Film review.

You can have a look at this site where some film reviews can be found.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/tags/film-reviews

FILM REVIEW

FOR THOSE WHO WENT TO THE CINEMA TODAY, LET ME REMIND YOU YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE A FILM REVIEW
AS THERE WERE MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS WITH ME (2º ESO TO 2º BACH) THERE ISN'T  A GOOD MODEL THAT SUITS EVERY LEVEL

For a basic writing you should answer questions like these:

1. What is the title of the film?
2. What genre is it? Can you compare/relate it to others?
3. What is it about?
4. Is it based on a book?
5. Where is the film set?
 6. When is the film set?
7. Who stars in the film?
 8. Who plays the main role(s)?
 9. Who is your favourite character in the film? (Why?)
10. What kind of person would like this film?

You can follow this pattern.

• To inform. The review needs to tell people who is in the film, who it is by and where or when readers can see it.
• To describe. The review should describe the story, characters and some of the action - without spoiling the plot or giving too much away!
• To analyse. A good review gives an opinion on whether the film is good or not and why.
• To advise. Finally, the review should tell the reader whether or not to go and see the film.
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/creativewriting/movingimagesrev2.shtml

For a better review have a look at the following links

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/

And you can also read the reviews of the film in a post in my blog. You may find them a bit difficult to understand since they come from broadsheets (The Guardian, The Telegraph)

http://englishasbarxas.blogspot.com.es/2017/01/la-la-land.html

Writing

For some of you  writing means a lot of effort and, as I saw today, people  can even  go blank in front of a piece of paper. Well,  let me tell you there is only one recipe to improve that: Write, write and keep writing. Start with easy tasks and write a few lines every day. I am leaving here for you a few links where you will find hundreds of prompts that can suit different levels and interests. I am also including them in the useful links list so it will be easy to find them whenever you need them.

http://www.dailyteachingtools.com/journal-writing-prompts.html

http://thinkwritten.com/365-creative-writing-prompts/

http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts

1º BACH. WRITE A SUMMARY FROM ANY OR THE ARTICLES BELOW.

I find that reading the press in English is a great way to be both informed an learning English.  Next  week I will ask you to write a summary of one of the articles shown below or any you may find interesting.

http://englishasbarxas.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/how-to-write-summary.html

1.Judge sends Mario Conde to jail for money laundering and tax fraud

Spanish High Court Judge Santiago Pedraz decided on Wednesday to send disgraced ex bank chief Mario Conde to prison while an investigation into allegations that he laundered millions of euros back into Spain from accounts held abroad continues. The former chairman of Banesto’s children, Alejandra and Mario, as well as his lawyer, are also under suspicion for supposedly creating a network of companies in Spain and other countries that were used for moving the money that Conde embezzled from the Spanish lender in the 1990s...

To go on reading:

http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/04/14/inenglish/1460618369_967633.html

Vocabulary:

Money laundering : lavado de cartos

Embezzle: defraudar

Bail: fianza

Maze: entramado, laberinto

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2. REFUGEE CRISIS     Brussels rebukes Spain for failing to take in refugees

Spain has only taken in 18 refugees since September 2015, when European countries pledged to help people fleeing conflict in Syria. 

In March, the Spanish government promised to speed up that rate by accepting 467 new refugees within that same month. 

But a European Commission report shows that nearly two weeks after the deadline expired, not a single one of those 467 people has arrived on Spanish soil.

To go on reading:

http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/04/13/inenglish/1460529395_126980.html

rebuke: reprochar

pledge : prometer, dar a palabra

flee:fuxir

soil: chan, territorio

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José Manuel Soria has already resigned but read about what he has said along the week. Lies, lies, lies.

 

3. Industry minister agrees to talk about Panama Papers firm in Congress

Acting Industry Minister José Manuel Soria has backtracked on his earlier refusal to provide Congress with explanations about his alleged involvement in the Panama Papers scandal.

On Tuesday, Soria told reporters that he will appear in the lower house next week to discuss why his name shows up on a list of officials of an offshore company.

The acting minister said it was “a mistake” that briefly saw his name appear on the list of directors of UK Lines Ltd., which was incorporated in the Bahamas in the 1990s. This piece of information was part of a trove of 11.5 million files held by a Panama-based law firm and leaked to the media. 

To go on reading:

http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/04/13/inenglish/1460542738_265260.html?rel=mas

Backtrack: retractarse, dar marcha atrás

Provide: dar

Lower house: congreso,

Trove: tesouro

Tax haven: paraiso fiscal

Offshore: fóra do control financieiro

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4. The chart that proves that Spanish schedules are downright weird 

http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/03/28/inenglish/1459165488_731020.html

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A shorter, easier text.

5. Real-life ‘Lassie’ leads police to 80-year-old shepherd trapped in well

http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/04/15/inenglish/1460712809_623597.html

“FOR AND AGAINST” ESSAY

HERE YOU ALSO HAVE A LINK TO REVISE HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY.

http://elblogdelingles.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/como-escribir-un-ensayo-essay-fce-part-2.html

 “FOR AND AGAINST”  ESSAY  

1.Write a draft with your  ideas.

2.You must clearly indicate where your paragraphs start and where they end.  Leave a line empty between paragraphs.

3.Express your  thoughts and opinions clearly and logically.

4. It helps to know how to use certain LINKING DEVICES to connect sentences logically. So here you can find some.

INTRODUCTION

What comes to my mind when discussing....is...

Today we are repeatedly confronted with the problem of....

Some (experts/people/of my friends) say...

My point of view on the subject is that ...

I personally / honestly think that ...

I totally agree with ... (the view that ...)

I sincerely believe that ...

As far as I’m concerned ...

From my point of view ...

My opinion is that ...

“PROS”  HOW TO INTRODUCE YOUR IDEAS?

Firstly/In the first place....

Let us start by considering...

Let us first consider the question of...

I should like to begin with...

The first obvious advantage/disadvantage of...

Secondly....

Moreover....

Furthermore....

Another thing is....

Another point in favour of/against... is...

In addition to that ... / On top of that ... / Besides that ...

And what is more,...

“CONS” HOW TO INTRODUCE YOUR IDEAS?

So far we have only talked about the advantages. What about the disadvantages?

So much about the advantages. There are also a number of disadvantages that must not be overlooked.

Let us now turn to the drawbacks of...

Now it would also be interesting to ...

And what is more,...

Furthermore,...

For contrast :

On the other hand ...

However,...

Nevertheless,...

On the contrary,...

It’s quite the opposite

Despite the fact that...

Although...

It is always a good idea to include examples:

Take for example.....Take for instance...

One example out of many is...

Just look at....

This idea can best be illustrated by an example...

Such as

For instance

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, let me say that....

All things considered, I must say that...

From all this one must conclude that...

In conclusion ...

Finally ...

To sum up...