Tag: ESL

Advantages and Disadvantages Essay

teacherjulietaLeave a comment

for B1 Preliminary Cambridge Test/ IELTS

An essay is a written piece where you can present an idea, propose an argument, express your emotions or initiate a debate.

In an advantages and disadvantages essay your task is to describe the positive and the negative sides of a specific topic. You must include examples and reasons to support your ideas. Sometimes you will also be asked to give your opinion. You can include your personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion of the essay.

The typical structure for an advantages and disadvantages essay is the following:

Paragraph 1: Introduction
  • Start your introduction with a sentence that paraphrases the question you were given
  • Add a sentence where you include the main ideas that you will talk about
  • Give your opinion (if required)
Paragraph 2: Advantages
  • Write a sentence where you summarize the main idea of the paragraph. In this paragraph you must mention the advantages.
  • Next write a sentence where you explain the advantages.
  • Finally you explain the consequence or result of advantages by giving an example.
Paragraph 3: Disadvantages

(This paragraph is similar to paragraph 2, but here you will talk about the disadvantages)

  • Write a sentence where you summarize the main idea of the paragraph. In this paragraph you must mention the disadvantages.
  • Explain the disadvantages.
  • Give examples of the disadvantages.
Paragraph 4: Conclusion
  • Summarize your ideas
  • Paraphrase your opinion (if required)
Example:

Advantages and disadvantages of traveling by plane

Nowadays, a lot of people prefer to travel by plane when they go to another country. However, air travel has both pros and drawbacks. Let’s examine some of these here.

One of the main advantages of traveling by plane is that it is much faster than any other form of transport. For example, you can fly from Toronto to New York in 2 hours, whereas by car, it would take more than 7 hours. Another advantage is that flying is more comfortable and less tiring because you can sleep on a long flight. You can also watch movies or read. Finally, it is safer. More people die in car accidents than in the air.

On the other hand, traveling by plane also has some disadvantages. To start with, it can be quite expensive, especially if you want to travel in the comfort of First Class or Business Class. What is more, flights are often delayed, and this means you may have to spend a long time waiting in the airport or miss connecting flights. In addition, you may arrive in New York while your suitcase has gone to Paris.

To sum up, the airplane is a great invention, but it does have some drawbacks. If it was cheaper, it would be better. Still, in my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons. If we didn’t have planes, it would be very difficult to travel to distant places.

Below there is a template that can help you write your advantages and disadvantages essays.
Template for an advantages and disadvantages essay
DOWNLOAD PDF

Useful language: Linking phrases

To list advantages/ disadvantages
  • the main advantage is…
  • the main disadvantage is …
  • another advantage is …
To add more point to the same topic
  • In addition, …
  • Furthermore, …
  • What is more …
To introduce an example:
  • For instance …
  • For example …
To make contrasting points
  • However, …
  • In spite (of the fact) …
  • Although …
  • On the other hand …
To give a reason
  • Because + clause …
  • Because of + noun …
To introduce the conclusion
  • In conclusion, …
  • To sum up, …
Watch the following video to learn more vocabulary to talk about advantages and disadvantages

Articles (Part 1)

teacherjulieta3 Comments

Articles are tiny words that go before nouns. There are 3 common articles in English: a, an and the.

A and an are indefinite articles. It means that we use them to talk about things in general = one of many.

The is a definite article. It means that we use it to talk about specific things = only one.

Basic rules:

  1. We use a/ an to mention a noun for the first time or say who or what somebody or something is.
  2. We use a/an when the reader/ listener has not seen the person, animal or thing we are talking about.
  3. We use the when it’s clear who or what somebody or something is.
  4. We use the to talk about things or places that are unique.
  5. Don’t use an article to speak in general with plural and uncountable nouns.
  6. We don’t use an article in some phrases like at home, at work, go home, go to work, go to bed, next …, last …, etc.

Watch the following video for more examples

Useful Phrases for New Year’s Resolutions

teacherjulietaLeave a comment

A New Year, new opportunities to improve your English! It’s time to start thinking about New Year resolutions.

A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something in the future. In English there are different ways to talk about our resolutions depending on how determined we are to accomplish them.

There are different websites with useful information about how to make and keep New Year’s resolutions. However, here I’m going to talk about the grammar behind talking about our resolutions in English.

