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

What I learned about UNIT 5?

In this unit we learned about the holidays in some countries. For example in Mexico people celebrate with mariachis. In China New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar.Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chú Xī or "Eve of the Passing Year". Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. Historically, Thanksgiving began as a tradition of celebrating the harvest of the year. Also I learned that Carnival in Brazil is very colorful and is a party atmosphere in the midst of a grand parade.Finally, The Eid al-Fitr is a religious holiday of the Islamic tradition. It covers the first three days of Shawwal, and signifies the end of Ramadan.
Also I learned about adjective clauses with object relative pronouns. An adjective clause does not express a complete thought, so it cannot stand alone as a sentence. To avoid writing a fragment, you must connect each adjective clause to a main clause. I learned about reflexive pronouns, too. A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded by the noun or pronoun to which it refers (its antecedent) within the same clause.
I learned it through the explanation of my classmates, my teacher's explanation and the information found on the internet. With my classmates, in groups explain about each holiday in different parts of the world. With the help of a teacher present during the class was very easy to understand about Thanksgiving in U.S.A.
These topics were very important for my life, if I traveled to another country I'm sure would have a chance to talk about holidays, a foreigner and thus improve my pronunciation.

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Fitr
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/adjectiveclause.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflexive_pronoun

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