Subjunctive

A short link about the subjunctive on the run. Enjoy!

Link: http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-subjunctive.htm

When looking for books, we often find ourselves unable to get the book we want. We all know Jules Verne or Alice in Wonderland. These books as well as many others are already in the public domain. What does this mean? That you can get a copy for free. There is no need to pay the author because he or she has been dead for at least 70 years. :)

Well, not that I am happy that they are dead, but the pieces of art they left are available for everyone.

Listening to books instead of reading them can come in handy. That way you can enjoy it while driving back home or when cleaning the house.

How much do you have to pay for it? Nothing. A thank you will do.

http://www.librivox.org
http://www.free-ebooks.net
http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/browse/Fiction/Fantasy

A dictionary of phrasal verbs

A dictionary with phrasal verbs!! Yay! Now, whenever you find a phrasal verb, you will have a tool to figure out the meaning. :D

Link: http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/phrasaldictionary.html

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Advanced grammar

http://esl.about.com/od/advancedgrammar/Advanced_Level_Grammar_for_ESL_Learners.htm

Advanced grammar for you.

And also, some expressions to use the inverted form.

http://esl.about.com/od/advancedgrammar/a/inversion.htm

Somebody ordered essays?

An interesting point of view of what an essay should be.

http://lklivingston.tripod.com/essay/

Watching movies or what?

Many people say that watching movies is great practice. But, is that true?

The answer is yes. But you should be careful about what you watch, and how. Here is a post about the importance of watching movies and how they can help you. Also it presents some comments about the disadvantages with some suggested solutions.

Link: http://www.antimoon.com/how/movies.htm

Tests and more tests

Do you like to practice with tests? Well, here are some. Enjoy!

http://www.examenglish.com/

Completely excited

I know that this phrase may seem correct at first. However, we should give a little bit of thought to this one.

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=503438

Collocations and more collocations

Here is an extensive list of some words that like to be written together.

bitterly cold it was bitterly cold

bitterly disappointed

bitterly angry

bitterly resentful

brightly lit

brightly colured

a brightly polished

brightly smiling

clearly visible

clearly marked

clearly distinguished

clearly spoken

it’s clearly impossible/absurd

clearly disturbed

clearly explained

deeply grateful

deeply concerned

deeply interested

I am deeply indebted to her

I was deeply offended by his remarks

deeply shocked

deeply held

deeply moved

she’s desperately ill

it’s desperately urgent

I’m desperately tired / cold

we’re not desperately busy (colloq)

desperately afraid

fully aware

fully insured

fully comprehensive insurance

fully conscious

are you fully satisfied?

she’s not fully convinced

she’s a fully trained nurse

I don’t fully understand

greatly admired

greatly feared

greatly improved

it's greatly increased

greatly concerned

she was greatly influenced by Eliot

the quality is greatly superior

greatly changed

greatly different

greatly mistaken

it’s highly probable / unlikely

she’s a highly intelligent child

his methods are highly unconventional

highly dangerous

highly educated

our highly trained / skilled workforce

food that is too highly spiced / seasoned

she praised him highly

he’s highly esteemed / respected by his colleagues

highly paid

highly recommended

highly amused

highly trained

highly qualified

incredibly rich

incredibly weird

incredibly brave

incredibly beautiful

incredibly moving

incredibly stupid

mildly uncomfortable

a mildly ironic tone

a mildly spiced sauce

mildly irritated

mildly upset

mildly affected

what happened was most interesting

it was most kind of you

most certainly

most probably o likely

most generous

thank you, you’ve been most helpful

perfectly round

perfectly straight

perfectly smooth

your arrival was perfectly timed

she has perfectly formed features

perfectly safe

perfectly ridiculous o

that’s perfectly obvious

they are perfectly suited

a perfectly chosen gift

that’s perfectly true

I’m perfectly well aware of that

she’s perfectly able to manage without my help

it’s perfectly possible

perfectly simple

perfectly fair

perfectly reasonable

pleasantly smiling

I was pleasantly surprised by the changes

the house is pleasantly situated

it’s not exactly warm but pleasantly mild

pleasantly dressed

pleasantly familiar

profoundly ignorant people

it’s profoundly uninteresting

he’s profoundly deaf

profoundly affected

profoundly grateful

profoundly changing

richly decorated

richly furnished

they were richly rewarded

they received the punishment they so richly deserved

the most richly endowed country in the region

a richly detailed biography

seriously ill

seriously injured

the scandal has seriously undermined

these figures are seriously misleading

seriously wounded

utterly devastated

utterly bereft

I utterly despise him

our time has been utterly wasted

she’s utterly distraught

Ok. This is very long. But it will help you remember because I am sure you have seen many of them before but never payed too much attention to them.

Collocations

A word about collocations. Words are like people. They get together in groups and like to be around words they like. And, just like in real life, they don't get along with some others.

If you want a deeper and less metaphoric explanation about them, follow the link below.

http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/collocations-advanced.htm

Rice for humanity

Bored and not knowing what to do? Well, you can help people in need while you go back to your homework or when you need to kill some time.

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

You can play as long as you want. Not only will be practicing your vocabulary, but you will also help people. Pretty neat, huh?

A nice website thanks to Dvortygirl

http://www.simpleenglishnews.com/

This is a website I really liked. Videos are such a great way to learn new things.

Useful links to practice some reading

There is plenty of material for you to practice your reading skills. Many important and very well-known texts are available on the Internet. All of them are good practice. Here is a place where you can find an interesting collection of romantic poems.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Category:Romantic_poetry

Another place that I just stumbled upon the other day is

http://www.miguelmllop.com/practice/intermediate/readingcomprehension/readingcompindex.htm

Here you are going to find an interesting collection of readings. They also come with some exercises about vocabulary and comprehension. I will be expecting your comments on this material. See you in class!

More books

It's been always said that old books are most of the time much better than new books. Here you'll find a collection of old books that can take you to unimaginable places. Just download some, find a place where to read, and enjoy.

http://www.archive.org/details/gutenberg

Free Books

A book is always a good choice.

http://www.ploughbooks.co.uk/ebooks

Here is a place where you can get some for free.

Welcome

This post is a little short. Just a couple of links. I will be sending more things, and they will be available here whenever you want.

Here is a short article that shows how collocations are important when learning a language.

• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/collocation-with-advanced-levels-1-not-entirelyproperappropriategood

This is a website that shows the most common collocationsl

• http://esl.about.com/b/2003/10/29/collocations.htm

If you are in the mood of reading long books, or just listening to them. Here is Librivox. It is a collection of audiobooks. You just download the mp3 files and listen as you read. Pinocchio is my favorite one. :)

• http://www.librivox.com

And a tidbit of passive voice.

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html

Check the blog tomorrow! See you in class.