Expressing plans and predictions.

                                                                       (be + going to + inf)

Going to

Intention

We use the special going to construction when we have the intention to do something before we speak. We have already made a decision before speaking. Look at these examples:

• I have won $1,000. I am going to buy a new TV.
• We’re not going to see my mother tomorrow.
• When are you going to go on holiday?

In these examples, we had an intention or plan before speaking. The decision was made before we spoke.

Prediction

We often use going to to make a prediction about the future. Our prediction is based on evidence. We are saying what seems sure to happen. Here are some examples:

• The sky is very black. It is going to snow.
• It’s 8.30! You’re going to miss the train!
• I crashed the company car. My boss isn’t going to be very happy!

In these examples, the present situation (black sky/the time/damaged car) gives us a good idea of what is going to happen.
Try some games to practise “be going to+inf” to express future plans or predictions.
I’m sure you ARE GOING TO like them!
(From www.englishclub.com

Airport stories.

Airport are special places where you can see all sort of stories unfold: family reunions, business travellers, students on a study trip, holiday makers, couples on their honeymoon, emigrants looking for a new chance in life, lovers reunited etc…
There was even a film ” The Terminal” based on the story of a passenger who got stranded in an airport and ended up living there!
On the 27th of October a mobile phone company filmed their new ad in Terminal 5, Heathrow airport( London), one of the busiest airports in the world.
Passengers arriving were assaulted by singers, the result is a great video. Check it out
It is fantastic, isn´t it?
Have you got an airport story to share?

Describing your favourite photo

When we describe a favourite photo we can take into account the following information:
1) Who took it?
2) What was happening when you took the photo?
3) Why do you like it?
4) Where do you keep it?
Here’s an example which describes the picture above:
“One of my favourite photos is this one of my husband James and my son Peter.
I took it last summer in Menorca (Spain), when we were on holiday.
We were at a place called “Cala Mitjana”. It’s a beach which is famous for its blue water and its peace. When I took the picture, my husband and my son were playing together. I was sunbathing when I decided to take a nice picture of both.
I love this photo because it represents happiness for me. It reminds me of a lovely holiday with my family.
I keep the photo in a family album and I also have it on the living-room table.”
Would you like to practise a bit more? Here you can find a lesson to learn to describe photos.

Past Continuous

The past continuous is formed from the past tense of the verb to be with the -ing form of the verb. We use it to talk about continuous actions in the past.
Look at the British Council website for a detailed explanation and exercises.
Here are some activities to practise:
exercises city life activity yesterday at the beach story
The past continuous vs.the past simple

We use the past simple to talk about completed actions in the past and the past continuous to describe continuous actions and ‘background actions’.
Activities:
exercise 1 exercise 2 exercise 3
Sing along to this beautiful song by Robbie Williams, Eternity, and look out of the examples of the past forms.

Past Simple: Irregular Verbs.

Every language has irregular verbs and English is no exception ! Unfortunately there is no magic formula, you simply have to learn them by heart!
Here is a list. Try to learn the most useful ones first and then learn the others little by little.
Here is a game for you to practise and a crossword .
Some more activities:
regular or irregular verbs?
interactive exercise 1
interactive exercise 2
Finally a fantastic song by the Beatles

The simple past: regular forms.

When you form the regular past tense in English you need to pay attention to two things: pronunciation and spelling.
PRONUNCIATION
To form the simple past you simply add -ed to the end of the infinitive and you have the simple past.
-ed can be pronounced in three different ways: /t/, /d/ and /id/.
“T” is a voiceless consonant what we called “sorda” in Spanish that means you will feel no vibration in your throat, just a short explosion of air as you pronounce. These are some voiceless consonants : p, t, k, s, sh, ch, th (as in thing)
“D” is a voiced consonant what we called “sonora” in Spanish that means you feel a vibration in your throat when you pronounce it. These are some voiced consonants : b, d, th (as in then), v, l, r, z, j (as in Jane)
Vowels are always voiced.
If a verb ends in t or d then the -ed will be pronounced as a whole new syllable /id/
So the sound of the past : -ed will assimilate the sound of the preceding sound and so if it is a voiced sound the pronunciation of -ed will be voiced /d/ and if voiceless it will go to /t/.
To sum up, you have three options with the pronunciation of the regular past tense -ed: /t/, /d/ or /id/
Here you have a video to practise
and some interactive exercises:
Choose the right sound
Try again
Number 3
Nice one from the BBC
SPELLING
With most regular verbs, the simple past is created simply by adding -ed. However, with some verbs, you need to add -d or change the ending. Here are the rules:

Verb ending in…	How to make the simple past	Examples
e	Add -D	live lived date dated
Consonant +y	Change y to i, then add -ED	try tried cry cried
One vowel + one consonant (but NOT w or y)	Double the consonant, then add -ED	tap tapped commit committed
anything else including w	Add -ED	boil boiled fill filled hand handed show showed

Present Continuous

We use the present continuous tense to talk about things that are happening NOW or AT THE MOMENT.
I                         am  + verb + ing       I am playing.
he, she, it            is +   verb + ing        The bird is singing.
you, we, they     are + verb + ing        We are dancing

Listen to the sentences about the pictures.

Look at this interactive book for more practice.
Try this exercise to practise.
Watch this video of the song ‘Lemon Tree’. Good luck!