In the table below you can find some useful sentence starters that you can use to talk about your New Year’s resolutions.

Sentence starterMeaningExample
(+) I’m going to + base form
(-) I’m not going to + base form		It’s a plan or
intention for the future		I’m going to practice English every day.
I’m not going to eat junk food.
(+) I‘m planning to + base formThings that you are almost definitely going to do.
Things that you have already scheduled or made some preparations for.		I’m planning to take English classes during the summer.
I hope to + base form
I‘d like to + base form		Things you want to do but you it’s not a definite planI hope to travel more.
I’d like to lose weight.
I might + base form
I may + base form
I‘m thinking about + gerund		Things you are considering, but you’re not sure if you will do it or not.I might travel to Brazil.
I may apply to grad school.
I’m thinking about changing careers.

Practice time

  1. Choose 1 item per column.
  2. Write the names of each item in order. For example: hamburger, wine, mountain, Whatsapp.
  3. Repeat step 2 two more times.
  4. Swipe left to find out your resolution.
  5. Use the sentence starters in the chart below and the words in the New Year’s resolution generator to make your sentences.

Examples:

I’m going to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I’m not going to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I hope to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I‘m thinking about stopping taking selfies after zumba.

Share your resolutions with us.

Download PDF

What to write in a Christmas Card

teacherjulietaLeave a comment

Let’s write some Christmas cards!

Writing Christmas cards is a tradition in many many English speaking countries. The tradition of sending Christmas cards started in the mid 1800’s in the UK when a British artist created a greeting card for Sir Henry Cole to send forth to his family and friends. Sir Henry Cole thought that sending Christmas cards to his family and friends would be a nice way to convey happy sentiments while wishing them a joyful holiday.

Queen Victoria started sending seasonal greeting in the 1840’s.

The White House traditionally sends Christmas cards every year.

In spite diverse in culture and religion, Canadians also partake in the tradition. Christmas cards are sent to wish people peace and joy.

Writing a Christmas card can be a bit challenging, especially if you don’t know what to include in your card.

Here I have made a list of common Christmas messages that you can include in your Christmas cards:

Wishing you and your family health, happiness, peace and prosperity this Christmas and in the coming New Year.

Merry Christmas! May you get chance to take in the beauty and true meaning of the season.

Happy Holidays! I hope all of your Christmas wishes come true.

May your holidays be filled with love and rejoice. May you have a great time with your friends and family this Christmas! Sending my best wishes to you.

May your holidays be filled with happiness and good cheer!

It’s people like you that make Christmas a sacred, meaningful occasion. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! This coming year, may you be gifted with countless blessings.

Gifts come and go, what really matters are the people who light up our lives all year long. Thank you!

The past year has been anything but cheerful and bright. Wishing you love, light and a prosperous year ahead.

Wishing you nothing but the best this holiday season.

Practice time

Write a Christmas card

Christmas postcard

Christmas idioms

teacherjulietaLeave a comment
Christmas came earlier this year

Meaning: When someone gets an unexpected surprise.

Example: John got a promotion last week. Indeed, Christmas has come earlier for him this year.

Good things come in small packages

Meaning: Used to say that people or things do not have to be large to be good

Example:

A: I’m upset at my boyfriend. He only gave me this tiny box for my birthday.

B: Don’t get upset until you know what’s in it. Good things do come in small packages!

The more the merrier

Meaning: More people will make something more enjoyable. This set phrase is used to welcome one to join a group or activity

Example: Oh sure, you can come to the party with us—the more the merrier!

Christmas comes but once a year

Meaning: Since Christmas only comes once a year, people should be good to one another in the Christmas season

Example:

A: I’m going to volunteer at the orphanage center, do you want to join a hand?

B: Of course, Christmas comes but once a year.

All my Christmases have come at once

Meaning: Said when one is experiencing a an extraordinary amount of good fortune

Example: The day I got married, I heard I’d passed my exams and got a promotion, so it felt like all my Christmases had come at once.

Like turkeys voting for Christmas

Meaning: The most popular choice of food for the Christmas in several parts of the world is turkey. When people choose or accept a situation that is not in their interest or will be directly harmful to them.

