Hi I'm Elie and today I'm
going to talk about my end-of-year school trip to Italy. My class and
I visited Sirmione, Verona, Venice, Florence, Lucca and Pisa.
We woke up really early
on Monday to be at school at 5:15 am, to take the bus that brought us
to the Barcelona airport. Our flight was very short so we were in
Milan by 10:30. As soon as we arrived, we took another bus to
Sirmione. We shot some pretty cute pictures there by the lake and
then had our first Italian pizza for lunch! Everyone was very nice
from the beginning. We spent the rest of the day in Verona, Romeo and
Juliet's city. The Arena was huge and the city in general was
charming. At night we just fooled around and went to sleep.
The following day we had
breakfast and ran to the train station. It was Venice day: my
favourite day. We visited the famous square of San Marcos and saw
stunning buildings. We also went on a gondola ride and honestly, it
was lovely. My expectations weren't that high. In the afternoon we
returned by train to Verona and spent our last night there.
Next morning was
calorie-burning! So we were in the Verona's train station with all
our suitcases and everything and some of us were just way too excited
to go to Florence that were running around? I don't know, we just got
lost and instead of stressing out we had a lot of fun searching for
the other part of the group. We luckily found the way back to were we
had taken the wrong way and found the train. We spent two entire days
in Florence. Our hotel was super well placed and we also had a lot of
free time there. We ate gelatto and went shopping and had time to
really enjoy ourselves. In Florence we visited the Ufizzi Gallery,
the Academy, the majestic Sta Maria di Fiore and saw el Ponte
Vecchio, la Loggia dels Lanzi and lots of other cool stuff. We had a
blast there.
On the last day we
visited Lucca and Pisa, but on the way we stopped at a viewpoint with
really good views of Florence. Lucca was pretty much my idea of what
Tuscany looks like. It was a very sunny day and we just decided to
sit in a bar and have some drinks and talk. We went for a walk to see
the town and then headed to Pisa. We visited the cathedral, the
baptistry and the famous tower. Up there we met very nice Japanese
people. It was lots of fun. And as the day was ending it was time to
say see you to Italy... But! Our trip hadn't ended yet. Our flight
was delayed and so we spent about two or three hours waiting in the
airport. But it wasn't boring at all! We met people from Llagostera
and even realized we had known some of them when we were kids! As we
waited we sang and talked and laughed. And, although no one was ready
to say goodbye to Italy, we got on the plane and returned home.
I've
just joined the Adopt a Grandparent project, a group of volunteers
who believe spending time with old people that stay in a retirement
home helps them feel happier. I volunteer with a friend at a
retirement home near my town's church. Volunteering there it's just a
really good way to forget about problems for a while and learn things
about the past. I spent de first day visiting all the rooms and
meeting Maria, our “fake” grandmother. She's already 100 years
old but she's truly still young at heart!
Day
2:
I
went to the old-people's house today. The project's been amazing so
far. Maria explained us about herself and the time she lived in
France. Núria and I laughed a lot but we barely talked. I mean,
Maria was talking all the time! But we do feel very useful. Old
people feel alone sometimes, and I guess it's nice having someone
young you can share your experiences with.
Day
3:
I've
been thinking on what I want to do when I get older a lot lately. And
I'm really not sure. That's why I'm planning to organize myself a gap
year between high school and college, so that I have more time to
decide what I want to study. And while searching on the Internet, I
read about becoming an AuPair! AuPairs in the US live with an
American family for a year or more and they take care of their
children. I love children as much as I love old people, so that's a
perfect program for me! And I also want to travel a lot so, can it be
better? Anyways that's gonna be in 2 years so I'll have to wait
untill then!
I
am writing to complain about your new movie, which I purchased online
last week as a birthday present for my younger son.
As
advertisements for the movie had been broadcast between programmes
for children, I thought that the product would appeal to them. The
advertisments also made the movie look innocent and fun, which is why
I decided to buy it. However, my husband and I think the movie is
actually extremely violent and the content is totally inappropiate
for children under 10. I had to switch off the TV when I was watching
it with my son. He was absolutely terrified and it ruined his
birthday evening.
Furthermore,
we were schocked to see that the game promotes bad behaviour. Too
many of the characters behave in a completely unacceptable way, which
your company should not encourage.
