Friday, April 27, 2007

Practice for lessons 7 and 8


Browse some of these pages, see what they are looking for, read all the info and check the vocabulary, have a look at what you might need if you wanted to work for The Ritz, for instance.
There are tons of web pages offering info under the labels "work with us", "careers", "recruitment", etc. Imagine how to write you CV or resumé, a cover letter, and so on to be part of their staff.

You may end up being one their trainees next summer...









Thursday, April 19, 2007

And more practice!!! The night of the books- 23 April- British Council





Luke Sutherland The Night of the Books
British Council. Madrid. 23 April 19.00h
The Night of the Books is an organised reading tour across the European cultural institutes in Madrid. In each institute there will be book readings by European authors around the theme of the writer as literary character. In a singular setting, each reading is given in the original language and in Spanish.
The British Council begins this round with readings by the British author, musician and songwriter Luke Sutherland whose works include Jelly Roll, Sweetmeat and Venus as a Boy. The work of this author, highly autobiographical in nature, touches on themes of unease and anguish within the context of social inclusion and integration. In A boy from the Islands, Luke Sutherland contrasts the ambivalence between his own deep sense of belonging to the land where he grew up – a black child raised in the Orkneys - and the impossibility of his integration due to his own perception of himself.
www.contemporarywriters.com

Tourism lesson plans for ESL Teachers: eslflow webguide

I was sufing the web looking for some other thing, and I found this website: http://www.eslflow.com/Tourismlessons.html.
It is a compilation of material for teachers and students about English for tourism. Have look or save it anywhere for you to see later.

See you!

María

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Guide to Basic Business Letters

Guide to Basic Business Letters

Guide to Basic Business Letters
From Kenneth Beare,Your Guide to English as 2nd Language.
http://esl.about.com/cs/onthejobenglish/a/a_basbletter.htmGuide to Basic Business Letters

The Basics
The basics of good business letter writing are easy to learn. The following guide provides the phrases that are usually found in any standard business letter. These phrases are used as a kind of frame and introduction to the content of business letters. At the end of this guide, you will find links to sites that give tips on the difficult part of writing successful business letters – arguing your business objective. By using these standard phrases, you can give a professional tone to your English business letters.
The Start
Dear Personnel Director,
Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you don't know who you are writing to)
Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have a formal relationship with - VERY IMPORTANT use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or Miss)
Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contact or friend)
The Reference
With reference to your advertisement in the Times, your letter of 23 rd March, your phone call today, Thank you for your letter of March 5 th .

The Basics
The basics of good business letter writing are easy to learn. The following guide provides the phrases that are usually found in any standard business letter. These phrases are used as a kind of frame and introduction to the content of business letters. At the end of this guide, you will find links to sites that give tips on the difficult part of writing successful business letters – arguing your business objective. By using these standard phrases, you can give a professional tone to your English business letters.
The Start
Dear Personnel Director,
Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you don't know who you are writing to)
Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have a formal relationship with - VERY IMPORTANT use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or Miss)
Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contact or friend)
The Reference
With reference to your advertisement in the Times, your letter of 23 rd March, your phone call today, Thank you for your letter of March 5 th .

Unit 7. Written communication for Tourism. Task

One of the writing topics most usual at UNED exams is" writing a complaint letter". Imagine you have booked a flight and once you are in the airport the staff tells you that you that there is overbooking and you cannot fly till next day. Explain that you needed to arrive very early in the morning the first flight you had was for next day the 13.00.

Don't worry to use all the linkers and expressions suggested in the book (page 122) .

Here you are some useful websites:

http://www.businessballs.com/complaintsletters.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?10-Secrets-For-Writing-Killer-Complaint-Letters&id=15696
http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_past_20010531_e.jhtml?promocode=089

Remember to write your tasks as a "comment".

How many different kinds of letters could you write?

Did you know that we have different rules to write business letters in English depending on the person person are you are addressing? In this post I suggest you to have a look at this website (mainly for native speakers, but also useful for us : http://www.writing-business-letters.com/). You could find on the Internet even templates like the very practical ones at Microsoft: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101485751033.aspx (Just download and edit) .

