Cursos 2017

Sólo hasta el 28 de febrero, abonando marzo, obtienes 25% de descuento en la matrícula.
Comienzo de cursos 2017: 6 de marzo

FCE at La Casona

Enrolments as from February 1st, 2017
FCE Speaking

Cursos 2016

Inscripciones abiertas 2016

Lunes a Viernes de 18 a 20 horas

Febrero 25% descuento en la matrícula

Comienzo de cursos

7 de marzo

Project Time: June 2014

Jumbled paragraph and gapped text

By: Lucía Sosa

Level: intermediate

1-     put the paragraphs in order:

a- Gonzalo Higuain, Rodrigo Palacio and Messi himself all passed up clear opportunities chances to put Argentina in front before Gotze struck seven minutes from time.

b- Argentina captain Lionel Messi regretted his side's missed chances after Germany beat his side 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup Final™ on Sunday thanks to Mario Gotze's extra time goal.

c- And Messi insisted it was hard to take consolation from carrying his country to the final for the first time in 24 years in the immediate aftermath of the defeat.

d- "There is sadness to finish in this way, I think we deserved a little more today", said the Barcelona star. "The best chances were ours and between the forwards we couldn't take them," he told Direct TV.

e- "After a long time not getting past the quarter-finals we managed to get to the final, but today there is the disappointment of having lost in the last minutes of extra time."

f- Messi was still crowned as the player of the tournament for his performances and four goals in seven matches. However, he insisted the individual award was scant consolation for missing out on a much bigger collective prize.

g- "We wanted to win the World Cup for all the people in Argentina and we couldn't do it," he said. "We tried, but we didn't have the luck we had in other games.

1-     ____

2-   ____

3-   ____

4-   ____

5-   ____

6-   ____

7-    ____

2-   Read this article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (1-6). There’s one sentence that you won’t need.

In 1901 Uruguay played against Argentina in their first ever match, a close contest won by Argentina 3-2. Prior to 1916, Uruguay played more than 30 matches, of which all but one were against Argentina. The inaugural Copa America provided Uruguay with more varied opposition. 1-(___) The following year Uruguay hosted the competition, and retained the title by winning every game. The 1919 Copa America saw Uruguay's first defeat in the tournament, a 1–0 defeat in a playoff with Brazil which went to two periods of extra time, the longest Copa America match in history.



In 1924 the Uruguay team traveled to Paris to become the first South American team to compete in the Olympic Games. In contrast to the physical style of the European teams of the era, Uruguay played a style based around short passes,and won every game, defeating Switzerland 3–0 in the gold medal match. 2-(___) FIFA assumed the responsibility of the organization of the Football Games to be played by FIFA rules and the tournaments would be recognized as World Championships. It only happened twice (1924/1928 Summer Olympics Games) until the creation of it own FIFA World Championship (FIFA World Cup) in 1930.

The team that beat Brazil in the 1950 FIFA World Cup final to win Uruguay's secondFIFA World Cup



Following the double Olympic triumph, Uruguay was chosen as the host nation for the first World Cup, held in 1930, the centenary of Uruguay's first constitution. 3- (___). Due to the refusal of some European teams to participate in the first World Cup, the Uruguayan Football Association urged other countries to reciprocate by boycotting the 1934 World Cup played in Italy. For the 1938 World Cup, France was chosen as host, contrary to a previous agreement to alternate the Championships between South America and Europe, so Uruguay again refused to participate.



Uruguay again won the World Cup in 1950, beating host Brazil in one of the biggest upsets in World Cup History. The final was at the Maracanã Stadium in Brazil. Uruguay came from behind to beat the host nation in a match which would become known as the Maracanazo.

4- (___)

After their fourth place finish in the 1954 World Cup, the team had mixed performances and after the fourth place finish in 1970, their dominance, quality and performance dropped.

5- (___). They reached an all time low, and were at one time 76th in the FIFA rankings.



However, in 2010 a new generation of footballers created a team that is considered to be the best in the last 4 decades, and caught attention of many, by finishing fourth in the World Cup. A year later, they won the Copa America for the first time in 16 years and broke the record for the most successful team in South America.

