Gracia Castillo's Blog

  The Benefits of a Student-centered Approach Whenever I have to deliver a TEFL course or any training addressed to the faculty, I always ask my audience the following questions: Which is the best class you have attended so far? Did you feel safe and confident in this class? Did you feel you had actually learned in this class? Do you remember that teacher/professor/facilitator's name? What was this class like? What was the atmosphere like? I know I will bring back great memories among my audience, and that is because I am pretty sure the class they remember was one in which a student-centered approach was implemented. In my blog today, I will go over the main features and benefits of this approach. I will try to make it simple and appealing so you feel encouraged to start applying it in your English, or any other foreign language, lessons. Why is student-centered learning approach effective? Giving students authority over both the content of the lesson and the teaching strategy is

 Simple Present: 3rd Person Singular Whenever you refer to a third person singular (He/She/It) in simple present, you must add -s to the verb following the spelling rules. Is it an option? No, it isn't. It is part of the grammatical structure of simple present. Therefore, it is your duty to manage the spelling rules to convey an accurate message. AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS:  Subject + Verb (base form) + s/es/ies (Depending on spelling rules) + complement + . Spelling rules to add -s to 3rd person singular verbs in simple present 1. To most verbs add -s: Cook - Cook s Skate - Skate s Play - Play s 2. When the verb finishes in consonant + y , change the -y to an -i and add -es : C ry - Cr ies Stu dy - Stud ies F ly - Fl ies 3. When the verb finishes in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z , add -es : Cros s - Cross es Wa sh - Wash es Cat ch - Catch es Fi x - Fix es Buz z - Buzz es 4. There are only 3 irregular spelling forms: Do - Does Go - Goes Have - Has 🖉Let's do a short practice!

 CONNECTED SPEECH Listening exercises make me go crazy! I don't understand! They speak fast! There are words I don't get! I know the struggle😁: Been there, felt that way! Yes, English speakers' accent vary. Yes, they do speak fast. Yes, if your vocabulary is short, you will have a hard time trying to understand. But there is a set of pronunciation rules you should manage to feel less stressed when listening to any kind of input. In this post we will go over CONNECTED SPEECH and its main features. There are about six of them but we will cover just the basic ones. When we speak, we do not say the words I N D I V I D U A L L Y or S E P A R A T E L Y; we say them continuously. There is a difference between the way we pronounce the words in isolation and the way we pronounce them in full sentences. In connected speech words are clipped and words are stressed differently than they would be in writing. Linking: When a word finishes in consonant sound and the next word begins wit

 FEELING ADJECTIVES Feelings are emotions we can easily see or experience. You can tell when someone is sad, mad, ecstatic, etc. by looking at their facial expressions. Here is a list of the common feelings we experience on a daily-basis. The only point to consider when making a sentence using feeling adjectives is not to forget we use the verb be: I am hungry. ( I have hungry .) I'm not cold. ( I don't have cold. ) Are you hot? ( Do you have hot? ) As usual here are the links for you to do some online practice on your own: https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/feelings-emotions-exercises.html https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=6096

ADJECTIVES Let's start this post by describing the picture above! 👀 A language is made up of different words. Each of these words have a special function and we call them PARTS OF THE SPEECH. They are verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, nouns, articles, prepositions and pronouns.  In this post we will focus on ADJECTIVES . Do not forget their main function which is to describe the noun. Adjectives can work two different ways: as attributive and predicative. ATTRIBUTIVE:  They go BEFORE a noun and describe it. An ugly hostel A funny clown Long hair Busy cities Let's see them in complete sentences: We went to a beautiful village in Ishuatán but we stayed in an ugly hostel . My friend's daughter's birthday party was fantastic, she hired a funny clown . The woman in the picture has long hair. I don't like to travel to busy cities. They are too noisy! PREDICATIVE: We call them predicative adjectives when they are separated from the noun they describe by a v

COLORS IN ENGLISH You may use color related vocabulary in any kind of conversations; when talking about food, clothing items, make-up, paint, fruit, vegetables, furniture, and so on. In this post we will go over the most basic colors and a few important points to consider when using them in a sentence. Learning tips! The difference between "color" and "colour" is their language. The first one is in American English and the second one in British. Colors do not take a plural form like in Spanish. My shoes are black. ( My shoes are blacks. ) Since they are adjectives they are used before the noun. Orange dress. ( Dress orange ) The best way to learn them is by practicing. As usual, here are some links which you could explore and do their exercises if you want😉. https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/colours-exercises-colors.html https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=558 https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/vocabulary/beginner-vocabulary/colours