Try to have a look and read them! After that, tell you about them here! Did you find them interesting? Did you know of their existance before? Have you ever used a template?

You could even use a writing generator!

http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ii095/esl-answers.php

Have a nice writing...;)

Getting ready for your holidays.


If you are travelling by plane you may need this and more info here:



Hand Luggage - New Security Measures.
Passengers are requested to be patient while additional security measures are in place, allow extra time for their journey and be prepared for possible delays. On 6th November new security measures came into effect for all passengers departing from UK airports.
Cabin baggage and size allowed
ONE item of hand baggage is allowed; dimensions: 56 centimetres long [approximately 22 inches], 45 centimetres high [approximately 17.5 inches], 25 centimetres deep [approximately 9.85 inches] including wheels, handles, side pocket.
All items of luggage which do not fit in the permitted cabin baggage size must be checked in to be placed in the aircraft hold.
Musical instruments which do not fit in the permitted cabin baggage size are allowed as a second item of cabin baggage, they will need to be screened and passengers should check with their airlines if special arrangements (e.g. purchasing an extra seat) for these large instruments will be required.
Laptops and other large electrical items (e.g. a large hairdryer) have to be removed from cabin baggage and screened separately. A laptop bag will be regarded as your one item that is allowed in the cabin.
Pushchairs, walking aids and wheelchairs are permitted but will be screened.
LiquidsSome liquids (e.g. gels, lotions, pastes, liquid cosmetics, foams and foodstuffs) are now allowed through airport security check points. There are the following restrictions on the quantity of liquids:
Liquids may only be carried within separate containers each of which with a capacity not greater than 100ml.
These containers must be brought to the airport contained in a single, transparent, re-sealable plastic bag, which itself must not exceed 1 litre in capacity (approximately 20cms x 20cms). The contents of the plastic bag must fit comfortably and the bag must be sealed.
Each passenger may carry only one such bag of liquids. The bag must be presented for examination. Liquids that can not be placed inside the re-sealable bag must be packed into the hold luggage and checked in. Liquids of any amount can still be carried in luggage checked into the aircraft hold.Please note 'Liquids' include:
All drinks, including water, soup, syrups
Creams, lotions, oils, perfumes, mascara etc
Sprays and pressurized containers including shaving foam and spray deodorants
Pastes, including toothpastes
Gels, including hair and shower gel
Any other solutions and items of similar consistency


Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Unit 5. Cultural tourism. Have you ever been to Santiago de Compostela?

Now that we have just finished our holidays, it's a good moment to talk about the places and monuments we have visited. If you have been to Santiago at Easter or in another occasion, I suppose you can identify this monument, can't you?



Imagine you are a tourist guide, could you tell anything about it? The style, the period, the history... Did you know that it's mentioned in "The Pillars of the Earth", the novel by Ken Follet.


If you have been to this cathedral, you will know that it has several facades and a beautiful inside. Can you tell anything about the interior of this monument?
Could you identify this photograph?
Tell us something about it, and at the same time you will be able to remember the wonderful time you spent watching it.

The Phrase finder

One of the most difficult things to understand and reproduce when writing is dealing with fixed expressions, sentences, etc. Apart from having a look at all the dictionaries that I have been mentioning this course, you could ask here for some help.

Monday, April 02, 2007

interesting : http://www.answers.com/


You can find here: today's highlights, in the news, today in history, Who said it? Where? Why?, etc. etc.
Good and fun practice for your English.
http://www.answers.com/

Today's Highlights April 02, 2007
Hans Christian Andersen View Poster Spotlight: Which is your favorite Hans Christian Andersen tale? "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid" or, maybe, "Thumbelina"? Born on this date in 1805, Andersen wrote poetry, travel books, plays and novels, as well as the fairy tales that made him so famous and so beloved. He had hoped to be an actor and had his first walk-on role in an opera in 1821. An actor who tutored Andersen privately advised him to find another career path. Quote: "Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale." — Hans Christian Andersen