6- (___). Two days after the match, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee banned Suárez for nine international matches. It was the longest such ban in World Cup history, exceeding the eight-match ban handed to Italy's Mauro Tassotti for breaking the nose of Spain's Luis Enrique at USA '94.Suárez was also banned from taking part in any football-related activity (including entering any stadium) for four months and fined CHF100,000 (approx. £65,700/€82,000/US$119,000).

Options:

a- In the 1928 Summer Olympics Uruguay went to Amsterdam to defend their title, again winning the gold medal after defeating Argentina 2–1 in the final.

b- They were no longer a world football power and failed to qualify for the World Cup on 5 occasions, in the last 9 competitions.

c- Victories over Chile and Brazil along with a tie against Argentina enabled Uruguay to win the tournament.

d- During a match against Italy in the 2014 World Cup, forward Luis Suárez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini on his left shoulder.

e- Uruguay are the current reigning South American champions, having won the 2011 Copa América.

f- During the World Cup, Uruguay won all its matches, and converted a 1–2 half-time deficit to a 4–2 victory against Argentina at the Estadio Centenario.

g- Many Brazilians had to be treated for shock after the event, such was the surprise of Uruguay's victory.

Living is easy with eyes closed, John Lennon

And here I am, getting ready to write an application to Cambridge University for a "special arrangement" for my blind student expecting to take Cambridge English First exam.

It's been three years since she started coming to our school and what a challenge that has been for all of us working there. Not only because our whole paradigm of teaching did fall down but also because we wondered whether we would be prepared, trained, ready for such a student.

Having finished secondary school, her aim was to move on to become a translator, however, she came across a series of bureaucratic obstacles, which she is about to pull down in the near future. Now, as far as English studies are concerned, things have not turned up to be easy, either. How do you think she has got to this point? Have you ever seen or heard about materials and resources specially designed for blind students? It is the work of dedicated teachers from the "Resource Centre for blind and partially-sighted students" from ANEP (Uruguay) and devoted English teachers from La Casona del Sur - ELT which has enabled her to be attending university and to be ready to sit for a Cambridge University exam. None of these would have been possible without her family's support, either. It is them who, day after day, night after night, have transcribed books, articles, textbooks, written tests and the lot into Braille using Braille note-takers or a Perkins typewriter.

The University of Cambridge points out that we, teachers, should make sure our blind students practise with any sample material available. Easy said than done. How can we, teachers, have access to sample materials specially designed for our blind students? The handbooks and sample papers that the University provides are in pdf which cannot be read by the screen-reading software available to us. Neither do we possess a Braille printer. That is the reason why I am sharing this with the elt community and calling for its solidarity in case you have been through the same and/or know ways to find an appropriate pdf reader or access FCE exam papers in Braille.

 Ana Cabral

Project Time: Mascots

By María Eugenia García
Level: FCE

Maru gave her presentation using the projection of her power point. She talked about the World Cup Mascots and she prepared a Use of English exercise for her classmates.

Choose the most suitable alternative below to fill in the gaps in the following text.

Each FIFA World Cup 1)______ 1966 has had its own mascot. The designs show  a characteristic feature of the host country.

The World Cup 2)_____ us many things, fun is one of them, and mascots for each event are a very important part of this, too.

The first appearance was in England.

1-   A) by       B) for         C) since     D) from

2-    A)tells       B)gives         C) thinks    D)says

“Willie” England 1966  was the first.

A cute 3)_____footballer who welcomed the participants, wearing a shirt with the flag of Britain. He was widely accepted by the people especially from British people.

3-   A)kitten     B)puppy       

C) calves    D)cub

"Juanito" Mexico 1970

Juanito was a child wearing football clothes with Mexican colours, and he had a big Mexican hat that had on it the words "MEXICO 70".  He wanted to 4)______  fair play.

4-   A)reflect     B)imagine     C)show     D)represent

"Tip and Tap" Germany 1974

Two children that wanted to inspire the union and their t-shirts had the   WM74  on them (World Cup 74- Weltmeisterschaft in German). They pretended to be symbolize of the union of both Germanies, which at that time were separated.

