Universidad Especializada de las Americas

FUNNY GRAMMAR JUST 4 YOU!!!

This blog was created by Michael Harper, Isabel Martinez, Diana Murillo, Katherine Rodriguez and Dolca Robles.    

We are a group of senior students from Universidad Especializada de las Americas (UDELAS), focused on Teaching English as a Second Language.  This blog was created in order to post the best publications found in the web, with the name of the original authors as a guide in this selfless career as it is, the teaching of English, but especially the teaching of grammar and at the same time serve as a contribution to future generations.

Here you will find interesting topics that show you, how to avoid mistakes when writing, how to avoid plagiarism, how to use words correctly, how to write an effective essay among other things.   We hope it serves you as much as it served us.

We want to take advantage of this post to tell you that there are people who mark people's lives in a positive way, who awaken something special in us, who irreversibly open our eyes and transform the way we see the world.  Our Professor Clara de Ho is one of those people.

 

Her teachings went far beyond curricular content as she is a teacher by vocation. You planted in us the seed of knowledge and example, now we must feed it to the young people.

At this point words fall short, expressions are not enough to express all the admiration, respect and affection we have for you. Perhaps only the simplest word remains, but said with the soul and heart in hand:

Thank you! Thank you, Professor Clarita, for dedicating four years of your life to us, we'll always have you in our hearts.    We only have to say goodbye with a phrase from Albert Einstein 

 "Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty"

Conditional Sentences

This task was about Conditional Sentences.   We had to make a Knovio presentation. Knovio is an online tool or web service that gives the option to make presentations made with Microsoft Power Point more attractive. The Microsoft tool is usually used, it is a great service that allows to make narrations with voice or video of each one of the slides of the presentation.

It is a good tool in which we can use to make different presentations in a more advanced and much more presentable way.

WHO USES IT

A fantastic resource for academic and professional use, allowing to divulge courses, promote products, present applications... an infinity of uses in different professional categories.

With Knovio the user can create and share video presentations. To which you can add a series of Power Point slides. These can be accompanied by a window, which will show the face of the teacher or speaker.

HOW TO USE IT

All you need is your webcam and a web browser. Add two audios and videos to your existing slides to make them more interesting. Knovio is currently in beta. So you can sign up to receive an invitation to use this tool for free.

Knovio is used to convert PowerPoint presentations into video by combining video and PowerPoint presentations.

You only need a webcam and a microphone to use this tool.

This presentation was made by Michael Harper, following the teacher’s instructions which were as follow:

Instructions:

I.Prepare a Power Point presentation about Conditional Sentences. 

II.Send your first Ppt presentations to the professor e-mail

The following aspects should be considered for your grade:

Your Ppt presentation should have 5 slides

·         Color, effects and transitions

·         Content

·         Spelling and Grammar mistakes

III.        Convert your Ppt presentation into a KNOVIO publication:

1.    Register at https://knovio.com/knovio-free/

2.    Upload your Ppt presentation about Conditional Sentences

3.    Record yourself giving a short introduction about the same topic (click on Record; see the picture below) 

4.    Send the URL address to the professor e-mail.

 Following the link where you can see the Knovio:   https://view.knowledgevision.com/presentation/1220953c266c4319bdf72dda0c3ee237

Collocations

This task was about Collocations.   We had to make a Prezzi presentation. A prezi is a presentation of text and visuals that you zoom in and out of. It is very similar to a power point, except you do not make slides. Instead, you make one big prezi and zoom in to different views. You can show a prezi to others on a computer through your prezi account, or you can link to them.

From an educational point of view, Prezi gives a lot of play when explaining concepts, creating schemes, focusing the student's attention through visual stimulation. Moreover, we must take into account the pedagogical use we can make of it at any age, it can help us educationally to help our students develop skills through the use of this program, such as the improvement of the capacity of synthesis, the increase of creativity, that they have more facility when exposing themselves to the public, and of course the improvement of the control of the TIC.

Currently, Prezi is having great success in getting teachers and students to present their classes, works, and exhibitions to the rest of the class, since it is a simple way to advance in the incessant technological advance in which we are immersed.