Until
now, I had always been really impressed with your company and
associated your DVDs with quality entertainment. It is very sad that
you are promoting such material. Under the circumstances, I would be
grateful if you could give me a full refund. Please find the receipt
attached.
I
look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
How
are you? What have you been doing since I saw you last? You won't
believe it, but I got to visit the US this summer!
I
used to be very scared about traveling without my parents, but I
decided to go anyways. What could happen? Well, I'm glad I did
because it made a real impression on me! I stayed with an American
family and we did lots of different sorts of stuff. I surfed, went
shopping, did some tourism around... It was a great time, so I'm
really pleased. Basically, It was a very good way to learn English
and have a lot of fun at the same time.
Has
that ever happened to you? I mean, have you had an opinion about
doing something but then you've done it and changed your mind?
Anyway,
I've got to go now, otherwise I'll be late for my piano lesson. Keep
in touch!
A
good friend is honest and supportive when you feel down. A friend
loves at all times, is only ever cruel to be kind, is outgoing and
loves hanging out with you. A good friend is all these things, but
most of all, a good friend is dedicated to your friendship.
Describe
a time when you made a new friend. What were you doing when you met
him/her? What was your new friend like? Use exercise 7 as a model.
Two summers ago I went to
a Christian meeting here in Banyoles with my friends. I was listening
to a woman talking about her daughters' story when Laura, a girl I
didn't know at all asked me for a tissue paper. I gave one to her and
we started to talk. We soon became friends she was really nice and
friendly and she gave me her number so that we could keep in touch.
Almost two years after that we are still very good friends!
Hi,
today I'm going to talk about my summer holidays. First of all, I'm
going to talk about my exchange experience in the States. After that,
about the week I spent in Cadaqués with my family and my days in
Catalunya. And finally, about my trip to Belgium.
This
summer I left my country to be able to live probably the best
experience of my life: a month away from home. I went to America with
the YoungLife USA camp program. On July the 1st we took a plane to
London (a 3 hours flight) and after that we took another plane to San
Diego. We spent the whole day flying and going from airport to
airport. After a really long day, we got there and I met my American
family: the Martinez family. They were a lovely Mexican couple and
they had a daughter called Emily and an 18 year old son called Eddie.
During my experience there I got to meet a really huge and nice
family and I had a lot of fun with all of them. I went hiking and I
also did some tourism around: we visited Downtown San Diego, la Jolla
beach, Oceanside, etc. On the second week everyone that came with me
from Catalunya and Andorra and some of the American kids went on a
road trip. We went to LA, Hollywood, Universal Studios, Santa
Monica,... We had a great time together. After visiting all these
places we took a bus with boys and girls from Escondido to go to
Woodleaf, which was a typical American summer camp. Woodleaf is
incredibly big and I didn't expect it to be as much fun as it was. We
did a lot of activities every day like the swing, the tower, the
slides, we went to the game room, to the club, etc and I met a lot of
new friends. Also, western night was a dream. On the last week of the
exchange program I hanged around with my friends and also did a
Service Project and went surfing. Although surfing was fun it was
really frustrating because I think I am the only one that couldn't
stand up on a surfboard. But at least I tried :') During the month in
California I didn't feel homesick at all and I'm looking forward to
go back.
After
a few days at home I went to Cadaqués with my family to spend the
week at the beach. It was great to relax and go paddle surfing for
the first time. I also stayed at home some days and went canoeing,
met my friends again,... I went on a hike with my brother, my aunt
and my uncle too. The view up there was stunning. On September I
helped at the kindergarten next to my house and also went on a trip
to Belgium. I went there with my canoeing friends to take part of the
Sobeka Flanders Cup. We did k1, k2 and k4 and even though it rained a
lot on the last day I really enjoyed that trip.
In
conclusion I had the best summer of my life and I feel blessed and
thankful that I got to meet so many great new friends.
Living on the edge! (La Jolla, San Diego)
My American parents
Craziest ones out there!
Surf day
Blackberries in Cadaqués
Cadaqués
Cap de Creus
Downtown San Diego with this one!
Downtown San Diego
Potato chip hike
LA - the view
Walk of fame
Corn dogs are sooooo good
Surf day
Western night
Baseball game
Me and a cow. Cuz why not.
Vall de Núria
Candy shop in Belgium
Photo booth with Emily
Fun times in Banyoles
Joan R: He went to Lourdes to help sick people and did a service project. He also spent two days in Barcelona.