"Gauchito Mundialito" Argentina 1978

He was a little boy that used  to wear the colours of Argentina, and he had details of a cowboy(a neckerchief, a hat and a horsewhip) so for that he was called Gauchito. His puma clothes arose some curiosity.

"Naranjito" Spain 1982

A big change appeared, where humans were no more 5)_____ and a fruit appeared  as a mascot.

It was an orange, a typical fruit from Spain, wearing the kit of the national team.

5-   A)used      B)show        C)part      D) convenient

"Pique" Mexico 1986

For Mexicans this chili with a big hat and a moustache was a better representation 6)_____ Juanito (1970 World Cup Mexico mascot). He had a big smile, an outfit of Mexico team, a ball and many other things that Mexicans felt  7) ------- represented.

6-   A)like       B) as          C)from     D)than

7-   A)most      B)more        C)the most  D)good

"Ciao" Italy 1990

Real characters and fruits were left to move to a  little strange design. It consisted of many cubes that 8)______ to be of wood and they were painted with the Italian colours and the head was a ball.

The name is a Italian  greeting (Hello and goodbye).

8-   A)had      B)seemed       C)may      D) might

"Striker" USA 1994

United States returned to animals as mascots, similar to their American football mascots, wearing a football outfit. For Americans, he was a symbol of fidelity and work.

"Footix" France 1998

Its name came from the beginning of "football" and the ending "-ix" from a popular comic strip (Asterix). It was chosen from a survey. This rooster had a strong , fun and sporty personality.

"Ato, Kaz and Nik, The Spheriks" Korea-Japan 2002

Another change of the mascots was this, the Asian created a kind of alien, that came from Atmozone planet and they were created 9)____  a kind of energy.

Ato (the orange one) was the official mascot, but then Nik (the purple one) and Kaz (the blue one) were joined for marketing.

9-   A) for       B)by          C)from      D)to

"Goleo VI and Pille" Germany 2006

A lion wearing a German shirt with the number 06 and a talking ball named Pille.

Goleo came from the words "goal" and the  "leo", the Latin word for lion. In German, "Pille" is a 10)______  term for football.

10-     A)colloquial   B) perfect   C)another     D) preference

"Zakumi" South Africa 2010

A leopard that is a typical animal from South Africa.

His name came from "ZA", for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in many African languages.

It tried to represent a joined continent.

"Fuleco" Brazil 2014

It's a Brazilian armadillo, whose name is composed by the word football and the word ecology

Project Time: Goal or not?

Goal line technology 

by Rodrigo Lares, FCE

"Goal-line technology is a method used to determine when the ball has completely crossed the goal line with the assistance of electronic devices and at the same time assisting the referee in awarding a goal or not. "

Rodrigo has given his presentation using a power point, which included pictures and youtube videos.

"The GLT must provide a clear indication as to whether the ball has fully crossed the line, and this information will serve to assist the referee in taking his final decision."

In December 2012, FIFA announced it would introduce goal-line technology in a competitive match for the first time: at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The GoalControl system was installed in each of the 12 stadiums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB3zw9o2cYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-bSsv3Z-3E

Rodrigo's activity for his classmates:

Open cloze: write only one word in each space that fits on the text. There are 15 spaces.

HUMAN ELEMENT IS LOST

Much of the criticism comes from FIFA itself including FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Apart ________ the criticisms revolving around the technical aspects ______the two proposed technologies, critics point _______that such technology would impact on the human element of the game and remove the enjoyment _______debating mistakes. Sepp Blatter has been quoted ________ saying "Other sports regularly change the laws of the game _____ react to the new technology. ... We don't do it and this makes the fascination and the popularity of football".

It would ____ really expensive implementing the technology at all levels of the game and particularly ______ smaller football associations. FIFA referees have expressed ___ preference for 'better refereeing' ____ well ____ more match officials over implementing the technology.

The introduction of ______ so-called "fifth official", the extra assistant referee standing beside the goal-line, was partly ____order to facilitate the decision of the referees ____ similar situations.

Rodrigo reading the activity out loud for his blind classmate.