In the Active section of the BBC's educational resources, we can find an article that talks about the advantages of Prezi when it comes to developing educational material for visual learning and the organization of it.

1. Prezi creates a visual impact.  It allows you to import images, maps and PDF files and use them as a canvas. With the cinematic experience of the zoom function, students will feel as if they are transported into a "world" you have designed.

2.       Prezi offers more freedom of navigation. Prezi can be kept in the public domain and therefore allows students to access it from the Internet.

3.       Prezi is a great tool for interactive sessions or group projects. Students can collaborate in real time, in the classroom or at home, to exchange ideas and build the presentation.

4.       You can transfer PowerPoint contents to Prezi with the "PowerPoint Import" function.

This presentation was made by Isabel Martinez, following the link where you can see the presentation: https://prezi.com/view/dzYV0F9266lUxXX07kkc/

Slangs, Idioms and Proverbs

The following task was about Slangs, Idioms and Proverbs.  We had to make a powerpoint presentation and then upload it to Calameo.

   Calameo is a tool that offers the possibility to create, host and share interactive publications. It supports and converts a wide variety of file types (PDF, Word, Powerpoint, OpenOffice, etc...) into a document that can be read by turning the pages like a "virtual" book.           It is ideal for schoolworks, magazines or stories created digitally by students. With this application we can work from early ages. It is also a very elegant format to deliver publications made at the university or to show a project.

As in Slideshare there is a community of publications to which we can access openly, and when we are subscribed we can also download them in their original format.

This presentation was made by Dolca Robles, following the teacher’s instructions which were as follow:

Instructions:

I.Prepare a Power Point presentation about Slangs, Idioms and Proverbs including examples, and its translations in Spanish.

The following aspects should be considered for your grade:

1. Your Ppt presentation should have 6 slides, at least.
2. Color, effects and transitions
3. Content
4. Spelling and Grammar mistakes
5. Translation into Spanish of the slangs, idioms and proverbs

Next:

1.    Convert your Ppt presentation into a CALAMEO publication.

2.    Register at http://es.calameo.com

3.    Upload your Ppt presentation about Slangs, Idioms and Proverbs.

4.    Send the URL address to the professor e-mail

 Following the link where you can see the calameo presentation:

https://www.calameo.com/read/00631360690a866f2fc5b

Phrasal Verbs

This time the professor asked us to use the Power Point tool to make a presentation about Phrasal Verbs.   PowerPoint (© Microsoft Corp.) is a widely used presentation program that originated in the world of business but has now become common place in the world of educational technology.  

This digital slide show is one of the many options available to the teacher for presenting lessons in the classroom. This is a quite easy tool to use and it does not require a lot of operating system for its operation.  It also allows to present images and texts and even audio within a single presentation. Likewise, the configuration allows us to print the slides, which will facilitate the distribution of the educational material in graphic form to the students from days before the class or even that same day during the lesson.  This allows the students to pay attention to the teacher and take note of relevant data.

This Power Point was made by Diana Murillo, following the teacher’s instructions which were as follow:

Drawing on the knowledge and experience and after having seen the video  and the links sent to you, develop a Power Point (Ppt) presentation for your students based on the following topic: How to teach Phrasal Verbs to my Students

Modal Verbs

This post is about Modal Verbs.   Our teacher asked us to use the KIZOA program (a Web 2.0 tool) to make a presentation of the Modal Verbs.   Kizoa is the online application for editing and creating videos and presentations.

Encourages the creation of slides using different effects, text and music.  It is a quite intuitive tool in which your collages can be animated, static or make cards with models offered by the application or make them freely.

-You can retouch your photos using different filters, effects and frames that will give them a touch of originality.
-You can share them online through email, Facebook, Twitter and different web pages.
-The application allows you to convert your presentation into a video and host it on YouTube
-It is easy to burn the slides in DVD format
-It has some premier features (where some cost is generated) but the application allows you to identify which ones you can use once you are working in this environment.

Ideas to bring it to the classroom:

1. Make historical collages.
2.  Document experiences in educational institutions.
3.  Create albums for the area of natural sciences.
4.  Make a visual record as a timeline, where you can see the transformation of an event or element of interest for those who want to use this tool in their classes.

