Madrid Teacher series: A day in the life of an English teacher

Today's lesson from Madrid Teacher is devoted to elementary students (Básico 1 and Básico 2) and deals with daily routines. Victoria Fontana, an English teacher who lives in Madrid, tells us about a typical working day in her life.

The video is divided in two parts. The first part (up to 3'00") shows us Victoria telling us about her busy lifestyle. The second part is, in fact, a repeat, but everything that Victoria says is subtitled, with what she makes sure we fully understand everything.

I must say Victoria is a bit of a fast talker, so we may need to listen to her several times to understand her comfortably.

Watch the video clip. What does Victoria do at these times?
7'00''
8'30''
1'00''
4'00''
4'30'' to 8'30''
9'00 to 10'00''



What do you usually do on a typical working day?
Do you have any hobbies?
Do you have any classes?

Real English series: Telling the time and describing people

In our Real English series we touch on two different points today: how to tell the time in English and how to describe people's personality.

In the first video, several people answer the question What's the time?

Remember we can tell the time analogically or digitally. That way in British English:
8.05 five past eight [analogical] or eight (oh) five [digital]
8.10 ten past eight [analogical] or eight ten [digital]
8.15 (a) quarter past eight [analogical] or eight fifteen [digital]
8.30 half past eight [analogical] or eight thirty [digital]
8.35 twenty-five to nine [analogical] or eight thirty-five [digital]
8.45 (a) quarter to nine [analogical] or eight forty-five [digital]
8.50 ten to nine [analogical] or eight fifty [digital]
9.00 nine o'clock [analogical] or nine [digital]

In American English, after is often used instead of past:
6.10 ten past six (British English) / ten after six (American English)
Exception:
6.30 half past six (British English=American English)

And of or before or till instead of to.
2.35 twenty-five to three (British English / twenty-five of (or before or till) three (American English)

You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here and do an activity to practise the time on the Real English site here.

You can find several entries on this blog to practise how to tell the time by clicking on the tag Telling the time on the right.

The second video helps us to revise some basic questions to find out personal information like What's your name?; Where are you from?; Can you introduce your friends? Yes, this is my daughter.

The video, however, focuses on describing people's personality by answering the question Can you give me two or three adjectives that describe your mother?

Funnily enough, two weeks ago we dealt with descriptions in our Real English series when talking about astrological signs. That day we learnt a number of questions we can use to ask about someone's personality:
What are you like?
What kind of person are you?
Tell me about your personality.
Today we have learnt another question to find out the same information: Can you give me two or three adjectives that describe your mother?

You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here and do an activity to describe people on the Real English site here.

Daily routines

This is a nice video to revise daily routines, the times and the present simple.

It combines, both English and Spanish, so it is suitable for Básico 1 students (beginners) or for Básico 2 students whose English is a bit rusty and want to brush it up.

Simply watch the video and make a note of everything the teacher says. You may want to stop the video on occasion to note down some of the explanations.



Now, what is your daily routine? Tell someone in your family.

H/T to Samoga en Casa.

Telling the time (revisited)

Emphasis on English looks like a more than promising blog for English students of all levels. This is the latest blogpost Katie has uploaded and it is the perfect activity for elementary students (Básico 1 and Básico 2) to revise how to tell the time in English.

After telling us how to tell the time, Katie gives us some practical activities, with both listening and speaking/written tasks.

Teaching the time

Teaching the time is an interactive online game to teach and practise the basics of how to tell the time.

It starts off by giving a short explanation about how to tell the time in English (o'clock, quarter to, quarter past and half) and goes on to give the learner the opportunity to practise.

The game is for beginners, it is good fun and students will learn and practise effortlessly.

H/T to DDeubel.

Telling the time (revision)

I've come across this nice picture by Leo Reynolds that may come in handy to revise how to tell the time in English.

You may see that not all the times are sharp, but to overcome this difficulty we can use the prepositions before and after:
It's just before two o'clock.
It's (two minutes) after a quarter past five.

Self-study activity:
Get together with an English-speaking friend or just on your own and tell the time that the different clocks show.