Project Time @ La Casona

Project Time is my favourite time of the year. Teachers come up with an agreed topic and then have to design clear instructions to give students according to their levels.Thus, every student is working on the same topic. Students' challenge is to give a presentation which will satisfy the most (worst) demanding audience: their own classmates. This is only one of the gruelling tasks, not to mention the chance to be part of La Casona's Hall of Fame. What is that?It is the collection of Best Projects teachers have kept over the years and which are shown to students so as to get an idea of what is expected of them. Among those favourite projects, some will remember Octavio Tognola's Bloody Sunday, Ernesto Aime's Big Ben, María Eugenia Montiel's Harry Potter, etc.
This time the topic is The World Cup.
For beginners, the task was to design a poster of one of the countries taking part in Brazil World Cup 2014 and one of their footballers. Each teacher will customize it to cater for their own needs. Take, for example, J2 will also include sentences about the footballer and his routine using: MUST, MUSTN'T, DOESN'T HAVE TO, SHOULD, SHOULDN'T, SHOULD.
For intermediate and advanced students, the task also included an activity for their classmates which resembles an exam exercise.
Here are some selected projects and their activities:

Lucía Pérez FCE
"Fuleco"
Activity: Open Cloze

For questions 1-15, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space.

Fuleco

Fuleco, as he(1)_____been named, is a Brazilian three-banded armadillo. The species of armadillos (2)____special. Fuleco is one (3)_____the only two armadillos that(4)______roll into a ball while threatened, hence the association with football. It is also native to Brazil and lives only in a small area of Brazil just below the equator, it is(5)_____”caatinga”.

According to research, the mascot creates positive vibes and emotion with people and children, and(6)______­representing the words “Brazilian”, “Nature”, “Friendly” and “Passion for football”.

Another very important reason (7)_____the mascot to(8)_____ popular, is the (9)______that the Brazilian three-banded armadillo is unfortunately part of an extremely endangered species. Reasons(10)_____deforestation and people hunting in its habitat.

(11)_____February 2014 the Brazilian Environment ministry stated it will create a strategy(12)_____ protect the armadillo’s environment. There are plans to educate people about(13)____risk of the armadillo’s extinction if people keep on hunting. The final concrete plans to save the animal(14)_____be presented by the end(15)_____2014.

The mice will play

FCE

Lesson Plan

   Aim: To practise Speaking Part 

Materials:

- Either internet connection and 1 computer or downloaded videos  and 1 computer.

- Either 1 copy per student of the chart attached or whiteboard.

Procedure: Tell students they´re going to watch two different commercials which share the same character: a mouse, although there are plenty of differences between them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqlQS5CCmwI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB6mftqB5Gs

Ask students to complete the chart in pairs or in threes by discussing them using appropriate vocabulary. Model and elicit vocabulary.

Finally students compare and contrast both commercials with the help of the notes made when filling in the chart.

Teacher: Fiorella Giovannini

We could have had it all

Lesson Plan

Level: Intermediate

Skill: Speaking & Listening

Grammar point: Modal verbs in the past

Time: 20 minutes

Material needed: board, marker, extracts of songs 

Procedure:

Give sts the following extracts and ask them to think of the context in which they are said. Allow creativity.

a. ... for sth I might have said 

b. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world 

c. I shouldn’t have let you go 

d. I should have changed that stupid lock. I should have made you leave your keys 

e. I must have died alone 

f. We could have had it all.

They are all extracts from songs: 

a. "Don't be cruel" Elvis Presley

b. "I woudn't have missed it for the world" Ronnie Mislap

c. "One more time" Britney Spears

d. "I will survive" Gloria Gaynor

e. " The man who sold the world" David Bowie/Nirvana

f. "Rolling in the deep" Adele

Listen to the songs.

Check if the contexts they have thought of are the same as in the songs.

Follow-up: Students bring their own choice of songs containing that grammatical structure: modal verbs + have + past participle

Note: I have used audacity to create an audio file with little extracts of the songs (in a different order). With it I delivered an extra activity in which students had to listen to the songs and put the extracts in the order they hear them.

E-mail me and I'll be glad to send the file to you.

lacasonadelsurelt@hotmail.com

Teacher: Ana Cabral