Wednesday 29 September 2021

Practice makes perfect

 

Overall, the two pie charts show that smartphones and tablets are used for the same purposes but to very different extents. 

The first pie chart shows how people spend their time on smartphones while the second pie chart illustrates how time is spent on tablets. For both types of device, the top use is for games, but the figures differ greatly. 57% of the time spent on a tablet is given to playing games, while only 35% of the time spent on a smartphone is used for this. In contrast, smartphone users spend 29% of their time on their gadget accessing social networking sites compared with just 15% of tablet time spent on the same activity.

The third most popular use of the tablet is for consuming entertainment, with users spending 13% of their tablet time watching videos and listening to music. Smartphone users, however, dedicate only 8% of their smartphone time to such entertainment, preferring instead to spend 20% of their time on their phone accessing utilities. These can include maps, weather information and calculators.

There is a clear difference in the way people are using their smartphones and tablets. In general, while tablets are being used more for gaming and other forms of entertainment, smartphones seem to be the preferred option for tasks as well as communication with the world around us.

Please note: This page was designed for writing practice only. Information in the charts may not be accurate.

Thursday 23 September 2021

New challenges for everyone

 Convocada la X edición del concurso “Objetivo Europa”

The General Directorate in collaboration with the Innovation Department of the Education Board call for a new edition of the the video contest about the Europe that young people want. Cantabrian youngsters facing the future of Europe

La dirección general de Fondos Europeos, en colaboración con la dirección general de Innovación e Inspección Educativa, convoca la X edición del concurso “Objetivo Europa”
La Orden se ha publicado hoy 22 de septiembre en el Boletín Oficial de Cantabria

More info here

Tuesday 21 September 2021

Writing: Describing places

 



Describing trends: Case Study COVID cases

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51235105

Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world, with more than 228 million confirmed cases and almost 4.7 million deaths across almost 200 countries

Prepositions for graphs,trends and statistics 

   I’ve always been familiar with prepositions for location, time and movement. But for years I have been teaching English for graphs and statistics to medical technology students. And I’ve noticed a recurring problem with prepositions when they try to use statistics to describe graphs and trends. So, finally I’ve done something about it.  

Prepositions for talking about graphs, trends and statistics

Prepositions for graphs and statistics (PDF)

Prepositions for graphs and statistics

Describing  graphs and trends: making sentences  worksheet 

This is  a worksheet to help  English language learners write and talk about graphs and trends. Students try to write appropriate sentences for the pictures using the vocabulary at the bottom of the page.

Describing graphs writing exericise

Describing graphs sentence writing (PDF)

Describing graphs and trends

Sunday 19 September 2021

Describing statistics/graphs

Verbs to describe an upward trend

The following verbs can be used to describe a trend or pattern that goes up.

  • climb (past: climbed)
  • go up (past: went up)
  • grow (past: grew)
  • increase (past: increased)
  • jump (past: jumped)
  • rise (past: rose)
  • rocket (past: rocketed)

Sentence examples using words that show an upward trend:

  • The number of enrolments increased significantly between 2005 and 2010.
  • Production rose from 800 units in May to 1000 units the following month.

Verbs to describe a downward trend

The following verbs can be used to describe a trend or pattern that goes down.

  • decline (past: declined)
  • decrease (past: decreased)
  • drop (past: dropped)
  • fall (past: fell)
  • go down (past: went down)
  • plummet (past: plummeted) = to fall or drop suddenly in amount or value
  • plunge (past: plunged) = to fall or drop suddenly in amount or value

Plunge and Plummet, when describing trends, have the same meaning.

Sentence examples using words that show a downward trend:

  • Prices of Model X dropped significantly once Model Y became available on the market.
  • Company profits decreased in 2013 by 15%.

Words and phrases used to describe a stable trend

To describe a more or less stable pattern, you can use the following expressions:

  • maintain (past: maintained)
  • remain (past: remained)
  • stay (past: stayed)
  • constant
  • stable
  • steady
  • unchanged

Adverbs used when describing trends

Adverbs describe HOW something happens. They usually come after a verb.

  • sharply, rapidly, quickly, steeply
  • considerably, significantly, substantially
  • steadily, gradually, moderately
  • slightly, slowly

Nouns used when describing trends

  • decline
  • decrease
  • dip (a momentarily small drop in the level of something)
  • drop
  • fall
  • fluctuation (= an irregular rising and falling in number or amount; a variation)
  • growth
  • increase
  • peak (= the highest point)
  • rise
  • slump (= a severe or prolonged fall in the price, value, or amount of something)
  • variation (= a change or difference in condition, amount, or level)

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 - Describing Trends Vocabulary


Thursday 16 September 2021

Bad habits. Oral skills and food for thought

 



Tuesday 14 September 2021

Welcome back to school (2021-22)

 


CONTACT:  javier.martinez@educantabria.es 

Qualifying criteria:

WRITTEN TESTS: 70%:

  • READING-20%
  • WRITING-20%
  • USE OF ENGLISH-20%
  • LISTENING: 10%

PARTICIPATION-CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES: 20%

  • SPEAKING: 10%
  • INTERACTION: 10%

HOMEWORK/ASSIGNMENTS: 10%

Student's Book 

Ready for IELTS 2nd Edition Student's Book with Answers Pack provides full preparation and practice for the Academic IELTS module to achieve an IELTS band of between 5.0 and 7.0