Simple Past: irregular verbs.

anglais-facile.com

In this unit, in 2nd ESO, we are starting to learn about the past. One of the most difficult things about the past is the endless list of irregular verbs that we have to learn becuase they are the most common verbs (you can check this at the Red Words game at MacMillan Dictionary Blog). In order to learn them, we are going to try and make it easier for our brains to learn them by splitting them into different groups, as you can see in this great mindmap.
Irregular verbs are irregular because they do not follow a rule, as the adding of the suffix -ed at the end of the verb as explained in this other post.

We are following the classification of the mindmap above to make different groups to learn these verbs, we start with one word irregular verbs, that is, the infinitive, simple past and past participle are the same:

Spanish	Infinitive	Simple past	Past participle
Costar	Cost	Cost	Cost
Cortar	Cut	Cut	Cut
Golpear	Hit	Hit	Hit
Herir	Hurt	Hurt	Hurt
Dejar, permitir	Let	Let	Let
Poner	Put	Put	Put
Cerrar	Shut	Shut	Shut

The next, the simple past and past participle are the same and end in a -t:

Spanish	Infinitive	Simple past	Past participle
Dormir	Sleep	Slept	Slept
Guardar, mantener	Keep	Kept	Kept
Soñar	Dream	Dreamt	Dreamt
Deletrear	Spell	Spelt	Spelt
Sentarse	Sit	Sat	Sat
Obtener	Get	Got	Got
Disparar	Shoot	Shot
Perder	Lose	Lost	lost
Construir	Build	Built	Built
Gastar	Spend	Spent	Spent
Enviar	Send	Sent	Sent
Prestar	Lend	Lent	Lent

The simple past and past participle are the same and end in a -d:

Spanish	Infinitive	Simple past	Past participle
Mantener	Hold	Held	Held
Oir	Hear	Heard	Heard
Hacer,fabricar	Make	Made	Made
Tener,tomar	Have	Had	Had
Encontrar	Find	Found	Found
Contar	Tell	Told	Told
Vender	Sell	Sold	Sold
Decir	Say	Said	Said
Estar de pie	Stand	Stood	Stood
Pagar	Pay	Paid	Paid
Leer	Read	Read	Read

2 words, infinitive and past participle are the same:

Spanish	Infinitive	Simple past	Past participle
Venir	Come	Came	Come
Correr	Run	Ran	Run
Llegar a ser	Become	Became	Become

 2 words, miscellaneous:

Spanish	Infinitive	Simple past	Past participle
Ganar	Win	Won	Won
Sangrar	Bleed	Bled	Bled
Alimentar	Feed	Fed	Fed
Dejar,abandonar	Leave	Left	left

2 words, ending in -ght:

Spanish	Infinitive	Simple past	Past participle
Traer	Bring	Brought	Brought
Comprar	Buy	Bought	Bought
Coger	Catch	Caught	Caught
Enseñar	Teach	Taught	Taught
Luchar	Fight	Fought	Fought
Pensar	Think	Thought	thought

Well, we have work to do now, are you ready?

Twitter addict

As you know, I have just recently created my Twitter account (@AnaGarciaTeacha) which I use mainly for professional purposes. As you also know, you can only write up to 140 characters on Twitter tweets (if you want to know more about Twitter, have a look at this post in this blog). This has developed a new language made of unpronounceable acronyms and shortenings of words that users of this network use and know as their ABCs (basic things).
This language is also used in other new communication media such as text messages or messages via Whatsapp (pun on what's up and app - short for application) because they are faster to write than complete messages. I have taken the ones you see from the Macmillan Dictionary blog which has a section on buzzwords and also from Harley Hahn's website.

Is there such a list in the Spanish language?
Do you know what the tweet means? 
Write it in a comment!!!

Past simple: the beginning.

This week we are starting with the past. We use the simple past mainly to talk about things that happened in the past and are finished, that is, for narratives. We will  only be working on the affirmative form of the simple past of both regular and irregular verbs. When talking about the simple past in English, it is important to highlight the fact that there is only one form, no matter what the subject is.

Students find it more complicated to learn the irregular form of verbs, but for me, it is also important to be able to learn how to pronounce the regular verbs' suffix  -ed (or other spelling counterparts such as -ied - for words ending in consonant+y, -d -for words ending already in -e, or double consonant+ed - in words mostly of one syllable ending in short vowel and consonant). I like this video very much because it explains it very well.
At the MacMillan dictionary website, you can find their brilliant MacMillan irregular verbs learning wheel, to practise all irregular verbs in all their forms.
You can also practise them at Verbbusters, choosing your own level.
This is a nice game which we will play in the class, if you want to pratice it at home, you will win when the time comes. This one is a domino: Kubbu.
If you have any questions, I hope you leave a comment!!

Future tenses for Bachillerato

What will the future bring?

As I see it, the present and the past belong to the level of reality, whereas the future is a much more diverse and loose time as it has never happened, that is, it does not belong to reality. This is the reason why I think Spanish speakers find it so hard to speak properly about the future in English, because it depends on what the speaker thinks and not a given time, with its corresponding time expression.

I'm going to try and simplify the different uses we see in 1st of Bachillerato with the corresponding tenses or modals used: 

Uses	Tense/Modal/Periphrasis	Form
Timetables&schedules	Present simple	V/Vs
Long-term predictions            Spontaneous decisions            Offers            Promises	Will	Will+infinitive (V)
Closed plans	Present continuous	To be+gerund (Ving)
Short-term predictions            Intentions	Be going to	Be going to+infinitive (V)
Action happening at a given time in the future	Future continuous	Will be+gerund (Ving)
Action finished at a given time in future	Future perfect	Will have+past participle (Ved)

If you want more practice on these uses, you can visit the following pages:

• Mixed future at English Exercises
• Future perfect at Englisch-Hilfen.
• Will vs. be going to at English Page.
•  Or many others at this blog by an English Teacher: El blog de Isabel Carballo

I hope this is helpful for you! 

Have a nice weekend!!