Gracia Castillo's Blog

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

A BRIEF GUIDE TO NOUNS Let's start this post with a quick exercise, describe the pictures above💬 Everything that we can see or talk about is represented by a word that names it and that word is A NOUN. Nouns are the basic building blocks of sentences and using them properly is essential to send clear messages. The more nouns you know in English the better you will communicate your ideas. Let's, first, start with a simple diagram that will help you distinguish them: We will go over them in a brief way. Uncountable nouns These nouns do not take any singular or plural form, you cannot use any numbers with them since you cannot count them. The easiest way to learn them is by categorizing them. For us, Salvadorans, this point is tricky because we tend to count everything (Una lechuga, dos panes, una leche, una margarina) but you must keep in mind the items above are UNCOUNTABLE as well as the following:  Cabbage, bread, cauliflower, broccoli, magarine, among others. Here is a wide ...

Opinion Writing Opinion writing is when the writer/author shares and states their opinion by expressing their ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. Throughout the body of the paragraph, reasons need to be included as well as examples that support their opinion and these need to provide a rationale for it. At the end of their paragraph, their opinion needs to be restated so the reader remembers the author's feelings towards the topic. Here is the structure of an opinion paragraph which could help you write more easily. As said in the previous post, you will never reach your writing goals if you do not try and start making mistakes. Remember, you can edit a page as many times as you wish! Here are some writing prompts you could use to practice writing an opinion paragraph: Should students get to choose their teachers? What is one of your favorite books/movies/songs/ TV series? What is your opinion about mandatory military service? Which is the best café in town? Quarantine should be mandat...

Writing a Paragraph Before sharing with you the main types of writing styles, let's review the writing process. Writing, believe it or not, is not an easy process and it takes lots of practice to do it properly.  First of all, let's find out what the parts of a paragraph are by checking the following image: ·          PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH 1. Topic sentence:   This sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph and summarizes the main idea of the paragraph. All of the following sentences will add information that expands upon or supports the idea stated here. 2. Supporting sentences:   The second sentence identifies the first major supporting detail. The third sentence brings up a second supporting detail. Similarly, the fourth sentence mentions a third supporting detail. Additional sentences can be added here for additional supporting details or to divide one lengthy s...

Different Ways of Expressing Ourselves in English Conversation Take a look at some other connectors we can use while having conversations in English. Remember the best way to learn them is by actually using them!😉 Good luck on your next conversation!✌

Classroom Supplies Look at the picture above 🠉, how many classroom objects can you name? In this lesson, we will go over classroom supply related vocabulary which may not be familiar to you. Learning tip: To avoid translating each word to your native language, make your own version of a picture dictionary. Notebook Notepad Mechanical Pencil Highlighter (Pencil) Sharpener Sticky notes Markers Scissors Bulletin board Thumbtacks Masking tape Clear tape Rubber bands Clipboard Flip chart Pencil case Here is a website where you can find a variety of exercises related to school supplies https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/school_objects-exercises.html

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES Describing possession in English is confusing for Spanish speakers when being in lower levels because they still think in their native language and tend to translate all the ideas. One of the most common mistakes or errors is to use the possessive adjective YOUR when referring to a third party's possession: "I saw Ana with your boyfriend." I know the student must have thought in Spanish "Ví a Ana con SU novio." Does this usually happen to you? Get used to associating each personal pronoun to its possessive adjective and make that relation when talking about possession instead of translating the sentence.   I  You He  She  It  We   You They  My   Your His   Her Its  Our   Your Their   Besides associating  them with each personal pronoun, you have to consider some points: Possessive adjectives do no take plural form like in Spanish. These are my two dogs. ( These are mys two dogs ....

I nternational P honetic A lphabet and Phonetic Transcriptions When you start learning English as a Second or Foreign Language and realize words are not pronounced as they are spelled, you may go crazy😜! I never get tired of watching the following clip and play it for my students whenever I can, we definitely relate to Ricky Ricardo at some point of our teaching-learning process😂! How many times have you mispronounced words which you considered knowing the way they were pronounced? I will never forget the first time that happened to me; I was in an EFL class with my cousin and there was a dialogue which had the word "priest". I read it as /praɪst/, my cousin looked at me and said, "It's /prɪest/." When we asked our teacher he said both of us were wrong and told us it was /pri:st/. Both of us got embarrassed (I was a teen then!) and I promised myself to study "the way words were pronounced in English". Said and done, I found out about IPA and that hel...

The World Say the names of the continents Check your answers: 1. North America 2. South America 3. Europe  / ˈjʊərəp / 4. Africa 5. Asia  / ˈeɪʃə / 6. Australia  / ɒˈstreɪliə / 7. Antarctica Now, say the countries and nationalities in America Image source:  https://www.valoraanalitik.com/ Check your answers How many European countries and nationalities can you say in English? Check the most common European countries and nationalities Do you know the most common countries and nationalities in Asia? Check some of the common Asian countries and nationalities Finally, can you name some common African countries? Check the most common countries and nationalities in Africa If you want to know how to pronounce countries properly, visit the following site:🗣 https://inogolo.com/guides/countries Practice Play the following hangman game by guessing countries or nationalities👀 R3VpbmVhJTBBSXJlbGFuZCUwQUN6ZWNoJTIwUmVwdWJsaWMlMEFQYW5hbWFuaWFuJTBBTWFsYWdhc3klMEFTd2l0emVybGFuZCUwQU...