Joan C: He went to Hawaii. He stayed in Kaneohe. He visited a lot of places in the island.
Nur: She went to Euskadi with her family. August was a new experience's month because she went to an aquatic park for the first time.
Laia: She spent the afternoons watching drama series. In September she went to El Pantà de Sau to row.
Elisabet: She slept a lot during summer. She went to Andorra to celebrate her birthday.
Maria S: She went to Port de la selva with her friend, Ariadna. She took part of the Sobeka Flanders Cup in Belgium.
Núria F: She visited different European countries with her family.
Nico: He went to a rowing camp in Eton with Laura. He also spent a month in Menorca.
OBSERVATION OF MY ORAL PRESENTATION
Body language and eye contact:
- Did you look at your audience most of the time? I look at the paper ocasionally because my oral was "quite" long but not really often.
- Did you read from your notes? As I said before, I did many times.
- Did you do any gesture/movement to hold the attention of your audience? I kind of did.
Structure:
- Did you organize your ideas in order of importance? I organized my ideas chronologically.
- Did you use discourse markers to make your ideas more clear? (First, then, after, ...) Yes
Content:
-Did you introduce interesting NEW information to your audience? I think so.
-Did you look up information/facts/ideas in the internet/books? No, because I didn't have to. I thought I wasn't going to find any information about myself on the internet or books! was your information more superficial or more detailed, and original? I tried to include funny or interesting info.
Language:
-Did you check your grammar? yes I did.
-Did you use rich vocabulary looking up the dictionary? I tried to.
-Did you use sentence linkers? yes
-Did you use fillers? yes, ocasionally.
Pronunciation and intonation:
-Did you know how to pronounce all your words? yes
-Did you check the pronunciation with a dictionary, a classmate or the teacher? no, I didn't.
-Did you change your tone of voice or use a monotone tone all the time? I changed it to say certain things but not much.
-Did you speed in a fluid continuum or with breaks and interruptions? Most of the time, I didn't do breaks while I was talking. I may have stopped once or twice.
Self-evaluation: I think I should get an 8 or a 9. I think I've improved.
I'd like to recommend a book which I read last year, called Pride and Prejudice. The author of the book is Jane Austen.
The book is a drama and the setting is England, at the turn of the 19th century. The main characters are Elisabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
The things I liked the most about the book were the characters and the theme of love. Some of the scenes are memorable because they're very deep and emotional and the plot and the style are so good.
All in all, I really liked the novel, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. It isn't an easy book to read, but it's got a strong message.
Keira Knightley as Elisabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.
I represent a group called 'Green lovers'. I am writing to you because we are concerned about plans to build a motoroway in our area.
In our opinion, the council should not close the park. A motorway would reduce the number of green areas we have in our town, which is not good. Also, cars would make a lot of noise and neighbors would complain. On the other hand, green areas give the residents a place to relax, go for a walk and have fun with their children. We are not interested in losing that.
We have therefore decided to take action, and we are going to organize a protest. For this reason, we are sending you a poster and we hope that you will support us and help to publicize this event.
Hello, my name is Elisenda and today I'm here to talk about music.
I have played the piano since I was a child, actually for 10 years and I also write songs. So I love music but not just one kind of music. I've always loved country music , one of my favourite singers is Taylor Swift but I enjoy listening to very different artists such as Nirvana or Green Day. I like Catalan musicians too. I like Lluís Llach, for example. And I love Txarango, Blaumut, els Manel, els Amics de les Arts, etc.
I know for some people this will sound very weird but I also like classical music. Debussy and Chopin are definitely my favourites.
Do you usually listen to the radio? Of course you do! I do too. In fact the radio has become part of my daily life. I listen to it all the time: when I wake up I turn it on, when I do homework I listen to it and if I go to school by car, same thing.
About music industry, I do still buy CDs. I don't know if you agree with me, but musicians have to work a lot to make new music so if we want them to keep doing their job we need to be legal. This is only my opinion.
Music has helped me my whole life and I hope that it will the rest of it.
I’m
having a birthday party next week on Friday the 17th
at my house. Would you like to come? It’ll be fun! The celebration
will start at seven and will finish at twelve in the evening. Can you
bring some films and lemonade?
My
house is next to the supermarket, 8 Injane Street.