This kizoa was made by Katherine Rodriguez, following the teacher's instructions which were as follows:

Topic: Modal Verbs. (Note: choose five modal verbs).

1.         Locate and select the pictures that you want to add to your KIZOA slide show. 

2.         File as JPEG format.

3.         Proceed to create your presentation using the KIZOA tool.  

4.         Insert transitions, effects, and text to your KIZOA presentation.

Following the link where you can see the Kizoa

https://www.kizoa.com/Video-Editor/d320336445k7155137o2l1/KIZOA_KATHERINE

Reported Speech (Part 2) – Requests, Orders, And Questions

Read Reported Speech (Part 1) to learn how to make reported statements.

In Part 2, we will focus on requests, orders, and questions. 

Expresso English, available in: https://www.espressoenglish.net/reported-speech-part-2-requests-orders-and-questions/

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH	EXAMPLE
Requests/orders	Asked (me/him/her) to… Told (me/him/her) to…	“Please make 10 copies of this report.” She asked me to make 10 copies of the report.“Go to the bank.” He told me to go to the bank.
Yes/no questions	Asked if… Wanted to know if…	“Are you coming to the party?” He asked if I was coming to the party.“Has John seen the new movie?” She asked if John had seen the new movie.
Other questions	Asked… Wanted to know…	“When was the company founded?” She asked when the company was founded.“What kind of car do you drive?” He wanted to know what kind of car I drive.

1. Requests/Orders

§       “Asked me to” is used for requests.

§       “Told me to” is stronger; it is used for orders/commands.

§       The main verb stays in the infinitive:
She asked me to make copies.
He told me to go to the bank.

§   

2. Yes/No Questions

§    “Asked if” and “wanted to know if” are equal.

§      The main verb changes according to the rules for reported statements:
“Did you turn off the TV?” (past simple)
She asked if I had turned off the TV (past perfect)

§       We don’t use the auxiliary verbs “do/does/did” in the reported question.

§   

3. Other Questions

§      “Asked” and “wanted to know” are equal.

§        We don’t use the auxiliary verb “do” or “does” in the reported question:
“Where does he work?”
She wanted to know where he works.

§        In questions with the verb “to be,” the word order changes in the reported question:
“Where were you born?” (Question word + [to be] + subject)
He asked where I was born (Question word + subject + [to be])
He asked where was I born

Reported Speech (Part 1) – Statements

It's ugly to go around spreading what others are saying, but with this subject it's exactly what we want you to do.   When we want to repeat the exact words of what someone else has said.    You will like this post a lot.     

Expresso English, available in: https://www.espressoenglish.net/reported-speech-part-1-statements/#:~:text=Login-,Reported%20Speech%20(Part%201)%20%E2%80%93%20Statements,been%20to%20London%20three%20times.%E2%80%9D

What is reported speech?

“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example:

Direct Speech: “I’ve been to London three times.”

Reported Speech: She said she had been to London three times.

We often use “reported speech” when talking about a conversation that happened in the past. There are some changes to the verbs with reported speech; read the table to find out how each verb tense changes:

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH	EXAMPLE
Simple present	Simple past	“I want to go home.” She said she wanted to go home.
Present continuous	Past continuous	“I’m reading a good book.” She said she was reading a good book.
Simple past	Past perfect	“I ate pasta for dinner last night.” She said she’d eaten pasta for dinner last night.
Present perfect	Past perfect	“I’ve just finished cleaning my room.” She said she’d just finished cleaning her room.“My mother has never been to Japan.” She said her mother had never been to Japan.
Can / can’t	Could / couldn’t	“I can meet with you next Monday.” She said she could meet with me next Monday.“Sorry, I can’t talk now. I’m at work.” She said she couldn’t talk at the moment because she was at work.
Will / won’t	Would / wouldn’t	“I’ll pick him up at the airport.” She said she’d pick him up at the airport.“I won’t tell anybody your secret.” She said she wouldn’t tell anybody my secret.

Be careful: “said” and “told” have a small difference.

After “told,” we need to include a person:

§  She said she wanted to go home.

§  She told me she wanted to go home.

§  She told John that she wanted to go home.

§  She told she wanted to go home.

§  She said me that she wanted to go home.