What I learned about UNIT 2?

In this unit we learned about Musical Moods. In this unit we learned about: Describe the music you listen to, Explain the role of music in your life, Describe a creative person and discusss the benefits of music. The vocabulary used to describe creative personalities was very useful for example, a musician can be gifted, energetic, imaginative, passionate, eccentric, difficult, moody and egotistical. The new vocabulary was very intresting we checked some word with their meaning: a beat is, melody is and sound is. In the grammar section I recalled the use of the present perfect for finished actions and the use of the present perfect continuous for unfinished or continuing actions. I learning that We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc. And We use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect. Also, I recalled the use and structure of Noun clauses. In conclusion, in this unit I had to be more responsible, because the teacher asked us to complete a lot of exercises in order to improve our knowledge. The handouts were very important to learn and remember some basic grammar. Bibliography: http://netgrammar.altec.org/Units/Unit_3/a101c3_201000.html Top Notch 3; English for today's world. Joan Saslow, Allen Ascher. http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfectcontinuous.html

What I learned about UNIT 1?

In this unit we talked about New Perspectives. First, in class we socializated about a map in which we found some animals to describe different places of the world. In pairs we made a classwork, we answered some question such as: What is unusual about the way the map despicts the world? and What do you think the artist is trying to say with the ilustration?. Also, we read a converstaion between two collegues working temporarily in another country. The teacher told us we have to be careful with new expressions and new vocabulary. I had to explaint some new phrases like: "Am I ready to head home!", "I can´t get enough of this place", "I think I´ve had about enough", "I can´t get over How much I enjoy being here", "It´s a pain in the neck having to work so hard" and "There is no place like home". After that we checked the grammar about Gerunds and infinitives (changes in meaning); I learned that some verbs are followed by eigther a gerund or an infinitive with no change meaning for example: love, hate, can´t stand, like, prefer, begin, start, continue. However, some verbs change meaning, depending on whether they are followed by a gerund or an infinitive. In this unit, I learned to describe a person with some adjectives like: funny, optimistic, professional, etc. At the end of this unit we talked about a life-changing experience, then we made a writing with this topic. I write about getting a new job. I really enjoed this unit because the information I learned some time ago was useful to remember about this topic. In conclusion, I think that now I can talked about my past experiences with new vocabulary and uses new adjectives. Bibliography: http://netgrammar.altec.org/Units/Unit_3/a101c3_201000.html Top Notch 3; English for today's world. Joan Saslow, Allen Ascher.

What I learned about UNIT 10?

The topic of this Unit is "Enjoying the World". In this new Unit I studied about how to describe: where a place is located, a natural setting; also, I learned to warn about a possible risk and in the class we debated about development. In the class we socializated about a map of America and another of Ecuador, we gave some ideas about where some places are exactly located. The teacher taught us prepositions of place like: on, in and of. We use in to talk about cardinal points; on to talk about lakes, the coast , rivers and so on; and of to name countries. in that way we checked some information about geography, it was very important to can be able to talk about a place. Also, we learned new vocabulary such as: rocky, steep, foggy, slippery, dark, exhausting, a path, a cliff and a cave. We used this new vocabulary to talk about a possible risk. In this unit I learned geographic adjectives like: mountainous, hilly, flat, lush, arid, a forest, a jungle, a canyon, an island and a valley; with this new words we had to make a composition about our favorite place, I wrote about Atacames beach because it is my favorite place in Ecuador to visit it has some intresting landscapes and I really crazy about it, it is amazing place that I know. Finally in class we made a debate about Yasuni proyect. Some people were in favor of this proyect and the rest were against. We had to investigate what this proyect was about to give a description about it. So, we shared opinions about ecotourism in Ecuador. In conclusion, it was a very intresting unit because I really enjoy to visit different places, if I can study other career I will study tourism, It like me a lot. Bibliography: http://netgrammar.altec.org/Units/Unit_3/a101c3_201000.html Top Notch 3; English for today's world. Joan Saslow, Allen Ascher.

What I learned about UNIT 9?

In this unit with my class we talk about Controversial issues. I learned to discuss a topic, controversial issues politely and to create a debate.I learned to express my point of view using expressions of disagreement and agreement like: I agree with you... I couldn't agree more... That's exactly what I think... Or I don't agree... I'm not sure, etc. Also in the classroom we talked about causes, effects, possible solutions for some controversial issues such as: censorship of books and movies, compulsory military service, lowering the driving age, prohibiting smoking indoors, etc. In grammar the teacher taught us Non-count nouns for abstract ideas, non-count nouns usually have no plural.They deal with things that we do not usually count: tea, sugar, water, air, rice, etc. or for abstract ideas or qualities such as knowledge, beauty, anger, fear, love. I had to review again my notes about Verbs followed by objects and infinitives from my last semester. I learned that certain verbs can be followed by infinitives, but some verbs must be followed by an object before the infinitive. In class we learned new vocabulary such as: radical, liberal, moderate, conservative, reactionary. To learn all these topics the teacher gave us some extra handouts and she sent us a lot of homework in which we had to: Investigate the positive and negative aspects for Democracy, Dictatorship and Monarchy. So, I had to write some paragraphs about these topics.In the homework I write a composition to express my opinion about "Lowering the driving age", and I proposed a plan to solve "Racism and ethnic discrimination". In the classroom we made a debate about some controversial topics I had to work with some classmates to debate the topic, all of us had to take notes about the other expositions to create a debate in the class. It was very intresting because all of us have different points of view. In conclusion, I believe that I can apply all this new knowledge to create an interesting debate about a controversial issue. I think that this unit was very intresting because I can express some ideas when I have a different point of view in class with any topic. Bibliography: http://netgrammar.altec.org/Units/Unit_3/a101c3_201000.html Top Notch 3; English for today's world. Joan Saslow, Allen Ascher.