Example: The employees agreed to go back to the office in the middle of the pandemic without any increase in their pay. It was like turkeys voting for Christmas.

Practice time

  1. Roll the dice or spin the wheel
  2. Can you remember the idiom?
  3. Write a sentence using the idiom

been to vs. gone to

teacherjulietaLeave a comment

Let’s talk about verb be and verb go

You already know that:

Base formsimple pastpast participle
bewas/ werebeen
gowentgone

Now, let’s say that you want to talk about your trips. If you want to talk about your trips and the places that you have visited in the past you can’t use verb go in the present perfect form.

simple present1. I usually go to Paris in the summer. ✔️
simple past2. I went to Paris last year. ✔️
present perfect3. I have gone to Paris many times. ❌
I have been to Paris many times ✔️

Why?

Because…

been tocompleted visits (round trip)
gone toone-way trip

In the video below I explain how to use been to and gone to correctly

Practice time

Now it’s your turn.

Complete the following sentences with been or gone:

  1. My mom has ________ to the supermarket. She’ll be back in an hour.
  2. I’ve ________ to that place before. I know how to get there.
  3. You’re late. Where have you ________?
  4. Where has the teacher _________? She was here 5 minutes ago.
  5. She’s ________ to New York for a job interview.
  6. Has he ________ home? The party hasn’t finished yet.
  7. Have you ever _______ to Australia?
  8. The children have ________ to school.
  9. The fridge is full of fresh food. I’ve _______ to the supermarket?
  10. My dad has ________ to the dentist.
Check your answers HERE

Prefixes and Suffixes

teacherjulietaLeave a comment

Prefixes and suffixes are letters that we add to words. Both prefixes and suffixes are grammatical elements that belong to a group of words called affixes. Affixes sometimes seem like a crazy code. Indeed, they are like a code based on ancient Latin and Greek.

The word affix means in addition to. When they are combined with words or roots they produce new words with different meanings.

Examples:

root: happy

prefix: unhappy

suffix: happily

If we learn the meaning of the most common affixes we can understand the code. We can make good guesses even we don’t know the meaning of a word based on the part we recognize.

You will be able to understand thousands of English words if you know the most common Latin and Greek roots and affixes.

Knowing roots and affixes is very handy when we have to learn vocabulary related to Science, Math and Business.

Examples of common Greek and Latin roots and affixes:

Root/affixLanguageTranslationExample
antiGreekagainstantibacterial
astroGreekstarastronaut
beneLatingoodbenefit
biGreektwobiweekly
bioGreeklifebiodiversity
chronGreektimechronometer
cosmGreekworldcosmos
cracyGreekgovernmentDemocracy
cyclGreek circle, wheelbicycle
demGreekpeopledemocracy
dictLatinsaydictate
geoGreekEarthGeology
genLatinbirthGenesis
mechGreekmachineMechanic
misLatinsendmissile
ologyGreekstudyGeology
phonGreeksoundtelephone
portLatincarryportable
pyroGreekfirepyrotechnics
scopeGreekseeTelescope
terrLatinEarthterrestrial
visLatinSeevisible
Common Greek and Latin roots and affixes. Adapted from Everything you Need to Ace English Language Arts in One Big Notebook (page 79 and 80)

Practice time

  1. Based on the following words, what do you think the root “aud” might mean? audible, auditorium, audience
  2. If “scope” means to see, would you expect a spectroscope to measure light or to measure sound?
  3. Can an affix appear at the end of a word? Why?
  4. Think of other words that contain the root “cycle“
  5. Create one new word using the roots and affixes from the table. Write down its meaning.

Share your answers in the comments below.

How to Give Feedback

teacherjulietaLeave a comment
Listen to the audio

Giving and getting feedback is part of effective communication. Giving feedback is a good way to encourage and motivate others. Getting feedback gives people the opportunity to reflect on their learning/ teaching process or their performance at work.

What does feedback mean?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, feedback is:

“an opinion from someone about something that you have done or made”

If there are things that need to be improved you can provide constructive criticism to help others advance in their learning/ teaching process or careers.

The purpose of giving feedback and constructive criticism is to lead others to improve in the longer term. Therefore, when giving feedback it is important that you avoid judging or giving negative comments or remarks.

