Websites to promote reading.

05 enero 2018 1

Autor: Jimena Gonzalez Sánz.

Welcome back. We want to wish to all of you happy new year 2018! It is time for New Year’s resolutions and we hope one of them will be improving your English, so probably this is why you are here. If you have proposed to yourself to increase the time spent on reading this year, then you are lucky! Today we bring you some webpages where you can do so.

But first, some advices when you start reading.

  • First things first, start with texts close to your interests; this will increase your motivation. You know what you like and it is best if you choose instead of being told what you should read. If you find it does not really provoke you, the urge to continue reading go for another one.
  • Do not try very long texts if you are not accustomed to them it is best to start little by little.
  • Start with texts close to your knowledge. Once you have a certain amount of vocabulary continue with texts with a little of difficulty for you. This will prove you are advancing despite what you might think.
  • Do not over use the dictionary. If you find a difficult word, try to find the meaning by the context. If the word appears, so many times you do not understand what it is being said then use it.

Now you are prepared to face the possibilities we want to show you. The first one is : dreamreader.net a web page where you will be able to find free05 ENERO 2018 2 short articles in English that will allow you to develop some reading practice and improve your reading understanding (and pronounciation too). Neil Millington a university English Foreign Language lecturer in Japan created this webpage a few years ago. You will be able to find articles under five main categories: easy English, interesting English, fun English, practical English and academic English. Inside each category, you will be able to find many articles with their audios and sometimes some worksheets. What we find most useful is the quizzes provided within each text. Normally they contain between three or ten short questions with multiple answers and the key is available in the printable version of the quizzes. So no more excuses to improve your reading skills.

In case you prefer short stories, the webpage englishinteractive.net that offers to the intermediate readers a selection of one hundred stories in the following link rong-chang . They also offer different activities you can carry out such as quizzes, comprehension activites (where you are asked to find a word or expression for a specific meaning), cloze activities (where you need to fill in the gaps), crosswords, wh- questions (where you need to find the answer from some provided ), tasks related to vocabulary and even dictations.

If you are more into books then we can offer you a couple of places: HathiTrust: with over 2,000,000 freely titles you can read online. And the Internet Archive offers over 12,000,000 freely downloadable books and texts. It was founded in 1996 and here you can find from web pages to audio recordings as well as books, eBooks, videos and software programs. They also have a blog and you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Jimena González Sanz.

4 Junio 2022 1
Keep an eye in English

TRADITIONAL BRITISH DISHES YOU NEED TO TRY.

TRADITIONAL BRITISH DISHES YOU NEED TO TRY.

 

Autor: Verónica Amaro Bermejo

 

Shepherd’s Pie

 Shepherd’s Pie is primarily made from minced lamb and potatoes. Many families will make this dish using beef, but then it should actually be referred to as Cottage Pie, as shepherds only herd sheep (duh). 

Most Brits would agree that Shepherd’s Pie is best eaten at home with your family and, in fact, the dish is not often served in restaurants.

 Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington is a fillet of steak coated in patê and then rolled in pastry. Although the dish shares its name with the famous Duke of Wellington, it actually shares no link with the British nobility. In reality, it is thought that Beef Wellington was based around the French dish filet de bœuf en croûte (fillet of beef in pastry).

Beef Wellington is served in posh pubs and restaurants up and down the country.

 

Leer más
4 junio 2022 11
Keep an eye in English

READING COMPREHENSION.

READING COMPREHENSION.

Autor: Jimena González Sanz.

 

Simply put, reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading. While the definition can be simply stated, the act is not simple to teach, learn or practice. Reading comprehension is an intentional, active process that occurs before, during and after a person reads a particular piece of writing.

What is the reading process? What do we do during the reading process? The following ideas can sum up the main things that happen on each stage.

The reading process has three stages: The initial stage, prereading or before reading, then the second one that happens while reading and the third and last one is the post reading or exploring and extending your reading. 

Leer más
3 abril 2022 11
Keep an eye in English

PHRASAL VERBS

PHRASAL VERBS.

Autor: Jimena González Sanz.

 

Hi everyone! Welcome back to our English space where you can find interesting websites and ideas to improve your learning English learning. Today we are going to tackle a complex topic: phrasal verbs.

A phrasal verb is a phrase that consists of a verb with a preposition or an adverb, or both. In many cases the meaning of the phrasal verb cannot be deduced from its separate elements. In addition, many phrasal verbs are polysemous i.e., they have more than one meaning. There are also difficulties with the grammar of phrasal verbs, particularly with the position of the particles, in that some phrasal verbs are ‘separable’ (the particle can be moved), while some are ‘inseparable.’ Quite apart from all this, there are literally thousands of them

Leer más
MENÚ
Revista