'WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY'

This quotation has come up in today's class. It has caught my attention and I personally believe it is a perfect motivation to us, poor students of C1.

We are realizing that we have to work hard, but if you really want to get it, you must have a great willpower.

I leave here this song which can help us to bear all this tough journey.

 

"Where There's A Will"

It's worth taking the risk

Where there's a will, there's a way
Or so they say
A friend in need is a friend indeed
He'll be there every day
And if it's trouble that's in store
You know they'll tell you even more
Where there's a will, there's a way
That's what they'll say

When the writing is on the wall
And if you could fall
When your best ain't good enough
And life's tough

When the lad of hope and dreams
Isn't always what it seems
Where there's a will, there's a way
They always say

You may be sorry, you may be sad, you may be blue
You think you'll never see the sun come breaking thru
You struggle morning noon and night
And you still I can't get it right
But where there's a will, there's a way
Just say it every day

Well so much for trouble, so much for heartache
so much for pain
You just gotta get up, you just gotta reach out
You gotta try and try again
You think you'll never see it thru
But what the hell you gonna do
Where there's a will, there's a way
You've heard'em say

Well I don't no nothing 'bout this world
and all it's wrong
I can tell you now,
why we all can't get along
But after all is said and done

We gotta keep on, keepin' on
'Cos where there's a will, there's a way
I don't know what to say

Thru all your sorrows
all your dreams, and all your joys
In times of sadness,
in time of grief
and even times that you enjoy
As your life you live it through
You know it all depends on you

And if where there's a will, there's a way
You better get down and pray
From the cradle to the grave
You better say it every day

When the crime's above the law
When the plane's about to fall
When the mighty oceans roar
When tomorrow's at your door
Where there's a will, there's a way
That's what they'll say 

THANK YOU TEACHER!

I would not let the day pass by without to mention here the teachers, those people that both have taught us and teach us every day. Thank you teacher!

When I was at school, this day used to be a holiday. Nowadays, it is not, but I have always remembered it as a rest day, a deserved rest for all those teachers who are concerned about their students.

UNREAL PAST: I WISH, IT'S TIME, I'D BETTER

We are revising these days in class the structures I wish, It's (about) time and I'd better to express unreal actions in the present using the past tense.

I have found these two videos with some good examples explaining it. I hope they help you to understand this better.

And since not everything will be studying, I leave you this song. Its chorus is a very obvious way of using it.

   

If only you could see me now
If only you could hear me out 
If only it was only me now 

P.S.: It's been a very long week. 

LET'S FOLLOW WITH HAPPINESS!

As we are talking these days about this positive topic and I was looking for a song or an issue dealing with happiness, I found this motivational video that I want to share with all you. I hope you like it as much as I do.

No matter what you have or what you miss, the important thing is you are happy because you are alive. That should be enough.

REPHRASING

How to say something in different ways. The key is understanding.

I have found this piece of information to explain what rephrasing is:

Sometimes we say things that other people don't understand, or we give the wrong impression.

This is an example conversation where one person says something that the other person thinks is strange.

LUIZ: 'English is a very easy language to learn.'

IRENE: 'What do you mean?'

LUIZ: 'Well, what I meant to say was that it is easy if you practise every day.'

IRENE: 'Oh, right.'

Rephrasing expressions

 

'What I meant to say was…'

'Let me rephrase that…'

'Let me put this another way…'

'Perhaps I'm not making myself clear…'

Back to the beginning

 

If you're explaining something, and you realise that the other person doesn't understand, you can use the following phrases:

'If we go back to the beginning…'

'The basic idea is…'

'One way of looking at it is…'

'Another way of looking at it is…'

If you forget the English word

 

If you forget the word you want to use, you can say:

'I can't find the word I'm looking for…'

'I'm not sure that this is the right word, but…'

'What I want to say is…'

Speaking Tip

 

Don't be afraid to repeat what you're saying, especially if you can do it in a slightly different way.

Source: http://www.english-at-home.com/speaking/rephrasing/

Now, if you want to practice, you can do it clicking on HERE or HERE. These exercises are very useful and they have self-appraisal.

POPPY DAY

In memory of those who died in the First World War I leave here this video.

 

 

 In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae

More information clicking on HERE.

I don't want finishing without sharing a song we listened in class on Thursday. It deals with the topic of the day.
I didn't know it, but it's really awesome.

 

 

TALKING ABOUT HAPPINESS

Frankly, today's class has been very optimistic. We have been talking about happiness. Each of us has shared their opinion and we have seen different versions of happiness.

Some of the quotations regarding this topic are shown here:

I also want to leave you this special video I have found looking for a song, but I believe it summarizes perfectly what happiness is in daily life.

LISTENING & WATCHING

Last Tuesday we did our first activity of this kind. 

Both the teacher and us were excited about doing it. We thought it was going to be very hard, but when we finished we realized it was not so. What is more, the teacher told us it was a great success. She had also thought we were going to have some problems.

The major task was listening to the video and watching it at the same time while we wrote down the main ideas in a more or less organised way.

This is the video the teacher used. It deals with immigration in the United States.

And here is the outline I made in class: 

The USA has always received immigrants from other countries to settle there. They are people who leave their country to establish in a new one. 

The first arrival was in 1815, after several wars in Europe. They came from Germany, Great Britain and Ireland. 

Another arrival took place in the late 1840s, when Irish Famine occurred. It was a disease in the countryside. A lot of people died from starvation. 

Later, more people from Norway and Sweeden arrived in the United States. Around 1880, Chinese inmigrants arrived at America. This was the second main influx, with people from Eastern and Southern Europe. 

Between 1880 and 1920 there was religious freedom and Jewish population occupied New York city in communities. On the other hand, Irish people were catholic and only 2 per cent of them were allowed to stay. They were a particular group in the USA. 

There was special discrimination against Chinese people, because they were thought to be illegal. Consequently, a lot of them were expelled. Moreover, those who stayed worked in hard and dangerous conditions in factories, even children. They were also kidnapped and poverty was the common state. 

However, people continue arriving every day in the USA and not all of them under bad conditions. On the contrary, they have successful lives.

And that's all. We learnt how to face up to one of the activities we are going to do most this year. Obviously, we did not do it perfectly, but it was the first one.

Have a nice long weekend and late Happy Halloween!