Madrid Teacher: Comparing apartments

In this Madrid Teacher video Thomas is asked questions about his new apartment by a colleague.

Self-study activity:
The activity is suitable for Básico 2 and Intermediate 1 students.

Watch the video through and try and understand as much as possible.

Vocabulary note: lounge is another word for sitting room in British English, as well as a public room in a hotel, theatre, or club in which to sit and relax [the hotel has a pleasant lounge and bar]. Another meaning of lounge refers to the seating area in an airport for waiting passengers [the departure lounge].

Watch the video again and answer these questions:
Is Thomas happy with his new apartment?
Which apartment is better, the new one or the old one?
Why?
Who does Thomas share his new apartment with?
Who did he share his old apartment with?
How old are the people Thomas is sharing his apartment with now?
How many bedrooms are there in the new apartment?
What do they use the lounge for?
Where did he work in his old apartment?

So, Thomas, I heard that you just moved to a new apartment.

I did.

And how is it, are you happy?

I’m very happy.

Mm-hm. Is it better than the old apartment?

It’s, It’s much better.

And why is it better? Is it bigger than the old apartment?

Not only is it bigger, but now I share it with people, with my friends.

Were you sharing and apartment before?

I was, and it was with someone whom I had not met before I started living there.

So, it wasn’t a friend, it was a housemate.

Yeah, it was an old woman.

OK. And, now you are living with young people.

Yes, I, as I said I’m living with my friends, a man and a woman about my age and with whom I share quite a lot.

Mm-hm. And how many bedrooms in your new apartment?

Three.

And do you have communal living space as well?

Oh, we have a, a lounge, a salon, quite large. It’s really a, a great spot. It’s always got people inside.

That’s good. What do you use the lounge for?

Basically everything, because our bedrooms are not very large, so I do my work on my computer at the kitchen table in the lounge. So, we also eat in the lounge. We watch TV. Sometimes we have social gatherings. We read on the couch.

And where did you do your work in your last apartment?

In my bedroom. My bedroom was basically my only space in my last apartment. In the new one, it’s all shared.

Sounds very nice.

It’s excellent.

Real English series: Comparatives and superlatives

In our Real English series this week we feature two videos where some passers-by answer questions to illustrate the use of comparatives and superlatives in English.

The first video is intended for Básico students. Passers-by answer these questions:

Who's older?
Which is bigger?
Who can cook better?

What's the most beautiful city in the USA?
What's the coldest country in the world?
Which is the biggest town in Ireland?
Which is the longest river in Ireland?
Which is the most beautiful language?



You can read the transcript of the video here.

To revise the grammar behind comparatives and superlatives you can drop by our post Comparatives and school subjects, where we show an interactive book by Collège Marc Chagall with all the rules and lots of exercises.

You can also read Joanne's Rudling's entry about the 1:1:1 spelling rule on her Spelling Blog, where she gives us clear rules on when to double the final consonant in adjectives when forming the comparative and superlative.

The second video is a bit harder and it is intended for intermediate students. A passer-by answers the questions What's the best/worst decision you have ever made?

The same interview with subtitles can be watched in the second half of the video clip.



You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.

Self-study activity:
Record yourself answering the question What's the best/worst decision you have ever made?

Comparing people

This is a nice activity to revise the comparatives in English.

By clicking on the picture below you will be redirected to Cin Wilkinson's game Comparing People. The game is divided into two parts. In the first part, you will be comparing Bob, Homer and Alice and you only have to choose the correct comparative form.

In the second part you will be comparing Harry, Garfield and Sponge Bob, but you will have to add three missing words in the sentence: verb, comparative and preposition.

When you have finished, click on DONE to see how well you have done and check your answers.

H/T to The English you Need.

One of these things

One of these these things is not like the others is an interactive game by DDeubel that can help students of all levels to activate their written or spoken English while having lots of fun.

Self-study activity:
If possible, get together with a friend or relative who also speaks English, so that you can do the activity orally and you can also share ideas and help each other. If on your own, you always have the option to talk out aloud to yourself or to do the activity in writing.

In the activity, students are presented with four different objects within a category, and they have to say why one object is different from the others. There might be more than one possibility of comparing objects within the same category.

Example:
Category: Things
Objects: a bomb of dynamite, a ball, a jar of beer, and a clock.

A ball is not like the others because you can play football with a ball, but not with the other things.

A clock is not like the others because you can only tell the time with a clock.

There are as many as twelve categories: things, sports, jobs, places, flight, famous people, clothes, names, food, drinks, fruit, abstract ideas.

To make the objects spring up on the slide, you must click around the question mark (?) in the middle of the slide.

Finally, you can enjoy the Sesame Street song the activity is based on.

One Of These Things (Is Not Like The Others)
(Words and Music by Joe Raposo and Jon Stone)

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn’t belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you’re absolutely…right!

Birth year inflation

Compare today's prices with the prices of the year when you were born or the year of your choice with birth year inflation.

Self-study activity:

You can use birth year inflation to practise modifying comparisons. Example:

In 1970 the price of petrol was a lot/much cheaper than today.

Today the price of meat is three times as expensive as in 1975.

At lower level you can use birth year inflation to revise how to say the numbers in English.

H/T to Larry Ferlazzo.

Comparatives and school subjects

The French teacher Mrs Haquet from Frenchfrog's Little English Pond has created this interactive book that can help us study and revise comparatives.

Mrs Haquet's book starts by introducing school-related vocabulary, which later on she uses as the foundation to introduce the rules of the comparatives and set activities. The excercises include audio files, matching activities and fill-in the blanks.

H/T to Larry Ferlazzo.