COULD + simple form or WOULD'NT /COULDN'T+ simple form.

Examples:

If I had a lot of money, I wouldn't work and I would enjoy life!

If I lived in another country, I would live in Japan but I couldn't eat delicious Mexican tacos.

This structure is called second conditional and we use it to express an unreal situation, dreams or hypothesis and their posible imaginary results.

To form it we need two clauses: the condition + the result (the order doesn't affect).

The condition: if + simple past
The result: would/ could + simple form


Affirmative: I would get a better job if I spoke three different languages.
Negative: If I worked near home, I wouldn't be so tired commuting long hours.
Question: What would you think if I sang out of tune? If you saw somebody sick, what would you do? If you didn't have money to go home, would you ask for money in the streets?



LINKS TO PRACTICE

http://www.better-english.com/grammar/cond2.htm
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/conditional-sentences/type-2/exercises
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/conditional-sentences/type-2/exercises?02
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/StudyZone/410/grammar/2cond1.htm


TASK

If you found a magic lamp what would you ask for?

Passive: Emphasis on the receivers

When we form passive voice. We want to emphasize the object or the receiver. In this case the subject or doer IS NOT IMPORTANT.

Active	Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.
Passive	An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa. (Emphasis on the A... not B nor C)
Passive	Jorge was given an A by Professor Villa . (Emphasis on Jorge not Carlos nor Sonia)

Generally in basic levels, teachers teach us to place emphasis on the object: the things, the inventions, the products, the places...
Common examples are:

A marker is used to write on the board.
Coca Cola is sold around the world.
The light bulb was created by Thomas Alva Edison.
'Romeo and Juliet' was written by Shakespeare

Now, that you are an intermediate/ advanced student you should start using passive to emphasize people as the receivers of the actions.

Examples:

Basic level: The company pays me well.
Intermediate/ advanced: I'm paid well (by the company).

Basic level: The teacher asked us to do a lot of homework.
Intermediate/ advanced: We were asked to do a lot of homework (by the teacher).

We use this structucture when the most important thing is the person. And this person receives/ received the action.... so s/he is passive!!

I was given thousand roses in my birth-day! (I didn't do anything... just received the roses ;) )

Some links to practise:

http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/passive1c.html
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive/exercises?07
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-4216.php

Emphasis on the two objects:
http://unamsanantoniolab.com/eng/passive/ex2.htm

TASK
You want to convince us that you have the best job and a perfect life.
Example: My job is the best one. I'm allowed to arrive late and I'm not foced to give reports. Last month, I was sent to travel around Europe. It is said that a job like mine is difficult to find.

Rumors

"It is said that the teacher Jessica Viviana is a geek because she spends hours in front of the computer. It is claimed that she doesn't have real friends as all her friends are virtual"

To tell a rumor we use a structure called IMPERSONAL PASSIVE.
To form it we use the impersonal It + verb to be + verb in past participle.

Apart from rumors, with this structure we can tell urban myths or legends, unpleasant news and when we want to sound modest.

"It is believed that Jessica Viviana is one of the best teachers."

This is because by saying " It is believed" I distance from the information I'm saying. We use this when we don't want to say "I belive that" or "they believe that"... "It is believed" is perfect!! Who believes it?... We don't know but it is believed she is one of the best teachers :D

· Apart from the verb ‘say’ we can use other verbs o perception such as:

acknowledge believe declare fear know report

suspect allege claim estimate feel project say think

assume consider expect find prove suppose understand

More examples:

It has been reported that cut onion might caused air pollution.

It was proved that KFC doesn’t use chicken for their products.

TASK

1. Are there any popular legends or urban myths going around now? Do you know any that was popular in the past? Tell your partners about the ones you know.

or

2. The rumor mill: Catching up with the news (Poniéndose al corriente)... You have heard some rumors about your partners share them with us!