We're
having a great holiday here in Sweden. We're staying in a hotel in
the outskirts of Visby. It's got a swimming pool but it's too cold to
swim! There are lots of things to do. The people are very friendly
and nice.
Two
days ago we went to a really large forest, but we didn't get lost!
Sweden is very beautiful but the weather could be better. It's very
cold and a bit wet.
To: elisabethwillies24@me-mail.com
Subject: Tuesday!
Dear Elisabeth
Thanks for your message. I'm looking forward to your visit to Barcelona. I'll come to the airport with my mother to collect you on Tuesday. What time does your flight arrive?
I think you'll like Barcelona. We live about 10km from the city centre but there are buses that go into the city all the time. When you're here there are lots of things to do. We can go to the beach and we can visit la Sagrada Familia too. And, of course, you'll meet all my friends and we can play baseball together.
You should bring shorts and a bathing suit. The weather here is usually hot and sunny!
Logan Wade Lerman was born in Beverly Hills, California, in 1992. He's been involved in acting business since 1990. He appeared in commercials in the mid-1990s, before starring series Jack & Bobby and the movies The Butterfly Effect and Hoot.
His big break came in 2010 when he played Percy in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: the Lightning thief. In the years that followed he has filmed some more films like The Three Musketeers and The Perks of being a Wallflower.
Since then, Logan has had a very successful career. He has done a lot of interviews and has been nominated to many awards too.
I'm writing because there aren't enough shops in our town. There aren't cinemas or bowling alleys where teenagers can entertain either.
I think there is one reason for this. There are other cities near here where we can go shopping and have fun, but it's not very comfortable to take the bus every time.
We must do something about this situation. Maybe the council doesn't have much money. I don't know, but we must definitely do something to help bored teenagers.
The highlight of this week's TV was definitely the film "The book thief". It's a movie based on the best seller by Markus Zusak.
The book thief
Boing's cartoon The awesome world of Gumball was also worth watching. In Wednesday's episode every member of the Waterson family wanted the TV's remote control. Funny stuff!
Finally, something which also caught my eye was a documentary about butterflies. It was very interesting and the images were beautiful and colorful.
Jasmine
van den Bogaerde (Birdy) is an English singer and songwriter. She's
made two albums. She lives in Lymington, Hampshire, UK.
Birdy
isn't very tall. She's got brown hair and blue eyes. The good thing
about her is that she's friendly and talented, although she can also
be a bit shy. Her mother is a concert pianist and birdy grew up
loving music. She sings and plays the piano.
Her
first single was a version of Bon Iver's “Skinny love”. She
contributed three songs to the soundtrack for the movie “The fault
in our stars”: “Tee shirt”, “Best shot” and “Not About
Angels”.
Elisabeth and I are
friends. She lives near me here in Banyoles. She lives in a modern
big flat. We go to the same school.
Elisabeth is fourteen
years old. She's very tall and she's got long brown hair. The good
thing about her is that she's sweet and friendly, although she can
also be sensitive sometimes. She's very funny and we've got lots of
things in common.
Elisabeth is happiest
when she's chatting and joking with friends. She likes going out and
meeting new people. There's a big lake here in town and we often go
there. She also likes shopping, and sometimes we do that together.
Hi.
My name's Elisenda and today I'm going to talk about my last summer.
Last summer I spent a week in an English Camp called l'Arcada. I've
been there for three summers and it's been great. Every year I meet
new people and have fun with American and Spanish friends that I
already know. This year, the camp was about the '50s.
I
also went to Avinyonet de Puigventós for three days with my best
friend. We stayed in an old big house with her father and her little
sister. I had so much fun and, most of all, I loved going to “El
pantà de Darnius”. That was on early July.
On
August I went to Sweden with my family. That place has my heart, it
was just so beautiful. We spent half of the trip in Gotland, an
island. The other half, in Stockholm. We saw lots of great things: a
very old viking boat, the Nobel Prize Museum, reindeers, bears,
wolfs, endless forests... One day, during a beach walk, my mum scream
“A dead man!” but it was just a seal. Unfortunately it was dead.
Apart from that I loved Sweden. It's probably the country I've
visited that I liked the most.
On
September I stayed in Banyoles. I spent a lot of time with my friends
and also at a summer playscheme (La Barca) with little kids. It was a
very nice experience.
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