What I learned about UNIT 8?

The topic of this unit was Inventions and Technology. In this new unit I learned to discuss a new product using new vocabulary like: High-tech, State-of-the-art, cutting-edge, high-end, top-of-the-line, first-rate, innovative, revolutionary and novel. Also, I learned to use Conditionals, it was a topic that we checked in the last semester it is very difficult, so we did a lot of exercises and we took some quizzes in class. I learned the use of Wish in clauses and Unless. The teacher said that I had to participate in the collaborative writing project. In wich I had to wrote about : "How our lives would have been different if we had lived in a past time period". With my team we wrote about life in England during the 19th century we had to investigate a lot information to do this project but at the end it was finished in a good way because we work together to did the project. The teacher gave us some tasks to complete in wich we had to write some paragraphs to answer some questions, also we made a conversation to describe an electronic product. I wrote a short description for an object that I wanted to invent in which I wrote about: What would happen if I had my invention now?, What could I have done if I had had my invention in the past?; so, my invention was "An umbrella light". Finally, I think that I can use all the information about this unit to talk about unreal and real situations. I believe that is very important to know how we should describe some products until to buy or use them. Now, I am able to discuss some topics like: the impact of key inventions in history (the wheel, the automobile and the printing press). This unit had a lot difficult topics in class we worked hard to learn it. Bibliography: Top Notch 3; English for today's world. Joan Saslow, Allen Ascher.

What I learned about UNIT 7?

In this unit I learned about books and magazines. In my opinion this unit was a little difficult because I don’t like reading. I learned to recommend a book; to discuss the quality of reading materials and to describe reading habits. Also, I learned grammar about Noun clauses: Embedded questions are questions within another statement or question. They function as noun clauses and as such should generally follow statement, not question, order. To begin embedded information questions you should use a question word (could, would, can, etc.). I learned that a noun clause can be the direct object of a verb if mental activity and to use "so" to replace the noun clause in short answers. The vocabulary of this unit was very useful for me, now I can distinguish between different types of books such as: Fiction (a novel, a mystery, a thriller, a romance novel, science fiction and short stories)and Nonfiction (a bipgraphy, an autobiography, a travel book, a memoir and a self-help book). I could learned in a better way when I discussed some questions with my partners like: What is your favorite book?, Who is your favorite author?, What is your favorite genre?, What books have you recommended for other people?, and so on. Also, the teacher asked us to write a book review of our favorite book.We discussed the quality of some interesting books and magazines in class, too. Finally I think that this topic was very useful to have a conversation about personal intrests and now I am able to distinguish a book and I can talk about magazines with my friends. Bibliography: http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/embedded_questions.html Top Notch 3; English for today's world. Joan Saslow, Allen Ascher.

What I learned about UNIT 6?

Disasters and Emergencies was te topic for this Unit. I learned the meaning of some words to describe disasters, it would be very useful to know the History of disasters in the world. Also I learned new grammar about "Indirect speech".I studied things like: When you report what someone said, but without quoting the exact words, use indirect speech. Do not use quotation marks when I write indirect speech.In indirect speech, an imperative becomes an infinitive. Make changes in pronouns and time expressions in indirect speech to preserve the speaker's original meaning.Also I leranes about how we sould use say and tell.Say is used with direct and indirect speech.Say is most often used without a personal object.If we want to put a personal object after say, we use to.Tell is used when we mention the listener.In the class we prepared an exposicion about "Prepare for an emergency" and I learned that: Be prepared to use what you have on hand to make it on your own for at least three days, maybe longer. While there are many things that might make you more comfortable, think first about fresh water, food and clean air. Put together two kits. In one, put everything needed to stay where you are and make it on your own. The other should be a portable version you can take with you if you have to get away. Also in the class we talked about how we should describe natural disasters. I think that this last unit was very important to my personal life, because I am a teacher of Natural Disaters and this information could be very important to my career. BIBLIOGRAPHY: http://faculty.washington.edu/marynell/grammar/tellsay.html
http://bepreparedcalifornia.ca.gov/EPO/BePrepared/IndividualsAndFamilies/Prepare+an+Emergency+Supply+Kit.htm