Here you have some sentence starters that you can use to give positive feedback:

Download PDF

PRACTICE TIME

Imagine that you are a manager in a tech company. One of your assistants has developed a software that will help the company save a lot of money. However, the software is not user friendly (difficult to use). Your assistant has presented his/ her project in the last weekly meeting. Give him/ her some feedback.

Write your feedback in the comments below.

Online Class Etiquette

teacherjulietaLeave a comment
Listen to the audio

Globalization has changed the way we communicate with others. Nowadays, we can use the internet to attend classes or work meetings. Therefore, we should learn how to behave during our online classes and meetings.

Netiquette allows people to communicate with others over the internet in a polite and professional manner.

The word netiquette comes from the words network and etiquette. It is defined a set of rules that facilitates social interactions online.

Here there is a list of netiquette rules that you should keep in mind during your virtual sessions:

1 Be on time

It’s better to be at least 5 minutes early rather than late.

Punctuality is a good habit that builds self-confidence. Being on time also eliminates stress from your life by removing the anxiety of being late.

2 Come to class prepared

Have every thing that you need for your class ready, including your textbooks, notebooks, pens and other materials that you might need.

If you use an online dictionary, an app or PDFs open them before your class starts.

3 Settle into a quiet spot

Maybe you can study in a noisy place. However, most students can’t focus and pay attention to the class if the virtual classroom is noisy.

Stay on mute. Keeping your mic off lessens distractions. Background noise can be annoying and make it difficult to understand what people are saying.

Pro tip: If you are in a noisy place, use a noise-canceling headset to eliminate background noise. You can also activate a noise suppression filter. Most video call platforms such as Zoom, Teams, Skype, etc have the option to activate a noise suppression filter.

How to activate a noise suppression filter on Zoom

If the noise suppression filter is not enough you can use a noise cancelling software to remove noise.

Krisp is a FREE software that you can use with any communication app.

https://krisp.ai/

4 Turn your camera ON

Having your camera on creates a more personal class atmosphere.

When we communicate orally with other people we use our voice, body gestures and facial expressions. Camera use allows your teacher and your classmates understand you better. So they can sense how you feel and give you feedback to improve communication.

5 Participate and be helpful

Class participation is super important if you want to learn faster. Also, your classes will have more fun and you will feel more energetic if you participate during class. If you are a shy person or don’t know how to participate during your online classes, check the following article:

How to Participate in an Online Class
Practice Time
  1. How easy is for you to communicate with other people if you are in a noisy place?
  2. Which do you prefer, taking classes in person or online? Why?
  3. Do you prefer just speaking with people on the phone/Whatsapp? or Do you prefer having a video call? Why?
Online Class Etiquette

Happy Thanksgiving!

teacherjulietaLeave a comment

Today I’m thankful for YOU!

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October each year. Most families have a special dinner that consists mainly in turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash or turnips, cranberries sauce, and pumpkin pie. It’s a time to spend with family and friends.

Typical Canadian Thanksgiving dinner

Vocabulary related to Thanksgiving

Vocabulary related to Thanksgiving
Download Vocabulary with Audio

Grammar related to Thanksgiving

Canadian families have different traditions during Thanksgiving dinner. My family has a special tradition before eating dinner. First, we say grace, which is a short prayer to give thanks. Then, each person says something they are thankful for. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and give thanks for one’s life, health, food, family, friends, work, and freedom. 

How to use the word thankful?

First let’s analyze what part of the speech is the word thankful. It’s similar to the word thank, right? The word thank is a verb, so thankful is and adjective (many adjectives have a ‘ful’ ending). Can you guess what the adverb form is? Yes, the adverb form is thankfully (many adverbs have a ‘ly’ ending). Yay! We already have made a word family.

  • thank (verb)
  • thankful (adjective)
  • thankfully (adverb)

The word thankful represents a feeling that people experience when they are happy because of someone or something. It is commonly used to express gratitude.

Thankful for someone or something

Examples:

He is thankful for his wife.

I’m so thankful for all the support I’ve received during these hard times.

Thankful to do something

Examples:

I’m so thankful to be alive.

She is thankful to have a job

Practice time

What are you are thankful for today?

Share your answer in the comments below.

For more details about word families, check this:

How to learn new words easily using word families